The Victorian Naturalist Volume 124 (3) June 2007 Published by The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria since 1884 From the Editors It has been observed often that the pursuit of natural history encompasses a wide range of areas. This diversity is nowhere more apparent than in this issue of The Victorian Naturalist. Here we have papers on grasslands, the behaviour of birds and mammals in wooded areas, the dietary preferences of one reptilian species, as well as observations on another, and comments on small mammals. This is biodiversity, indeed. This issue also demonstrates another long-running feature of the FNCV’s journal. The Victorian Naturalist has long provided an avenue to publish natural history research that either includes historical aspects of the subject matter, or takes history as the major focus. The Editors are always pleased to include articles that explain how the state of play in any natural science area was reached. That is not to say that we turn away from what is the main thrust of the journal - the publication of research in natural history - but, rather that we recognise that intellectual disciplines are constantly changing, and some account of these changes also should be recognised. In this issue we offer two papers that bear out this point. There is a paper that consid- ers a major change that has taken place in natural history studies. In addition, the paper on native grasslands on the Momington Peninsula is an excellent example of the use of history as an element within a good natural history study. The Victorian Naturalist is published six times per year by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria Inc. Registered Office: FNCV, 1 Gardenia Street, Blackburn, Victoria 3130, Australia. Postal Address: FNCV, Locked Bag 3, Blackburn, Victoria 3130, Australia. Phone/Fax (03) 9877 9860; International Phone/Fax 61 3 9877 9860. email: fncv@vicnet.net.au www.vicnet.net.au/~fncv Editors : Mrs Anne Morton, Dr Gary Presland and Dr Maria Gibson. Editorial Assistant : Virgil Hubregtse Address correspondence to: The Editors, The Victorian Naturalist, FNCV, Locked Bag 3, Blackburn, Victoria Australia 3130. Phone: (03) 9877 9860. Email: vicnat@vicnet.net.au All subscription enquiries should be sent to FNCV, Locked Bag 3, Blackburn, Victoria Australia 3130. Phone/Fax:61 3 9877 9860. Email fncv@vicnet.net.au Yearly Subscription Rates -The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria Inc. Membership Metropolitan $60 Concessional (pensioner/student/unemployed) $49 Country (more than 50 km from GPO) $49 Junior $17 Family (at same address) $77 Institutional Libraries and Institutions (within Australia) $110 Libraries and Institutions (overseas) AUS$1 10 Schools/Clubs $60 June .Victorian Naturalist Volume 124 (3)2007 Editors: Anne Morton, Gary Presland, Maria Gibson Editorial Assistant: Virgil Hubregtse From the Editors 130 Research Reports Native grassland at Safety Beach, Momington Peninsula, Victoria by Steve Sinclair 132 Use by birds and mammals of habitats of different complexity in remnant and revegetated sites in the Wannon Catchment, Western Victoria by Anne M Wallis , Daniel Jamieson and Robert L Wallis 149 Contributions How Aboriginal studies ceased to be part of natural history by Gary Presland 157 Dietary preferences of captive Eastern Long-necked Turtles Chelodina longicollis by Catherine E Meathrel and Sharon Reid . 1 63 Observations of diurnal activity in the Striped Legless Lizard Delma impar by Grant S Turner 167 Book Reviews Regardfully Yours: Selected Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller Volume 111: 1876-1896 edited by RW Home, AM Lucas, Sara Maroske, DM Sinkora, JH Voight and Monika Wells, reviewed by Linden Gillbank 169 Cronin’s Key Guide: Australian Wildlife by Leonard Cronin, reviewed by Ian Endersby 173 Crocodile: Evolution’s Greatest Survivor by Lynne Kelly, reviewed by Nick Clemann 174 The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia by Gunther Thieschinger and John Hawking, reviewed by Richard Marchant 175 Grasses of South Australia: An illustrated guide to the native and naturalized species by John Jessup, Gilbert RM Dashorst and Fiona M James, reviewed by Maria Gibson 177 Naturalist Notes Mayfly Sonnet by Christopher Palmer 178 Possible Evidence of the Southern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon obesulus, from Deal Island, Kent Group, Bass Strait, Tasmania, by Mark Wapstra and Niall Doran 179 Tributes Arthur James Farnworth MBE, PhD, by Sheila Houghton 181 Dr Gretna Margaret Weste AM, by Linden Gillbank 1 83 ISSN 0042-5184 Front cover: Striped Legless Lizard Delma impar. Photo by Sid Larwill. Back cover: Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae. Photo by Mr Taylor. Both the front and back cover photos are from the FNCV collection. Research reports Native grassland at Safety Beach, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria Steve Sinclair Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research 123 Brown St, Heidelberg, Victoria, 3084 Steve.sinclair@dse.vic.gov.au Abstract Small patches of remnant vegetation at Safety Beach, on the Mornington Peninsula, are described, rloristic and historical evidence are examined, in an attempt to reconstruct the vegetation ol'this area before colonisation. There is strong evidence that the plains between the slopes of Mt Martha and Arthurs Seat once supported patches of seasonally ‘boggy’ natural grassland sparsely timbered with Blackwood Acacia melanoxylon. The plain also supported patches of Swamp Paperbark Melaleuca ericijoha scrub, and numerous wetlands. Previous mapping exercises have not identified grasslands on the Mornington Peninsula. The observations presented here add to a growing awareness that patches of grassland were once scattered through low-lying areas of South Gippsland. The ecology of these areas is discussed, along with the prospects for their conservation on the Mornington Peninsula. This paper records the presence of several significant plant taxa, including Golden Cowslips Duins behrii (vulnerable in Victoria) and Purple Blown-grass Lachnagrostis punicea subsp. punicea (rare in Victoria). ( The Victorian Naturalist 124 (3), 2007, 132-149) Introduction Safety Beach occupies the coastal flat between the prominent granitic hills of Arthurs Seat and Mt Martha, on the Mornington Peninsula (Gippsland Plain Bioregion). The low, near-coastal land sur- face is composed largely of heavy, dark- coloured clays, derived from Quaternary swamp and stream deposits. In places, low prominences of sand and gravel occur. The plain extends eastward over a kilometre inland, before the land surface gently rises at the commencement of the ‘Baxter sand- stone', which extends across much of the northern half of the Mornington Peninsula (Geological Survey of Victoria, 1967a,b). Safety Beach has been largely urbanised for many years; however, on several ‘vacant’ blocks, remnant native vegetation has survived. This vegetation is increasingly under threat of destruction. Some was destroyed in -2004 with the construction of the new Mt Martha Marina, while other patches were developed for housing between 2000 and 2007. During a recent project undertaken for the Mornington Peninsula Shire (Sinclair et al . , 2006) it was necessary to map all native vegetation on the Mornington Peninsula at a scale which captured these remnant patches (1:10,000). It was evident that previous studies had not adequately considered the vegetation of Safety Beach. neither as it appears today, nor how it was before urbanisation. Calder (1972, 1974, 1975), in her studies of vegetation across the Mornington Peninsula, makes little mention of the area, but suggests that the low-lying flat was once a large scrub of Swamp Paperbark Melaleuca ericifolia. The available broad-scale (1:100 000) rep- resentation of the deduced pre-1750 vege- tation (Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) 2001a) did not make specific allowance for this heavy-soil flat. Instead, the area is represented as a transi- tional zone between Coast Banksia Woodland (Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC) 2, see Table 1) and Grassy Woodland (EVC 175, which occurs on the Baxter Sandstone and the granitic areas; see fable 1). Even cursory examination confirms that the remnant vegetation pre- sent at Safety Beach is markedly different from either of these vegetation types. The most recent mapping of current vegetation did not capture these remnant areas at all, due to the broader scale of this mapping (1:25,000) (DSE 2001b; Oates and Taranto, 2001). Detailed investigation of the flora of Safety Beach was thought warranted now, since future opportunities for understand- ing the natural vegetation of this area will become increasingly limited as urban 132 The Victorian Naturalist Research reports development proceeds ; This project used information from historical survey maps and old aerial photographs along with detailed field investigations in an attempt to reconstruct former natural vegetation patterns. This approach has been very use- ful in other studies aimed at reconstructing native vegetation in long-modified areas of lowland southern Victoria (e.g. Lunt 1997; Cook and Yugovic 2003; Yugovic and Mitchell 2006). Methods Historical Information and GIS work Historical survey plans (drawn between 1803 and 1857, Results and Reference sec- tions) of Safety Beach were viewed on microfilm at the State Library of Victoria. Aerial photographs taken before urbanisa- tion were also consulted (State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, State Aerial Survey of Victoria. Photographs prepared by Department of Lands and Survey from photographs taken on 12 January 1957. Sheets: Westemport Al, A3; Sorrento B4). These historical sources were examined alongside modem GIS (geographical infor- mation system, Arcview 3.2.) data, provid- ed by DSE, including hydrological, topo- graphic and cadastral features; and soil maps (Geological Survey of Victoria, 1967a, b). Where necessary, aerial pho- tographs and images of the historic plans were scanned and introduced into a GIS environment using TmageWarp’ to geo- reference the images. Field examinations The remnant vegetation at Safety Beach is often treeless, and not easily detected on aerial photographs. Every street in Safety Beach was travelled, and all ‘vacant’ house blocks were briefly examined from the road. Over 50 were found to contain some native vegetation. Most of these areas were on private land. These were examined closely where it was clear that public entry was frequent and/or unhindered, while those blocks which were fenced were not examined. Most blocks contained few native species in low abundance, and were not investigated in detail. Twenty-seven accessible sites were identified that were considered to be informative in recon- structing the pre-settlement flora. At ten of these sites, quadrats were taken. These data are held in DSE’s Flora Information System (FIS) (quadrats E03403-E03412). Vegetation description Victoria’s DSE currently uses EVCs to describe native vegetation. This typology is employed in this report. All EVCs men- tioned in the text are summarised in Table 1 . For clarity, however, the specific vegeta- tion patterns of Safety Beach are generally described here in as much detail as possible without reliance on the EVC typology. Results Historical information Due to its position on the coast of Port Phillip, Safety Beach is well represented on early Victorian survey maps. The earliest maps of the area that make reference to its vegetation were drawn well before extensive settlement of the area, although they provide few annotations of ecological interest. Charles Grimes, who explored Port Phillip in 1802, simply labels the area between Arthurs Seat and Mt Martha as ‘Swamp’ (Grimes, 1803). Tuckey (1804) provides a slightly more detailed rendering of the vege- tation, and delineates a crescent-shaped area extending along the coast and about a kilo- metre inland, and labels it ‘extensive swamp’. Further inland, at the base of Mt Martha, Tuckey draws a Targe lagoon’. Cross (1827), shows three small creeks, and again labels the area as ‘swampy’. The first detailed survey of the area was made in 1841 by Thomas Nutt, for the squatter Hugh Jamieson, who took up one of the first runs on the Peninsula. The boundary of Nutt’s survey was marked with blazed trees, and these boundaries are faithfully retained in today’s property and infrastructure layout. The certainty with which these bounds can be recognised today, along with the sketched courses of some creeks, allow the annotations on veg- etation to be accurately positioned in dis- crete portions of the landscape. Along the coast, Nutt (1841) shows a narrow ‘Sandy Beach’, with a ‘swampy flat’ immediately inland, marked with small dots and sketch- es of tussocks. This area is drained by three small creeks, one of which (Brokil Ck (or Tassel Ck)) is labelled ‘salt water’. Further inland, he records a ‘Fine Flat’, Vol. 124 (3) 2007 133 Research reports c - o — -Q O 9- c CO o ■q ^ C Qi c a.. '5 £ ~ 03 O X £ 3 £ Q. ul £1 4— J_ o u. ^0 . R •b Q ^ > s: ~ v3 Q ^ -S3 S’-g-S Ct, § tJO Q $S O -o CG |i c" c3 o S ^ g 0) Q ^ ^ §. ;§ || ^S". £V> L. k£ -< ^3 | Is CQ -i: cu kj • c — D £ C3 — ?C Q. 03 £ -a 03 o Q o co£ 3 .2 3-q cu _Q 1 .fit 11.11 1 1 1 g S:-!^ 8 ll 1 '•-'SO §*~> •5 a £ ~C3 5 6 -S c c R o ^ st H ^ b 5S §j cx, £> .S VS I tl I 5 & Lq ^ o < CX, ^ Q S? $3 ^ O §43 *§> 3 $ ’S aQ ^§8 a x 5 I p o a g S-S cocol ■g^ cS § t! •S o a* q s 5 03 o C3 >s T3 £ ~0 , “ -c .£ _>s -£ T3 OS 0> eS U > £ 03 - Tt C r> c3 O c/3 £ >, 03 cl 03 C3 a/j.q £ >. x £ • — s- O (U O PJ w a > § s « -S C/3 3“$ co a st a =2.5 ^ r, ?3 sp -> ^ a o„ 2 *• o Q Q 3 ^ O C ^ ft TT< (i> Co . g a §• Os ^ sr c~^ § 8 f. sl | r- C S) ^ « .§ S c£ a s < a a s r So g -2 &.S 3 8 S-l -5; to cq O CO S eS ^ cq > & 'o t t3 3 -o ^§ ^ \q >-> o3 = "g Is <3 a S - Q II II !§..3" |1 ll o CA) C/3 ■ S^ E? 2 03 o3 £ £ D. J- £ § Oh £ ^ s CO -g ,3 I C/3 m cl] 134 The Victorian Naturalist 83 Swampy Riparian Streambanks on flats and in low Eucalyptus ovata. Acacia melanoxylon. Woodland Woodland gradient gullies Melaleuca ericifolia, Lomandra longifolia, to 20m Goodenia ovata , Phragmites australis Research reports g-e aS o & a) £ O si a. & CO -T3 3 i§" I -g V. 5 *. -O Q ' ! i' s &S> CO ^ JB a -s 1? e a I II ■§ -2 c ^3 «•§§ _o a 5 a, ^ < U R § g c . n tq O - a £ .2 ^.3 ^ & ~2 ^ 7 — > O ^3 .« 5 S .2 s: «J s § INI*! ^ |Jsl a°J Q sj ->5 cx,-a ‘ <-> a ft a: Q CO “sS .2 ^ a, -a T3 §<2 so _o s ? r ^ o c gS.g-8 5 « 1 3 gjS i g.i^ji co EX, £ 3 ■>~q C a Q s g oq -^3 « q s &! .2 O ^3 S a , -5 "S Sr a r 2 <1 a.O fcl^, a 2 P-r-. ■§S -g-S S-s a C *5 a .ft I? ^ ‘S „ .so ^ .to a «o -a *> Vfcn S 3 d, o ,h 5 r ^55" 9 ^ a -2 o"| S 3 su bO ► v as S3 Q Si) lilt as 1 a, « -a :a o « q ^ ~a ~ ^ o & o cx S 3 O e ^ ; ~2 S 3 a, ci. Sr =a su D-, -5 ^3 ^ C kq O ^ s § & £.£ g D, . > « ^45 T3 — co _ 03 0) Sg* " « M -2 U — | o co T3 £ co § O co £ 'T' >1 O O S3 c3 ~S J> JZ rt -C so 03 • 00 $p C3 X £ e £ £ >, t; s c2£ £ — “ (U 1 cd _i* c 3 .~H 03 > ^ o o &J) ^ a co G3 a u co £* fli £ .£ 0 - bO S 3 « -r- c >> i* c 5 - G£) oj = c "O 'O > 3 cO w i. i_i cu ^ -a .£ £ ^ &o ^ c.S >> 3 T 3 1=5 03 0 ) 'o &0 O W) co O co ~r~ ssJ -^■'cO U lo ^ § 3 G ^ ^stJ "S co O U - 4 —* r ^ M 01 '*- ■c-S §•§ CO >1 s ^ ra ■£ .£ oj .■ s — ■ X s S irtn ■3.S £ ci . a W o T 3 1) GO GO O ^ o 1 g r* s_ n 01 o3 SC ^ J2 _2 iS c Oh iS cn u 03 o >•. S-9W S 2 0 -3 -E O I so 3 w (N CO o ^ [2 X & cO 75%). Pair wise tests using ANOSIM (Krebs 1999) indicated the younger classes of vegetation (<10 years old) showed the greatest difference in structural complexity compared with the remnant sites (Jamieson 2002). SIMPER (similarity percentage) analysis (Clark and Gorley 2001) showed that for the three youngest revegetated sites, microhabitat components contributed the most to the structural differences between these sites and remnant sites, while vegetation density was the most sig- nificant feature that distinguished the older revegetated sites (>15 years old) from the remnant sites (Jamieson 2002). Birds Table 1 shows 45 species of birds were recorded (5 most abundant, 0 absent). The most frequently detected species are wide- spread and common and include the Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys. Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans. Sulphur- crested Cockatoo Cacatua tenuirostris. Eastern Rosella P. eximus, Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen and Little Raven Corvus mellori. Six species of par- rots were seen. The remnant vegetation sites had the highest abundance of birds and highest species richness. Abundance of birds increased with age of revegetation. More species were found in the remnant sites (38) than the revegetated ones, although interestingly more were also found in the younger revegetated sites (27 in the <5 Fig. 1 . Comparison of the mean ratings (max. 5) for structural habitat components found in the rem- nant and the combined revegetated sites. Vol. 124 (3) 2007 151 Research reports Table 1 . Species of birds found in each age group Estimated level of abundance (0 low - 5 high score). Refer to methods on scoring system. Columns show vegetation age classes. Common name Scientific name Remnant 1-5 5-10 10-15 15+ Family CASUARIIDEA Emu Dromaius novaeholtandiae 4 0 0 0 0 Family PHAS1ANIDAE Brown Quail Coturnix ypsilophora 3 0 0 0 0 Family ANATIDAE Australian Shelduck Tadorna tadornoides 0 1 1 0 0 Australian Wood Duck Chenonetta jubata 2 1 1 0 0 Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa 0 1 1 0 0 Family ARDEIDAE White-faced Heron Egretla novaeholtandiae 1 1 1 0 0 Family THRESKIORNITH1DAE Straw-necked Ibis Threskiomis spinicollis 0 0 0 4 0 Family ACCIPITRIDAE Wedge-tailed Eagle Apuila audax 2 0 0 1 0 Little Eagle Hieraaetus morphnoides 2 0 0 0 2 Whistling Kite H alias tur sphenurus 2 2 2 2 2 Family FALCON1DAE Brown Falcon Falco berigora 0 2 2 3 2 Family CHARADRIIDAE Masked Lapwing Vane/lus miles 0 1 1 0 0 Family CACATUIDAE Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorphynchus funereus 2 2 2 0 2 Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Caeatua galerila 5 4 4 2 3 Family PSITTACIDAE Little Lorikeet Glossopsilta pusilla 3 0 3 0 4 Crimson Rosella Platycems elegans 5 3 3 4 5 Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius 4 3 3 4 4 Red-rumped Parrot Psephotus haematonotus 2 5 5 0 3 Family CUCUL1DAE Pallid Cuckoo Cuculus pallidus 2 0 0 0 0 Family TYTONIDAE Barn Owl Tyto alba 0 0 0 1 0 Family STRIGIDAE Southern Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae 2 0 0 0 0 Family PODARGIDAE Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides 1 0 0 0 0 Family HALYCONIDAE Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae 1 2 2 2 2 Family CLIMACTERIDAE White-throated Treecreeper Cormobates leucophaeus 0 0 0 0 2 Family MALURIDAE Superb Fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus 4 2 2 0 3 Family PARDALOTIDAE Yellow-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza chrysorrhoa 2 2 2 3 0 Brown Thornbill Acanthiza pusilla 3 1 1 3 0 Family MELIPHAGIDAE White-naped Honeyeater Melithreptus lunatus 2 0 0 2 2 Yellow-faced Honeyeater Lichenostomus chrysops 4 1 1 3 0 New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae 3 3 3 3 3 Little Wattlebird Anthochaera chrysoptera 3 0 0 2 0 152 The Victorian Naturalist Research reports Table 1. (Cont.) Common name Scientific name Remnant 1-5 Family PETROICIDAE Flame Robin Petroica phoenicea 5 1 Jacky Winter Microeca fascinans 0 0 Family PACHYCEPHALIDAE Grey Shrike-thrush Colluricincla haromica 3 2 Family D1CRUR1DAE Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrvs 5 5 Grey Fan tail Rhipidura fuliginosa 3 1 Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca 2 0 Family CAMPEPHAGIDAE Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Coracina novaehollandiae 2 0 Family ARTAMIDAE Grey Currawong Strepera versicolour 3 0 White-browed Woodswallow Artamus super ciliosus 3 0 Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen 4 1 Family CORVIDAE Little Raven Corvus mellori 3 4 Family CORCORACIDAE Apostle Bird Struthidea cinerea 2 0 Family PASSERIDAE Red-browed Finch Neochmia temporalis 3 0 5-10 10-15 15+ 1 0 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 5 3 4 0 4 4 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 3 3 0 0 0 2 3 3 4 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 year old sites, 28 in the 5-10 year old sites) than in the older ones (21 species in the 10-15 year old sites and 23 in the >15 year old sites). Nine species were only ever seen in remnant sites. Birds were often seen flying from one site to another of a different age. For example, a New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae was seen to nest in a 12-year-old site and forage in a nearby 8-year-old site. Nests were detected only in sites that were >15 years old or remnant sites. However, for- aging occurred in all sites. While bird nests were found only in the remnant sites and the older revegetated ones, all sites were found to provide forag- ing habitat for birds. Nine species occurred only in the remnant sites; some, such as the Emu and Brown Quail, in rea- sonably high numbers. Mammals Table 2 shows that more mammal species were detected in the remnant sites (15) than in the revegetated sites (5, 7, 1 1 and 9 for the four groups of sites in order of increas- ing age). Four species were detected only in the remnant sites: Western Grey Kangaroo Macropus fuliginosus, Red-necked Wallaby M. rufogriseus. Brush-tailed Phascogale Phascogale tapoatafa and Swamp Rat Rattus lutreolus. Evidence of four mammal species was found in sites of all ages: Eastern Grey Kangaroo M. giganteus, Red Fox Vulpes vulpes. Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus and House Mouse Mus domesti- cus. Other introduced species (Cats Felis catus and Black Rats R. rattus) were wide- spread and common, being absent from only one (Cat - 1-5 year old) or two (Black Rat - remnant and > 15 years old) age classes of vegetation. A number of species were found only in remnant sites and in revegetation that was >10 years old: Black Wallaby Wallabia bicolor , Common Ringtail Possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus, Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula. Yellow-bellied Glider Petaurus australis. Koala Phascogale cinereus, Agile Antechinus Antechinus agilis (as well as the four detected only in remnant sites). The Short-beaked Echidna Tachyglossus aculea- tus was found in the 5-10 and 10-15 year age class sites as well in remnant vegetation. Vol. 124 (3) 2007 153 Research reports Table 2. Presence/absence survey results on mammal species at study sites. X = present, - = absent * = Listed as found in the study area by the Atlas of Victorian wildlife.s = sighted, c = scat identi- fied, h = heard call, t = trapped, d = digging/tracks Common Name Scientific Name Detection method Remnant 1-5 5-10 Native mammals Eastern Grey Kangaroo (s,c) Macropus giganteus * s,c X X X Western Grey Kangaroo (s) Macropus fuliginosus s X _ _ Swamp Wallaby (s, c) Wallabia bicolor s,c X _ _ Red-necked Wallaby (s) Macropus rufogriseus s X - _ Common Ringtail Possum (s, c) Pseudocheirus peregrinus * s,c X _ _ Common Brush-tail Possum (s,c) Trichosurus vulpecula * s,c X _ _ Brush-tailed Phascogale (c) Phascogale tapoatafa * c X - _ Yellow-bellied Glider (h, s?) Petaurus australis h,s X _ _ Koala (s, c) Phascolarctos cinereus * s,c X _ _ Agile Antechinus (t) Antechinus agiiis t _ _ _ Swamp Rat (t) Rattus lutreolus t X _ _ Short-beaked Echidna (d, s) Tachyglossus aculeatus d,s X - X Introduced mammals Red Fox (s, c, d) Vulpes vulpes * s,c,d X X X Cat (s, c) Felis catus * s,c X _ X Rabbit (s, c) Orvctolagus cuniculus s,c X X X Black Rat (t) Rattus rattus t _ X X House Mouse (t) Mus domesticus t X X X Total No. of species 15 5 7 Relationship between habitat complexity and fauna abundance As the complexity of the habitat increased, the average number of birds and mammals seen on each survey increased. When Spearman’s rank correlation was used to assess if a relationship existed between rela- tive structural complexity values and abun- dance of all animals seen, there was a strong correlation for birds but not for mammals (Table 3). However, we found there was a positive relationship between vegetation density and abundance of native mammals (p=0.03). Factors which produced signifi- cant correlations for birds were vegetation density (p=0.03), tree hollows (p=0.05) and microhabitat components (p=0.04). Exotic species ANOSIM (Bray Curtis) analysis indicated there were no significant differences in the numbers of introduced carnivorous mam- mals (foxes, dogs, cats), herbivorous mam- mals (rabbits), and weeds between the four different aged revegetated sites and the remnant sites. However, weeds were observed to be most abundant in the younger sites. Introduced pasture grasses such as Smooth Meadow-grass Poa praten- sis, Yorkshire Fog Holcus lanatus and Cocksfoot Dactylis glomerata were the most common weeds present, along with Patterson's Curse Echium plantagineum and Serrated Tussock Nassella trichotoma. Discussion Over $6 million is spent annually on reveg- etation of degraded lands in Victoria (Griffin 1999). Bennett (2000) has noted that whilst tree planting has been extensive in rural Australia over the last 15 years, only 2% of plantings have had as their main purpose conservation of flora and fauna. Nonetheless, most proponents of revegeta- tion will state biodiversity conservation is an important consequence even if it is not the main purpose of such habitat improve- ment (Hobbs 1993, Bennett et al. 2000). Thus, some authors have questioned whether revegetation in small patches is of value, mainly because the patchiness impedes free movement of populations. Our results show that in the Wannon catchment, revegetated areas do indeed provide habitat for mammals and birds as suggested by Bennett et al. (2000) and Hobbs (1993). This result concurs with work by Loyn (2005) who examined use of plantations by wildlife in north-eastern Victoria. Importantly, we found that as the 154 The Victorian Naturalist Research reports Table 3. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of the relationship between species presence and habitat features. Upper number is correla- tion co-efficient, lower number level of signifi- cance. * indicates correlation is significant at 0.05 level. Habitat Feature Class Aves Class Mammalia Gaps .301 .000 .258) 1.000 Tree hollows .499* .688 .049 .199 Hollow logs .493 .688 .052 .199 Micro-habitat components .519* .825 .040 .086 Veg. Densities .538* .918* .032 .028 % Upper .260 .395 .331 .511 % Middle -.096 -.564 .725 .322 % Ground -.176 -.821 .514 .089 vegetation aged, its structural complexity increased and this provided for more species and higher numbers of animals. Remnant and revegetated sites mainly dif- fered structurally in terms of vegetation densities and microhabitat components such as percentage cover by native grasses and leaf litter. In the early stage, plants in the upper and middle vegetation strata grow close together; as the plot ages and the upper layers become less dense, more light is able to reach the ground. Bennett et al. (2000) have noted the importance of microhabitat features such as leaf litter, mossy patches, rocks and grasses in pro- viding habitat for invertebrates and small vertebrates. To date, revegetation schemes in the Wannon catchment have ignored microhabitat features. However, even though there has been no deliberate con- sideration of the establishment of a grassy understorey, we found that sites > 1 0 years old had a substantial level of litter and native grasses (Poaceae), especially Themeda triandra. Furthermore, as vegeta- tion aged, weed levels decreased. While ANOSIM did not detect significant differ- ences in the number of exotic mammals in the five groups of sites, remnant sites had fewer foxes and rats than the early stages of revegetation. This is hardly surprising, as disturbance enhances colonisation by introduced species (Krebs 1999). The bird species we detected have been found to be common in revegetated ripari- an strips in the same region (Merritt and Wallis 2004). There were no introduced bird species detected. In their similar study in the nearby Dundas Tablelands, Merritt and Wallis (2004) found only four intro- duced species (from 43 bird species) and these constituted only 63 of 5075 bird sightings. More birds and more species of birds were found in the remnant sites than in the revegetated ones. However, the rela- tionship between age of vegetation and species richness was not linear, as more species were seen in the younger than the older revegetated sites. Only two native mammal species (Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Short-beaked Echidna) were detected in sites <10 years old. On the other hand, there were nine species that were only found in sites >10 years old. The detection of Yellow-bellied Gliders ( P . australis) in regrowth (15+ years old) is especially significant given the gliders’ dependence on hollows that usually devel- op only in mature trees (Smith and Hume 1984). In turn, this indicates that adequate shelter, hollows and/or food are found only in the older sites. These observations are consistent with those of other workers. For example, Rossi (2001) concluded that rich- ness and abundance of small mammals in south-eastern Australia depended on the age and structural complexity of the vege- tation, while Deacon and Mac Nally (1998) found a direct correlation between the num- ber of arboreal mammals and the number of tree hollows in central Victoria as demonstrated by Wilson et al. (1990). Connectivity of vegetation as well as com- plexity is also important for the presence and abundance of small mammals. Thus Crome et al. (1994) found no mammals used planted windbreaks that were isolated from remnant vegetation, while Rossi (2001) found mammals did use revegetated sites providing they were connected to established vegetation. In our study area, there were sufficient proximate remnant Vol. 124 (3) 2007 155 Research reports sites to allow for colonisation of mammals and certainly birds. We conclude that revegetated, fenced and relatively wide (at least 20 m) plantations can provide habitat for native birds and mammals in western Victoria and that their value in terms of biodiversity conservation increases as the patches become older and more structurally complex. Acknowledgements We thank the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority for financial support, and especially Peter Waldron for assisting with site selection. Landholders Bruce and Lyn Milne, Dan Dalohoy and the Waggs family are thanked for allowing access to their properties. Gordon Blake and Sarah Halligan are thanked for field assistance. References Bennett AF (1990) Land use, forest fragmentation and the mammalian fauna at Naringal, south-western Victoria. Australian Wildlife Research 17 , 325-347. Bennett AF (2000) Future directions in revegetation: Will biodiversity issues receive greater considera- tion? In Directions in revegetation and regeneration in Victoria: Proceedings of a forum held at Greening Australia , May 5 and 6, Heidelberg, Victoria, pp 101-107. Eds MJ McDonnell and NS Williams (Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology: Cranboume) Bennett AF, Kimber S and Ryan P (2000) Revegetation and Wildlife - A guide to enhancing revegetated habitats for wildlife conservation in rural environ- ments. Bushcare National Projects Research and Development Program, Research Report 2/00, Melbourne. Clark KR and Gorley RN (2001) Primer v5: User Manual/Tutorial. (Primer-E: Plymouth) Crome F, Isaacs J and Moore L (1994) The utility of birds and mammals of remnant riparian vegetation and associated windbreaks in the tropical Queensland uplands. Pacific Conservation Biology 1 , 328-343. Deacon JN and Mac Nally R (1998) Local extinction and nestedness of small mammal faunas in fragment- ed forest in central Victoria. Pacific Conservation Biology 4 , 122-131. Downes SJ, Handasyde KA and Elgar MA (1997) The use of corridors by mammals in fragmented Australian eucalypt forests. Conservation Biology’ 11 , 718-726. Glenelg-Hopkins Catchment Management Authority (2000) Draft Glenelg-Hopkins Native Vegetation Plan (Glenelg-Hopkins Catchment Management Authority: Hamilton) Gretton P and Salma U (1996) Land Degradation and the Australian Agricultural Industry (Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra) Griffin NRM (1999) Native Vegetation National Overview (Commonwealth of Australia, Environment Australia: Canberra) Hobbs RJ (1993) Can revegetation assist in the conser- vation of biodiversity in agricultural areas? Pacific Conservation Biology 1 , 29-38. Hobbs RJ and Hopkins AJM (1990) From frontiers to fragments: European impact on Australia's vegeta- tion. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia 16 , 93-1 14. Jamieson D (2002) A comparison of habitat complexity and fauna use, between remnant vegetation and revegetated sites within the Wannon catchment. (Unpublished BSc Hons Thesis, Deakin University) Krebs CJ (1999) Ecological Methodology (Benjamin Cummings: Merlo Park) Kimber SL, Bennett AF and Ryan PA (1999) Revegetation and Wildlife: What do we know about revegetation and wildlife conservation in Australia? A report to Environment Australia. (School of Ecology and Environment, Deakin University: Burwood) Land Conservation Council (1979) Report on the South-Western Area, District 2. (Land Conservation Council: Melbourne) Loyn R (2005) Plantations can benefit wildlife. Victorian Landcare and Catchment Management 34, 10-11. Lynch JF and Saunders DA (1991) Responses of bird species to habitat fragmentation in the wheatbelt of Western Australia: interiors, edges and corridors. In Nature Conservation 2: The Role of Corridors, pp 143-158. Eds DA Saunders and RJ Hobbs (Surrey Beatty: Chipping Norton, NSW) Merriam G and Saunders DA (1993) Corridors in restora- tion of fragmented landscapes. In Nature Conservation 3: Reconstruction of Fragmented Ecosystems, pp 71- 87. Eds DA Saunders, RJ Hobbs and PR Ehrlich (Surrey Beatty: Chipping Norton, NSW) Merritt B and Wallis R (2004) Are wide revegetated riparian strips better for birds and frogs than narrow ones? The Victorian Naturalist 121 , 288-292. Panetta FD and Hopkins AM (1991) Weeds in corri- dors: invasion and management. In Nature Conservation 2: The Role of Corridors, pp 341-351. Eds DA Saunders and RJ Hobbs (Surrey Beatty: Chipping Norton, NSW) Recher HF (1993) The loss of biodiversity and land- scape restoration: conservation, management, survival. An Australian perspective. In Nature Conservation 3: The Reconstruction of Fragmented Ecosystems, pp 141-151. Eds DA Saunders, RJ Hobbs and PR Ehrlich (Surrey Beatty: Chipping Norton, NSW) Rossi S (2001) The use of revegetated habitats by mammals at Yellingbo Nature Reserve. (Unpublished BSc Hons Thesis, Deakin University) Rossi S (2003) Birds, mammals and their habitat in a variegated landscape in the Western Strzelecki Ranges. (Unpublished MSc Thesis, Monash University) Ryan PA (2000) The use of vegetated areas by verte- brate fauna in Australia: a review. In Temperate Eucalypt Woodlands in Australia: Biology, Conservation, Management and Restoration, pp 3 1 8- 335. Eds RJ Hobbs and CJ Yates (Surrey Beatty: Chipping Norton, NSW) Smith A and Hume I (1984) Possums and Gliders (Surrey Beatty: Chipping Norton, NSW) Triggs B (1998) Tracks, Scats and Other Traces: a Field Guide to Australian Mammals. (Oxford University Press: Melbourne) Wilson BA, Robertson D, Moloney DJ, Newell GR and Laidlaw WS (1990) Factors affecting small mammal distribution and abundance in the Eastern Otway Ranges, Victoria. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia 16 , 379-394. Received 23 June 2005; Accepted 22 March 2007 156 The Victorian Naturalist Contributions How Aboriginal studies ceased to be part of natural history Gary Presland School of Social and Environmental Enquiry The University of Melbourne, 3010 Abstract It was once common to include studies of Aboriginal culture and history within the purview of natur- al history studies. This perspective changed in Victoria from the early 1970s, with the concurrent development of a number of avenues for professional fieldwork and publication related to studying the Aboriginal past. These developments are detailed here along with the long-term impacts they had for the involvement of the FNCV in Aboriginal studies. (The Victorian Naturalist 124 (3), 2007, 157 -162) Introduction Today, many of the interests of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) are given effect through its Special Interest Groups, which collectively take in the widest gamut of natural history. Within the history of the FNCV, however, such groups are relatively recent and represent only the latest configuration of members’ interests (Houghton and Presland 2005). In all areas of intellectual pursuit, from time to time the constitutant parts change. So it is within the field of ‘natural history’ and this paper is about one such change. Once upon a time, it was not unusual to think of the study of Aboriginal culture as part of the purview of natural history. From the earliest days of natural history study in this country, it was commonplace for natu- ralists to include aspects of Aboriginal cul- ture within their range of interests (Finney 1993). This was largely a function of the European view of so-called ‘primitive’ cul- tures as being more closely related to nature than those of the western world. It was partly due also to the fact that, at the time of European settlement of Australia, the discipline of anthropology had not been developed. These perspectives regarding Aborigines remained influential, if not widely current, however, well into the twentieth century, as is evident in both aca- demic and popular writing, as well as in museum practice. For example, works pub- lished in the 1970s, such as The natural history of Sydney (Various authors 1972), Natural history of the Adelaide region (Twidale et al. 1976) and Sense of place (Seddon 1972), all included chapters on the indigenous people of the respective studied areas. Today, while it is not unusual to include a chapter, usually near the begin- ning, about local indigenous culture in local history studies, greater attention is paid to fitting this detail into the context of the wider work. Within the National Museum of Victoria, the state’s primary natural history muse- um, Aboriginal culture was an integral part of public exhibitions for most of the twen- tieth century. This aspect of the Museum’s work was perhaps largely due to the influ- ence of Baldwin Spencer, Director of the Museum from 1899 to 1927. Spencer’s interest in anthropology had developed from his involvement in the Horn expedi- ton of 1894 and he soon formed new col- lections on behalf of the Museum (Rasmussen 2001). The attitudes that are evident in such practices would strike naturalists today as old-fashioned at best, and perhaps as something far worse. This is so because the accepted view of the place and worth of Aboriginal studies has changed substan- tially in the past 30 years. It is clear we no longer think of Aboriginal culture as part of natural history; but when did we stop doing that, and why? What brought about this change? This paper addresses these questions and looks, briefly, at the reasons why the study of Aboriginal culture was lifted out of the realm of natural history and achieved its more rightful place among other human-centred fields of study. In what follows, the activities and publishing of the FNCV are used as primary exam- ples, firstly of the previous views, and sec- ondly, of the changes that have taken place. Vol. 124 (3) 2007 157 Contributions Anthropology and the FNCV The inclusion of Aboriginal culture within the scope of naturalist studies was sympto- matic of the wider, societal view of Aborigines, through most of the 20“' centu- ry. It is not surprising, then, that it was also apparent in the various interests of the FNCV. Since its formation in 1880, the club has been a central force in maintain- ing both the practice and intellectual framework of natural history in this state. Thus, as the premier natural history body, in its programme of activities and through the pages of its journal. The Victorian Naturalist , the FNCV can be said to exem- plify the practice of natural history. In keeping with attitudes within broader society in Australia at the time, papers in Aboriginal studies were regular fare for members of the FNCV for the first century of the Club’s existence. Indeed, during the 1920s and ’30s, interest amongst members in anthropology in general and Aboriginal subjects in particular was sufficient to war- rant forming a special interest group. The Ethnological Section of the FNCV had its inaugural meeting on 7 June 1928, with Alfred Kenyon presiding; Charles Daley was appointed Honorary Secretary (Anon 1928). Both of these men were active at the highest levels of the parent body: Daley had been President of the club from 1922 to 1924, and Kenyon was to hold that position from 1934 to 1935 (Houghton and Presland 2005). The Ethnological Section had a pre-cursor in a group called the Prehistoric Club, which had been formed by Kenyon in the previous year and which met at his home in Heidelberg (Griffiths 1996). In the first year of its life as part of the FNCV, the Ethnological Section met on a monthly basis, mostly at Latham House in Swanston Street, Melbourne. There, members heard lectures and took part in discussions on a wide range of sub- jects of anthropological and archaeological interest, including the early history of man, native cultures of South Africa and North America, and Aboriginal art and artefacts (Anon 1929). In addition to these lecture meetings, which were open to all members of the FNCV, field trips to Aboriginal sites with- in Victoria were organized regularly. Destinations outside of the Melbourne area for such trips included the Aboriginal stone quarries at Mount William and Cape Liptrap, and shell middens and stone tool scatters along the south Gippsland coast. A number of sites closer to Melbourne were visited frequently also. It is a matter of some regret that the number and frequency of visits to these Aboriginal sites (not always by members of the FNCV, of course), ironically, did them more harm than good. In the absence of any legislative protection, many visitors ‘collected’ exam- ples of Aboriginal stone artefacts from sites. This occurred in the Altona area when an FNCV group visited shell mid- dens in April 1918 (Anon, 1918) and November 1921 (Anon 1922). The Mount William stone quarry was another favourite site for those people interested in Aboriginal artefacts; it was visited by FNCV members in February 1908 (Anon 1908) and in May 1929 (Kenyon 1929). This collecting activity occurred to the point where, today, the smaller sites such as coastal middens have been virtually denuded of any artefactual material. An archaeological survey of Aboriginal sites in the Melbourne area in 1983, found that stone tool collectors had long-since stripped these sites clean of any useful scientific data (Presland 1983, 1984). Further indications of the long-standing connections between natural history and Aboriginal studies can be seen in the numerous articles on Aboriginal culture that have appeared in the Club’s journal. Although articles and shorter pieces on Aboriginal studies were published regular- ly throughout this period, the subject mat- ter was never a major focus for the journal. In the 100 years of its publication, from 1884 to 1983, The Victorian Naturalist carried 342 articles relating to Aboriginal culture (Hall 1979). From the beginning of the twentieth century these articles aver- aged just over three per year, except for two peak periods - during the 1920s this average lifted to about six per annum; and during the 1960s it reached eight per annum. A few of the writers of these pieces were specialists in Aboriginal studies or in anthropology, but the great majority were not; they were individuals with an interest in the natural world, and who thought of 158 The Victorian Naturalist The Victorian Naturalist Index to Volume 123, 2006 Compiled by KN Bell Australian Natural History Medal Medallionist 2005, Pauline Reilly, 47 Medallionist 2006, Ian Fraser, 400 Trust Fund, 406 Authors Adams R and Meers T, 29 Allen G et al., 68 Almond E, 345 (book review) Amos N, Anderson H and Mansergh 1, 4, 288 Anderson H, Amos N and Mansergh I, 4, 288 Awal S, 84 Barrow G et al., 68 Beckmann K, Milne J and Short M, 195 Beech P, 321 (book review) Belvedere M, 407 (book review) Biggs L and Gibson M, 270 Bird E, 49 Black D, et al., 68 Bouma S, 341 (book review) Carrigan C, 279 Clarke R, 184 (book review) Clemann N, 59 (book review), 383 Cooke R, 54 (book review) Dell M and Jenkin J, 255 Dolby T, 176 Dunn KL, 319 (book review), 342 (book review) Editors, The Victorian Naturalist, 2, 66, 126, 190, 286,350 Endersby I 47, 57 (book review), 400 Endersby I and Koehler S, 362 Fitzsimons JA, Williams C and FitzSimons P, 134 FitzSimons P, Fitzsimons JA and Williams C, 134 Floyed AB and Gibson M, 229 Gaskett AC and Herberstein ME, 128 Geering D, 58 (book review) Gibson M, 120 (book review), 122 (software review), 183 (book review), 192 Gibson M and Biggs L, 270 Gibson M and Floyed AB, 229 Gibson M and Tyshing C, 203 Gillbank L, 174 (Tribute) Grey MJ, 1 1 8 (book review) Hamilton AJ and Taylor IR, 38 Harley D, 170 Harris JM and Maloney KS, 157, 376 Heard GW, et al., 68 Herberstein ME and Gaskett AC, 128 Hewish M, 3 14 Homan P, 181,317,335 Hubregtse V, 339 (book review), 344 (book review), 409 (book review) Hurley V et al., 68 Hynes D, 1 17 Jenkin J and Dell M, 255 Johnson M and Kirkwood R, 1 46 Johnston P, et al., 68 Jolly H, 215 Joyce EB, 55 (book review) Kcllar C. Short M and Milne J, 222 Kelly LT, 91 Kirkwood M and Johnson M, 146 Kloot T, 1 1 1 (Tribute) Koehler S and Endersby 1, 362 Kubiak PJ, 352 McCann D, 100, 113 (Tribute) McLean N, 395 Maloney KS and Harris JM, 157, 376 Mansergh I, Anderson H and Amos N, 4, 288 Martin AA, JK and SM, 1 15 May T and Sommerville K, 366 Meagher D, 4 1 , 1 66, 2 1 2, 236, 247 Meers T and Adams R, 29 Milne J, Short M and Beekmann K, 195 Milne J, Short M and Kcllar C, 222 Mitchell S and Yugovic J, 323 Monger A, 403 (Tribute) New TR, 405 Overeem R, Wallis R and Salzman S, 390 Palmer CS, 412 Pierson R, 182 (book review) Presland G, 1 86 (book review) Robertson P, et al., 68 Salzman S, Overeem R and Wallis R, 390 Sinclair S, 75 Short M, Milne J and Beckmann K, 195 Short M, Milne J and Kellar C, 222 Sommerville K and May T, 366 Taylor IR and Hamilton AJ, 38 Tyshing C and Gibson M, 203 Wallis R, Salzman S and Overeem R, 390 Wainer J, 347 (book review) Williams C, Fitzsimons JA and FitzSimons P, 134 Yugovic J and Mitchell S, 323 Birds Aythya australis, diving behaviour, 38 Eudyptula minor, sexing by bill measurement, 390 Hardhead, diving behaviour, 38 Little penguins, sexing by bill measurements, 390 Twitchathon, 176 Book Reviews A Naturalist’s Life, R Erickson (I Endersby), 57 Albatross: elusive m'ariners of the Southern Ocean, A Terauds (R Clarke), 184 Australia’s Volcanoes, R Ferrett (EB Joyce), 55 Backyard Insects, P Home and D Crawford (J Wainer), 347 Birds of South-eastern Australia, Gould League Series, revised by Alan Reid, (V Hubregtse), 339 Butterflies of the Solomon Islands: systematics and biogeography, J Tennant (K Dunn), 319 Climate change; turning up the heat, AB Pittock (P Beech), 321 Fossil Invertebrates, PD Taylor and DN Lewis (R Pierson), 182 Ocean shores to desert dunes: the native vegetation of New South Wales and the ACT, D Keith (M Gibson), 183 Owls - Journeys around the World, D Hollands (R Cooke), 54 Rhythms of the Tarkine: a natural history adventure, S Lloyd (V Hubregtse), 344 Snakes, Lizards and Frogs of the Victorian Mallee, M Swan and S Watharow (N Clemann), 59 Spiders of Australia, an introduction to their classification, biology and distri- bution, Ti Hawkeswood (K Dunn), 342 Successfully Growing Australian Native Plants, and, Colour your garden with Australian Natives, G and B Rigby (M Belvedere), 407 Tasmanian Devil: a Unique and Threatened Animal, D Owen and D Pemberton (S Bouma), 341 The Big Twitch, S Dooley (D Geering), 58 The Gilded Canopy, Botanical Ceiling Panels of the Natural History Museum, S Knapp and B Press (E Almond), 345 The Nature of Plants: habitats, chal- lenges and adaptations, J Dawson and R Lucas (M Gibson), 120 Wedge-tailed Eagle, P Olsen (V Hubregtse), 409 Wildlife of the Box-Ironbark Country, C Tzaros (M Grey), 1 1 8 Yarra: A diverting history of Melbourne’ s murky river, K Otto (G Presland), 1 86 Botany Atrichum androgynum, reproduction, 270 Banksiamyces, taxonomy, ecology, 366 Bazzania, 41 Blackwoods, bryophyte distribution on, Otway Ra., 255 Bryophytes Bazzania, 41 Bryophyte distribution in Blackwood forests, Otway Ra., 255 Dicksonia antarctica, epiphytes on, 229 Epiphytes on D. antarctica, 229 Epiphytes on N. cunninghamii and E. regnans, 222 Fabronia, 212 Glossary of Bryophyte terms, 282 Introducing Bryophytes, 192 Key to leafy liverworts, 236 Key to thallose liverworts and horn worts, 247 Leptodon, 161 Melbourne’s marvellous mosses, 215 Occurrence in soil crust. Little Desert NP, 195 Peristomal architecture, 203 Sexual reproduction, Atrichum andro- gynum, 270 Stream bryophytes, 279 Cryptostylis, flowering, pollination, 128 Ecological review, Koo-wee-rup Swamp, 323 Eucalyptus regnans, epiphytes on, 222 Fabronia, 212 Flora of Highbury Park, 75 Flowers visited by Aust. Painted Lady, 352 Leptodon, 161 Nothofagus cunninghamii, epiphytes on, 222 Peristomal architecture of bryophytes, 203 Tongue orchids, flowering, pollination, 128 Vegetation changes in powerline ease- ments, 29 Victoria’s living natural capital, 4, 288 (errata 311) Errata Victoria’s living natural capital. Part 1, 311 Geomorphology Higher sea levels effects, Port Phillip Bay, 49 History Brittlebank, Charles and Thomas, 314 FNCV Geology Group 1880-2005, 100 Victoria’s living natural capital, 4, 288 (errata 311) Insects Acripeza reticulata , visitor to Wilsons Promontory?, 405 Australian Painted Lady, flowers visited, 352 Golden Sun Moth, new Melbourne popu- lations, 362 Mountain Katydid, 405 Synemon plana , new Melbourne popu- lations, 362 Vanessa kershawi, flowers visited, 352 Invertebrates Fauna of soil crusts. Little Desert NP, 195 Localities Barwon estuary management, 84 Central Highlands, epiphytic bryophytes, 229 French Island, terrestrial mammals, 146 Highbury Park, Burwood East, flora, 75 Koo-wee-rup Swamp, ecology of, 323 Little Desert NP, bryophytes, inverte- brates in soil, 195 Melbourne, Golden Sun Moth popula- tions, 362 Otway Ranges, bryophytes in Blackwood forest, 255 Phillip Island, terrestrial mammals, 146 Port Phillip Bay, effects of higher sea levels, 49 Sydney bushland, Australian Painted Lady food, 352 The Gurdies, Bobucks, 1 17 Yarra Ranges NP, epiphytes on N. cum- minghamii, E. regnans, 222 Yellingbo NCR, Leadbeaters Possum, 170 Wilsons Promontory, Mountain Katydid occurrence, 405 Mammals Acrobat es pygmaeus , records, 157 Antechinus flavipes , distribution, habitat, 91 Bobuck, blind survival, 1 15 Bobuck at The Gurdies, 1 1 7 Canid predation on Inland Carpet Python, 68 Common Dunnart using artificial habitat, 317 Feathertail glider, records, 157 Greater Glider, records, 376 Gymnobelideus leadbeateri, Yellingbo NCR, 170 Koala, sex, age bias in road kills, 395 Leadbeaters Possum at Yellingbo NCR 170 Petauroides volvans , records, 376 Phascolarctos cinereus, sex, age bias in road kills, 395 Sminthopsis murina using artificial habi- tat, 317 Terrestrial mammals, Phillip and French Islands, 146 Trichosurus cunginghami, blind sur- vival, 1 15 Trichosurus cunninghami, at the Gurdies, 117 Yellow- footed Antechinus, distribution, habitat, 9 1 Miscellaneous Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, additions to, 187, 318 Author guidelines, 61,410 Ecological attributes of strategic land acquisitions, 134 Haiku (C Palmer), 412 74 years ago, 165 (Pygmy Flying Possum) 100 years ago, 90 (Black Spur), 112 (Black Spur), 173 (Wallaby at sea), 346 (Wildflower exhib.), 365, 375, 399, 402 (all Wilsons Prom) 1 14 years ago, 283 (Mosses) 1 19 years ago, 254 (Victorian mosses) Reptiles Egernia coventryi, new records, 335 Eulamprus tympanum , birthing, 181 Inland Carpet Python, canid predation on, 68 Morelia spilota metcalfei, canid predation on, 68 Snake catchers, practices, experiences, 383 Southern Water Skink, birthing, 181 Reptiles, new locality records, 335 Software Forgotten Flora Resource Kit, J Milne, T Lebel, A Veenstra-Quah and G Shadford (M Gibson), 122 Tributes Neil Wilfred Archbold (D McCann), 1 13 David Hungerford Ashton (L Gillbank), 174 Ellen Margery McCulloch (T Kloot), 111 Brian John Smith (A Monger), 403 Note: Volume 123 part 4 comprises the Bryophyte special issue. Contributions Aborigines and their culture as a part of that world. W Hanks, 'for example, had 12 articles published in The Victorian Naturalist in an eight-year period from 1930 to 1937. Of these, only one was about Aboriginal culture, relating to a campsite on the Merri Creek in Coburg (Hanks 1933). Similarly, in the mid 1960s, Percy Gressler published three short pieces on Aboriginal cemeteries, rock carvings and campsites, plus one on the regenera- tion of River Oak Casuarina cunninghami- ana (Gressler 1965, 1966a, 1966b and 1966c). The most prolific writer on the subject of Aborigines was Aldo Massola, a curator in the Anthropology section at the National Museum of Victoria, from 1954 to 1964. He published 64 articles in The Victorian Naturalist, from volume 73 (1956) to volume 91 (1974), single-hand- edly accounting for the peak in Aboriginal material in the 1960s. An interesting sidelight on the relationship between Aboriginal studies and natural his- tory is cast by consideration of the Australian Natural History Medallion. This award was instigated by the FNCV and has been presented annually since 1940 in acknowledgement of outstanding work in any of the range of fields encompassed by the term ‘natural history’ (Houghton 1987). The Medallion has had three fonns, the first of which was used from its beginnings until 1980 (Fig 1). This original design, which explicitly connects natural history and indigenous people, was the work of RH Croll who was President of the FNCV at the time (Houghton 1987). His more-than-pass- ing interest in Aboriginal culture extended to an active membership of the Ethnological Section and the Victorian Aboriginal Group, which was formed in 1930 to pro- mote better conditions (and Christianity) for Aborigines in the northern parts of Australia (Griffiths 1996). In the 40 years that the Medallion bore this Aboriginal design, it was awarded, on four occasions, to individuals for their contribu- tions in the field of anthropology. These awards were made to Charles Mountford in 1945; Stan Mitchell in 1955; Norman Tindale in 1968; and Edmund Gill in 1973 (Houghton 1987). It is evident from these instances that anthropology was considered a commendable part of natural history. Fig. 1. Australian Natural History Medallion, 1940 - 1980 . However, the attitude that allowed such inclusion within natural history had clearly changed by the early 1980s. The Ethnological Section had long-since ceased to operate, dissolving in the early 1930s (Griffiths 1996). Although lectures on anthropological or Aboriginal subjects continued to be delivered at general meet- ings of the FNCV, their frequency was sporadic. If we are to judge from the con- tents of The Victorian Naturalist, from the end of the 1970s Aboriginal studies waned as a subject that found favour with the journal’s editors. During the 1980s there were only five articles relating to an Aboriginal subject published in The Victorian Naturalist, and this number dropped to zero during the 1990s. Since volume 104 (1988), which contained a paper on the Woi wurru name for the T uan (Scarlett 1988), there has been only one Aboriginal-related item published by the FNCV. That paper was included as part of the issue on fire (McLoughlin 2004). Developments in Aboriginal studies What had occurred to bring about this change in thinking? In the case of articles published in The Victorian Naturalist, Archer (2005) identified two factors that may have impacted on the range of subject areas published, including anthrop- ology/Aboriginal material. The first of these, the influence of the journal’s edi- tors) at any given period, was perhaps of a Vol. 124 (3) 2007 159 Contributions lesser importance in the time considered here. The effect of editorial control was diminished, firstly because none of the editors of The Victorian Naturalist in the periods when the subject areas appeared most often was especially involved with the subjects. Indeed, none of the major protagonists for anthropology within the FNCV — in the earlier days Kenyon, Mitchell, and Croll; and later Gill and Massola — served as Editor of the Club’s journal. Secondly, the subject was one that (as with a couple of others) didn’t com- mand a sufficiently large following to war- rant promotion by an editor. As Archer (2005) observes, in comparison with other areas of interest ‘Geology and anthropolo- gy have never featured heavily as topics in The Victorian Naturalist’ . The second factor suggested by Archer as an influence on the content of the journal was the existence of other suitable publish- ing opportunities, and this was particularly applicable in the case of anthropology/ Aboriginal material. A more likely cause of the decline in these subjects on the pages of The Victorian Naturalist lies in the emergence of other avenues where such material could be printed. The occur- rence of these new possibilities was itself closely bound up in wider developments in the area of Aboriginal studies. It is neces- sary to consider these developments here, even briefly, because it was they, in fact, that impacted on the general area of natural history, leading ultimately to Aboriginal studies being separated as an independent field of enquiry. The study of Australia's indigenous cul- tures, particularly through the application of archaeology, blossomed in the 1970s. Perhaps nowhere was this movement more evident than in Victoria, where a number of crucial initiatives occurred. Locally, the early part of the decade was a period of expansion in interest, even occasioning some excitement in local archaeological circles. These circles were small at the time but about to grow rapidly. Within the space of a few years, three separate devel- opments took place within Victoria that saw a great deal more attention paid to Aboriginal sites in this state. The first of these, the establishment of a state govern- ment department in April 1973, coincided and to a degree facilitated activities by researchers from interstate. An increasing interest in Aboriginal archaeology at uni- versities in Sydney, Canberra and Armidale meant that more fieldwork was being undertaken in widespread areas, including Victoria (Presland 2001). In this state, the Archaeological and Aboriginal Relics Preservation Act was proclaimed in May 1972, in order to give legislative protection to Aboriginal sites within Victoria. Among the groups that had campaigned for such protection was the Anthropological Society of Victoria, which included in its membership Stan Mitchell, Robert Croll and Aldo Massola, names that were familiar to the FNCV. The primary impact of this legislation was the creation, in April 1973, of the Archaeological and Aboriginal Relics Preservation Office (AARO). This state government instrumen- tality was originally located administrative- ly within the Premier’s Department but was relocated a number of times over its 22 year history. It also changed its name once — from July 1976 onwards it was called Victoria Archaeological Survey (VAS) (Presland 2000). At the time, the Archaeological Society of Victoria (ASV) was the major interest group active in archaeological fieldwork in Victoria, although its activities in this regard were not extensive. The ASV was formed at the beginning of 1965, on a wave of enthusiasm by people who had attended a series of lectures on the broad subject of ‘archaeology’ over the previous five years. The series was run by Ron Ridley and Bill Culican, both of whom were in the Department of Classics at The University of Melbourne (Presland, 1998). The society was formed at the instigation of Culican, and he remained an important figure in the group until his sudden death in 1984. Sandor Gallus was another important fig- ure in the ASV’s activities whose connec- tion stemmed from that series of lectures. Dr Gallus was an Hungarian-trained archaeologist who was digging in his spare time on a series of sites at Dry Creek near Keilor. Beginning in 1966, members of the ASV worked with him on Sundays at Keilor until the work was brought to a sud- den halt in 1973 by the almost simultane- 160 The Victorian Naturalist Contributions ous establishment of AARO and a major flood in the Maribyrnong River. However, it was not this fieldwork that became a sig- nificant factor in the shift in Aboriginal studies but, rather, the publication by ASV of a research journal, beginning in 1976. The third major development relating to Aboriginal studies (particularly archaeolo- gy) in Victoria was the establishment in 1976 of the Prehistory Division, within the History Department, at La Trobe University. From a small beginning of a staff of two, this Division expanded rapid- ly and became a separate Department of Archaeology in 1980. In the mid-1970s the existence of both VAS and La Trobe University Archaeology Department presented possibilities for fieldwork and practical involvement in Aboriginal studies to an extent that had been unavailable previously. And, along with the ASV, each created an avenue for the publication of research in this subject area. In the case of the VAS a new publica- tion series. Records of the Victorian Archaeological Survey , was created. Primarily set up to publish the results of VAS fieldwork, the first issue in the series appeared in April 1 976 (Coutts et al. 1 976). From its beginnings the ASV had a newsletter, from the third issue titled ‘The Artefact’, the purpose of which was to keep members informed of Society activities and to carry news items of archaeological inter- est. With an increased interest in archaeolo- gy and a greater number of professionals employed in the area, by 1975 the time was right to turn this chatty newsletter into something that was both more serious and more widespread. The dominant influence within the ASV at the time was Dr Wayne Orchiston, who was bent on making the Society a major player in Victorian archae- ology. With more material available for publication, and a seemingly boundless energy, Orchiston transformed the Society’s newsletter into a research journal in anthro- pology and prehistory. The focus of the new series of The Artefact, beginning in March 1976, in the words of the Editor was to be on ‘the ethno history and archaeology of the Pacific region’ (Orchiston, 1976). A contributing factor in the availability of suitable material to publish came with the staging of a conference on ‘Aboriginal man and environment in southeast Australia: recent developments in Victorian prehistory’. The conference took place at The University of Melbourne in November 1975, and was jointly spon- sored by the Continuing Education section of the university and the AARO. The fact that a conference on such a topic could take place successfully was symptomatic of the state of play in the discipline at the time and also helps explain something of the genesis of the new-style The Artefact. Thus began a publishing venture that con- tinues to this day (Presland 2001). While The Artefact doesn’t have the long history of The Victorian Naturalist, from the beginning of its new form it became a more likely avenue for the publishing of Aboriginal research. Although there was a greater amount of research to be published, with the appearance of specialist journals of the kind described, there was less reason to offer this output to The Victorian Naturalist. Herein lies the cause of the waning of Aboriginal material published in the journal of the FNCV. Of perhaps greater impact on the FNCV was the effect that VAS and LaTrobe University had on those field activities of the club that might be related to the study of Aboriginal culture or history. Charged with giving effect to the legislation pro- tecting Aboriginal sites, from the begin- ning VAS exercised a tight control over access to those sites, thereby severely lim- iting the possibilities for non-professional involvement in Aboriginal studies in Victoria. Activities such as excavating Aboriginal middens and campsites, and even collecting artefacts at such places — something field naturalists had done over many years — became illegal. Even the ASV had to cease its long-running excava- tions at Dry Creek, near Keilor. The site was considered of great importance by VAS and was one of the first sites to be declared an Archaeological Area under the Archaeological and Aboriginal Relics Preservation Act (Coutts, 1974). Conclusion In such an environment, it is not surprising that the study of Aboriginal culture ceased to be a viable area of interest within the gamut of subjects encompassed by the Vol. 124 (3) 2007 161 Contributions FNCV and other natural history groups. Aboriginal studies had been effectively elevated to the level of an independent dis- cipline. In the museum context this change took place in 1983 when the state’s two major museums — the National Museum of Victoria and the Science Museum of Victoria — were amalgamated to form the Museum of Victoria. The internal structure of the new institution included a Division of Human Studies, one part of which was the Indigenous Studies department (Rasmussen 2001). Thus, within the Museum, the study of Aboriginal culture was lifted out of its natural history frame- work. Essentially, this shift in attitude was symptomatic of a wider, social movement, one that had many contributing factors. Notable among these was the realisation that Australia’s indigenous population had been in this country for a very long time indeed (Mulvaney and Joyce 1965; Flood 1990), and the winning of the 1967 Federal Referendum that gave Aborigines basic civil rights (Attwood and Markus 1997). One of the more important aspects of this development, which has been considered here, was its corollary — that Australia’s indigenous population could be considered in its own right and not simply be studied as a part of natural history. References Anon (1908) Excursion to Mount William, Lancefield. The Victorian Naturalist 25, 9-11. Anon (1918) Report of activities. The Victorian Naturalist 35, 17. Anon (1922) Report of activities. The Victorian Naturalist 38, 84. Anon (1928) Ethnological Section. The Victorian Naturalist 45, 86. Anon (1929) Report of the Ethnological Section. The Victorian Naturalist 46, 57. Archer MS (2005) Changes in the content of The Victorian Naturalist between 1884 and 2004. The Victorian Naturalist 122, 340-348. Attwood B and A Markus (1997) The 1967 referen- dum, or, When Aborigines didn’t get the vote (Aboriginal Studies Press: Canberra) Coutts PJF (1974) State Relics Office: progress for 1973/4. The Artefact 32, 1-3. Coutts PJF, Witter D, Mcllwraith M and Frank R (1976) The mound people of western Victoria: a pre- liminary statement. Records of the Victorian Archaeological Survey 1. Finney C (1993) Paradise revealed: Natural history in nineteenth-century Australia (Museum of Victoria: Melbourne) Flood J (1990) The riches of ancient Australia: a jour- ney into prehistory (University of Queenland Press: St Lucia) Gressler PG (1965) Small camp-sites of the Aborigines Central Western New South Wales. The Victorian Naturalist 82, 233-236. Gressler PG (1966a) Aborigine cemeteries and graves disturbed whilst digging out rabbit burrows. The Victorian Naturalist 83, 10-12. Gressler PG (1966b) The regeneration of the River Oak Casuarina cunninghamiana. The Victorian Naturalist 83, 79. Gressler PG (1966c) Aboriginal rock carvings at Turondale. The Victorian Naturalist 83, 269-210. Griffiths T (1996) Hunters and collectors: The anti- quarian imagination in Australia. (Cambridge University Press: Melbourne) Hall KE (1979) The Victorian Naturalist Subject Index 1884-1978 (FNCV: Melbourne) Hanks W (1933) Aboriginal camp at Coburg. The Victorian Naturalist 50, 34. Houghton S ( 1987) A history of the Australian Natural History Medallion. (Field Naturalists Club of Victoria: Melbourne) Houghton S and Presland G (2005) Leaves from our history: The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria 1880- 2005. (FNCV: Melbourne) Kenyon, AS (1929) Excursion to Mount William. The Victorian Naturalist 46, 46. McLoughlin LC (2004) Patterns of pre-European Aboriginal vegetation management by fire in South- eastern Australia: What do we know? The Victorian Naturalist 1 2 1 , 99- 1 06. Mulvaney DJ and Joyce EB (1965) Archaeological and geomorphological investigations on Mt Moffatt Station, Queensland, Australia. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 31,1 47-2 1 2. Orchiston DW (1976) Editorial comment. The Artefact 1,3. Presland G (1983) An archaeological survey of the Melbourne metropolitan area. Victoria Archaeological Survey Occasional Report Series 15. (Ministry for Planning and Environment: Melbourne) Presland G (1984) The archaeology of Melbourne. The Victorian Naturalist 101, 170-177. Presland G (1998) A.S. Gallus and the Archaeological Society of Victoria. The Artefact 21,9-13. Presland G (2000) Scratching the surface: A brief his- tory of the Victoria Archaeological Survey 1972- 1994. (Unpublished souvenir booklet) Presland G (2001) Artefact of history: a history of The Artefact. The Artefact 24, 5-9. Rasmussen C (2001) A museum for the people. (Scribe Publications: Melbourne) Scarlett NH (1988) Ta-jerr and Tarm-nin - two squirrel brothers in Woi wurru mythology The Victorian Naturalist 105, 146-149. Seddon G (1972) Sense of place. (University of Western Australia Press: Nedlands) Twidale CR, Tyler MJ and Webb BP (Eds) (1976) Natural history of the Adelaide region. (Royal Society of South Australia: Adelaide) Various authors (1972) The natural history of Sydney. (The Australian Museum: Sydney) Received 04 May 2006 ; accepted 18 January 2007 162 The Victorian Naturalist Contributions , Dietary preferences of captive Eastern Long-necked Turtles Chelodina longicollis Catherine E Meathrel and Sharon Reid Department of Environmental Management and Ecology, La Trobe University, Wodonga, Victoria 3690. Email c.meathrel@latrobe.edu.au Abstract Fifteen adult Eastern Long-necked Turtles Chelodina longicollis (13 males, 2 females) were removed from billabongs located within the Ovens River floodplain, Victoria, during the summer of 1997/98 to examine their feeding preference in captivity, away from competitors, in a controlled environment. Four prey items were presented to the captive turtles: naucorids (Family Naucoridae), corixids (Family Corixidae), gudgeons (Hypseleotris klunzingeri) and caddisfly larvae (Family Leptoceridae). In total, 12.9% of prey was consumed without any dietary preference shown by tur- tles. It was concluded that turtles in captivity fed passively and opportunistically. Clearly, this may differ from their foraging strategy in the wild where the anti-predator behaviour of prey can differ greatly in the presence of refugia in a much larger and more complex habitat. (The Victorian Naturalist 124 (3), 2007, 163-166). Introduction Eastern Long-necked Turtles Chelodina longicollis. Broad-shelled River Turtles C. expansa and Murray Turtles Emydura macquarii in the Murray-Darling Basin exhibit habitat overlap and compete for prey. This is the case especially with the carnivorous, long-necked species, Chelo- dina longicollis and C. expansa (see Meathrel et al. 2002, 2004 and references therein). The sympatric Murray Turtle has a shorter neck, is omnivorous, grazes on periphyton, scavenges carrion and supple- ments its diet with aquatic insects and fish carrion to meet metabolic requirements (Chessman 1986; Spencer et al 1998). Chelodina longicollis uses highly produc- tive, ephemeral water bodies more often than the other two species (Chessman 1988), thereby lessening inter-specific competition (Kennett and Georges 1990). One of the major challenges for wildlife ecologists is understanding how wild organisms perceive their environment and how that environment might be measured - the abundance and availability of prey, the level of inter- and intra-specific competi- tion, etc. For freshwater turtles, the research relating habitat complexity with habitat selection and dietary partitioning is scarce. This study, therefore, examined the dietary preferences of C. longicollis under controlled laboratory conditions away from variable environments and competition. Methods Determination of the prey preference in captivity of Chelodina longicollis formed part of a larger study on the habitat prefer- ence and feeding ecology of freshwater turtles in billabongs in northeast Victoria (see Meathrel et al. 2004). Permission was obtained from the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment (per- mit RP-97-170) and La Trobe University Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee (permit LSB96/24/V2) to place into short- term captivity (i.e. a period not to exceed three weeks) 15 adults of the most com- monly encountered species Chelodina longicollis [13 males and 2 females, sexing followed Chessman (1978)] from the Ovens River floodplain (146°14’44” E, 36°14’05”S) between October 1997 and February 1998. Laboratory housing consisted of 1 .2 x 0.6 x 0.6 m fish tanks held at 22°C (i.e. the average temperature of water in the bill- abongs, unpublished data) and filled to 2/3 capacity and containing charcoal and fiber- glass water filters to maintain water quality. No substratum (i.e. gravel, vegetation) was included in the tanks as this facilitated the quantification of prey items remaining fol- lowing each trial. All turtles were in good health and allowed to habituate in individ- ual tanks for 1 week prior to the commence- ment of feeding trials. They received food once every 24 hours for this period, but not within 24 hours of the feeding trials. Vol. 124 (3) 2007 163 Contributions Prey offered were chosen on the basis of that which was common in the stomach contents of turtles examined in the field (Meathrel et at. 2004). Naucorids (Naucor- idae) were collected from the Doctor’s Point billabong in Albury, New South Wales; whereas corixids (Corixidae), gud- geons (Hypseleotris klunzingeri) and cad- disfly larvae (Leptoceridae) were collected from a man-made lake located on the Wodonga grounds of La Trobe University. The amount of each prey type collected was variable. Hence, we were unable to replicate trials by presenting equal numbers of each prey type to each turtle for each of their two feeding preference trials. For each experimental feeding trial, each turtle was presented with a range of prey items, totalling 40 to 60 individual prey items each trial. The turtles were then allowed 48 hours to consume prey (a pro- cedure modified from Serrouya et al. 1995). After this time the turtles were removed and the tanks cleared of any remaining prey. These prey were counted and any missing items were assumed to have been eaten by the turtles. At the completion of the first feeding trial, turtles were placed back into their individual tanks and starved for 24 hours to increase their appetite prior to presenta- tion of a second group of prey (Serrouya et al. 1995). At the completion of all 30 feed- ing trials all turtles were released at their point of capture. No turtle was held in cap- tivity for more than two weeks in order to meet the requirements of the animal ethics permit. Data were analysed with the statistical package SPSS for Windows v. 12 using univariate ANOVA (Sokal and Rohlf 1995) comparing the preference of the tur- tles for different prey types. As we could not offer turtles the same number of each different prey type in both experimental feeding trials, we converted the data to the proportion of prey eaten out of all prey offered (i.e. preference). Results Of the total 1232 prey items offered to the 15 Chelodina longicollis, 159 (12.9%) were consumed (Table 1). Prey preference, measured as the number eaten out of the number offered, did not differ between each turtle’s two separate feeding trials (T 1 i,ii 3 = 0.023, p>0.05) and these data were combined. Prey preference did not differ between the various types of prey fed to turtles in the laboratory (F 3 ll3 = 0.532, p>0.05) and suggested that the 15 Chelodina longicollis in captivity were non-selective foragers (Fig. 1). Statistical comparison of prey preference between the genders was not warranted because the data from only two females could not be validly tested against that of 13 males. However, it appeared that there was little difference in prey preference between male and female turtles. Generally, males ate a greater proportion of prey offered, but this may have been caused by males 4, 9 and 10 (Table 1) all of which ate approximate- ly 35% of the prey offered as compared to just 5% for the other turtles. Discussion Long-held ecological principles of habitat use and foraging strategies suggest that organisms use optimality decision rules (= fitness maximising) to respond to changes in their feeding environment (Pyke et al. 1977; Chesson 1983). Changes can arise from extrinsic, environmental factors such as annual and seasonal variation in prey abundance and availability, exacerbated by the presence of competitors for the food resource, thereby rendering the study of an organism’s preferred diet difficult. Hence, in this study 1 5 Chelodina longicollis were taken into the laboratory in an attempt to control for such change in order to simpl- ify the detection of the potential existence of prey preference in this species of fresh- water turtle. The prey types and their relative propor- tions offered to the captive turtles in this study were the same as those gathered for a reference collection of aquatic fauna for the billabongs at Killawarra (Meathrel et al. 2004). The presence of these types of prey within the guts of wild turtles merely may have represented the preys’ availa- bility and accessibility rather than any spe- cific preference the turtles may have had for them in the wild. To determine whether captive turtles were feeding preferentially or opportunistically in this study, all prey items were presented to the turtles without refugia such as snags, macrophytes or tur- 164 The Victorian Naturalist Contributions Table 1. The number of prey offered and eaten by captive Eastern Long-necked Turtles in captivity; data combined for the two trials per individual. F = female, M = male. Turtle Prey type Naurcorids Corixids Gudgeons Caddisfly larvae F- 1 # prey offered 26 40 9 20 # prey eaten 0 2 0 0 F - 2 # prey offered 16 40 9 8 # prey eaten 2 1 0 1 M- 1 # prey offered 25 40 10 24 # prey eaten 1 1 0 2 M - 2 # prey offered 25 40 10 24 # prey eaten 10 5 0 2 M - 3 # prey offered 15 40 15 9 # prey eaten 0 1 0 5 M - 4 # prey offered 17 40 7 7 # prey eaten 3 22 0 1 M - 5 # prey offered 16 40 7 7 # prey eaten 1 1 0 0 M - 6 # prey offered 16 40 7 7 # prey eaten 1 3 2 2 M - 7 # prey offered 15 40 14 5 # prey eaten 1 1 0 2 M - 8 # prey offered 16 40 19 4 # prey eaten 0 5 2 0 M - 9 # prey offered 20 40 26 9 # prey eaten 10 0 21 2 M - 10 # prey offered 20 40 26 10 # prey eaten 1 11 24 1 M - 11 # prey offered 20 40 21 10 # prey eaten 0 4 0 0 M - 12 # prey offered 16 40 9 6 # prey eaten 0 0 2 0 M - 13 # prey offered 16 40 8 6 # prey eaten 3 0 0 0 bid water, and so were readily available for capture. No prey preferences were shown by the turtles which suggested that the tur- tles were passive, opportunistic feeders. Chessman (1978, 1984) and Georges et al. (1986) also made this assumption, but Onkonburi and Formanowicz (1997) cau- tioned that the distinction between passive and active prey preference may be altered by the interaction between forager behav- iour and prey antipredator behaviour. Meathrel et al. (2004) found that male and female turtles in the wild appeared to consume the same prey items. Given the disparate sample sizes between the two genders, no definitive statements were war- ranted in this study of turtles in captivity. The female turtles brought into captivity were approximately 15% larger and 40% heavier than males (unpubl. data), and therefore should have consumed more than males. However, the two females con- sumed less than the 13 males. In fact, low numbers (approx. 5%) of prey were con- sumed in the laboratory experiments, with turtles in some trials consuming nothing at all. This may have resulted from an insuf- ficient habituation time due to permit restrictions. Although not observed, if sub- ject to stress the turtles may have abstained from eating as they are capable of with- standing long periods with limited food supplies (Kennett and Georges 1 990). Although inferences of dietary preference in captivity can be applied only loosely to management of a species’ natural habitat, managers of Australia’s freshwater ecosys- tems should be aware that the level of ‘pristine’ habitat retained must not only meet the dietary metabolic requirements of species, but their ecological requirements as well. In the wild, with refugia and changing environmental conditions, more prey need to be retained to ensure that predators have the opportunity to encoun- ter prey at levels sufficient to cover their Vol. 124 (3) 2007 165 Contributions 0.25 - ■u S3 0.20 - o Naurcorids Corixids Gudgeons Caddis fly larvae Prey type Gender I | Female 9 Male Fig. 1 Comparison of mean (± 1 standard error) prey preference for 2 female and 13 male adult Chelodina longicollis held in captivity. metabolic requirements. Further research on the dietary preferences of Australia’s freshwater turtles needs to explore how prey preference may change over many seasons and years. Acknowledgements We are indebted to Nicholas Chapman and Lucy Widdup for their invaluable help with the field- work. References Chessman BC (1978) Ecological studies of freshwater turtles in south-eastern Australia. (Unpublished PhD thesis, Monash University, Melbourne) Chessman BC (1984) Food of the snaked-necked turtle, Chelodina longicollis (Shaw) (Testudines : Chelidae) in the Murray Valley, Victoria and New South Wales. Australian Wildlife Research 1 1 , 573-578. Chessman BC (1986) Diet of the Murray turtle Emydura macquarii (Gray) (Testudines : Chelidae). Australian Wildlife Research 13 , 65-69. Chessman BC (1988) Habitat preferences of freshwater turtles in the Murray Valley, Victoria and New South Wales. Australian Wildlife Research 15 . 485-491 . Chesson J (1983) The estimation and analysis of pref- erence and its relationship to foraging models. Ecology 64 . 1297-1304. Georges A, Norris RH and Wensing L (1986) Diet of the freshwater turtle Chelodina longicollis (Testudines : Chelidae) from the coastal dune lakes of the Jervis Bay Territory. Australian Wildlife Research 13 , 301-308. Kennett RM and Georges A (1990) Habitat utilisation and its relationship to growth and reproduction of the eastern long-necked turtle, Chelodina longicollis (Testudinata Chelidae), from Australia. Herpetologica 46 , 22-33. Meathrel CE, Suter PJ and Radford NM (2002) Niche segregation between three species of freshwater turtle in a large billabong during flood. The Victorian Naturalist 1 1 9, 1 60- 1 73 . Meathrel CE, Suter PJ, Reid S (2004) Habitat and dietary preferences of freshwater turtles in ephemeral billabongs on the Ovens River, north-east Victoria. The Victorian Naturalist 121 , 4-14. Onkonburi J and Formanowicz DR Jr (1997) Prey choice by predators: effect of prey vulnerability. Ethology Ecology > & Evolution 9 , 19-25. Pyke GH, Pulliam HR, Charnov EL (1977) Optimal foraging: a selective review of theory and tests. Quarterly Review of Biology ; 52, 137-149. Serrouya R, Ricciardi A, Whoriskey FG (1995) Predation on zebra mussels ( Dreissena polymorpha) by captive-reared map turtles ( Graptemys geographi- ca). Canadian Journal of Zoology 73 , 2238-2243. Sokal RR and Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry, 3 ed. (WH Freeman: New York) Spencer R-J, Thompson MB, Hume ID (1998) The diet and digestive energetics of an Australian short- necked turtle, Emydura macquarii. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A 121 , 341-349. Received 28 September 2006; accepted 8 March 2007 166 The Victorian Naturalist Observations of diurnal activity in the Striped Legless Lizard Delma impar Contributions Grant S T urner 103 Settlement Road, Bundoora, Victoria 3083 Abstract Five separate observations of diurnal activity of adult Striped Legless Lizard Delmar impar are described. Snout-tovent length, tail length and mass were recorded. As well, another five sightings of active/basking D. impar on rocks or perched on the peduncles of Kangaroo Grass Themeda triandra tussocks were recorded. (The Victorian Naturalist 124 (3), 2007, 167-169) The Striped Legless Lizard Delma impar has been the focus of considerable research effort over the past 17 years, leading to a recognition that its numbers have declined, due mainly to habitat modification and destruction (Coulson 1990; Kutt 1993; O’Shea and Hocking 1997; Rohr and Peterson 2003). Its preferred habitat, native temperate lowland grasslands, are recog- nised as threatened (Muir 1994; Kirk- patrick et al. 1 995) and D. impar has been classed as ‘endangered’ (DSE 2003). However, many gaps still exist in the knowledge of the basic biology of D. impar, particularly in relation to its habitat utilisa- tion and behaviour in the wild. While the general consensus is that D. impar is pri- marily diurnal (Martin 1972; Coulson 1990; Kutt 1993), it is evident that few individuals have been observed away from cover in the field. Instead, most are found beneath ground cover (stones) by day, and their diumality has been inferred from the timing of their appearance in pitfall traps, and from daytime pigment tracking (Coulson 1990; Kutt 1993). Furthermore, a number of authors has inferred that D. impar is primar- ily terrestrial (Coulson 1990; Kutt 1993; Osmond 1994), though observations of the species in captivity indicate that they are adept climbers and routinely climb bushes and even sleep in them (Martin 1 972). Below 1 describe five separate observations of adult D. impar basking or active away from cover during daylight hours in the field. With one exception, all observations occurred in a former 30 ha area of remnant native grassland in Deer Park (144“46’E, 37“46’S), 17 km west of Melbourne, during the period 1991-93. The area was gently sloping with Kangaroo Grass Themeda trian- dra dominant, and abundant surface basalt. One of the observations (3 below) occurred Vol. 124 (3) 2007 in grassland abutting the northern boundary of Derrimut Grassland Reserve (144°47’E, 37"48’S) (see Coulson (1990) for site description). The following abbreviations are used: SVL = snout-to-vent length, TL = (original) tail length and M = mass. Shade temperatures were recorded immediately after the observations. 1. 5 October 1991, 1030 hrs, full sun, 22”C. An adult D. impar was observed com- pletely exposed and perched on a large flat- topped basalt rock (0.8 x 0.6 x 0.3 m) in full sun. The lizard lay motionless close to the perimeter, apparently basking, and did not react to being approached until I was within arm’s reach. It responded with a rapid flick of the body and tail that resulted in it falling into relatively short grass (<0.15 m) around the base of the rock, causing me to momentarily lose sight of it. I flushed it out across a bare patch of ground towards another rock some 2 m away. Its move- ments were broadly S-shaped and saltatory. It skirted around the rock edge, eventually seeking refuge beneath it; on lifting the rock the lizard was revealed tightly curled-up. The surface of the rock on which the lizard was originally perched was quite cool to touch. Measurements were: SVL = 95 mm, TL = 203 mm and M = 5.7 g. 2 . 25 January 1992, c.1400 hrs, overcast, 24°C. In the course of walking through a heavily grazed paddock I noticed a flicking movement from the top of a rock (0.36 x 0.34 x 0.16 m) about 3 m away in a small patch of Kangaroo Grass. The movement was that of a lizard dismounting the rock, but was not consistent with the movements of the Tussock Skink Pseudemoia pagen- stecheri that are common in the area. On rolling the rock, an adult D. impar was revealed curled up, but within seconds it retreated into surrounding Kangaroo Grass 167 Contributions tussocks. After several minutes searching it was found curled up at the base of one of the tussocks. Both the lizard and the sur- face of the basking rock were warm to touch in comparison to the soil substrate, and the lizard was very active when han- dled. Measurements were: SVL= 80 mm, TL = 159 mm (original with tip missing). 3 . 20 March 1993, c. 1200 hrs, full sun, 30.1°C. An adult D. impar was observed perched 0.2 m above the ground on emer- gent Kangaroo Grass peduncles near a large well-embedded rock. It was evidently disturbed on my approach and with a flick- ing action dropped to the base of the tus- sock and could not be located. 4 . 27 December 1991, 1120 hrs, sunny, 28“C. An adult D. impar was observed perched on a tangle of Kangaroo Grass peduncles in a dense swathe approximately 0.5 m off the ground. Within 2 m of my approach a flicking action of the body caused it to fall into the dense ground layer below and it could not be located. 5 . 10 February 1992, 1530 hrs, complete- ly overcast, 24"C. An adult D. impar was observed perched on a tangle of Kangaroo Grass peduncles and leaves in a small stand of tussocks approximately 0.4 m off the ground. Within 1 m of my approach the lizard rapidly flicked its tail and dropped into the tussocks below and could not be located. In addition to these observations another five sightings of active/basking D. impar on rocks (n=2) and perched on the peduncles of Kangaroo Grass tussocks (n=3) were recorded. However, encounters were fleet- ing and the lizards were not located. All observations occurred during the months October to March when the species is known to be active (Coulson 1990). The observations confirm the species’ ten- dency to climb low vegetation, as observed in captive individuals (Martin 1972). Evidence of this climbing tendency was also apparent in pigment tracking studies in which pigment was located up to the middle or top of tussocks in approximately half of all lizards tracked (8 of 15; Kutt 1993). Given the tendency of Kangaroo Grass to form dense swards when burning is infre- quent, this behaviour makes sense: the small size of lizards in relation to grass tus- socks requires them to seek perches, such as protruding rocks and grass stems, in order to bask. Climbing has also been observed in two other species of Delma in the contexts of basking and prey pursuit (Martin 1972; Annable 1983). The peculiar flight reaction observed of D. impar (observation 1) is interesting given that saltation has been recorded in three congeners (Bush 1981; Maryan 1984, 1985; Bauer 1986); it was not accompanied by vocalisation as in some of these species. The observations above indi- cate that D. impar does engage in diurnal basking and that they are adept climbers, however, witnessing these behaviours in the field is not easy since they respond rapidly to disturbance and then are very difficult to locate amongst tussocks. Delma impar's movements and reaction to disturbance are quite distinct and unlike those made by other similar-sized reptiles inhabiting the grasslands around Melbourne. Acknowledgements I wish to thank to Megan O'Shea and Vanessa Craigie for providing me with several references, and Nick Clemann for improving the manuscript. References Annable T (1983) Some observations on vocalization and the use of limb flaps in the pygopodid lizard, Delma inornata Kluge. Herpetofauna 14 , 80-82. Bauer AM (1986) Saltation in the pygopodid lizard, Delma tincta. Journal of Herpetology 20 , 462-463. Bush B (1981) Reptiles of the Kalgoorlie-Esperance region. (Vanguard Press: Perth) Coulson G (1990) Conservation Biology of the Striped Legless Lizard Delma impar. an initial investigation. Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands: Melbourne. Technical Report Series No. 106. DSE (2003) Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate Fauna in Victoria - 2003. Department of Sustainability and Environment, East Melbourne. Kirkpatrick J, McDougall K and Hyde M (1995) Australia 's Most Threatened Ecosystems: the south- eastern lowland native grasslands. (Surrey Beatty & Sons/World Wide Fund for Nature Australia: Chipping Norton, NSW) Kutt A (1993) A preliminary evaluation of the use of fluorescent pigments to track the movements of the Striped Legless Lizard Delma impar (Rcptilia: Pygopodidae). In Herpetology in Australia : a diverse discipline , pp. 179-183. Eds D Lunney and D Ayers. Transactions of the Royal Zoological Society ofNew South Wales. (Surrey Beatty & Sons: Chipping Norton, NSW) Martin K (1972) Captivity observations of some Australian legless lizards. Herpetofauna 5, 5-6. Maryan B (1984) Unusual defensive behaviour in cap- tive Delma australis (Kluge) and in the wild. South Australian Herpetological Group Newsletter 1984 , 7. Maryan B (1985) Unusual defensive behaviour by Delma australis in captivity and in the wild. Herpetofauna 15 , 51 . 168 The Victorian Naturalist Book Reviews Muir A (1994) Western (Basalt) Plains Grassland Community. Flora & Fauna Guarantee Action Statement 53. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Melbourne. O’Shea M and Flocking C (1997) Field trials of alterna- tive detection techniques for the Striped Legless Lizard ( Delma impar), at the Albion Explosives Factory Site. Unpublished report to the Striped Legless Lizard (Victorian) Working Group. Osmond H (1994) Habitat specialisation and isolation of remnant populations of the Striped Legless Lizard Delma impar. Report to the ACT Parks and Conservation Service Wildlife Research Unit and the Australian National University, Canberra. Rohr DH and Peterson GNL (2003) The Striped Legless Lizard in the Western District of Victoria: New Insights. Technical Report to the Glenelg- Hopkins Catchment Management Authority. Ecology Research Group, RMIT University: Melbourne. Received 15 March 2007; accepted 3 May 2007 Regardfully Yours: Selected Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller Volume III: 1876-1896 edited by RW Home, AM Lucas, Sara Maroske, DM Sinkora, JH Voight and Monika Wells Publisher: Peter Lang, Bern, 2006. 909 pages, 21 illustrations, hardback ISBN 2-906757-10-2. RRP US$62.95 (A $2 15 in the Royal Botanic Gardens bookshop) Here is the volume of Mueller’s correspon- dence that includes references to the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV). This third and final volume spans the last two decades of Mueller’s life, when he was 50 to 71 years old, and the first sixteen years of the FNCV’s existence. During this period, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller was still Victoria’s Government Botanist (in the Chief Secretary’s Department) but no longer Director of Melbourne’s Botanic Garden, and continued to document the Australian flora and enlarge and curate the government herbarium, and to speak and write prolifical- ly on all matters botanical. Since the Baron was an honoured member and patron of the FNCV, it is not surprising that the pages of Volume III provide early glimpses of the Club - thirteen mentions in the index. Mueller’s huge bibliography in Volume I includes his papers in The Victorian Naturalist. You can find information about Mueller and the project which has spawned three volumes of his selected correspon- dence in my review of the first two volumes in The Victorian Naturalist 122 (2), 2005. One of my reasons for being a tad tardy in reviewing this volume is that it is so useful. I’ve been delving into the three volumes for several projects - Mueller’s continuing interest in the acclimatisation of foreign plants, his contributions to international exhibitions, and his interactions with Frederick McCoy, the professor of natural science at the University of Melbourne. Some of the 326 letters and documents in Volume III show how Mueller continued to use his correspondence to complain bitterly at losing (in 1873) that essential adjunct to his position as Government Botanist - the Botanic Garden. Without it he could not test the cultivation of indigenous and for- eign plants. And without the laboratory in the adjacent Domain, he could not have plant products prepared to showcase the Colony’s botanical resources in museums and at local and international exhibitions. To add insult to injury, his successor, the Garden’s curator, William Guilfoyle, sent timber and other exhibits from trees Mueller had had planted in the Botanic Garden. Mueller fumed (in German) that a quite uneducated gardener, who simply copies the Sydney flower garden . . . can not only daily give himself airs before the public with my treasures, with the help of the assis- tants schooled for years by me, he can send things for the exhibitions from my plants [pp. 174-5 translation]. Mueller also complained to Joseph Hooker, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in England, I am daily hampered for forest-investiga- tions, for which I want the rich collection of living trees , established by me in the bot Vol. 124 (3) 2007 169 Book Reviews Garden, including numerous species of Eucalypts [p. 157]. But, despite his humiliating and disruptive loss, Mueller continued to speak and write to press for forest conservation and to publi- cise (locally and internationally) the useful- ness of indigenous and introduced plants, all the while continuing his taxonomic and herbarium work in the cramped Botanical Museum in the Government House Domain adjacent to the Botanic Garden. Mueller claimed that his long-contemplat- ed descriptive Eucalyptus Atlas would help to develop Victoria’s forest resources. His Eucalyptographia. A Descriptive Atlas of the Eucalypts of Australia (1879-84) was based mainly on his earlier observations, when he had access to ‘his’ rich collection of eucalypts in the Botanic Garden. His preparation of Eucalyptographia was inter- rupted in 1 880 by his return to the interna- tional stage of exhibitions - as commission- er and judge at the International Exhibition in Melbourne’s new Exhibition Building in Carlton. His correspondence also mentions his participation in subsequent international exhibitions - in Amsterdam in 1883, Calcutta in 1883-84, London in 1886 and Melbourne in 1888. Mueller’s exhibits included specimens of Australian timber, eucalyptus oil and other forest products, and his Eucalyptographia, Key to the system of Victorian plants. Systematic census of Australian plants. Select extra-tropical plants, readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalization and other publications. Like Eucalyptographia, Mueller’s Select extra-tropical plants was based initially on information he had gained, by 1873, from the cultivation of a huge diversity of plants in Melbourne’s Botanic Garden, and later enriched with information from helpful correspondents. Mueller’s successful request, penned in June 1876, for minister- ial approval for the publication of his earli- er work on indigenous and introduced plants suitable for cultivation in Victoria resulted in the publication of his 293-page book. Select plants readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalisation in Victoria, with indications of their native countries and some of their uses (1876). Since the information on useful plants was relevant to other temperate parts of the world, Mueller, ever the botanical publi- cist, removed ‘Victoria’ from the title, added ‘extra-tropical’, and edited and enlarged Select extra-tropical plants, read- ily eligible for industrial culture or natu- ralization for NSW, Indian, American, German, French and Victorian editions. The Indian edition was printed in Calcutta for the international exhibition there in 1883-84. Mueller’s letters are peppered with references to information contained in his Select extra-tropical plants and occa- sional requests for information for inclu- sion in future editions of this extremely popular compendium of useful informa- tion. The 466-page 1885 Victorian edition was sold out in seven months. The FNCV was useful to Mueller. From 1884 its new journal. The Victorian Naturalist, provided a convenient vehicle for his taxonomic and other papers; and the publication of his Key to the system of Victorian plants was suggested at a Club meeting. In his FNCV presidential address in 1884, Dr Frank Stanley Dobson suggest- ed that a Victorian equivalent of the dichotomous key in the Rev Spicer’s Handbook of the plants of Tasmania be prepared under the Baron’s supervision. The following extracts provide illuminat- ing glimpses of the young FNCV. Several are from letters in the Club’s Archives. As you may know, the Baron accepted the position of FNCV patron but not presi- dent. In May 1883 Mueller wrote. My health has been fluctuating for some years, so that with much regret I was obliged to beg of the Field Naturalists Club ... to confer the honor of President on another Gentleman than myself [p. 323]. In May 1886 he wrote to the Club’s hon- orary secretary, Francis Barnard, to express my deep appreciation of the gen- erosity of the great Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, for having raised me to one of its Patronships. Among the many marks of dis- tinction, with which I have been honored in life, I value this one as among the highest, because it is a tribute from that country, in which I spent most of my years and with which my labours are most directly identi- fied. To me it is in connection with this new dignity also a highly pleasurable thought, that work, which I commenced in Australia nearly 40 years ago, will in various direc- tions be carried on by young workers, whom 170 The Victorian Naturalist Book Reviews I met personally at your meetings, and who can be guided and can be encouraged by what was accomplished at my time; while they in their turn far on in the next century can inspire a younger generation, thus link- ing one century’s scientific work to that of an other! [p. 433], Mueller’s two-volume Key to the system of Victorian plants was a recurring topic in his correspondence. In August 1886, in response to a letter in Melbourne’s Argus newspaper, criticising the recently pub- lished illustrated volume of the Key, Mueller wrote a long letter to his minister, the Chief Secretary, Alfred Deakin, offer- ing ‘some explanatory remarks on the sup- posed shortcomings of this work, as it is a Government’s publication’ [p. 440], Mueller justified his inclusion of expensive illustrations from woodblocks, acknowl- edged the unfortunate presence of some errors, and pointed out that the Key was not aimed at state schools, but more particularly for the Field Naturalists Club, and somewhat against my own opinion as to the plan, - the dichoto- mous method, - adopted by the late meritori- ous Revd Mr. Spicer for the flora of Tasmania [p. 443]. The difficult volume with the dichoto- mous key and diagnostic descriptions of species took much longer. Devising a dichotomous key without interrupting the affinities reflected in the taxonomic system challenged Mueller’s wisdom and patience, and his exacting preparations consumed much more time than he had anticipated, irritatingly interrupting and delaying many other projects and duties. It proved so time-taking beyond all calculation, that I shall only be able to finish it in June or July [1887]: - and as for the early issue of it a demand was made in the Parliament here [p. 467], A footnote explains that, in July 1886 (two years after his FNCV presidential sugges- tion), the lawyer-politician FS Dobson had asked in the Legislative Council when the Key would be published. In September 1 887 Mueller noted that the Field Naturalists here press me for the “Key to the Syst of Viet. Plants” for use still this spring, and altho’ the printing has com- menced, the work cannot appear for some weeks yet’ [p. 474]; and in October that I had no idea that the dichotomous method, demanded for the “Key to the system of Victorian plants”, would take up so very much more time, than I estimated .... I hope however to finish the “Key” at last next month; and working on Papuan plants will then be my main-engagement in all hours which can be rendered free from urgent offi- cial duties [pp. 478-9]. According to Mueller’s bibliography in Volume I of Regardfully Yours, evidence in The Victorian Naturalist indicates that the descriptive, dichotomous volume of his Key was published toward the end of 1 888. It was dedicated to the Chief Secretary, Alfred Deakin. In 1889, on learning ‘that some members are eager, to get the name changed of the Field-Naturalists Club’, Patron Mueller advised the FNCV President, Arthur Lucas, that such a change not be made... The very word “Club” implies an union without riger- ous ceremonies, a freer coming together, than in abstract science-societies, as evinced also by the membership of our Field-Naturalists Club being happily open to Ladies. By the change of the name, as far as I can see, noth- ing would be gained for our particular work, while much to us in our free scientific inter- course and in our unrestrained field-opera- tions might be lost. I further have heard, that some members of the Club are anxious to establish grades in our union, according to greater or lesser accomplishments and expe- riences. This proposition came up formerly in more than one science-society of Australia, but I gave my advice against such a measure fully thirty years ago [p. 539], During the FNCV’s protracted efforts to have Wilson’s Promontory reserved as a national park, Mueller wrote to Francis Barnard, regretting his inability to attend a Club meeting in April 1890 [p. 552]; I feel honored with being made a member of the Committee of the Field-Naturalists Club for preservation (in apt localities) of the indigenous vegetation and marsupials as well as various birds. I have however held from the commencement of this movement, that we could not possibly induce the Government, to cede so large an area for that purpose as the whole of Wilson’s promonto- ry; the distance from the metropolis would also be too great for the multitude of the Vol. 124 (3) 2007 171 Book Reviews people, to derive an adequate advantage from such reservations. In my opinion our first attention should now be given, that not all the most picturesque vallies get defaced and alienated from the crown. Thus an appli- cation might be made to the hon the Minister of Lands at once for withdrawing from selection the best of the Waratah-Vallies in Eastern Gippslasnd, also all places in which large cataracts or cascades exist. Prof [Baldwin] Spencer and his compan- ions of the [FNCV’s] E. Gippsland-tour, made a year ago, would be able to describe these vallies and cascades as regards precise localities, so that the district-surveyors might become instructed, to keep these glorious spots intact, and perhaps some arrangements might be made thus far also, to prevent shooting in these reserved localities. Places at Mt Baw Baw, the Buffalo-Ranges and towards Cape Otway might also be protected. Regardfully your Ferd von Mueller The month before he died, Mueller wrote advising Thomas Stephen Hart, at the Ballarat School of Mines, ‘to start at once a Field-Naturalists Club’ [p. 746] in pros- perous Ballarat, and requesting plant speci- mens for his preparation of the proposed third edition of his Systematic census of Australian plants (which was never pub- lished). 1 gave it as my opinion, when addressing the Field-Nat Club here at its last annual gather- ing that every town throughout Australia ought to have some such Association’ [p. 748], The FNCV was among the many contrib- utors of flowers to Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller’s funeral on Wednesday, 13th October 1896, at the St Kilda Cemetery. The correspondence in this volume shows that, during the last two decades of his life, Mueller continued to document Australian plants and expand Victoria’s herbarium into THE reference collection of Australian, not just Victorian, plants - with specimens from his huge network of col- lectors across Australia and the govern- ment’s rare purchase of herbaria rich in authenticated specimens of Australian species. Meanwhile he pressed for conser- vation reserves, supported exploratory expeditions in inland Australia, Antarctica and New Guinea and contributed to vari- ous government inquiries, scientific and geographic societies, museums and exhibi- tions. And all the while he was writing, writing, writing - articles and books, as well as letters. Mueller’s documentation of the Australian flora deservedly earned him an international reputation, and, as his pub- lished correspondence reveals, his corre- spondents included respected botanists across the European-controlled world - a veritable who’s who of late nineteenth cen- tury botany. As in the first two volumes, letters were selected on the basis of their scientific importance and their relevance to Mueller’s life and work, and to show the wide range of his correspondents and the subjects dis- cussed. I agree with the editors that the letters selected shed fascinating light on the final two decades of the extraordinary career of an extraordinary man, as well as, more generally, on the cultural and intellec- tual history of Australia at a crucial stage of its development and on the history of the field sciences in the final years of the nine- teenth century [p 45], which of course includes the activities of the FNCV. As well as the selected correspondence, Volume III of Regardfully Yours includes a substantial introduction, a biographical register of Mueller’s correspondents, including Barnard, Lucas, Hart and other FNCV members (Appendix A), a list of Mueller’s orders, offices, affiliations and honours (Appendix B), a bibliography of publications cited in footnotes, an index of botanical names and a general index. Substantial indexes in all three volumes provide pointers to rich lodes of botanical and other information, but imagine what you will be able to find and follow on the future CD-ROM of the complete (known) correspondence, especially in conjunction with Mueller’s biography, which is also keenly awaited. If you share my interest in nineteenth century Australian botanical history, check that your local library has the three volumes of Regardfully Yours, or beg, borrow or buy them. Linden Gillbank School of Social and Environmental Enquiry The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 Email: lindenrg@unimelb.edu.au 172 The Victorian Naturalist Book Reviews Cronin’s Key Guide: Australian Wildlife by Leonard Cronin Publisher: Allen & Unwin. 2007, 235 pages. ISBN 9781 741 750751 RRP $35. 00 How can one provide a guide to the great diversity of Australian fauna and flora in a little over 200 pages? Leonard Cronin’s answer is to become familiar with a num- ber of key species and then to apply that knowledge to further observations and dif- ferent habitats. He chooses 380 animals (mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, fish, marine and land invertebrates) and 222 plants from four habitats (rainforest, forests and woodlands, coastal heaths and dry country). Three to a page, each species’ contribution includes a map, description, behaviour, breeding, diet and habitat for animals and a similar format for plants, without diet and substituting repro- duction for breeding. Family, species name and size head each entry and a common name in larger font stands out at the begin- ning. A colour illustration of each species provides the primary identification tool. The sample is exceedingly well chosen and the balance probably well matches the interests of most naturalists and the informed public. Each specialist would have liked a greater emphasis on a particu- lar area, but specialists have their own sources. This book definitely falls into the ‘one handy volume’ genre. So who would buy? I would if visiting Australia, to give a broad view of the country’s natural history and as a nice souvenir of the visit. It is a good starting point for anyone who wishes to get a feel for Australian nature, or who is asked for clarification by others. Future guides planned in this series will expand some of the areas covered. When you view the illustrations you will be quite confident that you know what you are looking at, particularly if you have identified the subject in the field before, but there is not always quite enough dis- criminatory detail in the case of very simi- lar species. Australian , Wildlife Leonard Cronin KEY GUIDE Information in the fauna section is cur- rent and quite consistent with specialist texts. However, I think that the merging of the Eastern Rosella and Pale-headed Rosella into White-cheeked Rosella Platycercus adscitus is premature, even though hybridisation between sympatric subspecies of each has been noted. For the botanists the nomenclature is gen- erally up to date, evidenced by genera such as Corymbia, Senna and Bracteantha appearing correctly in place of those more or less recently superseded. The only exception is the naming of plant families where the convention now is to name the family from the first genus described within it. Hence, Fabaceae replaces Papilion-aceae, Poaceae replaces Graminae, Astera-ceae replaces Compositae. I was a bit surprised to see that no Porcupine Grass was mapped in Victoria but that is because the key species is Triodia irritans, whereas our local one is T. scariosa. Calling Eucalyptus viminalis Ribbon Gum instead of Manna Gum reveals that the author hails from interstate. The index combines scientific and com- mon names with sensible indents for sub- categories; it is easy to use. Author, illustrators, cartographer, designer and editor are to be congratulated on a use- ful and accurate publication. Ian Endersby 56 Looker Rd Montmorency, Vic 3094 Vol. 124 (3) 2007 173 Book Reviews Crocodile: Evolution’s Greatest Survivor by Lynne Kelly Publisher: Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 2006, hardcover, 272 pages ISBN 9781741 144987. RRP $35.00 Those of us who are fortunate enough to work with reptiles do not, as a rule, expect to become celebrities. The closest we will usually get is perhaps a brief appearance on Totally Wild or to be quoted in a newspaper article. Witness then the staggering media status of Australia’s Crocodile Hunter, the late Steve Irwin - arguably the most recog- nisable Australian in the world. Similarly, Paul Hogan finally became internationally famous when Crocodile Dundee was released in 1986. The common thread with these success stories is that both rode to international stardom on a crocodile’s back, at times quite literally! Such is the awe- inspiring power of crocodilians. The author of this latest book on crocodil- ians comes to the topic not as an expert on the subject, but as an enthusiastic researcher. In this manner, Lynne Kelly uses her book to allow others, including scientists, zoo keepers, bite victims, croco- dile farmers and native peoples, to tell their stories. Of course both the extant and fossil crocodilians also have their stories to tell, and Kelly uses this information to provide a factual setting that allows the reader to put into context the myths, reverence and fear that inevitably surrounds crocodilians. The first chapter details the excitement and privations of the early European explor- ers when first encountering crocodiles in tropical Australia. In the second chapter we learn that crocodilians are often important figures in the myths, stories and legends of native peoples from areas as diverse as Egypt, Papua New Guinea, India, Japan, Africa, North and South America, and Australia. Interestingly, native legends often depict crocodilians as the Creator, creating, variously, land, plants, other animals, and even the sky, and Kelly is struck by ‘...the respect, even veneration, with which these great beasts are regarded by the indigenous peoples who share their habitats’ (p. 66). This chapter also introduces one of the themes of the book - numerous crocodilian species from around the world are now threatened with extinction, most commonly due to habitat loss and/or over-exploitation. In Chapter 3 Kelly examines the morphol- ogy and physiology of the crocodilians, and the behavioural functions of these forms. We discover the remarkable bite force of a crocodilian jaw, and how this relates to feed- ing behaviour. Kelly expresses justifiable wonderment at the crocodilian’s heart mor- phology and the animal's ability to remain submerged for extended periods. This chap- ter also considers territoriality, mating and nesting behaviour, hatching and the early life of hatchlings. Chapter 4 examines the passionate (some might say obsessed) croco- dilian researchers, and details the legendary (in Australian museum circles) scandal sur- rounding Gerard Krefft, the man who first recognised the Australian Freshwater Crocodile as a new species. Chapter 5 exam- ines the crocodilian fossil record, including areas such as England where crocodilians 174 The Victorian Naturalist Book Reviews are long since extinct, and deplores the sad reality that some ancient lineages of croco- dilians may become extinct in the near future due to human activities. This chapter also explores the popular idea that crocodil- ians are ‘living dinosaurs’, despite the fact that no extant species truly ‘walked with the dinosaurs’, and that, in a cladistic sense, crocodilians are more closely related to birds than lizards. The following two chapters examine life and death from opposing perspectives. Firstly, we see how humans have long hunted crocs for food, leather, fat for fuel, and how humans protect themselves from, or retaliate against, a ‘man-eater’. This is followed by chilling accounts from some of the very few people who have survived attacks by the Saltwater Crocodile. Farming of crocodiles is as controversial as the hunting of these animals. Even the experts remain divided on this topic; Steve Irwin was passionately opposed to this practice, whereas renowned croc expert Grahame Webb is equally vehement in his belief in the benefits for crocs of farming. Kelly also examines the role of farming and captive breeding in conservation. The final two chapters examine the rela- tionship of humans to crocodilians in cap- tivity and in popular culture. The practi- calities of keeping crocodilians as pets are discussed, followed by the role of these animals in zoological parks. At this point the book provides a local flavour, with interviews with two of Victoria’s most experienced reptile keepers - Jon Birkett from Melbourne Zoo and Greg Parker from the Ballarat Wildlife Park. Birkett exemplifies the devotion to conservation programs that is evident in so many zoo staff. Far from being glorified cage-clean- ers, Birkett and his staff play an active and vital role in numerous conservation pro- grams for threatened herpetofaunal species from around the world. The book con- cludes with an examination of crocodilians in popular culture, from Peter Pan and Rudyard Kipling, to Crocodile Dundee and the Crocodile Hunter. This book is not a field guide, and is not entirely devoted to the biology of crocodil- ians (there are other, more ‘dry’ texts that fill that role). Rather, it provides an ‘holis- tic’ understanding of crocodilians, and their relationships with their environments, and perhaps the only other predator that a grown croc should fear - humans. I enjoyed this book, and believe that it will appeal to anyone with an interest in natural history or large, iconic predators. Nick Clemann Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Department of Sustainability and Environment PO Box 137, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084 The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia by Gunther Thieschinger and John Hawking Publisher: CSIRO Publishing, 2006, 376 pages, paperback; colour photograps, ISBN 0643090738. RRP $49.95 Both the authors of this comprehensive guide have been studying Odonata for much, if not all, of their professional lives. Indeed Gunther Theischinger, along with Tony Watson and Hilda Abbey, was a co- author of The Australian Dragonflies pub- lished in 1991. That book dealt largely with adults, and keys were provided only for that stage of the life cycle. The current vol- ume can be seen as a ‘descendant’ of the former publication and for the first time provides keys to the final instar larvae as well as to the adults, thus making it a use- ful, if not an essential, reference for the many freshwater biologists like myself who encounter these larvae. In what follows, I have restricted my comments largely to the larvae, as this is where my experience lies. A total of 324 species are described and illustrated from 12 families of damselflies Vol. 124 (3) 2007 175 Book Reviews THE COMPLETE FIELD GUIDE TO DRAGONFLIES OF AUSTRALIA and 18 families of dragonflies. Photos of adults and line drawings or photos of many larvae are given, although for a number of species larvae are still not known. Distribution details are provided on maps of Australia divided into 16 regions. (These are the same regions employed by Watson et al. in 1991.) The bulk of the book (pp. 16-299), however, comprises species accounts which, in addition to descriptions of the adults and larvae, give habitat notes for almost every species, and information about extra-limital distribution where relevant. Descriptions of the larvae are somewhat shorter than those for the adults, but together with the keys that fol- low the species accounts, they should enable genera and many species of larvae to be readily determined. Unfortunately, not all species can be keyed at the larval level. However, the distribution maps should help here. Only the final larval instar is described and illustrated, and users need to realise that more immature larval stages will always be more difficult to put to species, as is the case for the larvae and nymphs of nearly all aquatic insects. I worked my way through the larval key to families and generally found it easy to use. Separate larval keys are given to gen- era and some species for each family. An illustrated glossary is provided for both adults and larvae (before the keys). Such details are vital for beginners, who need to know their way around the anatomy of both larvae and adults if they are to be success- ful in identifying specimens. The only omission 1 noted was that the ‘frontal plate’ of a larva was not illustrated in the family key or in the glossary. However, it is illus- trated in the species accounts for Archaeosynthemis and Synthemis as well as in the key to Synthemistid genera and species. It is a pity that the informative glossary of terms associated with larval anatomy given by the two authors in an earlier publication (Dragonfly Larvae (Odonata): A guide to the identification of larvae of Australian families and to the identification and ecology of larvae from NSW; CRCFE Identification Guide No. 34, Feb 1999) is not repeated in this book. I feel sure this book will enable enthusi- asts, both amateur and professional, to identify Odonata accurately and will great- ly encourage study of this fascinating group of insects. In many parts of the world vari- ous groups of aquatic insects are poorly known because identification keys for the non-specialist are simply not available. By providing such keys the authors have given a great stimulus to studies (particularly field studies) of Odonata in Australia. The small size of the book (A5) will encourage its use in the field, and with experience identifications could be done on site, as the authors hope. The book should also pave the way for more concern about the conser- vation of dragonflies and damselflies, some of which have limited distributions. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those interested in Australian Odonata and freshwater habitats. It will appeal to everyone, from beginners to stu- dents and researchers, and should become the first reference book that anyone inter- ested in Australian Odonata will consult. Richard Marchant Museum Victoria Carlton Gardens Melbourne 3053 176 The Victorian Naturalist Book Reviews Grasses of South Australia An illustrated guide to the native and naturalized species by John Jessup, Gilbert RM Dashorst and Fiona M James Publisher: Wakefield Press, 2006. 554 pages, hardcover; 456 figures, 20 plates. ISBN 1862546940. RRP $49.95 The authors introduce us to Grasses of South Australia by providing a history of the project. Grasses of South Australia began with a proposal by the Native Grass Resources Group to the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium for a revised edition of the grass treatment in the 1986 Flora of South Australia. More than 36% of the names in Grasses of South Australia were not included in the 1986 flora, showing how vital was the need for a revision. This figure includes newly recog- nised grasses and corrected names. Identifying grasses is notoriously diffi- cult, and it is important to understand grass morphology and associated terms. The authors provide an excellent drawing of ‘the typical grass plant’, at the same time explaining that in a family of about 10 000 species a lot of variation occurs, and many species would bear no resemblance to the Grasses of South Australia An illustrated guide to the native and naturalised species John Jessop (iilben R.M. Dashorst Fiona M. James © ‘typical’ grass. An excellent glossary is provided with many diagrams illustrating some of the more unusual terms such as puberulent, muricate or hispid surfaces and extravaginal and intravaginal shoots. Whether for those new to grass identifica- tion or those with some previous experi- ence of botanical terminology, the glossary is a necessity as some of the terms used have a slightly different meaning from those occuring with other plant groups. An illustrated key designed for those with limited knowledge of grass morphology and terminology precedes the key proper. The illustrations are excellent and easily allow identification of grasses into groups. Some of the more recognisable genera and species can be identified directly from the illustrations. These genera and species are eliminated early in the written key. Subsequent characters divide the family into groups from A-P. Smaller keys then divide these groups into genera. The groups from A-P are simply for convenience to facilitate identification of the genera, but also allow many genera to occur in more than one group. This is important where there are differences in key characteristics of species within a single genus. For exam- ple, Distichlis occurs in group K, which consists of species with a panicle, awned spikelets and with three or more bisexual lemmas, and in group P, which also has species with a panicle but spikelets do not have awns and have two or more bisexual lemmas. Being experienced in the use of many keys for many different plant groups I always have found that division of a key into smaller sections is far more user friendly than a single large key. The small- er sections are not as daunting in the first instance, and allow one to determine if a mistake has been made earlier than when using a larger key. Vol. 124 (3) 2007 177 Naturalist Notes Once specimens have been identified to genus, the index must be consulted to determine the page on which the genus is described. Depending on the number of species within the genus, a further key is supplied to identify the species. A descrip- tion of each species follows, along with an account of its distribution and notes on its ecology. The accompanying drawings are expertly done and help confirm correct identification. Grasses of South Australia is a much needed work. It is highly recommended and provides information in a simple and user friendly manner, enabling all with an interest in grasses to identify specimens from this huge family, regardless of their level of expertise! Maria Gibson Plant Ecology Research Unit School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125 Mayfly Sonnet no longer green around the gills he is unsheathed from adolescence four-oared and paddling the airwaves in a kind of semaphore, his present tense is part Icarus and part Romeo blindly conforming in a blizzard of silent fervour- confetti to choke the throats of animals and smooth the tread of tyres- until the complicit gesturing of time and cosmic forces skew his balance and weight his movements; a muddle of spirals and spins that exposes nature’s counterfeit as merely a scent, drifting in earthly currents betraying all in his nothingness Christopher Palmer Biodiversity Conservation South Parks and Wildlife Service PO Box 1120 Alice Springs NT 0871 178 The Victorian Naturalist Naturalist Notes Possible Evidence of the Southern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon obesulus , from Deal Island, Kent Group, Bass Strait, Tasmania Observations In March 1999 the authors visited Deal Island (Kent Group) to survey the island for burrowing crayfish species. The Kent Group is located about halfway between the southern tip of Wilsons Promontory and the northern tip of Flinders Island, and comprises about six islands, the main three being Deal Island (c. 1577 ha) and the con- joined Dover and Erith islands (c. 295 ha and 323 ha, respectively) about one kilo- metre to the west across a channel (39°28’S, 147°21’E). Deal Island is a con- servation area but has been highly modi- fied by a long history of fire, land clearing and grazing. The pictured shelter/nest (Fig. 1) was located on the eastern side of Deal Island in closed Allocasuarina woodland. Given the size of the structure (see watch for scale), its location on the ground and the type of construction (“interwoven” sheoak needles), combined with the habitat (grassy Allocasuarina woodland), it is pos- tulated that the builder might be a southern brown bandicoot, Isoodon obesulus. Unfortunately, no collections of scats and/or hair were made from within and around the structure, and no obvious coni- cal diggings were observed in the vicinity. Other ground-dwelling candidates as owner of the structure are the Tasmanian bettong Bettongia gaimardi , although there are no records of this species from the Bass Strait islands (Rounsevell et al. 1991), or long-nosed potoroo, Potorous tridactylus , although the structure appears to be too small for this species. The absence of ground predators, such as the Tasmanian devil Sarcophilus harrisii and species of quoll ( Dasyurus viverrinus and D. maculatus ), means that the structure could even belong to arboreal species such as the common brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula or the common ringtail possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus. The latter species often builds nests (dreys) in trees but might construct a nest on the ground in the absence of predators. although this particular structure is unlike- ly to belong to this species. Further candi- dates for constructing such a shelter might include introduced rats such as Rattus norvegicus, which is recorded for the island (Brothers et al. 2001), or even native rats such as Rattus lutreolus, which is possibly present on the island (Brothers et al. 2001). Flowever, given that the nest was in a remote part of the island (i.e. away from the main settlement) and in quite open vegetation, the possibility of a rat nest seems remote but is by no means impossible. Rounsevell et al. (1991) indicated that the southern brown bandicoot is wide- spread throughout mainland Tasmania but is absent from all islands except Maria Island (where it is introduced), Bruny Island and “West Sisters Island” in the Furneaux Group (Hope 1972), where it was last collected in 1987. Brothers et al. (2001) did note that the southern brown bandicoot occurs on Deal Island and the nearby Erith Island, but no evidence is available to support this observa- tion (in the form of database or museum records), although its veracity is not ques- tioned. If the structure described in this note does belong to a southern brown bandicoot, the observation may be significant because the species is only formally known from Inner (West) Sister Island off the northern tip of Flinders Island. Similar structures to the one pictured have been observed on nearby Erith Island and despite camera-trap- ping (remote-controlled nocturnal photogra- phy), the owners were not detected, although introduced rats were (D Pemberton pers. comm.), and footprints possibly belonging to the bandicoot were also observed (D Pemberton and B Lazenby pers. comm.). Hope (1972) and Brothers et al. (2001) listed the common brushtail possum as being present on the Deal Island and the nearby Erith and Dover Islands. Brothers et al. (2001) indicated the long-nosed potoroo as being present on Erith Island Vol. 124 (3) 2007 179 Naturalist Notes and Hope (1972) reported subfossil collec- tions of the potoroo from Deal Island from a gully above Winter Cove. In conclusion, in the absence of other evidence such as scats or hairs, it is not possible to confirm the identity of the owner of this structure. However, the information is presented to allow discus- sion of its possible significance, especially if further evidence comes to light of south- ern brown bandicoots, common ringtail possums or long-nosed potoroos being pre- sent on Deal Island itself or on nearby Erith and Dover Islands. Further surveys for mammals on the Kent Group using a variety of techniques (e.g. hair-tubes, cam- era-traps, small and large cage traps, spot- lighting, scats and tracks survey) appears to be warranted. Mark Wapstra ECOtas, 28 Suncrest Avenue Lenah Valley, Tasmania 7008 Email: mark@ecotas.com.au and Niall Doran Resource Management and Conservation Department of Primary Industries and Water GPO Box 44, Hobart. Tasmania 7001 Acknowledgements Thanks to Phil Bell, Sally Bryant, Mike Driessen, Rosemary Gales, Greg Hocking, Nick Mooney, Sarah Munks, David Pemberton and Hans and Annie Wapstra for their thoughts on the owner of the structure. David Pemberton commented on an earlier draft of this note, and comments of an anonymous reviewer clarified several points. Thanks to Rob King and Serena King for their assistance during the burrowing crayfish surveys, and in particular the inex- haustible scrub-bashing efforts of Rob. References Brothers N, Pemberton D, Pryor H and Halley V (2001) Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: Seabirds and other Natural Features. (Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart) Hope JH (1972) Mammals of the Bass Strait islands. Proceedings of the Roval Society of Victoria 85 . 163- 195. Rounsevell DE, Taylor RJ and Hocking GJ (1991) Distribution records of native terrestrial mammals in Tasmania. Wildlife Research 18 , 699-717. Triggs B (1996) Tracks. Scats and Other Traces: a Field Guide to Australian Mammals . (Oxford University Press, Melbourne) Fig. 1 . Structure made predominantly of sheoak needles. The entrance is c. 10 cm diameter and extends for about 20-30 cm back into the image. The raised Sheoak needles at the top centre of the image are where they rest against a small diameter Sheoak stem. The watch provides a scale. It is noted that the structure is remarkably similar to the nest of a Long-nosed Bandicoot Perameles nasu- ta picture on page 216 of Triggs (1996). 180 The Victorian Naturalist Tributes Arthur James Farnworth MBE, PhD 30 September 1923 - 10 December 2006 It was with great regret that we heard the news of Arthur’s death. Arthur was President from 1990-1993, and was one of the most dedicated and influential presi- dents that the Club has had. He came to - was thrust into - the position at a time when the Club was at a very low ebb. Membership had been falling for several years. The Victorian Naturalist seemed to be on the verge of foundering, and our tenure at the Herbarium was becoming increasingly insecure. Initially somewhat daunted by the positon he found himself in, Arthur tackled these problems with energy and determination. Arthur Farnworth was elected to the Club in 1986, with the intention of quietly pur- suing his interests in natural history and honing his skills in nature photography. He and his wife Enid, who ably supported him throughout his presidency, attended Botany Group meetings, where he fell under the talent-spotting eye of Marie Allender. In the lead-up to the 1990 AGM, Marie suggested to me that Arthur would be a good person to have on Council. I contacted him, and he agreed to stand. My approach might have been a little disingen- uous, because I knew that 1 would not be standing for re-election as Vice-President, as I was going overseas later in the year, and the hunt was already on to find another candidate. On a Botany Group excursion, Marie and I put the suggestion to Arthur that he should stand for this position. (In those days we had only one Vice- President.) In May 1990 he was duly elected. But we had no President, and in August the person who had subsequently been appointed, resigned. Arthur, totally unexpectedly and with some dismay, found himself in the position. Two major problems immediately con- fronted him: the lateness of The Victorian Naturalist, and the confusion of the mem- bership records. The failure to get The Victorian Naturalist out on time, so that members had notice of meetings and excursions before they occurred, had exist- ed for some time, and Council had regular- ly discussed the feasibility of having a newsletter. Nothing had come of this because no-one seemed willing to under- take the task of producing one. In October 1990 Arthur sent an open letter to all mem- bers announcing that a newsletter would be included with the bi-monthly The Victorian Naturalist, and that measures were being undertaken to ensure that the journal appeared on time. The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria Newsletter January/February 1991 duly appeared, under the able editorship of Dr Noel Schleiger. From the outset it became a stand-alone publication, but remained bi- monthly until August 1994, when, under the title Field Nats News, it became monthly. It has appeared regularly from the outset, without a break, since then, and nowadays there is an efficient system in place that ensures its production and mail- ing. The Victorian Naturalist also began to be published more on schedule. In the early days there was much burning of the mid- night oil to achieve this, in which Arthur played a major role. He was fortunate that he gathered around him a willing band of helpers, but he inspired people, and they responded to this. He was quick to express Vol. 124 (3) 2007 181 Tributes his appreciation of anyone’s efforts, with the quotation ‘1 dips me lid’, which he used whenever he thought it merited. In January 1991 an editorial sub-commit- tee was set up to assist the editors in the planning and costing of The Victorian Naturalist and the Newsletter. The Club had been late in submitting its application for the Treasury grant, which it had previ- ously received. Arthur rectified this by writing to the Premier, and the grant of $1500 was restored. The Club’s membership records had been computerised in 1985, but the system was outsourced, and there were many pitfalls; the situation was aggravated in 1 990 by the lackadaisical attitude of the current Subscription Secretary. This was another problem that Arthur had to tackle, and again willing helpers, such as Margaret Potter, came to his assistance. It took more than two years to sort out the confusion, but the provision of office space in the Astronomer’s Residence, as a result of negotiations with the Herbarium, made the administration of the Club easier, and in 1993 the membership records were installed on our own computer. Amongst other matters needing attention was the future of the Club’s Kinglake property. Council had always understood that by the terms of Harold Frahm's will the Club was unable to dispose of the block. However, diminishing use of it by the Club, together with an increasing van- dalism, and resulting expense, made it important that some action be taken. Arthur initiated investigation of the Club’s position, and it was established that it was under no legal obligation to retain the property. The money from the sale of the Kinglake block, though long delayed, became an important contribution in the establishment of the Club in its present home and so we may thank Arthur for the part he played in this. Arthur was a superb nature photographer, and his slide shows were always informa- tive. But it was not unknown for him to conclude with a very striking photograph and the cheerful remark ‘And I don't know what the hell this is!’ He had a great sense of humour. His 1992 presidential address, entitled ‘Kakadu and other interests’, included slides which had tickled his fancy. His informative article in The Victorian Naturalist on the changes in Mallacoota Inlet was typical, full of comic asides and concluding with the comment that ‘the jetties lying several centimetres below the surface of the lake, provided a golden opportunity for anyone with delu- sions of grandeur to practise walking on water,’ adding that there were rumours that several MPs had occasionally been seen at Mallacoota Inlet! Arthur Farnworth was born in Geelong on 30 September 1923, and was educated at the Gordon Institute of Technology, and the Universities of Melbourne and Leeds. After several years as Senior Lecturer in Textile Chemistry at the Gordon Institute, he became a Research Officer with CSIRO, where he developed Si-Ro-Set, the perma- nent press process, which smartened us all up. In 1961 he became Technical Director of the Australian Wool Board, Deputy Managing Director in 1970, and General Manager, Corporate Services and Research Division, Australian Wool Corporation in 1974. In 1946 he married Enid Brown, by whom he had three children. In recent years Arthur’s membership of the Club lapsed, as Enid’s debilitating ill- ness required increasing care, but he left a lasting legacy, primarily by the establish- ment of Field Nat News, but also in revital- ising the Club at a time of crisis. We have good reason to be grateful. Our condo- lences go to his family. Sheila Houghton 12 Scenic Court Gisborne, Victoria 3437 182 The Victorian Naturalist Tributes Dr Gretna Margaret Weste AM 5 September 1917-30 August 2006 Last year a long-standing and generous contributor to the FNCV died - Dr Gretna Weste, a Club member from 1978 until she left Victoria in 2003 to live near her daughter in Tasmania. Before leaving, Gretna contributed to my historical investi- gation of The University of Melbourne’s Botany School, with which she had an even longer association. Because we were discussing her pre-1975 work, I didn’t ask her why she joined the FNCV in 1978, something I now regret. In hindsight, joining the FNCV seems entirely appropriate for someone with Gretna’s interests and expertise. In the 1970s she was helping an amateur natural- ist describe fungi, and teaching and researching in the Botany School, during which undergraduate excursions took her to Wilsons Promontory, and her research took her to dying patches of Victoria’s diverse heathlands, woodlands and forests. Gretna was on a quest - to understand the ways and wiles of a destructive plant pathogen - and this required an ecological understanding of the bush it invaded. Her interest in and love of the bush was shaped by her childhood and university experi- ences, bush-walking, and perhaps her forester husband. Her parents, Arthur and Grace Parkin, took her bush-camping and encouraged her love of plants and the bush; and, although their names do not appear in FNCV membership lists, Gretna claimed to have enjoyed FNCV shows and meetings as a child. No wonder she joined the FNCV. By 1978 her three children were well and truly independent adults, and, sadly, her husband had died. World War 1 was responsible for Gretna’s Scottish birth and name. In 1917 her scientist father was working in the new. War-provoked munitions factory, ‘H.M. Factory Gretna’, near the Scottish border town of Gretna. At the end of the War, the Parkin family returned to Victoria, where Gretna grew up on the edge of suburbia in Surrey Hills. During the Depression, a scholarship allowed her to complete her secondary education at Methodist Ladies’ College in Hawthorn. In Victoria’s Leaving examination in December 1934 she gained the Exhibition (top marks) in botany and first-class hon- ours in enough subjects to win a govern- ment scholarship to Melbourne’s only university in 1935. During her honours-studded science degree course at the University of Melbourne, Gretna studied botany under several FNCV members. Dr Reuben Patton taught plant taxonomy and ecology, and Associate Professor Ethel McLennan taught mycology and plant pathology. Professor Alfred Ewart was also a FNCV member. Gretna was in his last Botany Part III class - in her third year in 1937. Ewart died just before Gretna presented her talk on a topic of little interest to her (soil pH measurement), thereby sparing her his usual scathing criticism. Gretna Parkin shared the exhibition in Botany Part III, and in April 1938. graduated BSc. A Howitt Natural History Scholarship allowed her to undertake research for the University’s MSc degree in 1938. In the Division of Forest Products of CSIR (later CSIRO) she investigated the ‘tension wood’ formed in response to bending in Australian hardwood trees, her foundation investigations gaining her the nick-name ‘Gelatinous Gretna’, due to the gelatinous layer inside the tension wood. In the spring of 1938 Gretna and other members of the Botany School helped to introduce Ewart’s newly-arrived successor, Professor John Turner, to Australia’s tall flammable forests beyond Marysville. And then came the January 1939 bush- fires and World War II. Early in 1939 Gretna Parkin gained first- class honours and shared the MSc exhibi- tion in the Botany School, and was appointed a research officer in the Forests Commission of Victoria (FCV). Or so the paper-work of her appointment led her to believe. She investigated the problem of preserving the timber of the huge numbers of trees killed but not incinerated in the 1939 fires. Unlike her research officer col- Vol. 124 (3) 2007 183 Tributes Gretna Parkin working in the Forests Commission of Victoria Laboratory in 1940. Photo courtesy of Sandra Heard nee Weste. leagues, all of whom were male, her salary did not increase incrementally, so she appealed to the Public Service Board, whose investigation of her research reports and typewriter-free laboratory somehow concluded that, as a woman, her classifica- tion and salary were those of a temporary typist. And that was that. Her research led to the FCV’s policy of keeping salvaged timber sprayed with water, but her myco- logical paper on wood-rotting fungi on liv- ing forest trees was not published. In December 1941 Gretna married Geoff Weste, a Creswick-trained forester, and, since married women were then not toler- ated in the Public Service, she had to resign from the FCV. Fortunately marriage was not an explicit barrier to university women, and Professor Turner welcomed her back in the wartime-depleted Botany School in 1942, to continue (on a Commonwealth Research Scholarship) work he claimed was of national impor- tance - her research on the pathology and preservation of timber salvaged after the 1939 fires. In 1961, after two decades of family responsibilities and some school-teaching, Gretna was again welcomed back in the Botany School to teach increasing numbers of botany students in the 1960s. Beginning as a senior demonstrator, she also under- took research in plant pathology, and was soon lecturing as well as demonstrating in plant pathology and first-year biology. In August 1969 lecturer Weste was awarded a PhD degree for her agriculturally-impor- tant thesis on a fungal disease of wheat. That year two timely events redirected Dr Gretna Weste’s research focus to Victoria’s indigenous vegetation - the decision to transfer University agricultural plant pathology across the System Garden to the Agriculture School, and the detec- tion of symptoms of a non-agricultural pathogen in the Victorian bush. Frank Podger, who had recently shown that the devastating dieback in Western Australia’s precious Jarrah Eucalyptus marginata forests was due to Phytophthora cinnamo- mi , accompanied Gretna’s ecologist col- league, Dr David Ashton, on a botanical excursion to the Brisbane Ranges, where they noticed symptoms which were later confirmed to be due to P cinnamomi. This was the first record of the disease in the Victorian bush, having probably reached the Brisbane Ranges during road-construc- tion in the 1960s. And so Dr Weste transferred her research gaze from an agriculturally-important soil- borne pathogen to one which devastates Australian indigenous ecosystems. In the Botany School she taught science and forestry undergraduates about interactions between micro-organisms and plants, and 184 The Victorian Naturalist Tributes Dr Gretna Weste pointing out an unusual Grass-tree she spotted in the Mary D White Heathland Reserve during an excursion with Friends of Angahook-Lome State Park in February 2000. Later identified by Neville Walsh as Xanthorrhoea ccespitosa, it was a new record for the Anglesea dis- trict. Photo courtesy of Margaret MacDonald. supervised post-graduate research projects on diverse aspects of P. cinnamomi in the bush. Although P. cinnamomi was com- monly known as ‘cinnamon fungus’ because of its initial discovery on cinna- mon trees, with its motile (swimming) zoospores, it is more closely related to cer- tain algae than fungi. Unfortunately this alien micro-organism has been found to be a virulent, root-invading pathogen of numerous Australian plants, its degree of destruction being influenced by the antago- nistic activity of soil microbes. Also unfor- tunately, Australian nutrient-poor soils and gravels invariably lack sufficient micro- organisms to combat P. cinnamomi. Dr Weste officially retired as Reader in 1982; in March 1984 the University of Melbourne honoured the foremost authority on the biology of P. cinnamomi in Australian ecosystems with a DSc degree for her published research papers; and in 1989, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) ‘For service to science, particularly in the field of botany’. Beyond all these, Gretna and her research students continued to study the physiological and ecological consequences of P cinnamomi. For more than three decades, beginning with Victoria’s rather wet growing season of 1970-71, which favoured its zoospore- led dispersion, they followed its fate and fancies in forests, woodlands and heath- lands in the Brisbane Ranges, Wilsons Promontory, Grampians and East Gippsland. These long-term studies have revealed the pathogen’s modus operandi, the sus- ceptibility of thousands of Australian host species, and the cyclic nature of the infes- tation. By continuously monitoring vegeta- tion in permanent quadrats in diseased and disease-free areas, they have documented the changing face of the disease. With the dieback and death of susceptible trees and shrubs (with the conspicuous evidence of dead Grass Trees Xanthorrhoea australis, noticed by so many field naturalists), drab, resistant vegetation (such as sedges) gradu- ally replaces diverse, colourful, insect-, bird- and animal-attracting susceptible species (like peas, heaths and grevilleas) in Vol. 124 (3) 2007 185 Tributes heathlands and shrubby understoreys. Then, decades after the initial infestation of P. cinnamomi, its density and distribu- tion may decline, with the co-incident reappearance of susceptible trees and understorey species. In the 1990s they recorded a welcome recovery on Wilsons Promontory - the reappearance of X. australis and Saw Banksias Banksia serrata on the northern slopes of Vereker Spur near the junction of Millers Landing Track and Five Mile Road. Dr Weste first noticed dieback there in 1970 (during a university botany excur- sion), probably originating from contami- nated soil on a bulldozer brought in to help fight bushfires in 1962 and offloaded in a gravel pit. The disease was dispersed by the 'dozer, and subsequently by the use of infested gravel on roads and tracks, and by zoospores swimming after rain. Dr Weste represented the Botany School on the Conservation Council of Victoria, and submitted botanical evidence to Victoria’s Land Conservation Council. She was a foundation member of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and a member of numerous groups, including the FNCV, Victorian National Parks Association, Environmental Studies Association of Victoria, Friends of Warrandyte State Park and of the 100 Acres in Park Orchards, Montrose Environment Group, the Ringwood Field Naturalists Club, and the Maroondah branch of the Society for Growing Australian Plants (now Australian Plants Society). In 1990 Dr Weste undertook a compre- hensive investigation of the risk posed by P. cinnamomi to endemic plants through- out Australia for the new Endangered Species Unit of the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service (ANPWS). Having just published the revised edition of Rare or Threatened Australian Plants (1988), the ANPWS did not publish her report on this particular biological risk to them, but did use information from her report. Further research by Weste and co- workers on rare and endangered species in the Brisbane Ranges and Grampians (Gariwerd) National Parks, has revealed the alarming news that over a dozen endemic species are not only susceptible to P. cinnamomi but are also at risk of conse- quent extinction. The ecological threat of P. cinnamomi to Australian biodiversity is now officially acknowledged. ‘Dieback caused by the root-rot fungus {Phytophthora cinnamomi )' is now listed as a ‘Key Threatening Process’ under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. A foundation member of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society (APPS), Dr Gretna Weste was an executive member of the International Society of Plant Pathologists’ Committee on Phytophthora, and chaired the Organising Committee of the Society’s 4 lh International Congress of Plant Pathology, which was held in Melbourne in 1983. She was also a plant pathology research group leader in the International Union of Forest Research Organisations. In the 1990s she was made an Honorary Member of the APPS and Patron of the new Australasian Mycological Society. Gretna’s mycological activities included a productive collaboration with an amateur mycologist and long-standing FNCV member, Gordon Beaton. While Gordon collected, identified, described and illus- trated small cup-fungi (Discomycetes) and other fungi, Gretna prepared their descrip- tive papers for publication. Their 20 joint papers, published from 1976 to 1984 in the Transactions of the British Mycological Society, include type descriptions of Australian fungi. The Victorian Naturalist (1978-80) carries five of their papers on Victorian fungi and Weste’s obituary for Beaton in 1988. Gretna participated in the fungal forays, workshops and conferences of Fungimap, the realisation of Dr Tom May’s 1995 suggestion to the FNCV’s Botany Group of a mapping scheme for Australian fungi. At the 3 td Fungimap con- ference in Gowrie Park, Tasmania, in 2005, with her usual generous enthusiasm, Gretna helped professional and novice par- ticipants alike in their pursuit of fungi. Undeterred by hip replacements and the occasional broken bone, Gretna continued to hike through the world’s national parks and wilderness areas into the 21 s1 century. With humour, hand lens and camera at the ready, she marvelled at the beauty as well as the ecology of landscapes and their plants and fungi. From the 1970s she 186 The Victorian Naturalist Tributes shared her biological wisdom and wonder- ment during engaging talks and enthusias- tically-led excursions for the FNCV and other conservation groups, and founded and led walks for the Melbourne University and Alumni Bushwalkers The patient, perceptive and persistent investigations of P. cinnamomi by Dr Gretna Weste and her students show the huge importance of sustained scientific research for the understanding and man- agement of ecosystems and their pestifer- ous invaders. They have documented and explained the physiological and ecological destruction caused by this alien micro- organism that poses such a threat to Australia’s biodiversity, and which, in our careless ignorance during road-works, log- ging and mining, we humans have intro- duced into Australian ecosystems. Gretna leaves a substantial legacy of ideas and information - in the busy minds of her former research students and in her pub- lished papers, including over 100 papers on Phytophthora cinnamomi, in Australian and international journals such as the Australian Journal of Botany, Australasian Plant Pathology, Phytopathology Zeitschrift , Phytophthora Newsletter (International) and, of course, The Victorian Naturalist. The following four papers provide an overview of her protract- ed study of this destructive pathogen in the Victorian bush: The cinnamon fungus. Is it a threat to Australian native plants? The Victorian Naturalist { 1993) 110 , 78-84. Is dieback declining? The threat of Phytophthora cinnamomi. The Victorian Naturalist (1997) 114 , 216-221. Dieback at Wilsons Promontory. Is the bat- tle won? The Victorian Naturalist (1998) 115,331-336. Dieback threatens endangered native plants [in the Grampians]. Will they sur- vive? The Victorian Naturalist (2004) 121 , 148-153. And you might like to read her autobio- graphical 2005 Daniel McAlpine Memorial Lecture, ‘A long and varied fungal foray’, in Australasian Plant Pathology 34 , 433 — 437. I thank Sheila Houghton, Gary Presland, Jason Benjamin, Jane Ellen, Tom May, Lorraine Gale, Marion King and Jean Galliott for their help. Linden Gillbank School of Social and Environmental Enquiry The University of Melbourne lindenrg@unimelb.edu.au One Hundred Years Ago POPULAR NAMES FOR NATIVE PLANTS - Following up the suggestion made in a paper read before the Field Naturalists' Club some little time ago, a sub-committee has been appointed to see what can be done towards compiling a list of popular names for our commoner native plants. The first step is, of course, to get as many lists of names as possible from observers in various parts of the state, and with that view the sub-committee requests all interested, especially teachers, who, perhaps, have better opportunities than others, to forward any names they may know of to Dr. C.S. Sutton, Rathdown-street, North Carlton, who has kindly consented to act as secretary to the movement. It is not to be expected that this work will be accomplished in one season, but, if started at once, it will not be long before a satisfactory foundation can be laid for future work, which, it is hoped, will include the publication of a Floral Calendar for the State. Parcels of dried specimens, with local names attached, may be forwarded to the care of Mr. J.A. Leach, M.Sc., Training College, Carlton. From The Victorian Naturalist XXIV p 85, September 5, 1907 Vol. 124 (3) 2007 187