How rivers work and the implications for riparian restoration

On 11 March 2012, we had Peter McAdam, stream geomorphologist and Healthy Habitats/Land for Wildlife Officer at the Mary River Catchment Coordination Committee join us for our outdoor meeting. Peter gave a very informative presentation about "How Rivers work and the implications for Riparian Restoration".

You can watch excerpts from his presentation below.

Part 1 is about how to defining a river. 

Part 2 follows directly from Part 1 and in this, Peter focuses on the way rivers change. In particular he identifies some of the changes that have occurred as a result of European settlement.

You can view higher resolution images of these videos on GMA's Youtube Channel.

We hope to follow up with some surveys of the river bed to get a better understanding of what is happening in this section of the Mary River.

New injection of funds to assist with weed control and biocontrol of Cat's Claw

This week we found out we were successful in obtaining some more funds from a BMRG Weed and Pest Grant that we will use to do extra weed control and also upgrade the tingid breeding facility in Tiaro.

The Tingids are a biological control for Cat's Claw. A viney weed that takes over canopy trees and smothers the forest floor.

Gympie and District Landcare have a well established Tingid Breeding Facility and we are working with them to establish a satellite facility in Tiaro that will service the Fraser Coast. 

Cat's Claw is one of many viney weeds that are a problem in the Koala Corridor. The others include Balloon Vine, Mile a Minute and Coastal morning glory.

Second planning walk for the Mary River Koala Corridor

On Sunday March 11, we were lucky enough to have both Greg Smyrell, landscape ecologist, and Peter McAdam, stream geomorphologist and Healthy Habitats Officer from the Mary River Catchment Coordination Committee (MRCCC) give advice on the Mary River Koala Corridor project.

Greg walked through all three properties to produce a detailed plant list for the riparian zone. Based on this we will develop recommended planting lists that reflect the current species.

Peter also visited all three properties, giving advice about overall land management and participation in the Land for Wildlife program. All three properties are now participants in Land for Wildlife.

We were also treated to a presentation by Peter about stream geomorphology. What we learned in this session will help us understand the likely future behaviour of this section of river. This is the subject of it's own post, that is available here. This post includes a video of Peter's presentation.

First planning walk for the corridor

A weedy vine taking over a canopy tree

On Sunday 11 December 2011, a few of us braved the weather and did a walk along two of the properties in the Koala Corridor with Juliet Musgrave and Tina Ravenau from Fraser Coast Regional Council. 


We identified weeds and plants. Juliet has since provided us with templates for the weed management plan and lists of weed species. Tina has provided some advice on planting strategies. 


There is an almost continuous, but slightly fragmented riparian zone on the properties involved in the project. During our walk, the impact that vine weeds, particularly Cats Claw and Balloon vine are having on existing canopy trees was evident. Also, being on the main trunk of the river, and in the pondage of the barrage, the riverbank suffers the pressure of boat wash, artificial maintained water height and high erosive flows during floods. Another factor contributing to the instability of the banks is the sodic soil, which when wet, has very little structure to hold it together, and therefore erodes easily. In this video below, one of the landholders talks about the erosion he has experienced on his river bank and the measures he has taken to try to prevent it. 

We noticed that even though the properties are very close together, they have different vegetation and different weed issues. The one has a lot of eucalypts whereas the other has more rainforest type trees, particularly a tree called the Native Elm.

The walk was topped off by the siting of a koala on one of the properties. 

The koala was in one of the gums right on the river bank. 

Can you spot it?