Conservation Significance of Lapoinya Forest Coupe FDO53A for Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services
Richard Donaghey visited coupe FDO53A on the morning of 14 October 2014 and recorded
birds by sight and sound. October is a good month for bird surveys as most forest birds are
breeding. I walked north along Broxham’s Road on the eastern boundary of the coupe and
down to Maynes Creek on the Maynes Link Road with excursions into the forest from the
road.
The native forest coupe was logged about 60 years ago. The coupe is classified as WET
Obliqua with communities OB 0111 and OB 1001 being most dominant. Although the coupe
is classified as WET OB there are patches where Brooker’s Gum Eucalyptus brookeriana is
dominant. Brooker’s Gum is a threatened eucalypt community and all patches where
Brooker’s Gum occur should be reserved and not logged. This Brooker’s Gum community is
possibly the most easterly occurrence of Brooker’s Gum in north-west Tasmania. The coupe
also contained some Giant Ash Eucalyptus regnans. Rainforest trees such as Sassafras and
Myrtle-Beech occurred along Maynes Creek and also as tall understorey trees with the
coupe.
Forests with layers of vegetation in good condition and structural elements such as dead and
living trees with hollows and cavities, large old trees, understorey trees, shrubs, ground layer
vegetation and logs and litter on the ground have high conservation value (HCV) for birds.
HCV forests for birds provide habitat for threatened species, species with specialist habitat
requirements, declining species and uncommon species not yet threatened and common
species.
The 27 bird species recorded in the coupe mostly on one morning indicates high bird species
richness. The bird assemblage includes 6 of 11 Tasmanian forest endemics, the threatened
Grey Goshawk and Wedge-tailed Eagle, two nocturnal species (the uncommon Tawny
Frogmouth and the hollow-dependent Southern Boobook), two uncommon wet forest
specialists (Olive Whistler and Pink Robin). Most of the uncommon to rare species and a few
of the more common species are either habitat specialists or require specific elements of the
habitat for breeding. The bird assemblage includes at least four species that depend on treehollows (Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, the endemic Green Rosella, Southern Boobook and
Laughing Kookaburra), six species that nest in mature and old trees including the Grey
Goshawk and Tawny Frogmouth, 16 species that nest in understorey and one brood parasite
the Shining Bronze-Cuckoo.
The presence of 27 bird species in all the foraging and nesting guilds indicates a functional
forest ecosystem. The good condition of the forest habitat and the presence of common,
uncommon and threatened bird species all indicate that this Lapoinya forest coupe is healthy
and of high value for fauna conservation.
Clearfelling removes all canopy eucalypts and special timber trees such as Sassafras and
Myrtle-Beech. Some of the largest eucalypt species of all three species should be left
standing as seed trees, as carbon sinks, and also for biodiversity conservation so they can
grow older than 100 years and provide hollows for hollow-dependent fauna such as the
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Green Rosella, Southern Boobook and arboreal marsupials.
In addition to reserving the community of Brooker’s Gum, all three eucalypt species should
be retained and reserved in clumps for wildlife habitat as recommended by Forestry
Tasmania’s new way of forest management.
Value of Ecosystem Services
Native ecosystems such as forests and freshwater systems are natural capital. Native forests
provide services such as: 1) retaining carbon and maintaining air quality; 2) providing fresh
water through filtration and purification; 3) building soil, maintaining soil fertility and
reducing soil loss; and 4) maintaining biodiversity such as fauna. Forest fauna and microorganisms provide services such as nutrient recycling, waste disposal and plant pollination by
insects, mammals and birds. Birds and insects control pests of pastures, crops and forests.
Forest birds control leaf-eating insects and eat about 50-70% of the insects in patches of
eucalypts. The above ecosystem services provided by nature have both ecological and
economic value.
Dr Richard Donaghey
Biodiversity Consultant and Ornithologist