Green Space Our Place OUR VOLUNTEERS VOICE
Green Space Our Place
ISSUE 31 JUNE 2021
Front Page: Down ‘n’ Dirty volunteers Sandra and Joanne. Back Page: Flower from the Couroupita guianensis, Cannonball Tree, in the Cairns Botanic Gardens.
In this issue: •
From the Editor - Page 2
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The Green Space update Page 3
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Supporting the Cape York Girl Academy - Page 4
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The Green Space workshops - Pages 4-5
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Beach lovers - plants growing on the tropical shore - Pages 6-7
•
Building bridges workshop Pages 8-9
•
Great outcome for Jack Barnes Boardwalk - Page 9
•
The curtain rises - Pages 10-11
•
Feathered Friends - Page 12
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Creating an instant tropical look in the garden - Pages 12-13
•
Build it and they will come Page 13
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A caterpillar with a problem Pages 14-15
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Honeyeaters: a large family Pages 16-17
•
Did you know - Page 16
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The world beneath our feet: Part 4 - Rotifers - Page 18
•
Sugarworld Gardens News Page 19
Editor - Volunteers Supervisor, Louisa Grandy Proof readers - Michelle Walkden Volunteers Jennifer H. Muir, Sandy Long Contributors - volunteers: Janice Pichon, Barry Muir, Jennifer H. Muir, Dr David Rentz AM, Tom Collis, John Peter and Fran Lindsay 2
From the Editor Welcome,
The vegetable growing season is upon us and the ‘The Green Space’ is growing quickly - the greens especially like this extra rain.
Planting began in April and our volunteers, supporting this new space in Jess Mitchell Park, are receiving produce to take home - we love being able to give something in return for their efforts! ‘The Green Space’ is now open each week on Wednesdays from 9.30am-3.3opm and Friday afternoons from 1.30-3.30pm. Come and join us in the varied activities or pop along to see what we are doing. We’ve also been running workshops for our volunteers - ‘How to build a wicking bed’ and ‘How to work with gabion cages’. See photos Pages 4 & 5.
Our volunteer numbers continue to grow with the latest figures showing 482 active members - that’s 100 more than the total at this time last year. We continue to create opportunities to develop our green spaces while developing connections amongst the community. Thank you for all your support.
Louisa
From left, Lee and Marilyn with Sarah, picking some greens for their dinner after volunteering in the garden.
The Green Space uPdate
Sarah Gosling in the Mandala Garden with the first lot of plantings in May.
From paddock to plate in 3 weeks
Una building a bamboo supporting structure for the cherry tomatoes.
Rosemarie planting the first tomato seedlings.
Clancy planting seedlings.
Louisa and Kelsey creating the water garden featuring lotus, water cress and water chestnuts. 3
Supporting the Cape York Girl Academy
Marilyn and Rosemarie measuring timber for the wicking bed legs.
Junior students from the Cape York Girl Academy attended the new ‘The Green Space’ garden at Jess Mitchell Park in April to learn about sustainable gardening practices. Teacher, Laurie says, “Cape York Girl Academy seeks to provide young indigenous women with opportunities for growth and success in every aspect of their lives. The students will graduate with an education and gain confidence to be the best they can be as individuals, as valued members of their community and as future leaders. “The girls are taking part in the subject ‘Design and Technology’ with the topic of Sustainable Gardening. This is to help the girls understand and to develop skills in food security; to feel the accomplishment of growing something for sustenance; and to understand the connection between the sun, earth and water in the growing and sustainability of the garden.
Yumiko finishing the frame.
“We came to the community garden to see a model of what a sustainable garden could look like, particularly with the wicking beds, as well as to learn which seeds/ seedlings were planted there and why. “We’ve used the knowledge we gained to start our own garden which the students will maintain.” Pictured: Junior students from Cape York Girl Academy learning about sustainable gardening practices. From left, Volunteers Support Officer Sarah Gosling explaining the wicking bed gardening method with (from left) Alexis, Kynomi, Laurie (teacher), Calista and Sophia (teacher aide). 4
Marilyn very pleased with the finished product.
Concreting support uprights.
The Green Space
Hardscaping with gabion cages has added depth to the garden and provided seating. Christian and Sarah preparing the timber top (second-hand hardwood was used).
worKShoPS
Green Space Our Place is providing workshops in the The Green Space to build the garden, as well as providing a skill set for interested volunteers. ‘How to Build a Wicking Bed’ workshops (right) began last year and continued into the new year, along with the latest hardscaping workshop, ‘Working with Gabion Cages’ (this page) held in May. These workshops give volunteers the confidence to create hardscape features and structures in their own garden.
Building the gabion cages.
Placing pitching rock inside the cages. Note the timber support uprights for the seat timber. Pictured from left: Christian, Dawn, Marilyn, Lee and Lyn.
The finished project. 5
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Beach Morning Glory, Ipomoea pes-carpae
Beach Bean, Canavalia rosea
Dodder, Cassytha filiformis
Beach She-Oak, Casuarina equisetifolia
Beach Cabbage, Scaevola taccada
Beach Calophyllum, Calophyllum inophyllum
Beach Hibiscus, Hibiscus tiliaceus
Northern Cottonwood, Thespesia populnea
Beach at Yorkey’s Knob.
Beach lovers – plants growing on the tropical shore TOM COLLiS
Further up the beach from the sea, conditions are slightly better for plant growth. ‘Pioneer’ plants such as Beach She-Oak, Casuarina equisetifolia; Beach Almond, Terminalia catappa; and the evergreen shrub Beach Cabbage, Scaevola taccada, have added organic material (mostly from dead leaves) to the soil. They provide shade Beaches are difficult places for plants to grow: sand and shelter from the wind and allow other species has little nutrient, and beach plants are regularly of beach plants to establish. exposed to salt spray and wind. It is a dynamic Also common near the beach are Beach Hibiscus, environment with sand constantly moving back Hibiscus tiliaceus and the Northern Cottonwood, Thespesia populnea. These are closely related and forth and along the shore. One plant that thrives in this harsh environment tree species with similar yellow flowers and heartis the Beach Morning Glory, Ipomoea pes-caprae. shaped leaves. This creeper sends runners down towards the One of the largest beach trees is the Beach Calophyllum inophyllum, an sea and over the foredunes, stabilising the sand Calophyllum, in the process. Beach Morning Glory is extremely evergreen tree with a short trunk and large salt tolerant and its seeds float in seawater without sprawling branches. Its leaves are large and damage. It is widespread along the beaches of glossy, and provide full shade all year round. Most of the shady trees on Yorkey’s Knob beach are Cairns and tropical regions of the world. Beach Calophyllum. Other low growing plant species on the beach are Salt Couch, Sporobolus virginicus; Beach Bean, Finally, while the Coconut Palm, Cocos nucifera, Canavalia rosea; and the parasitic vine Dodder, is an important tree to many cultures throughout Cassytha filiformis. This vine is a ‘free loader’ on the Pacific, there is debate about whether it is other plants and its orange-coloured twinning ‘native’ to Australia. Coconuts are not common in stems can cover the beach like a net. These the wild, and despite tourism imagery promoting vines and grasses help stabilise the sand on the the palms as being synonymous with our region, foredunes and help prevent erosion from wind most coconuts on our beaches appear to have been planted since European settlement. and waves. Australians love going to the beach, as a place to relax and to enjoy the sun and surf. When you think of tourism images of Cairns and its tropical beaches, they mostly show Coconut Palms in the foreground. In reality, however, there are many remarkable plants that grow on our beaches, despite the environmental challenges.
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Building Bridges workshop participants showing the strength and support provided by their super-thin bamboo bridge sculpture, hand-built by kids and weighing only 28kg.
Building bridges workshop Co-Lab held another successful series of Bamboo Connect - Building Bridges workshops at the Tanks Art Centre, working with children and their families to explore environmental, structural and social connections. Co-Lab’s founder, Anthony, has been running the workshops for the past few years as a part of the Children’s Festival. The workshops were:
Green Space Our Place volunteers harvesting bamboo from Mt Whitfield’s Red Arrow stand for the Bamboo Connect - Building Bridges workshop. Above: Hiromi and Rob; Below: Phil.
Harvesting & Processing Bamboo - exploring the botanical and structural qualities of bamboo to prepare the materials for the project. The bamboo comes from an entirely renewable resource, collected from the Cairns Botanic Gardens Mt Whitfield stand by Green Space Our Place volunteers. Natural Arches & Collaborative Networks - exploring the two big secrets of organic structures to learn about structural efficiency (maximum strength using minimal material). Kids in Collaboration - building The 3-Generations Bridge! The photos show the interest generated by this workshop and the children’s achievement of building a bridge. Families in Collaboration - kids sharing what they’ve learnt with their families to build the ‘village’ sculptures.
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Anthony thanked the Cairns Botanic Gardens for such generous access to their extensive and impressive bamboo collection and to Council’s volunteer network, Green Space Our Place, for all of their help with harvesting.
Interesting things about bamboo: • Each bamboo plant actually isn’t an individual plant – it’s a vertical branch, that is called a ‘culm’, growing from the plant’s root system. • New culms generally only grow once a year (in late spring) – they come out of the ground already at their full diameter and grow to full height in just three months! This can be up to 30 metres tall! The size of the new culms is related to the strength and maturity of the existing bamboo community, increasing from generation to generation of growth. • The reason a new bamboo culm can grow so fast is that it doesn’t need to get its energy from the sun – it gets it from the rest of the bamboo community, via the root system. The individual culm actually consists of thousands of individual fibres, growing in parallel with each other, racing straight up to the sky. • Did you know that bamboo culms are hollow? Unlike trees, which grow a new generation of fibres on their outside each year (called growth rings), bamboo grows a new generation of fibres on its inside each year (for its first three years), so the youngest fibres are always the most protected. It takes the bamboo culm about four years to mature (compared to about 17 years for pine trees and at least 60 years for hardwoods). This makes bamboo a highly renewable resource. • When a bamboo culm is mature, it can be very, very strong, having a tensile strength up to eight times greater than steel per weight, and with amazing sustainability credentials. • Bamboo culms have a lifespan of only about seven to 10 years. But the plant doesn’t die, it replaces the ageing culms with new culms. If we selectively harvest the culms when they are four to six years old, we are actually helping to keep the plant vibrant and healthy and we get really strong, sustainable materials for marking a variety of items: soft, breathable clothing, cutlery, cutting boards, flooring, furniture, buildings, beams, baskets, bridges…it all starts with being curious and making connections – that’s how culture and ecosystems grow.
Anthony teaching at the Bamboo Connect Building Bridges workshops at the Tanks Art Centre.
Great outcome for Jack Barnes Boardwalk
Cairns Deputy Mayor Terry James has welcomed a plan that will allow for the retention and renewal of the Jack Barnes Bicentennial Mangrove Boardwalk. Located on Cairns Airport Pty Ltd controlled land, the boardwalk was closed to the public in April 2019 after an independent engineer’s assessment determined the structure was unsafe and in need of critical repair. Following a consultant’s feasibility study assessing options for the boardwalk’s future, Council advised Cairns Airport Pty Ltd that as of 31 December 2021, it would cease its holding clause over site. Under the provisions of the licenced agreement, Council was obligated to undertake remediation works to remove the carpark on Airport Avenue to return it to a natural state, and to remove the top decking of the boardwalk structure. It was estimated the remediation works would cost $460,000 – those funds will now be used as part of the Cairns Airport plan to renew the boardwalk and make it available for academic and indigenous access to the mangrove habitat. “This is a wonderful outcome for the community and key stakeholders that will allow for the retention of this boardwalk, which was opened in 1988 to commemorate the Queensland Bicentennial and honours the legacy of a pioneering jellyfish researcher,” Cr James said. “Both Council and the Cairns Airport were keen to find the best possible outcome, and I would like to acknowledge the role Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker, who only took up the position in December last year, in helping achieve this great result. “Notably, this site is also significant to the First Peoples as well as to the scientific and research community and provides a unique mangrove experience.” The boardwalk was named in honour of Dr Jack Barnes (1922-1985), whose research on jellyfish helped pioneer early safety procedures adopted by surf lifesavers to prevent stings. 9
The curtain rises
First events at the Tanks Arts Centre
JaNiCE PiCHON
Candle-lit tank during first concert.
The ambitious project of repurposing the Edge Hill fuel bunkers into art venues began in the early 1990s. With the official opening of Tank 4 in mid1994, the ex-wartime facility began its new life as the Tanks Art Centre. The potential of the site to accommodate and foster a broad range of artistic and cultural endeavours was only beginning to be explored. Inaugural concert The newly launched Tank 4 held its first concert on 16 September 1994 for around 300 people. ‘Musical Reflections at the Tanks’ was a candle-lit performance of works from Mozart to Cole Porter and Lennon-McCartney. The theme on the night played on the Gothic ambience of the tank with its sombre wooden columns darkened by oil stains and the circular volumes of austere concrete walls. Purpose built candelabras were fabricated and a tablecloth especially made from planted lawn covered the refreshment table.
The synergy, which has unfolded over the years at the Tanks between the old fuel bunkers and the new arts centre, is testament to this theme of retaining and reworking old structures into the new built environment. Enter the visual arts November 1994 saw the first visual arts exhibitions in Tank 4. ‘Swamp Art’ showcased functional wooden furnishings by two wood-working artists, Mark O’Hehir and Mike Cretney. Local mangrove wood salvaged under licence, along with Far North Queensland timber, had been carved into tabletops and candelabras. Mike also lent a hand in constructing the wooden footbridge beside Tank 4.
‘Discoveries’ was a touring display which explored the experiences of Indo-Chinese refugees who have settled in Australia since the mid-1970s. A large cardboard replica of a refugee boat formed the centrepiece. Following the exhibition, this craft was planned to be symbolically burned on a Northern Territory beach where refugee boats arriving in Spotlight on town planning The inaugural concert also served as the opening Darwin were destroyed. night entertainment for an urban design conference. ‘Three Men in a Tank’ was a locally curated exhibition. ‘Creating Liveable Spaces’ was organised in Despite the connotations one might draw from its title, response to public concern about development in Far this exhibition celebrated the female form in a multiNorth Queensland. Speakers, including architects, media collection from three male artists. The work developers, builders, local government planners and of local sculptor Hans Nielsen comprised wooden, cultural representatives, emphasised the importance stone and metal sculptures which ranged from small of retaining Cairns’ character by incorporating decorative pieces to life-sized figures. Les Jensen’s heritage buildings into redevelopments. photographs were ephemeral impressions of local 10
dancers, produced by the photo aquatint process. These works were complemented by charcoal drawings and oil and acrylic paintings of women by Foster Clark. Supporting local artists Alongside the redevelopment of the tanks into arts venues, the project team fostered the growth of infrastructure to support local artists in the Far North region. The Tanks Art Centre published a community arts newsletter that centralised information on upcoming programs, training workshops, networking events and funding opportunities, and made available on-site working space. With time, some artworks featured in the Centre’s exhibitions were created within the very same walls as those on which they were eventually displayed. Looking back, the work of the core group of local artists seemed limited only by their imagination. The Centre also launched an Arts Resource Library in March 1995. More than 2000 arts-related resources were catalogued by volunteers as a reference collection for the arts community. Besides traditional holdings, it acquired material as diverse as ‘Making art is like making love - You’ve got to protect yourself’, which addressed the health risks to artists from the materials used, and ‘Taxing Questions’ which covered tax time issues for artists.
Custom-designed giant candelabra
Grass carpet tablecloth
Bring on the dance With Tank 4 operational and in demand, work began on converting Tank 5. In mid-1995, it became home to the performing arts with the purchase of dance flooring from a ballroom dancing studio that was closing. Measuring 15 x 11 metres, its installation necessitated the removal of several wooden poles for the layout. At that time, it was reported to be the largest dance floor in Cairns! North Queensland’s own contemporary dance company, Dance North, was the first to use this new floor in July 1995 for a short season of performances and workshops. The following year, they returned to the Tanks for a threeweek residency and a series of shows for school children and the public. Tanks take off With the opening of Tank 3 in 1997, the conversion of the old oil bunkers was complete. Today, several decades after the Tanks Art Centre was first opened, it has become a key cultural asset of the Cairns Regional Council and its name has subtlety evolved to the Tanks Arts Centre, reflecting the variety of art forms and cultures which rub shoulders. The grassroots support and public popularity which characterised its early years endure, and the facility has evolved into a bustling community arts centre supporting the growth of the arts and cultural sectors in Cairns.
Replica refugee boat in ‘Discoveries’ exhibition. The Cairns Post 11/11/1994 Dance North artist tries out new dance floor. The Cairns Post 28/7/1995
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FEATHERED FRIENDS
Creating an instant The Zingiberales are a world of discovery with plants ranging from Calatheas, with their beautifully patterned leaves, to the much loved Gingers and Heliconias, with their striking flowers. All create an instant tropical look in your garden.
Scarlet Honeyeater Male Scarlet Honeyeaters are nothing if not conspicuous. They have brilliant scarlet plumage on their head and breast, extending all the way down the back to the base of the tail. It’s so vivid it glows. And just in case you don’t notice them darting about in the canopy of the forest or among the shrubs in the understorey, they often perch on bare branches atop tall trees, giving an explosive, tinkling song. Comprising metallic notes that rise and fall erratically, it can be heard from quite some distance away. The energy they gain from sipping nectar often renders them hyperactive — they ceaselessly dart about between perches or among the flowers and foliage. Yet, sometimes they’re surprisingly difficult to spot, especially when foraging among the flowers of Callistemons (also known as Bottlebrushes), delicately probing flowers for their nectar. There, the red blooms provide excellent camouflage for the birds’ scarlet plumage, so despite their otherwise conspicuous coloration they can be hidden in plain sight as they rollick among the stamens. In contrast, female Scarlet Honeyeaters are generally brown — not nearly as flamboyant as males — and are generally inconspicuous no matter where they are.
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They’re widespread along and east of the Great Divide, from Far North Queensland to eastern Victoria. In the south of their range, Scarlet Honeyeaters undertake seasonal movements, but in the north, including Cairns and the Tableland, they’re resident, and can be seen flitting in the bushland, parks and gardens throughout the year. JOHN PETER BirdLife Australia
In addition to the many cellular features that distinguish the Zingiberales from other plants, there are several very conspicuous characters by which they can be recognised including: • Large leaves with blades possessing transverse (parallel) venation (hold a leaf up to the light and you will be able to see them clearly) and often long petioles; • Large, usually colourful, bracteate inflorescences; • Underground rhizomes (tuber-like plant growth). Over the next few issues we will give a brief overview of the fascinating Zingiberales plant order beginning with the popular Heliconia family. There are 250 species of Heliconia distributed primarily in the neotropics with a large range of growth form and habit. Due to their various growth forms and habits it doesn’t matter whether your selection criteria is light intensity, size or hardiness or flower colour, there is usually a Heliconia that will suit every situation.
Heliconia rostrata
Heliconia caribaea cv. Purpurea
Heliconia wagneriana
Heliconia psittacorum
tropical look in garden LOuiSa GraNDy
In general, Heliconia fall into two main forms, erect and pendant, referring to the habit of the inflorescences. In the case of ‘erect’ types the flowers grow in an upright manner, while ‘pendant’ forms cascade toward the ground. Erect Heliconias These Heliconias certainly offer the widest range of plant sizes including the large H. caribaeas and H. bihais which reach heights of over six metres, the medium size H. stricta cultivars (cv), and the H. psittacorum varieties which may reach only 0.5m. Pendant Heliconias Pendant species are some of the most dazzling of Heliconias with their showy chains of pendulous flowers. The plants themselves are tall, from two to six metres in height, but are generally less spreading, for example, the H. chartaceas. The more recent introductions, H. chartacea cv. Sexy Pink and H. chartacea cv. Sexy Scarlet are two of the best known and loved of the chartacea cultivars. Reference: Heliconia - An Identification Guide, Fred Berry and W.John Kress.
Sugar Gliders in the purposebuilt nest boxes at Cattana Wetlands. From left, two joeys with mum (top) and dad (bottom).
Build it and they will come This family of Sugar Gliders has set up home in the purpose-built nest boxes placed in the new Melaleuca forests at Cattana Wetlands. The boxes were installed late November 2020 and the photo is from a video taken in April this year by volunteer Denis Moeser with his new pole camera. The pole camera was purchased with funds donated by the Friends of the Cairns Botanic Gardens. The significance of this find is that the box is located in a regrowth area near the Kingfisher Lake, rather than the original riparian forest - a tribute to past ‘tree planters’. Sugar Glider is a Volplane (Gliding) Possum, having a membrane (Patagia) extending from its fifth finger to its ankle, enabling it to glide up to 50m between trees, using its long bushy tail for stability and steering. They are active at night and live three to nine years in the wild and commonly give birth to twin joeys which remain in the mother’s pouch for two months.
Rhizogram indicating the basic phylogenetic relationships among the eight families of the Zingiberales order (modified from Kress 1990a).
Heliconia chartacea cv. Sexy Pink
Heliconia bihai cv.
Following the latest inspection, Denis said: “The Sugar Glider family is in excellent health and the joeys are growing rapidly. An interesting observation is that the parents frequently add fresh green Eucalyptus leaves to their bedding. “Scientists have estimated that in nature, a tree hollow takes between 100 to 220 years to form into a useable cavity for animals and birds to use as a home. I saw the need to assist the wildlife by providing nesting boxes for mammals such as possums and micro bats, birds such as kingfishers and Doubleeyed Fig Parrots, as well as Australian native bees and wasps using the premises, ‘Build it Denis Moeser with nesting boxes. and they will come’.” 13
1. Parasitised caterpillar hanging from a Calamus leaf.
2. Caterpillar still alive but tethered to the ‘silken ball’ which contains the cocoons of the parasites.
4. The wasps
5. A single wasp, measuring 3.1 mm. 14
6. Living lady beetle tethered to the cocoon of the parasite, Perilitus coccinellae, a living bodyguard. You can tell the beetle has been there for a while as it has defecated. If the beetle detects ‘danger’ it raises its wings as if to fly but being tethered to the host, it goes nowhere.
3. The caterpillar (still barely alive). The silken ball is filled with the cocoons of the braconid parasite. All 179 of the braconid larvae had been living within the caterpillar. Where did the silken ball come from? Was it produced by the caterpillar in its attempt to form a cocoon or was it the mass of braconid larvae that produced it?
A caterpillar with a problem I noticed a white web-like blob on one of the leaves of a Wait-A-While (Calamus sp.) recently (1). It looked like a mass of spider eggs. But on closer examination it turned out to be a hapless living caterpillar amidst a tangle of silken webbing (2, 3).
Dr DaViD RENTZ AM
emergence, the host was like an empty bag with nothing left inside.
Braconids are a kind of natural biological control. If you look around in the rainforest or the gardens you can often see small, slender orange wasps hovering I thought this had the earmarks of some sort of around dead wood or places where caterpillars or parasitism so I placed the specimen in a jar and after other insect larvae may occur. These are female a few days the mystery was solved. The caterpillar braconids looking for suitable hosts. had been the host of at least 179 small wasps, family One of the most peculiar examples of the relation Braconidae (4, 5). of a braconid and its host is to be found in America. The Braconidae is a large family (15,000 species worldwide with more than 800 in Australia). They are small wasps that parasitise a variety of insects. They have been used in a number of successful biological control projects to protect certain crops. Braconids are highly host-specific. Depending on the species, some braconids produce cocoons atop the host that appear as elongate, white eggs.
I discovered this Ladybeetle, the Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens, in a peculiar dilemma (6). It is alive on the top of a braconid cocoon. The braconid is Perilitus coccinellae. The ladybeetle had been parasitised by a single braconid larva. When it was time for the braconid to become adult, it emerged from the host beetle and tied the hosts’ legs to the webbing of the cocoon so the ladybeetle In this example, the caterpillar accommodated could not escape. The beetle remained alive and the wasps and their cocoons within its body until acted as a ‘personal body guard’ protecting the the braconids emerged. I’m always amazed at the cocoon from potential predators. parasite loads the caterpillars endure. The caterpillar This is interesting from a number of aspects. carries on its lifestyle feeding itself and the parasites The colour ‘orange’ in insects is interpreted as a as well. The caterpillar lives long enough to nourish warning colour. Potential predators such as birds, its guests and eventually dies just after the parasites lizards and frogs learn to avoid orange insects. So emerge. The caterpillar never becomes an adult in this example, the beetle remains alive atop the moth hence the potential for use in biological control developing cocoon of its host, often displaying itself projects. if danger threatens. Following the emergence of In this example, the caterpillar (identity unknown) the wasp, the beetle usually dies or frees itself and nourished 179 parasites during its life. After the moves off. 15
Honeyeaters: a large family
Singing Honeyeater
JENNiFEr H. Muir
Australia has many honeyeaters: a family (the Meliphagidae) of birds that, typically, have specialised brush-tipped tongues for nectar feeding, though some also eat insects and spiders, and a few also take fruits. The taxonomy of Australia’s bird fauna is changing with ongoing DNA studies, but until changes are published, honeyeaters are considered to be of the largest family of Australian passerines: the ‘perching birds, part of which are the ‘songbirds’. (See “Did You Know” below for further information.) The currently known Meliphagidae (meli = honey; phagos = an eater) family has representatives in almost every Australian terrestrial environment, and includes 52 species carrying the word ‘honeyeater’ in their common name. The birds commonly known as spinebills, miners, wattlebirds and friarbirds are also honeyeaters.
The Singing Honeyeater seems to miss northern Cape York Peninsula and most of the coast from eastern Cape York to Cairns region, south-east Queensland, eastern NSW, southern Victoria and Tasmania.
Based mainly on geographical separation and physical variation, taxonomists have determined different ‘races’ in many animal species worldwide, including humans; and many plants are divided into ‘varieties’ for the same reasons. Each animal race and plant variety is given its own scientific name, and of the birds, at least 30 honeyeater species have been divided into races, such as the Singing and Yellow Honeyeaters.
Most honeyeaters have camouflage plumage of greys and olives with pale underparts and often brighter feathers or bare skin around ears, eyes and gape (the join of the upper and lower parts of the beak/bill).
One of the most widespread honeyeater species is the Singing Honeyeater (Gavicalis virescens) (gavia = a kind of bird; calis from cali = to measure; and virescens = greenish).
Juveniles’ facial skin is yellow-green, which is also diagnostic.
DID YOU KNOW...? A ‘passerine’ is any bird of the Order Passeriformes (passer = sparrow; formis = shaped), which includes more than half of all bird species on earth. They are the ‘perching birds’, most of which sing and are referred to as the ‘songbirds’. Passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by the arrangement of their toes: three point forwards and one points backwards. This enables the birds to easily perch upright on branches and rocks. Their legs have an additional special adaptation for perching, which enables them to sleep while 16
It ranges across most of Australia, occupying a variety of environments, so taxonomists have determined four races. Their variable habitat requirements include semi-arid and arid shrublands; grasslands with low trees; homestead gardens and coastal scrub.
A good example is the Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis). This large honeyeater fits ‘the bill’ (pun intended) with its diagnostic brilliant blue patch of bare facial skin.
Although the Blue-faced Honeyeater’s back, wings and tail are olive, it’s a striking bird with its ‘added’
JENNIFER H. MUIR perching without falling off. A tendon in the back of the leg runs from the underside of the toes to the muscle behind the tibiotarsus (the lower leg-bone that joins the bird’s ankle). This tendon automatically tightens when the leg bends on landing, causing the foot to curl and become stiff, locking the bird’s feet into a safe, grip position. There are more than 140 families and some 6,500 identified species of passerines. In Australia, passerines range from the swallows and martins to the sparrows, and all birds in-between (see any bird field guide for more information). Most passerines are quite small, and the largest are the corvids (crow species) and lyrebirds.
Our Volunteers Voice
Page 17
Juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater black and white plumage that (Myzomela sanguinolenta), which hasn’t been split into separate helps it ‘dress to impress’. As always in nature, however, races, as far as I know.
variation is the name of the game. It is recorded down Australia’s The common, often noisy Yellow east coast from central Cape York Honeyeater (Stomiopera flava) Peninsula to southern Victoria. (flava from flavus = yellow) is the Another exception to the ‘rule’, only Australian honeyeater with though not as brightly coloured, is entirely yellow-toned plumage. Macleay’s Honeyeater (Xanthotis Not only is its plumage less macleayanus), boldly marked camouflaged, its noisy behaviour white and rusty-brownish with draws attention to its presence. a black cap and forehead, and It is currently divided into two races: one (Stomiopera flava flavus) occupies Cape York Peninsula; while the other, (Stomiopera flava addendus) (addendus = added) is mainly recorded along coastal Queenslandd from Cairns to Queensland’s central coast.
large orange-yellow facial patch.
A stunning exception to the honeyeater ‘camouflage plumage rule’ is the scarlet and black, aptly-named Scarlet Honeyeater
This topic of races raises many questions that may slowly be answered by the continuing DNA studies.
Blue-faced Honeyeater
This is a Tropical North Queensland endemic rainforest species from about Cooktown to Cardwell. It also is (currently) not split into separate races, again as far as I know.
Yellow Honeyeater
Macleay’s Honeyeater
Scarlet Honeyeater 17
Modified from Flickr/Specious Reasons, CC BY-NC
the world beneath our feet: Part 4 - Rotifers The rotifers (from Latin rota ‘wheel’ and -fer ‘bearing’), commonly called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, are around 0.1–0.5 mm long and are most common in freshwater environments although they can occur in rainforest soils or garden soils during the wet season. The name ‘wheel animals’ refers to two crowns of cilia (minute bristle-like hairs) around the mouth, and these hairs move in sequence. Under the microscope it looks like the animals have two tiny wheels rotating over their mouths. The cilia ‘wave’ food (bacteria, protozoa and fragments of fungus and debris) into the mouth. Some rotifers are free swimming, but others attach to soil or debris by a short ‘tail’ and/or move by creeping along a substrate, and between soil grains. Some of the freshwater rotifers are colonial, forming small groups like a bunch of flowers, but the soil ones I have seen were all solitary. Most species of rotifers are cosmopolitan, that is, they occur all over the world, but there are also some Australian endemic species. About 2,200 species of rotifers have been described, but there are probably thousands more, as there has been little study. Although fascinating, none are known to have economic value or human health implications, so they are mostly ignored. Despite their minute size, the females have a digestive system where cilia create a current that sweeps food into the mouth. The mouth contains salivary glands and opens into a chewing pharynx which has a powerful muscular wall and contains tiny, calcified, jaw-like structures that either grind or bite their prey. Behind these lie an oesophagus that opens into a stomach and short intestine. They also have a bladder, a small brain and nerves that extend throughout the body. 18
Barry Muir
Rotifers typically possess one or two pairs of short antennae and up to five simple eyes. They eat minute particles of organic detritus, dead bacteria, algae and protozoans, which contribute to carbon and nutrient recycling and are themselves a food source for nematodes, earthworms, mites and other tiny critters. Most rotifers never mate. Females lay eggs but there is no meiosis (the reduction division that produces sperm or eggs), so her eggs all contain DNA identical to hers. The genetic makeup of some rotifers is weird. There are two copies of each gene, as you expect, but the two genes are very different from each other. This suggests that they originated as a hybrid between two species whose genes and genetics diverged 60 million years ago. Their chromosomes are differently arranged so they can't pair. So, how do they get new genetic combinations to allow them to survive? About 8% of the genes are typical of fungi or bacteria, and endow the rotifer with handy new properties such as being able to break down toxins or use new foodstuffs. This ‘horizontal transfer’ between rotifers and other organisms is probably ancient and ongoing. It seems that dehydration, when the animals dry out, makes holes in cell membranes that can suck up DNA. The rotifers efficient mechanism for repairing DNA breaks in dehydrated animals is perfect for incorporating foreign DNA into the genetic structure. The males, although occurring extremely rarely, are hatched sexually mature and ready to mate, and do not eat. This is a great over-simplification and if you are suddenly inspired to look at rotifer reproduction, be prepared to do brain damage because they use multiple systems depending on species, time of year and all sorts of other factors as well as stealing the DNA of other organisms!
Sugarworld Gardens News Sugarworld Botanic Gardens tropical fruit tree orchard is looking great at the moment thanks to the volunteers who continue to weed, mulch and fertilise, and also due to the recent good rains. Although it is not the time of the year for the tropical fruits there is always something to see with many interesting flowers appearing at the moment. These will set fruit later in the year.
You may be interested in the sugarcane varieties planted behind the stage area adjacent to the pathway. These were initially planted in November 2014 and moved to this location some years ago. Jim Hill, long-time farmer in Edmonton and valued member of the Friends of Sugarworld Botanic Gardens Inc. provided the following information.
JOIN THE FRIENDS
Friends of the Botanic Gardens, Cairns Membership details- phone 4032 3900 or email info@botanicfriendscairns.org.au After joining you can support the Friends in many ways; as a committee member, in the Friends Shop, as a tour guide or assisting with events.
Friends of Sugarworld Botanic Gardens Contact Fran Lindsay frantastic10@bigpond.com
Newsletter Contributions: Please submit articles (must be volunteer or nature based) by first week of August for the next quarterly publication in September. Email: l.grandy@cairns.qld.gov.au Please note articles are subject to editing.
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FraN LiNDSay
Sugarcane, the sweet grass, belongs to the genus Saccharum. Many of the wild species have little or no sugar content but are used in plant breeding. Other sweet canes have been selected by the indigenous people of Melanesia and over the centuries grown in gardens for food. From there it was taken to other tropical countries and became important in those cultures. In the Tropics, sugarcane is an annual crop grown in the summer wet season. It matures and ripens in the cooler drier winter, when it is harvested and crushed for the commercial product we buy in the shops. Sugarcane plantings Badila: introduced from New Guinea (where it had been grown in native gardens) by Henry Tryon in 1896. Parentage unknown. POJ 2878: introduced from Java by the Bureau of Sugar Experimental Stations (BSES), now Sugar Research Australia (SRA), and Colonial Sugar Refining Co (CSR) in 1928. This cane has been important in the cane breeding program. Q 57: bred by BSES at Meringa in 1945. Produced good sugar content in the wet areas of the State. Trojan: bred by CSR at Macknade in 1933. Became a leading variety with a good late season sugar. All of these varieties are no longer grown commercially and have been superseded. FRAN LINDSAY President, Friends of Sugarworld Botanic Garden Inc.
Green Space Our Place
Mondays - Russell St Enviromental Park Egrets - 9am-noon Tuesdays - Cattana Wetlands Jabirus 9am-noon Tuesdays - Pioneer Cemetery first Tuesday of the month 7-9am Wednesdays - Botanic Gardens Down ’n’ Dirty volunteers 9am-noon Wednesdays - Tracks ‘n’ Trails 9am-noon Thursdays - Stratford Nursery 9am-noon Thursday (once a month) - Sugarworld Gardeners & Friends Fridays - Saltwater Creek ‘Salties’ 9am-noon Fortnightly Thursdays - Children’s Nature Activities Program - Little Taccas Visitor Enhancement Volunteers - rostered hours to suit individual Heritage Tour Guides - Thursday 10am
Interested in becoming involved with your local park, reserve or tracks in your community? Contact us to register as a Council volunteer and be involved in beautifying your park (enhance planting, weed management, litter clean-up), reporting on issues (graffiti and vandalism, anti-social behaviour, maintenance issues) and building community participation (networking activities) with Council support. If you are interested in supporting any of our weekly groups or volunteering in your local area contact Volunteers Supervisor Louisa Grandy 4032 6648 or email greenspaceourplace@cairns.qld.gov.au 19
Green Space Our Place
