Research Report

Victoria’s living natural capital — decline and replenishment 1800–2050
Part 2. The new millennium: replenishment

Ian Mansergh, Heather Anderson and Nevil Amos

Abstract
Colonial and post-colonial views of ‘europeanising’ the landscape have evolved to a new sense of place which embraces native biodiversity. Victoria’s economy has diversified and new drivers of change in land use, not based on the primacy of intensive agricultural production, are apparent across large areas of Victoria. Past science and technology (agronomy and engineering) is being challenged by emerging sciences, and new concepts such as ecosystem services can be combined to replenish the natural capital. The inevitability of global warming and the necessity to maximise the capacity of our biodiversity to adapt will be important drivers. Replenishment will happen through changing community values; the availability of adequate space and habitat; and the increase in pertinent and applied knowledge. (The Victorian Naturalist 123 (5), 2006, 288-313)
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Ecological review of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp and associated grasslands

Jeff Yugovic and Sally Mitchell

Abstract
An understanding of the ecology of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp was obtained from historical surveys and soil maps. The probable boundary of the former largest swamp in Victoria was determined. The immense swamp had distinct zones formed by inner and outer swamps: the inner swamp was a permanently inundated reed and rush swamp with emergent sand ridges and possibly with lake-like cells, while the fringing outer swamp was largely paperbark scrub subject to frequent flooding. Grassland and acacia woodland were locally extensive adjacent to the swamp in areas of periodic flooding. The inner swamp boundary was probably flood controlled while the outer boundary was probably fire controlled on the plain and topographically controlled by hills to the east. Rare examples of swamp scrub and grassland remain. (The Victorian Naturalist 123 (5), 2006, 323–334)
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Contributions

Historical notes on Charles and Thomas Brittlebank,pioneer naturalists
in the Werribee Gorge district, west of Melbourne

Marilyn Hewish

Abstract
Early FNCV members, the brothers Charles and Thomas Brittlebank pursued their varied interests in natural history in the Werribee Gorge district in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They compiled one of the first comprehensive bird lists for the area. Charles was a renowned artist and contributed illustrations of birds and their eggs, insects, fungi and mistletoes for pioneering works on thoise subjects by AJ Cambpell, JA Leach, Charles French, Daniel McAlpine and himself. He published widely and was considered an authority on the evidence for glacial action in Werribee Gorge. Thomas was a skilled egg collector, bird observer, landscape artist and contributor to his brother’s and AJ Campbell’s studies. Together they helped to lay the foundations of natural history study in Victoria. (The Victorian Naturalist 123 (5), 2006, 314–317)
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New locality records for reptiles, including the vulnerable Swamp Skink Egernia coventryi,
in South Gippsland, 2001 – 2005

Peter Homan

Abstract
Between 2001 and 2005, surveys of vertebrate fauna in three crown land conservation reserves in South Gippsland were commissioned by Parks Victoria. During these surveys new locality records were obtained for several species of small reptiles, including the vulnerable Swamp Skink Egernia coventryi. Incidental records were also obtained from local residents during this period, resulting in one new locality record for the Swamp Skink and two other species that had not previously been recorded in this part of southern Victoria. Habitat preference of the Swamp Skink is discussed. (The Victorian Naturalist 123 (5), 2006, 335–338)
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