Academic literature on the topic 'Drainage Victoria Dandenong Ranges'

The major components of the faecal micron ora of Feathertail Gliders (Acrobates pygmaeus) were determined for free-living animals inhabiting eucalypt forest in the Dandenong Ranges region of Victoria and for animals obtained from the same area but kept on an artificial diet in laboratory facilities. Acrobates pygmaeus in the laboratory were fed an homogenate consisting of baby food supplemented with vitamins and honey. The wild A. pygmaeus had access to the normal dietary items available in late winter in this part of their natural range. Faecal samples obtained from both groups of animals were analysed using standard procedures to assess the numbers of total aerobes and anaerobes, yeasts, and aerobic and anaerobic streptococci. The A. pygmaeus fed artificially had a denser faecal microflora than the free-living A. pygmaeus. Each gram of faeces from the artificially fed animals contained about 108-109 colony forming units (cfu) of total anaerobes,108-109 cfu of aerobes and 105-106 cfu of yeasts. Corresponding numbers for the free-living animals were 103-105, 105-107 and 103-105. The two groups differed in the relative proportions of gram-positive bacilli and cocci in their faecal samples. The availability of food appears to innuence the faecal micronora of free-living A. pygmaeus.

The distribution of Phytophthora cinnamomi in the Brisbane Ranges National Park of Victoria was mapped and related to vegetation susceptibility, disease severity and past distribution. P. cinnamomi extended its distribution from 1% of the park in 1970 to 31% in 1980-81. The dispersal of the pathogen has occurred through roadworks and subsequent drainage of water-borne zoospores. In 1980-81, 50% of 1191 grids (250 x 250 m) occurred in susceptible vegetation (sclerophyllous forest/woodland). Of these, 45% (266 grids) were moderately diseased and 16% (95) severely diseased. Stands of dead trees occurred in 29 severely diseased grids which were in shallow gullies with impeded drainage. The 39% (231) of susceptible vegetation which remained unaffected occurred mainly on ridges and hilltops. P. cinnamomi was isolated from 3% of apparently resistant vegetation (graminoid forest/woodland). Restriction of access is recommended to the remaining areas of susceptible unaffected vegetation.

Abstract. A spatially distributed hydrologic model (WetSpa) is used to estimate daily river water discharge in the Simiyu river a tributary of Lake Victoria, Tanzania. The model combines topography, landuse and soil maps, and observed daily meteorological time series to predict discharge hydrographs and the spatial distribution of hydrological parameters in the catchment. The elevations in the catchment range from 2000 to 1100 m at the outlet, with average slope of 1.4%. The dominant landuse types are, wasteland, grassland, bushland, cultivated land, and a very small area is covered by surface water. The dominant soil types are sandy loam, followed by sandy clay loam, clay loam, clay, loam and sandy clay. There are two distinctive seasons in the Simiyu catchment. Short rains mainly in November, December and January, and long rains in March to May, resulting in a total average annual precipitation of 700 to 1000 mm. The annual potential evapotranspiration is about 1300 mm, and the river discharge at the catchment outlet ranges from 0 to about 200 m3/s. Global parameters of the model are calibrated using three years of daily observed discharge values measured at the mouth of the river at Lake Victoria. The estimated average travel time of the runoff to the outlet of the catchment is about 2.4 d and maximum 8 d for the most remote areas. The model results also show that the surface runoff and interflow provide respectively 38.6% and 61.4% of the total runoff, while the contribution of groundwater drainage is nil. The absence of groundwater drainage is probably due to the high evaporation demand of the atmosphere, which accounts for about 90% of the total precipitation being lost by evapotranspiration. The annual water balance estimated with the model reveals that the total outflow to Lake Victoria is about 500×106 m3 per year, which occurs mainly in the wet seasons, i.e. from March to May and from November to January. The volume of runoff produced by agricultural land amounts to about 9% of the total runoff annually.

Spectacular outcrops of the terrestrial Aptian-Albian Eumeralla Formation are exposed in the Skenes Creek– Wongarra region, located on the eastern margin of the Otway Ranges, Victoria. The succession comprises mudstone-dominated floodplain and lacustrine successions and fluvially-derived sandstones. Lithofacies observed in the study area comprise intraformational and exotically derived conglomerate, massive and planar laminated sandstone, trough and tabular cross-bedded sandstone, ripple laminated sandstone, interbedded sandstone and mudstone, massive to laminated mudstone and thin coal seams. Architectural analysis of the fluvial system reveals these lithofacies are arranged into architectural elements that include channel elements, sandy bedforms, downstream and lateral accretion elements, laminated sand sheets and overbank fines elements.The fluvial system is characterised by low-sinuousity, braided river channels with high width to depth ratios. Palaeocurrent data indicates that the generally westward palaeoflow is interpreted to have been diverted into local axial-through drainage patterns by active northeast trending normal faults. One of these, the Skenes Creek Fault, is also likely to have structurally isolated floodplain and lacustrine successions from the main channel belt, leading to the deposition of an anomalously thick coal measure sequence in the hanging wall of the fault. The local study therefore provides insight into regional lithofacies and potential source rock distributions, and the associated tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Eumeralla Formation in the eastern Otway Basin. While the nature of the Eumeralla Formation sandstone does not lend itself to good reservoir properties, the geometry and internal structure of the sands provide an excellent model for other fluvial sandstone reservoir reconstructions.

Radio-telemetry was used to monitor movements and burrow usage by O. anatinus living in the Yarra River catchment, about 20 km east-north-east of the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria. The home ranges of six adult or subadult animals were 2.9–7.3 km (mean ± s.d. = 4.6 ± 1.6 km) long, with individuals travelling up to 10.4 km (males) and 4.0 km (females) in a single overnight period. The mean home-range length of adult/subadult animals was significantly greater than that of juveniles (1.4–1.7 km, mean ± s.d. = 1.55 ± 0.2 km, n = 2). The animals utilised two drainage channels as well as 11.8 km of natural waterways, including the Yarra River (5 km), Mullum Mullum Creek (4 km) and Diamond Creek (2.8 km). Several animals travelled repeatedly below one-lane and two-lane bridges, confirming that these structures are not inherent barriers to platypus movement. In total, 57 platypus burrows were described, including 26 along the river, 29 along the creeks and 2 along drains. The horizontal distance from the water’s edge to burrow chambers was 0.4–3.7 m (mean ± s.d. = 1.5 ± 0.9 m, n = 41), with burrows found only in banks extending ≥ 0.5 m above the water. Platypus burrows occurred significantly more often than expected along undercut banks and in association with moderate-to-dense vegetation overhanging the water, and significantly less often at sites where banks had a convex profile at water level. As well, the amount of cover provided along the bank by shrubs/small trees and the ground layer of vegetation was significantly greater than expected at platypus burrows along the river. These attributes are believed to help conceal burrow entrances from predators as well as reduce burrow damage through erosion.

The effect of ripping, mounding and fertiliser application on growth of E. globulus spp. globulus (Tasmanian blue gum) was assessed on 2 sites on the basaltic plains in south-western Victoria. The sites were gravelly loam duplex soils on a well-drained hillcrest and a clay–loam duplex soil on a valley flat that has impeded drainage in winter. The ground preparation treatments comprised a control (herbicide only), ripping to 65 cm, ripping plus small mounds (20 by 40 cm) and ripping plus large mound (60 by 150 cm). The fertiliser treatments were nil, 125, 250 and 500 g of fertiliser (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur) applied per tree 2 months after planting. The basal phosphorus, sulfur and potassium content of topsoil was 8–11, 11–14 and 140–220 mg/kg, respectively, for both sites. Rainfall in 1996, 1997 and 1998 was 695, 497 and 697 mm, respectively. This paper reports growth of 2 seedlots of blue gums (Yeodene Seed Orchard and Otway Ranges, Lorne) at 10 and 23 months after planting in Sep.–Oct. 1996 at 4 by 2 m spacing. The mean height of trees on the hillcrest site was 1.5 and 4.2 m at these times, respectively. For the valley flat, the mean heights were 0.9 and 3.0 m, respectively. On the hillcrest, ripping significantly increased tree height in the first year, but after 23 months neither height nor stem volume was greater than on unripped lines. Use of small mounds did not affect growth of trees at this site, whereas large mounds increased growth. At 10 months, tree height was greater (P<0.05) on the ripped plus large mounds than on the ripped only treatment, but this effect was lost at 23 months. Stem volume was 15% greater than on the ripped only treatment at 23 months, and 22% greater than the control. Trees from the Otway Ranges seedlot were taller and had 17% greater stem volume than trees from the Yeodene Seed Orchard seedlot at 23 months. For the valley flat, there were significant seedling source × site preparation interactions for height at 10 and 23 months (P<0.05), and for stem diameter and volume at 23 months (P<0.01), with the Otway seedlot performing better on the large mounds. There were no effects of fertiliser application on height, diameter or stem volume at 23 months on either site. The results indicate that planting on large mounds can improve early tree growth on farmland sites on the basaltic plains, but ripping without mounding, or fertiliser application in the first 2 years, is unlikely to improve performance.