Biodiversity
Biodiversity is indicated by the numbers of different species of plant and animal occurring in an environment. Each species has an important role to play which creates a healthier ecosystem. For e.g. Echidnas aerate the soil by digging, Blue-banded bees pollinate native plants, eucalyptus leaves provide food for possums and so forth.
Australia is considered one of the planet’s megadiverse countries with many endemic animals. Yet we have the worst record in the world for mammal extinction - 34. Australia’s plants aren’t faring any better. Currently 1,385 species of plants are listed as threatened under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC).
Reports & Maps
The Manly Dam Biodiversity Project is thus an attempt to document the species that are still thriving in this area and shine a spotlight on the amazing biodiversity it harbours.
As part of this project various ecologists have been involved in creating reports & mapping the region, below is a snapshot of those resources.
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Overview Report by Joshua Lee
Compilation of flora and fauna observations for Manly Warringah War Memorial State Park
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Report on Mammals & Birds by Dr. Brad Law
Dr. Law believes that Manly Dam bushland is likely to support a diverse range of native mammals, but like many other areas of Australia, it may have already lost a number of these mammal species. As part of this study 38 Species of Mammals and 172 types of birds were recorded.
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Reports on Reptiles by Arthur White & Greg Wallis
According to Arthur White the Manly Dam catchment provides a range of habitats for reptiles and frogs. The survey he did, detected 10 species of frog and 26 species of reptiles. Greg Wallis’ report contains an even larger number of reptiles.
For a bushland reserve surrounded by suburban development and main roads, this is an impressive diversity of herpetofauna.
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Report on Invertebrates by Tanya Latty (& Termites by Nathan Lo)
There are likely thousands of species present, however the report includes the observations (in bold) of the authors as well as observations collected from the ‘Manly Dam Biodiversity project’ on iNaturalist.
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Report on the Fish - Climbing Galaxias by Sonya Ku
The fish species Galaxias Brevipinnis (aka Climbing Galaxias) is a local icon of Manly Warringah War Memorial Reserve. The species is considered rare elsewhere in Eastern Australia, hence the existence of a landlocked population within the reserve, unique within the Sydney Metropolitan area, reflects the overall conservation value of the reserve.
