Australasian Plant Conservation
- Apr 23
- 3 min read
Where boundaries boost biodiversity and build stronger communities
KYM SPARSHOTT 1. AND ROBERT PRESTIPINO 2.
Leaftail Environmental, Ravensbourne Qld
Vital Places, Grapetree Qld *Corresponding author: kym@leaftail.au
Nestled on the eastern edge of Crows Nest township, Queensland, Dingo Mountain is an area that has long been known by local naturalists for its biodiversity and scenic beauty. This article outlines these natural values and the driving factors behind the site’s biodiversity, as well as tracing the unique process that led to the conservation of this area, along with the opportunities and challenges faced in managing it.
Background
In 2017, a privately owned 41.5 ha property consisting of nine lots of undeveloped residential land, ‘Dingo Mountain’ was purchased by a local charity, CrowsNest Environmental Ltd (CNE), to protect the site, using community investment funding provided by a local community bank. A year later, CNE secured trusteeship of an adjacent parcel of Crown land, known as the ‘Police Paddock’, effectively extending the land under their management to 56 ha.
In 2019, CNE approached Toowoomba Regional Council and was successful in having the land down-zoned to ‘Environmental Services’ (something the Council had never done before) so that the land could never be sold
for residential development. Despite Dingo Mountain’s reputation as an area of great interest to natural historians, there was little information documented or mapped for the area to assist CNE in sustainably managing the site. Consequently, in 2022, one of CNE’s first management tasks was to commission a Landscape Master Plan for the site. After compiling site mapping and facilitating community consultation, the Master Plan recommended undertaking a flora and fauna survey prior to any further development. The findings of the ensuing 22-month baseline study completed in June 2024 by Leaftail Environmental highlighted the conservation significance of the area and significantly reshaped CNE’s approach to developing and managing the site.
Site context
Situated 40 km north of Toowoomba, Dingo Mountain adjoins Toowoomba Regional Council’s 8 ha Hartmann Park and is almost contiguous with the Bungaree section of Crows Nest National Park, while the Crows Nest Falls section is situated 3 km to the east (Figure 1). In terms
of connectivity, these nearby reserves bolster Dingo Mountain’s value as a conservation area and impart it with regional significance.
The influence of boundaries on biodiversity
Dingo Mountain’s impressive biodiversity is driven by factors that relate directly back to the concept of boundaries or ‘edge-effects’.
Bioregional boundaries
At around 550 m elevation, Dingo Mountain is only5 km east of the crest of the Great Dividing Rangeand corresponding boundary between the Southeast Queensland and Brigalow Belt bioregions (Figure 2). When considering biodiversity at the scale of individual vegetation communities, ecotonal zones are renowned for their species richness. However, at the broader landscape scale, this ecotonal effect is still apparent. Consequently, much of Dingo Mountain’s unique species suite can be attributed to being situated in the zone that is essentially an ecotone on a regional scale, with its fauna and flora species/communities enhanced by the driving environmental forces behind each of these bioregions.
Geological boundaries
Contributing further to the site’s biodiversity is the influence of geology, with Crows Nest Creek largely defining the boundary between the two geology types (Figure 3).
In contrast, just across the creek, the Police Paddock section overlies granite, with rock pavement outcropping throughout much of the area and supporting heathy flora species (Figure 5). A number of species typically associated with Queensland’s Granite Belt occur here; hence, the site displays affinities with a third bioregion, New England Tableland.
Survey results
Flora and fauna biodiversity
The effect of these boundary-effects on biodiversity is apparent in the number of species recorded during the survey by Leaftail Environmental – a total of 553 flora species, in what is a relatively small site. Of this total, 350 were native, vascular flora species. These included 15 different Eucalyptus species plus three Angophora species, 42 legumes (including 14 wattles), 48 daisies, 16 orchids, 24 sedges and 57 grasses. Lomandra was the fourth-largest genus, with nine species, one of which is likely to be a new species. The breakdown within the major plant groups is listed in Table 1 and a selection of the native flora species are illustrated in Figure 6.
Soils in the western section are derived from quartzose sandstone, with large outcrops, shelves and boulders being features of this area (Figure 4). These formations are reminiscent of the Helidon Hills, just east of Toowoomba, which is known as a wildflower hotspot; not surprisingly, its flora suite contains elements that are comparable to the sandstone-based vegetation found in Dingo Mountain.
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