Kensington Bushland Reserve

Kensington bushland reserve is a significant remnant of Swan Coastal Plain vegetation, that has been reserved in the suburb of Kensington, in Perth, Western Australia, by the state government.[1]

Kensington Bushland, Perth, Western Australia, with woolly bush & firewood banksias
Banksia menziesii. Kensington Bushland, Kensington, Perth, Western Australia

It is located west of Kent Street Senior High School, and lies on the north side of Kent Street. The portion of Jarrah Road that defined the western boundary of the reserve is a cul de sac, known as Baron Hay Court. Across the road is a Department of Agriculture complex. It is bounded to the north by Harold Rossiter Park, and George Reserve and has an area of 9.1 hectares (22 acres).[1] It is close to the Western Australian Herbarium. In 2000 it was designated as "Bush Forever Site 48" by the Government of Western Australia.[1]

It was made a reserve in the 1990s when the suburb was still located within Perth City council boundaries.[2][3][4] It is now within the Town of Victoria Park local government area, and is managed together with "The Kent Street Sand Pit" and the "George Street Reserve" (a contaminated landfill site) as a single entity, the "Jirdarup Bushland Precinct".[5] This Precinct has a total area of 17.9 hectares. The name Jirdarup is a Nyoongar word meaning "place of birds".[6] The Town of Victoria Park plans to rehabilitate the Sandpit site.[7]

Description

It lies on the Bassendean Dune system,[5][8] the oldest and most easterly of the sand dune systems of the Swan Coastal Plain.[9][10][11]

Flora

Key upper storey plant species within the bushland are Banksia menziesii, Banksia attenuata and Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata). As of 2003, some 207 plant species have been found, representing 42 families and 111 genera.[5] Major weeds are Asparagus asparagoides, perennial veldt grass, Gladiolus caryophyllaceus, while Ehrharta longiflora, Ursinia anthemoides, and Misopates orontium are also threatening also to become a problem.[5]

This bushland is part of the threatened ecological community (TEC), Banksia woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain, the main threats to which are: fragmentation, dieback,[12] weed invasion, inappropriate fire regimes and climate change.[5] In February 2016, a bushfire burned approximately 70% of the native vegetation of the reserve.[5]

List of native flora found in Kensington Bushland[5]
List of Weeds found in Kensington Bushland[5]

Fauna

Significant bird species which may be seen in the bushland are Carnaby's Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) - endangered, Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii) - vulnerable, and the rainbow bee-eater (Merops ornatus),[5] with Forest Redtailed Black-Cockatoo being year-round residents of the area.[13] Pitfall trapping in 2017 found eight native reptiles. These included the western bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa), dugites (Pseudonaja affinis), the western bearded dragon (Pogona minor), and Buchanan's snake-eyed skink (Cryptoblepharus buchananii).[5]

This tiny piece of remnant bushland has often been the subject of surveys.[14][15][16][17][18] Thus, one of the first Australian records for the aphid, Uroleucon erigeronense is from Kensington Bushland.[16] The day-flying moth, Pollanisus occidentalis, is found in abundance in the bushland.[15] A new species of robber fly, Cerdistus hudsoni, has so far (2011) only been found in two places, one of which is Kensington Bushland.[14]

Galleries

References
  1. Western Australian Planning Commission, Perth, Western Australia (2000). "Bush Forever Volume 2: Directory of Bush Forever Sites: Kensington Bushland, Kensington" (PDF). Government of Western Australia [WA]. Retrieved 20 August 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Perth City Council. Department of Parks, Gardens and Landscape (1993), Kensington Bushland Management Plan : Draft, Perth City Council, ISBN 9789900058052
  3. Perth (W.A. : Municipality). Dept. of Parks, Gardens and Landscape (1993), Draft Kensington Bushland management plan, The Dept, retrieved 19 August 2018
  4. Perth (W.A (1993), Kensington bushland management plan, City of Perth, retrieved 19 August 2018
  5. Eco Logical Australia 2017. Kensington Bushland Management Plan. Prepared for Town of Victoria Park.’ Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  6. "Jirdarup Bushland Precinct". visitperth.com. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  7. Emerge Associates (2020). Design Opportunities and Considerations Report Kent Street Sand Pit (PDF).
  8. Broun, L. (2004), Banksia woodland resilience to groundwater drawdown on the Gnangara Mound, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, retrieved 20 August 2018
  9. Laliberté, E.; Turner, B. L.; Costes, T.; Pearse, S. J.; Wyrwoll, K.-H.; Zemunik, G.; Lambers, H. (2012). "Experimental assessment of nutrient limitation along a 2-million-year dune chronosequence in the south-western Australia biodiversity hotspot". Journal of Ecology. 100 (3): 631–642. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2012.01962.x. ISSN 0022-0477. S2CID 54499926.
  10. Kendrick, G.W.; Wyrwoll, K.-H.; Szabo, B.J. (1991). "Pliocene-Pleistocene coastal events and history along the western margin of Australia". Quaternary Science Reviews. 10 (5): 419–439. Bibcode:1991QSRv...10..419K. doi:10.1016/0277-3791(91)90005-F. ISSN 0277-3791.
  11. McArthur, W.M, Bettenay, E, 1974. The development and distribution of the soils of the Swan Coastal Plain. Soil Publication No. 16. C.S.I.R.O.PDF
  12. Hill, T.C.J.; Tippett, J.T.; Shearer, B.L. (1994), "Invasion of Bassendean Dune Banksia Woodland by Phytophthora cinnamomi", Australian Journal of Botany, CSIRO PUBLISHING, 42 (6): 725–738, doi:10.1071/bt9940725, ISSN 1444-9862. pdf
  13. Byrne, M, Barrett, G, Finn, H, Blythman, M, Williams, M (2015) 'The 2015 Great Cocky Count.' At http://birdlife.org.au/documents/GCC-report-2015.pdf
  14. Lavigne, Robert. 2011. A New Species of Asilidae (Insecta: Diptera) from Western Australia [online]. South Australian Naturalist, The, Vol. 85, No. 1, Jan-Jun 2011: 14-20. https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=251913066834750;res=IELHSS. ISSN 0038-2965
  15. Williams, M.R.2009. Butterflies and day-flying moths in a fragmented urban landscape, south-west Western Australia: patterns of species richness. Pacific Conservation Biology Vol. 15: 32–46. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Sydney.
  16. Brumley, C.; Watson, L. (2017). "First records of Uroleucon erigeronense (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on Conyza (Asteraceae) from Australia, with descriptions of morphological variation, biological notes and an update for commonly used keys". Austral Entomology. 56 (3): 339–344. doi:10.1111/aen.12241. ISSN 2052-174X. S2CID 89204245. pdf
  17. Stenhouse, R.N. (2005). "Assessing Disturbance and Vegetation Condition in Urban Bushlands". Australasian Journal of Environmental Management. 12 (1): 16–26. doi:10.1080/14486563.2005.10648630. ISSN 1448-6563. S2CID 153680892.
  18. Heliyanto, Bambang; He, Tianhua; Lambers, Hans; Veneklaas, Erik J.; Krauss, Siegfried L. (2009). "Population Size Effects on Progeny Performance in Banksia ilicifolia R. Br. (Proteaceae)". HAYATI Journal of Biosciences. 16 (2): 43–48. doi:10.4308/hjb.16.2.43. ISSN 1978-3019.

31°59′16″S 115°53′13″E

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