Leader was Meredith Briggs.

To Mt Buffalo. Two buses arrived at Cresta Valley Visitor' Centre at 9.45 am, after a slow ascent to Mt Buffalo Plateau from Porepunkah.

With Leon Costermans excellent talk the previous night in mind, on altitudinal boundaries between various species of eucalypts, we duly noted the changes during our ascent. However, the boundaries were not as clear as we were at first hoping!

Narrow-leaf Peppermint were noted first, with a mixture of Candlebark merging with Mountain Gum. The Alpine Ash was easy to spot as most were killed by the 2003 bushfires. They regenerate by seed only. Snow Gums, seen in the higher areas, suffered greatly in fires, but were regenerating from lignotubers.

We also noted the contact zone between Ordovician sandstone and mudstone, and the granite, and further up the kaolonised granite.

To Dickson's Falls. Our bus was met by Meredith Briggs, who guided our group to Dickson's Falls. The excellent track was lined with rubber matting to prevent ditch erosion.

We followed the NE boundary of a frost hollow. Meredith commented that Prickly Starwort and Grass Trigger Plant (now split into three species) were among the first colonisers after a fire. We also saw a site where a number of quadrats have been set up, from the Snow Gum margin to the bog. This study was one of the activities initiated in 1998 to celebrate the Centenary of Mt Buffalo being made a National Park. The quadrats have been maintained by the Buffalo Natural History Group.

Amongst the Snow Grasses and Alpine Spear-grass, the dominant colour was the yellow of numerous everlastings, buttercups, groundsels, buttons, Creeping Bush-peas, Yam Daisies, and further along the track Alpine Podolepis. Although it usually flowers in February, this plant had almost finished flowering.

Scattered through the yellow flowers were the Royal Bluebell, Candle Heath and Mauve Leek Orchid. Some other plants of interest before reaching Dickson's Falls were Mud Pratia, a completely prostrate Rosy Heath-myrtle, Marsh Marigold (which had finished flowering) and Sphagnum Moss, which is very slow to recover from fires. Button Tea-tree was flowering at Dickson's Falls, where we admired the beautiful views before retracing our steps.

Dorothy Mahler and Noel Schleiger

Management of Mt Buffalo National Park

Felicity Brooke, Ranger at Mt Buffalo National Park, spoke to the ANN Get-together while we ate lunch at Cresta.

The fires in January 2003 burnt 98% of Mt Buffalo National Park. Flora in the park was recovering well from the extensive 1985 fire. Some of the management issues following the fires were:

• Damage to the bog communities. The main method of rehabilitation was to raise the water level in the bogs by blocking streams with hay bale weirs.
• Many weed species exploded after the fire as they colonized bare ground. Himalayan Honeysuckle, Blackberry and Grey Sallow Wattle are three common weeds.
• Grey Sallow Wattle invaded silted streambeds. Aerial surveys were undertaken in 2005 to locate the weeds. Control measures include hand pulling of small plants, foliar spraying and cut and paint for larger trees.
• Sambar, Asiatic and Fallow Deer damage the vegetation by grazing and spread weed seeds in faeces. Pigs and Wild Dogs are not a major problem.

Spotted Tree frog were rediscovered in 1999 after intensive surveying began in 1994. Populations post-fire have been low with 1 animal recorded in 2004 and 4 in 2005. They have specific habitat requirements – rapids over bedrock and a surrounding damp zone. The main threat is introduced trout. Reintroduction is being considered above Rollason Falls where there are no trout.

Some interesting bird sightings in the park are Peregrine Falcon that catch bogong moths above The Horn and Black Breasted Buzzard which were recorded after the 2003 fires.

John Gregurke

1: Group moves off to Dixon's Falls across Cresta frost hollow. Ph: Rosalind Smallwood.
2: Looking east over Buckland Valley from Dickson's Falls lookout.