At top of world and nowhere to go?

Parks Victoria

Lying in wait at the bottom of a small babbling stream is a voracious predator. With piercing jaws agape, this ambush hunter is waiting for an unfortunate victim to swim past. You wouldn't usually consider an insect the size of your thumb to be one of the top predators of any stream, but the nymph of the endangered Alpine stonefly (Thaumatoperla alpina) is one of the Victorian alps top freshwater predators, hunting the larvae of other insects.

The nymph of a stonefly rests on a rock

As the largest stonefly in Australia, this species spends approximately three years in its nymph stage before turning into an adult. Image credit: Cassandra Bryce.

The entire alpine ecosystem is one of Victoria's most special and biodiverse landscapes. It totals over 900,000 hectares within the state's alpine and eastern highland areas and is equivalent to at least 225,000 MCG's worth of land! This region is home to a staggering one third of all known plant species in the state but is at risk of disappearing entirely.

Human-induced climate change has arrived on Victoria's doorstep. With a possible four-degree rise in average temperature slated for 2100 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the world's most authoritative body on this topic), it begs the question: what does the future look like for this snow-rich habitat? It's a question that is hard to answer and is dictated by how we react in the next few years.

A stripey snow gum is within the landscape, adorned with snow on either side.

The strikingly stripey Snow Gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora) that occur at altitudes of 1,500 m have been shown to increase snow accumulation and moderate snow melt, making them critically important to the water resources of the region. Image credit: Ian Foletta.

As one of the land managers looking after these regions, Parks Victoria has a tremendously difficult job ensuring the future of the Victorian alps. The conservation and management plans initiated and delivered in the next decade could determine the survival of numerous species and entire vegetation classes.

Before we talk about what this conservation work looks like, we really need to understand what the overarching threats to this landscape are. Let's dig into the issues.

"Humans being humans"

Two rangers stand by the stump of a tree that has recently been cut down, with the fallen limb in front of them.

Over the last three years, Parks Victoria has recorded more than 1600 instances of suspected illegal firewood theft across the state. Image credit: Parks Victoria.

If there's anything that can be learnt from studying the history of humanity, it's that we as a species are very good at causing mass extinctions. Simple activities such as walking, riding, and illegal off-road vehicle use can introduce invasive weeds to the landscape, cause extensive soil erosion and has the potential to change entire localised water regimes. Taking firewood from a national park or protected area is also illegal, and yet such activities occur regularly; one of the predominant trees in these landscapes is the alpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) which can take more than 15 years to reach reproductive maturity.

These trees provide vital habitats for numerous animals via the hollows they produce, but this refugia usually takes more than 100 years to naturally create. The woody debris from a dead tree limb on the ground also provides habitat for fungi, and many types of reptiles and small mammals (amongst others). The illegal harvesting of firewood impacts how well these tree species, and the species that rely on them for habitat, can react to a changing climate.

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"Humans being humans"

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