Kangaroo (Hypsiprimnodon moschatus).
The project was managed by
Queensland Parks and Wildlife (QPW),
and involved substantial community
participation through the partner
group Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton
Tablelands (TREAT Inc.).
Toohey Creek springs fromLake Barrine,
a volcanicmaar contained within a
498 ha section of the Crater Lakes
National Park and flows across farmland
into the Gadgarra section of the
80 000 ha Wooroonooran National
Park. The Lake Barrine section of Crater
Lakes National Park and the Gadgarra
section ofWooroonooranNational Park
are both contained within the Wet Tropics
World Heritage Area. The Lake Barrine
reserve had been isolated from the
Wooroonooran massif since the 1930s
when agricultural expansion resulted
in the clearing of forest surrounding
the reserve (see Box 1, Fig. 2).
Fragmentation and potential
for linkage
Fragmentation and isolation have
resulted in a number of ecological
effects within the Barrine reserve.
Campbell (1995) documented a
decline in the genetic diversity of some
small mammals at Lake Barrine when
compared with adjacent intact populations
at Gadgarra. Edge effects are
prominent, including the mortality of
large trees along the exposed margins
and dense clumps of rattan or Lawyer
Cane (Calamus spp.), indicative of
edge related disturbance (Laurance
1997). The Southern Cassowary is
extinct within Barrine, so its critical
role in seed dispersal no longer occurs
in the reserve. The Barrine reserve is
internally fragmented by roads and
powerlines and various weeds are typical
in these disturbed areas. Moreover,
patches of rain forest isolated in a sea
of pasture are a common feature of the
Atherton Tablelands landscape and
management solutions are required,
which can potentially reduce isolation
effects in a number of other reserves.
The project managers commenced
planning the restoration of the linkage
habitat to alleviate these effects,
encouraged by a review of the literature
on the requirements of linkages
(Tucker 2000b) and the cooperative
attitudes of the landholders and other
stakeholders associated with the site.
The majority (85%) of the land to be
replanted was privately owned by
graziers John and Therese Donaghy
and the linkage became colloquially
known as Donaghy’s Corridor.
Habitat linkages
Rosenberg et al. (1997) highlight two
key aspects of wildlife corridor function:
(i) species habitat; and (ii) conduits
for movement. To reinforce this,
we refer to corridors as ‘habitat linkages’,
which we define here as naturally
discrete areas that provide habitat
for a subset of local species and a linkage
between habitat patches for
mobile species with larger home
ranges. The size and habitat suitability
of linkages will determine their usage
because what constitutes habitat for
one species may only ever provide a
movement conduit for others. This
suggests caution in assuming that linkages
will work for all species in all
locations and their value may in fact
be site and species specific. Therefore