Taunton National Park is situated near the town of Dingo approximately 135 km inland from Rockhampton in eastern Central Queensland, Australia. The park encompasses an area of within the Northern Brigalow Belt bioregion of Queensland; a region widely recognised to contain considerable biodiversity.
Taunton National Park is designated as a strictly scientific nature reserve due to its importance in ensuring the ongoing survival and protection of the endangered bridled nail-tail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata). The wallabies protection has facilitated natural regeneration processes within reserve boundaries, protected ecosystem communities from further agricultural disturbances in the surrounding landscape, provided habitats for native fauna and helped conserve a wide range of biodiversity.
Region description
thumb|IBRA 6.1 Brigalow Belt North
Cracking clay soils and brigalow vegetation species are dominant in the northern region of the park, while texture-contrast soils in combination with Eucalypt communities dominate the western region.
The distribution of rainfall over such a condensed period leaves the area prone to droughts; with a sustained drought event occurring, on average, once a decade. The most recent drought of significance occurred between 1991 and 1995 with detrimental impacts on the surviving bridled nailtail wallaby population. The most common vegetation associations within the park and surrounding areas, tend to be dominated by either brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) or poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea) species, which commonly occur along with other Acacia and Eucalyptus spp.
Water-bodies present within the park boundaries consist of 15 dams and a small number of creeks.
thumbnail|upright|Brigalow Tree - A. harpophylla
thumbnail|Poplar Box - Eucalyptus populnea
History
The region in which Taunton National Park is located, was (and still is) subject to long-term, wide-scale agricultural development and associated disturbances. During the 1950s and 1960s extensive clearance of brigalow scrub began to take place in order to establish pastoral grasses for grazing domestic sheep and cattle. buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) was widely sowed for fodder in the cleared areas, and rapidly became irreversibly established.
A governmental initiative called the 'Brigalow Development Scheme' provided great incentive for increasing agricultural development in the Brigalow region and accelerated the rate and scale of vegetation clearance for conversion to buffel grass. Despite considerable regional agricultural and pastoral development, a large proportion of the park's vegetation remained intact or was exposed to minimal disturbance prior to the reserve being established. This high clearance rate has contributed to a number of Brigalow-typical ecosystems becoming otherwise at risk or endangered, which highlights the importance of the parks biodiversity, as 12 of the regions ecosystems are represented within the reserve. These can include the black-striped wallaby (Macropus dorsalis), the eastern grey kangaroo (M. giganteus), the common wallaroo (M.robustus) and the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolour). More common bird species found in the park include; populations of spotted bower bird (Chlamydera maculata), the variegated fairy-wren (Malurus lamberti), superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) and red-backed fairy-wren (Malurus melanocephalus).
Bridled nail-tail wallaby
The park contains the only naturally occurring population of Australia's most endangered macropod; the bridled nailtail wallaby. The wallaby is now restricted to less than 1% of its former distribution, which originally extended from the Murray River near the New South Wales border, up to Charters Towers in northern Queensland. To reduce predation, dingo and wild dog baiting is regularly conducted, and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia also carries out hunting expeditions, targeting the feral species and dingoes in the park and surrounding areas. Two translocated wild populations exist; one at Idalia National Park and the other a privately owned cattle property - 'Avocet', with additional captive breeding populations in Townsville, Rockhampton and the Gold Coast. Contrastingly, feral cats appear to target juvenile wallabies, effectively reducing the number of individuals which survive long enough to contribute to the breeding population, thereby contributing further to declining numbers. Buffel grass is also highly competitive with herbaceous species such as legumes, native grasses and forbs; which reduces native food availability and biodiversity. Fire threats compound the issue, as Buffel grass growth is stimulated by burning, which not only raises the risk and severity of fires by increasing fuel availability, but also burns at higher temperatures than the Acacia overstorey can tolerate, which reduces and degrading the natural habitat.
See also
- Protected areas of Queensland
- Wildlife management