Iramoo Wildflower Grassland Reserve

Iramoo Wildflower Grassland Reserve-image

Part of the former Albion Explosives Factory, Iramoo is a Kangaroo Grass-dominated securely fenced grassland home to a large population of Vulnerable Striped Legless Lizards. Managed by a Committee of Management and Friends of Iramoo, this is a great success story showing hard work can make a huge difference.

Main photo: Megan O'Shea speaking to members of the Grassy Plains Network
2: Beehives in an old treeline
3: Close-up detail in a landscape offering a distant treeline horizon
4: Insect biomass may be a good indicator of ecosystem health
5: Insects can be a dramatic part of the ecosystem
6: Let a thousand flowers bloom
7: Old farm infrastructure
8: Putting on a show
9: Strong plantings help restore this grassland
10: Tin sheets suppress weeds and are designed to look like a bandicoot when seen from aircraft taking off and landing at the nearby airport

Other names: CAIRNLEA ESTATE N.C.R.

Owner:

Manager: Crown land

LGA: BRIMBANK

Notes: The reserve is securely fenced so access must be arranged. The main access point to the grassland is on the Victoria University/Jones Creek side. This large, community-managed grassland was once part of the Albion Explosives Factory, which stretched from here down to Ballarat Road. After being managed for many years by Victoria University, which is located just across the adjacent Jones Creek, in 2013 management passed to the Cairnlea Conservation Reserves Committee Of Management (which also manages two smaller grassland reserves in the area). The grassland is fenced off, with access only by arrangement with the committee or Friends of Iramoo (https://friendsofiramoograsslands.wordpress.com/iramoo-wildflower-grassland-reserve/ ). Although sections of this grassland were once 80-100% covered with the serious invasive species Serrated Tussock (Nassella trichotoma), it is now much reduced, with Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra) and other natives expanding in its place. Exotic weeds are still very prominent, but there are now some great populations of wildflowers as well as remnant species that survived here long term, including the locally rare daisy Woolly Buttons (Leiocarpa panaetioides) and the endangered Spiny Rice-flower (Pimelea spinescens). Notably, a large population of the endangered Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar) is also present onsite. The Committee have organised volunteers to plant vast numbers of wildflowers into the reserve, with great populations of numerous daisy species, including the endangered Button Wrinklewort (Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides) and Basalt Podolepis (Podolepis linearifolia). An inspired artwork has been created where sections of weeds have been 'solarised' (shaded out/cooked by the sun) by covering with sheets of corrugated iron laid out in the shape of a bandicoot. Periodically, the bandicoot is moved across and the bare ground behind it planted with wildflowers; you can see this on satellite images such as Google Earth.

Key features: Striped legless lizard, kangaroo grass

Access: Cairnlea Conservation Reserves Committee of Management

Type: NATURE CONSERVATION RESERVE

Status: Extant

Address: Cairnlea VIC

Area (ha): 32.42870625

Lattidude (decimal): -37.75138634

Longitude (decimal): 144.7901299

Location: -37.75375393018291, 144.79241286421143

Contributors:

External URL one: https://friendsofiramoograsslands.wordpress.com/iramoo-wildflower-grassland-reserve/

External URL two: https://bwvp.ecolinc.vic.edu.au/content/iramoo-wildflower-grassland-reserve