Friends of the Naracoorte Caves

 
c/­ Naracoorte Caves National Park, PO Box 134, 
Naracoorte, SA 5271. Phone the secretary: (08) 8762 1586 
President: Barb Lobban, Secretary: Alison Rowe, Publicity: Bec Lohmeyer 

WINTER/2 2008, VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3

In this edition: Editorial
For your diary
Dr Liz Reed’s report on work in Blanche Cave
Threatened Species Day update
President’s report
Recent developments

Editorial:
Threatened Species Day will be upon us shortly. This newsletter hopefully will provide more detail on what you
can expect for the day. A small committee comprising members from the Friends Group and DEH staff has been
meeting approximately once a month since early May to ensure we can provide an entertaining and educational
day for all the family. Later on in the newsletter you will find details of the programme.

At our most recent meeting, Dr Liz Reed gave us a very fascinating talk about
the research work she has been undertaking in Blanche Cave. Unlike the
research undertaken in Victoria Fossil Cave, Liz’s work in Blanche focuses on
looking for evidence of the actual specifics of climate change by focussing on
the soil sediment samples in the cave and the pollens found in those profiles
over the centuries. The dry caves in the Naracoorte System are proving to be
the best site found to date to give a remarkably accurate picture of the entire
ecosystem and environment. Liz is hoping to gain a further grant so this
groundbreaking research can continue and more than just Blanche Cave be
included in the project. The Friends have been invited to help with her study
and we will certainly hear more about this endeavour in the future.

Following on from the enjoyable and successful working bee at Tantanoola last
year, we have organised an additional event on this year’s calendar. On the 31st
of August Friends will return to Tantanoola to re-visit the cave, do a little bit
of maintenance cleaning and tour the wind farm. A BBQ will be provided for Liz reed during her presentation to the
the helpers. Friends

Since our last newsletter we received fantastic news. We have been fortunate to win ‘Friends Group of the
Year’! A feat not possible without all the fantastic support we get both from volunteers and the friendly staff
from DEH! Well done to all our supporters! The press release is included in this newsletter.

Bec Lohmeyer

For Your Diary:

31st August: Working Bee at Tantanoola. Either meet at Tantanoola Cave at 11.00 am or if you would rather
car pool, meet at Wirreanda at 9.30 am. Bring shovels, gloves hand snips or hand sprayer if possible. We will be
doing maintenance work on the walking trails, burning and looking at the wind farm. Lunch will be provided.

7th September: Threatened Species Day – see full details in this newsletter

12th October: 11am Meeting & BBQ followed by Caving Day for the Friends members

23rd November: Christmas Get-together

Blanche Cave Update:
On August 10th following our ‘Friends’ meeting, we
were privileged to have Liz Reed update us on the
work she has been undertaking in Blanche Cave as
well as finding out how we can be involved in this
ground breaking research!
In previous work, Liz has researched and published
a thesis on the fossil findings in Victoria Fossil
Cave. One clear discovery was that in a cave
environment such as Vic. Fossil, biological
materials including animal flesh is quickly eaten
away by various fungal growths and consequently
leaves little evidence of environmental or climate
information. However in Blanche Cave where
conditions are totally different (i.e. it’s much more
open and is considered a dry cave) there is clear
data that can be examined to give specifics on
environmental change.
The advantage of Blanche Cave is that in the
soil/sediment profile one can find pollen samples
(pollen preserves very well in dry caves like
Blanche). Pollens gives some insight into the
climate AND vegetation of the specific time.
Combined with the excellent pollen reserves,
Blanche has finely defined age lines in the sediment
deposits. An age line is a band of soil in the profile
that identifies a particular period in time e.g. 5000
years or 50 000 years. So far there have been 26 age
lines identified in Blanche Cave. The shorter the
period of time the more specific the data that can be
gathered. In Blanche Cave a 5cm band in the soil
profile covers between 500 and 4000 years and
hence is considered very precise age lines in the
sediment deposits i.e. the best site in the country to
give a remarkably accurate picture of the entire
ecosystem and environment.
Liz’s recreated soil profile display of Blanche Cave
In drier climates more sediment is collected in
caves. Consequently Liz has found very detailed
evidence of the entire Ice Age in layers in the
Blanche Cave dig which is not found anywhere else
in the country. In addition, eucalypts are more
abundant in some times and at other times grasses
more abundant with little evidence of eucalypts.
Current thinking indicates this could provide
evidence of fire events. The next stage will be to
look for charcoal which could also indicate a large
fire event.
Blanche Cave has been the first of the Caves in the
park to be the focus of this new research on pollen
and vegetation studies. It is suspected that similar
cave environments will provide supporting data. Liz
has applied for a grant so these studies can continue.
If successful it is intended to start studies in Bat,
Wet, Cathedral, Fox and Robertson Caves.
Liz has built up a team of leading scientists in
environmental research to help with the study. This
includes two scientists from Germany to undertake
the pollen sample analysis. Carbon Dating and
sediment chemistry will be undertaken by ANU
(Australian National University) to get temperature
and rainfall data on climate; phytolith research will
be done at Flinders University; On-site data
collection will be done by Liz teamed with the
Flinders Uni ‘Palaeo’ Society and the Friends of
Naracoorte Caves.
What can the Friends expect to do to help with Liz’s
study?
If you are interested in being involved with this
study you can expect to be involved in any or all of
the following:
• Collecting samples
• Scouting for sites to research
• Cleaning site faces
• Labelling and transporting samples
• Sending of samples for analysis
• Picking for charcoal
• Picking for scats and larger vegetable
material
A bonus for the project is that it is one that truly is
collecting data on biodiversity and climate change
(as opposed to the projects where this aim is its
main focus but fails to provide real results). In
addition we can find out important information on
the Southern Bent Wing Bat which is one of four
critically endangered mammals in Australia.
This project is just one of many that will help
complete the picture of the history of life, climate
and vegetation in the Naracoorte Region.
Liz’s contact details are:
Dr Liz Reed
Lecturer in Vertebrate Palaeontology, School of
Biological Sciences, Flinders University.
c/- Naracoorte Caves National Park
PO Box 134, Naracoorte SA 5271
Email - liz.reed@flinders.edu.au
 Threatened Species Day - 7th September at Naracoorte Caves

It's that time of year again! Threatened Species Day for 2008 is all about water! What lives in it, what
lives around it, what needs it to live?
'Year of the Frog' Great Family Day Programme
From 10:30 am: Registration at the entrance to Blanche Cave. Entry is $2.00 per person or $5.00 per family.

11:00 am Welcome to Threatened Species Day by the Friends of Naracoorte Caves & Karak, the Red-tailed
Black-Cockatoo @ Blanche Cave.

11:10 am Key note speaker for the day is Steve Walker from the Kesab Patawalonga and Torrens WaterWatch.
Learn how to Growl like a grass frog and burrow like a Painted Frog down @ Blanche Cave!

From 12:00 pm Kids Craft Activities @ the large marquee – Bring the kids along and let them explore their
creative side. Create your own frog mask or make your own clay critter. A Pond-life prize will be awarded as a
prize at 1pm for best threatened species masterpiece, three categories: under 5s, under 10s and 10 & overs.

From 12:00 pm the Sausage Sizzle begins – follow your nose... outside the Kids Shed.

1:00 pm onwards Pondlife with Natasha Dawson from WaterWatch South East. Our swamps in the Limestone
Coast are teeming with life – discover under the viewing microscopes who lives where! @ the Kids Shed.

1:30 pm Children’s craft and prize presentation. Come and see the wonderful work our children have produced
@ the Kids Shed

From 1:15 pm:

• Threatened Fish of the Limestone Coast - Visit the display in the Kids Shed to view some of the many
animals that live in our waterways. Most people have been fishing more than once in their lives, but
have you ever seen one of our threatened native fish?? Come and check out the scaly residents of the
Limestone Coast.
• Local wildlife display – During the day take the opportunity to meet some of our amphibious & reptilian
Limestone Coast residents. @ the Kids Shed
• Threatened Flora Display – Not all of our threatened species have scales or webbed feet or even fur!
Discover some of the threatened plants in our region, where they live, what they are threatened by and
what you can do to help. @ the small marquee.
• Kate Roach – Kate Roach is local wildlife carer and as such an important member of the Naracoorte
Community. Kate regularly receives injured and young native animals that require plenty of time and
care to return them to good health. Kate will be here with one of her many patients, you may be lucky
enough to meet them during the day.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE FRIENDS OF
NARACOORTE CAVES
Sponsored by Threatened
Species Network
Supported by Department
for Environment and
Heritage and Waterwatch
Presidents Report: Barb Lobban

Welcome everyone to this great newsletter Bec has put together. This year has
been busy and attendance numbers of members turning up for different activities
has been fair. In addition there are always things happening behind the scenes,
particularly with organising such events as Threatened Species Day. We as a group
can be very proud of this event as we initiated it back five years ago. Now it gets
bigger and bigger every year. This year we wanted to focus on WATER and with it
being the Year of the Frog that became the theme for this year. You may have seen
the posters down the street on your travels [and there’s one attached to this newsletter! ed.].
Please have a read of the program and come along. It’s a great family fun day and with it being on Father’s Day
you can treat Dad to an interesting time.

Congratulations to everyone in the Friends of Naracoorte Caves winning an award for Friends of the Parks
‘Group of the Year’ for 2008. Barrie and Jillian Thompson accepted the award for our group at a Friends forum
in the Flinders Ranges on the weekend of the 16th August. Thanks Barrie and Jillian. Hope you also had a nice
time away.
Watch your Friends events diary for the rest of the year and don’t miss out on the Caving Day in October and in
November we will have our Christmas get together. A venue hasn’t been decided yet but don’t worry, Bec will
let you all know. Don’t forget the working bee at Tantanoola Cave on the 31st of August. I’m sure there are some
of you out there that haven’t seen this wonderful Jewel of the South East.
Look forward to our next diary event. See you all at Threatened Species Day.
Yours truly

Barb Lobban

Recent Developments:
A big win for the Friends!
DEH congratulates Friends of Parks 
award winners 
The Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH) would like to
congratulate the Friends of Naracoorte Caves who were named
‘Friends Group of the Year’ over the weekend.
The awards, which were presented by Environment and
Conservation Minister Jay Weatherill at the Annual Friends of Parks
Forum, recognise the valuable contribution volunteer groups make to
the State’s conservation projects.
Barrie Thompson accepts the award on the Friends behalf

In total, six awards were given out on the night, including Best Biodiversity Project, Friends Group of the Year
and the Best Friends Medallists. According to Trevor Naismith, from DEH, the Friends of Naracoorte Caves
were recognised for their involvement in assisting with managing the World Heritage area.
“Given the Friends of Naracoorte Caves group was only established four years ago, this is a tremendous
achievement,” he said. “The volunteers play a pivotal role in supporting DEH staff on various projects
such as the conservation of the critically endangered Southern Bentwing bat, supporting researchers
retrieving fossil material and, most recently, restoring the grave of the previous caves caretaker, William
Reddan. DEH would like to take this opportunity to not only congratulate the winners, but to also thank
all of the volunteers who donate their time to ensure the long term survival of the State’s most precious
resources.”
The forum, which was hosted by the Friends of Flinders Rangers National Park at Old Wilpena Station, was
attended by over 200 volunteers and 50 DEH staff. The other winners were: Threatened Plant Action Group
(Best Biodiversity Project); National Parks Heritage Committee (Best Heritage Project); Volker Scholz, Senior
Ranger, Deep Creek Conservation Park (Most Supportive Staff Member to the Friends Network); Sporting
Shooters' Association of Australia (Friends Group of the Decade 2008); and Tom Hands and Sue Smith, Friends
of Scott Creek Conservation Park (the Best Friends Medallists).