Mount Field National Park is a national park in
Tasmania,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, 64 km northwest of
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
. The landscape ranges from
eucalyptus temperate rainforest to alpine moorland, rising to 1,434 metres (4,705 ft) at the summit of
Mount Field West.
History
Mount Field National Park was founded in 1916, making it, along with
Freycinet National Park
Freycinet National Park is a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 125 km northeast of Hobart. It occupies a large part of the Freycinet Peninsula, named after French navigator Louis de Freycinet, and Schouten Island. Foun ...
, Tasmania's oldest national park.
The area around Russell Falls has been protected for its natural beauty since 1885, when it was set aside as Tasmania's first nature reserve.
The last known wild
thylacine was captured in the region in 1933. The reserve was called "National Park" before 1946, but was officially renamed to its present name in 1947.
Etymology
Mount Field National Park was named for Judge
Barron Field, who visited Tasmania as an itinerant judge in 1819 and 1821.
Geology
During the
Pleistocene period, a snowfield covered the top of the Mount Field plateau and fed glaciers in the surrounding valleys.
A large, 12 km long glacier formed the broad river valley and the cirque walls above Lake Seal.
Twisted Tarn, Twilight Tarn, and the tarns on the
tarn shelf
Tarn may refer to:
Places
* Tarn (lake), a mountain lake or pool formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier
England
* The Tarn, a park, nature reserve, and lake in Mottingham, Royal Borough of Greenwich.
* Tarn or Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Engl ...
were formed by glacial scouring.
A glacier flowed south from the Rodway Range, forming lakes Belcher and Nelton, and north to form the Hayes Valley and Lake Hayes.
In alpine areas podzolic, humus and leached soil is most common. The podzols often occur on deep periglacial solifluction deposits down to .
Alluvial floodplains have developed in the lower park on deposits of quaternary alluvium.
Fauna
The park has good representation of much of native Tasmanian fauna including
wombats,
platypuses, eastern barred
bandicoots
Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago t ...
,
echidnas, and the
Tasmanian devil
The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...
.
Fungi
Mount Field National Park is also home to an enormous diversity of fungi. Fungi are ecologically important and megadiverse, yet their significance in underpinning the terrestrial ecology of the Park is little recognised.
While th
Management Plan for Mt Field National Parkonly mentions fungi in the context of their destructive effects (''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' and ''Chalara australis''), the Park has a great variety of fungi that perform beneficial ecological roles. In fact, most fungi perform positive rather than negative roles. Even parasitic fungi – often regarded only negatively – are a vital part of healthy ecosystems, regulating ecosystem functions.
As primary recyclers of organic matter, saprobic fungi break down fallen branches and leaf litter, making vital nutrients available to other organisms. Other fungi form symbiotic relationships with other organisms. Although rarely acknowledged, the great majority of plants in Mount Field National Park (indeed in the world) form mutually beneficial
mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...
l relationships with fungi.
Given the great diversity of plants, specialist habitats and micro-climates in the park, a great diversity of fungi, including lichens, is also expected to occur there. Two hundred and eighty-nine species have already been recorded by field naturalists and interested individuals and a list can be found in th
Atlas of Living Australia
The Green Elfcup (
Chlorociboria aeruginascens'' group is found growing on rotten wood in wetter parts of the park. Even when its fruitbodies are not conspicuous, its presence can often be detected by the blue-green staining of the wood it inhabits. The Slimy Yellow Cortinar (
Cortinarius sinapicolor') is one of the more commonly encountered species that forms mycorrhizal relationships with various Eucalyptus species and is recognisable by its viscous sulphur-yellow fruit bodies. The Australian citizen-science organisation
Fungimapis documenting and mapping the distribution of fungi including those that occur in National Parks.
Despite their essential roles in supporting ecosystems, fungi are barely recognised as a vital part of Australia's biodiversity. Although Australia has national and state level biodiversity conservation strategies and has ratified international conventions, most overlook fungi, includin
Tasmania's Natural Heritage Strategy which only makes one generic reference to fungi.
Accommodation and facilities
There is camping, with powered and unpowered sites at the entrance to the Park, as well as the Government-owned Lake Dobson cabins near the end of the access road within the Park. Several private ski/walking clubs have private huts, and a ski-lodge on the ski slopes has limited accommodation during the skiing season.
The Visitor Centre located near the entrance to the Park houses an interpretive centre, cafe, gift shop, gallery and public toilets.
Beside the Visitor Centre there are picnic and
barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...
facilities, as well as a playground and public toilets.
Activities
From the visitor centre:
*
Russell Falls
The Russell Falls, a Waterfall#Types, tieredcascade waterfall on the Russell Falls Creek, is located in the Central Highlands (Tasmania), Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia.
Location and features
The Russell Falls are situated on ...
is an easy, 20-minute return walk on asphalt and boardwalks.
*
Horseshoe Falls is a 30-minute walk.
*The
Lady Barron Falls
The Lady Barron Falls, a tieredcascade waterfall on the Lady Barron Creek, is located in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia.
Location and features
The Lady Barron Falls are situated in the Mount Field National Park, a short di ...
circuit (via Russell Falls and Horseshoe Falls) is approximately two hours return.
*Tall Trees Walk is an easy thirty-minute walk through the tall
swamp gums.
Walks from the Lake Dobson car park include:
*The Ski Lodge and Lake Seal lookout, one hour return.
*Seagers Lookout, two hours return.
*Mount Field East via Lake Nicholls, five hours return.
*Mount Field West, eight hours return.
*Tarn Shelf, Lake Newdegate, Twilight Tarn and Lake Webster circuit, six hours return.
Mount Field National park has one of Tasmania's downhill skiing areas. There are three ski tows, two on Mount Mawson and one on the Rodway range.
There is generally sufficient snow cover for skiing from mid July to mid September.
See also
*
Protected areas of Tasmania
Protected areas of Tasmania consist of protected areas located within Tasmania and its immediate onshore waters, including Macquarie Island. It includes areas of crown land (withheld land) managed by Tasmanian Government agencies as well as priv ...
*
Mount Field (Tasmania)
Mount Field West is a mountain in the western portion of Mount Field National Park in the southern region of Tasmania
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, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
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Notes
References
Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service website
External links
Mt Field National Park, Tasmania, AustraliaTasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service - Mount Field National Park
{{Authority control
National parks of Tasmania
Protected areas established in 1916
1916 establishments in Australia
Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area