Upland Heath Swamps Plot Network: Fire History, Dharawal National Park and Dharawal Nature Reserve, Sydney Basin, NSW, Australia, 1965-2012

Typecollection
TitleUpland Heath Swamps Plot Network: Fire History, Dharawal National Park and Dharawal Nature Reserve, Sydney Basin, NSW, Australia, 1965-2012
Alternate TitleUpland Heath Swamps Plot Network: Fire History Dharawal National Park, 1965-2012
Collection TypeDataset
Access PrivilegesLong Term Ecological Research Network
DOI - Digital Object Identifier10.25911/5c36cd2205854
Metadata LanguageEnglish
Data LanguageEnglish
Brief DescriptionThe Upland Heath Swamps Plot Network Fire History Data Package records the history of fire across 54 established swamp monitoring sites in upland swamps scattered throughout the study area (Keith and Myerscough 1993), between 1965 and 2012.

The Upland Heath Swamps Plot Network research plots were established in 1983. A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Upland Heath Swamps Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c1313b2b2644.
Full DescriptionAbstract: The Upland Heath Swamps Plot Network Fire History Data Package records the history of fire across 54 established swamp monitoring sites in upland swamps scattered throughout the study area (Keith and Myerscough 1993). The fire history prior to the establishment of plots in 1983 has been compiled from records and maps held by Sydney Catchment Authority and the National Parks and Wildlife Service including wildfires and prescribed burns (Keith et al. 2006). Since 1982, fire occurrences on the plots have been verified by personal observations (David Keith). Spatial distributions of upland swamp vegetation was interpreted visually from aerial photography flow in 1960 and 1998, and the data were digitally captured and stored.

The Upland Heath Swamps Plot Network research plots were established in 1983. A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Upland Heath Swamps Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c1313b2b2644

Sampling method: Originally each sample site was a belt transect of 60 contiguous 0.5x0.5 m quadrats, in which presence/absence of all vascular plant taxa were recorded (based on whether they were overhanging the quadrats) and tallied to give a frequency out of 60. The sites were originally sampled in 1983, marked in the field by two wooden stakes at either end of the transect, and plotted on a 1:10 000 aerial photograph. By 2004, it was possible to relocate 54 of the 60 original transects and of these, at least one of the original markers was found for 20 transects. During the intervening years, some of the wooden markers had been consumed by fires, but based on the annotated aerial photograph, field notes and detailed recollections of the original observer (David Keith), transects were confidently reestablished within approximately 10 m of their original location. These formed the basis for establishing permanent swamp monitoring sites, which are now marked in the field at the positions of quadrats 1 and 30 with steel star pickets, extending approximately 1.5 m above ground surface, and located on the Map Grid of Australia (Geodectic Datum of Australia) using a global positioning system. Exploration and subsampling of the 1983 data showed that the floristic relationships between the 60 sites could be adequately retrieved if species frequencies were calculated from a sample of 30 quadrats within each transect (correlation of association matrices based on 60 and 30 quadrats yielded Mantel’s R>0.95). Therefore, only the first 30 quadrats of each transect were re-sampled in 2004 (Keith et al. 2007), 2009-2010 and 2014.

Study extent: Sites have been sampled in 1983, 2004, 2009–2010 and 2014. The next census is scheduled for 2019 or within 12 months of the next bushfire, whichever occurs first.

Project funding: Between 2012 and 2018 this project was part of, and funded through the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) a facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.
Methods

Number
1
Title
Plot set-up
Description
Each permanent swamp monitoring site consists of a belt transect of 30 contiguous 0.5x0.5 metre quadrats. Quadrats 1 and 30 are marked with steel star pickets, extending approximately 1. 5 m above ground surface, and located on the Map Grid of Australia (Geodectic Datum of Australia) using a global positioning system.
Instrument
•Steel star pickets
•measuring tape
•GPS


Number
2
Title
Fire records
Description
The fire history from the mid-1960s to the present was compiled from records and maps held by Sydney Catchment Authority and the National Parks and Wildlife Service including wildfires and prescribed burns (Keith et al. 2006). Since 1982, fire occurrences have been verified by personal observations (David Keith). Spatial distributions of upland swamp vegetation was interpreted visually from aerial photography flow in 1960 and 1998, and the data were digitally captured and stored.
Instrument
•Digital camera
File Descriptions

Name
kuhs_fire_history_p140t308.csv
Description

apr_82
definitionPresence of fire in April 1982
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
aug_84
definitionPresence of fire in August 1984
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
comments
definitionComments
nominal text definitionCharacter
dec_01
definitionPresence of fire in December 2001
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
dec_90
definitionPresence of fire in December 1990
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
jul_81
definitionPresence of fire in July 1981
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
sep_12
definitionPresence of fire in September 2012
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
transect
definitionTransect identifier
nominal text definitionCharacter
veg
definitionVegetation type
nominal enumeration codes
BTBanksia Thicket
CHCyperoid Heath
RHRestioid Heath
SLSedgeland
TTTi-tree Thicket
x1965
definitionPresence of fire in 1965
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
x1968
definitionPresence of fire in 1968
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
x1974
definitionPresence of fire in 1974
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
x1975
definitionPresence of fire in 1975
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
x1977
definitionPresence of fire in 1977
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
x1978
definitionPresence of fire in 1978
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
x1980
definitionPresence of fire in 1980
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes
x1984
definitionPresence of fire in 1984
nominal enumeration codes
NANo
YYes


Name
kuhs_fire_history_p140t604.csv
Description

transect
definitionTransect identifier
nominal text definitionCharacter
years_burnt
date time formatYYYY
definitionYear burn occurred
Contact Emaildavid.keith@environment.nsw.gov.au
christopher.simpson@unsw.edu.au
k.wilkins@unsw.edu.au
mark.tozer@environment.nsw.gov.au
r.woodward@unsw.edu.au
t.mason@unsw.edu.au
david.keith@unsw.edu.au
Contact AddressAustralian Wetlands, Rivers and Landscapes Centre,
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences,
University of New South Wales
SYDNEY, NSW, 2052
Australia
Contact Phone Number+61 2 9995 5000
+61 409 159 334
+61 2 9385 8435
+61 2 9585 6496
+61 2 9585 6051
+61 2 9385 8296
+61 2 9385 2111
+61 427 856 498
+61 428 810 214
Principal InvestigatorDavid Keith
SupervisorsDavid Keith
CollaboratorsTanya Mason
Chris Simpson
Dick Williams
Katy Wilkins
Mark Tozer
Fields of Research0602 - Ecology
KeywordsGCMD:Earth Science > Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Fire Ecology > Fire Occurrence
LTERN Monitoring Theme:Fire
keyword:Fire
keyword:Upland heath swamps
Upland Heath Swamps
Dharawal National Park
Fire History
Type of Research ActivityStrategic basic research
Date Coverage
Date FromDate To
19652012
Geospatial Location
Location TypeLocation Value
TextDharawal National Park and Dharawal Nature Reserve, Sydney Basin, NSW, Australia
DCMI Box notation conformant with iso 19139northlimit = -34.2008; southlimit = -34.26344; westlimit = 150.84554; eastLimit = 150.93563
Date of data creation2014-12-04
Year of data publication2014
Creator(s) for Citation
Given NameSurname
DavidKeith
ChrisSimpson
KatyWilkins
MarkTozer
DickWilliams
TanyaMason
Publisher for CitationLong Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN), ANU Data Commons, The Australian National University
Related Websites
URLTitle
https://hdl.handle.net/1885/130861ANU Open Research, Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) collection.
Other Related IdentifiersMorphoId:ltern.74
PackageId:140
Access RightsPrior to publication of research utilising this data, the data provider (David Keith) requests consultation.
Access Rights TypeOpen
Rights held in and over the dataCreative Commons Licence (CC BY- Attribution) is assigned to this data. Details of the licence can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Licence TypeCC-BY - Attribution (Version 4)
LicenceLTERN Deed: 13
Date of execution: 2014-04-30
Retention PeriodIndefinitely
Data Management PlanNo
Status: Published
Published To:
- Australian National University
- Australian National Data Service
Identifier: anudc:5769
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