Mallee Plot Network: Disturbance History Data, Western New South Wales and South Australia, Australia, 2013

Title Plot set-up

Number 1

Instrument

Description Fifty-three experimental 0.2 hectare sites were established on dune crests and upper slopes in Tarawi Nature Reserve; Scotia Sanctuary and Danggali National Park. This is part of a much larger dataset collected between 1996 to 2011.

Title Disturbance History Sampling

Number 2

Instrument

Description All but one of the 53 sites (1998/CON1) has been burnt since 1995, either in prescribed fires (33 sites) or wildfires (19 sites). Prescribed fires varied in area from 1 – 70 ha, whereas wildfires varied in area from 70 ha to 3000 ha. Prescribed fires were implemented in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The 33 sites sampling prescribed fires were stratified across this chronosequence, with four sites sampled in each burn year except 2005 (five sites), 2009 and 2010 (two sites each) and 2011 (eight sites). For each burn year, the sites were stratified between locations with different prior fire histories; half had previously been long unburnt (1917 or earlier) and half had been unburnt for 20-30 years (1979-1984). However, the four sites sampling prescribed burns in Scotia in 2010 only sampled a single fire history.
When new sites to be burnt in prescribed fires are established, three surveys are undertaken in successive years at the time of treatment. These sites are initially marked out and surveyed one to three months prior to burning treatment (pre-fire survey). They are fenced to exclude all vertebrate herbivores, usually within one to three months after burning treatment. A second survey (post-fire survey) is carried out approximately one year after the first survey. Within one to two months after the second survey, fences are modified to allow access to selected herbivores into compartments of the exclosures (see details below). During the second survey, additional plots are recorded outside the exclosures where herbivores have continual access to the vegetation prior to and after burning. A third survey (post-grazing survey) is carried out within and outside the exclosures approximately one year after the second survey. Pre-fire surveys could not be carried out at any sites burnt in wildfires or the four sites burnt in prescribed fires during 2010 within Scotia Sanctuary. The eight sites in Danggali CP were not fenced to exclude herbivores and consequently only one post-fire postgrazing survey was carried out, equivalent to the external plots carried out on the third annual visit to the other sites.

Name kmle_disturbance_p138t317.csv

Description

areaburnt	definition Area burned in hectares ratio number type natural ratio standard unit hectare
comment	definition comment nominal text definition comment
eventdate	date time format YYYY-MM-DD definition Date of disturbance event
eventid	definition Event identification number nominal text definition Character
locality	definition Stratified location of disturbance nominal text definition Character
sitelabel	definition Site identification number nominal text definition Character
type	definition Type of disturbance nominal enumeration codes HSPlanF Management fire set within controlled boundaries, whole plot burnt & all foliage consumed HSWildF Wildfire, whole plot burnt & all foliage consumed LSPlanF Management fire set within controlled boundaries, unburnt patches within plot & some foliage scorched & not consumed LSWildF Wildfire, unburnt patches within plot & some foliage scorched & not consumed MSPlanF Management fire set within controlled boundaries, whole plot burnt & some foliage scorched & not consumed MSWildF Wildfire, whole plot burnt & some foliage scorched & not consumed PlanF Management fire set within controlled boundaries, severity unknown WildF Wildfire, severity unknown

Date To

Date From 2013

Location Value Tarawi Nature Reserve; Scotia Sanctuary and Danggali National Park, Western New South Wales and South Australia, Australia

Location Type text

Location Value northlimit = -33.271362; southlimit = -33.467802; westlimit = 140.958503; eastLimit = 141.222776

Location Type iso19139dcmiBox

Surname Keith

Given Name David

Surname Simpson

Given Name Chris

Surname Wilkins

Given Name Katy

Surname Tozer

Given Name Mark

Surname Williams

Given Name Dick

Title ANU Open Research, Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) collection.

URL https://hdl.handle.net/1885/130861