Mallee Plot Network: Vegetation Survey Data (Structure and Floristics), Western New South Wales and South Australia, Australia, 2011-2018
Abstract: This package contains vegetation survey data, collected between 2011 and 2018, for 60 0.2 hectare sites which were established on dune crests and upper slopes in Tarawi Nature Reserve; Scotia Sanctuary and Danggali National Park.
A synopsis of related data packages, which have been collected as part of the Mallee Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c133088bc5b9
Sampling method: Fifty-three experimental sites have been established on dune crests and upper slopes during 1996–2011, of which 29 are located within Tarawi NR, with 16 in Scotia and eight in Danggali NR. In Tarawi NR, each is marked with a steel sign on an adjacent access track. These include four pilot sites established during 1996-1998, during which the design of herbivore exclosures were developed.
Study extent: Between 1996 and 2011, 53 experimental sites were established on dune crests and upper slopes, of which 29 are located in Tarawi Nature Reserve, 16 are in Scotia Sanctuary and 8 are in Danggali Conservation Park. After initial censuses in three consecutive years (before and after prescribed fire) or two consecutive years (after wildfire), sites are revisited approximately every five years.
The study focusses on vegetation dynamics on dune crests and upper slopes, primarily because resources are insufficient to sample across the full catenary sequence of dunes and swales. Study of fire in swale landforms is problematic because these are rarely flammable under prescribed fire conditions due to the absence of hummock grasses, which augment lateral fuel connectivity and thus promote fire spread on the dune crests and slopes.
The study is located in the red aeolian sand dunefield landscape of the Scotia district within Tarawi Nature Reserve (33.44ºS 141.16ºE), Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary (33°17′S 141°05'E) and Danggali Nature Reserve (33° 22' S 140° 45' E) in south-western New South Wales and adjacent area of South Australia. The study area sits on the south-eastern edge of the Australian arid zone.
This location is close to the arid limits of distribution of the mallee woodland biome, which stretches across the temperate semi-arid belt of southern Australia (Noble 1984). Mallee woodlands typically occur within regions receiving 200-500 mm rainfall per year. During 1940-2010, mean annual rainfall at Tarawi Homestead was approximately 240 mm (data summary courtesy of John Warren, Tarawi NR)
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.
Type
collection
Title
Mallee Plot Network: Vegetation Survey Data (Structure and Floristics), Western New South Wales and South Australia, Australia, 2011-2018
Alternate Title
Mallee Plot Network: Vegetation Survey Data (Floristics And Structure)
Collection Type
Dataset
Access Privileges
Long Term Ecological Research Network
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
10.25911/5c36bebb68373
Metadata Language
English
Data Language
English
Brief Description
This package contains vegetation survey data collected between 2011 and 2018 in Tarawi Nature Reserve; Scotia Sanctuary and Danggali National Park.
A synopsis of related data packages, which have been collected as part of the Mallee Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c133088bc5b9
Full Description
Abstract: This package contains vegetation survey data, collected between 2011 and 2018, for 60 0.2 hectare sites which were established on dune crests and upper slopes in Tarawi Nature Reserve; Scotia Sanctuary and Danggali National Park.
A synopsis of related data packages, which have been collected as part of the Mallee Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c133088bc5b9
Sampling method: Fifty-three experimental sites have been established on dune crests and upper slopes during 1996–2011, of which 29 are located within Tarawi NR, with 16 in Scotia and eight in Danggali NR. In Tarawi NR, each is marked with a steel sign on an adjacent access track. These include four pilot sites established during 1996-1998, during which the design of herbivore exclosures were developed.
Study extent: Between 1996 and 2011, 53 experimental sites were established on dune crests and upper slopes, of which 29 are located in Tarawi Nature Reserve, 16 are in Scotia Sanctuary and 8 are in Danggali Conservation Park. After initial censuses in three consecutive years (before and after prescribed fire) or two consecutive years (after wildfire), sites are revisited approximately every five years.
The study focusses on vegetation dynamics on dune crests and upper slopes, primarily because resources are insufficient to sample across the full catenary sequence of dunes and swales. Study of fire in swale landforms is problematic because these are rarely flammable under prescribed fire conditions due to the absence of hummock grasses, which augment lateral fuel connectivity and thus promote fire spread on the dune crests and slopes.
The study is located in the red aeolian sand dunefield landscape of the Scotia district within Tarawi Nature Reserve (33.44ºS 141.16ºE), Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary (33°17′S 141°05'E) and Danggali Nature Reserve (33° 22' S 140° 45' E) in south-western New South Wales and adjacent area of South Australia. The study area sits on the south-eastern edge of the Australian arid zone.
This location is close to the arid limits of distribution of the mallee woodland biome, which stretches across the temperate semi-arid belt of southern Australia (Noble 1984). Mallee woodlands typically occur within regions receiving 200-500 mm rainfall per year. During 1940-2010, mean annual rainfall at Tarawi Homestead was approximately 240 mm (data summary courtesy of John Warren, Tarawi NR)
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
Plot set-up
1
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 that spans from 1996 to 2015.
Vegetation Survey - Floristics
2
The density (number of individuals per unit area) of each vascular plant species are recorded in every plot. Counts of each species are partitioned into: live established plants and live seedlings.
Note:
Chenopodium melanocarpum has a more recent taxonomy of Dysphania melanocarpa, and similarly Eucalyptus costata is now considered synonymous with Eucalyptus incrassate, however these data use their original names so as to maintain consistency with other data packages from the same time series.
There are also taxa which were unidentifiable, however they have been left in the data so that species richness is not underestimated.
Note:
Chenopodium melanocarpum has a more recent taxonomy of Dysphania melanocarpa, and similarly Eucalyptus costata is now considered synonymous with Eucalyptus incrassate, however these data use their original names so as to maintain consistency with other data packages from the same time series.
There are also taxa which were unidentifiable, however they have been left in the data so that species richness is not underestimated.
Vegetation Survey - Structure
3
Attributes recording vegetation structure are visually estimated in each of five 15 x 15 m fenced plots and the three 13 x 7.5 m unfenced external plotsexclusion and external plot. These currently include: hummock grass height (ten randomly selected individuals per plot); and single estimates per plot for: tree cover and height range; shrub height (median and range); shrub cover; hummock grass cover; ephemeral grass cover; leaf and twig litter cover and bare ground cover. The estimates made in each plot are aided by informally dividing each plot into segments for logistical purposes only, and then aggregated for the plot.
File Descriptions
kmle_vegetation_floristics_2013+_p981t1309.csv
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| count_live_estab_plants |
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| count_live_seedlings |
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| number of records | 5254 | ||||||
| site |
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| species |
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| species_no |
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| subplot |
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kmle_vegetation_structure_2013+_p981t1310.csv
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| elem_value |
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| number of records | 10727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| site_label |
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| subplot_label |
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kmle_vegetation_census_2013+_p981t1311.csv
| census_date |
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| census_n |
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| number of records | 638 | ||||
| site_label |
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| subplot_label |
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Contact Email
david.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;
david.keith@unsw.edu.au
Contact Address
Australian 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 2111;
+61 427 856 498;
+61 428 810 214
Principal Investigator
David Keith
Supervisors
David Keith
Collaborators
Chris Simpson;
Dick Williams;
Katy Wilkins;
Mark Tozer
Fields of Research
0501 - Ecological Applications;
0602 - Ecology
Keywords
GCMD:Earth Science > Biosphere > Vegetation;
LTERN Monitoring Theme:Vegetation structure;
LTERN Monitoring Theme:Plant species composition;
LTERN Monitoring Theme:Plant species abundance;
keyword:Census data;
keyword:Seedlings;
keyword:Established plants;
keyword:Structural;
keyword:Estimates of cover;
keyword:Height;
keyword:Vegetation strata.;
Mallee;
Vegetation Survey Data (Floristics And Structure)
Type of Research Activity
Strategic basic research
Date Coverage
2018
2011
Geospatial Location
Tarawi Nature Reserve; Scotia Sanctuary and Danggali National Park, Western New South Wales and South Australia, Australia
text
northlimit = -33.271362; southlimit = -33.467802; westlimit = 140.958503; eastLimit = 141.222776
iso19139dcmiBox
Year of data publication
2018
Creator(s) for Citation
Keith
David
Simpson
Chris
Wilkins
Katy
Tozer
Mark
Williams
Dick
Publisher for Citation
Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN), ANU Data Commons, The Australian National University
Related Websites
ANU Open Research, Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) collection.
https://hdl.handle.net/1885/130861
Other Related Identifiers
MorphoId:ltern6.326;
PackageId:981
Access Rights
Prior to publication of research utilising this data, the data provider (David Keith) requests consultation.
Access Rights Type
Open
Rights held in and over the data
Creative 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 Type
CC-BY - Attribution (Version 4)
Licence
LTERN Deed: 13
Date of execution: 2014-04-30
Retention Period
Indefinitely
Status: Published
Published to:
Published to:
- Australian National University
- Australian National Data Service
Related items
- hasAssociationWith:
Mallee Plot Network: Murray Darling Basin data packages, 1994-2018 [anudc:5550] - hasAssociationWith:
Katy Wilkins [anudc:5600] - hasAssociationWith:
Mark Tozer [anudc:5605] - hasAssociationWith:
David Keith [anudc:5578] - hasAssociationWith:
Chris Simpson [anudc:5572] - hasAssociationWith:
Dick Williams [anudc:5581]