| Survey/Project Number: | 1100 Total No. of Sites: 0 |
| Survey/Project Name: | Fuel Reduction Burning (Fire Ecology ) - Padthaway Conservation Park |
| Abstract: | This project aims to conduct fuel reduction burning in Padthaway Conservation Park, South East region, South Australia. Approximately half of the park was burnt in a wildfire in December 1975. Thought to have been started by an overheated brake drum dropped from a passing truck, it was an extremely intense fire and completely removed most of the understorey as well as the crowns of the majority of the trees. Topographically and floristically similar areas of approximately 25 ha that were adjacent to the wildfire burnt area were subsequently identified and burned in spring and autumn. A further equivalent area was left as an unburned control. METHODOLOGY: The spring fuel reduction burn was carried out at 0930 on 10 November 1978 with wind from the south-east at 8 km/h, and air temperature of 20 degC and a relative humidity of 60%. The fire burnt erratically until heavy rain at 1730 extinguished it. The remaining area was burnt from 0900 on 28 November 1978 with a light wind of 8 kph, and an air temperature of 22 degC and a relative humidity of 55%. All lighting-up was completed by 1130 and the fire burnt with varying intensity for the next two hours. The remaining hot spots were extinguished by 1500. RESULTS: The result was that 50% of the understorey was completely burnt to the top of the Banksia, and some trees had canopy scorch. Of the remaining 50%, approximately 75% had lost all ground cover, some small shrubs and some banksias burnt. In the remaining 25% the ground cover was partially burnt or remained untouched. Over the whole area all Xanthorrhoea australis were completely burnt. The autumn fuel reduction burn was carried out at 1030 on 1 May 1980 with a wind from the south-east gusting between 5-15 kph, an air temperature of 17 degC and a relative humidity of 55%. The fire intensity was variable depending on the density of the understorey and was finally extinguished at 1630. The result was that only 25% of the understorey was completely burnt to the tops of the Banksias with tree canopy scorch. The ground cover was removed over 50% of the rest but the remaining 25%, particularly in very open areas of Eucalyptus leucoxylon woodland, remained largely unburnt. An unburnt control area remained between the spring and autumn fuel-reduced areas, and an equivalent area of the adjacent wildfire was designated with a perimeter vehicle-access. |
| Start Date: | 30/09/1976 End Date: 31/12/1991 |
| Survey Type: | Vegetation Only |
| Study Area Description: | Padthaway Conservation Park. Covering an area of 987 ha it is surrounded by cleared agricultural land except for small areas of natural vegetation on private land abutting the NE and SE boundaries. It is typical of many of the small conservation parks in the South East of South Australia. The park is an undulating area on sandy (old dune) soils with an average annual rainfall of approximately 550mm. The vegetation is dominated by Eucalyptus leucoxylon ssp. pruinosa and E. arenacea with a wide variety of understorey species including Banksia ornata, B. marginata, Acacia pycnantha, Xanthorrhoea australis and Pteridium esculentum. |
| Objectives | |||
| Vegetation: | Refer to Abstract. | ||
| Fauna: | *** No fauna survey objectives recorded | ||
| Methodology | |||
| Vegetation: | Twenty permanently marked photopoints were established across the experimental area in Padthaway Conservation Park. They were regularly distributed so that there were five in each of the four fire treatments. In each treatment, four photopoints were 25m from the perimeter while one was near the centre of the treatment 250m from the perimeter. The photopoints consist of two steel droppers (camera post and sighting post) set 10 m apart and 1.5 m tall. Photographs are taken with a camera fitted with a 55 mm lens resting on the camera post with the field of view centred on the top of the sighting post. Photopoints were coded with the number of the NPWSA reserve (in this case C71, Padthaway Conservation Park) and a sequential number series. Ten 1m square quadrats were laid out within the field of the photograph, and all plants rooted in or overhanging were scored for species, number of individuals and projective canopy cover. The 20 sets of photopoints and their associated quadrats were sampled fifteen times on: 30 Sep - 1 Oct 1976, 28 Feb 1977, 3 Sep 1977, 19-20 Oct 1978, 3 Jan - 1 Feb 1979, 14 Mar 1980, 23-24 Oct 1980, 4-5 Nov 1981, 2-3 Nov 1983, 10-11 Dec 1984, 19-20 Nov 1985, 6-11 Nov 1986, 15-16 Dec 1987, 16-17 Oct 1989 and 20-21 Nov 1991. | ||
| Fauna: | *** No vertebrate methodology recorded | ||
| Data Distribution Rules: | Public Dataset |
| Project Basis: |
Vegetation
:
Natural Hazard /Ecological studies - flood and bushfire mapping and fire behaviour assessment. - Standard Survey methodology used.
Vegetation : Monitoring - Vegetation/Ecosystem (ie species records - usually re-visited for ongoing monitoring) NOTE:NON Std Svy methodology may have been used. |
| Information Authority: | Department for Environment and Heritage - Biological Survey and Monitoring |