Auckland RENH Kaipatiki Creek Trial - Umbrella Project's Journal

We have recently learned that about half the Kaipatiki Creek Restoration site of 1997-00, from roadside to stream in the upstream half of the site, has not been legally classified as a Reserve, though it is formally recognised as a Significant Ecological Area.

Many observations throughout the restoration site have been given the Field Value "Reserve". It should therefore be noted that many of these observations are in fact not within a legal Reserve, but streambanks/roadside "owned" by Auckland Transport. We will update this Field Value as appropriate to correct this.

We understand the "roadside" area has had no ecological survey or maintenance since road reconstruction in 1999, but in the future is to be managed by Auckland Council through the Ecocontract for Witheford Reserve.

The roadside holds a little Couch grass (Cynodon dactylon), observed in March and suppressed with Tradescantia, then observed in September emerging nearby where Tradescantia had been removed. (You can switch between the two linked Observations using the "Linked Observation" Field at lower right of each observation).

This grass was seen in March around the base of one harakeke at the roadside, and in September, when wet ground allowed a short section of rhizome to be pulled up and examined. Though the leaves are soft and fine, we find the rhizomes unbreakable.

It is within 20-30m of a widespread invasion in 1999 which followed virtual eradication of kikuyu for tree planting. The 1999 invasion was presumably mulched or otherwise suppressed until shaded out by the close-planted trees. The current occurrence is likely a remnant which survived at the roadside beyond the shade, where it is presumablylimited by the deep dense Tradescantia all around it, and by mowing of the grass verge. In March it was flourishing at the base of the harakeke where mowers cannot reach.

This occurrence is now being suppressed (and hopefully eventually rotted) with Tradescantia in front of the harakeke, but has emerged nearby where Tradescantia was removed.

Plan: Restore deep Tradescantia as mulch where this is emergent, and monitor.

See this observation of what looks like a fresh deerskin, skinned frame with one leg attached, and one intact foreleg, with a little guts nearby, and two dead fish, one gutted.

One of the downsides of Reserve work is the unexpected confrontation with a variety of human activities, thankfully usually after the humans have left the site.

While we are not opposed to hunting for food, we are disturbed by the disrespect shown to this animal, or animals, suggesting the possibility of inhumane slaughter or even cruelty.

UPDATE We were immensely relieved to learn that the fluffy tail on the skin was identifiable, with the separate deer foreleg, as a deer, so we assume this animal was hunted, and the unused parts were dumped here after butchering on return to the city.

We did not see obvious signs of rat-feasting in the few weeks before the carcass, furskin, leg and fish were picked up and removed by Council.

We found a very bright blue poisoned rat in the canopy margin of our volunteer Eskdale Reserve Trial, Gahnia Grove, stimulating our interest in the poison used and the possibility of bird and insect deaths due to either primary or secondary poisoning.

UPDATE We have been informed that Brodifacoum is not used in urban reserves due to the secondary poisoning issue. The baits being used currently are Bromadiolone or Diphacinone.

We are particularly interested as we have had bait stations at our home for some years, and - for whatever reason - no longer see wetas, and waxeyes only rarely.

We have plenty of tui at home, but they do not catch insects on the wing, and don't ground-feed at our home due to a dog. They do ground-feed on the banks of the Kaipatiki Creek and

in our Gahnia Grove site.

Trial suppression of juvenile tree weeds by partial breaking and bending down of branches has been surprisingly successful since our ad hoc "necessity is the mother of partial-control intervention" in August 2018, when we first became aware of the huge numbers along the roadside and their rapid growth, pushing aside and overshadowing the mahoe, mapou, karamu and other quick-growing natives there.

We have now photographed and marked with orange tape several dozen specimens, with heights of c.30cmH (previously reduced to this height by partial breaking of leading stem) to .3mH.

Most of these trees are not in the defined Trial Site (where such trees were already marked and photographed) so we have advised the Ecocontract Operations Manager, who will communicate to weed control teams that these specimens are not for intervention.

While documenting and marking the privets we intervened similarly on the few Eleagnus that were encountered along the roadside, and cut all the Japanese honeysuckle within reach. It was pleasing to see native trees once again dominant in the roadside vegetation, with some mature trees showing new growth in areas released during the past year. There are still native trees about 10m high whose canopies remain invaded from further down the bank, but as with the tree weed trial, we have been astonished at the effective suppression of weed trees and vines and the growth of released native plants resulting from our ad hoc interventions during survey.

This has encouraged us to continue to spend those few minutes in passing whenever an opportunity arises to save a native tree from imminent destruction by weeds.

Current weed invasions have been loosely classified as , "new", ie either not seen previously on this site, or recent developments of old invasions; "ongoing" ie invasions by weed species that were observed and/or controlled somewhere on the site since 1997-99

and "historic" - a few 1997-99 observations of significant weeds present in 1997-2000 (More historic observations may be uploaded if time permits)

All exotic palms at least provisionally identified on the site can now be seen here.

A seedling found in Zone Ca has been identified as Australian Fan Palm.

A group of Chusan palms has been discovered on the "upstream" streamside, in Zone Ab. In 1999 after weeding of wild regeneration, and planting along the roadside above, this was a very beautiful lush bit of regeneration overtopping "Pate Pool".

Having matured, it is less lush but still beautiful apart from the Chusan.

Shortly upstream however, (at the bottom of the bank behind the bus-shelter), a pine has had branches fallen or pruned, and the streamside is no longer shaded, as the kiekie, pigeonwood, an uncommon towai and other native trees have been buried by pine branches.

Not a comprehensive species list, (which can be found for any Zone by viewing its Zone Project), just some of the clearer images of flora anywhere in the Kaipatiki Creek restoration site

within the defined Trial site

[NB Umnless future funding permits continued upload and indexing of observations from our full-site survey, these links will show similar or identical results]

Zone Bc:
looking upstream (post-release from Tradescantia, ginger, Montbretia and a few tree/shrub weeds)

looking downstream

• An exploratory Tradescantia- weed along the Witheford-side (on the right here) streambank upstream of the footbridge disclosed some treasures and resulted in some large piles of Tradescantia on both sides of the stream. As soon as we sat down to rest and enjoy the results, a young tui arrived to forage at length in the exposed soil.

Zone Bc:
looking upstream (not accessible by land until the right (Kaipatiki Rd) bank is weeded, so not further surveyed in 2019, but upstream from here was the loveliest part of the stream in 1997-99, with pebble streambed, and low banks hand-weeded and covered in kidney and filmy ferns and regen ti kouka/carex/pate/coprosma)

@baldeagle is a conservation volunteer in Austin, Texas. He has developed very specific techniques for manual eliimination of Tree privets, which dominate their forests by being evergreen, whereas all native trees are deciduous.

He describes the sturdiness of large ringbarked tree privets here

As the opportunity arises, other links will be added here to his findings and techniques. Feel free to add suitable links here yourself, Cliff.

We would also welcome input from readers with experience of invasive tree control in NZ.