Gahnia Grove - Site summary and discussion's Journal

Journal archives for May 2019

May 6, 2019

Report for April 2019

Hours:
Liaison CommLis* Monitoring Sitework**
April 0 0 23.5 20.5 April total: 44
YTD 80.75 1.75 225.75 298.25 YTD Total: 606.5

  • ad hoc Community Liaison eg interested Reserve users
    ** includes Weed control, mulching for moisture retention, onsite assessment and planning

Effectiveness of weed control to date,combined with current continued drought only slightly relieved by recent showers and brief rains, means it is too early to do the next stage, which will be significant kikuyu pullback once the ground is wet enough to rot the pile, and further culling of exotic herbs, by uprooting where there are no wanted seedlings to be disturbed, and by cutting or snapping of stems where the soil is to remain undisturbed to protect existing seedlings.

We wonder how many seeds are poised to germinate when the soil is wetter, and how many of them would survive uprooting of adjacent exotics. If we see a convenient opportunity we will cull exotics by the two different means - cutting or uprooting - and compare results in similar conditions. Since we do not know how many seeds are where, the results may not be informative, but may suggest a desired course of action for next time.

Among the exotic herbs, culling will target all the Black nightshades, since we now have at least half a dozen native nightshade specimens which, thanks to iNaturalist, we have learned to recognise and can now retain indefinitely. Though the black nightshade have provided very valuable shade and shelter through the autumn, it would be preferable to have a native species doing the job. So we will try to minimise germination of the plentiful seed crop of the black nightshades ( by composting in a pile where seedlings can be easily pulled) and broadcast the seeds of the native nightshades once they are ripe.

Updates and discussion posted during April can be seen in Gahnia Grove's "Journal", see link at top of this page or
https://inaturalist.nz/projects/gahnia-grove-site-summary-and-discussion/journal

Posted on May 6, 2019 01:29 AM by kaipatiki_naturewatch kaipatiki_naturewatch | 0 comments | Leave a comment