VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN for Bidjigal Reserve - Land

Vegetation Management Plan - Bidjigal Reserveorder to absorb physical impacts (e.g. mowing, tracking) and to serve as ‘filters’ for weed invasion,stormwater runoff and other direct and indirect impacts of development.To guard against ‘mower creep’, the erection of a hard permanent barrier such as treated logs,bollards, concrete edging, or a gravelled pathway (which also provides a ‘spray edge’) isrecommended wherever managed parkland abuts bushland. This type of physical barrier should beadequate to prevent mower creep, although a wider physical barrier (1-2 metres wide) may beuseful in controlling grass rhizomes which can grow under the log barriers.Locating walking tracks, or mulched planting beds at the interface is one way to lessen impacts onvulnerable edge sites, and ultimately the core bushland. Wherever practical, introduced turf grasseson edge sites should be eradicated, and replaced with suitable native grasses or groundcovers andincorporating a mulched strip or pathway. Such pathways should be graded so that water drains tothe adjoining grassland, not into the bushland.However, it must be recognised that buffers are not de facto bushland, and as a higher level ofdisturbance is acceptable in such areas, management regimes will be different to those applied toconservation areas/bushland reserves. For example, in some situations buffers may be partlycleared, under-scrubbed or slashed as a bushfire protection measure (see Section 6.8), or they maybe simplified floristically (e.g. planted with a small palette of hardy trees and shrub species).Where intensive recreational activity poses a potential threat to bushland, buffers should be fenced(although it may serve to establish a simple bollard or low barrier to prevent vehicular access).Regeneration of some native species on the bushland edge may be expected over time. Theinterface between the buffer and the bushland edge will require regular maintenance usingherbicide application and/or hand weeding. The remaining areas may be maintained by regularmowing/slashing and weed control.Planting in buffer and in areas reserved for public recreation should utilise indigenous specieswherever possible (within the requirements of the bushfire legislation), although non-indigenousnatives or horticultural cultivars may be used provided that they are not ‘environmental weeds’ (i.e.species which readily naturalise in bushland). In general, the use of non-indigenous species is theleast preferred option for landscape design.6.7 Routine Management & Maintenance of Service CorridorsVehicles entering the Reserve to undertaken routine maintenance will unavoidably bring in weedseeds, which are contained in soil clinging to the undercarriage or to tyres. If vehicles have comefrom a weedy area, or one with polluted soils, this seemingly innocent activity can cause seriousproblems, not just weed problems.In recent years, there has been some concern about the spread of a root fungus Phytopthoracinnamoni in Sydney bushland, and this soil pathogen has been detected by plant pathologist B.Summerall of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, as being implicated in widespread tree death in avariety of vegetation communities, especially bushland on sandstone communities. Phytophthora isa ‘natural’ component of local soils, but it usually lies dormant unless activated by as yet unknownfactors. Changes in local hydrology, disturbance via excavation or dredging, and the lack of cleansingUBM Ecological Consultants Pty Ltd 122