VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN for Bidjigal Reserve - Land

Vegetation Management Plan - Bidjigal Reserve7.6 Choosing the Most Effective StrategyThe Bush Regeneration approach usually applies to the rehabilitation of sites assessed as having‘high to moderate’ resilience, relying on natural regeneration from in situ sources (existing nativeplants and seeds/root or rhizome fragments in the soil). Bushland in these categories will likelyretain sufficient regenerative potential to re-establish the native vegetation community once weedsand other plantings have been removed.Even in sites identified as ‘poor quality’ or ‘degraded’, on fill soils, or where the native vegetation hasbeen cleared for many years, there are usually a few native plants remaining. Even so, in such areasit is likely that the soil seed bank has been severely depleted (or is absent) – thereby greatly reducingthe potential for natural regeneration. For such areas, other rehabilitation methods must be used.In chronically degraded or cleared areas, the vegetation community must be ‘reconstructed’ (orrestored), not regenerated. This will involve a broad scale and often expensive, planting programusing locally indigenous species – some of which may have been lost to the site and Locality.Therefore, as a matter of economics if nothing else, every attempt should be made to stimulatenatural in situ regeneration prior to undertaking a bushland reconstruction program.7.7 Weed EcologyThe information provided in the following section, while again largely generic in nature, has beenincluded in the VMP in order to provide guidelines for the prioritisation of weed control tasks and ongoingsite maintenance in the Reserve bushland.7.7.1 DefinitionA plant is only a weed where it interferes with a man's use of the land for particularpurposes, with his well being, or with the quality of his environment (Moore 1975).Invasion by unwanted plants is a major constraint on the conservation and management of habitatfor native flora and fauna. Unwanted plants in a natural or man-made environment are generallycalled 'weeds’. This generic term includes such diverse groups as:• Plants harmful to agriculture, human health and the community (‘noxious weeds’);• Horticultural escapes from gardens and amenity plantings (‘environmental weeds’);• Plants introduced from other parts of Australia, or local native plants growing out of theirnormal range (‘alien’ or ‘non-indigenous native plants’);• Plants commonly found in crops and pasture land (‘agricultural weeds’); and• Plants that commonly grow in wasteland, on roadsides and in other disturbed areas(‘ruderal weeds’).7.7.2 Keystone (Primary Target) WeedsSome introduced species pose serious and immediate threats to the vegetation community theyinvade, eventually modifying the ecosystem to such a degree that many native plants are unable toUBM Ecological Consultants Pty Ltd 136