VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN for Bidjigal Reserve - Land

1. IntroductionThese guidelines have been developed for the purposes of making quantitativeassessments of the level of weeds in bushland areas. This method has beenformulated to assist Council staff, contract bush regenerators and Bushcarevolunteers who are involved in site assessment and rehabilitation strategieswithin the Ku-ring-gai Municipal Council area.The following weed classification provides an indication of the level and type ofweed invasion. Basically, it measures the percentage cover of weeds compared tonative species. In doing this, the reporting also indicates the position of weedswithin the vegetation community and their impact on the native vegetation.This information can assist rehabilitation by enabling areas to be prioritised fortreatment. For example, it is common practice for strategies to commence workin areas of low weed infestation and progressively move towards those of highinfestation. In addition, those weeds which are present in the canopy pose a moreimmediate threat to the community than weeds in other stratums.Weed assessment can also provide information on the rate of weed invasion, theresponse after treatment or the regeneration over time. This information isextremely useful for the monitoring and evaluation of programs.This method of weed classification has been designed so as to minimiseindividual interpretation by persons carrying out weed surveys, and to enable thesurveys to be carried out in the field using basic skills.The method is applicable to all types of native vegetation communities found inKu-ring-gai which range from tall forests to low woodland and heath.KMC Bushland Weed Assessment Guidelines 3