- Dec 30, 2018
Updated: 1 day ago
The last job of the year, 29th December - monitoring of our 2 Small Milkwort (SM) Plots in the Kara Kara National Park. Both plots are very dry and show signs of incursions by wallabies and kangaroos- scrapes, hip hollows, pruning and droppings. The larger plot had 58 spikes ( we believe that each rootstock puts up multiple stems and it is hard to decide where each plant starts and ends). There were only 7 flowering spikes in contrast to 24 last year; the spikes were very small and the flowers miserable! Most plants were less than 5cm tall.
On a brighter note, the Eutaxia microphylla and Templetonia stenophylla are doing very well- both are members of the pea family and are very palatable to browsers and grazers so the protection offered by our fence has proved its worth there. Leafy Templetonia- T. stenophylla flowers and leaves
Common Eutaxia- E. microphylla
The second plot, also known as the "Small Small Milkwort Plot" is also having problems with wallabies- the Peach Heath looked as if a mower had been over it and ditto the Small Milkwort. Only 1 flower spike out of 48 plants was found. A new colony of SM was found in 2016 and is persisting - 7 stems but no flowering spikes. It is likely that more SM is out there but the smallness of the plants, and near-impossibility of seeing them unless they are flowering makes this plant difficult to find.
Summer, grass-seeds, mosquitoes and heat all combine to make searching for it quite a task. Monitoring data for this project will soon be on our website. The Yellow Gums in both plots have been flowering and are now getting ready to shed their bark- the colours are astounding.
- Jun 25, 2018
Updated: Jan 22
My 121 Ha property, “The Granites” at Carapooee, consists of a granite outcrop with sloping granitic sand terraces at the foot. There is about 7 km of erosion gullies on the property, which represents a serious loss of habitat, resulting in a significant sediment load in the Carapooee Creek and ultimately the Avoca River.
The sandy soil of the terraces has very little clay to bind it and so erodes readily. There is an underlying soft sandstone layer which is eroded slowly by the process of falling water.
The photo below shows typical erosion.
The Project
The Kara Kara Conservation Management Network secured a grant for some erosion control work on this property. The grant paid for 60 tonnes of rock, gravel/sand mix, filter cloth and seeds for regeneration.
Half of these materials have been used to control the erosion in a 400 m section of one gully, where about ten leaky weirs have been placed using the rocks across the eroding sections and a further five areas of undercut have been stabilised.
The objective of the work is to
• stop the spread of drops from propagating upstream
• stop widening of the gully floor
• stop further undercutting
• Slow the water speed in the bottom of the gully
The slope of the steep sections and drops were jack hammered until the slope was about one in five. Filter cloth was laid across the gully floor and covered with the sand/gravel mixture. Rocks were the placed over the filter cloth to form a water race and leaky weir to slow the water flow and collect sediment.
This has effectively stopped all erosion in the bottom of the gully. Any further erosion of the sides of the gully results in reducing the slope of the wall. Eventually the walls will become revegetated. The sediment from this erosion is collected by the leaky weirs and does not leave the erosion area.
Other leaky weirs were placed across the gully floor to slow down the water flow.
A typical undercut is shown below. By placing a rock wall beside the undercut, eroding water flow is kept away from the undercut. The undercut will eventually collapse, but will not widen further.
The work requires at least annual inspections and minor repairs. As the sediment builds up at each wall, additional rock will be added to raise the height.
Natural Healing of some gullies
Some of the gullies have self-healed just by removal of stock (in 1995) and reducing rabbit numbers. The slope of the sides of these gullies has become less steep and grasses (mainly weeds) and trees are regenerating there, thus stopping further erosion.
The photo below illustrates this effect.
- Jul 13, 2017
Proud to launch this program that sees the Wax Garden nearly doubling in size and upgraded to protect endangered plants from excessive browsing from rabbits and wallabies .
Please click on the photo to get the full report from Anne.
