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Anstey Hill Recreational Park Essay

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Abstract Fire has long been understood to have an impact on the ecosystem of our native woodlands, but it is only recently that we have come to understand its importance in maintaining the ecosystem. This report takes samples of the flora structure and growth in two different areas of Anstey Hill Recreation Park. The first was last burnt in 1995, and the second burnt in 2012. The results of these samples can be compared to data sampled in 2011, when the 2012 burnt area had not been burnt since Ash Wednesday in 1983. Introduction Anstey Hill Recreation Park proves an interesting area to study the effects of bushfire on native ecosystems as a path winding up the hill provides a fire break. This break is what allows the two differing burn areas to be studied. The 2012 fire was a prescribed burn as the area had previously been unburnt since Ash Wednesday in 1983. Prescribed burns are conducted to reduce the fire danger associated with the fuel that builds up over time in the …show more content…

The ground cover consisted of graminoids, low shrubs, plant litter and mosses. What is to be expected after a low intensity burn is for the ground cover to act as a fuel and be dramatically reduced, while the canopy mostly survives. Higher intensity burns act to destroy the acacia cover along with the ground cover, and to kill the eucalypts. Both trees have survival mechanisms however. The acacias have tolerant seedlings that are triggered to grow after a fire to replace the short lived adults (Maslin, 2001). Eucalypts instead tolerate the fire, using lignotubers and epicormic buds to recover from within the dead tree. Lignotubers act as a hardy nutrient storage at the base of the trunk that can sprout new stems after a fire, while the epicormic buds on the trunk and branches allow the tree to continue growth from the dead trunk (Drake et al

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