Two days, two restorative actions.
1) Prescribed burn of a prairie remnant.
2) Honeysuckle and winter creeper hack and native plant planting.
#restorationecology
#prescribedburning
#honeysuckle
#invasivespecies
#HabitatRestoration

Helped plant and stake 100 native trees in a heavily degraded floodplain county park. Nuttall oak, post oak, burr oak, american sycamore, sweetgum, kentucky coffee tree, swamp white oak, northern hackberry, and probably more. Not all of them will survive, but that's the point of succession ecology. Get plugged in! Donate your muscles and time! See if OpenSpace.org is in your area.

#volunteering
#naturalists
#restorationecology
#ecology
#botany

5 years of progress at the Waikākāriki Wetland.

27 June 2018
17 September 2020
10 September 2023

Thanks to our volunteers today at the Waikākāriki Wetland. We came very close to finishing off putting guards around all of this year's plantings that need them, just a handful to go when we are back here in a few weeks. Coming into spring there will be lots of releasing work coming up!

Frustrating to see small patches of climbing asparagus popping up around kohekohe seedlings as well. The battle never ends!

It would be really useful to see some research into embodied carbon for various restoration planting techniques.

Not only does this look expensive to me in terms of people hours, there is a lot involved in terms of mowing, rabbit proof fencing, wool mats, metal staples, biodegradable plastic pins, plant production etc.

We first trialled cardboard plant guards back in 2020 and haven't looked back.

True that they only last a couple of seasons at best but the ability to biodegrade is a huge asset.

These plastics guards were used by contractors for a planting in 2016. Seven years later they're still there and now it's up to us a volunteers to remove them.

There are tens if not hundreds of thousands of these guards left on plants around the country.

Three of us headed up Waikākāriki Gully this morning to tackle wilding pines & boxthorn & plant a few tōtara and rimu.

It's phenomenal to see how quickly the south facing side of this gully is naturally regenerating. Adding in a few enrichment species which have long been wiped out in the area helps to speed things along. The north facing aide is alot drier and a lot more exposed to both sun and wind and so is taking much longer to come back.

"Gorse is a great nursery crop"

Except when it isn't.

This historic peat wetland was planted Winter 2019. The site was prepped by spraying the pre-existing gorse, waiting for it to die and planting into it.

Unfortunately gorse seeds last for 20 years and the gorse quickly resprouted and took over.

One half of the area received gorse control in 2021 while the rest was left alone.

The area without gorse control is a bust and will need to be completely replanted.

Gutted to find myrtle rust on Metrosideros diffusa/white rata this afternoon. First time I have seen it on this species. Shouldn't be seeing myrtle rust over winter but all the sunshine we've been having hasn't helped. Not great!

Favorite headline from my work this morning, because I'm still a snot-nosed punk at heart.
"California taps beavers to restore watersheds". #journalism #restorationecology

"A shortage of native seeds is slowing land restoration across the US, which is crucial for tackling climate change and extinctions"

: https://theconversation.com/a-shortage-of-native-seeds-is-slowing-land-restoration-across-the-us-which-is-crucial-for-tackling-climate-change-and-extinctions-199049

#NativePlants #NativeSeeds
#InvasiveSpecies #RestorationEcology
#EcosystemRestoration
#biodiversity #ClimateChange

Went for a walk today and the kanono (Coprosma autumnalis) was in heavy fruit so I ended up collecting a bunch.

I've never grown them before but they seem to germinate pretty easily.

Setting research priorities for effective management of a threatened ecosystem: Australian alpine and subalpine #peatland

"Threatened ecosystem conservation requires an understanding of the effectiveness of management & the challenges hindering successful protection & recovery. Bringing together researchers, land managers & policymakers ... #WetlandEcology #PeatlandEcology #PeatlandRestoration #RestorationEcology
#Mosstodon #Bog #Fen #Australia

https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/csp2.12891

Cleaning up after coal.

Challenges but also many important opportunities as we move to rebuild and reinvigorate our natural environments, #ecosystems and #biodiversity

Learn more in the @theconversationau about how communities and government in #NewSouthWales #Australia have the chance to reset post coal in the #HunterValley

https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-restore-the-land-as-coal-mines-close-heres-a-community-blueprint-to-sustain-the-hunter-valley-198792

An example of a community planting done poorly. Spade Aid 2019.

Blackberry and gorse was mown, then the grass was sprayed. Heaps of people turned up to help plant, but there was no budget for follow up maintenance or weed control so most of the plants died and its back to a blackberry and gorse pit.

If you're planting without a maintenance plan you may as well save yourself some effort and just burn your money.

It's summer and it's hot and the weeds are growing like crazy. But there needs to be a balance between keeping weeds at a low enough level where they don't restrict restoration planting but also tall enough that they keep the ground cooler and help retain soil moisture.

Here's a planting job I was involved in a few years back. July 2020 vs today, January 2023.

Another couple of years and we will start to see canopy closure and forest formation.

Queen Elizabeth Park, Kāpiti Coast, Aotearoa New Zealand.

These two kānuka/rawirinui (Kunzea robusta) were left over stock from when I was contract planting a few years back.

I planted them in my backyard side by side, the exact same conditions. Same germination technique, probably same plug tray and probably same mother plant.

And yet one is much taller with a much larger crown and stem width.

Genetic variation can make a huge difference regardless of the environmental conditions.

An example of bad planting. When the rootstock sits above the surrounding soil, it wicks away moisture, causing the plant to dry out much quicker. A waste of time and money. Everything else around this was looking healthy. #planting #restoration #restorationecology