Jervis Bay Booderee National Park Plot Network: Vegetation Survey Data, Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay Territory, 2004-2017

Abstract: This vegetation survey data package comprises standardised vegetation condition measurements, which were first conducted in 2004 and then repeated in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2017 using vegetation structure plots (1 m x 1 m, 20 m x 20 m) nested within 1 ha sites. Within the 100 m x 100 m 1 ha survey site, two 20 m x 20 m plots are located along a central transect at the 20–40 m and 60–80 m points. Within each of the 20 m x 20 m plots are four 1 m x 1 m subplots. Plot data are measured in two 20 m x 20 m plots at each site. Ground cover is measured in four 1 m x 1 m subplots located within each 20 m x 20 m plot. Landscape context variables are measured in polygons of 200 m and 500 m radii around each field site. Much of Booderee National Park was burned by wildfire in December 2003. The Jervis Bay Booderee National Park Plot Network was established in 2002 in Booderee National Park in the Jervis Bay Territory, south-eastern Australia. The study location is a floristically diverse area in which fire history has been well-documented over several decades. The plot network’s objectives involve quantifying the inter-relationships between natural disturbance and/or management intervention (including weed and feral animal control and prescribed burning) and the reciprocal changes in vegetation condition and biodiversity response. This particular study forms part of the collection of data packages from the Jervis Bay Booderee National Park Plot Network. A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Jervis Bay Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c3c070a5ee94. Sampling method: Since March 2007, surveying has taken place at a total of 130 sites. These include the original 110 permanent sites in the study at Booderee National Park, as first delineated in 2002, using two stratifying variables: (1) broad vegetation type (heathland, forest, woodland, etc.); and (2) past fire history – classified into four classes of time since the last fire (0-10 years, 11-20 years, 21-30 years and >30 years). Also included since March 2007 are 20 extra sites, set up as part of the “Bitou experiment”. Study extent: Please refer to "Temporal Coverage", "Geographic Coverage", and "Taxonomic Coverage and Classification". Project funding: Up until 2012 this project was funded by an ARC Linkage Grant and industry partners Parks Australia and the Department of Defence. Between 2012 and 2018 this project was part of, and funded through the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) a facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.