The University of Adelaide - Rabbit Activity Monitoring and Control, Koonamore Vegetation Monitoring Project

The TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve (or Koonamore Vegetation Reserve (KVR)) is a protected area on Koonamore Station which has been fenced off from grazing since the mid 1920's. In 1925, Professor Theodore George Bentley (TGB) Osborn and his colleagues established a vegetation reserve by fencing off 400 ha of a badly overgrazed portion of the Koonamore station to study the process of recovery of vegetation in the arid zone of South Australia after the removal of grazing pressure. The fence was established to initially keep sheep and later also rabbits from the reserve and allow vegetation regeneration. The resulting long-term vegetation monitoring project at Koonamore is now over 80 years old, making it one of the longest-running monitoring series of its type in the world.; Reserve History: In the mid 1920's Professor TGB Osborn and his colleagues extended their interests in ecology and field physiology of vegetation to the arid zone of South Australia. In 1892 Dixon had warned the Royal Society of South Australia of serious degradation of the soils and vegetation resulting from pastoralism and other alien influences in the region. Equally important to the origin of KVR was the new theory of vegetation succession derived from North American work early in the century. Osborn was particularly concerned with the question as to whether overgrazing by domestic and feral herbivores would result in return of the original vegetation via recognisable 'seral' stages, or whether the changes were ?artificial, mere destructions and as such outside the ecologist's proper field?. Although the concepts of 'succession' and the scope of ecology have developed and changed much since that time, nevertheless it was interest in 'succession to climax' that gave the initial impetus to KVR and many other long-term vegetation studies from that time. The theory of vegetation succession gave rise to the permanent charted quadrat as a technique for observing vegetation change. An extensive series of permanent quadrats was set up on KVR and supplemented by a series of fixed photopoints, in order to pursue the first aim. Although some of these were allowed to lapse within five years, many others were sampled more or less regularly, some almost annually up to the present. Several early publications reviewing the progress of vegetation change resulted. Nothing was done towards the second aim but autecological and population dynamics studies are still being carried out, based on KVR and its records. The Bibliography contains a complete listing of research publications arising from work done on the Reserve. Much of the continuity of the earlier records is due to the efforts of Miss Constance Eardley, who while a lecturer in the Department of Botany, organised annual visits of students and staff to take records and maintain KVR. However, after 1950 the rate of sampling had begun to decline and in the mid 1960's ceased altogether for a period of several years. In the 1970's Dr Russell Sinclair reactivated the recording programme and also began a sustained effort at rabbit control. Although the Reserve was originally fenced with rabbit-proof netting, the rabbits were never eradicated and the population has fluctuated greatly with the seasons. Beginning in 1975, numbers have been kept very low by careful annual inspection and control. Since that time there has been marked seedling establishment of several tree and shrub species which showed little previous regeneration. The Reserve records now contain a history of the vegetation over 50 years without sheep grazing followed by over 30 years without significant grazing by either sheep or rabbits. Kangaroos and emus have never been excluded from the Reserve, as they can jump the fence, and their numbers vary with the seasons. The monitoring work at KVR and the curation of its records is continuing under the direction of Dr Sinclair. The Reserve is also used for post-graduate study and complements the arid-zone research interests of Environmental Biology at the Middleback Field Sation near Whyalla.; Site Description: The Reserve is located in the centre of Koonamore Station, a sheep-grazing lease 400 km north-east of Adelaide, South Australia (Lat. 32º07'S, Long. 139º20'E) in predominantly chenopod shrubland with mean annual rainfall of about 200mm. The area consists of a complex of low sand dunes alternating with sand plain and harder loam soils with travertine limestone on the intervening flats. The tree cover is a low open woodland formation. The sand dunes carry Acacia aneura (mulga), A. burkittii and Eremophila spp., the sand plain a dense stand of Casuarina pauper (blackoak, belah), and the harder loam soils a mixed community of Myoporum platycarpum (false sandalwood) and Alectryon oleifolius (bullock bush, rosewood). Understorey shrubs, which also form low chenopod shrubland communities in some areas, include Atriplex vesicaria (bladder saltbush), A. stipitata and Maireana sedifolia (bluebush). Numerous other chenopodiaceous shrubs also occur, and grass and ephemeral herb cover varies with the seasons. Several species of Senna, Eremophila and other shrubs also occur.; Monitoring activities: Some or all of the following monitoring activities are carried out during visits to the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve: Vegetation Quadrats, Photopoints, Senna Quadrat (Cassia Corner), Myoporum platycarpum Plants, Saltbush Transects, Senna Populations, Kangaroo Transects, Rabbit Activity Monitoring and Control.; Rabbit Activity Monitoring and Control: For each visit to the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve, a group of 3 or 4 observers walk the whole reserve in strips, identifying rabbit warrens. Each encountered warren is marked on a reserve map, fumigated and filled in. A rabbit warren count for each monitored quadrat along the strips as well as the total number is recorded.

TGB奥斯本植被保护区（亦称库纳莫尔植被保护区Koonamore Vegetation Reserve, KVR）是位于库纳莫尔牧场的受保护区域，自20世纪20年代中期起便被围栏隔离以禁止放牧。1925年，西奥多·乔治·本特利·奥斯本（Theodore George Bentley Osborn, TGB）教授及其同事将库纳莫尔牧场中一处严重过度放牧的400公顷区域用围栏圈起，建立该植被保护区，用以研究南澳大利亚干旱区移除放牧压力后植被的恢复过程。该围栏最初用于阻挡绵羊，后续也用于阻止野兔进入保护区，以促进植被更新。如今库纳莫尔地区的长期植被监测项目已持续80余年，是全球同类持续时间最长的监测序列之一。

保护区历史：20世纪20年代中期，TGB奥斯本教授及其同事将其在植被生态学与野外生理学领域的研究兴趣拓展至南澳大利亚干旱区。早在1892年，迪克森就曾向南澳大利亚皇家学会警示该区域因畜牧活动及其他外来影响导致的土壤与植被严重退化。与库纳莫尔植被保护区（KVR）创立同样关键的，是本世纪早期源自北美研究提出的植被演替新理论。奥斯本尤为关注的问题是：家畜与野生植食动物的过度放牧，是否会通过可识别的“演替系列（seral）”阶段促使原生植被恢复，还是说这些变化是“人为的、仅为破坏行为，因此超出了生态学家的研究范畴”。尽管自那时起，“演替”的概念与生态学的研究范畴已发生诸多演变，但正是对“顶极演替”的研究兴趣，为KVR及此后诸多长期植被研究项目提供了最初的动力。植被演替理论催生了永久性样方这一观测植被变化的研究方法。为实现首要研究目标，研究团队在KVR内设置了大量永久性样方，并辅以固定摄影点。尽管部分样方在五年内便停止监测，但其余多数样方均得到了或多或少的定期采样，部分样方几乎每年都会进行监测，直至今日。早期已有多篇综述植被变化进展的研究成果发表。针对第二个研究目标的工作尚未开展，但基于KVR及其监测记录的个体生态学及种群动态研究至今仍在进行。本参考文献列表完整收录了基于该保护区研究产生的所有学术出版物。早期记录的连续性很大程度上得益于康斯坦斯·埃尔德利小姐的努力：她时任植物学系讲师期间，组织师生年度到访该区域开展记录与维护工作。不过1950年后，采样频率开始下降，20世纪60年代中期甚至完全中断数年。20世纪70年代，拉塞尔·辛克莱博士重新启动了监测项目，并持续开展野兔防控工作。尽管保护区最初设置了防兔围栏，但野兔始终未被彻底根除，其种群数量随季节大幅波动。自1975年起，通过每年的细致巡查与防控，野兔种群数量被维持在极低水平。自此之后，多种此前几乎未见更新的乔木与灌木物种出现了显著的幼苗定植现象。如今保护区的监测记录涵盖了50余年无绵羊放牧、以及其后30余年无绵羊或野兔显著放牧的植被历史。袋鼠与鸸鹋从未被隔离在保护区外，因其可跃过围栏，其种群数量同样随季节变化。目前KVR的监测工作与记录管理仍在辛克莱博士的指导下持续进行。该保护区同时用于研究生教学，与怀耶拉附近的米德巴克野外站（Middleback Field Station）的干旱区环境生物学研究兴趣形成互补。

场地概况：该保护区位于库纳莫尔牧场的中心区域，该牧场是位于南澳大利亚州阿德莱德东北400公里处的绵羊放牧租赁地（南纬32°07′，东经139°20′），区域内以藜科灌丛为主，年平均降雨量约200毫米。该区域由低矮沙丘、沙质平原与较硬的壤土构成，相间的平地分布有钙积石灰岩。乔木覆盖为低矮开阔林地。沙丘上生长有穆尔加金合欢（Acacia aneura）、伯克氏金合欢（A. burkittii）及喜沙木属（Eremophila）物种；沙质平原上为密集的黑木麻黄（Casuarina pauper）林；较硬的壤土区域则生长有假檀香（Myoporum platycarpum）与牛刺树（Alectryon oleifolius）组成的混合群落。林下灌丛在部分区域也形成低矮藜科灌丛群落，包括囊滨藜（Atriplex vesicaria）、柄花滨藜（A. stipitata）以及蓝灌木（Maireana sedifolia）。此外还分布有多种其他藜科灌木，草本与短命草本覆盖度随季节变化。此外还存在多种决明属（Senna）、喜沙木属及其他灌木物种。

监测活动：在到访TGB奥斯本植被保护区期间，会开展以下一项或多项监测工作：植被样方调查、固定摄影点监测、决明属样方（Cassia Corner）调查、假檀香植株监测、滨藜样带调查、决明属种群监测、袋鼠样带调查、野兔活动监测与防控。

野兔活动监测与防控：每次到访TGB奥斯本植被保护区时，由3至4名观测者组成的小组会以带状遍历整个保护区，识别野兔洞群。每发现一处洞群，都会在保护区地图上标记、熏蒸并填埋。同时记录沿样带各监测样方的野兔洞群数量，以及总洞群数。