Kakadu National Park Landscape Symposia Series 2007–2009
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internal report 566 Kakadu National Park Landscape Symposia Series 2007–2009. Symposium 3: Fire management, 23–24 April 2008 Atkins S & Winderlich S (eds) February 2010 (Release status - unrestricted) Kakadu National Park Landscape Symposia Series 2007–2009 Symposium 3: Fire management 23–24 April 2008, Aurora Kakadu (South Alligator) (formerly South Alligator Motor Inn), Kakadu National Park Edited by S Atkins1 & S Winderlich1 1 Kakadu National Park, Parks Operations and Tourism Branch Published by Supervising Scientist Division GPO Box 461, Darwin NT 0801 February 2010 Registry File SG2009/0281 (Release status – unrestricted) How to cite this report: S Atkins & Winderlich S (ed) 2010. Kakadu National Park Landscape Symposia Series 2007– 2009. Symposium 3: Fire management, 23–24 April 2008, Aurora Kakadu (South Alligator), Kakadu National Park. Internal Report 566, February, Supervising Scientist, Darwin. How to cite papers in this report – example: Sutton S 2010. Northern Territory perspective. In Kakadu National Park Landscape Symposia Series 2007–2009. Symposium 3: Fire management, 23–24 April 2008, Aurora Kakadu (South Alligator), Kakadu National Park. Internal Report 566, February, Supervising Scientist, Darwin. Unpublished paper, 14–18. Location of final PDF file in SSD Explorer: \Publications Work\Publications and other productions\Internal Reports (IRs)\Nos 500 to 599\ Editors of this report: Sally-Anne Atkins – Kakadu National Park, Parks Operations and Tourism Branch, PO Box 71, Jabiru NT 0886, Australia Steve Winderlich – Kakadu National Park, Parks Operations and Tourism Branch, PO Box 71, Jabiru NT 0886, Australia The Supervising Scientist is part of the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. © Commonwealth of Australia 2010 Supervising Scientist Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts GPO Box 461, Darwin NT 0801 Australia This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Supervising Scientist. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Publications Inquiries, Supervising Scientist, GPO Box 461, Darwin NT 0801. e-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.environment.gov.au/ssd (www.environment.gov.au/ssd/publications) The views and opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the Commonwealth of Australia. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this report are factually correct, some essential data rely on the references cited and the Supervising Scientist and the Commonwealth of Australia do not accept responsibility for the accuracy, currency or completeness of the contents of this report, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the report. Readers should exercise their own skill and judgment with respect to their use of the material contained in this report. Printed and bound in Darwin NT by Supervising Scientist Division Contents List of participants v Acknowledgments vi Introduction 1 Part 1 Overview of fire management 3 Introduction 3 1.1 Kakadu Traditional Owner and stakeholder views on fire management 4 S Winderlich 4 1.2 Northern Territory perspective 14 S Sutton 14 Part 2 Fire monitoring 19 Introduction 19 2.1 Fire and biodiversity monitoring for conservation managers: a 10 year assessment of the ‘Three Parks’ (Kakadu, Litchfield & Nitmiluk) program 20 J Russell-Smith, AC Edwards, JCZ Woinarski, J McCartney, S Kerin, S Winderlich, BP Murphy & F Watt 20 Part 3 Savanna woodland 48 Introduction 48 3.1 Savanna tree growth, recruitment and mortality in relation to fire frequency and severity 49 L Prior 49 3.2 Fire and vegetation dynamics of Kakadu savannas 54 CER Lehmann 54 3.3 Woodland burning – workshop outcomes 61 M Ibbett 61 Part 4 Floodplain fire management 63 Introduction 63 4.1 Representing Indigenous wetland ecological knowledge in a Bayesian Belief Network 64 AC Liedloff, P Christophersen,, S McGregor & B McKaige 64 4.2 Yellow Water and Red Lily wetland burning 73 iii V Lawson, M Jambrecina & S Atkins 73 4.3 Using fire to manage para grass in wetlands: a Queensland case study 80 T Grice, M Nicholas, P Williams, & E Collins 80 4.4 Floodplain burning workshop outcomes 91 S Atkins 91 Part 5 Stone country fire management 94 Introduction 94 5.1 An aerial assessment of the incidence of fire in rocky (and associated) environments in Kakadu National Park during the 2006 dry season 95 K Brennan 95 5.2 Development of stone country fire management plan 109 A Petty 109 5.3 Implementation of stone country fire management plan 110 A Pickworth 110 5.4 West Arnhem Land fire management 131 P Cooke & J Russell-Smith 131 5.5 Stone country fire management workshop outcomes 134 S Atkins 134 Part 6 Wet season burning 138 Introduction 138 6.1 Using wet season burning for fuel management 139 J Russell-Smith 139 Part 7 Impact of fire on native fauna 142 Introduction 142 7.1 Fire and fauna 143 J Woinarski 143 7.2 Impact of fire regimes on Leichhardt’s grasshoppers 147 P Barrow 147 iv List of participants Name Group Addison Jane EWLS Alderson Jessie Kakadu Board of Management, Traditional Owner Anderson Steve Ranger, Kakadu National Park Anderson Mark Northern Territory Parks Atkins Sally-Anne Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Barrow Piers NRETAS – Weeds Branch Billington Meredith Senior Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Boyden James Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist Brennan Kym NRETAS – Biodiversity Cahill Paddy Ranger, Kakadu National Park Cawood Paul NRETAS – Parks Christophersen Carol NLC Parks Officer Cochrane Peter Director, Kakadu National Park Cooke Peter WALFA Davis Andrew Ranger, Nitmiluk National Park Dunn Matthew Ranger, Kakadu National Park Firth Ron EWLS Ford Lazarus Kakadu resident Franklin Don Charles Darwin University Gorman James NRETAS – Parks Grice Tony CSIRO Guynla James Hartley Dal NRETAS – Parks Hatt Michelle Ranger, Kakadu National Park Hill Terry Ranger, Kakadu National Park Hooke Amber EWLS Jambrecina Mim Senior Project Officer, Kakadu National Park Kenyon Graham Ranger, Djiukbinj National Park Kepui James ERA, Ranger Mine Kerin Sarah Park Manager, Kakadu National Park Kyle Geoff Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation Lawson Violet Traditional Owner Lehman Caroline Charles Darwin University Leidloff Adam CSIRO Lindner Dave Kakadu resident Mabin Peter Ranger, Kakadu National Park Mahney Terry Senior Project Officer, Kakadu National Park McCartney John Ranger, Litchfield National Park McConnell Ian v Name Group Muller Rob Ranger, Kakadu National Park Nayinggul Jacob Kakadu Board of Management, Traditional Owner Nou Tida Project Officer, Kakadu National Park O’Dea Anne Ranger, Kakadu National Park O’Loughlin Gabrielle Kakadu National Park Petty Aaron Charles Darwin University Pickworth Anna Ranger, Kakadu National Park Prior Lynda Charles Darwin University Russell-Smith Jeremy Bushfires Council NT, NRETAS, KRAC Salau Buck Ranger, Kakadu National Park Scheibe Ollie Ranger, Kakadu National Park Scott Barry NRETAS – Parks Shaughnessy Patrick Ranger, Kakadu National Park Sutton Steve Bushfires Council NT, NRETAS Trembath Julie NRETAS – Parks Watt Felicity NRETAS -–Bushfires Council NT Weigl Jacob NRETAS – Parks Wellings Andrew Ranger, Kakadu National Park West David NRETAS – Parks Weir Ray Jawoyn Aboriginal Association Wilson Kathy Ranger, Kakadu National Park Wilson Lincoln NRETAS – Parks Winderlich Steve Manager, Natural and Cultural Programs, Kakadu National Park Woinarski John NRETAS – Biodiversity Wood Andrew NRETAS – Parks Worle Stewart NRETAS – Parks Yirbarbuk Dean WALFA Shirley Acknowledgments The success of the Fire Management Symposium was due in no small part to efforts of the symposium steering committee and staff from the Natural and Cultural Programs Section of Kakadu National Park, in particular Sally-Anne Atkins and Tida Nou. The symposium steering committee made up of Steve Winderlich (Kakadu National Park), Sally-Anne Atkins (Kakadu National Park), Caroline Lehman (Charles Darwin University), Aaron Petty (Charles Darwin University), Peter Cooke (West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Project) and Steve Sutton (Bushfires Council NT) provided essential expertise and input. They are all very busy people who gave generously of their time which is greatly appreciated. Thanks also to Michelle Hatt and Michelle Ibbett (Kakadu National Park) for assisting with the compilation of proceedings and Ann Webb (Supervising Scientist Division) who prepared the proceedings for publication. vi Introduction The Kakadu National Park Fire Management Symposium and Workshop is the third in a series of symposia and workshops held by Kakadu to focus on the agents of landscape change. The aim of the symposiums and workshops is; through the effective transfer of knowledge between stakeholders in the Kakadu region management issues, emerging threats, knowledge gaps and research priorities related to fire management on a local, regional and national scale can be identified and discussed. The symposium was held at the Aurora Kakadu – South Alligator, Kakadu National Park, on 23–24 April 2008. Over sixty participants from a wide range of stake holders including government agencies, traditional owners, indigenous associations, local private industry, academic and research institutions were represented at the symposium.