Woody Weeds Working Party (20/03/2016)

Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna (W.Pix)

Volunteers wanted!

Please give a hand and help remove Briar Rose and Hawthorn at the northwest corner of the Mt Majura nature reserve.

When: Sunday, 20 March 9am – 12noon, give as much of your time as you want.

Where: Nature park east of The Fair, North Watson; access nature park entrance Tay / Ian Nicol Streets; click on this map to view the work area.

What: Control of Hawthorn and Briar Rose using the cut & dab method and collecting fruits to reduce the spread of seeds.

Fox pellets with Briar Rose seeds

Fox scats of Briar Rose seeds, Mt Majura nature  reserve east of The Fair (W.Pix). Foxes are dispersers of Briar Rose seeds as they consume and defecate viable seeds.

Bring: Sun protection, sturdy shoes, body-covering clothing; tools will be provided.

No experience required however novice weeders are requested to come early for an introduction.

Inquiries: secretary@majura.org

We will continue work to remove Briar Rose and Hawthorn east of The Fair. The work involves cutting stems of woody plants and dabbing the cut surface with the herbicide glyphosate. If you don’t want to use herbicide you may choose to hand remove rose hips and hawthorn fruits or tackle herbaceous weeds.

Fox at Mt Majura (Dusty, Canberra Nature Map)

Foxes and the spread of Briar Rose

Foxes are highly adaptable opportunistic omnivores. They hunt and scavenge, and take a wide variety of vertebrate and invertebrate prey, both native and introduced. They eat plant material such as Briar Rose hips, blackberries and fruits of other introduced plants. The seeds take several hours to pass through a fox’s digestive system, allowing time for seeds to be dispersed over large areas.

Fruiting Briar Rose (front) and Hawthorn (background) in the nature reserve east of The Fair (W.Pix)

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