Kidman Springs fire experiment 1993-2013 

BOTANAL for herbaceous biomass, Bitterlich gauge for woody cover 2009, aerial image analysis for woody cover 1995 and 2013: Tothill, J.C., Hargreaves, J., and Jones, R.M. (1978). 'BOTANAL - a comprehensive sampling and computing procedure for estimating pasture yield and composition 1. Field sampling.' (CSIRO: Brisbane, Australia.) Cowley, R.A., Hearnden, M., Joyce, K., Valencia, M., Cowley, T.M., Pettit, C., and Dyer, R.M. (2014 in press). How hot? How often? Getting the fire frequency and timing right for optimal management of woody cover and pasture composition in northern Australian grazed tropical savannas. Kidman Springs Fire Experiment 1993-2013. The Rangeland Journal. Dyer, R.M. (2001). Fire and vegetation management in pasture lands of the Victoria River District, Northern Territory. Masters Thesis, The University of Queensland, Australia. 

Method Drift Description: The BOTANAL method has changed through time 1. Species % yield estimation has altered during the trial. i. Originally up to 5 species were listed, but in 1997 and from 2000 to 2011 up to 6 species were listed. How these species were ranked has evolved through time. ii. From 1993-2005, usually only the top 3 species were ranked for % yield (not direct estimates). The options for ranking for the 1st, 2nd and third largest yielding species were as follows: 1. 100, 0, 0 2. 77, 23, 0 3. 70, 21, 9 4. 45.5, 45.5, 9 5. 34, 33, 33 6. Or very occasionally the 4th spp was also ranked 70, 21, 4.5, 4.5 iii. From 2007, the top three species % yields were directly estimated. iv. In 2009 direct estimates of % spp yield were made on up to 4 species v. In 2011 direct estimates of species yields were made on up to only three species vi. in 2013 direct estimates of % spp yield were made on up to 4 species The direct estimate of % yield is more accurate than ranking yield. Estimating % yield for 4 species will tend to mean more species are individually assessed for yield, but this should not affect statistics through time, as minor species tend to be grouped into functional groups for analysis. 2. Yield was initially estimated (1994 - 2007) as a score between 0 and 60, but is now directly estimated. Grazing score has only been collected since 2007. Related publications with methods listed Cowley, R.A., Hearnden, M., Joyce, K., Valencia, M., Cowley, T.M., Pettit, C., and Dyer, R.M. (2014 in press). How hot? How often? Getting the fire frequency and timing right for optimal management of woody cover and pasture composition in northern Australian grazed tropical savannas. Kidman Springs Fire Experiment 1993-2013. The Rangeland Journal. Dyer, R.M. (2001). Fire and vegetation management in pasture lands of the Victoria River District, Northern Territory. Masters Thesis, The University of Queensland, Australia. 

Sampling design: Completely Randomised Factorial Designs Photo Data Capture Repeated Measures Systematic Sampling 

Flora Sampling Technique: Oblique aerial photography Quadrat/Plot/Grid 

Measurements: Derived - Continuous Data Raw Observations - Categorical Data Raw Observations - Continuous Data 

Measurement Attributes: Biomass Cover