The Burrinjuck Nature Reserve is a protectednature reserve on the south west slopes of New South Wales, Australia. The reserve is located adjacent to the Burrinjuck Dam, with of the reserve located on the northern side of the reservoir, and the remaining located on the southern side of the reservoir to the northeast of Black Andrew Nature Reserve. It includes land formerly managed as the Burrinjuck State Forest and Burrinjuck State Recreation Area.
History
The reserve was established in 1984. Initially, it consisted of of land, but and about of the former Burrinjuck State Recreation Area were added in 2001 following the passage of the, and a further were added to the western side of the reserve in 2006. The entire reserve has been subject to bushfire, though some parts of the reserve have experienced fire more often than others. A particularly severe fire in the summer of 1972–1973 burnt around of land in the area. Recent work demonstrated that the vegetation communities in the reserve appear to be quite resilient to fire.
Six different forest ecosystems are recognised in the reserve:
Apple box - Norton's box - moist grass forest. This is the dominant ecosystem in the eastern part of the reserve. Common plant species include Norton's box, apple box, red stringybark, silver wattle, tick indigo, stinking pennywort, native geranium, Sheep's Burr Acaena echinata, native carrot, weeping grass, snowgrass , Austral bear’s ear, and Plantago varia.
Wee Jasper Norton’s box – Poa grass forest. This ecosystem is dominant on steep slopes in the south west of the reserve. Common plant species include Norton's box, red stringybark, shiny cassinia, hoary guinea flower, slender tea tree, daphne heath, clustered everlasting , Gonocarpus tetragynus and snow grass.
Brittle Gum – Broad-Leaved Peppermint - Poa grass forest. This ecosystem is found on steeper slopes in the southern half of the reserve. Common plant species include brittle gum, broad-leaved peppermint gum, Robertson's peppermint, red stringybark, pea bush, hoary guinea flower, red-stemmed wattle, Monotoca scoparia, Gonocarpus tetragynus, grass trigger-plant, Poa tenera, Brachyscome spathulata, silvertop wallaby grass and snowgrass.
Dwyer’s Gum heathy low open woodland. This ecosystem is found at the northern edge of the reserve. Common plant species include black cypress pine, white box, red stringybark, inland scribbly gum, sticky everlasting, Caladenia mentiens, fringed spider orchid, native carrot, Gonocarpus elatus, yellow pennywort, Senecio species, spoon cudweed, annual bluebell, snowgrass and wattle mat-rush.
Long Leaved Box heath shrub forest. This ecosystem is scattered throughout the central and western part of the reserve. Common plant species include long-leaved box, red stringybark, common fringe-myrtle, lesser guinea flower, varnish wattle, shiny cassinia, grass tree, green wattle, woolly grevillea/crimson grevillea cross, Daviesia pubigera, Persoonia rigida, spotted doubletail, Dampiera purpurea and Senecio anethifolius.
Blue Gum – Broad-Leaved Peppermint dry grass shrub forest. This ecosystem is dominant on gentle slopes in the centre of the reserve. Common plant species include southern blue gum, broad-leaved peppermint, red stringybark, Robertson's peppermint, common bracken, silver wattle, shiny cassinia, Hovea linearis, honeypots, Platylobium formosum ssp. formosum, pale wedge pea, Monotoca scoparia, twyning glycine, rough bedstraw, native geranium, Plantago varia, Brachyscome spathulata, pink fairy orchid, kidneyweed, cudweed, nodding greenhood, prickly starwort, Australian bluebell, common wheatgrass, wattle mat-rush and snow grass.
Threatened species
Two species listed on the are known to exist in the reserve. The Yass daisy is listed as vulnerable, and the crimson spider orchid is listed as endangered. There are thought to be about 100 crimson spider orchid plants in the reserve, which constitute one of four known populations of the species in New South Wales. Grevillea iaspicula meets the criteria for listing as Critically Endangered in NSW under the. Seven sub-populations of the plant are known to occur in the Wee-Jasper–Burrinjuck area; one of these sub-populations is located in the reserve.
Fauna
3 amphibian species, 9 reptile species, 32 mammal species and 179 bird species have been recorded in the reserve since the late 1970s.
Threatened species
16 animal species known to exist in the reserve are listed under the. All are listed as vulnerable. They are the gang-gang cockatoo, turquoise parrot, superb parrot, barking owl, powerful owl, brown treecreeper, speckled warbler, black-chinned honeyeater, hooded robin, grey-crowned babbler, olive whistler, diamond firetail, spotted-tailed quoll, yellow-bellied glider, squirrel glider and the eastern bent-wing bat.
