Casuarina pauper (belah) woodlands of northwest Victoria : monitoring and regeneration

"The study focused on C. pauper woodland in northwest Victoria, an area where the recent establishment of the Murray-Sunset National Park (MSNP) provides an ideal opportunity to manage these woodlands to promote regeneration"Doctor of Philosoph

A field trial to test effects of watering, seed addition and disturbance on perennial species recruitment in Belah woodland

Failure of perennial species to regenerate is a significant threat to semi-arid woodlands across south-eastern Australia. High grazing pressure eliminates the recruitment of many perennial species in semi-arid woodlands, but little is known about requirements for regeneration under low grazing pressure. We tested the effects of addition of water (irrigation to match the largest rainfall events of the last century), seed, soil disturbance and fire within a grazing exclosure in Belah (Casuarina pauper) woodland in the Murray-Sunset National Park, Victoria. Recruitment was observed in 13 perennial species and was dominated by chenopods. Addition of water, seed and soil disturbance increased abundance of juvenile perennial species above the low-level background recruitment that occurred in the prevailing drought conditions. This supports the view that continuous recruitment occurs for many semi-arid perennials. Low seed availability and an inability to maintain soil moisture conditions matching that of regeneration events are likely factors in the lack of recruitment for tree species and limited response of shrubs in this experiment. © 2017 Ecological Society of Australia and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Lt

Pre-European distribution, structure and composition of semi-arid woodlands of the Victorian Mallee

The semi-arid woodlands of the Victorian Mallee have been subject to extensive change since European settlement. To better understand the nature and extent of change, and to assist in planning restoration, research was undertaken to investigate (1) the likely pre-European distribution, structure and composition of semi-arid woodland in north-west Victoria, and (2) the extent of change since European settlement. Information on semi-arid woodlands from historical survey plans was entered into a Geo-graphical Information System (GIS). Historical data were compared with recent data from field surveys and vegetation maps to assess change. Data obtained from survey plans enabled the pre-European extent of semi-arid woodlands to be mapped. Historical tree density ranged from less than one to more than 500 trees per hectare, however, an overall decline in the density of remnants is apparent throughout. It is estimated that more than 260 000 ha (19% of the study area) originally supported semi-arid woodland species. Of this, more than 80% has been cleared within agricultural areas surrounding the Murray-Sunset National Park, highlighting the need for conservation and management to ensure regeneration within remaining areas.C

The vegetation of Peery Lake area, Paroo-Darling National Park, western New South Wales

The vegetation of Peery Lake area, Paroo-Darling National Park (32°18’–32°40’S, 142°10’–142°25’E) in north western New South Wales was assessed using intensive quadrat sampling and mapped using extensive ground truthing and interpretation of aerial photograph and Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite images. 378 species of vascular plants were recorded from this survey from 66 families. Species recorded from previous studies but not noted in the present study have been added to give a total of 424 vascular plant species for the Park including 55 (13%) exotic species. Twenty vegetation communities were identified and mapped, the most widespread being Acacia aneura tall shrubland/tall open-shrubland, Eremophila/Dodonaea/Acacia open shrubland and Maireana pyramidata low open shrubland. One hundred and fifty years of pastoral use has impacted on many of these communities

Vulnerability of humans and the environment: challenges and opportunities

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