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A GUIDE to MANAGING Box Gum Grassy Woodlands

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A GUIDE to MANAGING Box Gum Grassy Woodlands A GUIDE TO MANAGING Box Gum Grassy Woodlands KIMBERLIE RAWLINGS | DAVID FREUDENBERGER | DAVID CARR II A Guide to Managing Box Gum Grassy Woodlands A GUIDE TO MANAGING Box Gum Grassy Woodlands KIMBERLIE RAWLINGS | DAVID FREUDENBERGER | DAVID CARR III © Commonwealth of Australia 2010 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 Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at www.ag.gov.au/cca This publication was funded by Caring for our Country – Environmental Stewardship Rawlings, Kimberlie A guide to managing box gum grassy woodlands/Kimberlie Rawlings, David Freudenberger and David Carr. Canberra, A.C.T.: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-9807427-8-7 1. Forest regeneration – Australia 2. Forest management – Australia 3. Remnant vegetation management – Australia I. Freudenberger, David II. Carr, David III. Greening Australia 333.750994 Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts, the Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water or the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, 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 contents of this publication. For the avoidance of doubt, if there is any inconsistency between this publication and the terms and conditions set out in any Caring for our Country – Environmental Stewardship contract (including any contract schedules) (Contract) that you may be a party to, the terms and conditions of the Contract will prevail. Accordingly, before undertaking any of the activities or adopting any of the concepts or ideas described in this publication, you must check whether such activities, concepts or ideas are, in fact, permitted under the Contract. Design: 2B Advertising & Design Illustrations and photos by Kimberlie Rawlings unless stated otherwise. IV A Guide to Managing Box Gum Grassy Woodlands Preface This handbook is designed to assist private land managers. It will particularly help those contracted through the Environmental Stewardship Box Gum Grassy Woodland Project to improve the amount and condition of box gum grassy woodland on their properties. It focuses on elements specific to the project, which include: • the State and Transition Model for box gum grassy woodlands • required and optional management activities • monitoring guidelines for Environmental Stewardship contract holders. The handbook covers the underpinning science and management requirements of box gum grassy woodlands. Because it is not limited by the quality of the woodland remnants, it will help contracted land managers go beyond their contractual obligations. This handbook should also assist those who are not part of the Project, but who are considering how best to manage box gum grassy woodland remnants on their property. It provides an understanding of how these woodlands work, how they can fall apart and importantly, how they can be repaired. Throughout the book there are practical case studies that demonstrate how people are managing and conserving box gum grassy woodlands. The case studies come from farms, research sites and protected areas that cover the range of the box gum grassy woodlands region. The case studies are used to: • provide examples of key ecological concepts • provide photos of ideas or techniques that are otherwise difficult to convey • demonstrate some interesting management approaches that farmers are using, including some of their failures. As the case studies are snapshots of a particular property or management approach, they should not be taken as a prescription for your box gum grassy woodlands. The common names for plant and animal species have been used throughout the book, with the scientific name given where that species is first mentioned. A full list of plant species mentioned in the handbook, as well as several others associated with box gum grassy woodlands, appears in Appendix A. This handbook uses a numbered referencing system. A small superscript number corresponds to a numbered book, paper or website listed in the ‘References’ section at the end of Part III: Management. These references provide the scientific support for the statements made in the text. For example, the following sentence has been pulled from Chapter 4: The ancient soils under most grassy woodlands are naturally low in fertility 55. The superscript number 55 corresponds to the 55th reference in the reference list: Wild,A. (1958) The phosphate content of Australian soils. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 9, 193-204 Finally, this handbook is just one of many resources available. It should be used in conjunction with other resources available, such as field officers, researchers and neighbours who are managing grassy woodland. The forms in Appendix D can be used, copied or adapted as required. For readers without access to high speed internet connections, phone numbers or addresses are supplied for organisations who may be able to provide further information or assistance. i A Guide to Managing Box Gum Grassy Woodlands Acknowledgments We are particularly grateful for comments on the draft by Paul Ryan, Chris Nadolny, Joern Fischer and the anonymous reviewers from Environmental Stewardship. Special thanks go to the farmers, Catchment Management Authority (CMA) staff and others who attended the Yass and Texas workshops. Their input and feedback were instrumental in the structuring of this handbook. The time and hospitality of farmers Gary Johnson, Margaret and Neil Stuart, Michael Middleton, Anne and Allen Lees, Tim Cathles, and David Marsh are greatly appreciated and helped bring some personal stories to the handbook. Simon Attwood, Ian Cole, Susan Johnson, Liz Lindsay, Ian Lunt, Sue McIntyre, Toni McLeish, Suzanne Prober, Rainer Rehwinkel, Kate Steel, Christian Wythes and Dimitri Young provided technical and topical advice, and the Armidale Tree Group assisted with equipment and photos. Kimberlie Rawlings would like to thank friends Wendy Russell, Robyn Briese, Simon Couper and Kate Sherren for entertaining her toddler at crunch-time and other behind-the-scenes help. Finally, she would like to acknowledge and thank Joern Fischer for his support, encouragement and willingness to go part-time while she wrote the bulk of the handbook. Kimberlie Rawlings David Freudenberger Dave Carr Yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora). Illustration: M. Bedingfield ii A Guide to Managing Box Gum Grassy Woodlands Table of Contents Preface i Acknowledgments ii I Our current understanding of box gum grassy woodlands 1 1. Introduction 1 1.1 The status and future of box gum woodlands 1 1.2 Fifteen principles for box gum grassy woodland management 3 2. Patterns in box gum grassy woodland remnants 4 2.1 Patterns in vegetation layers 4 2.2 What's growing: plant communities and species 6 3. Processes in box gum grassy woodlands 8 3.1 Ecosystem function: how a healthy woodland works 8 3.2 State and Transition Models 11 3.3 Assessing the state of a woodland remnant 13 4. Disturbance in woodland patches: how and why things change 19 4.1 Disturbances that threaten box gum grass woodlands 19 4.2 Other edge effects 25 5. Key points from the science 27 II Getting organised 28 6. Planning your management 28 6.1 Flexible management for box gum grassy woodlands 28 6.2 Assessing what to do, and when 30 6.3 The likely future of a woodland patch 32 7. Monitoring 34 7.1 Monitoring basics 34 7.2 Monitoring techniques 35 7.3 Where to get help 38 III Management 39 8. Improving woodland condition 39 8.1 Improving soil structure and health 39 8.2 Managing erosion 41 8.3 Managing salinity 41 8.4 Manipulating species composition 43 9. Using fire 46 9.1 Fire basics 46 9.2 Hot versus cool fires 48 9.3 Season of burns 49 9.4 Fire frequency 49 iii A Guide to Managing Box Gum Grassy Woodlands Table of Contents (cont.) 10. Weed management 51 10.1 Integrated weed management 51 10.2 Weed management strategies 53 10.3 Managing woody weeds 55 10.4 Weed management resources 55 11. Nutrient management 57 11.1 Nutrient cycling and nutrient enrichment: a closer look 57 11.2 Principles of nutrient management 58 11.3 Methods 58 11.4 Seeding for nutrient management 63 12. Strategic livestock grazing and management of other herbivores 65 12.1 Production grazing v. conservation grazing 65 12.2 Grazing to control weeds 67 12.3 Grazing to control biomass and promote native species diversity 70 12.4 Managing total grazing pressure 71 12.5 Fencing 71 13. Revegetation and regeneration — overview 75 14. Improving natural regeneration 77 14.1 Five key conditions for natural regeneration 77 14.2 Regeneration methods 78 14.3 Managing dense regeneration 80 15. Tubestock planting and direct seeding 83 15.1 General principles for revegetation 83 15.2 Successful tubestock planting 85 15.3 Direct seeding 92 16. Creating and improving buffers 98 17. Retaining or adding habitat 100 17.1 Standing live and dead timber 100 17.2 Bush rock 102 17.3 Nest boxes 103 18. Looking after endangered plants and animals 106 Glossary and references 110 IV Appendices 116 A. Native species in box gum grassy woodlands 117 B. Problems to be addressed and management actions by state 123 C. Weed identification and management of selected species 126 D.
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