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WA Reporting Change in the Rangelands

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WA Reporting Change in the Rangelands Australian Collaborative Rangeland Information System, Reporting Change in the Rangelands – 2007 WA Information for the National Report September 2007 Ian Watson and Philip Thomas Department of Agriculture & Food, Western Australia With additional input by: Gary Bastin and Melissa Schliebs CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems & ACRIS Management Unit 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables...........................................................................................................................................3 List of Figures..........................................................................................................................................4 Summary.................................................................................................................................................5 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................6 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................7 Reporting Area ....................................................................................................................................7 Report Contents ..................................................................................................................................8 WARMS: the Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System.......................................................9 Appendix 1 data .............................................................................................................................12 Seasonal Quality as Context for Reporting Change .............................................................................13 Assigning Causality to Change .........................................................................................................13 Landscape Function..............................................................................................................................14 Change in Landscape Function.........................................................................................................14 Gross change – all seasons ..........................................................................................................15 Seasonally adjusted change..........................................................................................................15 Sustainable Management .....................................................................................................................17 Critical stock forage...........................................................................................................................17 Gross change – all seasons ..........................................................................................................18 Seasonally adjusted change..........................................................................................................18 Woody Cover.....................................................................................................................................21 Distance from Water..........................................................................................................................22 Distance from water: status ...........................................................................................................22 Distance from water: change .........................................................................................................24 Domestic Stocking Density................................................................................................................26 Comparison of stock numbers .......................................................................................................26 Biodiversity............................................................................................................................................28 Perennial native plant species richness at WARMS sites.................................................................28 Change in species richness...........................................................................................................28 Gross change – all seasons.......................................................................................................28 Seasonally interpreted change...................................................................................................29 Protected Areas.................................................................................................................................31 Socio-economic Theme ........................................................................................................................33 Land Values.......................................................................................................................................33 Lease and Improvement Values ....................................................................................................33 Pastoral lease sales by region.......................................................................................................35 References............................................................................................................................................36 List of appendices .................................................................................................................................36 Appendix 1. WARMS results by IBRA or sub-IBRA ..........................................................................36 Appendix 2. WARMS shrubland data – individual species dynamics ...............................................36 Appendix 3. Determination of seasonal quality categories for WARMS sites...................................36 Appendix 4. Distance from water ......................................................................................................36 2 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Reporting contribution by WA to the 2007 ACRIS national synthesis of change in the rangelands. ...........................................................................................................................8 Table 2. Number of re-assessed WARMS grassland and shrubland sites, by IBRA and sub- IBRA........................................................................................................................................10 Table 3. Woody cover change at bioregion level recorded at WARMS sites. .......................21 Table 4. Average annual stock numbers (as DSEs) per rangeland bioregion between 1992 and 2004 sourced from ABS and DAFWA data......................................................................26 Table 5. Percentage area of WA rangeland bioregions and sub IBRAs that are conserved...31 Table 6. 1992-2006 ‘Lease and Improvements’ values for Western Australian Pastoral leases ($ / DSE or LSU) .....................................................................................................................34 Table 7. Pastoral lease sales by region....................................................................................35 3 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Western Australian rangeland bioregions (v 6.1).......................................................7 Figure 2. Location of WARMS grassland and shrubland sites.................................................9 Figure 3. Matrix for filtering seasonal effects on change. ......................................................13 Figure 4. Gross change in landscape function based on perennial grass frequency or shrub density at WARMS sites..........................................................................................................15 Figure 5. Seasonally-adjusted change in landscape function from WARMS monitoring......16 Figure 6. Gross change in plant species, from site-based monitoring records, that support long-term livestock production................................................................................................18 Figure 7. Seasonally-adjusted change in plant species that support long term livestock production. ...............................................................................................................................19 Figure 8. Percentage of sub IBRA area at different distance classes from permanent and semi-permanent sources of stock water in pastorally-tenured WA. ........................................23 Figure 9. Frequency histogram of distance from water for the sample area of the Gascoyne Murchison region shown in Figure 10 circa 1950 and circa 1990...........................................24 Figure 10. Change in waterpoint density and distance from water between circa 1950 and circa 1990 for a sample area in the Gascoyne Murchison region............................................25 Figure 11. Comparisons of ABS- and DAFWA-sourced trends in stocking density (DSE/km2) between 1992 and 2004 for WA pastoral bioregions............................................27 Figure 12. Gross change in species richness of native plant species from WARMS monitoring data. .......................................................................................................................29 Figure 13. Seasonally-interpreted change in native plant species richness from WARMS monitoring data. .......................................................................................................................30
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