Vegetation recovery in inland wetlands: an Australian perspective J. Roberts, M.T. Casanova, K. Morris, P. Papas May 2017 Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Technical Report Series Number 270 Acknowledgements This project was funded by the Water and Catchments Group (WCG) of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria (DELWP). Tamara van Polanen Petel and Janet Holmes (WCG, DELWP), and Freya Thomas and Claire Moxham (Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, DELWP) are thanked for reviewing the draft and providing valuable feedback. David Meagher (Zymurgy Consulting) is thanked for editing the report. Authors Jane Roberts1, Michelle Casanova2, Kay Morris3 and Phil Papas3 1 Ecological Consultant, PO Box 6191, O’Connor, Australian Capital Territory 2602 2 Charophyte Services, PO Lake Bolac, Victoria 3351 3 Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, 123 Brown Street, Heidleberg, Victoria 3084 Citation Roberts, J., Casanova, M.T., Morris, K. and Papas, P. (2017). Vegetation recovery in inland wetlands: an Australian perspective. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research. Technical Report Series No. 270. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Victoria. Photo credit Southern Cane Grass Eragrostis infecunda establishing on exposed bed of former Lake Mokoan, at Winton Wetlands in October 2016. (Dylan Osler, via Jane Roberts) © The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, May 2017 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You are free to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the State of Victoria as author. The licence does not apply to any images, photographs or branding, including the Victorian Coat of Arms, the Victorian Government logo and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) logo and the Arthur Rylah Institute logo. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ISSN 1835-3827 (print) ISSN 1835-3835 (pdf) ISBN 978-1-76047-597-0 (print) ISBN 978-1-76047-598-7 (pdf/online) Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. 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Contents Summary .......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Section 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4 Section 2: Success and recovery .................................................................................................................. 4 Section 3: Theoretical underpinning ............................................................................................................. 4 Section 4: The significance of current vegetation ....................................................................................... 5 Section 5: Climate change and vegetation recovery ................................................................................... 5 Section 6: Concluding remarks ...................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Purpose and scope of this review ........................................................................................................ 6 1.1.1 Purpose ................................................................................................................................................ 6 1.1.2 Scope .................................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Knowledge of vegetation of inland wetlands ...................................................................................... 7 1.3 Loss and degradation of wetland vegetation ...................................................................................... 7 1.4 Wetland recovery ................................................................................................................................. 10 1.4.1 Recovery ............................................................................................................................................ 10 1.4.2 Recovery reporting in Australia ....................................................................................................... 10 1.4.3 Incorporating science ....................................................................................................................... 11 Success and recovery ................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 What is success? ................................................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Increasing success by learning .......................................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Principles ........................................................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Reviews and analyses ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.3 Failures ............................................................................................................................................... 18 2.2.4 Decision support tools ..................................................................................................................... 19 Box 2: Examples of large-scale efforts in wetland restoration in Australia ........................................... 19 Revive Our Wetlands ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Wetland Care Australia (WCA) ..................................................................................................................... 19 Box 3: Meta-analysis .................................................................................................................................... 19 Theoretical underpinning for vegetation recovery .................................................................................... 21 3.1 A conceptual framework.................................................................................................................... 21 3.3 Wetland context ................................................................................................................................... 22 3.3.1 Current vegetation ............................................................................................................................ 22 3.3.2 Biotic interactions ............................................................................................................................. 23 3.3.3 Abiotic conditions ............................................................................................................................. 24 3.4 Landscape context .............................................................................................................................. 25 3.5 Recovery trajectories ........................................................................................................................... 25 3.5.1 Single equilibrium endpoint ............................................................................................................. 27 3.5.2 Multiple equilibrium states ............................................................................................................... 27 3.5.3 Persistent non-equilibrium ............................................................................................................... 27 Vegetation recovery in inland wetlands: an Australian perspective 1 4 The significance of current vegetation ................................................................................................. 29 4.1 Recovery potential ............................................................................................................................... 29 4.2 Wetland context — current vegetation .............................................................................................. 30 4.2.1 Local effects ...................................................................................................................................... 30 4.2.2 Vegetation condition ......................................................................................................................... 30 4.2.3 Interactions among plants...............................................................................................................