Soil Conservation Board District Plan Revised 2004 NORTHERNNORTHERN FLINDERSFLINDERS RANGESRANGES FOREWORD The Northern Flinders Soil Conservation Board has been involved in various activities since the inception of our first District Plan, which was completed in 1997. Most of the activities that we pursued since that time have been carried out or on-going. Several new projects have been completed, namely the Aroona Dam Biodiversity Enhancement Project. This project has seen the construction of two walking trails, interpretive signage, feral animal control including goats, foxes and cats, as well as a comprehensive destruction of rabbit warrens and land rehabilitation. Another project was a Pilot Programme, which involved local landholders, Animal Plant Control Commission and NPWSA in a range of activities including weed control, feral animal control and land rehabilitation. This integrated with the NPWSA Bounceback Programme in feral goat control, donkey control and 1080 baiting for foxes. Some projects undertaken by landholders were rabbit warren destruction, water point relocation, land rehabilitation and water ponding to name just a few. The Northern Flinders Soil Conservation Board has also become involved with a Regional Soil Board Executive, which has sourced funding from N.H.T. grants from the Commonwealth Government. Most of this funding is on a 50/50 basis and has met with approval from landholders throughout the Soil Board region. The proposed Natural Resources Management Act has yet to be legislated and further meetings are planned before it will become law. There are a number of concerns by Boards in the Rangelands of South Australia not the least of which is the ongoing funding of these proposed groups and the people who will drive them. Many issues are ongoing, but funding is vital. Without adequate funding and the commitment of both State and Federal Governments, feral animal and noxious weed control and land rehabilitation could grind to a halt, thereby undoing much of the hard slog that the Soil Board has committed itself to over the past 14 years. Total commitment from ALL participants will ensure that the biodiversity of the region is maintained and enhanced. John Mengersen CHAIR, NORTHERN FLINDERS RANGES SOIL CONSERVATION BOARD ABBREVIATIONS COAG Council of Australian Governments DEH Department of Environment and Heritage, South Australia DWLBC Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation GIS Geographic Information System ICM Integrated Catchment Management INRM Integrated Natural Resource Management NHT Natural Heritage Trust. NLWRA National Land and Water Resources Audit NPWSA National Parks and Wildlife, South Australia. NRDB Northern Regional Development Board. NRM Natural Resource Management PIRSA Primary Industries and Resources, South Australia. PMIS Pastoral Management Information System, maintained by the Pastoral Program in DWLBC. RAP Rangeland Action Project. RCD Rabbit Calici Virus, a viral disease which only affects European Rabbits. This disease has spread throughout most of Australia where rabbits occur, since its escape from Wardang Island in October 1995. RHD Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease – alternative name for above, relates specifically to the disease, which results from the virus. RSBEX Rangeland Soil Board Executive Committee, formed in 1998, initially to produce the Rangelands Regional Strategy. Made up of Chairpersons (or their representatives) from the seven rangeland soil boards. Currently also responsible for managing the RAP. RSSA Rural Solutions South Australia, an agricultural consulting business unit within PIRSA. SB Soil Boards, full name is Soil Conservation Boards. SAMLISA Strategy for Aboriginal Managed Lands in South Australia. SSIR Supporting Sustainable Industries in the Rangelands. SRRP Southern Rangelands Rural Plan. TSA Transport SA Northern Flinders District Plan GLOSSARY AEOLIAN Wind blown deposits. ALLUVIAL SOIL A soil developed from Alluvium. ALLUVIUM An extensive stream laid deposit which may include gravel, sand, silt and clay. Typically forming floodplains that develop alluvial soils. ANNUAL PLANT Plants which germinate, flower and seed in one season or year, eg. button grass, fairy grass. (See perennial plant). ARID Refers to climates or regions, which lack sufficient rainfall for crop production or extensive sown pastures. Usually defined as a climate with annual average rainfall less than 250 mm (10 inches). BRUMBY Feral horse. CARRYING CAPACITY An estimation of the long term stocking rate land can support without a decline in the sustainability or condition of the vegetation and soil resource. CHENOPOD A plant which is a member of the drought and salt tolerant Chenopodiaceae family (e.g. saltbush, bluebush, bindyi). CONDITION The condition or 'health' of plant and soil resources, relative to their potential. Condition is determined by comparing similar sites under different grazing impacts. CONDITION TREND The trend in condition or 'health' of the soil and plant resource as determined by monitoring. The trend could be described as stable, declining or improving. COVER The proportion of ground surface covered by plants, litter and stone (usually expressed as a percentage). Cover is one of the most important factors in reducing soil erosion. DECREASER PLANTS Plants which are preferred by stock and which decrease in density and are eventually eliminated from zones of high grazing pressure. Bladder saltbush and Mitchell grass are decreaser plants. (See indicator plants, increaser plants). DEGRADATION Degradation of land is the decline in the quality of the natural resources of the land resulting from human activities on the land. DESTOCKING The removal of stock from a grazing area, generally to reduce the grazing pressure on the area and often to provide the vegetation in the area an opportunity to resprout, seed or recruit. DOG FENCE Vermin proof fence designed to keep dingoes out of the sheep country. The idea of a continuous fence running from the NSW border to the Great Australian Bight was formalised in 1946 by the Dog Fence Act, which also established the Dog Fence Board to administer, patrol and organise maintenance of the fence. A new system is currently being put in place where pastoralists are no longer required to maintain their sections of the Dog Fence. Local Dog Fence Boards were recently set up to undertake the day to day management of the various sections of the fence in South Australia. Contractors to these Local Boards, for maintenance and monitoring, conduct fortnightly patrols. A fence supervisor inspects the entire 2,230 km four times per year. The cost of maintaining the Dog Fence in South Australia is met through a levy on all property holdings larger than 10 km2 south of the fence and is subsidised dollar for dollar by the State Government. DIRECT SEEDING Application of seed directly into the area in which the seedlings are to germinate and grow to maturity. DISPERSABLE SOIL A structurally unstable soil which readily disperses into its constituent particles (clay, silt, sand) in water. Highly dispersible soils are normally highly erodible. (See soil erodibility). DOMINANT SPECIES The tallest plant species present at a site. There must be several individuals of the plant present at the site for it to be the dominant species. DUPLEX SOIL A soil in which there is a sharp change in soil texture between the A horizon (topsoil) and B horizon (subsoil). In the pastoral areas these soils are common and are prone to scalding. ECOLOGY The study of relationships between living organisms and their environment. EXCLOSURE An area of rangeland from which domestic and / or feral or native animals are excluded for the purposes of studying the effects of grazing on vegetation. Such an area may range in size, however exclosures established by the Pastoral Management Branch are normally in sets of 3, each 50 x 50 meters. One exclosure is stock, rabbit and kangaroo proof; the second exclosure is stock and kangaroo proof, and the third area is the control and is marked and measured but not fenced. GILGAI Micro-relief associated with some clayey soils consisting of depressions and / or hummocks of varying size, shape and frequency. Gilgai depression formation and / or maintenance is a continuing long-term process in which the shrinking and swelling of deep subsoils with changes in moisture content causes the redistribution of soil. ‘Gilgai’ is an aboriginal word meaning small waterhole. GRADATIONAL SOIL A soil in which there is a gradual change in soil texture from the A horizon (surface soil) to the B & C horizons (subsoil). GROUND COVER Material which protects the soil from erosion. Ground cover can include plants, stone, plant litter and lichen. Northern Flinders District Plan GULLIES An open incised erosion channel in the landscape greater than 30 cm deep. The main factor contributing to the formation of gullies is the concentration of surface runoff; gullies are often associated with drainage lines. GYPSUM A naturally occurring soft crystalline material containing approximately 23% calcium and 18% sulphur. Gypsum is commonly used to improve soil structure and reduce crusting in hard setting clays. HUMMOCKING The mounding of windblown material at the base of plants. See soil erosion (wind erosion). INCREASER PLANTS Plants which are not preferred by stock for grazing and which increase in density and eventually dominate zones of high grazing pressure (replacing decreaser plants). Poverty bush, silvertails and sandhill wattle can be increaser