Do add 'Land of Sweeping Plains' to your books on natural resources

Land of Sweeping Plains is the book to read for those of us who are curious about the native grasslands of south-eastern Australia. It brings grasslands into the room and onto the table, where we can begin to understand them.

Maybe you haven’t been aware of grasslands before? I’m sure many people see them as wasteland, and I’m not surprised. I used to do that too. However, this book has made me enthusiastic about the large (to me, dull-looking) patches of grass (with or without evident weeds) which I drive past in ACT and Victoria.

Because we don’t recognise their value, native grasslands have largely disappeared as an ecosystem in SE Australia – which is why they are listed in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Over the last thirty years or so, however, ecologists and land managers have learnt that native grasslands are integral parts of the landscapes of Tasmania, Victoria, southern NSW, ACT and South Australia, and very important. This book helps more people to see grasslands in that light, and although it focuses more on grassland in Victoria than in the other states, the principles of management and restoration will apply ecosystem-wide.

SCOPE

Starting from the fossil record of 11 million years ago and ending at the future, Land of Sweeping Plains paints for us an outline that includes most aspects of grasslands in this south-eastern corner of the continent. We are led from plant roots to whole landscapes; from mites to people; from grasslands’ value to Aboriginal people in the past to the growing recognition of their value in today’s agricultural and urban areas. If we want to add greater depth to the outline, the chapters give plentiful references for further reading. 

The book's subtitle is ‘Managing and restoring the native grasslands of south-eastern Australia’. Clearly therefore it is not a book about the individual plant species. It does discuss some of the individual fauna species that characterise grasslands and depend on the sward being well structured and floristically diverse. It is a book that explains how the grassland ecosystem is believed to function and how we can therefore maintain this vanishing ecosystem and recover its values.

WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

Grasslands certainly don’t have to be set aside as if in a museum – in fact that would be the death of them. This is an ecosystem that needs active management.

Land of Sweeping Plains lets us meet grasslands as they were managed by the Aboriginal families of this part of Australia (Chapter 1). In a later chapter we see them as part of a modern farming system (Chapter 3). We are shown their beauty after intelligent restoration, rivalling the wildflower carpets of Western Australia (Chapter 12). And – this is particularly valuable – we begin to understand how grasslands are viewed and thought of by people who live near them (Chapters 7 and 8).

Understanding other people's viewpoints is important to grassland management. Such understanding acts as a bridge. It makes conversations possible between managers and people who live in or beside the grassland. For example, Chapter 13 shows how land managers can raise residents’ appreciation of grasslands in their suburbs, by setting up ‘cues to care’ – such as recreational and educational structures that demonstrate that public-land managers value the grassland area and want us to share in enjoying it.

IS IT WORTH READING?

 ‘[T]his book is excellent value for money for anyone at all associated with grassy ecosystem conservation. It is extremely informative, collates many different experiences and explains the latest research. I would not say it is definitive; grassland conservation and restoration is a work in progress.

The book should be used, as it was intended, as a resource on grasslands. It is worth collective study and would be an authoritative source for our advocacy work. Learn and enjoy!’

Those words were written by Geoff Robertson, of Friends of Grasslands Inc., as published in our July-August 2015 newsletter (see http://fog.org.au/newsletter.htm). Geoff’s review looks at the book’s two earliest chapters, and also reports some comments made by Richard Groves on launching Land of Sweeping Plains in May 2015. Richard was one of the first ecologists to begin pointing out the value of SE Australia’s native grasslands, several decades ago.

Here is part of Richard’s summary, as reported by Geoff:

‘First, that the book addresses the many facets of grassland management and restoration, embraces many scientific disciplines and describes the experiences of a wide range of institutional managers and community organisations. Second, it includes a delightful mosaic of descriptions, text boxes, informative illustrations and images. Third, it is easy to read. Fourth, it is possibly best read some-at-a-time. He had been reading a little each day.’

I concur with Geoff’s summary, and with Richard’s recommendation. The book is physically heavy – and therefore not something I can comfortably read on my lap in an evening (where I do most of my reading)!

The designer has added subtle touches, especially using a sequence of colours for the chapters: grey in Chapter 1, then olive, then dark brown, then other browns, and fading to orange for Chapter 14. I presume the purpose is to help readers find particular sections or remember where they are by colour association. For that mapping one would expect to use the Contents and Index, but I found these quite disappointing.

While both the Contents and Index are ‘okay’, they could be much more useful, in my opinion. The index is apparently accurate in listing page numbers but there are omissions. For instance, I couldn’t find entries in either the Index or Contents for the ‘vignettes’ – the enlightening case studies that are included in each chapter. Neither the topics nor the vignettes’ authors seem to be signposted, though some vignette authors are listed for other parts they have contributed to. Therefore, I suggest it is better to decide to read the whole book rather than rely on the index to find particular subject matter.

That disappointment, together with the book’s physical weight, are the only substantive criticisms I personally have of Land of Sweeping Plains. Yes, there are minor errors here and there – an example is reference to the ‘National Heritage Trust’ rather than the ‘Natural Heritage Trust’. The errors I spotted don’t detract from the information presented nor from the easy to read style the authors have used.

Please read this excellent book. You can deal with its weight by reading it at a desk, and you can make your own list of the vignettes as you go. Read it and enjoy it and learn about these amazing ecosystems – and then go out and walk in your local grasslands or grassy landscapes, and see how much more clearly you understand what they are about! When you come back to the office, this volume provides copious leads for further reading and study. This readable book therefore is also a fantastically useful technical resource, assembling much-needed and formerly scattered knowledge in one accessible place.

Below I summarise each chapter to give you a taste before you buy. 

Land of Sweeping Plains: Managing and restoring the native grasslands of south-eastern Australia (472 pages) is available from CSIRO Publishing, at $59.95.
Copies may still be available at the Australian National Botanic Gardens bookshop, Canberra.
Friends of Grasslands Inc. has a few copies available at the launch price $48 (via booksales@fog.org.au).

Success for Land of Sweeping Plains will be measured partly by the number of readers who ‘become grassland champions’.

In a little more detail: Land of Sweeping Plains, chapter by chapter

This blog post follows on from the one above. This one summarises each chapter of the book ‘Land of Sweeping Plains: Managing and restoring the native grasslands of south-eastern Australia’ edited by N.S.G. Williams, A. Marshall and .J.W. Morgan, CSIRO Publishing 2015.

WHO IT IS FOR

The editors of Land of Sweeping Plains answer that question on page 3:

‘We hope this book provides local and state government conservation officers, farmers, friends groups and all those involved in grassland management and restoration the technical information required to conserve and enhance the native grasslands that they are custodians of. The examples of community engagement and management activities presented may also stimulate ideas that could be applied in local community or form the basis of funding applications. For those readers without the responsibility of management, such as students and those interested more generally in biodiversity conservation, the book will provide a detailed understanding of native grassland ecology, its management challenges and solutions and, importantly, inspiration to engage with this critically endangered ecosystem.’

RELIABLE AUTHORS & CLEAR TEXT

The 14 chapters are written by 14 authors altogether, and their bios show they may well be the very best 14 authors to speak about the native species in grassy landscapes, urban and rural, and how we as people interact with them.

The text flows easily, yet is informative, and the references listed for further reading occupy between 1 and 6 pages at the end of almost all of the 14 chapters.

A BRIEF OUTLINE, CHAPTER BY CHAPTER

1. Humans and grasslands – a social history
By Beth Gott, Nicholas S.G. Williams and Mark Antos (3 pp of references; 1 vignette)

Chapter 1 opens at the fossil record of 11 million years ago and skips quickly to grasslands as major sources of food for Aboriginal people during the last 50,000 years. It shows how grasslands provided vegetables and meat, and touches on use of fire and the effects of digging. The second half of the chapter summarises the era of European settlement and the changes to flora and fauna and land management we have wrought. ‘AWAY on the Bundian Way’, the vignette in this chapter, introduces the Bundian Way – an ancient Indigenous track from the NSW coast at Eden to Tarangal (Mt Kosciuszko). AWAY stands for Aboriginal Women And Yamfields, which is the name of a project that aims to restore the area and replant Yam species (including Microseris lanceolata Yam Daisy) in a proper cultural context, while also teaching young Aboriginal women their cultural history.

2. The native temperate grasslands of south-eastern Australia
By Nicholas S.G. Williams and John W. Morgan (3–4 pp of references; 2 vignettes)

In Chapter 2 we are introduced to the various types of lowland native grassland across south-eastern Australia, and where they occur (or occurred) on a map of Victoria, southern NSW, and relevant parts of Tasmania and South Australia. Nick Williams and John Morgan differentiate between eight grassland communities found in these areas. While all have a tussock/intertussock structure, their characteristic species depend on soil type, rainfall and past management. The eight types are: 

• Natural temperate grassland of the Victorian Volcanic Plain;
•  Gippsland Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis subsp. mediana) Grassy Woodland and Associated Native Grassland;
• Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands of NSW and the ACT;
• Lowland Native Grasslands of Tasmania;
• Natural Grasslands of the Murray Valley Plains;
• Iron-grass Natural Temperate Grassland of South Australia;
• Seasonal Herbaceous Wetlands (Freshwater) of the Temperate Lowland Plains;
• Upland Wetlands of the New England Tablelands (New England Tableland Bioregion) and the Monaro Plateau (South Eastern Highlands Bioregion).

This chapter also touches on the past and continuing threats to grasslands, concluding that: ‘Due to the threats listed above, it is critical that the remaining native temperate grasslands in south-eastern Australia be managed in a manner that maintains their biological values’.

The first of the two vignettes gives a short account of the ‘large-scale connectivity’ offered by the extensive networks of Travelling Stock Routes and Reserves across Queensland and NSW. Many of these are thought to be important grassland remnants. The other outlines the first park established in South Australia to conserve grassland (‘Mokota Conservation Park’).

3. The ecology and dynamics of temperate native grasslands in south-eastern Australia
By John W. Morgan and Nicholas S.G. Williams (5–6 pp of references; 1 vignette)

Basic ecological topics are dealt with in this chapter, including species richness, life-cycle events, seed-based cycles (dispersal, storage, germination), and recruitment, competition and productivity or decomposition. Biomass of tussock-based grasslands with forbs and other plants in the gaps is modified by ecosystem processes – and the authors outline effects of fire, grazing, climate and nutrient dynamics (mowing/slashing is not a natural process). Pollination of forbs is not well studied, according to Anna Murphy’s vignette, which reveals intricate specialist interactions allowing one native bee species to separately pollinate each of three different Swainsona species.

The authors conclude: ‘compared to many other Australian ecosystems, a lot is known about the temperate native grasslands of south-eastern Australia. … [though] key factors driving the ecology of grasslands remain poorly understood. These include the impact of climate variation and droughts, interactions between plant and pollinators, fauna reintroductions and their effects on ecosystem processes…[and the] effect of interactions among species between disturbances.’

 4. The wildlife of our grassy landscapes
By Mark Antos and Nicholas S.G. Williams (4 pp of references; 7 vignettes)

A photo of an exquisitely marked Striped Legless Lizard on crisply defined lichen is the frontispiece to Chapter 4, which entices us to take notice of the wildlife of grassy landscapes. After general outlines of habitat and patterns of movement, the chapter sketches in the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates to be found in grassland areas. The vignettes focus on kangaroo grazing, bandicoots, Plains-wanderers (now only known in four areas of Victoria), bats, artificial habitats, fauna activity season by season, and eight steps to help conserve native fauna on private land.

5. Planning, documenting and monitoring for grassland management
By Sarah Sharp, Georgia Garrard and Nathan Wong (1 p of references; 9 vignettes)

‘[F]irst consider what you want to achieve’… and set objectives for various time frames, say Sarah Sharp, Georgia Garrard and Nathan Wong on page 119. They advocate planning, documenting and monitoring for grassland management. The chapter lays down ‘a process for determining management actions, and for designing a monitoring program that identifies which outcomes are the result of applying those actions’, and takes us through it point by point (as if along a monitoring tape!). Subtopics are:

• Managing under uncertainty – adaptive management; 
• Planning actions and management (setting objectives and identifying desired outcomes), (understanding and documenting the condition of your site); 
• Identifying management actions; 
• Monitoring (what…, how ...); 
• The science of monitoring (replication, …analyses and inference, …use your data); 
• Citizen science and opportunities for engagement; 
• Good monitoring is more than just recording what you are doing; 
• Putting it all together.

The vignettes usefully bring in other aspects to this important chapter. Crucially, in this the first chapter to bring humans purposefully into grasslands, one vignette describes stakeholder analysis for grassland conservation planning – which is essential to identify people interested in grassland management. Three other vignettes are the first parts of the Neville Oddie story which, in nine parts spread through the whole book, shows how this man and his colleagues incorporate science and local place-based knowledge in managing their land. Two vignettes give examples of monitoring and management in ACT and the Monaro of NSW, and one outlines the Vegwatch program for robust, repeatable and reliable monitoring that can be mastered by community volunteers.

6. Understanding the social context of native grasslands.
By Kathryn J.H. Williams (1 p of references; 4 vignettes)

The chapter ‘assists managers to understand the social factors influencing management.’ It explores the question: Why are neighbours negative or indifferent towards grassland? It gives examples of the range of views people hold about grasslands, and their range of levels of understanding. Overall, the message coming from this chapter is that there will be strongly different views and people are likely to express their views violently, whether the landscape they are interested in is forested, woodland, waste land or grassland.

Seeing people’s fears and acting to reduce them, such as by cues to care (expanded on in Chapter 13 and in Start with the Grasslands, by Adrian Marshall), can lead to positive steps that improve the way grassland is perceived, at least in urban and peri-urban areas where the land title is not held by the local residents. In rural areas, legislation, either state/territory or the federal EPBC Act, can stop a landowner using his land the way he wants to, it being in his own title. Here, management change and new perceptions can be encouraged via alternatives such as penalties, covenants/agreements, offsets, and tenders for conservation and purchase and resale. The small table on p. 177 is a useful summary of programs often used to support grassland conservation.

7. Working together – grassland management in the community.
By Karen Reid (no references; 1 marvellous foldout ‘Volcano Dreaming’; 1 vignette)

‘This chapter is intended to assist anybody involved either professionally or as a volunteer in managing a grassland remnant to: understand who make up the divers communities who potentially have an interest in the grassland you work on; understand the different roles each of these communities can play in the protection and enhancement of grassland; and work together with diverse communities to realise the social and ecological benefits of protecting grassland.’

Karen Reid refers to actual on-ground organisations, including Friends of Grasslands Inc. and the Merri Creek Management committee in the Melbourne area. She gives ‘examples of strategies that have worked in a variety of settings and situations that may provide the inspiration for new managers to help build community relationships. … The key is to create ongoing opportunities to get to know people in your community and for them to get to know you. ‘

We are shown that it’s important to recognise that people have many different reasons for joining into environment work, and it’s also important they are not treated as free labour because if so they will rapidly become disenchanted. The author suggests we find easy ways to do the nasty jobs (e.g. use daubers not sprays), and show volunteers that their effort has broad implications (including by recording their impacts and using the data to secure grants; in turn, grants are easier to secure when applications are backed by on-ground experience.
Other tips in this chapter:

• citizen science means more data, over a longer time, and is an effective way to engage communities; 
• treat people with respect and make sure they benefit from the experience (the author mentions the Golden Sun Moth project of Richter, Osborne, Hnatiuk & Robertson in ACT).

‘Building community awareness is about creating the emotional connection between people and the grassland. … Attracting people to come into the grassland and see it for themselves has emerged as one of the most significant factors in winning new grassland ‘champions’.‘

8. Biomass management in native grasslands.
By John W. Morgan (1 p of references; 6 vignettes)

Biomass management is crucial to effective management of native grasslands. John Morgan ‘discusses why biomass accumulates in grasslands’, how to ‘assess when the amount of biomass might be considered high’, the implications of high biomass for biodiversity, and ways of reducing biomass to help reach management objectives. Fire and grazing are important methods. There is an interesting table on page 210, 'Summary of biomass control methods ...', which concisely compares the impacts of burning, livestock grazing and slashing on biomass, native species and introduced species. This is very similar to the table Sarah Sharp (lead author on Chapter 5) developed and has published a number of times in her work.  

Chapter 8 deals with these subtopics:

• Rates of biomass accumulation. 
• The relationship between biomass, vegetation structure and biodiversity. 
• Assessing biomass accumulation. 
• Grassland states, management triggers and preferred outcomes. 
• Methods of biomass reduction for biodiversity conservation (fire, grazing, slashing).

In the six case studies we learn, first, about the ecological impact of biomass reduction – this is essentially two diagrams comparing grassland condition with or without biomass removal. Next, the ‘golf ball method’ of rapidly assessing biomass. Other vignettes discuss ‘roadsides and frequent fire by rural fire brigades’; Neville Oddie’s ‘slow burns’; ‘planning an ecological burn’; and ‘the Long-term Ecological Grazing Project in western Victoria – impacts of season and duration of grazing on plant diversity.

9. Weed management in native grasslands.
By Randall Robinson (4–5 pp of references; 5 vignettes)

‘The most dramatic effect of the introduction of weeds into grasslands is to change the grassland structure by filling the intertussock spaces, which can remove flora and fauna habitat … Another significant impact… is the harbour they provide for other introduced organisms…’, such as Red-legged Earth Mite, which is the subject of one of the chapter’s vignettes.

This chapter covers weed control in grasslands and woody grasslands, not in detail but touching on the main and some less main methods, under three major subheads: Legislation, Managing weeds, Management tools. The chapter is encouraging and depressing alternately, showing how some Weeds of National Significance can be removed successfully, and then reminding us that the problem is multi-pronged, and while one weed may dominate, its removal may open the field for others. The vignettes here deal with weed population modelling, the practical case study of the Oddie property, and also the Nassella weed grasses Serrated Tussock (N. trichotoma) and Chilean Needlegrass (N. neesiana). A heartening vignette describes the recovery of Sydenham Park from an infestation with Serrated Tussock, and includes the great reminders that all the team needs to know what is going on to avoid mishap, and that there is likely to be more than one serious weed in the soil bank – removing one may make way for another. This vignette is continued in Chapter 12.

10. Integrating grassland conservation into farming practice.
By Nathan Wong and Josh Dorrough (2–3 pp of references; 7 vignettes)

Nathan and Josh point out: ‘the vast majority [of grassland areas are] owned and managed as freehold within largely agricultural landscapes’. In this chapter they set out principles that show how integrating grassland conservation into farming practice can work. They explain why native pastures are increasingly seen as valuable, in farming nowadays, and how land-managers can improve the quality of native grasslands and pastures, via grazing management, weed control and fire.

This chapter’s seven case studies of land management show how to boost grassland conservation. Two of them are from Neville Oddie’s property near Melbourne, one is in Tasmania, one is an excellent account of native pasture cropping (pp. 272–273), and the other three are in other parts of Victoria. Max Kerr, in one of these vignettes, is reported as saying he believes ‘people need the opportunity to learn how to identify native grasses and to gain insight into this magic and rare world in order to ensure remnants are valued and preserved’.

11. Sourcing seed for grassland restoration.
By John Delpratt and Paul Gibson-Roy (2–3 pp of references; 8 vignettes)

This chapter looks very useful indeed for practical restoration, bringing in the technical depth restorers need. The authors start by pointing out that a good supply of seed is essential, whatever restoration method you use, and they remind us that seed generally needs to be collected from the remnant patches and that few native species have been cultivated. Then, when you think it’s going to be a chapter about sourcing seed, as in the title, you find (paragraph 3) that it is also a botany and horticulture chapter, describing seed structure and how it forms and matures, and adapts … and you see that this is essential information if you are going to be effective and efficient in gathering seed at the best times and life stages, and in deciding on the quality of the seed you have – which also sets the price you have to pay for it as a buyer.

The first 10 pages outline the morphology and physiology of seeds. Then come 2 pages about seed sources, embracing a boxed 2 pages on using information from seed tests – it looks quite mathematical. Information on purchasing seed occupies one page. Collecting seeds from vegetation remnants occupies another page, but there are 4 boxed pages within this short section, focusing on the genetics of seed collection and their implications. Growing, harvesting, processing and storing take up the next 20 pages, with 5 boxed pages about actual producers, and one page about harvesting machines. There is also a two-page box about seed conservation in the Australian PlantBank.

12. The restoration of native grasslands.
By Paul Gibson-Roy and John Delpratt (5–6 pp of references; 4 vignettes; 1 species list)

Detail! This chapter is full of it. Restoration is ‘defined’ in two ways on the first page: the practice of renewing and repairing degraded, damaged or altered ecosystems and habitats’ (first sentence). And then near the end of that page, ‘Restoration fundamentally involves moving a site and its vegetation from one form or structure to another to meet a particular set of goals.’

After brief scene-setting, showing that grassland restoration by returning species has only begun in the last decade in Australia (compared to around 20–30 years ago in the US prairies), the chapter turns to practicalities. First it points out that native seeding is much more expensive – and germination and establishment much less reliable – than agricultural seeding; that people need to be involved and it’s worth developing that engagement at the start; and that speed and reliability are important stimulants to people’s enthusiasm, as well as often crucial to funding cycles. Here’s a telling sentence: ‘The challenge for grassland restorationists is to effectively articulate why grassland restoration is deserving of funding. In a world filled with worthy causes, restorationists’ calls must be convincing.’

And it’s not plain sailing even if all that above is covered. What to sow where? Why? These answers will depend on the intended use of the area once restored, as well as the locality. Grassland ecology is also a powerful factor in the decision, and leads to the suggestion of basing the choice on species’ community function – possibly therefore avoiding the extra costs of species that may not contribute usefully.

I reiterate - this chapter is detailed and valuable.

It advises and gives examples on:

• Site assessment and preparation; 
• Scalping; 
• Reverse fertilisation (with sugar for instance) and Nutrient stripping; 
• Techniques and machinery; and 
• Staging a restoration: What order if any, and why.

Examples come from the Grassy Groundcover Research Project (GGRP) as a whole and various sites that project has worked at. There is also a close look at a seed production business near Melbourne.

This is the longest chapter in Land of Sweeping Plains, mainly because of a 9-page appendix listing species used in GGRP work and some characteristics that will be of use to others without access to a Greening Australia Seed Production Area, including form, height, location of regenerative buds, and dispersal unit.

13. Designing and planning for native grassland in urban areas.
By Adrian Marshall (1 p of references; 3 vignettes)

Chapter 13 is another practical chapter. Adrian explains seven principles of planning and design, and then enlarges on them showing how this is working effectively in Melbourne. Native grasslands in urban areas add and give refuge to biodiversity. When designed and planned applying the principles, native grasslands can also ‘improve land values, create community and identity, and provide positive sustainability outcomes within a development’.  

Landscape architect Barbara Payne (Quandong Designs) reviewed this chapter for the News of Friends of Grasslands (referenced in relation to Chapter 1 above), saying: ‘We are guided through design development to construction and maintenance, starting – and this is the key – with the grasslands. Two case studies show that it can be done. … Who should read this chapter? Anyone involved in the care of grasslands, developers, planners, landscape architects and municipal landscape managers.’

14. The future of south-eastern Australia’s native temperate grasslands.
By Nicholas S.G. Williams, Adrian Marshall, John W. Morgan, John Delpratt, Paul Gibson-Roy and Nathan Wong (1 p of references; 3 vignettes)

The authors remind us: ‘grassland conservation also needs to move beyond the high-diversity patch and into the broader landscape. … The conservation of all isolated grassland reserves will not protect all species in the long term. … Connectivity is essential if we are to enable species to move within the currently highly fragmented system. … Australia’s ambition to meet the International Union for conservation of Nature (IUCN) goal of protecting 10 per cent of the former extent of each ecosystem (NRMMC 2010a) is impossible for the grasslands of SE Australia without large-scale restoration.’

Another take-home message is the importance of viewpoints. For instance, ‘A major remaining hurdle is a reluctance of some in the conservation sector to recognise that high-quality restored grasslands can be comparable to remnant communities’. The last four short sections of this final chapter emphasise the people and human will that need to be engaged.

Overall, the chapter looks at a positive future for grasslands, despite the quotes above. The three vignettes each give a ‘Vision for a future’, and they are inspiring!

The authors wrap up by restating the three main aims for the whole book (quoted here):

(i)                  to synthesise what has been learnt over the last four decades…;

(ii)                to communicate as widely as possible, bringing to the fore the natural beauty of temperate grasslands and the passion, commitment and enthusiasm of the people that work to protect, manage and restore them;

(iii)               to identify how society, planning and restoration … can contribute to a positive future for grassland conservation.

Success for Land of Sweeping Plains will be measured partly by the number of readers who ‘become grassland champions’. 

Riverspace – unrealised potential for publicising inland waters, riverspace.com.au

First, a note. 

I had a look at the Riverspace.com.au website recently, and decided to review it for the newsletter of the Peter Cullen Water & Environment Trust, ‘BRIDGING’. It is an appropriate subject for that newsletter because, as stated in my review, Siwan Lovett and Deborah Nias are both closely associated with the Trust (which is generally known as the Peter Cullen Trust). Further, Riverspace is mainly focused on water and the environment.

From a relatively brief exploration of the website I can see it has potential to be the ‘go to’ URL for anyone who wants to find out what is happening in or near Australia’s rivers, whether that ‘happening’ is human or ecological, research or recreation or business. For example, say five disparate groups are working on or using a particular stretch of the same river. By checking on Riverspace you would be able to find out about all five at once, if they have uploaded information to this site. You would be able to see how the activities overlap in time or impact, whereas otherwise you might know only about one of them. 

I am republishing my review of Riverspace.com.au here to help make the website more widely known, especially now (mid-2015) while there is no cost for uploading new information (for details, see the website tab called ‘Join Riverspace’). 

Permission to republish has been granted by the CEO of the Peter Cullen Trust.
(For information about the Trust, see http://petercullentrust.com.au/.)

…………

The Riverspace website (www.riverspace.com.au) is a central independent location where people working on or beside inland waters anywhere in Australia can publicise their activities, progress and results.

The site has the potential to provide readers with information about anything and everything happening on, in and around rivers and wetlands everywhere. Typical contributors could be not-for-profit and community groups, government (all levels) and statutory bodies, river or wetland-based businesses, fishing and boating groups, managers of land beside the waters, research teams and many others.  There is normally a small–medium cost, depending on type of group and number of projects.

This central oneness of Riverspace is a timesaver for readers. The website should be ideal as a first ‘port of call’ to find out about an area or about types of activity across Australia – much more convenient than having to brainstorm what might be happening in an area and then delve through a series of disparate websites where information is probably not arranged by location or activity. 

Riverspace is an initiative of Peter Cullen Trust Fellow (2010) Dr Deborah Nias and Trust Friend Dr Siwan Lovett, both of whom manage not-for-profit businesses and have for some years been leading, managing and communicating about rivers and wetlands and their environmental values.

The site claims to be the only website of its kind in the world. Its novelty may partly explain why the content on Riverspace is relatively sparse so far.

Ease of use

Quoting from the site: ‘Riverspace uses a sophisticated, yet well-known Google map interface, enabling users to zoom in and out and discover a wealth of information at a range of scales.’

Information is entered under topics (‘stories’) in 10 categories, and by State or Territory (‘locations’). Clicking on an icon on the map zooms you in to the information/story about that site. When reviewed there were around 30 sites and stories on the website, with at least one in each state or territory and many in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Some appear in several categories. 

For people uploading information there are guides on the website, and the backroom team provides (quoting) ‘an independently managed website, staffed by a professional and experienced science communication team, who can advise and assist on the best way to feature the work [you] are undertaking in ways that make it relevant and meaningful for people’.

Relevant, and designed to grow

Riverspace appears to be a valuable online resource through which to spread the word about work on inland waters to a keen audience that is engaged.

Not surprisingly, some entries involve Fellows of the Trust. Under ‘Community Involvement’ is the story of 2012 Fellow Dr Ben Dyer. Among several other examples, two (under Riparian Revegetation) are the Rivers of Carbon project part-run by Lori Gould (2014 National Water Commission Fellow of the Trust), and the Glenelg River Restoration Project in which Dr Adam Bester (2014 VDEPI Fellow of the Trust) had a major role. 

This reviewer can think of a number of other projects, plans, research teams and groups (beyond the Peter Cullen Trust) that could usefully upload information to Riverspace – potentially benefiting both themselves, by greater exposure, and the way rivers and wetlands are valued by the general public. The more the groups and businesses that are aware of and publishing on Riverspace, the more useful the site will be.  The more widespread the information, the more the visiting readers, and the better the exposure for contributors.

Overall

In concept Riverspace is innovative and appears an ideal and convenient way of bringing together a wide range of types of information about inland waters. It is surprising that the site is not more populated already.

The text for each story usually includes links to further information and to the providers, adding to the value of this website as a starting point in a search. 

In practice, for readers the operation of the site is smooth, particularly once you know that you can jump or scroll down the page as soon as the ‘View more’ text has appeared (this reviewer had to be told).

Overall, Riverspace deserves to be in wide and frequent use, both by providers and by readers. It is to be hoped that Siwan’s and Deborah’s generous offer of free posting (see note above) will help the site become a great ‘place for rivers, wetlands and people’.

To find out about free uploads, email:  hello@riverspace.com.au

‘Managing native pastures for productivity and conservation’

Years of observation, practical farm management, reading and research have given Alison Elvin a large amount of knowledge and strong belief in the value of native pastures for livestock production and biodiversity conservation. She generously shared this with the 22 of us in her attentive and absorbed all-day-workshop class on Saturday 21 June (which started out as a brisk misty Canberra morning; photo above). 

Alison (facing the class in the photo above) explained the seasonality of summer- and winter-active perennial native grasses, and their management via various grazing and burning practices. Native grasses and forbs (many of them leguminous) are finely adapted to the local soils and extremes of climate, adding condition to our meagre soils and protecting them against erosion. Managed native pastures can provide reliable feed through winter, summer and drought, compared to non-native species that can fail in hot dry conditions.

We learnt about native grasses’ use of water and nutrients, their palatability, digestibility and feed value, and their growth habits (mat or tussock). Alison demonstrated many similarities and differences between her samples of native grasses (some are in the photo above) and forbs, and their distinctive flower and seed characteristics, including photos for species no longer in head. Then we walked with Alison and our host John Starr of Gold Creek Station, Hall, into the paddocks to spot grasses, forbs and weeds in real life. We compared the leaf and seed heads of native species to those of African Lovegrass, and Wallaby Grass (Austrodanthonia sp.) to Weeping Grass Microlaena stipoides (photo below) (both were in head in this unusual year), and heard more about managing pastures to boost production and conservation.

Many thanks to Alison, of Natural Capital Pty Ltd, Gundaroo, for her enthusiastic instruction and the handouts, and to John for his hospitality.

Karissa Preuss, catchment coordinator for Ginninderra Catchment Group, organised this workshop and others in the series for landholders and interested others, funded by a Federal Community Landcare grant. 

Walking the paddock to learn about pasture plants, Saturday 30 November 2013

Understanding plant relations in pastures is a big help if you are engaged in land management. It can mean the difference between healthy nutritious mixed pastures and depressing infestations of weeds such as St John’s Wort.

Knowing when to spray or not to spray St John’s Wort is also useful for avoiding expense and effort for no ultimate effect. 

The more plant species you have in a pasture, the better its grazing value for horses, apparently. Even weeds — whether grasses or broadleaved plants that you would not sow deliberately into a pasture — can be a small part of the mix, so long as they are not dominant (the patch in the photo below has at least three grass species plus the yellow Flatweed/Catsear).

Differing leaf shapes and lengths, times of flowering, annual or perennial, times of best nutritive value, hairiness, spikiness, taste (presumably), type of root, and so on, all can make for an interesting food source for invertebrates as well as stock. A varied combination of species above-ground means potentially efficient exploitation of the soil below-ground, with a range of root types and enzymes and invertebrates in action.

Soil with a complete groundcover should not erode. By definition, it has no bare patches. Bare spaces are the places where weeds (outstanding competitors) can get a ‘toe-hold’. Complete groundcover implies a rich (organic-matter) mixture of roots and their associated insect and microbial activity in the soil. Such soil has pore spaces and overall structure, which the natural plant and microbial exudates help build and maintain. Rain can infiltrate well, and the soil is better able to resist compaction — except where tracks are worn by repeated use.

These are some of the features of plant relations in pastures we learnt on 30 November, during a mild sunny and airy morning with Alison Elvin walking across paddocks on two properties in the Wallaroo area, near Canberra. About 20 local landholders attended this second workshop in the series called ‘Action on Weeds near Wallaroo’, organised by Karissa Preuss of the Ginninderra Catchment Group.

Alison not only identified every plant she saw or we pointed out to her, she also discussed how to plan to attack weeds by slashing, grazing, sowing, mapping the stands of plants in a paddock, cultivation, and the use of biocontrol, where it is available. By making careful observation and notes, a landholder can gradually build up an understanding of plant, soil and animal inter-relations, finding out what management ‘works’ and what does not ‘work’ in particular soil types, aspects and combinations.

This way, spraying with herbicide — with all the associated expense and anxiety — is needed rarely and only when absolutely necessary.

The paddocks we visited had variable proportions of grass species, and some broadleaved species. Among grasses we were shown annuals such as Fescue (Vulpia sp.; see 5th photo below, in the foreground; perennial native Wallaby Grass is near the feet) which are now (in early summer) pale brown or beige in colour . Looking across the hillside we could see patches of Fescue among the green perennials such as Wallaby Grass and Phalaris (once Alison had pointed that out to us!, e.g. in the photo below including on the hillside in the distance).

Mapping (roughly) the annual grasses as they brown off in early summer means that next year you know which paddocks or parts of paddocks to graze heavily during winter when the annuals are green. That way you take advantage of the annuals’ nutritive value, and at the same time you reduce their competitive effect on their associated perennial grasses, so the latter can get ahead.

Wild oats (Avena fatua) were prevalent around these paddocks and roadsides, usually with empty seed heads. Apart from in crops, infestations of wild oats are mostly a worry because they are a considerable fire hazard in summer when they are brown and dry, Alison told us. If you graze this grass heavily when it’s in leaf during winter, before flowering, the flowering stalks will be shorter in spring and the infestation will be less of a fire risk later.

Yorkshire Fog (Holcus lanatus; top photo below), Phalaris (Phalaris sp.; photo above), Couch (Cynodon dactylon) and Hairy Panic (Panicum effusum), Barley Grass (Hordeum leporinum; tufty, in foreground, lower photo) and Ryegrass (Lolium sp.; ridgy flowerhead, around shoe in lower photo) were other introduced grasses we saw, and of course African Lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula).

Two paddocks were well populated with Wallaby Grass or White Top (Austrodanthonia sp.; photo below, near the feet), apparently so called because the flower head has white hairs as on a wallaby’s face. Weeping Grass, Microlaena stipoides, was also seen. Both can tolerate a small to moderate level of soil phosphate: more than other native grasses, but still not much. Alison said it is preferable to build up the soil fertility gradually, over several years, by applying compost tea, rather than superphosphate.

Among broadleaved species Alison told us how to manage Capeweed (Arctotheca calendula); Paterson’s Curse (Echium plantagineum) —‘paddo’; Flatweed (Hypochaeris radicata); St Johns Wort (Hypericum perforatum) — ‘SJW’ (photo below). Alison advised that if SJW or Paddo began to invade from the denser patches visible nearby then to dig them out or cut them down quickly, or smother them with a pile of straw or similar mulch material. It’s important to act decisively at this time of year when the prolific flowers are beginning to set hundreds of seeds.

We learned that SJW has strong rhizomatous roots as well as multitudes of seeds to help it invade. Spraying it can be a huge waste of money — though it can be useful if done at a suitable growth stage. Alison says that early summer is the ideal time, when the SJW is in flower and easy to see. Although some of the flowers may have started forming immature seed, generally spraying in early summer will achieve an excellent kill rate, and the seeds will not mature further, and little or no new seed will be produced. 

(The wrong time to spray is, for instance, when the flowers are nearly finished and are full of seed. At that late stage you will not prevent the next year's 'crop' of this weed, although you would kill the plant.) 

The risk with spraying at the wrong time is that you will kill much more than just the SJW (which could leave bare patches for new weed invasions) and you could spend hundreds of dollars and end up with as big an infestation the following year.

Other control methods Alison discussed were burning, slashing and biocontrol. Burning and spraying too late (as above) can work but only because in the following wet season you can expect a thick germination of young SJW from the hundreds of unkilled seeds, which you can immediately destroy by cultivating (or perhaps spraying).

Biocontrol is an exciting possibility. The controlling beetles, released deliberately by local entomologists in one of the paddocks we saw, have killed a whole slope of SJW - the browned off plants behind the people in this photo below. Only a few individuals (flowering) remain in this stand. 

The beetle used in this area of NSW is Chrysolina quadrigemina (photo above) though other species appear to have been released in the Cooma area further south (http://www.cooma.nsw.gov.au/files/docs/environmental_
management/noxious_weeds/factsheets/St%20Johns%20Wort%20CMSC%20Factsheet.pdf). If you have the beetle, Alison advises spreading individuals as widely as you can into your own SJW patches and into your neighbours’ as well. You should let it get on with eating your SJW (the adult does the damage) and not attempt to otherwise control the SJW at the same time which would remove the beetles’ food supply.

We saw little Paterson’s Curse, but plenty of Flatweed (or Catsear). Alison pointed out its differences from Dandelion (Taraxacum sp.). Flatweed causes problems for horses (but not other stock). Dandelion on the other hand, with its distinctively hollow stem and only one flowerhead per stem, indicates good nutritional status in the soil.  

Other photos from this 'walkshop' and the previous workshop on 10 November are in the pages at the side of this blog.

Useful reference for St John’s Wort: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/347995/bpmg-stjohn-wort.pdf

Paddock weeds in the farms of the Ginninderra Creek catchment, NSW

“Where a weed can grow, a plant can grow,” I was told once, years ago, by a senior CSIRO scientist. I thought he meant that a weed prevents a desirable (‘good’) plant growing in the same spot, or that if a weed can grow ‘there’ then that soil must have qualities that good plants could exploit too, if their seed had been there first. But perhaps he was referring to the paradox below which occurred to me after Alison Elvin’s workshop on 10 November.

Alison, who is a rural educator and local farmer, gave a comprehensive overview of weeds management to an attentive and responsive group of southern NSW landholders. The whole-of-a-Sunday session was the first in the series called ‘Action on Weeds near Wallaroo’, run by the Ginninderra Catchment Group. It was held just outside the ACT at the Wallaroo Fire Station, on a day that became very wet, with the fire engines quietly asleep in their adjacent shed after the previous spell of hot dry weather and destructive bushfires. 

The landholders first outlined weed issues that were worrying them (which Alison noted on a board: photo below), and several brought examples to be identified. In exchange they heard about possible reasons for the infestations, and a number of ways of managing land and livestock to deal with weeds and avoid reinfestation.

As Alison pointed out, in our brief time outside, if there is bare ground in a paddock (or garden or anywhere else) then a weed is the most likely type of plant to move in. Paddock weeds have trouble growing where healthy ‘good’ paddock plants are offering strong competition, so if there are bare patches on your land you can expect paddock weeds to grow there!

Although we heard about weeds’ competitive features, Alison also told us some of their ‘benefits’, such as … fat tap roots which open up the soil (e.g. Paterson’s Curse Echium plantagineum); ability to mobilise cations out of the soil matrix, such as copper (Paterson’s Curse/Salvation Jane) and calcium (Capeweed Arctotheca calendula); and the way some weeds reveal soil character by their presence, with thistles for example apparently showing that the soil is well structured, and Serrated Tussock (Nassella trichotoma) protecting the ground so well that the ‘best worms for fishing-bait’ may be found beneath it!

As competitors, weeds excel — as we know! — and this is because, Alison said, weeds include plant species that can flourish in low-nutrient, acidic (comparatively rich in aluminium ions) compacted soils (therefore few pore spaces and little oxygen, water or microfauna). Weeds succeed also because they often have a strong and fast growth pattern, cover the ground with rosettes of leaves, flower vigorously, have lots of pollinators and few predators and are able to send plentiful seed out to new ground. On that basis, Serrated Tussock seems to be an ideal example weed, judging from the NSW Dept of Primary Industries webpage at http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/pests-weeds/weeds/profiles/serrated-tussock:

“Serrated tussock is a perennial, drought-resistant, highly invasive tussock-forming grass which is a serious weed in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It is highly adapted to a range of environments, seeds prolifically and is difficult and costly to control. Large volumes of seed are spread long distances by wind; allowing new populations to establish over large areas.”

Here is my paradox. If you have bare ground which offers too little amenity for pasture species to survive, then the weeds that move in may improve it for you. If the soil is compacted, those invading weeds will force their roots through it, creating pore space. If it is deficient in minerals, weed roots may draw them up from deeper horizons; the minerals will then become available in the topsoil when the plant parts die and fall. Weed plants supply organic matter to that previously bare ground, and protect it from wind and water erosion. Once you remove the weed, the ground could well be in better condition for other plant species. (Note: be sure to spread desirable seed there immediately, and/or mulch.)

All that makes me wonder why we define weeds as ‘plants that grow where they are not wanted’. Perhaps we just don’t know what is good for us! Is this what my CSIRO colleague meant, years ago?

Another odd situation is that while paddock weeds in many cases are non-native to Australia, so too are many of our favourite pasture and crop species! Paddock weeds, then, are mainly non-native species that are not valued for grazing or harvesting here? (This is probably also the case in England, for example, where many similar mixtures of species are likely to be similarly classed as pasture, crop and weed.)

If our pastures comprised mainly native species, like our bushland, then non-native invaders would be more understandably weeds. ... Actually, though, Alison pointed out that native grasses such as Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra) and Weeping Grass (Microlaena stipoides) make good pasture grasses …

Alison’s whole-day overview was based on her own and others’ experience and reading across a large literature ranging from official ag-department information to traditional northern hemisphere knowledge about species. Her workshop introduced thought-provokingly creative ways of managing weeds; and although she did touch on the use of herbicides, we were told that considerable weed-control has been achieved via non-herbicidal whole-land management on her own farm.

Whole(some) land management, we heard, can include annually mapping the weeds (including their density) on one’s land in relation to topography, watercourses, neighbours (weeds on high land are more likely to blow next door), other vegetation and grazing. Timed management of livestock, as well as type of animal (donkeys and goats eat weeds other stock reject), and cultivation, slashing, burning, chipping out, mulching, and scattering desirable seed to change the balance in the seed pool, all have their place in Alison’s portfolio of weed control methods.

I recommend attending a workshop by Alison Elvin if you are interested in weed ecology or economic botany or land management, even if (like me) you are not a landholder. Her rural education and native seed business is Natural Capital Pty Ltd, based at Gundaroo, NSW. Alison will be leading a paddock walk, also in the Wallaroo area, on 30 November to show us how to identify (and perhaps map) weeds in the paddock. I aim to be there, if at all possible. 

Cane Toads and Indian Mynas – they don’t know they have to die!

Cane Toads (Bufo marinus) are introduced pests and a key threatening process under the EPBC Act (1999), but killing them should still be done humanely! — and without damaging the water or ground they are in or on at the time.

Pest control was a frequent topic of conversation at the Floriade Bush Friendly Garden (BFG) (see previous post) because of the garden’s theme of replacing and disposing of pest plants. There was also a Myna trap on display, showing the wire-cage design that has successfully been catching Indian Myna birds in ACT (for humane disposal). These cages are available free or to build yourself from plans provided via an internet link, http://www.indianmynaaction.org.au/trapping_help.htm.

(In these photos of the Myna trap, the snake is an ornament attached to the fence, and nothing to do with the cage/trap.) 

Visitors seeing the Myna trap at the BFG naturally then told us their own or their neighbours’ experiences with trapping Indian Mynas. The conversation sometimes extended into ways to manage or kill other pest animals. I heard how people deal with Cane Toads, snakes and possums, and I reciprocated with our family’s method for small ants invading the kitchen food cupboards (spray them with Vanilla Fridge-wipe and sweep up the bodies).

One weekend I was told that spraying an adult Cane Toad on the back with Dettol kills it quickly: “Three hops and it’s dead”. However, the person, from Queensland, warned that the liquid should only be applied as a gentle stream (not spray), because it will kill the grass around the toad as well if you‘re not careful.

A check on the web shows that this is very true. Dettol is a poison, and it poisons the environment. It is prohibited for use, the person told me, in jurisdictions such as WA.

Humane ways are available for killing Cane Toads. The webpage of the RSPCA knowledge base looks like the one to visit first to find out about them. See: http://kb.rspca.org.au/What-is-the-most-humane-way-to-kill-a-cane-toad_299.html.

That RSPCA page recommends Hopstop® as the best method. It says:

“Hopstop® is an aerosol spray that has been specifically developed for killing cane toads and is now commercially available for this purpose. When applied in sufficient quantity it appears to be an effective, easy to use and relatively humane method.”

Other webpages look responsible and informative, too, though the ranking of humane methods can vary.

For example, the webpage at http://www.frogsafe.org.au/cane_toads/dispose.shtml points out firmly that:

“just because the toad is a pest, this is NO EXCUSE for animal cruelty and sadism. The toad doesn't know it's a pest and it feels pain like all other living animals. Cane toads should be killed humanely and this means methods which invoke the least amount of pain and stress.”

That ‘frogsafe’ webpage (which is part of a website devoted to amphibians in Queensland) also emphasises that you need to be sure you are accurately identifying Cane Toad eggs, tadpoles or adults. If you are certain, the 'frogsafe' webpage continues, then:

“For example, you can pull their eggs out of ponds and dams; you can scoop up tadpoles with aquarium nets and you can hunt for young toads and adults. You can volunteer to join organised groups who are working to clear cane toads from a particular site...”

A webpage at http://www.canetoadsinoz.com/killingtoads.html warns against using Dettol.

I like the look of the fridge/freezer method, reminiscent of lulling crayfish to sleep in warm water before boiling them (if you can catch them, as in Gary Clark’s ‘Swamp’ series of cartoons). But the fridge/freezer does not apparently kill as humanely or as thoroughly as Hopstop.

The Australian Government Department of Environment has a policy on Cane Toads, at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/ferals/cane-toads.html. The webpage explains that because of the poison sacs on their shoulders, Cane Toads are an ecological threat to carnivores including quolls, snakes, goannas and crocodiles that prey on them. They also threaten the existence of other native species such as frogs, presumably by competition for food sources.

Children and pets are also at risk if they contact the toads’ poison.

The policy does not seem to offer ways of controlling individual Cane Toads.