Journal article
Surprisingly fast recovery of biological soil crusts following livestock removal in southern Australia
CF Read, DH Duncan, PA Vesk, J Elith
Journal of Vegetation Science | Published : 2011
Abstract
Question: Biological soil crusts (BSCs) exist in arid and semi-arid ecosystems worldwide, and their recovery following the removal of a disturbance agent is integral to the rehabilitation of degraded landscapes. We asked: what is the likelihood of success and time frame of BSC recovery in vegetation remnants of southeast Australia, following livestock exclusion by fencing. Location: Dryland agricultural region of northwest Victoria, Australia. Methods: We conducted a "space for time" study of BSC recovery across 21 sites where livestock have been excluded by fencing between 1 and >50 years ago, and used boosted regression tree models to explore the response of BSCs to livestock exclusion whi..
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Awarded by ARC
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
We especially thank Claire Moxham (DSE) for site identification, field assistance and for interviewing landholders with Rhiannon Apted. Matt White and personnel from Greening Australia, DPI and the North Central CMA assisted with site selection, and Felicia Pereoglou assisted with fieldwork. Numerous landholders and Parks Victoria allowed us to conduct surveys on their properties, and Birchip Cropping Group assisted with landholder engagement. The soil analyses were performed by CBSP Laboratories, Bibra Lake, Western Australia. The comments and suggestions of Matt Bowker and an anonymous reviewer greatly improved an earlier version of this manuscript. This project was supported by the Holsworth Wildlife Research Fund, North Central and Mallee CMAs through Natural Heritage Trust and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, and the Victorian State Government initiative 'Our Rural Landscapes'. Jane Elith was funded by ARC grant DP0772671 and the Australian Centre of Excellence for Risk Analysis.