transformation of australia’s vegetated landscapes. richard thackway aceas grand 2014
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Transformation of Australia’s vegetated landscapes. Presentation by Richard Thackway, ACEAS sabbatical fellow, ACEAS Grand 2014TRANSCRIPT
Transformation of Australia’s vegetated landscapes
Richard Thackway
A system for tracking the anthropogenic changes in the condition of Australia’s plant communities
Outline
• Concepts and definitions• VAST-2 system• Case study• Influence /impacts• Conclusions
Aim: To develop a standardised national system for assessing changes in native vegetation condition over time
Occupation
Relaxation
Anthropogenic change
Net gain/benefit
Time
1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
Veg
etat
ion
mod
ifica
tion
scor
e
Reference
Transformation pathway - model
Occupation
Relaxation
Anthropogenic change
Net gain/benefit
Time
1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
Veg
etat
ion
mod
ifica
tion
scor
e
Reference
Build a system based on learning from Australian
case studies
Transformation pathway - model
Definitions - Condition and transformation
• Change in a plant community (type) due to effects of land management practices:
• Structure
• Composition
• Regenerative capacity
• Resilience = the capacity of an plant community to recover toward a reference state following a change/s in management
• Transformation = changes to vegetation condition over time• Condition, resilience and transformation are assessed relative
to fully natural a reference state
Vegetation condition
Land managers affect native veg condition in space and over time
Process: Land managers use land management practices (LMP) to influence ecological function at sites and the landscape by:• Modifying • Removing and replacing• Enhancing• Restoring• Maintaining• Improving
Purpose/s:To achieve the desired mix of ecosystem services (space & time)
Focus on tracking effects of land management on key ecological criteria
Soil
Vegetation
1. Soil hydrological status2. Soil physical status3. Soil nutrient status4. Soil biological status5. Fire regime6. Reproductive potential7. Overstorey structure8. Understorey structure9. Overstorey composition10. Understorey composition
Focus on tracking effects of land management on key ecological criteria
Soil
Vegetation
Regenerative capacity/ function
1. Soil hydrological status2. Soil physical status3. Soil nutrient status4. Soil biological status5. Fire regime6. Reproductive potential7. Overstorey structure8. Understorey structure9. Overstorey composition10. Understorey composition
Focus on tracking effects of land management on key ecological criteria
Soil
Vegetation
Regenerative capacity/ function
Vegetation structure & Species composition
1. Soil hydrological status2. Soil physical status3. Soil nutrient status4. Soil biological status5. Fire regime6. Reproductive potential7. Overstorey structure8. Understorey structure9. Overstorey composition10. Understorey composition
Generate total indices for ‘transformation site’ for each year of the historical record. Validate using Expert Knowledge
• Compile and collate effects of land management on criteria (10) and
indicators (22) over time. • Evaluate impacts on the plant
community over time
Transformation site• Compile and collate data /
information on criteria (10) and indicators (22).
Assumed steady state
Reference state/sites
Score all 22 indicators for ‘transformation site’ relative to the ‘reference site’. 0 = major change; 1 = no change
Derive weighted indices for the ‘transformation site’ i.e. regenerative capacity (58%), vegetation structure (27%) and species composition (18%)
by adding predefined indicators
General process for tracking change over time using the VAST-2 system
Condition components (3)
[VAST]
VAST-2 Criteria(10) VAST-2 Indicators of vegetation and ecological processes
(22)
Regenerative capacity
Fire regime 1. Area /size of fire foot prints
2. Number of fire starts
Soil hydrology 3. Soil surface water availability
4. Ground water availability
Soil physical state
5. Depth of the A horizon
6. Soil structure
Soil nutrient state
7. Nutrient stress – rundown (deficiency) relative to soil fertility
8. Nutrient stress – excess (toxicity) relative to soil fertility
Soil biological state
9. Recyclers responsible for maintaining soil porosity and nutrient recycling
10. Surface organic matter, soil crusts
Reproductive potential
11. Reproductive potential of overstorey structuring species
12. Reproductive potential of understorey structuring species
Vegetation structure
Overstorey structure
13. Overstorey top height (mean) of the plant community
14. Overstorey foliage projective cover (mean) of the plant community
15. Overstorey structural diversity (i.e. a diversity of age classes) of the stand
Understorey structure
16. Understorey top height (mean) of the plant community
17. Understorey ground cover (mean) of the plant community
18. Understorey structural diversity (i.e. a diversity of age classes) of the plant
Species Composition
Overstorey composition
19. Densities of overstorey species functional groups
20. Relative number of overstorey species (richness) of indigenous :exotic spp
Understorey composition
21. Densities of understorey species functional groups
22. Relative number of understorey species (richness) of indigenous :exotic spp
Data synthesis and hierarchySite
Data synthesis and hierarchySite
Indicators 22
Data synthesis and hierarchySite
Criteria 9
Indicators 22
Data synthesis and hierarchySite
Diagnostic attributes 3
Criteria 9
Indicators 22
Data synthesis and hierarchySite
Transformation score/site /year 1
Diagnostic attributes 3
Criteria 9
Indicators 22
1
3
9
22
reprodpotent
understoreyoverstoreyfire soil
structure nutrients biology
overstorey understorey
Cri
teri
a
hydrology understorey overstorey
Data synthesis and hierarchy
22 indicators
1
3
9
22
Dia
gn
ost
icat
trib
ute
s
Regenerativecapacity
Vegetationstructure
Speciescomposition
reprodpotent
understoreyoverstoreyfire soil
structure nutrients biology
overstorey understorey
Cri
teri
a
hydrology understorey overstorey
Data synthesis and hierarchy
22 indicators
1
3
9
22
Dia
gn
ost
icat
trib
ute
s
Regenerativecapacity
Vegetationstructure
Speciescomposition
VegetationTransformation
score
reprodpotent
understoreyoverstoreyfire soil
structure nutrients biology
overstorey understorey
Cri
teri
a
hydrology understorey overstorey
Data synthesis and hierarchy
22 indicators
Case studyBridge Hill Ridge, Myall Lakes, NSW
Tracking sand dune transformation before, during and after sand dune mining
High sand dune case
study
Sand mining path
Bridge Hill Ridge
Figure: Barry Fox
Bridge Hill Ridge, 1976 & 1991
1976 1991
Source: Geoscience Australia, © Australian Titanium Minerals Industry
Smiths Lake
Bridge Hill Ridge, 2011
Case study site - Field visit January 2014
Smiths Lake
VAST-2 key ecological criteria & indicators
Reference state
Transformationsite
Fire regime * *Soil hydrology * *Soil physical state * **Soil nutrient state ** *Soil biological state * *Reproductive potential *** ***Overstorey vegetation structure *** **
Understorey vegetation structure *** ***
Overstorey species composition *** ***
Understorey species composition *** ***
Populating the VAST-2 criteria
*** Quantitative data /info * Qualitative data /info
Importance of dynamics
Rainfall is assumed to be main driver of system dynamics• Period 1900 - 2013• Average seasonal rainfall (summer, autumn, …)• Rainfall anomaly is calculated above and below the mean• Two year running trend line fitted
NB: Must calibrate remote sensing to account for rainfall dynamics, e.g. ground cover, greenness and foliage projective cover
Seasonal rainfall anomaly (Lat -32.404, Long 152.496)
1901
1904
1907
1910
1913
1916
1919
1922
1925
1928
1931
1934
1937
1940
1943
1946
1949
1952
1955
1958
1961
1964
1967
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
2012
-2-1.5
-1-0.5
00.5
11.5
22.5
Spring
1901
1904
1907
1910
1913
1916
1919
1922
1925
1928
1931
1934
1937
1940
1943
1946
1949
1952
1955
1958
1961
1964
1967
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
2012
-3-2-1012345
Winter
1901
1904
1907
1910
1913
1916
1919
1922
1925
1928
1931
1934
1937
1940
1943
1946
1949
1952
1955
1958
1961
1964
1967
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
2012
-3-2-10123456
Autumn
1901
1904
1907
1910
1913
1916
1919
1922
1925
1928
1931
1934
1937
1940
1943
1946
1949
1952
1955
1958
1961
1964
1967
1970
1973
1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
2012
-2-1.5
-1-0.5
00.5
11.5
22.5
3
Summer
Source: BOM
Are we there yet?
Results
Bridge Hill Ridge- post mining restoration
Predictions of mature forest (Bunning’s Enquiry 1974)
Bridge Hill Ridge- post mining restoration
Influence/impacts
Invitations to contribute to methods & reporting - tracking veg-related environmental outcomes • Murray Darling Basin Authority 2014 – environmental flows
• Australian Sand Mining Ann Conf 2014 – nat veg restoration
• Niche Envt & Heritage & Rio Tinto 2014 - nat veg restoration
• Wentworth Group’s 2014 – Regional Environmental Accounts
• Institute of Forestry Australia Conf 2013 – post logging effects
• Aust Govt’s rangelands tech working group – C sequestration
• State of the Forests Report 2013 – Forest conditionLogo
http://portal.tern.org.au/search
http://aceas-data.science.uq.edu.au/portal/
Conclusions
• Method has been successfully applied in selected tropical, arid and temperate plant communities
• VAST-2 has value for:• Synthesizing information (quantitative and qualitative)• Engaging land managers and ecologists as equal players
• Useful as an accounting tool for tracking change in the condition of vegetated landscapes
• Report card helps ‘tell the story’ of landscape transformation
• Investigations of scaling-up the method to a landscape level are promising
More info & Acknowledgements
Logo
More informationhttp://portal.tern.org.au/searchhttp://aceas-data.science.uq.edu.au/portal/ http://www.vasttransformations.com/
Acknowledgements• University of Queensland, Department of Geography Planning and
Environmental Management for ongoing research support• Many public and private land managers, land management agencies, consultants
and researchers have assisted in the development of VAST & VAST-2