Transformation of Australia’s vegetated landscapes. Richard Thackway ACEAS Grand 2014

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


Soil

Vegetation

Regenerative capacity/ function



Soil

Vegetation

Regenerative capacity/ function

Vegetation structure & Species 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


Indicators 22


Criteria 9

Indicators 22


Diagnostic attributes 3

Criteria 9

Indicators 22


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




Cri

teri

a



22 indicators

1

3

9

22

Dia

gn

ost

icat

trib

ute

s

Regenerativecapacity

Vegetationstructure

Speciescomposition

VegetationTransformation

score

reprodpotent




Cri

teri

a



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

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-2-1.5

-1-0.5

00.5

11.5

22.5

Spring

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-3-2-1012345

Winter

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-3-2-10123456

Autumn

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-2-1.5

-1-0.5

00.5

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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






http://www.vasttransformations.com/

http://www.vasttransformations.com/

Transformation of Australia’s vegetated landscapes. Richard Thackway ACEAS Grand 2014

Environment

Transcript of Transformation of Australia’s vegetated landscapes. Richard Thackway ACEAS Grand 2014