Issue 13. 6 September 2010.pdf [PDF File, 1.7 MB] - UWA Staff - The ...

Trees start work on the
Future Farm
The ground is ready for 14,000 saplings
While many staff were helping out at
Open Day, others were getting their
hands dirty down on the farm.
Funding for tree planting at the Future
Farm co-incided with the start of
Professor Richard Hobbs’ Australian
Laureate project work, so he decided to
turn the tree-planting into a large-scale
on-going experiment.
Research Assistant Professor Rachel
Standish is overseeing the plant aspect
of ecosystem restoration on the farm
near Pingelly. She and Professor Hobbs,
together with Research Associates Mike
Perring and Kris Hulvey (all Plant
Biology), co-ordinated the planting of
14,000 trees over two days, with a team
of about 23 people each day.
Staff and student volunteers joined
members of Men of the Trees to plant
eucalypts, wattles and banksias on
20-odd hectares of farmland previously
used for cropping and grazing.
“My research group decided to take
advantage of seed funding from our
Dean Professor Tony O’Donnell and the
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural
Sciences to set up an experiment to
examine the effects of different
combinations of plants on various
aspects of ecosystem functioning,”
Professor Hobbs said.
These aspects include carbon storage,
soil processes and resistance to invasion
by non-native species.
“We planted different combinations of
trees and trees and shrubs in 128 plots,
each about 25 metres square,” he said.
“Depending on how fast they grow,
we will see some results quickly, but the
whole idea of the farm is to look to the
future and we are laying the foundations
for an experiment that will last for
decades.”
A/Professor Standish said they used the
vegetation that had existed before the
land had been cleared for farming as a
guide for restoration. “York Gum
woodland existed on the site prior to
agriculture, so we selected plants from
that vegetation type,” she said.
The experiment will look at how different
species assemblages and their microcommunities
interact and affect carbon
storage, the physical, chemical and
biological properties of the soil, including
the work of soil microbes and
macrofauna (for example, termites),
as well as pollination, recolonisation by
native plants and animals and the
invasion of weeds.
Wattles fix nitrogen in the soil, while
banksias extract nutrients in what
Professor Hobbs describes as a
peculiarly Western Australian way.
“They have an odd mechanism for
extracting nutrients from impoverished
soil,” he said.
The Future Farm’s own Open Day will be
on October 1st, with a theme of
showcasing research on reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. Visitors will
be able to see research being done in
this area through cropping, livestock
innovations and tree planting.
ABOVE: Students, staff and locals
all pitched in together RIGHT: Rachel Standish
Photos by Richard Hobbs and Cristina Ramalho
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 6 September 2010 11