Review of Grassland Management in south-eastern ... - Parks Victoria

Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 39
Grassland Management in SE Australia
reduce the risk of fire in the Plains Wanderer areas as domestic stock preferentially graze the
areas where Plains Wanderer inhabit. It may be that grasslands are initially grazed for a
short period prior to burning of non-Plains Wanderer habitat.
3.3 Conclusion
There is a clear divide in the management of grasslands (or the intensity of management)
necessary in Victoria to maintain biodiversity; this divide is principally that which separates
grassland types according to rainfall. Dry area grasslands (i.e. the Northern Plains
grasslands) are generally dominated by succulent herbs and wallaby grasses and require
gaps for herb germination and establishment. These gaps are generally created by climatic
episodes and these systems appear to be self-maintaining. On the other hand, the wetter
grasslands dominated by Kangaroo grass overgrow their gaps and require intervention to
allow for the maintenance of biodiversity. These systems are maintained by gap creation
generally through burning, although there has been an increase in the willingness to utilize
stock for this process. The use of stock for this process has greater negative impacts on soil
crust composition as well as the ability of native palatable forbs to establish and persist in
these areas. The continued use of stock for the process of gap creation and biomass
reduction may have long-term negative impacts on these systems. The use of stock needs to
be minimized and, according to the current literature, should not be used for conservation
purposes as it is not compatible with the long-term conservation of these systems. The use
of stock to reduce annual weeds in low diversity degraded systems may, however, be an
appropriate option. The use of slashing and fire to achieve similar outcomes needs to be
further investigated.
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