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Grazing exclusion as a conservation measure in a South Australian temperate native grassland
Author(s) -
Souter Nicholas J.,
Milne Tim
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
grassland science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.388
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1744-697X
pISSN - 1744-6961
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-697x.2009.00142.x
Subject(s) - grazing , grassland , species richness , conservation grazing , tussock , temperate climate , ecology , vegetation (pathology) , exclosure , agronomy , agroforestry , environmental science , biology , medicine , pathology
Many of South Australia's remnant temperate native grasslands are degraded by introduced livestock grazing. As a conservation measure, grazing was excluded from three 50 × 50 m exclosures in grazed native grassland. After 4 years, grazing removal had a noticeable effect on the grassland structure, increasing basal vegetation cover. Grazing removal had no significant effect on either native or exotic species richness, rather differences in richness changed as a result of interannual differences, such as the amount of rainfall that fell in the growing season. The percent cover of the native tussock grass Austrostipa spp. and the introduced annual grass Avena barbata , whilst fluctuating from year to year, both increased following the removal of grazing. Multivariate analyses showed that whilst only interannual differences affected community taxon richness, changes in structure were affected by the interaction between grazing treatment and year. Excluding livestock from a degraded grassland resulted in limited recovery and restoration of these endangered plant associations will require active rehabilitation efforts.