Landscape Ecology, Function and Management: Principles from Australia's Rangelands

Landscape Ecology

Function and Management

Principles from Australia’s Rangelands

EDITORS

J. Ludwig, D. Tongway, D. Freudenberger, J. Noble, K. Hodgkinson

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Landscape ecology, function and management:

principles from Australia’s rangelands.

Bibliography.

Includes index.

ISBN 0 643 05797 8.

I. Range ecology - Australia. 2. Range management - Australia.

3. Rangelands - Australia. 4. Arid regions - Australia.

I. Ludwig, John, 1941-. II. CSIRO.

333.736170994

© CSIRO Australia 1997

This book is available from:

CSIRO Publishing

PO Box 1139 (150 Oxford Street), Collingwood, VIC 3066, Australia

Tel. (03) 9662 7666 Int: +61 (3) 9662 7666

Fax (03) 9662 7555 Int: +61 (3) 9662 7555

Email: sales@publish.csiro.au

World Wide Web: http://www.publish.csiro.au

About the Authors:

John A. Ludwig, David J. Tongway, David O. Freudenberger, James C. Noble and Kenneth C. Hodgkinson

National Rangelands Program, CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology

PO Box 84, Lyneham Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2602, Australia

Graham F. Griffin

Centre for Arid Zone Research, CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology

PO Box 2111, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0871, Australia

Neil D. MacLeod

Cunningham Laboratory, CSIRO Tropical Agriculture

306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Queensland, 4067, Australia

Dr Joel R. Brown

Davies Laboratory, CSIRO Tropical Agriculture

Private Mail Bag, Aitkenvale, Queensland, 4814, Australia

Publisher: Laurie Martinelli, Publishing Assistant: Kylie Crane, Cover design: Linda Kemp

Typesetting: Desktop Concepts, Production Manager: Jim Quinlan

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Landscape Function

Chapter 1

A Landscape Approach to Rangeland Ecology

John A. Ludwig and David J. Tongway

Chapter 2

The Conservation of Water and Nutrients within Landscapes

David J. Tongway and John A. Ludwig

Chapter 3

Production Pulses and Flow-ons in Rangeland Landscapes

Ken Hodgkinson and David Freudenberger

Chapter 4

Consumption, Regulation and Off-take: A Landscape Perspective on Pastoralism

David Freudenberger and Jim Noble

Landscape Dysfunction

Chapter 5

The Nature of Landscape Dysfunction in Rangelands

David J. Tongway and John A. Ludwig

Colour Plates

Chapter 6

Causes and Consequences of Landscape Dysfunction in Rangelands

David Freudenberger, Ken Hodgkinson and Jim Noble

Landscape Function and Responsive Management

Chapter 7

A Landscape Perspective on Rangeland Management

Jim Noble and Joel Brown

Chapter 8

Management for Production and Conservation Goals in Rangelands

David Freudenberger, Jim Noble and Ken Hodgkinson

Chapter 9

The Rehabilitation of Landscape Function in Rangelands

Jim Noble, Neil MacLeod and Graham Griffin

Rangeland Landscapes

Chapter 10

Towards a Sustainable Future for Rangelands

John A. Ludwig and David Freudenberger

References

Index

Foreword

Land-use patterns in Australia’s rangelands are changing, and changing rapidly. Eco-tourism is now a fast-growing industry. Aboriginal occupation of lands is increasing, especially in central and northern Australia, with a move towards a more traditional cultural use of their land. The defence forces also utilise pastoral properties for training-grounds. Pressure to conserve wildlife, and the biological diversity of rangelands (where many extinctions have occurred), is being applied by environmental groups. Although its impacts are local, mining is expanding in many rangeland regions and its products are Australia’s biggest export earner. Finally, the Federal Government has signed international obligations on biodiversity, desertification and global climate change. Consequently there are strong pressures to address these issues in rangelands.

In Australia, governments and decision-makers who administer public lands such as the vast areas of rangelands leased to pastoralists, are feeling these pressures for change. They are being asked to take a more environmental view of rangelands and to develop an awareness of the value of rangelands for purposes other than livestock raising. They need, and want, a better understanding of how rangelands function; this book can help with that understanding.

People who live in Australia’s rangelands, and those who are responsible for rangeland management, are aiming for sustainable land use practices founded on knowledge and experience. This book is a significant contribution to our knowledge about rangelands.

A team of authors contributed to this book, mostly from the National Rangelands Program within the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology. Collectively they bring many decades of experience and research to bear on the problem of sustainable rangeland use.

Brian H. Walker

Chief, Division of Wildlife and Ecology

CSIRO Australia

Preface

Nearly 10 years ago our CSIRO research group commenced an integrated study of a mulga, Acacia aneura, woodland site on the pastoral property, Lake Mere, in western New South Wales, Australia. Our decision to establish studies in these semi-arid woodlands was the culmination of much discussion, consultation and searching. Our search was for an open, grassy woodland in near-pristine condition, and this we found at Lake Mere. Our approach was to study the ecology of this mulga woodland and the impact of grazing on the functioning of this landscape. The original team which set up the study site, and designed a set of integrated studies for the site, included: Dean Graetz, Richard Greene, Graham Harrington, Ken Hodgkinson, John Ludwig, Neil MacLeod, Fiona McFarland, Bill Mulham, Jim Noble, David Tongway, Brian Walker and Allan Wilson.

The Lake Mere study site was designed as a series of plots with a range of grazing pressures applied by combinations of sheep and kangaroos. Allan Wilson set up this grazing and competition study in 1986 and ran it until 1990; David Freudenberger then joined the team and carried the competition study to its conclusion in 1994; other grazing impact studies have continued to the present. Numerous other studies have been completed, or continue, on the site, where we have a commitment to long-term ecological research. The Lake Mere study has enabled us to elucidate the internal workings of a semi-arid landscape, and what happens to that landscape if it is being pushed too far by grazing pressures. Much of our understanding of landscape function has been obtained by our studies at Lake Mere, although our studies and understanding have now evolved well beyond Lake Mere to include other semi-arid lands in Australia, Africa and the USA. In this book we wish to share this understanding, even though incomplete, of how these landscapes work.

As part of the original grazing study, John Ludwig and David Tongway were responsible for a detailed vegetation and soils description for the Lake Mere site. Vegetation and soil patterns were strongly evident: distinctive groves of mulga trees were separated by open, nearly treeless intergroves. Others had reported this pattern for other mulga lands of Australia, so this was not new. However, what did become evident — more with time and observation than from our original data — was the extent and importance of this grove-intergrove patchiness, and other smaller-scale patches, on landscape function. For example, at the same time as the initial soil and vegetation descriptions were undertaken, Jim Noble also surveyed the distributions of harvester termite pavements and soil hummocks formed around fallen mulga logs. Again, there were distinct patterns evident — the densities of both these soil-surface features being greatest in the intergroves. A colleague, Walt Whitford, who was visiting from New Mexico, USA, at the time, helped open our eyes to the importance of these small-scale patches in terms of landscape processes and function.

What became clear from these studies on patchiness at Lake Mere was the critical importance of patches in determining how semi-arid landscape function to conserve scarce water and nutrients within the local system, preventing these vital resources from escaping out into creeks. We’ve also learned how these patches fall apart. At the beginning of the Lake Mere study, Ken Hodgkinson established a demographic study of the perennial grasses at the site. By following the life and times of individual grasses, we have gained an understanding of how these very small-scale patches break down through death by grazing and drought. Through the work of Allan Wilson and David Freudenberger, we have gained an understanding of the importance of patches to animal production. In addition, another colleague, Richard Greene, now at the Australian National University, carried out studies on Lake Mere with other colleagues to quantify relationships between patch density and runoff. These studies, and the intellectual exchanges fostered by them, have combined to develop our understanding how landscapes function to conserve scarce resources. This understanding can contribute to the management of grazing lands for sustainable production, and for the conservation of habitats and biodiversity; these are the central themes of the book.

The first Section of this book is on the ecology of how semi-arid landscapes function. In Chapter 1 we develop a conceptual model, called the trigger-transfer-reserve-pulse framework, for how landscapes function — we use this construct throughout the book. The processes by which landscapes conserve scarce water and nutrients are covered in Chapter 2. When stores of water and nutrients exceed critical thresholds, pulses of activity occur in the landscape. Plant production pulses are discussed in Chapter 3, and the many and varied pulses of consumers in Chapter 4.

The second Section of the book deals with what happens when things go wrong, when a landscape loses its ability to efficiently capture and store water and nutrients — a state we call dysfunctional. Chapter 5 describes landscape dysfunction in detail, while Chapter 6 looks at its causes and consequences.

In the third Section of the book we consider ways of managing rangelands through an understanding of landscape function. Chapter 7 discusses management responses from the perspective of rangelands being viewed as functioning landscapes. Chapter 8 examines appropriate responses for managing total grazing pressures on rangelands and impacts on conservation values, while Chapter 9 looks at rehabilitation. We end with a look to the future — some scenarios for the way rangeland landscapes may be used, some management strategies for their sustainable use, and some future research needs such as indicators of sustainable use.

One of our aims in writing this book is to extend to the many and diverse groups interested in arid and semi-arid lands our knowledge on how these landscapes function as resource conserving systems. Landcare and Catchment Management groups are forming a growing communication and education network across Australia’s rangelands. Coordinators are often engaged by these groups to facilitate educational activities. We hope that they, and government policy-makers, land administrators, extension staff, research officers, and students undertaking courses in the management of natural resources, will find this book of value. We are also hoping that it will be of use to our fellow scientists, including overseas colleagues with an interest in Australia. We know there are many similarities between arid and semi-arid landscapes in Australia and other parts of the world.

Although most of this book was written by five of us in the Canberra-based unit of the National Rangelands Program, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, CSIRO, we want to acknowledge our colleagues who made direct contributions to some of the chapters: Graham Griffin, in the Alice Springs unit of CSIROs National Rangelands Program, and Neil MacLeod and Joel Brown from CSIRO Tropical Agriculture at Brisbane and Townsville, respectively. We also acknowledge the indirect contributions of many research colleagues in CSIRO, State Departments, Universities and overseas who have helped us crystallise our thinking on landscape function, and who encouraged us to write about it in a general style. We gratefully acknowledge the enormous contributions made by technical staff and volunteers, too numerous to list, who have assisted in our research. Without them, the Lake Mere and related studies would not have been possible. We sincerely thank John Calaby for reviewing and Ed Highley for technical editing draft chapters. We thank Robert Eager for assistance with preparing the index. Our publishing editor, Laurie Martinelli, enabled this all to be put into print.

John A. Ludwig, David J. Tongway,

David O. Freudenberger, James C. Noble

and Kenneth C. Hodgkinson

National Rangelands Program

CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

March 1996

I. Landscape Function

Chapter 1

A Landscape Approach to Rangeland Ecology

John A. Ludwig and David J. Tongway

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this book is to provide a fresh look at how to understand rangelands by building a rational framework based on landscape ecology, and upon which the impacts of many uses of rangelands can be assessed. Understanding rangelands as landscapes that function in predictable ways is the key to achieving sustainable management.

Our approach is to view rangelands as landscape systems. We will demonstrate that these landscapes are highly organised and that this structure functions to conserve scarce water and nutrients. Our theme is that having a better understanding of this resource conservation function, and how it operates (its ecology), can lead to a better management of rangelands, whatever their value for a given use.

Rangeland managers, administrators and policy-makers are facing seemingly ever increasing conflicts over the demands and values being placed on using these lands for different purposes. Imagine, for a minute, rangelands as a bazaar where many vendors are competing with each other to display their wares. Some vendors have a large number of inexpensive items and need lots of space, while others want only a small space because they have small, but valuable, goods. Conflicts occur, particularly as new vendors with different wares demand space to sell their products. Resolution of these conflicts is easier if one understands how such systems operate. If conflicts over the different uses of rangelands are to be resolved, it is imperative that we understand how they function, how they work.

Rangeland uses — pastoralism

Aboriginals lived throughout the arid and semi-arid regions of Australia as hunters-gatherers. They were largely displaced from semi-arid areas by European pastoralism by the late 1800s. With the development of pastoralism came roads, fences, bores and pipes, and pests; rabbits, foxes, cats, camels, goats, pigs, donkeys and horses were but a few larger feral animal pests, without discounting the impacts of introduced rats, mice, and the like, or numerous pest plants such as the prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia spp.). These pests have had big impacts on rangelands (e.g. extinctions of native fauna and flora). Much has been written on these impacts. For brief reviews, the reader is referred to Noble and Tongway (1986) and Hobbs and Hopkins (1990). A recommended popular reading is ‘They all ran wild — the animals and plants that plague Australia’ (Rolls 1984).

Pastoralists today are finding themselves under immense economic and social pressures. They have to deal with rising costs and lower prices — the cost-price squeeze. Properties are often too small to be economically viable — many are walking off their lands or leases, deeply in debt to banks or other lenders. Others are selling-out to neighbours, Aboriginal groups, or absentee owners. Many of these absentee owners are using their rangeland properties, not for pastoralism, but as outback sporting blocks. Aboriginals may continue some form of pastoralism, but many are returning to their traditional ways — hunting and gathering food off the land. The economic plight of pastoralists has been summarised by Johnston et al. (1990) and Wilcox and Cunningham (1994).

Environmental groups, the urban greens, are demanding pastoralists take better care of public lands leased for grazing. They are insisting on a better stewardship of rangelands. Some are even calling for complete destocking of the rangelands, a return to livestock-free landscapes. But one cannot turn back the clock, as destocked landscapes would still be home to hordes of feral animals, and subject to their grazing impacts. An essay on ‘Hoofs, hoofs on the range’ (pp. 98-99) in Beale and Fray’s 1990 book, ‘The vanishing continent’, presents an argument for destocking rangelands, but overall the book focuses on managing the lands of Australia better. Assessments that look to the future of Australias rangelands are provided by Foran et al. (1990) and Morton and Price (1994).

Other rangeland uses — mining, conservation, etc.

Mining itself generally makes intensive use of only small areas within the rangelands, but conflicts arise over the impacts of widespread exploration activities — shot-line roads going up and over dunes, drilling pads placed in near-pristine areas, etc. Conflicts also occur when valuable minerals are found and mining permits are sought within existing or proposed national parks, such as Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. The mining industry argues that its products are the biggest earner of export dollars for the Australian economy — a fact important to politicians among others. Environmental groups, and the booming tourism industry, counter with arguments of the high value of Australias natural beauty and heritage, and the need to prevent mining scars (e.g. Beale and Fray 1990). Conserving biological diversity in rangelands is also very high on the political agenda, with Australia’s signing of international conventions on biodiversity and desertification.

Although total area of use is again small, the significance of military activities within rangelands should not be discounted. The Australian Defence Forces have been shifting many of their training facilities to northern Australia. At last count, they own and operate 52 facilities across the savannas of the north (Barton and McDonald 1996). In managing training grounds located near towns or cities, the military often impedes people seeking areas for recreation. Also, the military has been accused of spreading pests and weeds during its manoeuvres, of damaging land during tank exercises, and of leaving behind unexploded shells.

The recreational uses of rangelands, and conflicts associated with access rights to leased public lands for touring, shooting and fishing, are a growing issue. An interesting list of current and proposed uses for rangelands is given by Morton and Stafford Smith (1994). The list is based on a survey of over 100 pastoralists. Multiple-use conflicts within rangelands were aired at the 1994 symposium and workshop, ‘The future of tropical savannas: an Australian perspectives, the proceedings of which make interesting reading (Ash 1996).

In any debate aimed at resolving conflicts concerning the multiple-use of rangelands, such as in the tropical savannas, there is a need for a better understanding of the basic ecology of such lands. In his succinct review, Walker (1993) calls for such an understanding, and argues for the use of appropriate conceptual models. We agree that an ecological approach can help with this understanding and begin by developing a conceptual framework for describing how arid and semi-arid landscapes function. We then provide a short description of the ecological and rangeland management foundations upon which our landscape framework is built, briefly covering the conceptual models reviewed in more detail by Walker. We end this chapter by giving a generally accepted definition of landscape ecology, and engage in some general discussion about where our approach fits within a wider context of landscape studies.

Although we will make use of data from a number of different sites to illustrate points made throughout the book, many examples will come from our Lake Mere site (Box 1.1), located within the semi-arid woodlands of eastern Australia. Harrington et al. (1984a) describe the distribution, climate, soil and vegetation of these woodlands, while Wilson and Graetz (1979) have described these woodlands within a broader context.

OUR LANDCAPE FRAMEWORK

A framework is a structure to hang or build things on. Our framework for how arid and semi-arid landscapes function is depicted in a schematic diagram of four main elements — trigger, transfer, reserve, pulse — with arrows indicating flows of materials between these elements (Fig. 1.1). In this opening chapter we introduce the elements and their associated flows. They are discussed in detail, with examples, in Chapters 2, 3 and 4.

Box 1.1. The CSIRO Lake Mere study site

In 1986 our rangelands research group, then based in Deniliquin, New South Wales, set up a new study site on a grazing property, Lake Mere, located about 100 km west of Bourke, New South Wales. We selected a 200 ha mulga (Acacia aneura) woodland site that was in near-pristine condition and strongly patterned into groves and intergroves (Plate 1.1). A grazing study was established on the site with 12 plots ranging in size from 7.5 to 30 ha. Each was stocked with either sheep alone or sheep plus kangaroos equivalent to having six wether merino sheep per plot, resulting in stocking intensities from 0.2 (low) to 0.8 (high) sheep/ha. Wool production, sheep weights and forage production were monitored every 3 months from 1986 to 1994. Wilson (1991a, b) describes some early results from the Lake Mere grazing study. A point of interest — Lake Mere is named after an ephemeral lake on the property.

Figure 1.1. The trigger-transfer-reserve-pulse framework for arid and semi-arid landscapes.

The trigger — when pulled, things happen

In arid and semi-arid environments, perhaps in most environments, rainfall triggers biological, physical and chemical activities. Noy-Meir (1973), in his classic paper on desert ecosystems, calls rainfall ‘the master input’, describing deserts as ‘water-controlled ecosystems’ with discrete ‘pulses’ of activity after quiescent periods. Few would argue with this view, although other desert ecologists, such as Whitford et al. (1987), have stressed the importance of nutrients (e.g. nitrogen) in limiting ecosystem responses triggered by rains. Results from watering and fertilising experiments point to the importance of nutrients in regulating pulses (Gutierrez et al. 1988).

Inputs of water as rainfall into arid and semi-arid landscapes are infrequent, variable in amount, and unpredictable over space and time. This erratic nature of rainfall can be illustrated by some observations from Bourke, New South Wales, and our Lake Mere study site (Box 1.2).

Rainfall can trigger dramatic events, as discussed below. Indeed, if the trigger is pulled (i.e. rain falls), and there is no response, one is immediately aware of a dangerous situation — something has gone wrong. In rangelands, if it rains and there is no response, no growth of forage, this is a strong signal that something is wrong with the system — the landscape has become dysfunctional. We discuss this situation in detail in Section II.

Transfers — water and wind as transporters

We use the term transfer to describe the horizontal redistribution of materials across a landscape. Both water and wind are agents of such transfer. We look first at the role of water in transfer processes, such as runoff-runon and erosion-deposition. Other transfers involving water include, for example, the infiltration of rainwater into the soil and the erosion of topsoil by runoff.

Any significant rainfall that does not immediately infiltrate into the soil runs off. Of course, other things happen too, such as direct interception by the plant canopy and evaporation, but these are minor processes. In Australia’s rangelands, runoff is very important because these arid and semi-arid lands have, in general, soils with very low infiltration rates, and sparse vegetation cover. Using a rainfall simulator, Greene et al. (1994) found infiltration rates of less than 10 mm/hr in a high stocking rate paddock on Lake Mere. Applying water at a rate of 30 mm/hr they found that ponding and runoff began after only a few minutes. They also found sediment loads were often over 0.3 g/L.

Box 1.2. Examples: Unpredictability of rainfall over space and time

The unpredictability of rainfall over space is illustrated by this example: during an afternoon storm, no rain fell 300 m to the east of our Lake Mere field camp while the camp itself received nearly 25 mm. Such patchy rains are typical of summer storms in Australia’s arid and semi-arid landscapes.

Unpredictability over time is illustrated by the chance of getting a significant rainfall. Based on daily rainfall records from 1877 to 1994 for Bourke, New South Wales, the probability of getting a rainfall above 50 mm on any day in mid-summer (January) was only 0.11, and in mid-winter (July) only 0.01. These probabilities are only one kind of very useful output generated by the software package. Australian Rainman (Clewett et al. 1994).

Runoff collects important materials, such as topsoil and litter, as it flows over the landscape. The capacity of runoff to transfer these materials downslope depends on the magnitude and intensity of the rain event, the slope, and the mobility of the materials. If the slope is low and smooth, runoff will be in the form of sheet-flow, which is typical of the gently sloping (<0.5%) rangelands in Australia. However, if the country is steeper and more rolling, runoff will be more directed or channelled. Focused water flows are very energetic and have high transporting capacities. One of the prime causes of degradation in rangelands is a change from low-energy runoff and transport to