LAND DEGREDATION IN AUSTRALIA

Land degradation in Australia

1.0 Introduction
Land degradation is the process in which the value of the
biophysical environment gets affected by a combination of manmade processes which act upon the land. It is also viewed as any
change or disturbance of the land perceived to be undesirable. It
takes the land out of production and effects agricultural fields and
profiles of farmers.
Figure 1: A map showing the amounts of land degradation across
Australia

(http://bio-agriculture.org/bio-agriculture_4.html )

1.1 Aims
The aims of this report are to investigate the causes and effects of
land degradation in Australia and to offer possible solutions to the
protection.

2.0 Discussion of findings

There are numerous factors that contribute to land degradation
ranging from as far back as the early European settlers to Climate
change from green-house gases in the current decade. Other factors
include overgrazing from foreign animals, over-clearing to build
estates and housing, dryland and wetland salinity, introduced

species from Europe and other continents and a large variety of

various smaller factors.

2.1 Cause and effects

A) A numerous amounts of introduced species were brought over
from England and Europe in the early to mid-19th century when
Australia was first being set up as a colony. Most species were
introduced as a food source or for things like wool and hide, for
example cows or sheep. But as the numbers started to grow, the
native fauna was removed from their natural habitats. The larger the
population of the introduced species grows, the more food they
need, which meant the species had to eat the native grasses and
tree saplings which exposed the soil to erosion.
Suggestions to bring camels to Australia were first announced in the
early 1800s, to be used for exploring Australias large deserts. In
1839 Lieutenant Colonel George Gawler, the Governor of South
Australia, suggested that the animals be imported and put to work in
the semi-arid regions of Australia. The first camels arrived in 1840
from the Canary Islands, transported by the Phillips brothers of
Adelaide. The only surviving Camel from the voyage was named
Henry and was used for inland exploration by pastoralists and
explorers.
2008 it was thought that Australias feral camel population had
grown to one million and was projected to double every 8 years.
Camels are known to cause serious degradation and environmental
effects particularly during when its dry. The hooves of the camel are
particularly bad because they kick up the dry layers of sand on top
of the rock that act as a barrier to other forms of erosion.
Management projects have been funded to limit the feral population
to around 300,000.
Figure 2: An image or feral camels in the Australian outback

(http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-21/feral-camel-cullingreport/5105884 )
Feral goats first arrived in Australia with the first fleet as a source of
food and wool and towards the 1920s, they were taken around
Australia by miners, Railway construction companies and settlers. A
specific breed known as Kashmir sheep was used in Australia for its
wool but when the industry collapsed in the 1930s they were set
free into the wild. This caused them to become feral and roam
throughout Australia. Though there arent any major examples of
goats dealing severe damage to large areas of the Australian
outback, they do contribute to the total amount of damage to local
vegetation, soil and native fauna in these areas. One of the current
main methods of removing the pest is by capturing them at water
holes and then selling them to farms.
Figure 3: Feral goats in a herd in Western Australia

(https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/pest-mammals/feral-goat )
B) The cactus plant was first introduced to Australia in the mid-19 th
century as a natural fence and to help establish a cochineal dye
industry. Many of the species, especially tiger pear, quickly spread
and became an invasive species rendering 40,000 square kilometres
of farming land unproductive. In some cases, farmers had
abandoned their homes because of the so called Green hell. Action
was quickly done to help prevent the pest with the introduction of a
South American moth, the Cactoblastis cactorum in 1925. The larvae
of the moth eat the prickly pear and this method almost wiped out
the population. This is often used by scientists as a good example of
successful biological pest control.

Figure 4
A prickly pear forest circa 1930
(Google images)

C) Cane toads are the largest species in the family Bufonidae. Adult
cane toads can way an average of 1.8kg (4 lbs) and their size can
vary from 10 23 cm (4-9 inches). The coloration on their back and
sides can vary from brown to grey and yellow while their stomachs
are normally white or bright yellow. The cane toad is regarded in
Australia as a feral or invasive species. They originate from south
and Middle America and were introduced to Australia from Hawaii in
June 1935 by the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (now the
Sugar Research Australia) along with the CSIRO. They were
introduced to help control the Cane beetle problem. However, the

correct research and testing wasnt done and it was later discovered
that the Cane toad wasnt a predator to the beetle. This was for a
number of reasons, the first of which being that the average adult
beetle lived at least a meter up the Cane plant where the toad
couldnt reach. Another reason was that the Toad was too slow for
the beetle. Today the beetle has spread throughout Queensland and
New South Wales and is threatening to break through to the Kakadu
National Park in the Northern Territory.
Figure 5: Map showing the rate in which cane toads have spread
since 1935

(http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-09/cane-toad-evolutionadvance-genetic-research-rick-shine/5799008)

3.0 Recommendations/Evaluation/Justification
The two biggest causes of land degradation in Australia are the
effects of introduced species of animals such as goats and rabbits
over time and erosion caused by the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia).
Both of these factors combined are estimated to have caused over
35% of the land degradation in Australia.
Australians have been trying to get rid of prickly pears almost since
their introduction in early-19th century. Since becoming a pest in
Australia there have been many strategies made including using
herbicides, manual removal and biological control. These may be
useful in an urban setting but none compare to the use of the
Cactoblastis cactorum, a South American moth whose larvae eat the
prickly pear. Though this moth may be a pest in Southern USA, it has
been extremely effective in wiping out prickly pear forests that had
grown during the introduction of the plant. The moth has dwindled
the numbers of the plant down vastly letting the land that it once
controlled can be home to native flora and fauna. The moth had

cleared away 50% of the cactus within its first 10 years of being
introduced
The introduction of invasive species is very large threat to land
degradation as well as the local flora and fauna. Some of these pests
include rabbits, goats and camels which have been slowly
introduced since the 19th century. There are many strategies to
control the numbers of these animals including poisoning food and
water sources and manually removing them. The most successful
strategy currently is manually removing and sending them away to
be domesticated or put on farms so society can use them.
Figure 6: A chart comparing 2 removal strategies

Removal Suggestions
4.5
4

3.5

Ratings out of 5

2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

Suggestions

(T. Parrott, 29/05)

4.0 Conclusion
Land degradation is one of the most severe problems that is
effecting Australia today. There are many strategies that have been
made to remove the sources of these problems including rabbits and
prickly pears. Hopefully, if these strategies are used then Australias
land degradation problem will decrease dramatically.

Bibliography
Cover image 1: Land degradation caused by sewerage with high pH
levels (http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1772525.htm )
Cover image 2: Image showing land degradation in an agricultural
catchment near Ararat in WA

(http://vro.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/pages/lwm_land_
deg )
Source 1:
Used for information on camels. Highly useful.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_feral_camel )
Source 2:
Very helpful information on Cane toads and their introduction to
Australia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia )
Extra sources:
https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasivespecies/publications/factsheet-cane-toad-bufo-marinus
http://www.canetoadsinoz.com/invasion.html
http://www.weeds.org.au/cgi-bin/weedident.cgi?
tpl=plant.tpl&ibra=all&card=S12
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industry/agriculture/species/declare
d-pests/weeds/prickly-pear