And then to make it even more complex, the more diverse number of soil species that dwarfs the above ground species that are more fragile to hooves, fire, and UV that have been completely lost (not even studied before they were lost).
Humans could have kept track of a percentage of above ground species for introduction but the technology was barely there to even imagine what was lost in erosion and fire. And that likely underpins everything above ground.
Rocklea, on the city’s south side, had the most buybacks of any Brisbane suburb, with 72 properties spanning more than 50,000 square metres acquired....
Still happening to this day but thanks to modern machinery only a few now fight it. The rest of us can ignore the battle to our detriment.
We had local farmer spray out 7km of riparian zone in 2 weeks for the cows. I’ve busted my butt for 2 years to plant up 3000 plants in 2400m2 (60m long) upstream from there. Nothing is fair.
Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by First Nations people....
Across all forests in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area in the Australian State of New South Wales, the probability of canopy scorch or crown burn remained high until 20 years post fire, but then declined to near zero by 30 years (Barker & Price, 2018).
The latter study also showed that the likelihood of canopy-damaging fires was related to the severity of the previous fire, so that one fire in disturbed forests set in motion an accelerating likelihood of future severe fires. Crown burn was most likely in dry sclerophyll forests of south-eastern Australia if they had been burned in the previous 5–15 years (Storey, Price & Tasker, 2016).
Whereas the forests and woodlands discussed above exhibited an initial brief reduction in flammability that preceded a more flammable regrowth period caused by the disturbance, this pattern was not detectable on an annual scale in an analysis of fire trends in Kakadu National Park in the Australian tropics. Flammability decreased linearly from the first year, reaching a near-zero likelihood of wildfire in all communities by 15 years (Gill et al., 2000).
Analysis of long-term fire records for Southwest Australian eucalypt forests has confirmed these expectations, demonstrating that long-unburnt forests are 7.4 times less likely to burn than forests still recovering from fire (Zylstra et al., 2022).
A mechanistic analysis of red tingle (Eucalyptus jacksonii) forest in south-western Australia, for example, demonstrated that mature forest facilitated more successful application of fire-suppression techniques than disturbed forests under the same weather conditions (Zylstra et al., 2023).
At a global scale, the predominance of young forest may represent a major challenge in fire management. For instance, McDowell et al. (2020) reported that the percentage of young forest stands (< 140 years old) has increased from 11.3% in 1900 to 33.6% in 2015 of the total forest area at the global scale.
I wonder when the point will be that indigenous plants will no longer be the only thing recommended for planting. My lifetime, the next? The article writes like we are already there but I’m not seeing it yet.
Endemic planting is akin to climate change denial perhaps. Here in the “natural area restoration” field, most are recreating pre-colonial consortiums, you know, 250 years ago for us, before climate change was a twinkle in humanity’s eye.
Particularly when native is different from indigenous/endemic. It’s a confusing topic with native tending to mean every national plant without acknowledging native in relation to endemic is the same as exotic and non-exotic. There are plenty of “native invasive weeds” that we need to deal with on a daily basis. We’ve talked about provenancing before, an endemic plant from another range is “exotic” to that area it evolved in but genetically is similar but diverse enough to count in the “pub test” (layperson understanding of plants).
Exotic plants in the urban landscape exist because while an urban landscape is alien; from the soil, to the hydrology, to the wind, to the reflective heat, to the pollution, removing endemic pest/disease pressures gives them a leg up on native plants which means they tend to do better (initially and at the cost of other things). That’s 1800’s to 1980’s urban planning, then we switched to natives, then endemics, and now climate change is like “get fucked”. Back to the drawing board. You’re right, intense study needed.
Is the sigh based on invasive species bring present from the early lovefest of carrying everything around and then the agricultural lovefest of intentionally moving everything around and you imagine it could happen again?
Or is the sigh that you wished climate change wasn’t real and you could go back to the good old days where indigenous species would just grow like they did for the previous 10,000 years?
The climate is changing. It sucks and these articles are the result of it. Rather than willy-nilly introducing species like yesteryear, this is going to be measured and studied to increase a functioning tree cover’s survival. I feel as though your sigh is a hindrance, rather than a help. What does the sigh mean?
What makes you smarter than people studying these problems? A single example of a plant introduced in 1963?
You can’t just declare your opinion to be right. And you can’t ignore climate change to suit your argument. Nor can you deny that urban areas are very diverse in exotic tree species and that won’t change because you want it to. A single comment isn’t putting the genie back in the bottle, nor stopping climate change, or land degradation/clearing, or new pests and diseases.
Australian households could save $9.3 billion on energy bills each year by investing in the untapped solar potential of residential rooftops across the nation, a new report has found....
The sovereign citizen movement rejects the legitimacy of the government. Its fast-growing popularity has had authorities scrambling to get a handle on how far its tentacles have reached....
Indigenous rangers in the Western Desert area of northern Western Australia recently spotted a small mole covered in silky golden hair, marking the second sighting in six months. The desert region is home to unique species adapted to the hot, dry environment. The rangers play a crucial role in monitoring and protecting these...
I’ve been reading up on the various persistent herbicides that are out there and how they can pass through animals and composting intact and I was wondering how significant an issue this would be for those of us gardening in Australia....
It might only be an issue if you are using hay or cow manure. Most people seem to use sugarcane.
I spoke to a friend that worked as a plumber at an abattoir and next door was a Searles. They used thebgrass from the cows stomach in some of their products. I had no idea potting mix wasn’t vegan. There is a potential contamination there.
You should see the rapid change in vehicle types happening here. Dual cab utes, overly large (US trucks). A lot of American imports turning up (usually the cheaper Ram) but even the domestic models are swelling in size from the work vehicles they used to be.
It may be too late. We are America Jnr. It’s a good way to identify people who don’t give a fuck though.
A quick change from Commodore and Falcon Ute to 4WD dual cabs being the “bogan” vehicle of choice. The change from average ute size to oversized was a blink of an eye.
Then conversely the small SUV (a taller car) became the Prado-style giant SUV of the day.
Car spotting game (aussie.zone)
https://aussie.zone/pictrs/image/8ba5da5e-be13-4079-80a8-185d359baf65.png...
A cool guide about Biodiversity in the garden (i.redd.it)
cross-posted from: lemmit.online/post/2836792...
Investors with questions: how a ‘clean food’ farm scheme born of Covid vaccine fears descended into rancour (www.theguardian.com)
Long term monitoring plots (slrpnk.net)
A climate-induced tree species bottleneck for forest management in Europe (www.nature.com)
Hundreds of properties bought after Queensland floods start new life as green space (www.abc.net.au)
Rocklea, on the city’s south side, had the most buybacks of any Brisbane suburb, with 72 properties spanning more than 50,000 square metres acquired....
I couldn't get past the foreword and not be horrified (slrpnk.net)
Glacing out my window here in rural NE Tas, we’re still warring with nature and nature is loosing....
Australia's tall, wet forests were not open and park-like when colonists arrived—and we shouldn't be burning them (phys.org)
Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by First Nations people....
160 pilot whales stranded and 26 confirmed dead in Western Australia – video (www.theguardian.com)
Italian herbs and spices (mander.xyz)
As the climate changes, cities scramble to find trees that will survive (grist.org)
Untapped rooftop solar: Australian homes could save $9.3 billion a year, UNSW study finds - One Step Off The Grid (onestepoffthegrid.com.au)
Australian households could save $9.3 billion on energy bills each year by investing in the untapped solar potential of residential rooftops across the nation, a new report has found....
The rise of financial sovereignty — and why some Australians believe they don't have to pay tax - ABC News (www.abc.net.au)
The sovereign citizen movement rejects the legitimacy of the government. Its fast-growing popularity has had authorities scrambling to get a handle on how far its tentacles have reached....
Rare pic of blind mole captured in outback (www.abc.net.au)
Indigenous rangers in the Western Desert area of northern Western Australia recently spotted a small mole covered in silky golden hair, marking the second sighting in six months. The desert region is home to unique species adapted to the hot, dry environment. The rangers play a crucial role in monitoring and protecting these...
Avoiding persistent herbicide contamination
I’ve been reading up on the various persistent herbicides that are out there and how they can pass through animals and composting intact and I was wondering how significant an issue this would be for those of us gardening in Australia....
Australian Labor unveils watered-down fuel efficiency standard that eases emission rules for large SUVs (www.theguardian.com)