From: Martin on 22/03/2000 09:20 AM
To:
cc:
Subject: Tree decline in Gippsland
Some further thoughts about the Gippsland tree decline from David Cameron, a
Senior Botanist with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in
Melbourne.
The dead or dying gum trees to which Peter (Waanders) refers are in fact the
Forest Red-gum Eucalyptus tereticornis which once dominated the forests and
woodlands of the Sale Plain between the La Trobe Valley and the Gippsland Lakes
in Central Gippsland. The dieback is well acknowledged in land management
circles although the cause and cure are more difficult to determine. Important
contributing factors include a history of vegetation clearance for grazing and
in some areas for irrigated pasture improvement and horticultural cropping,
altered fire and flood regimes, the direct and indirect impacts of stock
grazing, the introduction of rabbits and the elimination of native herbivores,
the application of fertilizers and of course the inadvertent or deliberate
introduction of agricultural and environmental weeds and pasture grasses. All
these processes have unquestionably resulted in deleterious impacts on
hydrology, nutrient balance and fire dynamics which determine the ability of
native plant populations, including the dominant tree species, to flourish and
regenerate and to recruit new individuals through seed germination.
The resulting scenario of rural tree decline is merely the most visible symptom
of a deeper long-term and insidious progression of ecological destabilisation
observable throughout the grassy woodlands of near-coastal and inland plains of
south-eastern Australia. Agents of rural decline such as leaf-eating insects,
beetle attack, fungal infections, mistletoe infestations and tree decline
associated with Bellbirds are part of the process of decline, not the primary
cause, and attempts to respond to these agents in isolation does little to
address the underlying degradation process.
Martin O'Brien
Executive Scientific Officer - Scientific Advisory Committee
Parks Flora and Fauna Division
Department of Natural Resources and Environment
4/250 Victoria Pde.,
East Melbourne 3002
AUSTRALIA
Tel: 9412 4567
Fax: 9412 4586
(prefixes: Interstate 03 International 613)
email:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to
Include ONLY "unsubscribe birding-aus"
in the message body (without the quotes)
|
