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Category: Project

Description: Eucalypt woodlands constitute some of the most extensive and yet exploited ecosystems in Australia. There are 28 woodland communities listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (15 Critically Endangered, 13 Endangered) but just 9 of these communities currently have recovery plans. Conservation and recovery plans are typically developed one at a time, and resources for conservation assessment and recovery planning are scarce. As such, there is a critical need for a more cost-efficient approach to the recovery planning process, which can expedite the provision of guidance on appropriate woodland management interventions for land managers. The question is, can we generalize to aid effective conservation management without losing critical specifics of floristically or geographically distant woodlands? The ecology, conservation and management of woodland communities is variable across southern Australia. Yet commonalities exist in ecosystem and community structure, and ecosystem functions and demographic processes. In addition, although there are different land use histories, woodlands have been subject to pressure from pastoralism and cropping across their range. While woodlands comprise diverse ecological communities, scientists and mangers need to able to determine whether idiosyncratic ecologies exist, and where different management strategies are needed. In this project, we want to bring together a wealth of expertise to develop and demonstrate a framework that facilitates the development of recovery plans by helping to i) articulate of the objectives of management and conservation; ii) understand the nature and magnitude of key threatening processes that act across woodlands in southern Australia, and; iii) justify and guide the choice of management intervention(s) to improve conservation status. This work will directly contribute to the development of a recovery plan.