Vegetation change and ecological processes in alpine and subalpine Sphagnum bogs of the Bogong High Plains, Victoria, Australia
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Published source details
Wahren C.-H.A., Williams R.J. & Papst W.A. (2001) Vegetation change and ecological processes in alpine and subalpine Sphagnum bogs of the Bogong High Plains, Victoria, Australia. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 33, 357-368.
Published source details Wahren C.-H.A., Williams R.J. & Papst W.A. (2001) Vegetation change and ecological processes in alpine and subalpine Sphagnum bogs of the Bogong High Plains, Victoria, Australia. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 33, 357-368.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Exclude or remove livestock from degraded peatlands Action Link |
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Exclude or remove livestock from degraded peatlands
A replicated, paired, controlled study in 1980–1996 in two grazed bogs in Australia (Wahren et al. 2001) found that excluding cattle with fences had no effect on vegetation cover. Over 15 years, cover of different vegetation types changed similarly in exclusion and grazed plots. Although Sphagnum moss cover increased in exclusion plots (from 15–20% to 23–24%), it also increased in grazed plots (from 16–18% to 19–20%). In one bog where heathland vegetation cover increased, it did so in both exclusion plots (from 5 to 30%) and grazed plots (from 4 to 23%). Herb cover did not change in exclusion plots (from 54–77% to 54–70%) or grazed plots (from 49–81% to 52–77%). In 1980–1981, one pair of plots was established in each grazed bog. Two plots (one plot/pair) were fenced to exclude free-ranging cattle. The other plots remained open to grazing. In 1981 and 1996, vegetation cover was recorded along 5–15 transects/bog, each 20–70 m long.
(Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)
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