Building knowledge for better bush
The Better Knowledge, Better Bush project is improving the scientific knowledge that underpins native vegetation management in NSW.
The project partners joined forces in 2005 to address key gaps in our understanding of native vegetation and its management. The research addresses a wide range of vegetation management issues - from understanding gene flows and plant-soil interactions, to enhancing biodiversity, to managing climate risk, grazing impact and predation.
The two-year project is currently underway across southern NSW. It will develop new techniques, maps and guidelines for managing native vegetation for biodiversity and production outcomes. These tools will directly benefit land management agencies, policy-makers, farmers and other providers such as revegetation contractors, seed collectors and nurseries by improving our knowledge and understanding of the function, dynamics and management of native vegetation.
The project will also have long term benefits for the wider community by conserving biodiversity and increasing vegetation cover and contributing to improved on-ground outcomes for a wide range of natural resource management and farm productivity outcomes.
Research projects
Improving knowledge of assets
- Improving rapid biodiversity assessment (Biometric)
Can we improve assessment methods at the farm or patch scale? - Vegetation condition mapping: integrating site assessments,
remote sensing and predictive modelling
Can we improve methods for mapping vegetation condition at a
catchment scale?
Understanding ecological function
- Disturbance, vegetation condition and ecological function: the role of soil and litter invertebrates
What are the links between invertebrates living in leaf litter and
nutrient cycling in soils enriched by livestock? - Linking management to ecosystem services provided by
grassy woodlands
How are management practices linked to ecosystem services
provided by grassy woodlands?
Principles and guidelines for restoration
- Understanding plant-soil interactions for better revegetation success
Can revegetation success be improved by a better understanding of
how plants and soil organisms interact? - Seedling establishment in a variable climate
Is seasonal climate forecasting a useful tool for on-ground
revegetation activities? - Enhancing the biodiversity values of revegated habitat (BioAssess)
Can the relationships between flora and fauna that live in revegetated
areas be used to improve landscape design and management? - Assessing the impact of fragmentation on gene flow
How are animals that live in fragmented landscapes ecologically and
genetically connected?
Principles and guidelines for managing threatening processes
- Patch protection – an after the fence look at remnant vegetation
Do fencing and controlled grazing inflence the quality of remnant vegetation?
- Managing and restoring understorey diversity in grassy woodlands
How can the diversity of understorey plants be enhanced?
- Revegetation and the impact of foxes
Does revegetation influence the impact of foxes?
- Grazing for improved outcomes on the southern tablelands
How do grazing management practices influence native plant diversity?
Integrating research outputs
A key challenge for the Better Knowledge Better Bush project is to deliver a wide range of research outputs into usable messages, frameworks and guidelines to help inform native vegetation management.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to integrating this diversity of research outputs. Instead we are using a range of approaches and conceptual models, including state and transition models, decision support tools and best management practice frameworks.
A vital activity for the Better Knowledge Better Bush project is effective knowledge exchange between researchers and key stakeholders.
