Frequent or continuous heavy grazing can have long-term impacts on the diversity of native plants and on the complexity of native vegetation patches. Heavily grazed native pastures offer few refuges for birds that nest on the ground (e.g. quails), and rarely produce sufficient food for seed-eaters like pigeons and finches. They are also likely to contain a lower diversity of insects and small vertebrates (e.g. lizards and native rodents), which means less food for insect-eaters and birds of prey.

Fire is often a contentious issue, with many differing opinions about its use or exclusion from the farm environment. Most of our native vegetation has evolved with natural (lightning induced) fires and aboriginal burning over many thousands of years. Changes in fire regimes - through exclusion of “natural” fires, or with increased burning frequency for management purposes - have brought about many changes in the species diversity and structural complexity of native vegetation across modern landscapes.

Grasslands and grassy woodlands are fire resilient, and adapted to being burnt by natural fires every few years. Where fires are excluded from these environments, shrub encroachment is often encountered and the habitats become more complex. While this may be a good thing for birds adapted to complex habitats (e.g. wrens and robins), it can be detrimental to those that require extensive open grassy areas to meet their food, shelter and breeding requirements (eg finches and quails). Such shrub encroachment also reduces production potential from commercial grazing.

On the other hand, brigalow/belah scrubs have largely evolved in the absence of fire and are fire-sensitive. Where scrub patches are surrounded by dense grassy pastures or woodlands, frequent hot fires can “crash” into the scrubs, gradually reducing their size and diversity. Pasture encroachment of shade
tolerant species such as green panic into the scrub margins can further increase fire impacts.
Eventually, such scrub patches may die out,returning the land to open forest or woodland.

Between these two extremes, there is a wide range of vegetation with varying degrees of structural complexity. The challenge is to try and create burning regimes that will protect grasslands from woody vegetation encroachment, maintain woodlands with a range of understorey complexity, and also protect fire sensitive communities like softwood scrubs.

MANAGEMENT OPTIONS:

• Adjust grazing regime to improve and maintain the health and productivity of native pastures
• Manage fire to maintain habitat values as well as improve productivity and protect infrastructure

MANAGEMENT ACTIONS:

• Fence off remnant areas to allow strategic, low-intensity grazing of bird habitats
• Spell some pasture area through the growing season to allow sufficient seed production
• Prepare a fire management plan for the property that aims to maintain some open areas with regular burning as well as shrubby areas in less-frequently burnt patches
• Burn outwards from the perimeter of scrubs, rather than letting fire sweep into them