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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 29(2)

Monitoring changes in pastoral rangelands – the Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS)

I. W. Watson A D , P. E. Novelly B and P. W. E. Thomas C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Centre for Management of Arid Environments, PO Box 483, Northam, WA 6401, Australia. Current address: CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, PMB Aitkenville, Qld 4814, Australia.

B Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Tropical Savannas CRC, Kununurra, WA 6743, Australia.

C Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Centre for Management of Arid Environments, South Perth, WA 6151, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: ian.watson@csiro.au

The Rangeland Journal 29(2) 191-205 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ07008
Submitted: 22 February 2007  Accepted: 23 May 2007   Published: 14 November 2007

Abstract

The Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS) consists of a set of ~1620 permanent sites distributed across the pastoral rangelands of Western Australia used for commercial livestock grazing. The system is designed to provide information to government and the general community on changes in Western Australia’s rangelands, rather than to individual landholders. It is designed to report at the regional or vegetation type level by selectively sampling representative areas of the rangelands, with representation occurring at several levels. The system was fully implemented by 1999 and all sites, except a small number of ongoing replacements, have now been re-assessed at least once. Two site types are used. In grassland areas, the frequency of all perennial species is assessed, and an estimate made of crown cover of woody perennials. In shrubland areas, a direct census technique is used, with the demography and maximum canopy dimensions of all shrubs recorded. Changes in soil surface condition and patch distribution are also assessed using standard Landscape Function Analysis (LFA) techniques. The vegetation and soil surface information is used to indicate rangeland change. The system is not fixed within any single model of range dynamics and the outputs of WARMS can be interpreted in various ways, depending on the specific requirements of the end-user. The paper includes discussion of the institutional requirements for WARMS, the site stratification and selection criteria, description of the field methods used and the rationale behind its design. It also considers the implications of the site stratification and selection criteria in terms of the caveats that need to accompany reporting.

Additional keywords: indicators, Landscape Function Analysis, natural resource monitoring, plant demography, range condition, range health.


Acknowledgements

WARMS is a core funded activity of the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, and many of its staff contributed to the development of WARMS over the last 35 years. They include, but are not restricted to, Jim Addison, Richard Allen, David Beurle, Don Burnside, Geoff Carter, Nick Casson, Andrew Craig, Peter Curry, Keith Deimel, Ken Drummond, Noelene Duckett, Tim Eckersley, Geoff Eliot, Edwina Faithfull, Wayne Fletcher, George Gardiner, Dave Hadden, Ron Hacker, Tricia Handasyde, Peter Hennig, Alec Holm, Bernie Kok, John Law, Kerry McCarthy, Bob McCartney, Andrew McLaughlin, Andrew Mitchell, Lloyd Morey, John Morrissey, John Noonan, Roderick O’Connor, Kevin Shackleton, Val Shrubb, Kerry Skinner, John Stretch, Sarah Strutt, Bob Thomson, David Wilcox and many others. Ron Hacker, John Morrissey and David Wilcox instigated much of the early developmental work into monitoring. Alec Holm took on the role of determining a shrubland technique, implementing a state-wide system and managed old-WARMS; subsequently reviewing it and implementing the current system. He still samples WARMS sites on contract. Ron Hacker managed old-WARMS for several years including the development of several analysis and interpretation techniques and was instrumental in the development of the grassland technique. We thank David Tongway and Norm Hindley for their assistance in training and implementing the LFA technique in WARMS. Wal Whalley, as editor of The Rangeland Journal, improved the manuscript. Comments from Ron Hacker, Alec Holm, Noelene Duckett and two anonymous referees also improved earlier drafts. We thank Hugh Pringle for encouraging us to think through the caveats and limitations to the system. Andrew Craig has managed the Kimberley WARMS project for many years. Wayne Fletcher, together with Kerry Skinner for several years, installed most of the sites south of the Kimberley from 1997 and has almost single-handedly maintained this sampling schedule. Josh Smith produced Figs 1, 3 and 4.


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