Grazing management of Australian native woody regeneration as an effective nature-based climate-change solution

C. M. Waters; R. B. Hacker; A. Sekaran; A. R. Grant

doi:10.1071/RJ24032

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Grazing management of Australian native woody regeneration as an effective nature-based climate-change solution

C. M. Waters ^A ^B ^* , R. B. Hacker ^C , A. Sekaran ^B and A. R. Grant ^D

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A GreenCollar, 3 Hickson Road, The Rocks Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.

^B Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.

^C Present address: Ron Hacker Rangeland Consulting Services, 29 Edward Street, Tenambit, NSW, Australia.

^D Present address: PO Box 1591, Young, NSW 2594, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: cathleen.waters@greencollargroup.com.au

The Rangeland Journal 47, RJ24032 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ24032

Submitted: 22 October 2024 Accepted: 20 January 2025 Published: 24 February 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Rangeland Society. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Rangelands are playing a major role in delivering ~50% of the Australian land-sector abatement across some 42 million ha. Carbon credits are an incentive for the regeneration of native woody vegetation through grazing management that remove past suppression activities preventing the establishment of forest cover.¹ Although there are divergent views on the use of grazing management as a credible land management activity and carbon market mechanism, guidelines to support effective woody regeneration outcomes are lacking. We review the literature, adopting a case-study approach for the semi-arid rangelands in south-eastern Australia, asking ‘What is the capacity for grazing management to influence patterns of woody recruitment and growth’? The role of grazing in the context of woody plant encroachment and life stages of regeneration for mulga (Acacia aneura) were examined. We identify climate as the primary driver setting the potential for carbon accumulation and outline the capacity of grazing management to directly and indirectly affect temporal patterns of accretion, to influence initial site condition, germination and establishment, growth and mortality. Grazing management will determine the direction and pattern of carbon accumulation by influencing (i) the size of the seed pool available to commence the regeneration process and buffer the effects of preceding fire on seed production; (ii) the functionality of the landscape, suitability of seedbed conditions and resource retention; (iii) the successful establishment of woody seedlings through herbivory or trampling; (iv) the growth rate of young plants and time required to reach reproductive maturity or forest canopy height; and (v) fuel availability and the capacity to manage fire. On the basis of this information, we develop broad grazing management principles and guidelines. The question is therefore not about whether specific grazing management is essential to allow regeneration to occur, but the extent to which grazing management can allow the potential set by climate to be realised.

Keywords: carbon, grazing management, livestock impacts, mulga, nature-based solution, seedling survival, woody plant encroachment, woody regeneration.

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