Is the removal of domestic stock sufficient to restore semi-arid conservation areas?

Abstract

Increasingly, conservation areas are proclaimed in non-pristine environments that have biodiversity values and the issue of how to change the management regime to restore such landscapes arises. Before gazettal in 1992, Currawinya National Park (28°52'S, 144°30'E) in south-west Queensland's mulga lands was grazed by domestic stock for over 130 years. Following gazettal, the area was destocked and a monitoring programme initiated to determine the response by the vegetation. This paper describes the grass dynamics in three vegetation communities on Currawinya National Park with three different grazing regimes. Data are presented for an on-park site (native and feral herbivores present), an off-park site (domestic, native and feral herbivores were present), and an exclosure (no mammalian herbivores present). The results show that removal of domestic livestock alone is not sufficient to promote rapid recovery of grass populations, and suggest that conservation area managers must reduce native herbivore numbers as well if the desired outcome is a return to the supposed "natural" condition.