Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
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Introduction and background
Our aim in this topic is to highlight some ways to promote wildlife conservation
on farms. We are acutely aware that managing land for multiple goals is a difficult
task and that not all parts of a farm will be managed in the same way or with the
same order of priorities. Given this, we provide new information to help
landholders make decisions about ways they might manage parts of their farms. To
do this, we describe the characteristics of good remnants, good plantings, good
paddocks, good rocky outcrops, good waterways and then, collectively, what makes
a good farm for wildlife.
What are temperate woodlands?
Our focus in this topic is on the temperate woodland region of south-eastern
Australia. Temperate woodlands are vegetation types that occur in temperate
Australia and support scattered or widely-spaced trees 10-30 metres tall, with the
crowns of the trees shading less than 30% of the ground.
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In south-eastern
Australia, temperate woodlands can generally be thought of as the interface
between taller, wetter forested areas on the coast and the drier, hotter grasslands
and shrublands of the interior (see Figure 1.1), although there are also many types
of coastal and sub-alpine woodlands.
The kinds of temperate woodlands which are the focus of this topic run
primarily to the west of the Great Dividing Range from southern Queensland,
through New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, into Victoria,
Tasmania and the south-east of South Australia (Figure 1.1). This area coincides
strongly with the nation's major wheat-sheep belt where much of the original
