Where are they now? Revisiting tree decline in North East Victoria

Loss of paddock trees is a key impact of drought and has significant flow-on impacts for on-farm biodiversity, shade and shelter.

This week, ANU’s Sustainable Farms team is back in the field across the Byawatha and Springhurst regions of north east Victoria, revisiting sites first studied more than 20 years ago. Ecologists Angelina Siegrist and Erin Liddell, pictured alongside Lachlan Campbell, Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator with North East CMA, are assessing the current health and condition of paddock trees, as part of the Ovens Murray Drought Resilience Plan project ‘Where are they now? Revisiting tree decline in north-east Victoria’. Link to https://www.necma.vic.gov.au/.../Ovens-Murray-Drought...

This project builds on the 2001 report, Tree Decline: A North East Perspective (Department of Primary Industries), returning to the same on farm locations to measure changes in tree cover, condition and extent at both farm and regional scales.

By revisiting these sites and analysis of satellite data, the research will:

• Quantify key threats to paddock trees and their sensitivity to drought

• Examine pressures such as soil compaction, nutrient build-up at tree bases, insect attack, mistletoe, storm damage and limited recruitment

• Explore how climate change is reshaping species distributions

• Identify practical, science based strategies to improve the drought resilience of paddock trees

Findings from the project will inform a comprehensive report and on farm management recommendations for paddock trees and woodland vegetation. Learnings will also be shared at a farm field day, hosted in partnership with the Mid Ovens Landcare Consortium Inc.

This project of the Regional Drought Resilience Planning program is supported by North East Catchment Management Authority, through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Victoria Government.