Report to the Productivity Commission英文资料.pdfVIP

Report to the Productivity Commission Tree and shrub thickening in the Murweh Shire Dr Ian Beale February 2004 See also Appendix: Discussion on the wider impacts of tree/shrub “thickening” on Queensland grazing lands This study forms part of the consulting service provided to the Productivity Commission for its inquiry into the impacts of Native Vegetation and Biodiversity Regulation. It should be read in conjunction with Beale and Kenny 2003 (.au/inquiry/nativevegetation/vegetationthickening/index.html). Literature on issues related to vegetation thickening (including issues raised by Dr Bruce Wilson submission number DR254), is examined further in this study. 1. Rate of Thickening in Murweh Shire. Despite the existing dominance of woody plants in the mulga lands of eastern Australia, there is good evidence that prior to European settlement most of the mulga was open savanna (Interdepartmental Committee 1969). The initial constraint upon grazing was lack of water, rather than too many trees. Good historical perspectives are provided by the Inquiry into the Condition of Crown Tenants in the Western Division of NSW (Royal Commission 1901), along with the informative and entertaining “A Million Wild Acres” (Rolls 1981) and “The Delicate and Noxious Scrub” (Noble 1997). Thickening in the Neebine (Charleville –Bollon) mulga areas dates back to the early decades of last century (W. White, Manager, Boatman Station, Australian New Zealand Land Co. 1965 m). Jim Gasteen’s father took up a soldier settlement block in the Bollon district at the end of World War 1. The ensuing decades were very dry and he reports (Gasteen 1986): “Drought followed drought and in the absence of competition from ground layer species and a lack of fires because there was nothing to burn, inedible shru