This page is an extract of a script that is part of the video series
"The Living Landscape-an Australian Ecosystems Series".
Visit all ecosystems.

They're important because they show us what the original ecosystem of an area was like, before human activity altered the landscape. They're also a repository for seed banks; they provide a habitat for animals; and they help stabilise the soil and reduce salinity.

"Remnant" was filmed in an old cemetery, a travelling stock reserve, a wetland on a farm, a water catchment and dam reserve, and in a national park. The crew travelled to Currawinya National Park in western Queensland, where scientists are studying the regeneration of native grasses in areas where introduced stock has been removed.

Currawinya is in a semi-arid area, and gets only a few millimetres of rain every year. This year, it managed to fall just when filming was scheduled - which turned a few of the arid zone locations into rather large puddles. And with the rain came a wind that made filming a very chilly business!

Dr Manda Page.

Remnant Ecosystems features the research work of Dr Mada Page, Department of Management Studies, University of Queensland, Gatton College.

Manda's Doctorate was on the Vegetation Dynamics of Currawinya National Park and the Implications for Management. The following is her description of her research at Currawinya:

"Currawinya National Park (located in South West Queensland's mulgalands) was declared in 1992. Since then I have been undertaking a project to determine the effects of destocking on the vegetation.

The area has been grazed by domestic stock for over 130 years prior to destocking in 1992. As a result, the land is degraded and the vegetation has changed. There has been an increase in unpalatable native woody shrubs and a decrease or loss of native grasses. It is generally unknown how the vegetation will change as a result of reducing the grazing pressure. To measure these effects I have set up long term monitoring sites."

The major question being addressed is "can rehabilitation take place by simply removing or reducing the grazing pressure?". There are three grazing regimes that are being measured. First is off park sites that have native, domestic and feral grazing. Second is on park sites that have only native and reduced feral grazing and thirdly there are totally fenced sites that have no mammal grazing at all.

All of these site are measured twice a year and the data is compared between sites and over time in an attempt to understand the dynamics of the vegetation in the three grazing regimes. The first four years of this data is currently being analysed and preliminary results show that all sites are changing differently and that some species of grasses thought to be extinct from the area are establishing.

To compliment this work I have conducted some other experiments. One involves the seed bank. Soil samples were collected and the germinable seed present in the samples was identified using watering trials. This allows us to determine what type of species could possibly germinate if given the appropriate climate. Another experiment involves the control of unpalatable native woody shrubs. As mentioned earlier, these species have increased in abundance and density in this area and in arid regions all over the world. By removing these species from the system and monitoring the vegetation I am able to assess how these species may be effecting the rehabilitation of the vegetation.

This work has implications for both National Park managers and for productive land managers in the region. It is hoped that the information about the impacts of removing domestic stock and more knowledge about the dynamics and ecology of the vegetation will allow us to better manage our mulgalands for both conservation and sustainable production.