Category Archives: Grassland

Steve Packard was my Steve Jobs

Posted on 18/05/2012 by

Who was it? Who first rocked your boat, flipped your lid, pushed your button, turned you on? (Intellectually, of course). Were you shaken by the medium (a sassy speaker) or the message (a call to arms)? Either way, someone special … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Ecology, Encroachment, Forest history, Grassland, Prairie, Research, Savanna, Succession | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments

There’s a wetland in my grassland

Posted on 28/03/2012 by

How often do you need to see a species, before you view it as being ‘characteristic’ of a particular ecosystem? Some species are widespread and abundant. Others occur sparsely, but are found only in one ecosystem. Some of these sparse … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Grassland, Juncus, Regeneration, Seed banks, Seeds, Wetland, Woodland | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Super Seeds

Posted on 02/03/2012 by

If you could choose a Super Power what would you choose? Incredible speed, rubber arms, hulking strength or maybe X-ray vision? If I had the chance, I’d want to produce seeds. And not just any seeds. I’d want seeds that … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Grassland, Regeneration, Restoration, Seed banks, Seeds, Themeda | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Restoring Woodland Understories #4

Posted on 08/11/2011 by

For the past four years, Ian Cole, Suzanne Prober and I have been busy running an experiment to work out how to restore native plants and control weeds in degraded woodlands. I’ve posted a number of blogs on this project … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Fire, Grassland, Research, Restoration, Restoring woodland understoreys project, Sugar, Themeda, Woodland | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Art vs Science: von Guérard’s pot plants

Posted on 06/08/2011 by

Many ecologists would kill for an accurate ‘scientific’ description of native grasslands and woodlands before European settlement. These threatened ecosystems have been so cleared and disturbed that it is impossible to know what they looked like originally. How abundant were … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Ecology, Forest history, Grassland, Historical ecology, Landscape painting, Woodland | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Woodlands on TV!

Posted on 08/07/2011 by

It was both an education and a blast to spend two days filming a 5 minute segment on our research for the ABC’s TV science show Catalyst late last year. The show was aired this week. If you’re interested, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Grassland, Research, Restoration, Restoring woodland understoreys project, Sugar, Woodland | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Self-sustaining native grasslands?

Posted on 19/06/2011 by

Here’s a link to a great blog site by Chris Helzer on managing prairies for biodiversity in the US. The blog has many parallels to managing endangered temperate native grasslands in Australia. The Myth of Self-Sustaining Prairies Here’s a question I … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Ecosystems, Grassland, Restoration | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Grassland vantage-points # 1: looking back

Posted on 10/06/2011 by

If you never change your mind, why have one? ~ Edward de Bono Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof ~ John … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Grassland, Restoration, Themeda | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments