Rehabilitation
To date, the standard and success of vegetation rehabilitation in Western Australia has been poor, albeit with a few notable exceptions. We aim to change that.
- Dr Grant Wells -
WA is recognised internationally for the diversity and endemicity of its native plants. It is also highly fragile, the stability of the continent over millennia leading to depleted soils, particularly in Phosphorus. Successful rehabilitation in WA therefore requires site-specific data and approaches.
Our rehabilitation framework, developed over several years is sufficiently adaptable to manage these challenges and sufficiently transparent to satisfy regulators. It is based on the principles of continuous improvement and adaptive management, through good record keeping and data feedback to identify required improvements. We don’t assume we have it right first time – every situation is different.
Our rehabilitation services include:
- Design of rehabilitation programs, tailored to individual clients, based on the structure and composition of analogous natural communities
- Development of quantitative key performance indicators of revegetation success targeted at specified completion criteria based upon the requirements of government regulatory guidelines
- Evaluation of the success of rehabilitation operations including quantification of broadcast seed/tubestock success and topsoil seed bank recruitment
- Design of rehabilitation protocols including seed quality testing, derivation of seed mixes and sowing rates for revegetation
- Propagation research for recalcitrant species including seed pre-sowing treatments and vegetative division for tubestock
- Evaluation of rehabilitated community self-sustainability utilising seed bank dynamics and species fecundity measures
- Scientifically rigorous independent reviews of existing survey designs to define limitations and offer recommendations for improvements
For more information contact Grant Wells on grant.wells@phoenixenv.com.au
or (08) 6323 5410.
