Publication Date

12-2022

Publisher

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

City

Perth

Abstract

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development monitors and reports on the vegetation condition of pastoral rangelands in Western Australia. This 2022 short report uses remotely sensed total vegetative cover data available to the end of October 2022, rainfall data to November 2022 and Stock Return data reported in 2021 (the most recent available) to determine cover risk. Cover risk at the land conservation district (LCD) level is an indicator of the likelihood of total cover declining to, or remaining at, Low or Very low levels. Total cover and cover risk may not be indicative of vegetation condition and are best regarded as indicators of relative levels of ground cover and consequent susceptibility to erosion and the relative availability of stock forage. It should be noted that this report uses calculated stock units relative to potential carrying capacity (PCC) as an indicator of grazing pressure and this may lead to underestimating cover risk, as the current carrying capacity is often significantly less than PCC.

Total cover in October 2022 was strongly influenced by rainfall in the preceding 2 years. The risk of the total cover of a key pasture or vegetation functional group falling to or remaining at Low or Very low values was High or Very high in 13 LCDs.

Number of Pages

27

Keywords

pastoral rangelands, vegetation cover, cover risk of decline, Western Australia

Disciplines

Agriculture | Environmental Monitoring | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Sustainability

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