Demystifying reference ecosystems for bush regenerators – how their use is critical to best practice regen.

Project Description

The guest speaker at this year’s Annual General Meeting is Dr Andy Baker who will be demystifying reference ecosystems, expounding their virtues and answering that question of every bush regenerators lips, Are we getting sub-optimal results by not defining our reference ecosystem?

Dr Baker will be discussing the following scenarios

Grassland – What happens if we let woody species migrate?
Sclerophyll – What are the triggers for mesic shifts? What happens if common groundcovers are allowed to dominate? Where does resilience fit in?
All ecosystems (including rainforest) – What are the resilience limits? What happens if individual species numbers are low or some flora groups are missing? Is reintroduction a solution?

Following the presentation there will be a panel discussion drawn from experienced practitioners on AABR’s Board and time to answer questions.

More information on reference ecosystems can be found in the National Restoration Standards, Principle 1-Ecological restoration practice is based on an appropriate local native reference ecosystem