Evaluation of ecosystem responses and local knowledge to improve future CLLMM landscape revegetation

Ecosystem restoration through revegetation provides a means to reduce the negative impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on biodiversity.

The Coorong, Lower Lakes Murray Mouth Recovery Program (2011-16) undertook extensive revegetation across five different vegetation communities in response to the Millennium Drought (1996–2010). This federal and state funded program ($137 million) led to the revegetation of over five million native plants.

In 2015, detailed vegetation data were collected at 80 revegetation sites and 20 remnant sites. Comprehensive bird survey data were also collected at 40 of the 80 revegetation sites and also at each of the 20 remnant sites.

The most favourable remnant vegetation sites were used to compare the revegetation plantings, thus determining the degree to which the revegetation plantings mitigated adverse ecosystem impacts.

This project is (a) evaluating the ecosystem responses to historical landscape revegetation in the CLLMM region, (b) assessing the sociocultural perspectives of landscape revegetation in the region, and (c) provide future recommendations on landscape revegetation into the region.

The project will revisit previous revegetation plantings in spring 2025 through:

• Vegetation and bird surveys as in 2015 soil biotic surveys (bacteria, fungi, and invertebrates) using established eDNA methods (Breed et al. 2019).
• Plant health mapping via satellite-based spectral indices, drone canopy temperature surveys for examining plant water stress (Liu et al. 2020) and the LiDAR topography and biomass survey, with ground truthing using ecophysiology methods.

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A semi-quantitative surveying with landholders, natural resource management workers, community groups and First Nations around the lakes will be undertaken to assess the costs and benefits of revegetation and how the lakeshore environment has responded to the Millennium drought, refilling of the lakes and subsequent higher water levels. This will capture any improvements to revegetation methods developed over the intervening years.

Synthesis of the ecological and sociocultural findings and insights from the surveys and mapping will be enhanced with workshop- style consultation of First Nations and the local community to access broader expertise to make future recommendations for activities relating to CLLMM landscape revegetation.

The project has a range of potential implications for management, including:

• Establishing the extent and types of ecosystem responses from revegetation plantings in the CLLMM region
• Examining the potential impacts of climate change on revegetation species
• Characterising the perspectives of practitioners and broader community stakeholders (First Nations, lakeshore landholders, and broader community) on planting strategies and the perceived benefits, priorities, and challenges of revegetation plantings in the CLLMM region
• Recommending management strategies for revegetation plantings that consider ecosystem responses, perspectives of First Nations and the broader community, impacts of climate change and return of ecosystem services to the region.