The Right Plant in the Right Place

ONE OF THE services we provide to local councils is the assessment of native bushland parks for their “resilience”. That is the bushland’s ability to recover from disturbance and to regenerate itself (basically provide a safe home for the next generation of flora, fauna & fungi).We assess the resilience on what threats are present (such as weeds) and the general health of the native bushland. One of the unusual situations I often come across are revegetation areas that have been planted, often 10 or more years old, that are showing little or no signs of native seedlings popping up. For all intensive purposes they may as well be timber plantations or landscaping, because they are certainly not, on so many levels, helping to restore native ecosystem function (basically provide a safe home for the next generation of flora, fauna & fungi).
There are three reasons that I can think of for the lack of recruitment and spread of native seedlings in these revegetation areas. One is their management, often revegetation areas are managed with a weed spray regime that eliminates everything, including native seedlings, herbs, grasses etc… The second is that all too often inappropriate species are planted that don’tcreate the conditions suitable for seeds from nearby native rain forest to grow or encourage native animals to move through and “deposit” (being polite) seed. Thirdly, in some cases the native animals that spread seed may no longer be present.
We can assist native animals to move through and access our revegetation areas and start spreading seed etc. by planting the right stock in the right place and, you guessed it, in the right way. Crucial to kick starting rainforest recruitment is shade, leaf litter, humidity and habitat including fruiting plants to attract birds such as the rainforest pigeons and flying foxes that will then spread the seed of mature phase rainforest plants. Rainforest revegetation plantings should be ideally planted densely, that is approximately 1.5 to 3 metres between each plant. This helps to out compete weeds, provide rapid shade and plenty of leaf litter. Plantings should include plenty of pioneers that grow fast, provide lots of leaf litter and can be providing fruit for birds within 18 months. Their foliage is also are often very edible to a range of insects, providing food for insect eating birds.
Through planting the right stock in the right place, we can assist native ecosystems restore themselves.