Land condition assessments( LCAT) offer insight into a site’ s progress towards achieving a stable soil that supports resilient, diverse vegetation. Figures 10, 12 and 14 display the LCAT scores for Sites 1, Sites 2, 3 and 4 and Site 5 respectively. Site 2, 3 and 4 have been clustered together because they are situated close together( on the one property), share soil and vegetation properties and have common control sites. The legend gives details on the relative position of each LCAT monitoring location at the site and some colour coding is used to assist interpretation. All control LCATs are shown with a grey line. Refer to Appendix 2 for more details.
80
70
LCAT 1- Gully slope reshaped, rock PCDs & reveg
LCAT 2- Gully slope reshaped, rock PCDs & reveg
Score #/ 100
60
50
LCAT 3- Site 1 Gully Control
LCAT 4- Gully above rock chute, channel reveg.
LCAT 5- Gully above rock chute, channel reveg.
40
Grey line = Control; Treatment at LCAT is described in the legend.
30 2022 2023 2024
Year
Figure 10. Land Condition scores for large-scale gully remediation Site 1 and its control( untreated gully) over three years of monitoring.
Site 1 LCAT scores have changed little during the three years and all except one hovers around 60 / 100. However, prior to the treatment in 2020 it can be assumed that the LCAT scores were similar to the control, 35-40. Therefore, the site moved from around 40 to 60 in two years( 2020-2022). The drivers of reduced land condition at all sites at the last monitoring( November 2024) was‘ Soil erosion’ and‘ Dominant pasture species’ which is Desmanthus, a palatable hybrid legume. At the control site the dominant pasture was Indian couch, which also reduced the land condition score. Figure 11 shows monitoring photos taken at LCAT 1 site over the three years. These photos are typical of the reshaped, revegetated areas at Site 1 and illustrate the change in dominance from grass to the legume, Desmanthus“ Progardes” over the monitoring period.
22 GULLY MAINTENANCE AND MONITORING TECHNICAL REPORT