Sutherland ( 2020 ) and Hellsgate ( 2020 ). Long-term NQ Dry Tropics PATCHKEY comparative sites of relevance to project sites and measured to the end of 2021 included Glenalpine Site 1 ( from 2011 ), Hells Gate Site 4 ( from 2010 ) and Mt . Pleasant Site 1 ( from 2016 ). Where possible , three transects were established at a project treatment site and three transects at a project control site .
The PATCHKEY data was analysed through a CSIRO spreadsheet . The CSIRO analysis included a landscape condition score based on the PATCHKEY data - the normalised PATCHKEY landscape condition score - which is used to track changes in land condition at the sites across time . Less than three years of PATCHKEY data was not useful as it was difficult to establish trends .
Remote sensing tools were used to cross-reference the PATCHKEY transect results with what was observed at a “ paddock ” scale . CSIRO provided dynamic reference cover model data ( DRCM ), a climate-corrected dataset , for a number of sites . The DRCM uses Landsat data sourced from the US Geological Survey to compare end of dry season ground cover across the landscape .
VegMachine was used for five- year selected polygon comparisons of groundcover and FORAGE VegMachine reports provided paddock to regional scale comparative seasonal cover . The reports provided additional evidence for cover changes at project sites .
Exclusion fences provided comparisons of vegetation responses between the livestock treated areas and grazing exclusion at Strathalbyn black soil and Dunn ’ s paddock , Glenalpine , 5 Mile , Sutherland Jack ’ s paddock and Hellsgate Mt . Wyatt projects . Marsupial exclusion fencing was also used at Strathalbyn Dunn ’ s paddock because of the high impact of wallabies at that project site .
Erosion pins were installed at the Strathalbyn black soil project area ( at a control and a treatment gully head ) and at a creek bank erosion site in Dunn ’ s paddock to assist in assessing retreat of selected erosion sites . Due to the limited timeframe for this project , hardwood stakes were used as erosion pins . Concrete pavers were also used at Hellsgate to demonstrate surface deflation of the severely scalded areas .
Discussions with CSIRO ’ s Rebecca Bartley and Aaron Hawdon in relation to the desirability of installing water quality monitoring instrumentation for this project , particularly for the large Glenapline project area , raised issues of collection of and access to baseline data , the suitability of treatment and comparative sites , and cost-effectiveness .
It was decided to acquire high resolution aerial LiDAR for the Glenalpine project area instead of installing a water quality monitoring program . Baseline LiDAR was also acquired for the Strathalbyn alluvial , black soil and Dunn ’ s paddock sites , in conjunction with Greening Australia and Griffith University . Subsequent LiDAR captures have been made across these project areas , and additional capture was undertaken in late May 2022 . Griffith University was contracted to provide net change analysis of the LiDAR data .
Kevin Roots from the Department of Natural Resources , Mines and Energy ( DNRME ) captured hand-held LiDAR for the Tabletop Broodmare and black soil and the Strathalbyn black soil sites but no follow-up comparative data was collected .
NQ Dry Tropics negotiated to include Stomping out Sediment project properties in the two- year , CSIRO and University of Southern Queensland ( USQ ) research project funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation “ Understanding the role of regenerative grazing management practices in improving land condition , runoff and water quality ”.
The project used sites at Glenalpine , Strathalbyn and Mt . Pleasant to better understand the impacts of planned grazing on landscapes and land condition outcomes . Key messages from the literature search for the research project included :
• Further work is needed on the conservation benefits of regenerative grazing systems at whole of enterprise levels .
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