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Topic Grassland management
Question How important are remnant grasslands and how should they be managed?
Expert Dr Nick Williams
Dr Nick Williams is a plant ecologist at the University of Melbourne. Nick’s research investigates the ecology of urban areas in particular, grassland ecology and restoration, green infrastructure for climate change adaptation and weed invasions. Nick’s research has highlighted how surrounding landscapes influence the processes that occur in remnant habitats, such as edge effects and local extinctions, and, has developed ways to make urban areas more biodiversity friendly.
One of the most important things is to ensure there is regular biomass removal so the tussocks of native grass do not become too big and shade and outcompete the biodiversity in the inter-tussock spaces. This can occur through a number of methods and typically we use control burns but you can also use grazing or slashing as long as the biomass of the grasses is removed from the site after it has been slashed.
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