Dr Ken Hodgkinson ‘Restoring Canberra’s native grasslands by fire: the science and people issues’

The Temperate Natural Grasslands, on which Canberra is built, are the most endangered ecosystems in Australia. Their original extent in SE Australia was 2 million ha. Only 0.5% remains. In the ACT there were 20,000 ha and 10% remains. The Canberra remnants (38 in number) are highly fragmented. Six species of the grassland animals and plants are declared endangered or vulnerable in the ACT. In a recent survey of 14 selected remnant patches it was concluded that the native plants and animals are threatened by overgrazing from kangaroos, animal pests and domestic herbivores, by excessive and untimely mowing regimes, by failure to eradicate weeds, and by failure to apply fire regimes essential for the survival of the native plant species. Many of the grassland patches were seen to be approaching critical thresholds, beyond which they may change to a different and less desirable state. In this seminar the case for prescribing fire to improve the survivorship of populations of native plants in urban and peri-urban Canberra will be made, a fire experiment on Ginninderra Creek will be described and the challenge of changing mindsets will be discussed. 

 Ken Hodgkinson is a plant ecologist interested in the ecology and management of grasslands and woodlands. He is an Honorary Research Fellow in CSIRO, a Visiting Fellow at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU and a member of a Landcare group in the Ginninderra Catchment. For 35 years he researched the semi-arid woodlands of eastern Australia and for 11 of these years he led CSIRO’s National Rangeland Program. His PhD topic was the physiology of shoot regeneration in Medicago sativa and his DSc topic was the dynamics of plant processes and populations in semi-arid Australia and the influences of drought, grazing and fire.  In recognition of his research Ken is a Fellow of the Australian Rangeland Society and of the Linnaean Society of London.