Ecological Thinning – Peter Morison

A trial research project involving ecological thinning of mallee is soon to happen on private property on the Old Boort Rd. The aim is to improve the quality of the vegetation by allowing understorey species to grow. Many mallee areas that were formerly cleared have regrown as pure eucalypt stands with no understorey present - see photograph. The absence of understorey plants reduces the value of the bushland to fauna species such as malleefowl. Ecological thinning in this case involves the cutting and poisoning of some of the mallee resulting in a reduction or thinning of the mallee thus allowing space for understory plants to come through.