Mallee Bounce Back
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Protecting our semi-arid woodlands
| Semi-arid woodlands have been described as ‘perhaps the most susceptible community in Victoria to impacts from rabbits’ (ARIER 2003). Other communities in the Mallee region, such as chenopod shrublands, are also at high risk. A Victorian government initiative, ‘Mallee Bounce Back’ is addressing the risk to these communities from rabbits – within national parks, reserves, state forest, and areas of private land being managed for conservation. The ‘Mallee Bounce Back’ program began in 2004 and good progress is being made in reducing and maintaining rabbit abundance to a level which will allow semi-arid woodlands to progressively recover. Historically, these non-eucalypt woodlands have been degraded through stock grazing and periodically high rabbit abundance. This cycle was broken from the early 1990’s with the de-stocking of parks, reserves, and even areas of freehold land such as the Neds Corner station which is now owned by Trust for Nature. The arrival of the RHD virus in 1996 ushered in an era of effective biological control of rabbits in the Mallee. Rabbit abundance remained very low for 6-8 years in all areas. For the first time in 50 years, threatened Buloke (Allocasuarina leuhmannii) seedlings were allowed to establish in areas such as Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. Unfortunately, rabbit populations are becoming increasingly resistant to the RHD virus and hence the need for increased investment in conventional methods of control. The ‘Mallee Bounce Back’ program aims at breaking the historical cycle of ‘boom and bust’ rabbit populations which has been so damaging for Mallee native vegetation and habitats in the past. The program will demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of intervening before rabbits become a major problem rather than waiting till populations are in a phase of rapid growth. Four key areas of the Mallee Region are being targeted in the ‘Bounce Back’ program. These are the areas most at risk from increasing rabbit abundance. The map below outlines the targeted areas.  Mallee Woodlands Bouncing Back Area Map (PDF - 352 KB)Please note: Document(s) on this page are presented in PDF format. If you do not have the Adobe Reader, you can download a copy free from the Adobe web site. |  Slender Cypress Pine Regeneration in Hattah-Kulkyne (Image courtesy of Fiona Murdoch)  Mature Buloke with seedling regeneration (Image courtesy of Fiona Murdoch) |
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