Ecological consequences of land clearing and policy reform in Queensland

Abstract

Land clearing threatens biodiversity, impairs the functioning of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, and is a key contributor to human-induced climate change. The rates of land clearing in the State of Queensland, Australia, are at globally significant levels, and have been the subject of intense and polarised political debate. In 2016, a legislative bill that aimed to restore stronger controls over land clearing failed to pass in the Queensland Parliament, despite the clear scientific basis for policy reform. Here, we provide a short history of the recent policy debate over land clearing in Queensland, in the context of its global and national ecological significance. Land clearing affects regional climates, leading to hotter, drier climates that will impact on the Queensland economy and local communities. Loss of habitat from land clearing is a key threatening process for many endangered animals and plants. Runoff from land clearing results in sediment and nutrient enrichment, which threatens the health of the Great Barrier Reef. Australia has made national and international commitments to conserve biodiversity and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, but current land clearing policies are not consistent with these commitments. Stronger regulation is needed to reduce vegetation loss, such as target-based regulation, which sets a cap on land clearing and could effectively halt vegetation loss over the long term. Lasting policy reform is required, and we recommend an effective policy mix that restricts clearing, provides economic opportunities for vegetation retention, and informs the Australian community about the value of native vegetation.

The influence of riparian vegetation on water quality in a mixed land use river basin

“…Water quality in low‐ordered streams in upper catchments may be particularly vulnerable to impacts from riparian degradation. With recent increases in tree clearing and conversion of land for agricultural activities in the BBB in Queensland (Reside et al, ), it is important to protect riparian vegetation and control soil erosion and sources of pollutants entering agricultural waterways. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that preventing riparian damage and restoring riparian vegetation could improve water quality in creeks and rivers of the Fitzroy Basin, a result that is supported by previous studies elsewhere (McKergow et al, ; Pert et al, ).…”

Systematic definition of threatened fauna communities is critical to their conservation

“…The TSWBC did not meet the criteria for threatened status based on decline in geographical distribution alone in all ecoregions, and this reflects the history of land clearing in eastern Australia, where there is a gradient of vegetation loss from temperate to tropical woodlands. Nevertheless, extensive clearing of woody vegetation is continuing, and even increasing, in Australia (Reside et al, ) and globally (Richards & Friess, ). Based on our analyses of changes in extent of potentially suitable habitat, we estimate that the loss of woodland bird habitat since pre‐1750 is 76,000,000 ha across Australia, approximately 45%.…”

“…Other areas (especially subtropical Queensland) are now the focus of agricultural expansion. The extent of clearing has recently been increasing with a significant surge in Queensland (395,000 ha/year) (Reside et al, ; Queensland Department of Science Information Technology & Innovation, affecting the subtropical Queensland community variant). There are also projected increases in New South Wales (Eco Logical Australia 2016, affecting the temperate south‐east mainland community variant) and Western Australia (Government of Western Australia, 2015, affecting the Western Australian Eucalyptus and Banksia community variants).…”

A composite measure of habitat loss for entire assemblages of species

“…Australia is an ideal case study to test the LI because large parts of this megadiverse continent were substantially transformed after European colonization and it is considered a current global deforestation hotspot because some regions are undergoing rapid transformation (Reside et al. ) and more is planned (Commonwealth of Australia ).…”

“…We assumed habitat loss was 0 for 20 generalist native species that thrive in highly modified environments (major cities, areas under intensive agricultural production). Australia is an ideal case study to test the LI because large parts of this megadiverse continent were substantially transformed after European colonization and it is considered a current global deforestation hotspot because some regions are undergoing rapid transformation (Reside et al 2017) and more is planned (Commonwealth of .…”