Landcare - Pipalyatjara Project - I

The area to be revegetated was to the east of the community and it had been heavily harvested of tree and shrub species over the years.

In October 1987 Mr Bob Keetch and his team arrived at Pipalyatjara and the plan was to "direct seed" the degraded area with grass, shrub and tree seeds. An opposed disc plough was used on the three point linkage of a large tractor to plough a pattern of staggered furrows across the area.

The seed used for this type of revegetation requires a dormancy of three to five years as it may require this period of time before sufficient germinating rains are received. Hence the grasses used were buffel and birdwood grasses (Cenchrus ciliaria and C. setigerus), the shrubs were old man saltbush (Atriplex nummularia) and witchetty bush (Acacia kempeana) and the tree species was umbrella bush (Acacia ligulata).

The soil type was a sandy loam requiring more moisture for germination than is required on the heavier soils. In such a dry area it's much more difficult to germinate seed in these soils.

The following pictures show the details and results of the project:

Direct seeding project 5 months after planting (March 1988)

Picture 1: View of staggered furrows which had been ploughed in the area to the east of Pipalyatjara. Furrows are approximately 3 to 4 meters long with about 4 meters between rows. Note how furrows ploughed in sandy soils become wind blown and begin to disappear after five months. The small falls of rain over the summer months had produced very little germination of grasses, shrubs or trees.	Picture 2: View of buffel grass growing in the trench of a staggered furrow at Pipalyatjara. Note this soil type is closer to the community and has a higher clay content resulting in greater moisture retention and a better germination of grasses.

Direct seeding project 13.5 years after planting (March 2001)

Picture 1: View of buffel grass 13.5 years after planting. This grass has become well established in the areas that surround the community providing a ground cover which effectively reduces the dust problem that existed in the 1980's.

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