Scottsdale Reserve is a nature reserve on the Murrumbidgee River in south-central New South Wales, Australia. It is south of Canberra, and north of Bredbo. It is owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia (BHA), which purchased it in 2006.Smith, B., 2015. Ambitious project to save Australia’s biodiversity launches. The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/ambitious-project-to-save-australias-biodiversity-launches-20150407-1mg2c4.html The purchase was supportive of projects aiming to connect existing fragmented remnant habitat such as K2C (Kosciuszko to Coast).Cowell, S. 2006. Scottsdale the land and its river. Bush Heritage Summer 2006 Newsletter. http://www.bushheritage.org.au/news/headlines/headlines_2006/scottsdale-the-land-and-its-river.html Since the 1870s up until 2006, the land was used for agriculture – primarily sheep grazing with some minor cropping. A significant component of the Reserve (around 25%) has been cleared of native vegetation (~300 Ha).
The reserve is within lands historically attributed to the Ngunawal people.Argue, D. 1995. Aboriginal occupation of the Southern Highlands: Was it really seasonal? Australian Archaeology 41: 30-36 Aboriginal presence in the area was likely due to the availability of resources such as the bogong moth (Argotis infusa)Flood, J.M. 1973. The moth hunters: Investigations towards a prehistory of the south-eastern Highlands of Australia. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra. and the daisy yam (Microseris lanceolata).Bowdler, S. 1981. Hunters in the Highlands: Aboriginal adaptations in the eastern Australian Highlands. Archaeology in Oceania 16: 99-111. The Murrumbidgee River would have been a good source of fish including the trout cod (Maccullochhella macquariensis)Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Upper Murrumbidgee: Talking fish‐ making connections with the rivers of the Murray‐Darling Basin, Murray‐Darling Basin Authority, Canberra – currently listed as endangered under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999. The river would have provided water for many species of terrestrial fauna the local Aboriginal people are known to have utilised for food including the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus gigantus) and the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor).Costin, A.B. 1954. A Study of the Ecosystems of the Monaro Region of NSW Sydney: Government Printer – in Argue, D. 1995. Aboriginal occupation of the Southern Highlands: Was it really seasonal? Australian Archaeology 41: 30-36
Biology and ecology
Scottsdale Reserve contains a diverse range of species including more than 217 plant species and 142 animal species including 113 bird species,Bush Heritage Australia 2012. Scottsdale Reserve Scorecard. http://www.bushheritage.org.au/downloads/reserve_scorecards/Scottsdale_Reserve_Scorecard_v2.00_2012.pdf primarily within two threatened communities: Yellow box grassy woodlands (nationally critically endangered under the EPBC Act 1999); and Natural temperate grassland (nationally critically endangered under the EPBC Act 1999). Other vegetation communities found on the reserve include: Scribbly gum-black cypress pine forest; and Tablelands frost hollow grassy woodlands.
Flora
An extensive ecosystem restoration program is underway at Scottsdale with a nursery on site propagating plants including grasses such as river tussock (Poa labillardierei), shrubs such as the silver wattle (Acacia dealbata) and trees including yellowbox (Eucalyptus melliodora). In addition to propagating the more common species expected to be present in the vegetation communities mentioned above, Scottsdale is host to the silver-leafed mountain gum (Eucalyptus pulverulenta). Only ten natural populations of the silver-leafed mountain gum are thought to still exist in Australia and it has been listed as vulnerable to extinction.Scottsdale Reserve Bush Regeneration – Progress Report 2015/2016 – unknown author, available from Bush Heritage Australia The Scottsdale team have obtained licenses and intend to propagate this species while in the process of identifying suitable sites.
Natural temperate grassland
The southern tablelands of the ACT and NSW contained around 480,000 hectares of native grasslands prior to European settlement.Baines, G. 2006. Conserving Natural Temperate Grasslands in the Southern Highlands. Australian Plant Conservation 15: 16-17. There is less than 3% of that original area today unaffected by the changes settlers brought including land clearing, grazing and invasive plants.Butzer, K.W. and Helgren, D.M. 2005. Livestock, Land Cover, and Environmental History: The Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, 1820–1920. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 95: 80–111 Other impacts that graziers have had on natural grasslands include changes to soil chemistry resulting from the use of fertilisers,Lunt, I., Morgan, J., Gilfedder, L., Williams, R.J. and Foster, S. 2008. Recent initiatives in biodiversity conservation in grazed temperate grasslands and woodlands in Australia. Multifunctional grasslands in a changing world. Vol. II (Eds Organising Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference) pp. 989-992. (Guangdong People’s Publishing House Guangzhou). habitat fragmentationSouter, N.J. and Milne, T. 2009. Grazing exclusion as a conservation measure in a South Australian temperate native grassland. Grassland Science 55: 79–88 and changes in microbial processes.Bardgett R.D., Wardle D.A. and Yeates, G.W. 1998. Linking above-ground and below-ground interactions: how plant responses to foliar herbivory influence soil organisms. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 30: 1867–1878.
Natural temperate grassland is characterised by native perennial tussock grasses such as kangaroo grass (Themeda triandra syn. T. australis), snowgrass (Poa sieberiana) and river tussock grass (Poa labillardierei), together with speargrass species (Austrostipa sp.), wallaby grasses (Austrodanthonia sp.) and wild sorghum (Sorghum leiocladum).Environment ACT, 2005. National Recovery Plan for Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands (NSW and ACT): an endangered ecological community. Environment ACT, Canberra.
Approximately 90 Hectares of Scottsdale Reserve originally contained natural temperate grassland. The original grassland was found beside the Gungoandra Creek along a chain of ponds and frost hollows.Gilmore, S., 2010. Preparing for African Lovegrass management in an ecosystem/biodiversity context. Bush Heritage Australia presentation. Managing the weeds prior to restoration is a challenge, with techniques including the application of herbicide, soil scraping and burning being utilised to reduce the seedbank prior to seeding. In April 2014, 11 different native grasses and 30 different wildflowers were direct seeded into isolated trial areas.Greening Australia. Grassland restoration at Scottsdale. https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/news/grassland-restoration-scottsdale After 7 months, surveys showed that desirable plants were germinating at an average of 80 plants per square metre and seed was spreading into adjoining areas of Scottsdale Reserve.
Yellow box grassy woodlands
In New South Wales, grassy box woodlands are characterised in the over-storey by distinct Eucalypt species that change with diminishing rainfall the further one travels from the coast.Prober, S.M., Thiele, K.R. and Higginson, E. 2001. The Grassy Box Woodlands Conservation Management Network: Picking up the pieces in fragmented woodlands. Ecological Management and Restoration 2: 179-188 In the tablelands where Scottsdale Reserve is situated, the dominant eucalypts in grassy box woodlands are yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora) and red gum (Eucalyptus blakelyi). The mid-storey consists of sparse shrubs from the Grevillea, Acacia and Cassinia families while the ground layer consists of grasses and herbaceous plants.
Prior to European arrival, millions of hectares in NSW was covered in grassy box woodlands, today less than 10% remains.Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW. 2010. National Recovery Plan for White Box - Yellow Box - Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland. Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW, Sydney The impacts of clearing for agriculture have resulted in fragmentation of the remnant vegetation, leading to efforts in conservation focussing on providing corridors linking these fragments.
A large amount of cleared former yellow box grassy woodland is now covered in African lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) throughout the Monaro. The team at Scottsdale and a host of volunteers have planted 20,000 tube-stock plants from the critically endangered vegetation community in a trial to shade out the lovegrass. The team are trialling different methods of restoration ecologyBush Heritage Australia, 2015. Saving our Species. Bush Heritage Australia Science and Research Plan 2015-2025. http://www.bushheritage.org.au/downloads/Reports/BHA-Science-Plan-2015.pdf in an attempt to understand methods that will best suit the Reserve.