Ground Cover - Grasses
Benchmark Value
Scoring Curve
This curve shows how a field measurement for this indicator would score across all available benchmark forms in this context.
Evidence & Context
maintaining an average cover of above 50% across all surveys except for the drought-affected years of 1964 and 1968.
Percent cover of graminoids measured at permanent photoquadrats
Represents standard reference-state grass cover in tall alpine herbfield ecosystems under mature conservation management.
The cited source explicitly identifies the value in a reference-site context for tall alpine herbfield under conservation.
Sources (1)
Pickering, C. M., Hill, W., & Johnston, F. M. (2005). Recovery of Alpine Vegetation from Grazing and Drought: Data from Long-term Photoquadrats in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia.
View SourceSupporting Sources (3)
Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.
Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE). (2004). Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC) Bioregion Benchmark - East Gippsland Uplands Bioregion: EVC 206 Sub-alpine Grassland.
View SourceRehwinkel, R. (2014). Revised Floristic Value Scoring Method for grassland condition.
View SourceSummit vegetation monitoring dataset analysis (GLORIA Network). (2014). Species life-form categories strongly affected compositional changes and functional composition, with increasing dominance of tall shrubs and graminoids at the lower-elevation summits, and an overall increase in graminoids across the gradient.
View Source