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
The cover of Poa showed no consistent trends over time on either plot (Fig. 1a), being recorded at 60-80% of all point quadrats consistently through the study.
Projective foliage cover of the dominant native tussock grass genus Poa, measured using point-intercept pin frames along permanent monitoring transects.
Reference-condition healthy range for projective foliage cover of native Poa grasses under both continuous grazing and long-term exclusion in subalpine grassland.
Derived from the longest-running grazing-exclusion experiment on the Bogong High Plains, Victoria, this benchmark represents direct field evidence of stable, resilient native grass cover under both continuous cattle grazing and long-term exclusion.
Sources (1)
Vegetation change in the Pretty Valley alpine grasslands from 1945 to 2003: the influence of grazing on plant community succession
View SourceSupporting Sources (2)
Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.
Recovery of subalpine grasslands 15 years after landscape level fires
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Recovery of alpine vegetation from grazing and drought: data from long term photoquadrats in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia
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