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Protecting the scattered trees of the Red Gum Plains
Since 2004 the Gippsland Plains Conservation Management Network’s Scattered Trees Project has been focusing on the isolated paddock trees of the Red Gum Plains. Here we summarise the achievements of that project.

Sugar Gliders are one of the few small mammals to be faring relatively well in the agricultural areas of the Red Gum Plains. They are excellent at keeping leaf-eating beetles in check and thus beating dieback. These beautiful little marsupials need Red Gums, Apple Box and Black Wattles to persist in the landscape. Black Wattles provide gum that keep the gliders going in winter when nectar and insects are scarce. They rely on the hollows often present in paddock trees, especially those close to remnants, for nesting, although as the photograph shows they will occupy nest-boxes. Photo: Les Goldsmith

The Scattered Trees project is supported by the Gippsland Plains Conservation Management Network through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country. HIGHLIGHTS In the last five years we have: Fenced off over 100 large trees (over 60cm at • breast height) covering 57 hectares. Most trees were Gippsland Red Gums, the species characteristic of our critically endangered Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland (see pages 8 and 9), but also others such as the rare Coast Grey Box. Completed 35 management plans for landholders • interested in looking after their trees. Fenced off a White-bellied Sea Eagle nesting site. • This eagle is classified as vulnerable in Victoria; the Gippsland Lakes area are one of two strongholds for the species in Victoria. 57 hectares has been fenced off and one • landholder permanently protected 6 ha with a Trust for Nature covenant. Worked closely with other agencies to maximise • works (see opposite). Produced a special edition of this newsletter • devoted to paddock trees.

Is one tree worth protecting?

You might be thinking that that small patch of Red Gums you have down the paddock is not that important. However, research has shown that for highly cleared communities, such as our Red Gum woodlands, all remaining individual trees and small clumps are important for conservation. Philip Gibbons and Miles Boak examined the scattered trees of the Riverina Highlands. They found that individual trees and smaller clumps of trees up to 0.5ha represented 42-59% of remnant woody vegetation for certain plant communities of the lower slopes and plains. Although the structure and understorey floristics in these smaller patches will be highly modified, they are nevertheless some of the best relative examples of remnant vegetation for these types, given the degree to which many of these vegetation types have been cleared, they reported. The future of those small patches is not good unless something is done. This tree-cover will be progressively lost because of the general absence of recruitment in these environments. Removal of isolated trees and patches <1ha from the landscape leaves large areas without woody vegetation, predominantly in the lowland areas, which are also the areas with potential to be sites of salt discharge. This is the problem that the Scattered Trees Project addresses. Fencing off paddock trees allow natural regeneration of the trees to occur, while supplementary planting of understorey species supports the insects and birds that help keep the trees healthy. We have and will continue, as long as funding is available, to fence off and protect the paddock trees of the Red Gum Plains.

Ref: Gibbons, P. and Boak, M. 2002. The value of paddock trees for regional conservation in an agricultural landscape.Ecological Management and Restoration. You can download a version of this paper at www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/paddockTrees.pdf
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