Project Description
Grassland Resurrection – Connecting Knowledge, Research & Management Forum
8 May, 2026. Fitzroy Town Hall, Melbourne, Victoria
Presenter -Cindy Hauser
Senior Scientist | Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research
Land and Biodiversity Policy Division | Regions, Environment, Climate Action and First Peoples Group | Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
Cindy Hauser is a Senior Scientist at the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research. She specialises in ecological modelling, including survey design and adaptive management, and has worked on invasive hawkweed eradication, malleefowl conservation, use of detection dogs, and fire management planning in addition to grassland restoration.
Modelling the costs and outcomes of management in the Western Grassland Reserve
Victoria’s Western Grassland Reserve is an important, growing area of native grassland that requires active management and restoration. We have built a model that predicts how vegetation in the Reserve changes over time and responds to management actions such as planned burns, weed control and grazing. We link these predictions to models of management cost, informed by past management experience and supplier quotes. These models can be used to test a variety of future management scenarios and identify cost-effective approaches to grassland management, before management is carried out on-ground.
Questions from the Forum
- Complex v. simple burns. Do you have any data on how they compare for their ecological benefits? Any sense of whether the extra cost is worth it?
We have not explicitly tested for differences in ecological outcome based on burn complexity. The complex and simple ecological burns are conducted with the same objective, and within our grassland ecology model they generate the same expected outcomes. The extra cost arises from the need to apply more resources to address the risks associated with a burn and protect assets. The complexity of the burn often relates to non-ecological factors such as nearby infrastructure and has no effect on the expected outcomes. Whether the burn is ‘worth it’ depends on a judgement about the ecological values present at the site, and the land manager’s objectives for the site’s future.
- What about fauna? What fauna metrics could we use to measure grassland condition? Insect biomass?
Fauna are important for a thriving ecosystem, and the role of invertebrates is under-studied. Condition indices require subjective judgement, and there are multiple ways that animals could be incorporated — insect biomass may be one way. While the Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI) does not incorporate animals into condition indices, fauna populations are directly monitored, including striped legless lizard, golden sun moth and growling grass frog. ARI also documents faunal assemblages in one-off inventory surveys. Inventory surveys are designed to detect reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, arboreal mammals, diurnal birds, and bats. Some surveys also target invertebrates such as spiders, scorpions, and centipedes.
- Is the grasslands ecology and management modelling available to landowners/managers?
We plan to publish the models publicly in a research journal in the next year. We welcome discussion with potential partners about further development of the work.
- Offsets, are crap and underwhelming…. How do you mitigate the shitness of offsets?
Offsets are one of a variety of different measures to ensure effective grassland management.
