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Stefani Daryanto

Tel: +61 2 9385 8276
Fax: +61 2 9385 2202
Email: s.daryantostudent.unsw.edu.au

PhD Candidate in Ecology University of New South Wales (2008- present)
B Agr., Bogor Agricultural University-Bogor, Indonesia 2000
M Sc (Food Technology), University of New South Wales 2002

The shrubland-desertification paradigm: an examination of ecological processes in the semi-arid shrubby woodlands

My research examines the ecosystem effects of grazing and shrub removal and their interactions, on soil and ecological processes in a shrub-dominant woodland in north-western NSW. Shrub encroachment into grasslands and open woodland is a worldwide phenomenon over extensive areas of semi-arid rangeland. In western NSW, large areas of shrub-encroached woodland have been treated with a range of mechanical, biological and chemical methods in order to reduce the cover and density of native shrubs. The effectiveness at providing long-term reductions in shrubs and the effects of treatments on soil and ecological processes have rarely been critically evaluated.

Shrub encroachment has been linked with desertification and lost of pastoral productivity. However, while encroachment presents a serious challenge to managing semi-arid woodlands, shrubs also provide a range of critical ecosystem services such as water infiltration, soil nutrition, habitat for animals and landscape stability. Much of this arises from their tendency to create ‘fertile islands’.