A couple of years ago I asked where had the tussock gone?
There is even less tussock on the hills at the summit of the Lindis Pass now.
This land has been returned to the crown under tenure review and is managed by DOC.
The aim of the Lindis Pass Conservation Trust is to rid Lindis Pass Reserve of weeds, so that the snow tussock (Chionochloa rigida) can be enjoyed in its full glory.
When it was farmed it was covered in tussock, now as these photos show it is not.
Is it an accident or deliberate?
Could the lack of stock and fertiliser have let hieracium and other weeds crowd out the tussock?
Does it mean that some of this sensitve land is really better farmed than not?
What’s going to save the hills from erosion by wind, rain and snow now the tussock cover has gone?
rivettingKateTaylor 
Was supposed to comment as I reblogged. If NZ had the resources to have journalists writing real stories for the newspapers, perhaps someone could spend the time finding out what the case was here. Has the tussock been taken over by weeds? Does it miss the grazing? etc. some measurements of different paddocks (still grazed and no longer grazed) as I am sure DOC would have to measure this the same way it measures regenerating forest. If someone could prove that removing grazing was detrimental to the tussock, would DOC be prepared to return to grazing? One would ask what the tussock did before we arrived with our merinos. Perhaps it evolved over time to adapt to grazing and over time, will evolve back?
By: rivettingkatetaylor on February 11, 2012
at 8:19 am