Increased canopy cover

Impact

Canopy cover refers to vegetation that grows taller than ground cover, i.e. tree branches and leaves, that provides cover to the area of ground that lies directly beneath the plant’s foliage.  The condition of the canopy cover has implications for flora and fauna habitat, ecological processes and soil condition.

Suggested indicator: Tree canopy cover & health⁺

Increased canopy cover may be associated with:

Potential associated impacts	Suggested indicators+
Vegetation thickening and change in pasture production ('Stocktake' a paddock-scale land condition monitoring and management package produced by the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation may be helpful)	Vegetation density
Changed animal species composition	Native land fauna Exotic pest fauna
Changed vegetation composition due to change in sunlight and soil conditions	Native plant richness  Weed species Large trees Pasture species
Changed vegetation area and/or improved habitat connectivity	Native vegetation area
Increased quality and quantity of soil organic matter	Soil life

⁺ Descriptions of indicators (PDF, 76K)* provides a brief description of each indicator including techniques and purpose.

* Requires Adobe Reader

Last updated 7 September 2010

Land Manager's Monitoring Guide

• Monitoring overview
• Selecting indicators
• - Enterprise or production systems
• - Land practices
• - Management activity
• - Impact
• Indicators