Resources / Forestry / Browsing damage
Forestry · Health & risk · Establishment

Browsing damage

6% seedlings browsed

The share of young seedlings browsed by kangaroos and wallabies in the first vulnerable summer, before stems are tall enough to grow away from grazing height.

Worked example · Seedlings browsed · yr 1
Replant risk 20% 6% 17% Managed Unbaited district
Seedlings browsed · yr 1
The benchmark

Native marsupial browsing can damage 15–30% of unprotected seedlings in the first summer; managed sites hold this well into single figures.

DPIRD WA ↗
What it signals

Browsing is an establishment risk that is entirely manageable — and far cheaper to prevent than to fix. A rising rate flags that local marsupial pressure is outrunning your control effort and threatening the stocking the whole rotation depends on.

Data required to calculate
Seedlings browsed at surveyno.Seedlings plantedno.

Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses, and keeps the figure current automatically.

How to improve it
01

Time planting and control to local marsupial population pressure.

02

Use repellents or guards on high-pressure boundary rows.

03

Survey early so browsing is caught before it compounds into gaps.

Questions & answers

What is browsing damage?

The share of young seedlings browsed by kangaroos and wallabies in the first vulnerable summer, before stems are tall enough to grow away from grazing height.

What data do you need to calculate browsing damage?

You need: Seedlings browsed at survey (no.), Seedlings planted (no.). Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses and keeps the figure current automatically.

What is a good browsing damage benchmark?

Native marsupial browsing can damage 15–30% of unprotected seedlings in the first summer; managed sites hold this well into single figures.

How do you improve browsing damage?

Time planting and control to local marsupial population pressure. Use repellents or guards on high-pressure boundary rows. Survey early so browsing is caught before it compounds into gaps.

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