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if herbaceous species are offered simultaneously (Hopkins and Nicholson 1999 ;
Fancote et al. 2009 ).
The perennial nature of forage shrubs provides an opportunity to supply green
feed at any time of the year, with the most important periods being when the ‘tradi-
tional’ pasture is senescent (Barrett-Lennard and Norman 2009 ). The shrubs are
resilient to harsh conditions but they are also opportunistic because they can respond
to rainfall events and present extra feed (Barrett-Lennard and Norman 2009 ).
Producers who adopt these shrubs therefore reduce the risk inherent to both the
temporal and quantitative variability in rainfall, because the shrubs also offer valu-
able forage in early winter when pasture growth is slow (especially in years where
there is a late start to the rainy season). Recent studies have shown that a mix of
Australian native shrubs (e.g., Rhagodia preissii Moq., Rhagodia candolleana
Moq., Acacia ligulata A. Cunn. ex Benth., Atriplex nummularia Lindl., Atriplex
amnicola Paul G.Wilson, Eremophila glabra (R.Br) Ostenf., Maireana brevifolia
(R. Br.) Paul G.Wilson, Kennedia prostrata R. Br., Enchylaena tomentosa R. Br.,
Maireana georgei (Diels) Paul G.Wilson) planted in rows with ‘traditional’ pasture
between the rows, can sustain livestock production at times when producers would
normally need to provide expensive supplements (Lund et al., unpublished; Figs. 2
Fig. 2 Illustration of the unpredictability and variability of annual maximum temperature (bold
solid line) and maximum temperature in the Australian spring (March to May; thin solid line) and
summer (June to August; dashed line) in central Queensland (Isisford Post Office: −24.26°S,
144.44°E, 203 m) and in southwest Western Australian (Narrogin: −32.93°S, 117.18°E, 338 m)
from 1913 to 2015 (Data from Australian Bureau of Meteorology (http://www.bom.gov.au))
D. Blache et al.