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For the first time, a region wide assessment of change across the southern shrublands of Western Australia is reported, using information from the Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS).

Shrub and tree density, canopy area and species richness increased on the majority of sites. The results were similar when considered at a species level, with most shrub and tree species showing an increase in density, total canopy area and the number of sites on which they were found. Recruitment of new individuals to the population was commonplace on virtually all sites and for virtually all species.

This generally good news should be tempered by the understanding that acute degradation processes may still be occurring, especially within and surrounding drainage lines, which are away from where the WARMS sites are typically located.

Grazing was implicated in the decline in density on some sites, particularly those which had experienced below average seasonal conditions. On these sites, decreaser species were particularly affected.