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1
Hopper, Stephen D., and Nathan K. McQuoid. "Two new rare species and a new hybrid in Eucalyptus series Tetrapterae (Myrtaceae) from southern coastal Western Australia." Australian Systematic Botany 22, no. 3 (2009): 180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb06034.
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Three new rare taxa allied to the conspicuous, common four-winged mallee (Eucalyptus tetraptera Turcz.) are described. E. sweedmaniana is a large-leaved and prostrate coastal mallee known only from Mount Arid, Western Australia. E. brandiana, a non-lignotuberous mallet, occupies spongolite hilltops and escarpments near the Fitzgerald River Inlet in Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia. A single hybrid mallet, E. arborella × brandiana, is described from the type locality of E. brandiana. Both new species and the new hybrid show potential for horticultural use, given their compact habit, large leaves and conspicuous red floral hypanthia and fruits. E. arborella × brandiana and E. brandiana are particularly at risk, being highly localised endemics that are killed by fire.
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Watson, Simon J., Rick S. Taylor, Lisa Spence-Bailey, Dale G. Nimmo, Sally Kenny, Luke T. Kelly, Angie Haslem, et al. "The Mallee fire and biodiversity project." Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 124, no. 1 (2012): 38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rs12038.
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Fire is a widespread disturbance and an important ecological process in semi-arid mallee ecosystems of southern Australia. Understanding the effects of fire on plants and animals is a key challenge for the conservation and management of biodiversity in this ecosystem. Commencing in 2006, the Mallee Fire and Biodiversity Project is investigating the effects of fire on a range of taxa (vascular plants, invertebrates, reptiles, birds and mammals), with a focus on the influence of the properties of ‘fire mosaics’ on biota. A ‘whole of landscape’ design was employed, in which the flora and fauna were sampled in 28 study landscapes, each 4 km in diameter (12.5 km2) across a 104, 000 km2 area of the Murray Mallee region of Victoria, SA and NSW. Here, we summarise some key results and outputs from this project to date. These include: detailed maps of fire history and major vegetation types; a method for predicting the age of mallee vegetation; novel information about the distribution of fire age-classes in the region; and changes to vegetation structure and in the occurrence of reptile, bird and mammal species over a century-long post-fire time-frame. We also present an overview of the effects of fire mosaics (extent of particular age classes, diversity of fire age-classes) on the richness of some mallee fauna. A wealth of knowledge has been developed through the Mallee Fire and Biodiversity Project that will assist the management of mallee ecosystems in southern Australia for the future.
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Holmes, Katie. "The 'Mallee-Made Man': Making Masculinity in the Mallee Lands of South Eastern Australia, 1890-1940." Environment and History 27, no. 2 (May 1, 2021): 251–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.3197/096734021x16076828553520.
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The southern Australian Mallee is a broad ecoregion comprising distinct landscapes, and the clearing and farming of these lands have presented specific challenges to generations of white settlers. Cultivation of this region was characterised as 'one of the most strenuous and resolute battles with Nature'. So began the shaping of an enduring mythology around the 'Mallee man'. In the context of the settler state, this mythology was forged through race, place and gender, with devastating environmental consequences. It has been consistently evoked to suggest that the specific environment of the Mallee worked to produce a special type of 'home grown' masculinity. At the same time, the State sought to provide a particular type of man to work the Mallee lands. This article examines the ways ideas about masculinity shaped men's engagement with the environment and the impact of government settlement schemes on both the myth and lives of Mallee men.
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Clarke, Michael F., Sarah C. Avitabile, Lauren Brown, Kate E. Callister, Angie Haslem, Greg J. Holland, Luke T. Kelly, et al. "Ageing mallee eucalypt vegetation after fire: insights for successional trajectories in semi-arid mallee ecosystems." Australian Journal of Botany 58, no. 5 (2010): 363. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt10051.
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A critical requirement in the ecological management of fire is knowledge of the age-class distribution of the vegetation. Such knowledge is important because it underpins the distribution of ecological features important to plants and animals including retreat sites, food sources and foraging microhabitats. However, in many regions, knowledge of the age-class distribution of vegetation is severely constrained by the limited data available on fire history. Much fire-history mapping is restricted to post-1972 fires, following satellite imagery becoming widely available. To investigate fire history in the semi-arid Murray Mallee region in southern Australia, we developed regression models for six species of mallee eucalypt (Eucalyptus oleosa F.Muell. ex. Miq. subsp. oleosa, E. leptophylla F.Muell. ex. Miq., E. dumosa J. Oxley, E. costata subsp. murrayana L. A. S. Johnson & K. D. Hill, E. gracilis F.Muell. and E. socialis F.Muell. ex. Miq.) to quantify the relationship between mean stem diameter and stem age (indicated by fire-year) at sites of known time since fire. We then used these models to predict mean stem age, and thus infer fire-year, for sites where the time since fire was not known. Validation of the models with independent data revealed a highly significant correlation between the actual and predicted time since fire (r = 0.71, P < 0.001, n = 88), confirming the utility of this method for ageing stands of mallee eucalypt vegetation. Validation data suggest the models provide a conservative estimate of the age of a site (i.e. they may under-estimate the minimum age of sites >35 years since fire). Nevertheless, this approach enables examination of post-fire chronosequences in semi-arid mallee ecosystems to be extended from 35 years post-fire to over 100 years. The predicted ages identified for mallee stands imply a need for redefining what is meant by ‘old-growth’ mallee, and challenges current perceptions of an over-abundance of ‘long-unburnt’ mallee vegetation. Given the strong influence of fire on semi-arid mallee vegetation, this approach offers the potential for a better understanding of long-term successional dynamics and the status of biota in an ecosystem that encompasses more than 250 000 km2 of southern Australia.
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Harvey, Mark S., Jeremy D. Wilson, and Michael G. Rix. "Two new species of the open-holed trapdoor spider genus Aname (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Anamidae) from southern Australia." Australian Journal of Taxonomy 2 (June 2022): 1–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.54102/ajt.h7iv8.
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The open-holed trapdoor spider genus Aname L. Koch, 1873 is endemic to Australia, and currently contains 46 named species. We describe two new species from southern Australia: Aname elegans sp. nov. from the Gawler bioregion of South Australia and Aname pulchella sp. nov. from the Mallee and Hampton bioregions of southern Western Australia.
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Nuttall, J. G., G. J. O'Leary, N. Khimashia, S. Asseng, G. Fitzgerald, and R. Norton. "‘Haying-off' in wheat is predicted to increase under a future climate in south-eastern Australia." Crop and Pasture Science 63, no. 7 (2012): 593. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/cp12062.
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Under a future climate for south-eastern Australia there is the likelihood that the net effect of elevated CO2, (eCO2) lower growing-season rainfall and high temperature will increase haying-off thus limit production of rain-fed wheat crops. We used a modelling approach to assess the impact of an expected future climate on wheat growth across four cropping regions in Victoria. A wheat model, APSIM-Nwheat, was performance tested against three datasets: (i) a field experiment at Wagga Wagga, NSW; (ii) the Australian Grains Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (AGFACE) experiment at Horsham, Victoria; and (iii) a broad-acre wheat crop survey in western Victoria. For down-scaled climate predictions for 2050, average rainfall during October, which coincides with crop flowering, decreased by 32, 29, 26, and 18% for the semiarid regions of the northern Mallee, the southern Mallee, Wimmera, and higher rainfall zone, (HRZ) in the Western District, respectively. Mean annual minimum and maximum temperature over the four regions increased by 1.9 and 2.2°C, respectively. A pair-wise comparison of the yield/anthesis biomass ratio across climate scenarios, used for assessing haying-off response, revealed that there was a 39, 49 and 47% increase in frequency of haying-off for the northern Mallee, southern Mallee and Wimmera, respectively, when crops were sown near the historically optimal time (1 June). This translated to a reduction in yield from 1.6 to 1.4 t/ha (northern Mallee), 2.5 to 2.2 t/ha (southern Mallee) and 3.7 to 3.6 t/ha (Wimmera) under a future climate. Sowing earlier (1 May) reduced the impact of a future climate on haying-off where decreases in yield/anthesis biomass ratio were 24, 28 and 23% for the respective regions. Heavy textured soils exacerbated the impact of a future climate on haying-off within the Wimmera. Within the HRZ of the Western District crops were not water limited during grain filling, so no evidence of haying-off existed where average crop yields increased by 5% under a future climate (6.4–6.7 t/ha). The simulated effect of eCO2 alone (FACE conditions) increased average yields from 18 to 38% for the semiarid regions but not in the HRZ and there was no evidence of haying-off. For a future climate, sowing earlier limited the impact of hotter, drier conditions by reducing pre-anthesis plant growth, grain set and resource depletion and shifted the grain-filling phase earlier, which reduced the impact of future drier conditions in spring. Overall, earlier sowing in a Mediterranean-type environment appears to be an important management strategy for maintaining wheat production in semiarid cropping regions into the future, although this has to be balanced with other agronomic considerations such as frost risk and weed control.
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Dixit, Prakash N., and Deli Chen. "Farm-scale zoning of extreme temperatures in Southern Mallee, Victoria, Australia." Biosystems Engineering 105, no. 2 (February 2010): 198–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2009.10.008.
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Cruz, M. G., W. L. McCaw, W. R. Anderson, and J. S. Gould. "Fire behaviour modelling in semi-arid mallee-heath shrublands of southern Australia." Environmental Modelling & Software 40 (February 2013): 21–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2012.07.003.
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F. Braby, Michael, and Ted D. Edwards. "The butterfly fauna of the Griffith district, a fragmented semi-arid landscape in inland southern New South Wales." Pacific Conservation Biology 12, no. 2 (2006): 140. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc060140.
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Thirty-three species of butterflies are recorded from the Griffith district in the semi-arid zone of inland southern New South Wales. The butterfly community comprises the following structure: 19 species (58%) are resident; 7 (21 %) are regular immigrants; 2 (6%) are irregular immigrants; 5 (15%) are vagrants. Except for a few migratory species, most occur in relatively low abundance. Lack of similar studies elsewhere in western New South Wales precludes generalizations regarding the species richness, composition and structure of semi-arid butterfly communities. Comparison of the butterfly fauna with that from five other inland regions on the slopes and foothills of the Great Diving Range, revealed that the Griffith district is most similar in species richness and composition to that of Deniliquin and to a lesser extent Wagga Wagga and Cowra in the south, than with two regions in the higher summer rainfall area of the north of the State (Coonabarabran-Mendooran, Narrabri-Bellata). Overall, the butterfly fauna of inland New South Wales (total of 73 species, of which 49 occur in the southern regions) is depauperate compared with that recorded from the coastal/subcoastal areas east of the Great Dividing Range. Attention is drawn to the conservation significance of several vegetation types and habitat remnants in the Griffith district. Much of the native vegetation in the district has been extensively modified since European settlement due to excessive clearing for agriculture, resulting in a highly fragmented landscape for the conservation of native flora and fauna. With the exception of the lycaenid Candalides hyacinthinus Simplex, which is considered threatened locally, there is a general absence of narrow range endemic butterflies associated with mallee-heathland or mallee-woodland, possibly as a result of widespread land clearing practices of mallee vegetation in the past.
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Rodriguez, D., J. Nuttall, V. O. Sadras, H. van Rees, and R. Armstrong. "Impact of subsoil constraints on wheat yield and gross margin on fine-textured soils of the southern Victorian Mallee." Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57, no. 3 (2006): 355. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ar04133.
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The APSIM-Wheat module was used to investigate our present capacity to simulate wheat yields in a semi-arid region of eastern Australia (the Victorian Mallee), where hostile subsoils associated with salinity, sodicity, and boron toxicity are known to limit grain yield. In this study we tested whether the effects of subsoil constraints on wheat growth and production could be modelled with APSIM-Wheat by assuming that either: (a) root exploration within a particular soil layer was reduced by the presence of toxic concentrations of salts, or (b) soil water uptake from a particular soil layer was reduced by high concentration of salts through osmotic effects. After evaluating the improved predictive capacity of the model we applied it to study the interactions between subsoil constraints and seasonal conditions, and to estimate the economic effect that subsoil constraints have on wheat farming in the Victorian Mallee under different climatic scenarios. Although the soils had high levels of salinity, sodicity, and boron, the observed variability in root abundance at different soil layers was mainly related to soil salinity. We concluded that: (i) whether the effect of subsoil limitations on growth and yield of wheat in the Victorian Mallee is driven by toxic, osmotic, or both effects acting simultaneously still requires further research, (ii) at present, the performance of APSIM-Wheat in the region can be improved either by assuming increased values of lower limit for soil water extraction, or by modifying the pattern of root exploration in the soil profile, both as a function of soil salinity. The effect of subsoil constraints on wheat yield and gross margin can be expected to be higher during drier than wetter seasons. In this region the interaction between climate and soil properties makes rainfall information alone, of little use for risk management and farm planning when not integrated with cropping systems models.
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Andersen, AN, and AY Yen. "Canopy Ant Communities in the Semiarid Mallee Region of North-Western Victoria." Australian Journal of Zoology 40, no. 2 (1992): 205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo9920205.
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Ants were collected from the canopies of mallee eucalypts at Wyperfeld National Park in north-western Victoria by beating foliage on ten occasions from September 1979 to December 1980. The study was conducted at two adjacent sites: one that had been burnt by a wildfire during early 1977, and the other long unburnt. Both sites contained a mixture of three mallee eucalypt species: Eucalyptus dumosa, E. foecunda and E. incrassata. In contrast to the canopies of other eucalypt formations elsewhere in southern Australia, abundance and diversity of ants were very high. Ants represented 43-69% of all invertebrates, and a total of 44 ant species from 19 genera was collected. Iridomyrmex and Camponotus respectively contributed 10 and 11 species, and the most abundant ants were species of Iridomyrmex, Monomorium and Crematogaster. Ant composition was broadily similar at the two sites, and on different canopy species, although significant differences in abundance were apparent for some individual ant species. Except for tree-nesting Podomyrma adelaidae and Myrmecorhynchus sp. nr emeryi, the fauna was dominated by ground-nesting species, most of which appeared to forage on vegetation opportunistically. The unusually high abundance and diversity of the canopy ant fauna are attributed to the close proximity of the mallee canopy to the ground, coupled with an exceptionally rich ground ant fauna.
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Nuttall, J. G., R. D. Armstrong, and D. J. Connor. "Evaluating physicochemical constraints of Calcarosols on wheat yield in the Victorian southern Mallee." Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 54, no. 5 (2003): 487. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ar02168.
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Soil salinity, sodicity, and high extractable boron (B) are thought to reduce wheat yields on alkaline soils of south-eastern Australia; however, little quantitative information on yield penalties to edaphic constraints is available. The relationships between wheat yield of a B-tolerant cultivar and soil physicochemical conditions in the Victorian Mallee were explored using ridge regression analysis, using natural variation in the field. Wheat yields in the survey ranged from 1.3 to 6.1 Mg/ha, with low yields attributed to inadequate soil water supply during pre-anthesis growth. Crop sequences, fallow–wheat, and pulse–wheat left greatest soil water prior to sowing of the wheat crop, and lucerne–wheat the least. A descriptive model explained 54% of variation in wheat yield, with rainfall around anthesis, available soil water in the 0.10–0.40 m layer, nitrate in the 0–0.10 m layer at sowing and salinity, and sodicity in the 0.60–1.00 m layers being important factors. Subsoil salinity (ECe) and sodicity (ESP) appear to be effective surrogates for estimating the likelihood of water extraction in the deep subsoil. The analyses suggest that subsoils need to have an ECe <8 dS/m and ESP < 19% for crops to make use of water deep in the profile. Although soluble B ranged from 2 to 52 mg/kg in the 0.60–1.00 m layer of the alkaline soils considered, B appeared to have little correlation with root growth, water extraction, or yield of wheat, which has been attributed to B-tolerance of the cultivar tested and/or the overbearing effect of high Na+ in these soils.
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Patton, DA, and JD Mullen. "An Analysis of the Private Returns From Three Land Development Options in the Southern Mallee of Nsw." Rangeland Journal 21, no. 2 (1999): 244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj9990244.
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In early 1993, the DLWC initiated a project to develop regional planning strategies for clearing and cultivation activities in the Southern Mallee and Northern Floodplain areas of the Western Division of NSW. Concentrating on the Southern Mallee region, a benefit-cost analysis of current clearing and cultivation proposals and their impact on the financial viability of the individual landholder has been conducted. While the development proposals all had the potential to return much higher levels of expected net income to farmers than the existing extensive grazing strategy, market and climatic uncertainty meant that the probability of the extensive grazing activity returning more than cropping was as high as 50% for some proposals. This means that farmers have to weigh up higher incomes on average from cropping against the more certain income from grazing. Clearly, this is a personal choice with the more risk averse decision makers favouring the extensive grazing option. However, we found that for levels of risk aversion that research suggests typifies Australian farmers, the development proposals were dominant over the extensive grazing option except where there was a higher proportion of land devoted to conservation at a discount rate of 12%. No attempt has been made in the present study to evaluate the public benefits and costs, in the form of changes in environmental resources, associated with such development proposals Key words: Western Division, conservation, clearing and cultivation, stochastic dominance, economics.
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Lumsden, IF, and AF Bennet. "Bats of a semi-arid environment in south-eastern Australia: biogeography, ecology and conservation." Wildlife Research 22, no. 2 (1995): 217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr9950217.
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A total of 2075 captures of 11 taxa of bats was recorded during an extensive survey of the vertebrate fauna of the semi-arid Mallee region of Victoria. A further two species, Pteropus scapulatus and Saccolaimus flaviventris, are known from previous records, thus bringing the total to 13 taxa known from the region. There was a marked seasonality in activity patterns and in reproduction. Activity, as revealed by trap captures, peaked over the spring to early autumn months when daytime temperatures are high and nights are mild. Births occurred from October to December, lactating females were recorded from November to February, and juveniles were trapped between December and late February, with minor variation in timing between species. Morphometric measurements revealed that females were generally larger and heavier than males. There was a high level of overlap of species between broad vegetation types. Woodland habitats, especially Riverine Woodland, tended to have a higher frequency of capture and a greater species richness of bats per trapping event than did Mallee Shrubland. The assemblage of bats in the Mallee region, Victoria, like those in other semi-arid regions of southern Australia, includes species that are widespread in Australia (e.g. Chalinolobus gouldii and Nyctophilus geoffroyi), together with species that primarily occur in semi-arid and arid environments (e.g. N. timoriensis, Scotorepens balstoni and Vespadelus baverstocki). This region, which includes mesic riverine habitats, also supports a group of species that are characteristic of temperate south-eastern Australia (e.g. C. morio, V. regulus and V. vulturnus). In comparison with assemblages from temperate and tropical environmental regions, those from the semi-arid region tend to have a lower species richness with fewer families represented, a higher level of insectivory, and a smaller modal body size. The conservation status of bats from the Mallee region, Victoria, is believed to be secure, although the status of N. timoriensis warrants further attention.
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Maroske, Sara, and Thomas A. Darragh. "F. Mueller, ‘The Murray-scrub, Sketched Botanically’, 1850: A Humboldtian Description of Mallee Vegetation." Historical Records of Australian Science 27, no. 1 (2016): 41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/hr16001.
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Although best known as a descriptive botanist, Ferdinand Mueller published an early account of the South Australian Mallee in the style of his scientific hero, Alexander von Humboldt. This vegetation type is found across southern arid Australia and includes several distinctive botanical features that Mueller sought to highlight. While his article was republished twice, each issue was in German and consequently this work has tended to be overlooked in scholarship on the history of Australian botany. Mueller's article is introduced here along with a translation into English for the first time.
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Burgman, MA. "Cladistics, Phenetics and Biogeography of Populations of Boronia inornata Turcz. (Rutaceae) and the Eucalyptus diptera Andrews (Myrtaceae) Species Complex in Western Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 33, no. 4 (1985): 419. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9850419.
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Numerical cladistic and phenetic analyses were undertaken on morphometric data from 22 Western Australian populations of the southern Australian shrub Boronia inornata and from the southern Western Australian tree Eucalyptus diptera and its unnamed allies. The E. diptera species complex includes four taxa, three of which are at present unnamed. These species are largely allopatric, although in one location the ranges of two species overlap. Two subspecies of Boronia inornata are described and one of them, subsp. leptophylla, contains three informal variants. Subsp. inornata and two of the variants of subsp. leptophylla are restricted to Western Australia. One variant of subsp. leptophylla is sympatric with subsp. inornata in Western Australia and also occurs in southern South Australia. The events which gave rise to the four species of the E. diptera complex and to the subspecies and variants of B. inornata occurred within the semiarid mallee zone of Western Australia, probably during the Quaternary. Speciation has occurred in a replacement pattern across the southern transitional rainfall zone, which is reflected in at least one other, unrelated taxon.
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NULSEN, R. A., K. J. BLIGH, I. N. BAXTER, E. J. SOLIN, and D. H. IMRIE. "The fate of rainfall in a mallee and heath vegetated catchment in southern Western Australia." Austral Ecology 11, no. 4 (December 1986): 361–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1986.tb01406.x.
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Paul, Keryn I., Stephen H. Roxburgh, Peter Ritson, Kim Brooksbank, Jacqueline R. England, John S. Larmour, R. John Raison, et al. "Testing allometric equations for prediction of above-ground biomass of mallee eucalypts in southern Australia." Forest Ecology and Management 310 (December 2013): 1005–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.09.040.
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Lazzari, J., H. J. Yoon, D. A. Keith, and D. A. Driscoll. "Local environmental covariates are important for predicting fire history from tree stem diameters." International Journal of Wildland Fire 24, no. 6 (2015): 871. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf15069.
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In fire-prone landscapes, knowing when vegetation was last burnt is important for understanding how species respond to fire and to develop effective fire management strategies. However, fire history is often incomplete or non-existent. We developed a fire-age prediction model for two mallee woodland tree species in southern Australia. The models were based on stem diameters from ~1172 individuals surveyed along 87 transects. Time since fire accounted for the greatest proportion of the explained variation in stem diameter for our two mallee tree species but variation in mean stem diameters was also influenced by local environmental factors. We illustrate a simple tool that enables time since fire to be predicted based on stem diameter and local covariates. We tested our model against new data but it performed poorly with respect to the mapped fire history. A combination of different covariate effects, variation in among-tree competition, including above- and below-ground competition, and unreliable fire history may have contributed to poor model performance. Understanding how the influence of covariates on stem diameter growth varies spatially is critical for determining the generality of models that predict time since fire. Models that were developed in one region may need to be independently verified before they can be reliably applied in new regions.
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Short, Jeff, and Andrew Hide. "Distribution and status of the red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura)." Australian Mammalogy 34, no. 1 (2012): 88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/am11017.
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The red-tailed phascogale once extended widely across semiarid and arid Australia, but is now entirely confined to the southern wheatbelt of Western Australia, occupying less than 1% of its former range. Here it occurs in a portion of the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, and Esperance Plains biogeographical regions. The species persists only in areas that have been extensively cleared for agriculture and where the remaining bushland is highly fragmented. It does not appear to extend into unfragmented habitat in either the Jarrah Forest to the west or Mallee region to the east. It occurs primarily in woodland habitat with old-growth hollow-producing eucalypts, primarily wandoo (Eucalyptus wandoo) or York Gum (E. loxophleba), but records from the periphery of its current range appear to come from a broader range of habitats, including shrublands and various mosaics of woodland, shrubland, and scrub-heath. Key factors limiting persistence are likely to be fragmentation of habitat that is likely to greatly increase the risks associated with dispersal, a shortage of suitable nesting hollows in many vegetation associations, and predation by feral and domestic cats and by foxes. These factors, particularly fragmentation and lack of suitable nesting hollows, suggest that the species’ long-term persistence in areas beyond the wandoo belt is far from assured.
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Zanker, Carolyn. "Child Safety under Scrutiny: The Rural Child Safety Project." Children Australia 16, no. 04 (1991): 26–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1035077200012542.
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Country life may not be as healthy for children as we would like to think. More rural children under five years of age die as the result of accidents than their city counterparts. To raise awareness of this problem, the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia is conducting a Rural Child Safety Project with the Southern Mallee Councils Group in Victoria over a twelve month period. The project was launched in Swan Hill on 21 August 1991 by the Hon. Caroline Hogg, Minister for Ethnic, Municipal and Community Affairs. The launch took place at a local Primary School and was attended by local government representatives and community leaders.
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Nuttall, J. G., S. L. Davies, R. A. Armstrong, and M. B. Peoples. "Testing the primer-plant concept: wheat yields can be increased on alkaline sodic soils when an effective primer phase is used." Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 59, no. 4 (2008): 331. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ar07287.
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The primer-plant concept was tested for wheat (Triticum aestivum) grown on an alkaline sodic soil taken from the southern Mallee of Victoria. This concept relates to use of species of plants with high natural adaptation to hostile subsoils, being able to modify the soil environment and leave biopores for the benefit of subsequent annual crops. For the experiment reported here, wheat was sown into large (0.3 m diam. by 1.0 m length) intact soil cores (collected from a cropping paddock near Birchip in the southern Mallee region of Victoria, Australia) following either birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), canola (Brassica napus), chicory (Cichorium intybus), lucerne (Medicago sativa), safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), sulla (Hedysarum coronarium), or tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum). At the conclusion of the priming phase [270 days after sowing (DAS)], all the different crops extracted c. 145 mm of stored water, the exception being canola (120 mm). Lucerne and birdsfoot trefoil produced the least above-ground biomass (26 g/pot), and safflower the most (115 g/pot). Greater early vigour and water extraction (49 mm) occurred for subsequent wheat crops after birdsfoot trefoil than with wheat after all other species (39 mm). This translated to a 15% yield advantage for wheat after birdsfoot trefoil compared with lucerne. Wheat after sulla yielded 12% more due to increased grain number and kernel size compared with wheat after lucerne. It was proposed that the difference in yield related to the root systems of species tested. Birdsfoot trefoil and sulla were characterised by intensive branching, which potentially produced a fine mosaic of residual biopores. Lucerne, in contrast, which was assumed to have similar break-crop effects, had a large taproot with fewer branches leaving fewer, larger residual root channels than either of the other legumes. It is believed that the fine biopores allowed more rapid and thorough exploration of the bulk soil by the crop roots.
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Wright, Ian J., and Pauline Y. Ladiges. "Geographic Variation in Eucalyptus diversifolia (Myrtaceae) and the Recognition of New Subspecies E. diversifolia subsp. hesperia and E. diversifolia subsp. megacarpa." Australian Systematic Botany 10, no. 5 (1997): 651. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb96019.
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Patterns of geographic variation in morphological and chemical characters are documented in Eucalyptus diversifolia Bonpl. (soap mallee, white coastal mallee). This species is found in coastal and subcoastal Australia from southern Western Australia to Cape Nelson (western Victoria), with a number of disjunctions in the intervening region. Morphological data from adult plants collected at field localities and seedlings grown under uniform conditions were analysed using univariate and multivariate methods, including oneway ANOVA, multiple comparison tests, non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), nearest neighbour networks, and minimum spanning trees. Seedling material was tested for isozyme polymorphism, and adult leaf flavonoids were analysed using liquid chromatography. Morphological and chemical characters are also documented in E. aff. diversifolia, a closely related but unnamed taxon restricted to ironstone outcrops near Norseman (WA), and putative E. diversifolia- E. baxteri hybrids from Cape Nelson. Congruent patterns in data sets distinguish three groups of E. diversifolia adults and progeny: (1) those to the west of the Nullarbor disjunction; (2) South Australian populations to the east of this disjunction; and (3) those from Cape Nelson. Formal taxonomic recognition of the three forms at subspecific level is established, namely E. diversifolia subsp. diversifolia, E. diversifolia subsp. hesperia, and E. diversifolia subsp. megacarpa. Patterns of geographic affinity between populations are consistent with a hypothesis of genetic exchange between normally disjunct regional populations of E. diversifolia via coastal land-bridges exposed during periodic times of low sea level since the mid Tertiary.
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Hunt, J. R., C. Browne, T. M. McBeath, K. Verburg, S. Craig, and A. M. Whitbread. "Summer fallow weed control and residue management impacts on winter crop yield though soil water and N accumulation in a winter-dominant, low rainfall region of southern Australia." Crop and Pasture Science 64, no. 9 (2013): 922. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/cp13237.
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The majority of rain used by winter grain crops in the Mallee region of Victoria, Australia, falls during the cooler months of the year (April–October). However, rain falling during the summer fallow period (November–March) and stored as soil moisture contributes to grain yield. Strategies to better capture and store summer fallow rain include (i) retention of crop residues on the soil surface to improve water infiltration and evaporation; and (ii) chemical or mechanical control of summer fallow weeds to reduce transpiration. Despite the widespread adoption of no-till farming systems in the region, few published studies have considered the benefits of residue management during the summer fallow relative to weed control, and none quantify the impacts or identify the mechanisms by which summer fallow weeds influence subsequent crop yield. Over 3 years (2009–11), identical experiments on adjacent sand and clay soil types at Hopetoun in the southern Mallee were conducted to quantify the effect of residue management (standing, removed, or slashed) and summer fallow weed control (± chemical control) compared with cultivation on soil water and nitrogen (N) accumulation and subsequent crop yield. The presence of residue (2.4–5.8 t/ha) had no effect on soil water accumulation and a small negative effect on grain yield on the clay soil in 2011. Controlling summer weeds (Heliotropium europaeum and volunteer crop species) increased soil water accumulation (mean 45 mm) and mineral N (mean 45 kg/ha) before sowing on both soil types in 2 years of the experiment with significant amounts of summer fallow rain (2010 and 2011). Control of summer weeds increased grain yield of canola by 0.6 t/ha in 2010 and wheat by 1.4 t/ha in 2011. Using the data from these experiments to parameterise the APSIM model, simulation of selected treatments using historical climate data (1958–2011) showed that an extra 40 mm of stored soil water resulted in an average additional 0.4 t/ha yield, most of which was achieved in dry growing seasons. An additional 40 kg/ha N increased yield only in wetter growing seasons (mean 0.4 t/ha on both soil types). The combination of extra water and N that was found experimentally to result from control of summer fallow weeds increased subsequent crop yield in all season types (mean 0.7 t/ha on sand, 0.9 t/ha on clay). The co-limitation of yield by water and N in the Mallee environment means that yield increases due to summer weed control (and thus returns on investment) are very reliable.
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Monjardino, M., A. Bathgate, and R. Llewellyn. "Opportunities for plant improvement to increase the value of forage shrubs on low-rainfall mixed farms." Crop and Pasture Science 65, no. 10 (2014): 1057. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/cp13413.
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Plantings of forage shrubs such as saltbush (Atriplex spp.) in the drier part of the crop–livestock zone of southern Australia have the potential to help fill feed autumn gaps, provide valuable feed during drought periods, and provide year-round groundcover, shelter for livestock and options for management of saline soils. However, the proportion of farms with forage shrub plantings and the extent of those plantings remain relatively low, with the rate of new plantings slowing over the past decade. Development of new forage-shrub options has been occurring with the aim of improving the feed value and adoption of forage shrubs. Using a whole-farm bio-economic optimisation model for a crop–livestock farming system in the low-rainfall Mallee region of southern Australia (Mallee MIDAS—model of an integrated dryland agricultural system), we explored how key attributes of forage-shrub plantings and the associated pasture understorey, such as biomass growth, digestibility and ease of establishment, can make forage shrub plantings economically more attractive to farmers. We found that saltbush types and forage-shrub options with improved feed quality characteristics will offer the opportunity for improved economic returns and increased profitability from larger plantings compared with existing options. Improving feed quality was more important than increasing the growth rates of saltbush plants. Results still indicate only a niche role in farming systems, with profit typically being greatest when using relatively small areas (<10% of farm area) on the less productive soils of the farm. The results suggest that the profitability of forage shrubs will be greatest for those growers with larger areas of marginal cropping soils and greater reliance on livestock than cropping. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that, if cereal prices or yields fall significantly and/or lamb prices rise, the value of a forage shrub planting can increase substantially. The principles revealed have wide application beyond the region, although these need to be adapted on-farm and widely disseminated before potential contribution to Australian agriculture can be realised.
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Dixit, Prakash N., and Deli Chen. "Effect of topography on farm-scale spatial variation in extreme temperatures in the Southern Mallee of Victoria, Australia." Theoretical and Applied Climatology 103, no. 3-4 (August 15, 2010): 533–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00704-010-0327-2.
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Dunbabin, V. M., R. D. Armstrong, S. J. Officer, and R. M. Norton. "Identifying fertiliser management strategies to maximise nitrogen and phosphorus acquisition by wheat in two contrasting soils from Victoria, Australia." Soil Research 47, no. 1 (2009): 74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr08107.
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Crop yield and profitability in the dryland production systems of southern Australia are directly affected by the application of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilisers. How efficiently a crop utilises applied fertiliser is affected by several factors that interact in a complex way, including: nutrient mobility, soil type and soil physicochemical and biological factors, season (including rainfall amount and distribution), and crop physiology. In addition, nutrient supply and crop demand need to synchronise both temporally and spatially if nutrient use efficiency is to be optimised. In this study, the mechanistic simulation model, ROOTMAP, was used to investigate and generate hypotheses about the implications of a range of fertiliser management strategies on the nutrient utilisation of wheat. A range of seasons and 2 commercially important soil types (a Wimmera Vertosol and a Mallee Sodosol) were considered. Simulation results showed a strong interaction between the timing and placement of N and P fertiliser, soil type, seasonal conditions, root growth, and nutrient uptake by wheat. This suggests that region-specific recommendations for fertiliser management may be superior to the ‘one size fits all’ approach typically adopted over the Wimmera/Mallee region. Fertiliser use efficiency differed between the 2 soil types, primarily because physicochemical subsoil constraints were present in the Sodosol, but not the Vertosol. These affected rooting depth, total root system size, and root distribution—notably root growth and hence foraging in the topsoil layer. The root growth response to fertiliser management strategies and seasonal rainfall was also reduced on the Sodosol compared with the Vertosol. Simulated fertiliser uptake was responsive to the placement strategy in a dry year characterised by small rainfall events, typical for the Wimmera and Mallee regions. Shallow placement (0.05 or 0.025 m) of N and P in the topsoil utilised topsoil moisture from these small rainfall events, improving crop N and P uptake. The degree of benefit differed between the 2 soil types, and placement of fertiliser was more effective than topdressing. The simulation approach used here provides a preliminary assessment of a range of fertiliser strategies for different soil type and seasonal conditions. However, because ROOTMAP does not provide direct predictions of grain yield response, simulation results need subsequent validation under field conditions before they can be used by growers.
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Lethbridge, Mark R. "Insights into feral goat movement in Australia using dynamic Brownian Bridges for movement analysis." Rangeland Journal 38, no. 4 (2016): 343. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj15024.
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Movement analyses were conducted for 50 goats across southern Australia using GPS satellite collars. A radio or satellite-tracked animal used to direct culling operations is generally called a ‘Judas’ animal. Goats used as ‘Judas’ animals in control operations were compared with non-‘Judas’ goats in the states of South Australia and Victoria, respectively. Their movement in two land systems were also compared. Dynamic Brownian Bridges Movement Models were used to calculate home ranges (95% utilisation areas). Changes in movement behaviour were identified to partition sedentary behaviour from long-distance movement events, defined here as ranging. Eleven goats exhibited ranging behaviour and moved from 9 to 33 km between their home ranges. After partitioning, their home ranges varied from 1.97 to 223.8 km2. In this study in the Southern Australian Mallee regions, non-‘Judas’ goats had significantly smaller home ranges than ‘Judas’ goats. However, no significant differences were found in the ranging distances between non-‘Judas’ goats and ‘Judas’ goats. Understanding these two distinct forms of goat movement is important in the planning and budgeting of removal operations. To demonstrate this a simple goat management decision tool is used to illustrate the biases that can result in the expected hours of removal operations when the assumptions about goat movement are ill-defined.
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Bush, David, David Spencer, John Doran, and Richard Davis. "Testing New Provenances of Eucalyptus polybractea: A Eucalypt Oil Mallee Adapted to Semi-Arid Environments." Forests 13, no. 7 (July 15, 2022): 1109. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f13071109.
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Novel genetic accessions of Eucalyptus polybractea from a previously untested, hotter and drier part of the species’ natural range were tested in a common garden trial at a semi-arid site in NSW, Australia. Eucalyptus polybractea is a mallee eucalypt cultivated for essential oils (1,8-cineole), bioenergy and carbon sequestration on dryland sites in southern Australia (sites receiving about 450 mm mean annual rainfall, MAR). A trial of six previously untested provenances from the relatively hot, dry part of the species’ natural range in South Australia (SA) (250–450 mm MAR) was established alongside seven provenances from New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria within a commercial plantation in NSW. The trial was assessed at age 3.7 years for growth and oil characteristics. While survival was excellent, most of the SA sources were slower growing and of sub-standard oil concentration and quality relative to those from Victoria and NSW. However, a single SA provenance, with the highest oil concentration and 1,8-cineole percentage of all provenances tested, may have potential as a source of selected germplasm. Infusion of SA material into the breeding populations of E. polybractea, which are currently based on NSW and Victorian selections only, may provide more resilience in the face of hotter and drier temperatures expected under projected climate change scenarios, and/or allow the introduction of the species to hotter and drier climates in Australia or other parts of the world with semi-arid climates. However, high-intensity selection of infusions will be required to maintain the growth and oil characteristics in the existing breeding population.
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Drielsma, Michael J., Else Foster, Murray Ellis, Roderic A. Gill, Julian Prior, Lalit Kumar, Hanieh Saremi, and Simon Ferrier. "Assessing collaborative, privately managed biodiversity conservation derived from an offsets program: Lessons from the Southern Mallee of New South Wales, Australia." Land Use Policy 59 (December 2016): 59–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.08.005.
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Nicolle, D., and M. A. Whalen. "A taxonomic revision and morphological variation within Eucalyptus series Subulatae subseries Spirales (Myrtaceae) of southern Australia." Australian Systematic Botany 19, no. 1 (2006): 87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb04037.
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Variation in adult and seedling morphology within Eucalyptus series Subulatae subseries Spirales, a group of mallee and woodland tree taxa distributed across southern Australia, was examined. A total of 35 adult morphological characters and 13 seedling characters was included in the phenetic analyses of 150 individuals representing 40 populations covering all the taxa and the broad geographical distribution of the subseries and also including E. brockwayi and E. salmonophloia for comparative purposes. Based on phenetic analyses of adult and seedling characters, six taxa are recognised within E. subser. Spirales and seedling characters are important in delimiting these taxa. Of the seven subspecies of E. oleosa described by Johnson and Hill (1999), two subspecies, E. oleosa subsp. oleosa and subsp. repleta could not be distinguished from one another based on either adult or seedling morphology. Similarly, the three subspecies, E. oleosa subsp. ampliata, wylieana and victima, could not be distinguished. A new taxonomy for E. subser. Spirales based on phenetic analyses combined with extensive field, glasshouse and herbarium examination of all taxa in the subseries is presented. Six terminal taxa in the subseries are recognised, viz. E. delicata, E. longicornis and E. oleosa with subspp. oleosa, ampliata, corvina and cylindroidea. Within E. oleosa, E.oleosa subsp. oleosa and subsp. ampliata are not readily distinguishable on the basis of adult morphology alone. Eucalyptus oleosa subsp. repleta is synonymised with subsp. oleosa, and E. oleosa subspp. wylieana and victima with subsp. ampliata. Keys to the taxa of the subseries are presented.
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Ladiges, PY, and T. Whiffin. "Taxonomic Revision of Eucalyptus alpina s.l. and Recognition of Three New Species, E. victoriana, E. serraensis and E. verrucosa." Australian Systematic Botany 6, no. 4 (1993): 365. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb9930365.
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Forms previously recognised within Eucalyptus alpina Lindl., an endemic of the Grampian Ranges, Victoria, are described as three new species. E. victoriana sp. nov. occurs in the Mt Thackeray area, Victoria Range; it is a tall tree with smooth upper branches and flaky bark on the lower trunk, adult leaves which are broad-lanceolate, buds which are slightly warty, and fruits which are compressed-hemispherical with a level to slightly ascending disc. E. serraensis sp. nov. is a small tree or mallee of the Wonderland Range and northern Serra Range; adult leaves are ovate, apiculate and coriaceous, buds are warty, and fruits have a broad, distinctly raised disc. E. verrucosa sp. nov. is a small tree or shrub of the southern Sena Range; adult leaves are orbicular, emarginate and coriaceous, buds are very warty, and fruits are large, with a level and folded disc. The type for E. alpina is from a probable hybrid tree with E. baxteri (Benth.) Maiden & Blakely ex Black and hence the name cannot be applied to any of the taxa recognised here.
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King, Rosie, Michael Bentley, Charlie Murray, and Fran Baum. "Regional Health Development Partnerships." Australian Journal of Primary Health 5, no. 3 (1999): 94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/py99039.
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This paper outlines a project funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Hills Mallee Southern Region of rural South Australia. The project involves trialling guidelines produced by the WHO to assist regional health services to develop and support partnerships for health development with community groups and organisations. The guidelines suggest the following steps: identifying what Health Development Structures exist in their region by making an inventory of community groups and organisations in their area; analysing them for potential collaboration; and building sustainable alliances for health promotion and joint action on broader health issues. Six hundred community groups and organisations were identified and from the responses an inventory summarising the activities of 228 groups has been prepared. Seventy five percent of these groups and organisations consider that their activities relate to health and 28% have worked with a health service, although few had participated in 'joint projects' with the formal health sector. Detailed case studies were conducted with five groups from which a set of principles for partnership development was established.
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Whitbread, A. M., C. W. Davoren, V. V. S. R. Gupta, R. Llewellyn, and the late D. Roget. "Long-term cropping system studies support intensive and responsive cropping systems in the low-rainfall Australian Mallee." Crop and Pasture Science 66, no. 6 (2015): 553. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/cp14136.
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Continuous-cropping systems based on no-till and crop residue retention have been widely adopted across the low-rainfall cereal belt in southern Australia in the last decade to manage climate risk and wind erosion. This paper reports on two long-term field experiments that were established in the late 1990s on texturally different soil types at a time of uncertainty about the profitability of continuous-cropping rotations in low-rainfall environments. Continuous-cereal systems significantly outyielded the traditional pasture–wheat systems in five of the 11 seasons at Waikerie (light-textured soil), resulting in a cumulative gross margin of AU$1600 ha–1 after the initial eight seasons, almost double that of the other treatments. All rotation systems at Kerribee (loam-textured soil) performed poorly, with only the 2003 season producing yields close to 3 t ha–1 and no profit achieved in the years 2004–08. For low-rainfall environments, the success of a higher input cropping system largely depends on the ability to offset the losses in poor seasons by capturing greater benefits from good seasons; therefore, strategies to manage climatic risk are paramount. Fallow efficiency, or the efficiency with which rainfall was stored during the period between crops, averaged 17% at Kerribee and 30% at Waikerie, also indicating that soil texture strongly influences soil evaporation. A ‘responsive’ strategy of continuous cereal with the occasional, high-value ‘break crop’ when seasonal conditions are optimal is considered superior to fixed or pasture–fallow rotations for controlling grass, disease or nutritional issues.
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Nicolle, D., M. A. Whalen, and D. A. Mackay. "Morphological variation and phylogenetic relationships within Eucalyptus series Subulatae (Myrtaceae) of southern Australia." Australian Systematic Botany 19, no. 1 (2006): 59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb04036.
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Morphological variation within Eucalyptus series Subulatae, a group of mallee and woodland tree taxa distributed across southern Australia, was assessed by adult and seedling characteristics. A phenetic study included a total of 51 adult morphological characters and 37 seedling characters, which were assessed for 564 individuals representing 163 populations, covering the broad geographical distribution of the series. All taxa included in the series by either Johnson and Hill (1999) or Brooker (2000) were included together with E. angustissima, E. cooperiana, E. falcata and E. salmonophloia, all of which have been at times included in, or considered closely related to, E. ser. Subulatae. The phenetic analyses indicate that the four subseries of Brooker (2000) are morphologically distinct, although their distinctiveness is only evident from seedling characters. The two subseries that Johnson and Hill (1999) recognise (subser. Flocktonianosae and Transcontinentalosae) corresponding to Brooker’s (2000) subser. Decurrentes, are more weakly defined. Southern populations of E. dolichocera are not considered here to belong to this species but rather to belong to a different subseries based on seedling morphology. A phylogenetic analysis of 44 morphological characters and 23 species of E. ser. Subulatae and 24 species from variously related taxa suggest that E. ser. Subulatae may not be monophyletic. Eucalyptus brockwayi and E. salmonophloia are basal to E. ser. Subulatae and all of the other taxa included in the analysis. Within E. ser. Subulatae, subsers Oleaginae and Spirales are both monophyletic. Both the phylogenetic and phenetic analyses strongly suggest that E. brockwayi is unique in several characters, including some not previously recognised, and is best placed in a monotypic series. The position of E. aspersa remains unresolved, but is probably best retained in E. subser. Decussatae. A key to the subseries of E. ser. Subulatae is presented and putative intersubserial, interserial and intersectional hybrids involving the series are cited.
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Hayman, Faye. "Helping Carers Care: An Education Programme for Rural Carers of People with a Mental Illness." Australasian Psychiatry 13, no. 2 (June 2005): 148–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/j.1440-1665.2005.02178.x.
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Objective: To provide descriptive information about a short-term educational programme for rural carers of people with a mental illness, living in the Loddon Campaspe Southern Mallee region. Method: The Carers Education Exchange Programme is a flexible, needsbased model that can be modified to cater for individual groups. It consists of a number of sessions on topics relevant to caring for someone with a mental illness, held over a period of several weeks. The programme is offered at locations throughout the region, making it accessible to carers in isolated, rural areas. Results: Feedback indicates that the benefits of participating in the programme include the reduction of isolation and stigma, increased understanding of mental illness, development of skills relevant to the caring role and the formation of supportive networks, both professional and personal. Conclusions: Educational group programmes for carers are an effective way of providing both education and support. This programme can assist in reducing some of the distress and difficulties inherent in caring for someone with a mental illness. Carer well-being is enhanced by the promotion of self-care and a positive outlook.
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Vines, R. G. "Australian rainfall patterns and the southern oscillation. 2. A regional perspective in relation to Luni-solar (Mn) and Solar-cycle (Sc) signals." Rangeland Journal 30, no. 3 (2008): 349. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj07025.
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This investigation is an extension of earlier work on rainfall patterns in eastern Australia. Using district averages rather than rainfall data for individual cities or towns, further evidence is provided for cyclic variations in precipitation with periods of 18–19, 10–11 and 6–7 years. Results from various regional areas in western Queensland and western New South Wales differ from those found further south in Victoria, and connections are suggested between El Niño/southern oscillation events and the incidence of drought in these two separate areas. Such findings are consistent with ecological aspects of the quasi-periodic occurrence of bushfire seasons as observed in both Victorian eucalypt forests after prolonged drought, or after intermittent widespread rains in the semi-arid Mallee rangelands of western New South Wales. The ~19-year cycles may be at least partly a reflection of solar and lunar tidal components and the ~11-year cycles (connected with the Sunspot cycle) could be the result of absorption of short wavelength solar emissions in the stratosphere and resultant photochemical events magnified to produce sea surface temperature changes. The ~19-year cycles are apparently associated with either increased or decreased rainfall, and such connections appear to reverse in parts of Australia about every 100 years. These reversals have been associated with major droughts at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries.
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Wolff, Keryn, Steven M. Hill, Caroline Tiddy, David Giles, and Ronald J. Smernik. "Biogeochemical expression of buried iron-oxide‑copper‑gold (IOCG) mineral systems in mallee eucalypts on the Yorke Peninsula, southern Olympic Domain; South Australia." Journal of Geochemical Exploration 185 (February 2018): 139–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2017.11.017.
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Hart, Barry, Glen Walker, Asitha Katupitiya, and Jane Doolan. "Salinity Management in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia." Water 12, no. 6 (June 26, 2020): 1829. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w12061829.
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The southern Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) is particularly vulnerable to salinity problems. Much of the Basin’s landscape and underlying groundwater is naturally saline with groundwater not being suitable for human or irrigation use. Since European settlement in the early 1800s, two actions—the clearance of deep-rooted native vegetation for dryland agriculture and the development of irrigation systems on the Riverine Plains and Mallee region—have resulted in more water now entering the groundwater systems, resulting in mobilization of the salt to the land surface and to rivers. While salinity has been a known issue since the 1960s, it was only in the mid-1980s that was recognized as one of the most significant environmental and economic challenges facing the MDB. Concerted and cooperative action since 1988 by the Commonwealth and Basin state governments under a salinity management approach implemented over the past 30 years has resulted in salinity now being largely under control, but still requiring on-going active management into the future. The approach has involved the development of three consecutive salinity strategies governing actions from 1988 to 2000, from 2001 to 2015, and the most recent from 2016 to 2030. The basis of the approach and all three strategies is an innovative, world-leading salinity management framework consisting of: An agreed salinity target; joint works and measures to reduce salt entering the rivers; and an agreed accountability and governance system consisting of a system of salinity credits to offset debits, a robust and agreed method to quantify the credits and debits, and a salinity register to keep track of credits and debits. This paper first provides background to the salinity issue in the MDB, then reviews the three salinity management strategies, the various actions that have been implemented through these strategies to control salinity, and the role of the recent Basin Plan in salinity management. We then discuss the future of salinity in the MDB given that climate change is forecast to lead to a hotter, drier and more variable climate (particularly more frequent droughts), and that increased salt loads to the River Murray are predicted to come from the lower reaches of the Mallee region. Finally, we identify the key success factors of the program.
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Frischke, Alison J., James R. Hunt, Dannielle K. McMillan, and Claire J. Browne. "Forage and grain yield of grazed or defoliated spring and winter cereals in a winter-dominant, low-rainfall environment." Crop and Pasture Science 66, no. 4 (2015): 308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/cp14273.
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In the Mallee region of north-western Victoria, Australia, there is very little grazing of crops that are intended for grain production. The success of dual-purpose crops in other regions in south-eastern Australia with higher and more evenly distributed rainfall has driven interest in assessing the performance of dual-purpose cereals in the region. Five experiments were established in five consecutive years (2009–13) in the southern Mallee to measure the forage production and grain yield and quality response in wheat and barley to grazing by sheep or mechanical defoliation. The first three experiments focused on spring cultivars sown from late April to June, and the last two on winter cultivars planted from late February to early March. Cereal crops provided early and nutritious feed for livestock, with earlier sowing increasing the amount of dry matter available for winter grazing, and barley consistently produced more dry matter at the time of grazing or defoliation than wheat. However, the grain-production response of cereals to grazing or defoliation was variable and unpredictable. Effects on yield varied from –0.7 to +0.6 t/ha, with most site × year × cultivar combinations neutral (23) or negative (14), and few positive (2). Changes in grain protein were generally consistent with yield dilution effects. Defoliation increased the percentage of screenings (grains passing a 2-mm sieve) in three of five experiments. Given the risk of reduced grain yield and quality found in this study, and the importance of grain income in determining farm profitability in the region, it is unlikely that dual-purpose use of current cereal cultivars will become widespread under existing grazing management guidelines for dual-purpose crops (i.e. that cereal crops can be safely grazed once anchored, until Zadoks growth stage Z30, without grain yield penalty). It was demonstrated that early-sown winter wheat cultivars could produce more dry matter for grazing (0.4–0.5 t/ha) than later sown spring wheat and barley cultivars popular in the region (0.03–0.21 t/ha), and development of regionally adapted winter cultivars may facilitate adoption of dual-purpose cereals on mixed farms.
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Grace, Peter R., John Antle, Stephen Ogle, Keith Paustian, and Bruno Basso. "Soil carbon sequestration rates and associated economic costs for farming systems of south-eastern Australia." Soil Research 48, no. 8 (2010): 720. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr10063.
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Soil organic carbon (C) sequestration rates based on the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) methodology were combined with local economic data to simulate the economic potential for C sequestration in response to conservation tillage in the six agro-ecological zones within the Southern Region of the Australian grains industry. The net C sequestration rate over 20 years for the Southern Region (which includes discounting for associated greenhouse gases) is estimated to be 3.6 or 6.3 Mg C/ha after converting to either minimum or no-tillage practices, respectively, with no-till practices estimated to return 75% more carbon on average than minimum tillage. The highest net gains in C per ha are realised when converting from conventional to no-tillage practices in the high-activity clay soils of the High Rainfall and Wimmera agro-ecological zones. On the basis of total area available for change, the Slopes agro-ecological zone offers the highest net returns, potentially sequestering an additional 7.1 Mt C under no-tillage scenario over 20 years. The economic analysis was summarised as C supply curves for each of the 6 zones expressing the total additional C accumulated over 20 years for a price per t C sequestered ranging from zero to AU$200. For a price of $50/Mg C, a total of 427 000 Mg C would be sequestered over 20 years across the Southern Region, <5% of the simulated C sequestration potential of 9.1 Mt for the region. The Wimmera and Mid-North offer the largest gains in C under minimum tillage over 20 years of all zones for all C prices. For the no-tillage scenario, for a price of $50/Mg C, 1.74 Mt C would be sequestered over 20 years across the Southern Region, <10% of the simulated C sequestration potential of 18.6 Mt for the region over 20 years. The Slopes agro-ecological zone offers the best return in C over 20 years under no-tillage for all C prices. The Mallee offers the least return for both minimum and no-tillage scenarios. At a price of $200/Mg C, the transition from conventional tillage to minimum or no-tillage practices will only realise 19% and 33%, respectively, of the total biogeochemical sequestration potential of crop and pasture systems of the Southern Region over a 20-year period.
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M. Watson, David, I. Ralph Mac Nally, and Andrew F. Bennett. "The avifauna of severely fragmented, Buloke Allocasuarina luehmanni woodland in western Victoria, Australia." Pacific Conservation Biology 6, no. 1 (2000): 46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc000046.
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Buloke Allocasuarina luehmanni woodland is an endangered habitat type that was once widespread in southern Australia but now is restricted to a series of remnants, many of which are located in the Wimmera region of western Victoria. The bird communities inhabiting 27 remnants were sampled on transects of 1.0 ha at 6-week intervals over one year. Ninety-five species of birds were observed in Buloke woodlands, of which 66 species were recorded during transect counts. The total species richness, the richness of groups of birds based on their habitat use, and the composition of assemblages on transects, were examined in a series of analyses with respect to habitat type (which probably reflects "quality"), remnant area, shape, isolation and geographic location. There was little evidence for attributes of remnants significantly influencing species richness per transect, but the composition of avifaunal assemblages varied in relation to habitat type, size and geographic location. The Buloke woodlands supported a diverse assemblage, including numerous species believed to be experiencing a regional decline in southern Australia. The composition of the Buloke assemblage has similarities to those of dry eucalypt woodlands across the plains of central Victoria, but elements contributing to a distinctive avifauna include species associated with semi-arid and mallee environments, and a high frequency of occurrence of a group of small insectivores (thornbills, robins) that favour dry She-oak and Callitris woodlands. A likely reason for the rich representation of small insectivores in woodland stands, even in small degraded remnants grazed by stock, was the scarcity of the Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala that are often common in eucalypt remnants and known to aggressively exclude other species. The results of this study add weight to the recommendation that protection and restoration of Buloke woodlands is a priority for conservation in the Wimmera bioregion of Victoria.
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Descheemaeker, Katrien, Rick Llewellyn, Andrew Moore, and Anthony Whitbread. "Summer-growing perennial grasses are a potential new feed source in the low rainfall environment of southern Australia." Crop and Pasture Science 65, no. 10 (2014): 1033. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/cp13444.
Full textAbstract:
In the Mallee region of southern Australia, the dry and variable climate results in frequent summer–autumn feed gaps, restricting the profitability of farms that combine livestock and crop enterprises. To assess the suitability of summer-growing perennial grasses to fill such feed gaps, two replicated field experiments comparing the persistence and productivity of several cultivars were conducted at Hopetoun and Karoonda. The data from these experiments also served to validate a C4 grass model, which was then used in a simulation experiment comparing productivity on two different soil types at three locations. Most grass cultivars established well except on sandy, non-wetting soils. At Hopetoun, four of five cultivars persisted over 6 years, demonstrating the tolerance of the selected cultivars to the typical long, dry summers and cold, wet winters of the region. Biomass production showed little difference between cultivars and a strong response to the amount of summer rainfall, ranging from 1500 to 3000 kg ha–1 under average seasonal conditions and peaking at 9000 kg ha–1 in the very wet summer of 2010–2011. Model performance was satisfactory (R2 0.85–0.93, RMSE 476–1673 kg ha–1, depending on the cultivar), in terms of predicting both the magnitude and the timing of biomass production. Simulation outputs indicated that biomass production closely followed seasonal trends in temperature and moisture availability. Grazing potential was highest from early summer to autumn, which coincides with the period of feed shortages and highest marginal value of forage. In areas with warm-season (October–April) rainfall averages of 175 and 225 mm, the grazing of C4 grass pastures on marginal soils would be possible in at least 40% of the years for 2 and 3 months, respectively. It was concluded that summer-growing perennials are a promising option to alleviate feed gaps on mixed crop–livestock farms in areas with at least 150 mm of rainfall from October to April.
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Meaney, Kelly M., David E. Peacock, David Taggart, and James Smith. "Rapid colonisation, breeding and successful recruitment of eastern barn owls (Tyto alba delicatula) using a customised wooden nest box in remnant mallee cropping areas of southern Yorke Peninsula, South Australia." Wildlife Research 48, no. 4 (2021): 334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr20021.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract ContextThe introduced house mouse (Mus domesticus) causes significant economic damage to Australia’s agricultural enterprises. As part of the Marna Banggara Rewilding Project on the southern Yorke Peninsula (SYP), the present study focused on the eastern barn owl (Tyto alba delicatula) as a potential bio-controller of mice, by providing nesting spaces where natural hollows are limited. AimsTo design an appropriate pole-mounted wooden nest box, and to enhance barn-owl-breeding and house-mouse-hunting capacity on farmland adjacent to remnant native vegetation. MethodsA prototype nest box was collaboratively designed with a nest box manufacturer using data from previous barn owl studies and anecdotal reports. Eleven pole-mounted wooden boxes with platforms were installed at distances >1.4km apart on properties near Warooka, southern Yorke Peninsula (SYP), and monitored over a 6-month period using external trail cameras. Key resultsOf the 11 nest boxes installed, 55 percent were colonised within a month after establishment, and 82 percent were colonised within 7 months. Occupied nest boxes were actively used by paired owls for mating, breeding and rearing of chicks, which resulted in up to 35 fledgling owlets. ConclusionsThe nest box design successfully supported eastern barn owl colonisation and reproduction on the SYP. The inclusion of the platform not only provided easy, minimally invasive monitoring of barn owl activity and prey intake by researchers, but also increased usable space for barn owl behaviours, such as copulation and wing flapping. ImplicationsThe important nest box design elements featured in this paper, such as the platform, high entrance hole, predator-proof pole and rear door access, can be implemented in barn owl conservation, research and on farms where alternative nesting sites are limited.
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Moore, Andrew D. "Opportunities and trade-offs in dual-purpose cereals across the southern Australian mixed-farming zone: a modelling study." Animal Production Science 49, no. 10 (2009): 759. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/an09006.
Full textAbstract:
Dual-purpose cereals are employed in the high-rainfall zone of southern Australia to provide additional winter forage. Recently there has been interest in applying this technology in the drier environments of South and Western Australia. It would therefore be useful to gain an understanding of the trade-offs and risks associated with grazing wheat crops in different locations. In this study the APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator) crop and soil simulation models were linked to the GRAZPLAN pasture and livestock models and used to examine the benefits and costs of grazing cereal crops at 21 locations spanning seven of the regions participating in the Grain & Graze research, development and extension program. A self-contained part of a mixed farm (an annual pasture–wheat rotation plus permanent pastures) supporting a breeding ewe enterprise was simulated. At each location the consequences were examined of: (i) replacing a spring wheat cultivar with a dual-purpose cultivar (cv. Wedgetail or Tennant) in 1 year of the rotation; and (ii) either grazing that crop in winter, or leaving it ungrazed. The frequency of early sowing opportunities enabling the use of a dual-purpose cultivar was high. When left ungrazed the dual-purpose cultivars yielded less grain on average (by 0.1–0.9 t/ha) than spring cultivars in Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula but more (by 0.25–0.8 t/ha) in south-eastern Australia. Stocking rate and hence animal production per ha could be increased proportionately more when a dual-purpose cultivar was used for grazing; because of the adjustments to stocking rates, grazing of the wheat had little effect on lamb sale weights. Across locations, the relative reduction in wheat yield caused by grazing the wheats was proportional to the grazing pressure upon them. Any economic advantage of moving to a dual-purpose system is likely to arise mainly from the benefit to livestock production in Western Australia, but primarily from grain production in south-eastern Australia (including the Mallee region). Between years, the relationship between increased livestock production and decreased grain yield from grazing crops shifts widely; it may therefore be possible to identify flexible grazing rules that optimise this trade-off.
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Abensperg-Traun, Max, Dion Steven, and Lyn Atkins. "The influence of plant diversity on the resilience of harvester termites to fire." Pacific Conservation Biology 2, no. 3 (1995): 279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc960279.
Full textAbstract:
The harvester termites in floristically rich mallee-heath of southern Western Australia appear resilient to high-intensity fire. This contrasts with the temporary extinction of harvesters occupying a narrow food niche in floristically simple, intensely burnt spinifex Triodia angusta grassland in tropical Western Australia. The present study examines the effects of high-intensity fire on harvester termites Drepanotermes tamminensis in vegetation of intermediate floristic diversity and compares its findings with these earlier studies. We sampled 20 mounds (termitaria) in both an unburnt and (adjacent) burnt stand of Allocasuarina campestris shrubland. Although partially regenerated three years after the fire, 40% of mounds in the burnt area were abandoned, contrasting with 10% in the unburnt stand. No harvested chaff was found in any of the abandoned mounds. The extent of mound occupation by D. tamminensis was considerably lower, and ant invasion higher, in the burnt stand. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that high floristic diversity enhances the resilience of harvester termites to fire. The most likely mechanism is the availability of a range of plant (food) species with different regenerative responses to high-intensity fire. The death of spinifex and the associated harvester termites after fire may be atypical. We argue, however, that temporary extinction of harvester populations in arid Australia may not be exceptional, particularly where fire coincides with drought and high livestock grazing pressure. Rigorous experimental studies are necessary to enhance our understanding of the long-term effects of fire on harvester termite populations in different vegetation types and climatic zones.
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Sadras, Victor O., and John F. Angus. "Benchmarking water-use efficiency of rainfed wheat in dry environments." Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57, no. 8 (2006): 847. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ar05359.
Full textAbstract:
Attainable water-use efficiency relates attainable yield, i.e. the best yield achieved through skilful use of available technology, and seasonal evapotranspiration (ET). For wheat crops in south-eastern Australia, there is a common, often large gap between actual and attainable water-use efficiency. To evaluate whether this gap is only an Australian problem or a general feature of dry environments, we compared water-use efficiency of rainfed wheat in south-eastern Australia, the North American Great Plains, China Loess Plateau, and the Mediterranean Basin. A dataset of published data was compiled (n = 691); water-use efficiency (WUEY/ET) was calculated as the ratio between actual grain yield and seasonal ET. Maximum WUEY/ET was 22 kg grain/ha.mm. Average WUEY/ET (kg grain/ha.mm) was 9.9 for south-eastern Australia, 9.8 for the China Loess Plateau, 8.9 for the northern Great Plains of North America, 7.6 for the Mediterranean Basin, and 5.3 for the southern-central Great Plains; the variation in average WUEY/ET was largely accounted for by reference evapotranspiration around flowering. Despite substantial differences in important factors including soils, precipitation patterns, and management practices, crops in all these environments had similarly low average WUEY/ET, between 32 and 44% of attainable efficiency. We conclude that low water-use efficiency of Australian crops is not a local problem, but a widespread feature of dry environments. Yield gap analysis for crops in the Mallee region of Australia revealed low availability of phosphorus, late sowing, and subsoil chemical constraints as key factors reducing water-use efficiency, largely through their effects on soil evaporation.
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Nuttall, J. G., R. D. Armstrong, D. J. Connor, and V. J. Matassa. "Interrelationships between edaphic factors potentially limiting cereal growth on alkaline soils in north-western Victoria." Soil Research 41, no. 2 (2003): 277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr02022.
Full textAbstract:
Calcarosols of the Victorian southern Mallee comprise subsoils that are typically saline, sodic, and have high concentrations of soluble boron (B), which have the potential to restrict growth of rain-fed grain crops. This paper reports relationships between various soil factors, from 150 soil profiles over a survey area of 3600 km2, to determine if field texture, pH1:5, electrical conductivity (ECe), and Na+ could be used to estimate exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) and B. Assessment of soil profiles across 5 layers to 1 m (n = 750) showed that exchangeable Na+ correlated well with both ESP (r = 0.96) and B (r = 0.88). High correlation also existed between ESP and ECe (r = 0.71) and between B and pH1:5 (r = 0.70). Using linear and asymptotic regression functions, ESP overall was defined by: ESP = 1.47 + 2.68 × Na+ (r2 = 93.9) or ESP = 26.53 – 29.84 × 0.84ECe (r2 = 75.5). Boron was described by: B = –0.34 + 3.93 × Na+ (r2 = 76.7) or B = 3.2 × 10–6 × 6.11pH1:5 (r2 = 68.5). Inclusion of multiple explanatory variates, using stepwise multiple regression, did not account for more variation; hence, prediction using several variables simultaneously appeared unnecessary. Rapidly determined Na+, by ion-specific electrode, could also accurately predict sodicity: ESP = 1.31 + 0.03 × Na+ (r2 = 95.1). Soils with a pH1:5 <8.1 were shown to have B levels not potentially toxic to cereal growth. Soil texture also provided valuable estimation of B. Soils in the sand to clay loam texture range did not have levels of B toxic to cereal growth, unlike soils in the light to heavy clay range that frequently had levels of B potentially toxic to cereal growth.
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Nicolle, D. "A taxonomic revision and morphological variation within Eucalyptus series Subulatae subseries Decussatae and Decurrentes (Myrtaceae) of Australia." Australian Systematic Botany 18, no. 6 (2005): 473. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb04039.
Full textAbstract:
Morphological variation within Eucalyptus series Subulatae subseries Decussatae and Decurrentes was assessed by adult and seedling characteristics for 321 individuals representing 91 populations from across the broad geographical distribution of both the subseries. All previously recognised taxa from the subseries are included. Based on examination of adult and seedling morphology and phenetic analyses of morphological variation, eleven taxa (eight species) are recognised within E. subser. Decussatae. Adult morphology is most important in distinguishing taxa in this subseries, although seedling characters are also useful discriminators of some taxa, most notably E. aspersa and E. yalatensis. The previously recognised E. eucentrica is weakly distinguished from E. socialis, and E. socialis s.l. (i.e. including E. eucentrica) forms four adjacent groups in ordination analyses based on adult characters and adult and seedling characters combined. Four subspecies of E. socialis are recognised. Eucalyptus socialis subsp. viridans Nicolle subsp. nov. is described to accommodate green-leaved populations of E. socialis from the Peninsulas and southern Murray Mallee regions in South Australia. Eucalyptus socialis subsp. victoriensis Nicolle subsp. nov. is described to accommodate coarse-leaved, budded and fruited populations of E. socialis from the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia and South Australia. A new combination is also made [E. socialis subsp. eucentrica (L.A.S. Johnson & K.D. Hill) Nicolle comb. nov.]. Based on the examination of variation in adult and seedling morphology and phenetic analyses of morphological variation, 11 or 12 taxa within E. subser. Decurrentes are recognised. Eucalyptus transcontinentalis subsp. semivestita is considered to be synonymous with E. moderata and the circumscription of this species is greatly modified. A new taxonomy for both the subseries is presented, based on extensive field, seedling and herbarium examination of all taxa in the series and phenetic analyses. Descriptions and keys to the taxa within the subseries are presented.
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Armstrong, R. D., J. Fitzpatrick, M. A. Rab, M. Abuzar, P. D. Fisher, and G. J. O'Leary. "Advances in precision agriculture in south-eastern Australia. III. Interactions between soil properties and water use help explain spatial variability of crop production in the Victorian Mallee." Crop and Pasture Science 60, no. 9 (2009): 870. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/cp08349.
Full textAbstract:
A major barrier to the adoption of precision agriculture in dryland cropping systems is our current inability to reliably predict spatial patterns of grain yield for future crops for a specific paddock. An experiment was undertaken to develop a better understanding of how edaphic and climatic factors interact to influence the spatial variation in the growth, water use, and grain yield of different crops in a single paddock so as to improve predictions of the likely spatial pattern of grain yields in future crops. Changes in a range of crop and soil properties were monitored over 3 consecutive seasons (barley in 2005 and 2007 and lentils in 2006) in the southern section of a 167-ha paddock in the Mallee region of Victoria, which had been classified into 3 different yield (low, moderate, and high) and seasonal variability (stable and variable) zones using normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) and historic yield maps. The different management zones reflected marked differences in a range of soil properties including both texture in the topsoil and potential chemical-physical constraints in the subsoil (SSCs) to root growth and water use. Dry matter production, grain yield, and quality differed significantly between the yield zones but the relative difference between zones was reduced when supplementary irrigation was applied to barley in 2005, suggesting that some other factor, e.g. nitrogen (N), may have become limiting in that year. There was a strong relationship between crop growth and the use of soil water and nitrate across the management zones, with most water use by the crop occurring in the pre-anthesis/flowering period, but the nature of this relationship appeared to vary with year and/or crop type. In 2006, lentil yield was strongly related to crop establishment, which varied with soil texture and differences in plant-available water. In 2007 the presence of soil water following a good break to the season permitted root growth into the subsoil where there was evidence that SSCs may have adversely affected crop growth. Because of potential residual effects of one crop on another, e.g. through differential N supply and use, we conclude that the utility of the NDVI methodology for developing zone management maps could be improved by using historical records and data for a range of crop types rather than pooling data from a range of seasons.