Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation

Research Compendium 1993 - 1994

Research Project

GCTE WORKSHOP ON IMPROVED PASTURES AND RANGELANDS

Objectives

• To develop a state-of-the-science statement of the likely impacts of global change on the Australian rangelands, as an input to the development of the National Strategy for Rangeland Management (NSRM), and as a case study for the international community.
• To further develop international work on the effects of global change on rangelands and improved pastures, by defining an initial set of projects for GCTE Task 3.1.3 and identifying gaps in the coverage of representative agroecosystems.

Background

Global change is the combined effect of humans on the atmosphere, climate and land use. There is still uncertainty about the precise extent of impacts on the climate, and projections for the other factors depend on the response of governments and people over the coming decades. However, there is no doubt that the composition of the atmosphere has changed due to human activities, nor that land use changes have taken place.

In this context, Australia is developing a national strategy for the management of its rangelands (NSRM). This strategy must incorporate a longer term view of how external factors such as global change may drive the future of the rangelands.

In conjunction with the Global Change in Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) Core Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program, the Commonwealth Department of Environment Sports and Territories (DEST), the Meat Research Corporation and CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, this project therefore developed a state-of-the-science study of the likely impacts of global change on the Australian rangelands, from an inter-disciplinary point of view.

Research

A carefully structured workshop gathered about sixty delegates with expertise relevant to global change and rangelands, from Australia and internationally, to a workshop in Canberra in July 1994.

Outcome

A written report on potential impacts on the Australian rangelands was completed and provided to the NSRM Working Group. It also identified some opportunities for RIRDC. A short popularised booklet for circulation to all rangelands user groups was funded by DEST and released in April 1995.

Implications

There are numerous implications identified in the full report. These include:

• Industry must keep a watching brief on the range of global change scenarios currently believed possible, and maintain producer awareness of these; a number of existing trends, such as managing for climatic variability and extremes, and coping with woody weeds, will be exacerbated.
• There are significant opportunities for industry which result from the impacts of global change on the SE Asia region - a workshop is needed to explore this for long-term planning (rice is a key example).
• There are also implications for research, including the need for a better understanding of hydrological processes; landscape redistribution of water; some soil processes in relation to C, N and P dynamics; and carbon sequestration options in rangelands. Importantly, GCMs are still not able to predict inter-annual variation in rainfall, including the effects of ENSO.

RIRDC Project No: GLO-1A

RESEARCHERS: Mark Stafford Smith, Will Steffen

ORGANISATIONS: GCTE CPO/CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology

PHONE: 089 500 162 or 06 242 1755

Last updated: 10 October 1996
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Index of RIRDC Projects URL
http://www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/compendium/93-94/index-b.html