Current Land Use in the Poplar Box (Eucalyptus Populnea) Lands.

1980 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
EJ Weston ◽  
DF Thompson ◽  
BJ Scott

Poplar box (Eucalyptus populnee) woodlands mainly occuron duplex, clay and red earth soils between the 300 mm and 750 mm rainfall isohyets. The poplar box lands have been occupied for from 100 to 150 years and have been modified extensively through tree felling, ringbarking, clearing, cultivation, burning and grazing by domestic livestock. The current land use is described for six vegetation groups which together comprise the poplar box lands. The eastern areas of the poplar box lands are mainly used for intensive agriculture based on wheat. barley and grain sorghum, with small areas sown to c~ops of high water demand. Mixed farming involves dairying (in Queensland) and fat lambs (in New South Wales) and broad-acre cereal and fodder cropping. Sheep and cattle grazing replace intensive crop production as the rainfall decreases. In all areas used for cropping the stability and fertility of the soil are of paramount importance in maintainihg production. The use of woodlands in areas of lower rainfall can lead to deterioration of the resource and to the encroachment of woody native species into the grazing lands. Because cropping is unreliable the opportunity to use cultivation to control woody regrowth is reduced. In central areas much of the land can be sown to improved pastures, but in western areas diversification is limited by the low rainfall and land use is restricted to grazing, initially only by sheep but now by sheep and cattle. Particularly in western New South Wales the increase in unpalatable shrubs and the decrease in available forage has resulted in low stocking rates, and high grazing pressure, making reclamation and pasture improvement difficult. In consequence many enterprises are becoming uneconomic.

1994 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
J. Barker ◽  
D. Lunney ◽  
T. Bubela

Mammal surveys were carried out on the Carrai Plateau and Richmond Range in north-east New South Wales between March 1988 and November 1989. The emphasis was placed on rainforest mammals, following the recognition by Adam ( 1987) that the species lists of mammals in the state's rainforests were incomplete and that more research was needed. The mammals were surveyed primarily by analysis of prey remains in Dog and Fox scats, collected from roads throughout the forests, and from bat trapping. The bat fauna at both the Carrai Plateau and Richmond Range is rich (1 0 species and nine species respectively, including the rare Golden-tipped Bat, Kerivoula papuensis, in the Richmond Range). Scat analysis revealed the presence of 24 native species on the Carrai Plateau, and on the Richmond Range there were 17 species, including high numbers of two pademelon species. Feral prey species are almost completely absent, although the Fox is an established predator in both areas. A sharp division was identified between the mammal faunas of closed and open forests. Differences were found also between the mammal fauna composition of the two rainforest sites, and with those of nearby eucalypt forests. The mammal fauna of New South Wales rainforests is distinct from open forests and future mammal surveys are needed to ensure an adequate level of knowledge to identify and conserve these areas.


1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Date ◽  
H. F. Recher ◽  
H. A. Ford ◽  
D. A. Stewart

A survey of conservation reserves, rainforest remnants and agricultural districts in northeastern New South Wales was conducted to determine the abundance, movements and habitat requirements of rainforest pigeons, to evaluate the extent and use of suitable habitat in conservation reserves, and to provide guidelines for the conservation and management of rainforest pigeons. Eight species of rainforest pigeon occur in northeastern New South Wales. Commencing with the clearing of rainforest in the 1860s for agriculture, rainforest pigeons declined in abundance throughout New South Wales and by the 1970s five species were thought to be threatened in the state. Since then, rainforest pigeons have apparently increased in abundance and distribution, but the Wompoo, Rose-crowned and Superb Pigeons continue to be listed by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service as vulnerable and rare. However, populations of all species of rainforest pigeons in New South Wales are relatively small and vulnerable to further loss of habitat. Most rainforest pigeons show a preference for subtropical rainforest habitat, but moist eucalypt forests, gardens and weedy exotic vegetation along roads and on abandoned farmland are also frequented to varying degrees by different species. To investigate recent trends in pigeon abundance we used data collected for up to 12 years from eight sites and during 1988, 1989 and 1990 from 17 rainforest remnants in northeastern New South Wales. The data suggest that rainforest pigeons now occur more frequently in lowland agricultural areas than in the recent past and tend to confirm an increase in abundance since the 1970s. Nesting and foraging habitats for rainforest pigeons are extensive in the conservation reserve system of northeastern New South Wales, but these habitats, which are largely at high elevations, lack winter food resources. Instead, pigeons congregate in remnant rainforest and exotic berry-bearing trees and shrubs in agricultural areas at lower elevations and near the coast. They rely on these habitats for food during winter and it is the restricted extent of this habitat that probably limits their abundance, not the area or quality of habitat at higher elevations. The conservation and management of rainforest pigeons requires the protection of low elevation and coastal rainforest remnants. As development of northeastern New South Wales proceeds, to avoid a decline in the abundances of rainforest pigeons it will be necessary to protect sclerophyll forest with native or exotic fruit bearing trees and shrubs and to extend the area of suitable habitat by the regeneration of rainforest and by the planting of native species used by pigeons as a food source. This will become increasingly important as the control and removal of exotic plants, such as Lantana Lantana camara and Camphor Laurel Cinnamonum camphora, on which some pigeons depend as a winter food source, becomes more successful.


1979 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 260 ◽  
Author(s):  
RW Condon

This article describes how land settlement policies over a period of 100 years and shrub regeneration in parts of the poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea) lands in New South Wales have had and will continue to have a major influence on the economics of grazing properties in the region. Choise of animals offers few options, but there are many methods of improving productivity which may be applicable to a particular property; their feasibility is being tested in a pilot rehabilitation scheme which is described. Choice of animals offers few options, but there are many methods of improving productivity which may be applicable to a particular property; their feasibility is being tested in a pilot rehabilitation scheme which is described.


1978 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 106 ◽  
Author(s):  
DL Michalk ◽  
PK Herbert

A study of the density and basal diameter of Chloris acicularis Lindl. (syn. Enteropogon acicularis (LindlJLazar. - curly windmill grass) and C. truncata R. Br. (windmill grass) was made at two stocking rates over a period of eight years. The propor- tion of ground covered by these Chloris species varied widely with season, and to a lesser extent with grazing pressure. The density of both species increased in good seasons, while the mean diameter decreased because of the number of new seedlings. Although C. truncata seedlings were more numerous in good seasons, they did not survive as well as did C. acicularis seedlings during prolonged dry periods.


1971 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 177 ◽  
Author(s):  
MMH Wallace ◽  
JA Mahon

The lucerne flea, S. viridis, is restricted to the southern parts of Australia and, apart from a few isolated occurrences in eastern New South Wales, occurs only in areas with an essentially Mediterranean-type climate. The northern inland limit to its distribution agrees closely with the 250-mm isohyet for the growing season of May-October inclusive. The eastern limit to distribution in New South Wales and Victoria agrees with a December-March isohyet of 225 mm. Areas east of this line receive predominantly summer rainfall, and the pastures contain a high proportion of perennial plants which probably do not provide the nutritional stimulus for the development of aestivating diapause eggs in S. viridis essential for oversummering. The predatory mite B. lapidaria requires slightly moister conditions than S. viridis and the limit of its inland distribution agrees reasonably well with the 260-mm isohyet for the May-October period. Low temperatures (mean maximum < 17.5'C) also seem necessary during this period. The eastern distribution limits in Victoria are similar to those of S. viridis.


1999 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. HAWORTH ◽  
S. J. GALE ◽  
S. A. SHORT ◽  
H. HEIJNIS

1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Humphreys ◽  
WS Meyer ◽  
SA Prathapar ◽  
DJ Smith

This paper reviews field measurements of evapotranspiration from rice (ET rice) in the Murrumbidgee Valley of southern New South Wales. The results are compared with US Class A open pan evaporation (E pan) at CSIRO Griffith, and with reference evapotranspiration (ETo) calculated using a locally calibrated Penman equation. Both methods (+ETrice = +Epan or +ETrice = +ETo) give good estimates of total evapotranspiration from flooded rice over the ponded season of about 5 months, from October to February. Variation between seasons in total ETo, rainfall, and ETo minus rainfall is large. Over 32 years, total seasonal ETo varied by a factor of 1.5, while rainfall varied >10-fold. The irrigation water requirement for rice +(ETo - rainfall) varied from 685 mm in 1992-93 to 1350 mm in 1990-91. This large variation highlights the need to adjust the rice water use limit (16 ML/ha or 1600 mm) on a seasonal basis, to detect and eliminate high water use paddocks where percolation to the groundwater or surface runoff is excessive (>2 ML/ha). On average, an irrigation requirement of 10.5 ML/ha is needed to replace net evaporative loss +(ETo - rainfall) for rice flooded for 5 months, October-February. Monthly totals of ETo are compared for several locations within the rice-growing areas of southern New South Wales, and differences between locations are found to be small and not significant. This reflects the strong dependence of evaporation on radiant energy, which is unlikely to vary spatially to a significant extent across the region. ETo calculated from meteorological data collected at CSIRO Griffith therefore provides a definitive basis for estimating evapotranspiration from rice in southern New South Wales. Furthermore, CSIRO Griffith has a computerised meteorological data base going back to the 1930s. Current meteorological data and historical records are readily available by contacting the Metdata Manager. Therefore, the case is made for using CSIRO Griffith ETo as the reference for estimating evapotranspiration from rice in southern New South Wales. This study provides farmers, Land and Water Management Plan groups, and policy makers with a tool that can be used, on a yearly basis, to evaluate rice paddock water use efficiency. It should be adopted to confine rice growing to the least permeable soils.


Rural Society ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Baumber ◽  
John Merson ◽  
Peter Ampt ◽  
Mark Diesendorf

Soil Research ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Young ◽  
Brian R Wilson ◽  
Malem McLeod ◽  
Clair Alston

The organic carbon stock in biomass and soil profiles sampled from nearby paddocks with different land-use histories was estimated at 7 sites in the upper Liverpool Plains catchment and the Manilla district of north-western New South Wales, Australia. The distribution of soil carbon concentrations over a depth of 2 m was significantly affected by site and land use. Continuous cultivation and cropping over ≥20 years significantly depleted carbon concentrations compared with grassy woodlands in the surface 0.20 m at all sites and to a depth of 0.60 m at 3 sites. Depth of sampling (0–0.20 v. 0–1.0 m) significantly affected the differences between land uses at most sites regarding estimates of the stock of soil carbon. These results show that differences in soil carbon concentrations and stock size do not remain constant with depth between contrasting land uses. However, comparisons between land uses of the total amount of carbon stored were dominated by the number of trees per ha and the size of the trees in grassy woodlands. The implications of these results for carbon accounting are discussed.


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