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1
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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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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Lauerer, Marianne, Dean Nicolle, Malcolm French, Annett Börner, Gregor Aas, and Ernst-Detlef Schulze. "Marri, Mallee, Mulga: Pflanzenvielfalt Westaustraliens." Der Palmengarten 75, no. 1 (June 30, 2011): 31–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.21248/palmengarten.110.
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Westaustralien ist einer der „Hot Spots“ der Biodiversität der Erde. Es beherbergt über 10 000 Pflanzenarten, darunter viele endemische. Von besonderer Bedeutung für diese Region sind Eukalypten, zu denen neben der bekannten Gattung Eucalyptus auch Corymbia gehört, die erst in jüngerer Zeit als eigene Gattung von Eucalyptus abgetrennt wurde. Dargestellt werden verschiedene von Eukalypten dominierte Vegetationstypen Westaustraliens, ferner die küstennahen Banksia-Heidegebüsche im Südwesten, Acacia-Buschländer und die halbimmergrünen Trockenwälder und Savannen der Kimberleys.
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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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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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MOEZEL, PAUL G., and DAVID T. BELL. "Plant species richness in the mallee region of Western Australia." Austral Ecology 14, no. 2 (June 1989): 221–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1989.tb01429.x.
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Prain, Vaughan, and Tony Booth. "Using Interactive Television to Deliver Professional Development Programs in Rural Victoria." Australian and International Journal of Rural Education 3, no. 2 (July 1, 1993): 5–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v3i2.373.
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In 1991 the Regional Telematics Educatiou Consortium (RTEC) was established to promote and co-ordinate the telematic delivery of education and training programs in rural Victoria. 'Telematics' is defined as all electronically-delivered communication, including audio and audiographic conferencing, and one or two-way video transmission. Interactive television programs were first trialled in 1991 in the Loddon Campaspe Mallee Region, and expanded to over twenty programs in 1992. While many of these programs consisted of only one or two sessions, the Promoting Effective Teaching and Learning Program (PETL), a professional development course of six ITV sessions supported by one initial face-to-face session, provided more data on presenter and participant initial perceptions and responses. Eleven presenters delivered PETL to two hundred and forty-one teachers at twenty-three sites in the Loddon Campaspe Mallee Region during 1992.
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Brown, Peter R., Grant R. Singleton, Brian Kearns, and John Griffiths. "Evaluation and Cost-effectiveness of Strychnine for Control of Populations of Wild House Mice (Mus domesticus) in Victoria." Wildlife Research 24, no. 2 (1997): 159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr96018.
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The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of strychnine baiting was tested at sowing in May–June 1994 in two cereal-grain-growing regions of Victoria, when numbers of house mice (Mus domesticus) were high (up to 1000 mice ha-1 in the Mallee) and moderate (100–250 mice ha-1 in the Wimmera). In each region, there were four replicates of baited and unbaited sites. Strychnine was applied once by ground spreaders to 40% of each stubble paddock and to all fencelines at each treated site. Treatments did not significantly affect the demographics (size cohorts, breeding status or sex ratio) or abundance indices of mouse populations. The most pronounced reduction occurred in stubble paddocks (harvested five months earlier) in the Mallee region, where there was a 57% reduction in mean mouse density two days after baiting. This difference was not significant because of high variation between sites within treatments. Moreover, three weeks later the mean density of mice in treated stubble paddocks was approximately double that in the untreated sites. The Wimmera study indicated that strychnine had a minimal effect on mouse populations when ample other food was available. The application of strychnine was inexpensive: $A0.45 ha-1 in the Wimmera and $A0.61 ha-1 in the Mallee; however, mouse damage to crops after sowing was minor. Unfortunately, we could not accurately assess damage to crops because of compensation at an early stage of growth and problems with assessing damage caused by mice. Overall, our results suggest that although strychnine may be an effective palliative method of control when a mouse plague has occurred, its effectiveness as a strategic rodenticide for preventing plagues is questionable.
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Sudmeyer, R., and F. Flugge. "The economics of managing tree - crop competition in windbreak and alley systems." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, no. 11 (2005): 1403. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ea04155.
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Re-introducing trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes as agroforestry systems establishes a tension between long-term objectives, such as increasing shelter, water use, nature conservation and harvesting tree products, and the short-term objective of maximising crop and pasture profitability. This paper describes the growth of crops, pastures and trees at the tree–crop interface in agroforestry systems and the economic returns from alley farming and windbreak systems using various tree–crop competition management strategies in the Esperance region of Western Australia. Severing lateral tree roots (root-pruning), harvesting mallees and allowing them to coppice, or thinning trees for sawlog regimes increased the yield of crops and pastures in the competition zone. In some instances, these increases were significant: root-pruning increased the annual return from crops grown in the competition zone of Pinus radiata by up to $548/km of the tree line at 1 site. Conversely, root-pruning reduced tree growth by 14–43% across all sites. Therefore, where trees provide benefits, such as shelter from damaging winds, the benefits of reduced tree–crop competition may not offset the consequent reduction in rate of tree growth. For mallee–crop alley systems on agriculturally productive soils, mallee growth rates must be high enough to compensate for crop losses in the competition zone. On less agriculturally productive soils, block-planting mallees may be more profitable than alley systems or crops without competition (sole-crops). This research has shown that competition management strategies can be used to manipulate the relative productivity of trees, crops and pasture at the tree–agriculture interface. The use of these strategies will depend on the relative economic value of tree and crop products and the value placed on other tree benefits, such as shelter and reduced groundwater recharge.
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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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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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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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Homainejad, N., S. Zlatanova, and N. Pfeifer. "A VOXEL-BASED METHOD FOR THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELLING OF HEATHLAND FROM LIDAR POINT CLOUDS: FIRST RESULTS." ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences V-3-2022 (May 17, 2022): 697–704. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-v-3-2022-697-2022.
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Abstract. Bushfires are an intrinsic part of the New South Wales’ (NSW) environment in Australia, especially in the Blue Mountains region (11400km2), that is dominated by fire prone vegetation that includes heathland. Many of the Australian native plants in this region are fire-prone and combustible, and many species even require fire to regenerate. The classification of the lateral and vertical distribution of living vegetation is necessary to manage the complexity of bushfires. Currently, interpretation of aerial and satellite images is the prevalent method for the classification of vegetation in NSW. The result does not represent important vegetation structural attributes, such as vegetation height, subcanopy height, and destiny. This paper presents an automated method for the three-dimensional modelling of heathland and important heathland parameters, such as heath shrub height and continuity, and sparse tree and mallee height and density in support of bushfire behaviour modelling. For this study airborne lidar point clouds with a density of 120 points per square meter are used. For the processing and modelling the study is divided into a point cloud processing phase and a voxel-based modelling phase. The point cloud processing phase consists of the normalisation of the height and extraction of the above ground vegetation, while the voxel phase consists of seeded region growing for segmentation, and K-means clustering for the classification of the vegetation into three different canopy layers: a) heath shrubs, b) sparse trees and mallee, c) tall trees.
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Campbell, Lachlan. "Wimmera River (Victoria, Australia) – Increasing Use of a Diminishing Resource." Water Science and Technology 21, no. 2 (February 1, 1989): 245–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wst.1989.0058.
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The Wimmera River is central western Victoria's most important river, rising in the Grampians National Park, filling storages that supply the major water supply to the vast Wimmera and Mallee regions. It passes through the Little Desert National Park, an area of significant scenic, recreation, historical and conservation value and terminates in Victoria's largest inland freshwater lakes (Lakes Hindmarsh and Albacutya). The brittleness of the whole closed Wimmera River system, and the over committal of the water resources was brought to the public's attention when appeals were lodged against the proposal to licence a discharge of high standard secondary effluent from an extended aeration oxidation ditch and lagoon treatment facility at Horsham. Residents, user and community groups, Municipal Councils and Government Departments, aware of the deterioration of the Wimmera River had somewhere to focus their attention. Victoria's and possibly Australia's longest environmental appeal, lasting twenty-five days, and a State Environment Protection Policy, determined that all major point sources of nutrients should be removed from the River. More resources for clearing of unwanted emergent weeds, more facilities for protection of Crown Land and catchments generally, and the implementation of environmental summer flows as piping of the Wimmera-Mallee Stock and Domestic System proceeds, are all required. A River Management Board with strength, wealth, good public relations and a dedication to the task could make the Wimmera River an example for all Australia and a tourist attraction of immense value to the region.
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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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Myers, BA, DH Ashton, and JA Osborne. "The Ecology of the Mallee Outlier of Eucalyptus behriana F. Muell. Near Melton, Victoria." Australian Journal of Botany 34, no. 1 (1986): 15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9860015.
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An outlier of mallee vegetation occurs south of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria in a rain shadow region (annual rainfall approx. 500 mm) about 50 km west of Melbourne. A Eucalyptus behriana open-scrub with a sparse understorey of chenopods, mosses, lichens and some grasses occurs on solonetz soil on lateritized Tertiary sandy clays and on skeletal soils on Ordovician slates and sandstones. The dryness of the mallee site is probably exacerbated by the smaller rate of water infiltration and greater salinity of the solonetz soil under E. behriana compared with the solodic soil, in the moister area further north, under an open-forest of E. microcarpa. The multistemmed habit of E. behriana appears to be partly genetically fixed. Hollow lignotuberous rings, filled to a depth of about 15-25 cm with brown, nutrient-rich humus, are common. Pattern analysis of the distribution of stems of E. behriana indicated strong clumping at about 9 m², due to the multistemmed habit, and weaker clumping at about 600 m², which correlated with the size of groups of dense, spindly individuals of E. behriana, resulting from a past phase of gap regeneration.
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Nichol, Ray. "A Regional Survey of Primary Social Education." Australian and International Journal of Rural Education 3, no. 2 (July 1, 1993): 21–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v3i2.376.
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This is a report of a primary social education survey which was sent in November, 1992, to all state primary schools in the Loddon-Campaspe-Mallee region. It was devised by Social Science Education staff at La Trobe U.C.N.V., approved by the Regional General Manager, trialled in three Bendigo schools and then sent to schools for response and comment. The results reveal significant gaps between policy and practice in many schools, huge differences in confidence concerning curriculum areas and a strong desire and need for support and inservicing in this field.
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ANDERSEN, ALAN N., and ALAN L. YEN. "Immediate effects of Ore on ants in the semi-arid mallee region of north-western Victoria." Austral Ecology 10, no. 1 (March 1985): 25–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1985.tb00860.x.
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Pritchard, F. M., H. A. Eagles, R. M. Norton, P. A. Salisbury, and M. Nicolas. "Environmental effects on seed composition of Victorian canola." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 40, no. 5 (2000): 679. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ea99146.
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Data from advanced breeding experiments between 1985 and 1994 were used to determine the effects of region, year and environment on the quality of canola grown across Victoria. Estimates from these unbalanced data were made using residual maximum likelihood. Environmental effects were large relative to cultivar effects for oil and protein content, while the reverse occurred for glucosinolate content. High oil contents (and low seed protein contents) were correlated with cooler spring temperatures and higher spring rainfall. Oil contents were lowest, on average, in canola grown in dry years, or from the hotter regions, such as the Mallee, and were highest in canola from the cooler, wetter regions, such as south-western and north-eastern Victoria. Fatty acid composition varied with year and region. Means for saturated fatty acid content averaged 6.4 0.1%. The oleic acid content averaged 60.3 0.4% and was higher in canola grown in central Victoria and the Wimmera, and in most years, in north-eastern Victoria compared with other regions. Low temperatures and low rainfall reduced oleic acid content. Linoleic acid content averaged 19.7 0.3% and linolenic acid averaged 10.4 0.3%, with the content of these fatty acids negatively correlated with the content of oleic acid. Erucic acid levels were below 0.6% in all regions.
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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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Davies, SJ, and PJ Myerscough. "Postfire Demography of the Wet-Mallee Eucalyptus luehmanniana F Muell (Myrtaceae)." Australian Journal of Botany 39, no. 5 (1991): 459. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt9910459.
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The post-fire demography of Eucalyptus luehmanniana, a wet-mallee eucalypt restricted to the Sydney region, was studied by descriptive and experimental methods. Patterns of growth and reproduction were related to time since the last fire for 15 populations burned from 2 to 24 years previously. After fire, mature individuals (clumps) resprout from subterranean lignotuberous buds producing numerous narrow stems. Resprouted clumps flower within 2-4 years and fruit within 5-6 years of the last fire. Fruits accumulate in the canopy with increasing time, up to at least 24 years since fire. Measurements from one reproductively mature population showed that there is a low level of seed-fall below the canopy (0.98 seeds m-2 day-1) in the absence of fire. Recruitment without fire appears unlikely due to a combination of factors: low seed viability (34.9%, s.e. = 5.3), low levels of field emergence, no soil-stored seed, and a high proportion (86.9%, s.e. = 3.4) of seed failing enclosed in capsules. Canopy-stored seed is released en masse following fire. Three factors potentially influencing the recruitment of E. luehmanniana seedlings, fire-related effects, water availability and protection of developing seedlings from animals, were investigated experimentally in the field. Seedling emergence was uniformly low (2.2-2.6%), and not significantly increased on burned plots, caged plots, or water-added plots alone. In one experiment, plots both burned and caged had significantly higher emergence. Mortality in all experimental plots was 100% within 6 months. Seedling recruitment of E. luehmanniana will not occur following all fires, and will depend on the coincidence of fire with suitable post-fire conditions.
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Fusco, Diana A., Matthew C. McDowell, Graham Medlin, and Gavin J. Prideaux. "Fossils reveal late Holocene diversity and post-European decline of the terrestrial mammals of the Murray–Darling Depression." Wildlife Research 44, no. 1 (2017): 60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr16134.
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Context Establishing appropriate faunal baselines is critical for understanding and abating biodiversity declines. However, baselines can be highly reliant on historical records that come from already disturbed ecosystems. This is exemplified in the Murray–Darling Depression bioregion of Australia, where European settlement (and accompanying marked land-management changes and the introduction of many species) triggered rapid declines and losses of native species, often before their documentation. Aims We aim to establish the mammal fauna present when Europeans settled the Murray Mallee and Murray–Darling Depression bioregion and determine the extent of mammal loss since European settlement. Methods We describe a dated vertebrate assemblage from Light’s Roost in the lower Murray Mallee region of South Australia. We compare our data with those of modern fauna surveys and historical records to document the extent of change in the mammal fauna since European settlement. Key results Radiocarbon ages showed that the assemblage was accumulating, at a minimum, within an interval from 1900 to 1300 years ago. Since this time, the Murray–Darling Depression has lost half of its flightless terrestrial mammals. Species lost include the mulgara (Dasycercus blythi/cristicauda), which places this taxon within only 40km of Lake Alexandrina, the hitherto-disputed type locality for D. cristicauda. Fossils provided the principal evidence for nearly half of the Murray Mallee fauna and over three-quarters of the fauna are represented in the fossil record. Conclusions Late Holocene assemblages provide important archives of species biogeography and diversity. Our revised faunal baseline indicated that the pre-European fauna of the Murray–Darling Depression was more diverse than hitherto understood and its reduction appears largely caused by the impacts of European settlement. Implications Baselines for species distributions derived from historical records and modern faunal surveys are likely to be incomplete and warrant revision, particularly for smaller and more cryptic species. Deficiencies in regional records mask the extent of mammal declines caused by European colonisation and associated agricultural practices, and thus vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance.
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O'Connell, M. G., D. J. Connor, and G. J. O'Leary. "Crop growth, yield and water use in long fallow and continuous cropping sequences in the Victorian mallee." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 42, no. 7 (2002): 971. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ea01096.
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The agronomic implications of substituting mustard (Brassica juncea) for long (winter) fallows were investigated in a 6-year field experiment by comparing 2 cropping sequences (fallow–wheat–pea v. mustard–wheat–pea) in the semi-arid Victorian mallee. Production and water use of wheat, pea and mustard were measured. Grain yields ranged from 0.1 to 2.4 t/ha for wheat (mean 1.72 t/ha after fallow and 1.22 t/ha after mustard); from 0 to 0.6 t/ha (mean 0.22 t/ha) for mustard and from 0 to 1.4 t/ha (mean 0.8 t/ha) for field pea, strongly reflecting variable seasonal conditions (in-crop rainfall range from 84 to 231 mm). Mustard was shown to be a potential replacement for long fallow producing additional yield benefit (mustard + wheat) in one year. However, under drought conditions it introduces severe penalties to wheat growth and yield compared with the traditional fallow cropping system. Further, mustard did not affect water use, growth, or yield of the second crop after wheat (in our case field pea). This study highlights a conflict between developing farming systems that are productive, environmentally and socially acceptable under variable weather conditions and yet uphold the regional need to reduce dependence on fallowing. Further analyses of weather patterns and other crop choice strategies are needed to help develop better management strategies for the mallee region of Australia.
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Zhang, L., I. H. Hume, M. G. O'Connell, D. C. Mitchell, P. L. Milthorpe, M. Yee, W. R. Dawes, and T. J. Hatton. "Estimating episodic recharge under different crop/pasture rotations in the Mallee region. Part 1. Experiments and model calibration." Agricultural Water Management 42, no. 2 (November 1999): 219–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0378-3774(99)00035-9.
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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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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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Martin, PJ. "Triticum aestivum spp. vulgare (bread wheat) cv. Beulah." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 34, no. 6 (1994): 855. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ea9940855.
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Beulah, with the parentage Cook x 2/Millewa/TM56 (TM56 = AUS10894/4 x Condor), is a semi-dwarf, early flowering, spring wheat with moderately strong straw and reaching ear emergence 2 days later than Meering. In silo group A (Mallee region), Beulah yields equal to Meering and higher than Cocamba, and is similar to these cultivars in silo group C (Wimmera region). Beulah is resistant to cereal cyst nematode [Heterodera avenae], moderately resistant to stripe rust [Puccinia striiformis] and flag smut [Urocystis agropyri], and has the stem rust [P. graminis f.sp. tritici] resistance genes Sr30 and Sr36, giving it resistance to the current Australian races of stem rust. Average milling yields of this hard-grained cultivar are 2% higher than those of Meering. The flour has mixing properties similar to those of Meering, while the dough is more extensible (2.2 cm longer). Overall baking quality of Beulah is good. Beulah is acceptable for the Australian Standard White class in Victoria.
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Zhang, L., W. R. Dawes, T. J. Hatton, I. H. Hume, M. G. O'Connell, D. C. Mitchell, P. L. Milthorp, and M. Yee. "Estimating episodic recharge under different crop/pasture rotations in the Mallee region. Part 2. Recharge control by agronomic practices." Agricultural Water Management 42, no. 2 (November 1999): 237–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0378-3774(99)00034-7.
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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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Robertson, S. M., and R. K. Wimalasuriya. "Limitations to pasture and sheep enterprises and options for improvement in the Victorian Mallee." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44, no. 9 (2004): 841. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ea03030.
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A survey of 29 sheep producers was conducted to benchmark current sheep production practices and producer attitudes to sheep and pasture management in the Victorian Mallee. This report describes the farming systems, defines current sheep management practices and identifies management issues that are limiting production. It also highlights limitations of adoption, suggests potential adoption rates of specific practices by producers, and estimates increases in productivity achievable. Sheep producers could achieve small gains in farm productivity (an estimated average 0.3% annually) by adopting sheep management practices including using superior genetics, reducing ram numbers and introducing supplementary feeding. Possible reasons why recommended practices have not been adopted are discussed. The difficulty of integrating sheep into current short cropping systems was considered to be a key limitation to the adoption of management that could substantially increase productivity, such as higher stocking rates and winter–spring lambing. Important benefits to both productivity and environmental sustainability may be achieved through the replacement of fallowed land with improved pastures. However, a lack of data on the feed base and sheep production in relation to a changing feed base made it impossible to estimate the size of these benefits. It was concluded that further research is needed to collect data and benchmark pasture and livestock enterprises to allow quantification of the potential impact on farm profit of changes to pasture and sheep management in this region.
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Crouch, Kathy. "Wondering From the Womb: Antenatal Yarning In Rural Victoria." Children Australia 42, no. 2 (June 2017): 75–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cha.2017.15.
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This program development report describes the birth of ‘Wondering From the Womb’, a self-determined antenatal yarning resource created through a culturally respectful action research project undertaken in rural Victoria with Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members and professionals. The qualitative reviews completed within Community involved 40 participants who shared their wisdom and experiences regarding antenatal health, parenting and child-rearing practise and connection to Country. The resulting yarning resource, written from the perspective of a baby in the womb, has encouraged curiosity and wonder about what antenates can teach adults and community members regarding their life, learning and healing. Future uses for such a resource are identified with an aim to continue self-determined, culturally respectful service delivery for Indigenous babies, children and families across the Loddon Mallee region.
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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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Lunney, D., A. L. Curtin, D. Fisher, D. Ayers, and C. R. Dickman. "Ecological attributes of the threatened fauna of New South Wales." Pacific Conservation Biology 3, no. 1 (1997): 13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc970013.
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The aims of this study were to identify common ecological patterns among threatened fauna in New South Wales, and to identify priority areas for research and management by determining which regions and habitats contain high numbers of threatened fauna. Threatened and non-threatened fauna were taken from the listings of Lunney et al. (1996, 1997). Species were categorized into weight classes, diet groups, habitats and regions and by level of knowledge available about them. All regions and habitats of the State contain threatened species. The northeastern region of New South Wales contains the greatest number of threatened species but the western region has suffered the most extinctions, especially of mammals. Species that historically inhabited a greater number of regions are less likely to be currently threatened or to be extinct than those with restricted distributions, and large species are more likely to be threatened than smaller species. The best predictors of a threatened mammals species were seeds and vegetation in the diet, heavier body weight, and ground-dwelling, burrowing, and rock pile/cave-dwelling habits. The Critical Weight Range (35?5 500g), although strongly associated with extinction of non-volant mammals, was not the most important predictor. Lord Howe Island held the highest proportion of threatened and extinct birds. Factors showing the strongest associations for threatened birds were carnivory, large size, and distribution in the southeastern region. The most poorly-known region for birds was the north-east, and the least known habitat was shrubland (including mallee, heath and chenopod shrubland). The status of reptiles was poorly known in all regions, especially the western region. Frogs were also poorly known in all regions. Frogs were most at risk if they were large, inhabited closed forest or occurred in the central or northeastern region. The study further revealed little association between particular ecological attributes and conservation status. This indicates that there are complex and pervasive threats affecting the status of New South Wales fauna. Research and management priority status could be argued for all regions and most habitats in the State, but the western or northeastern regions may face the most problems depending on the criteria used (e.g., past extinctions, number vs proportion of threatened species). Further, the conservation status of birds, reptiles and frogs is in particular need of attention from researchers.
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Conway, Paul, Michael Leach, Neetu Tejani, Amanda Robinson, Yachna Shethia, and Ilana Solo. "Oesophageal cancer treatment patterns, timeliness of care and outcomes in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria: A retrospective cohort study." Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology 65, no. 2 (February 26, 2021): 242–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1754-9485.13167.
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Robertson, S. M. "Crop stubbles are as important for sheep production as annual pastures in the Victorian Mallee." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46, no. 8 (2006): 993. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ea04033.
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The impact of different management strategies on production and profit can be evaluated with knowledge of how sheep production responds to changes in the available feed base and sheep or pasture management. This study aimed to quantify on-farm pasture and sheep production in mixed sheep and cropping systems in the Victorian Mallee of south-eastern Australia (325 ± 50 mm annual rainfall) as a prelude to computer simulation modelling. During 2001 (average rainfall) and 2002 (extreme drought) pasture production, the feed base and sheep production were monitored in 15 paddocks on 5 properties located across the region. Crop stubbles were the major source of feed for 6 months of the year, enabling ewes to maintain liveweight. There was more variation in pasture parameters between paddocks at the 1 location than between locations. The botanical composition, plant density, soil fertility and management were key variables associated with between-paddock variation in pasture production. Variation in pasture production between years was larger than within-year differences. In contrast, stocking rates were not much lower in the drought year of 2002 than in 2001. This study suggests there is potential for management to improve pasture production, and demonstrates the importance of feed sources other than annual pasture for sheep production in environments where the annual pasture growing season is short.
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Korte, Chris J., Patrick Wilson, Brian Kearns, Glenn J. Fitzgerald, Joe F. Panozzo, Cassandra K. Walker, Brendan Christy, et al. "Potential impact of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate change on Victorian wheat marketing grades and value." Crop and Pasture Science 70, no. 11 (2019): 926. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/cp19155.
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The potential impact of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]) and future climate predicted for 2050 on wheat marketing grades and grain value was evaluated for Victoria, Australia. This evaluation was based on measured grain yield and quality from the Australian Grains FACE program and commercial grain delivery data from Victoria for five seasons (2009–13). Extrapolation of relationships derived from field experimentation under elevated [CO2] to the Victorian wheat crop indicated that 34% of grain would be downgraded by one marketing grade (range 1–62% depending on season and region) because of reduced protein concentration; and that proportions of high-protein wheat grades would reduce and proportions of lower protein grades would increase, with the largest increase in the Australian Standard White (ASW1) grade. Simulation modelling with predicted 2050 [CO2] and future climate indicated reduced wheat yields compared with 2009–13 but higher and lower grain quality depending on region. The Mallee Region was most negatively affected by climate change, with a predicted 43% yield reduction and 43% of grain downgraded by one marketing grade. Using 2016 prices, the value of Victorian wheat grain was influenced mainly by production in the different scenarios, with quality changes in different scenarios having minimal impact on grain value.
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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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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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Robertson, S. M. "Predicting pasture and sheep production in the Victorian Mallee with the decision support tool, GrassGro." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46, no. 8 (2006): 1005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ea04034.
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The GrassGro decision support tool was designed to quantify sheep and pasture production in response to management and climate variability in temperate Australia, and has been tested in temperate but not low-rainfall Australian conditions. Data from field experiments and from on-farm monitoring was used to test GrassGro predictions of annual and perennial pasture production, and sheep production at 4 locations throughout the Victorian Mallee, which is a low-rainfall area (275–375 mm annually). Predictions of long-term pasture production were then made. Predictions of the herbage biomass of annual pastures closely matched observed data for both a sandy loam (1991–2002 data) and a whole paddock (combining sandy loam and loam and sand) (2001–2002 data) soil type, at several locations across the Victorian Mallee. Linear regression between observed and simulated (April to September) data produced coefficients, significance and root mean square error of r2 = 0.81, P<0.001, 217 kg DM/ha, respectively, for sandy loam soil types and r2 = 0.94, P<0.001, 72 kg DM/ha, respectively, for whole paddock soil types. A series of simulations for individual years from 1970 to 2002 quantified the large impact of climate variability and demonstrated that seedbank and location, but not soil fertility, had a large influence on annual pasture production. However, GrassGro underestimated the production of the perennial pasture, lucerne (r2 = 0.2). GrassGro was also unable to adequately predict sheep production because it failed to take into account the sparse, clumpy structure of the low biomass pastures typical of this region. Methods to improve GrassGro were identified and included: (i) the need to adjust sheep intake from low biomass, sparse pastures, (ii) the ability to predict summer growing and autumn growing plant species, (iii) the ability to graze crop stubbles and (iv) refinements to the coefficients of equations used to model lucerne growth.
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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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Humphreys, John S., Terri A. Meehan-Andrews, Judith A. Jones, Lynn D. Griffin, Bethia A. Wilson, and Karly B. Smith. "How do rural consumers contribute to quality assurance of health services?" Australian Health Review 29, no. 4 (2005): 447. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ah050447.
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Objective: To investigate the reasons for complaint or non-complaint by rural consumers of health services. Design: Qualitative study using focus group discussion of hypothetical scenarios. Setting: Selected rural communities in the Loddon- Mallee region of north-western Victoria. Participants: Sixty volunteer participants in eight focus groups recruited through advertising. Main outcome measure: Issues and themes concerning circumstances leading to, and factors inhibiting, complaints about a health service and awareness of complaints mechanisms. Results: Compared with residents of larger towns, those of small communities were more likely to report they would complain to the local provider, whereas those in larger towns were more likely to mention Hospital Boards or the Commissioner. Deterrents to making complaints included the lack of services, scepticism about the role of complaints in bringing about change and an attitude that it was more appropriate to try to fix the problem than complain about it. Lack of awareness of appropriate complaint mechanisms which feed into quality assurance processes was also identified.
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Latta, RA, and PE Quigley. "A comparison of the persistence of Medicago truncatula cv. Paraggio with other annual medics in the Victorian Mallee." Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 33, no. 4 (1993): 443. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ea9930443.
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The annual medic Medicago truncatula cv. Paraggio has been widely sown in pastures throughout the Victorian Mallee region; however, its ability to persist in cereal pasture rotations is not known. Seed permeability and production, and plant regeneration of Paraggio, were studied in the field over 4 years, and the changes in its seed reserve were examined under 3 different cereal-pasture rotations. When compared with medic cvv. Parabinga, Harbinger, and Jemalong, Paraggio had up to twice the level of permeable seed over the summer-autumn period in 2 years (7-36% v. 2.5-19%). Paraggio produced 336-928 kg/ha of seed over 3 years, and after seed production was halted, it regenerated at densities of 150-1438 plants/m2 over the next 4 years. These results were generally the same as, or better than, the other cultivars. When seed set occurred in 1 and 2 years in the pasture phase of a 2- and 3-year rotation, respectively, Paraggio seed reserves were maintained at >4000 seeds/m2. This study demonstrated that Paraggio resulted in superior plant densities when grown in a number of typical rotations. It persisted satisfactorily and is expected to improve agricultural productivity in shor-tterm cereal-pasture rotations.
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Pople, AR, GC Grigg, SC Cairns, P. Alexander, LA Beard, and RP Henzell. "Trends in numbers and changes in the distribution of feral goats (capra hircus) in the South Australia pastoral zone." Wildlife Research 23, no. 6 (1996): 687. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr9960687.
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Trends in numbers and changes in the distribution of feral goats in the South Australian pastoral zone (217300 km*2) during 1978-94 were determined by winter aerial surveys. Only the presence or absence of goats on sample units was scored between 1978 and 1988. On the assumption of a random distribution of goat groups, these indices were transformed to densities of goat groups. Between 1989 and 1994 actual goat numbers were recorded on each sample unit, allowing goat density to be estimated. Goats were consistently at their highest densities in the south-east of the pastoral zone, a region dominated by open mallee scrub and chenopod shrubland. Densities of goat groups fluctuated from a low in 1984, following a drought, to a peak in 1990, following above-average rainfalls, when there were an estimated 193700 +/- 29600 goats in the pastoral zone. This estimate is conservative because it is uncorrected for the visibility bias associated with sighting groups and undercounting their sizes. The estimate also excludes the Flinders Ranges for which a similar number of goats has been estimated.
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Jonson, J. H., and D. Freudenberger. "Restore and sequester: estimating biomass in native Australian woodland ecosystems for their carbon-funded restoration." Australian Journal of Botany 59, no. 7 (2011): 640. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt11018.
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In the south-western region of Australia, allometric relationships between tree dimensional measurements and total tree biomass were developed for estimating carbon sequestered in native eucalypt woodlands. A total of 71 trees representing eight local native species from three genera were destructively sampled. Within this sample set, below ground measurements were included for 51 trees, enabling the development of allometric equations for total biomass applicable to small, medium, and large native trees. A diversity of tree dimensions were recorded and regressed against biomass, including stem diameter at 130 cm (DBH), stem diameter at ground level, stem diameter at 10 cm, stem diameter at 30 cm, total tree height, height of canopy break and mean canopy diameter. DBH was consistently highly correlated with above ground, below ground and total biomass. However, measurements of stem diameters at 0, 10 and 30 cm, and mean canopy diameter often displayed equivalent and at times greater correlation with tree biomass. Multi-species allometric equations were also developed, including ‘Mallee growth form’ and ‘all-eucalypt’ regressions. These equations were then applied to field inventory data collected from three locally dominant woodland types and eucalypt dominated environmental plantings to create robust relationships between biomass and stand basal area. This study contributes the predictive equations required to accurately quantify the carbon sequestered in native woodland ecosystems in the low rainfall region of south-western Australia.
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Gibbs, Adele K., Frank Udovicic, Andrew N. Drinnan, and Pauline Y. Ladiges. "Phylogeny and classification of Eucalyptus subgenus Eudesmia (Myrtaceae) based on nuclear ribosomal DNA, chloroplast DNA and morphology." Australian Systematic Botany 22, no. 3 (2009): 158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb08043.
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Phylogenetic analysis of Eucalyptus subgenus Eudesmia is presented on the basis of the following three datasets: sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the external transcribed spacer (ETS) regions from nuclear rDNA, sequences of the psbA–trnH intergenic spacer region from chloroplast DNA, and morphological characters, including stamen bundling, operculum development, seeds and trichomes. Studies of floral development were essential for understanding the morphology of mature flowers and interpretation of synapomorphy and homoplasy. A summary phylogeny was constructed from a maximum parsimony analysis of those nodes coded as characters that had support in the molecular trees together with morphological characters. A revised infra-subgeneric classification is presented on the basis of the summary phylogeny, and compared with classifications of Hill and Johnson (1998) and Brooker (2000). Differences relate to relationships between clades and taxonomic rank (sections, series and subseries) and valid names of Brooker (2000) are conserved where possible. One main clade of 14 species (section Limbatae), many of mallee growth form, was found in all analyses; this clade is distributed in the South-West of Western Australia and adjacent Interzone and desert areas. A second main clade (section Complanatae) occurs in the northern and eastern tropical and subtropical regions of Australia, including Kimberley, Arnhem, Queensland and New South Wales. This section includes E. tetrodonta, previously treated as an isolated taxon in a monotypic section; however, this species is related to E. baileyana, E. similis, E. lirata and series Miniatae. The hypothesised phylogeny provides a framework for further analyses of biogeography and ecology, including functional traits.
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O'Connell, Mark G., Garry J. O'Leary, and David J. Connor. "Drainage and change in soil water storage below the root-zone under long fallow and continuous cropping sequences in the Victorian Mallee." Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 54, no. 7 (2003): 663. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ar02079.
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A field study investigated drainage and changes in soil water storage below the root-zone of annual crops on a sandy loam soil in the Victorian Mallee for 8 years. It was designed to compare the effects of the common long (18-month) fallow in a 3-year rotation (fallow–wheat–pea, FWP) with a rotation in which the fallow was replaced with mustard (Brassica juncea), viz. mustard–wheat–pea (MWP). Drainage was measured over 2 periods (1993–98 and 1998–2001) using 9 in situ drainage lysimeters in each rotation. The first period of ~5 years was drier than average (mean annual rainfall 298 cf. 339 mm) and drainage was low and variable. Drainage was greater under the fallow rotation (average 0.24 mm/year) than under the non-fallow rotation (average <0.01 mm/year). The result for the fallow rotation did, however, include one lysimeter that recorded substantial drainage (10.6 mm over the 5 years). During the second period of measurement (~3 years), rainfall was above average (mean annual rainfall 356 cf. 339�mm) and drainage was greater. On average, drainage from the fallow rotation was 6.7 mm/year compared with the non-fallow rotation at 4.0 mm/year. There was again substantial variation between lysimeters. One lysimeter under MWP recorded 31.4 mm/year, and as in the earlier drier period, there were many lysimeters that recorded no drainage. During the drier first period (1993–98), changes in soil water storage between 1.5 and 5.5 m depth confirmed the tendency of the fallow rotation to increase deep drainage. Despite increases and decreases in subsoil water storage during the study, the cumulative change in water storage was positive and greatest under FWP (range: 2.8–14.8 mm/year, ave. 9.6 mm/year) compared with MWP (range: 5.3–9.8 mm/year, ave. 7.4 mm/year) cropping sequences. Overall, the long fallow system has the potential to increase deep drainage by approximately 2 mm/year compared with a fully cropped system, over a wide annual rainfall range (134–438 mm). Further, this experiment reinforces the focus for the reduction of fallow practices for dryland salinity control in the Mallee region.
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Simms, Angela, Meaghan Scott, Simon Watson, and Steve Leonard. "Attenuated post-fire fauna succession: the effects of surrounding landscape context on post-fire colonisation of fauna." Wildlife Research 46, no. 3 (2019): 247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr18131.
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Context After fire, immigration from outside burnt areas is important for the recovery of faunal communities. However, for recovery to occur, the matrix around the fire must support source populations of immigrants. Therefore, the landscape context of fires may be a critical determinant of the species pool available for (re)colonisation, hence post-fire community composition. Increasingly, fires occur in fragmented systems, and there is limited knowledge of how the surrounding landscape interacts with post-fire community recovery. Aim The present study aimed to examine how landscape context influences faunal communities after large wildfires. Methods Three reserves burnt by wildfire were examined ~18 months before the study in the Mallee region of south-eastern Australia. In all cases the burnt area consisted of natural mallee woodland. Two fires occurred within a matrix of extensive natural vegetation, while the third fire burnt >80% of a reserve situated within a highly fragmented, largely agricultural landscape. Birds, reptiles and mammals were surveyed at 90 sites inside and outside the fire boundaries, and relationships of species occurrence to reserve location, burnt versus unburnt status and distance from fire edge were all examined. Key results Post-fire faunal communities reflected the species in the surrounding unburnt landscape. Notably, open habitat specialists, invasive species and species that can persist in small habitat patches were prominent within the fragmented system. Post-fire fauna communities were also influenced by variation of the natural vegetation surrounding the fire. The occurrence of species with low dispersal ability (i.e. reptiles) was influenced by local (patch scale) vegetation structure. 2Conclusions The landscape context of fires is a major driver of the composition of post-fire faunal communities. Our results highlight the potential loss of species sensitive to fragmentation from fire-prone natural vegetation within modified landscapes, and that a reduced pool of potential immigrants leads to ‘attenuated succession’, compromising recovery of the pre-fire community. Implications Post-fire colonists reflect the surrounding landscapes species pool, such that reserves surrounded by fragmented or otherwise low quality habitat are at risk of attenuated succession after fire. Landscape context should be incorporated into conservation planning in fire-prone ecosystems, including consideration of surrounding habitat quality and connectivity and protecting long unburnt vegetation.
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Brown, Peter R., Lisa K. Chambers, and Grant R. Singleton. "Pre-sowing control of house mice (Mus domesticus) using zinc phosphide: efficacy and potential non-target effects." Wildlife Research 29, no. 1 (2002): 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr01023.
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Zinc phosphide was tested on populations of house mice in cereal stubble and pasture paddocks in the Central Mallee region of Victoria, in Autumn 1997. There were three replicates of two application methods: aerial and ground (perimeter) baiting. The response of mouse populations to baiting was monitored by live-trapping; estimates of population size and survivorship were compared between baited and unbaited sites (n = 3) taking prebaiting population sizes into account. Zinc phosphide was effective in decreasing the abundance (adjusted trap success) of mice on aerially baited sites (by 51%), but the reduction observed on ground-baited sites (24%) was not significant. There was no change in abundance on the untreated sites. There was a significant reduction in the survivorship of mice on both aerially and ground-baited sites compared with unbaited sites. Non-target species were monitored before and after baiting. Only four bird deaths were recorded as a result of the baiting program. Given that birds are highly mobile, with deaths possible many kilometres from the bait sitesit was difficult to fully assess the impact of poisoning on bird species in the area without more rigorous searching of vegetated areas further from baited paddocks.