Climate and Natural Resources

The net value of farm production is forecast to fall by 63 per cent to $3.7 billion in 2002-03, reflecting a sharp fall in winter crop production and lower prices for most livestock products. Winter crop production in 2002-03 is forecast to decline to 22.2 million tonnes, 15.1 million tonnes below last season's crop and the lowest since 1994-95. ....

The Queensland State Government provides incentives for landholders to establish hardwood plantations on former pasture and cropping areas; however the long-term viability of the timber plantation program in medium to low rainfall areas remains questionable. In order to make hardwood plantations viable, some value adding is necessa ....

In western Victoria, Australia the water table and lake level in the Glenelg-Hopkins catchment have been declining for the last 15 years, and this is attributed to either the low rainfall over this time and/or a substantial change in land use. Stream flow modelling was carried out using monthly empirical water balance model (modified tanh functio ....

The design-and-build stages on the Long Beruang Solar Project from design phase to final implementation are reported in this thesis, with its sustainability discussed and reviewed. Long Beruang is a rural Penan village located in inland Sarawak, East Malaysia. The Long Beruang Solar Project is a 54 kWp solar power system which is implemented ....

Sarawak has fertile slopes and an optimum environment for pepper cultivation. The state produces the majority of pepper products in Malaysia and contributes to multimillion agricultural export earnings every year. The pepper cultivation in Sarawak relies on smallholdings and there were no large-scale plantation nor estate recorded so far. The maj ....

Regional flood prediction equations are generally developed based on the recorded streamflow data in medium- to large-sized catchments, but these equations are often applied in practice to very small catchments. Since there is little/no recorded streamflow data available for very small catchments, the applicability of the developed regional flood ....

This is the introduction to the Ecology and Society special feature on “Applying Landscape Science to Natural Resource Management”. Primarily drawing upon examples from Australia, the nine papers in the feature illustrate how landscape science seeks to integrate information from diverse sources to generate management solutions for implementat ....

Southwestern Australia is recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot, characterised by high diversity and endemism of vascular terrestrial plants. However, the significance of its freshwater biodiversity is not well understood. This review provides an updated account of species richness in rivers in the Mediterranean region (med-region) of south ....

The main objectives and research undertakings of ARIDFLO, a multi- disciplinary research project into the environmental flow requirements of Australian arid zone rivers, are briefly described. The project aims to develop an interactive predictive model of hydrology-biology relationships for arid zone rivers which can also be applie ....

Most Victorians live, work and play close to the coast. It is also home to critical infrastructure, important economic hubs and many significant ecosystems. The purpose of this study is to identify, characterize and quantify the "market" and "non-market" (commercial and non-commercial) value of the natural resources of the Victorian coast. The r ....

The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives facilitated a workshop designed to assess the usability of existing disaster risk management tools for local governments. The aim is for local governments to work with their local communities to develop and implement Local Resilience Agendas in order to reduce vulnerabil ....

A study of the hydrogeological factors influencing salinity in the Kyeamba catchment, NSW, was conducted to describe the physical setting and condition of the catchment and aquifer system, to examine various data interpretations on the conceptual model of flow processes for recharge and discharge, to model the historical and presen ....

RDA commissioned this report to contribute to the successful development of renewable energy projects within the Goldfields Esperance region.    Report Locationhttp://www.rdage.com.au/uploaded/files/client_added/Audit%20of%20Renewable%20Energy%20Projects%20WEB.pdf ....

Forests hold many values. They supply the resource base for one of Australia's largest manufacturing industries and are important for biodiversity conservation, water quality and carbon storage. They also provide a magnificent setting for a host of recreational activities. Our forests provide housing, furniture, paper and food, as ....