Remote Sensing for Site-Specific Crop Management: Evaluating the Potential of Digital Multi-Spectral Imagery for Monitoring Crop Variability and Weeds within Paddocks

This paper analyses the potential and limitations of airborne remote sensing systems for detecting crop growth variability and weed infestation within paddocks at specified capture times. The detection of areas of crop growth variability can help farmers become aware of regions within their paddock where they may be experiencing above and below average yields due to changes in soil or management conditions. For instance, the early detection of weed infestation within cereal crops is crucial for lessening their impact on the final yield. Transect sampling within a canola paddock of a broad acre agricultural property in the South West of Western Australia was conducted synchronous with the capture of 1m spatial resolution DMSI. The four individual bands (blue, green, red and near- infrared) of the DMSI were correlated with LAI and weed density counts collected in the paddock. Statistical analyses show the LAI of canola had strong negative correlations with the blue (-0.93) and red (-0.89) bands and a strong positive correlation was found with the near-infrared band (0.82). The strong correlations between the canola LAI and selected bands of the DMSI indicate that this may be a suitable technique for monitoring canola variability to derive information layers that can be used in creating meaningful "within-field" management units. Likewise, DMSI could be used as a non-invasive tool for in season crop monitoring. The correlation analysis with the weed density (e.g. self sown wheat, ryegrass and clover) attributed to only one negative weak correlation with the red band (-0.38). The less successful detection of weeds is attributed to the minimal weeddensity within the paddock (e.g. mean 34 plants m-2) and indistinct spectral difference from canola at the early time of imagery capture required by farmers for effective variable rate applications of herbicides.LAI, remote sensing, crop density, vegetation indices, weed mapping., Crop Production/Industries,

Assessing chronological changes in remnant native forest at catchment level : a case study on the Toolibin catchment area

The aim of this study were to construct a digital database of the historical patterns of land clearing (amount, spatial distribution); to reconstruct the historical vegetation of the Toolibin catchment, Western Australia, using mallet maps and reports of the period; to produce maps showing the rate of clearing for the periods 1960-70, 1970-80, 1980-96; and to analyse the relationships between soil types, topographic position and land clearing

Synergies between Land Degradation Neutrality goals and existing market-based instruments

© 2019 Since the concept of the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) emerged in global policy discourse, a key point of contention has been the development of market-based instruments to promote the LDN agenda. Much of this discussion has focused on the use of LDN-specific offset mechanisms and private-public partnerships. However, there is also an opportunity to capitalise on the synergies that exist between LDN objectives and those of existing market-based instruments that have previously been developed for carbon, biodiversity, bioenergy and in other contexts. LDN objectives could be integrated into such schemes through targeted eligibility rules and certification schemes, supporting methodologies, adaptations to multifunctional indices used in auction-based approaches and the restructuring of mandates, tax breaks and feed-in tariffs for bioenergy and other products

A semi-automated approach for GIS based generation of topographic attributes for landform classification

This paper presents LANDFORM, a customized GIS application for semi-automated classification of landform elements, based on landscape parameters. Using custom commands, topographic attributes like curvature or elevation percentile were derived from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and used as thresholds for the classification of Crests, Flats, Depressions and Simple Slopes. With a new method, Simple Slopes were further subdivided in Upper, Mid and Lower Slopes at significant breakpoints along slope profiles. The paper discusses the results of a fuzzy set algorithm that was used to compare the similarity between the map generated by LANDFORM and the visual photo- interpretation conducted by a soil expert over the same area. The classification results can be used in applications related to precision agriculture, land degradation studies, and spatial modelling applications where landform is identified as an influential factor in the processes under study

'This country just hangs tight': Perspectives on managing land degradation and climate change in far west NSW

© 2019 Australian Rangeland Society. Discussions of land degradation often display a disconnect between global and local scales. Although global-scale discussions often focus on measuring and reversing land degradation through metrics and policy measures, local-scale discussions can highlight a diversity of viewpoints and the importance of local knowledge and context-specific strategies for sustainable land management. Similarly, although scientific studies clearly link anthropogenic climate change to land degradation as both cause and consequence, the connection may not be so clear for local rangelands communities due to the complex temporal and spatial scales of change and management in such environments. In research conducted in October 2015, we interviewed 18 stakeholders in the far west of New South Wales about their perspectives on sustainable land management. The results revealed highly variable views on what constitutes land degradation, its causes and appropriate responses. For the pastoral land managers, the most important sign of good land management was the maintenance of groundcover, through the management of total grazing pressure. Participants viewed overgrazing as a contributor to land degradation in some cases and they identified episodes of land degradation in the region. However, other more contentious factors were also highlighted, such as wind erosion, grazing by goats and kangaroos and the spread of undesired 'invasive native scrub' at the expense of more desirable pasture, and alternative views that these can offer productive benefits. Although few participants were concerned about anthropogenic climate change, many described their rangeland management styles as adaptive to the fluctuations of the climate, regardless of the reasons for these variations. Rather than focusing on whether landholders 'believe in' climate change or agree on common definitions or measurement approaches for land degradation, these results suggest that their culture of adaptation may provide a strong basis for coping with an uncertain future. The culture of adaption developed through managing land in a highly variable climate may help even if the specific conditions that landholders need to adapt to are unlike those experienced in living memory. Such an approach requires scientific and expert knowledge to be integrated alongside the context-specific knowledge, values and existing management strategies of local stakeholders

From importing innovations to co-producing them: Transdisciplinary approaches to the development of online land management tools

While traditional approaches to innovation diffusion often assume that innovations come from outside a local system, transdisciplinary co-production offers an alternative paradigm in which local stakeholders are engaged as co-producers of innovations. The use of digital online tools for agriculture, conservation, and citizen science is an area of expanding opportunities, but landholders are often dependent on tools developed outside their local communities. This article looks at the potential for transdisciplinary co-production to be used as a framework for more participatory development of digital online land management tools, with a case study from the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. This research has implications beyond rural land management to other industries and contexts where reflexive and integrative strategies are needed to overcome barriers to stakeholder participation and engagement with new technologies

Developing online tools for increased landholder collaboration in landscape scale conservation and production

This research is part of a two-year project that aims to develop models and tools for incentivising on-ground collaboration on cross-property conservation and production activities. The focus of the study is the NSW Central Tablelands and Central West, particularly the areas around Mudgee-Rylstone and Cowra-Boorowa. The project involves: - Social analysis to identify types of activities and organisational structures that foster collaboration - Spatial analysis to determine how these activities could be linked strategically to deliver landscape-scale impacts outcomes -The development of an online GIS-based tool for use by landholders and other stakeholders in identifying opportunities for collaboration

Landscape scale conservation: incentives for cross-property action

Production landscapes are critical for biodiversity conservation. Individual landholders can contribute but the real challenge is coordinated cross-property action at a landscape scale. This paper describes 2 projects through which we have attempted to better understand that challenge. The ‘Communities in Landscapes’ project (Caring for Our Country 2009-2012) provided coordinated advice and training to develop cross-property biodiversity plans and $70k for each of 7 landholder groups for the initial phase of the implementation. The project generated collaboration on landscape scale biodiversity conservation, but without ongoing support the benefits achieved could be soon lost. The ‘Increasing landholder collaboration for landscape scale conservation’ project (NSW Environmental Trust 2016-2017) is exploring the nature and extent of collaboration, and the opportunities provided by collaboration for public and private benefit. The vision is for landholders to develop ‘Landscape Corporations’ which are the vehicle for integrating production and conservation for landholders sharing the same landscape

Carbon farming for resilient rangelands: people, paddocks and policy

Carbon farming is a new land use option over extensive areas of the Australian rangelands. This land use change has been promoted by government incentives to mitigate climate change, with most of Australia’s land sector abatement to date being delivered in rangelands. Aside from these mitigation benefits, carbon farming has also demonstrated potential co-benefits that enhance socio-ecological resilience by diversifying land uses and income streams, providing opportunities for sustainable land management to enhance soil and vegetation and creating opportunities for self-organisation and collaboration. However, factors such as policy uncertainty, perceived loss of future land use flexibility and the potential for carbon farming eligibility to create social divisions may negatively affect resilience. In this paper we weigh up these risks, opportunities and co-benefits and propose indicators for measuring the impact of carbon farming on the resilience of rangeland systems. A set of land policy principles for enhancing resilience through carbon farming are also identified

From Importing Innovations to Co-Producing Them: Transdisciplinary Approaches to the Development of Online Land Management Tools

While traditional approaches to innovation diffusion often assume that innovations come from outside a local system, transdisciplinary co-production offers an alternative paradigm in which local stakeholders are engaged as co-producers of innovations. The use of digital online tools for agriculture, conservation, and citizen science is an area of expanding opportunities, but landholders are often dependent on tools developed outside their local communities. This article looks at the potential for transdisciplinary co-production to be used as a framework for more participatory development of digital online land management tools, with a case study from the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. This research has implications beyond rural land management to other industries and contexts where reflexive and integrative strategies are needed to overcome barriers to stakeholder participation and engagement with new technologies