Impact of extreme climatic events on wheat productivity in South-West, Western Australia

It is of major concern that climate change will be associated with an increase in extreme events, in recent years there are evidences of an increase in the frequency and intensity of such events. To confirm this, a trend analysis of historical extreme events was undertaken using case studies. We also examined likely impact of climate extremes on wheat production in the near future (2030). Extreme climate events were determined using Climate Extreme Indices (CEIs) adapted from the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection Indices (ETCCDI). Biophysical examination of wheat productivity was conducted through applying a Global Climate Model (GCM) data set projected for 1991-2010, downscaled by a quantile matching (QM), to APSIM and comparing the output with simulated historical production. Changes to the occurrence and intensity of extreme climatic events have occurred when evaluating the output data to the defined CEIs. An increase in extreme maximum temperatures, a decrease in minimum temperatures and an increase in rainfall variability have been observed in the last decade. Extreme event intensity is expected to decrease as frequency increases in South-West, Western Australia. Wheat yield at a relatively high rainfall site (Katanning, WA) projected to return higher yield compared to the baseline due to decreasing extreme event intensity projected for 2030 (RCP: 8.5, GCM: GFDL-CM3, downscaled by QM). However, the annual wheat yield trends for both simulations, historical and projected climate for 2030, are expected to decrease annually through time as a result of the changing intensity and frequency of extreme climatic events

Comparative analysis of climate change adaptation options across the southern Australian livestock industry

Climate change is predicted to have a substantial negative effect on the productivity of grasslands across southern Australia (Moore and Ghahramani 2013). We used the GRAZPLAN biophysical simulation models to assess several possible grassland management and animal genetic improvement adaptations under SRES A2 climate change scenario. Simulations spanned the five dimensions of geography, time, global circulation models, enterprise, and adaptations. Impact of climate change was predicted to reduce profitability of livestock industry by 46%, 58%, and 72% at 2030, 2050 and 2070, respectively. Increasing soil fertility could return the average profitability of five livestock enterprises to its historical level at 54%, 50%, and 25% of locations in 2030, 2050, and 2070. Increasing the proportion of Lucerne in pasture was effective for 35%, 22%, and 15% of locations in 2030, 2050, and 2070. Increasing fleece growth rates was the most effective genetic adaptation that could return profitability of sheep enterprises to its historical level for 24%, 52%, and 28% of locations in 2030, 2050, and 2070. Removing annual legumes in an attempt to preserve ground cover by replacing annual grass and larger sire body size were less effective options. The incremental adaptations we examined could significantly increase profitability of the enterprises at 2030. However, at many locations in drier regions it appears unlikely that a single adaptation can return profit to the historical level. In most of the high rainfall zone, systemic adaptation using a combination of grassland management and animal genetic improvement could return livestock systems to historical profitability in 2030 and 2050

Estimated Effects of Climate Change on Grassland Production and Legume Content across Southern Australia

Climate changes caused by anthropogenic increases in greenhouse gases such as CO2 will affect southern Australia along with the rest of the globe. Dryland pastures supporting extensive beef, sheepmeat and wool production occupy a third of southern Australia’s farming zone. These livestock production systems are highly sensitive to climatic variation, because they depend almost entirely on pasture as their source of feed. Given the diversity of current climates, soils and pastures that are found across southern Australia, and the spatial variation in projected climate changes (CSIRO 2007), it can also be expected that the impacts of changing climates on pasture production will differ across space. Annual and perennial forage legumes are an important part of the feedbase across most of southern Australia; experimental research suggests that legumes are likely to be favoured by increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations (e.g. Clark et al. 1997) and it is therefore possible that higher legume content in grasslands might be one positive effect of global climate change. In this study, therefore, we have modelled grassland and livestock production to examine the changes in amount, seasonal distribution and legume content of grass-based pastures at locations across southern Australia under climates projected for 2030, 2050 and 2070

Climate Change Impact and Adaptation in Temperate Grassland and Livestock Industries

Climate is projected to have negative impact on temperate grassland and livestock productions across the globe. Moderately elevated atmospheric CO2 in the near future is expected to increase plant photosynthetic rates but this is likely to be limited by soil nitrogen deficits. However, in Australia at least it is unlikely that positive effect of elevated CO2 on plant production be able to offset the negative impacts of climate change. Currently there is a considerable gap between actual and achievable production and profit in Australian grazing systems and many management and genetic improvements for climate adaptation would operate by filling this gap. Because of likely substantial declines in efficiency frontier of grazing systems under changing climate compared to the historical climate, filling the production gap will be a more challenging task in coming decades. Research into climate change impact and adaptation in managed grasslands has been mostly limited to Europe, North America and Australasia. Large areas of managed grasslands exist in South America, China, Africa and south-west Asia for which there is little understanding of the likely impact of climate change impact and effectiveness of potential adaptation options. These grasslands are typically managed at lower intensity than European or North American systems and often form part of crop-livestock farming systems. There is a clear need for research into the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on these grasslands and on the livestock and people they support

Comparative Analysis of Climate Change Adaptation Options across the Southern Australian Livestock Industry

Climate change is predicted to have a substantial negative effect on the productivity of grasslands across southern Australia (Moore and Ghahramani 2013). We used the GRAZPLAN biophysical simulation models to assess several possible grassland management and animal genetic improvement adaptations under SRES A2 climate change scenario. Simulations spanned the five dimensions of geography, time, global circulation models, enterprise, and adaptations. Impact of climate change was predicted to reduce profitability of livestock industry by 46%, 58%, and 72% at 2030, 2050 and 2070, respectively. Increasing soil fertility could return the average profitability of five livestock enterprises to its historical level at 54%, 50%, and 25% of locations in 2030, 2050, and 2070. Increasing the proportion of Lucerne in pasture was effective for 35%, 22%, and 15% of locations in 2030, 2050, and 2070. Increasing fleece growth rates was the most effective genetic adaptation that could return profitability of sheep enterprises to its historical level for 24%, 52%, and 28% of locations in 2030, 2050, and 2070. Removing annual legumes in an attempt to preserve ground cover by replacing annual grass and larger sire body size were less effective options. The incremental adaptations we examined could significantly increase profitability of the enterprises at 2030. However, at many locations in drier regions it appears unlikely that a single adaptation can return profit to the historical level. In most of the high rainfall zone, systemic adaptation using a combination of grassland management and animal genetic improvement could return livestock systems to historical profitability in 2030 and 2050

Food systems and climate change: impact and adaptation in cropping and livestock

The negative effects of climate change on crop and animal production are evident across the world, slowing agricultural growth rates and declining the production rate. The grain and grass quality are also observed to decline under climate change, as are important concentrations of proteins and most essential nutrients such as zinc and iron. It is fortunate that there are potential adaptation options to reconfigure existing agricultural systems and offset negative impacts of climate change. Observations have demonstrated that trends in global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, atmospheric CO2 concentrations, sea-level rise and global temperatures are consistent with the future projections of high emission scenarios. More research focus is therefore needed on more transformative adaptations in order to cope with climate change. Transformative adaptations are significant changes in current systems, for example, changes in the nature, configuration, and location of farms that are under threat. These adaptations can be associated with difficulties if their effectiveness is not assessed and producers and policy makers are not well informed

Decolorization of the dye reactive black 5 using Fenton oxidation

Study on the effect of Fenton process on decolorization and mineralization of RB-5 in aqueous solution is presented in this work. Batch experiments were carried out to find the optimal operational conditions including pH, temperature, H2O2 dosage, FeSO4 dosage and RB-5 concentration at low cost. Degradation of RB-5 dye as an organic pollutant was monitored based on decolorization and mineralization extents of the model solution determined by UV-vis spectrophotometric and chemical oxygen demand (COD) analysis respectively. Optimum pH and temperature for 250 mg/L RB-5 were observed at 3.0 and 40°C respectively and using 50 mg/L of FeSO4 and 300 mg/L of H2O2 resulted in generation of 58.9% COD and 97% color removal after 10 min reaction by Fenton. It is concluded that Fenton process can provide better result for decolorization compared to COD removal in the treatment of textile effluent.Keywords: Decolorization, black 5, Fenton oxidation, dyeAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(26), pp. 4115-412