Research

Two of the world’s leading palaeontologists along with scientific researchers and educators have gathered to discuss the importance of the Bass Coast Dinosaurs Trail in Inverloch ... "It is a true legacy project for Council to be at the forefront of creating a world class tourism experience that celebrates the work of scientists, volunteers and the international significance of polar dinosaurs to the Australian Continent": Bass Coast Mayor Michael Whelan.

“Crops in Western Australia and South Australia benefitted the most from spring conditions, with total production in both states forecast to reach new record levels. Total production in Queensland is forecast to reach the second highest on record, despite parts of the Darling Downs missing out on plantings after being impacted by the floods. In other parts of the country, the results are mixed with both flooding and water-logging impacting winter crop production": Jared Greenvillle, ABARES.

Amid extreme market volatility and record-high prices, fertilizer consumption suffered in 2022. According to a new Rabobank report, a recovery in consumption is possible in some regions in 2023, with fertilizer prices lowering and commodity prices at historically high levels.

The whites run when juvenile western rock lobsters undergo a synchronised moult in late spring actually starts in the Two Rocks to Cervantes region before getting underway later in northern areas such as Kalbarri. During the whites run recreational fishers, who need a licence, flock to the Two Rocks marina and other areas so they can head out to check their pots.

Having read the latest comment by Philip Zylstra in the ARR.News journal I was tempted to dismiss it as negligible, and move on. Then I realised that he had denigrated my colleagues, dismissing them as an emotional "lobby group”, and I realised that he must not be allowed to have the last word. To the extent that we are pushing for Australian governments to adopt a bushfire policy and management practices that minimise bushfire damage to the Australian people, to community assets and the environment, then yes, we are lobbyists. But we do so unemotionally, from the basis of science and experience.

Sue Higginson responds to ARR.News questioning of the premise for the Green's introduced Forestry Amendment (Koala Habitats) Bill 2022 ... "All levels of Government agree that our Koalas have declined significantly in recent decades and that they are facing extinction in coming decades if threats to their survival are not stopped ... The legitimacy of the Law article is broadly contested": Sue Higginson, NSW Greens MP.

Technology that will save time and money, provide more accurate data more often, and reduce stress on farmed abalone, is continuing to prove its worth in trials. A multi-disciplinary team at James Cook University (JCU) is testing tools and methodology to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the critical task of counting and measuring abalone in grow-out tanks in aquaculture farms, under an FRDC-funded project.  

The number of banks closed in regional Australia in the six weeks since the Albanese Government quietly released the Coalition’s Regional Banking Taskforce final report is comparable to a dam opening its spillways. The blame for the acceleration – at least 71 branches across all states and territories – can be laid squarely at the feet of the two opposition MPs who led the inquiry, Michael Sukker and Perin Davey, and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, who released the report.

A comprehensive report into the 2019-20 Victorian bushfires highlights the need for a major overhaul of current forest management strategies ... “This report confirms that to avoid future repeats of 2019-20 and protect human life and biodiversity, forest and fire management must be viewed and managed at a landscape scale, with active management over long timeframes, using expert knowledge of forests and their processes”: Forestry Australia Vice President Jim Wilson.

Australian Rural & Regional News followed up with some further questions for Dr Brad Law, NSW DPI Principal Scientist ... "We state that koala occurrence or site occupancy has been stable in hinterland forests of north-east NSW, which is not the same as koala numbers" ... "We don’t have any evidence that koalas are irrupting ..." ... "It does appear to be the case that nutrition is high in epicormic leaves produced after fire, and that koalas rapidly recolonise burnt areas if there is good connectivity with unburnt forest."

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is testing new methods for detecting environmental DNA (eDNA) of varroa mite under the Biosecurity Innovation Program’s Biosecurity molecular screening using eDNA project. A/g Deputy Secretary of Biosecurity and Compliance Peter Timson said eDNA technology is being evaluated as a mobile, rapid, and efficient way to evaluate for pest species on the biosecurity front line.

Matthew Harrison's presentation covers a range of issues relating to soil carbon markets, from changes in soil carbon over time to whether we should rethink soil carbon markets, beginning with the key question: why all the hype about soil carbon?

Researcher Jacqui Kennedy knows how to save photos and history. She helped Coraki Museum, Ballina Library and Ballina Naval Museum digitise their photos collections … a visit to Ray Hunt’s home at Tuckurimba two years ago led Jacqui to some astounding photos.

The critique of our study of fire history in southwestern forests illustrates the difficulty of discussion around such emotive issues. We reported that according to Departmental records, bushfires were seven times more likely in areas of forest that still had the dense understorey that had been germinated by prescribed burns than they were in other areas where the understorey had self-thinned because it had been left alone. These are the facts, but they leave us at an impasse.

A two-part ABARES Insights series on Australian agriculture draws attention to how changes in the sector over past decades have led to its current success and what will shape its future performance. ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said farmers have made the most of exceptional growing seasons and high global prices to achieve unprecedented industry production and export values over the last three years.

Flinders Shire Council in North Queensland has announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Frontier Impact Group to investigate a project to harvest and convert woody weeds into renewable fuel and other valuable byproducts. Flinders Shire CEO, Mr Hari Boppudi said he was thrilled that Flinders Shire Council had signed the MOU to conduct a feasibility study on such an innovative project because landholders across the region had struggled with millions of hectares of good grazing land infested with woody weeds, such as Chinee Apple, Prickly Acacia, and Leucaena.

They’re the creepy crawlies with a voracious appetite, so when it comes to food waste, black soldier fly larvae are nature’s number one composters. Now, these wriggly grubs are helping South Australia’s food bowl stay clean and green as part of a sustainable food initiative from Mobius Farms.

An independent review of an Australian National University (ANU) report advocating for the closure of native forest harvesting in southern NSW, has confirmed the report is deeply flawed ... SETA secretary, Peter Rutherford stated “the flaws identified in the report totally undermine the alleged economic benefits of closing the native forest industry in southern NSW. Rather than a net present value (NPV) of $61.96 million over 30 years, closure of the industry would result in a negative NPV of -$252.43 million.”

A team led by University of South Australia researchers has pioneered a new soil remediation technique that is significantly faster, simpler, safer, and more cost-effective than currently available method … a new remediation technique that uses a super-efficient solar evaporation surface to draw water from the soil through a sponge-like filter that traps contaminants, mimicking the process of transpiration that occurs in natural plants, but at a greatly accelerated rate.

Australian Rural & Regional News sought an update on koala monitoring from NSW DPI Principal Research Scientist, Dr Brad Law ... Key points from DPI Forest Science research include: New acoustic survey methods have demonstrated koalas occur more commonly throughout the north-east hinterland forests than previously appreciated ... Annual monitoring of koala occurrence in hinterland forests since 2015 has found a stable trend over time at a regional level. Trend data are generally not available from other regions ... A parallel study found that regulated timber harvesting had no significant impact on koala density ...