Research

Small native mammals including bandicoots, antechinus and Bush Rats are showing remarkable recovery two years on from the Black Summer fires, long-term camera monitoring in State forests south of Eden shows. Forestry Corporation of NSW Senior Field Ecologist Rohan Bilney said Forestry Corporation of NSW has been monitoring wildlife at 40 sites in State forests south of Eden since 2007 as part of the Southern Brown Bandicoot Species Management Plan, and every monitoring site was impacted by fires in 2019-20.  

The global wine sector is facing significant disruptions in different links of the supply chain. The common assumption was that these issues were transitory. Now there are increasing signs that some of these changes are structural and could even get worse, requiring more strategic responses.

Utilising Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the trailer-mounted device features two solar-powered 3D movement sensors that capture, count and record pedestrian and vehicle numbers every hour. All data captured is publicly accessible via Council’s website.

BOM Blog. Groundwater – more literally, underground water – accounts for approximately 30% of Australia's water use. But because it can't be seen like rivers and lakes, many people don't know about it. So how can we 'see' this important but invisible resource?

“After the first flood in late February there was no oxygen in the river between Ballina and Coraki. That’s around 60 kilometres of river and estuary with no oxygen and therefore no fish. A lot of the dead fish were washed out to sea during this event due to the magnitude and duration of the flood”: Professor Damien Maher, Southern Cross University.

For the past three days, a high-tech team from Sunshine Coast Council, University of the Sunshine Coast and the Friends of Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens have worked together to uncover how many koalas live in the reserve and how healthy they are.

Over the last few years, there have been a lot of natural disasters in south eastern Australia as all are aware. It is opportune to review risk and mitigation management in regards to natural disasters in south eastern Australia and this article assesses both fire and flood risk and mitigation management.

The burgeoning northern Australian spice industry has moved from concept to impact with the first orders secured to replace 100 tonnes of imported kalonji seed ... “We’re currently contracting farmers in Queensland to supply seed to meet this first order, and we’re looking for more farmers to work with us as we build this industry across northern Australia to tap into the booming demand for spices around the world”: Lewis Hunter, AgriVentis Technologies.

The population projections for the 2022‑23 Budget include population growth and components at the national level out to 2032‑33 and 2025‑26 for states and territories.

Steve Smith and Ian Hutton. Thanks to everyone who participated in the 5th Lord Howe Island Sea Slug Census. While conditions were challenging, we nevertheless managed to find and photograph 61 species. Seven of these are first records for the island.

GrainCorp has partnered with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO and leading plant-based food producer v2food on a $4.4million research project in the fast-growing plant-based protein market.

This remarkable project was, at the time, the longest water pipeline ever constructed in the world. Inspired by C Y O’Connor, the Chief Engineer for the Public Works Department, supported by J. Forrest, the Premier and costing an eye-watering 2.5 million pounds of borrowed money, the work was completed in early 1903 when the first pump was turned on. Water arrived in Kalgoorlie two days later.

Speakers: Emeritus Professor Helene Marsh FAA FTSE, Chair of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee; Cheyne Flanagan, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital; Audrey Koosmen, Hunter Wildlife Rescue; Vic Jurskis, Ecologist and Author; Peter Rutherford, Forest Scientist, South East Timber Association.

Scientists are working with a Victorian almond grower to trial an orchard redevelopment practice that is reducing the industry’s carbon footprint in the United States. ‘Whole Orchard Recycling’ involves chipping trees and incorporating them into the orchard soil prior to planting new trees. It replaces the traditional practice of burning the trees once they have been removed from the orchard.

... these disastrous wildfires have also given land managers and fire services a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get on top of the bushfire situation. By the end of this year, the fuels in the NSW and Victorian 2019/2020 fire areas will be three years old. The next few years will be a wonderful opportunity to break up these large areas of contiguous fuel by widespread prescribed burning, safely, with minimal chance of escapes. It is a chance that must not be missed.

The National Farmers' Federation has praised Federal Government changes to see Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and biodiversity credits treated as farm income ... NFF Chief Executive Tony Mahar said the change was due recognition that income related to carbon and biodiversity were part of the farm business. It is also consistent with policy analysis the NFF has progressed under the Australian Agriculture Sustainability Framework (AASF) project.

Researchers, Investors, Project Developers and industry participants all play an important role to scale up ocean carbon project development that will bring new innovation to enable large scale emissions reduction, plus many co-benefits such as biodiversity and jobs.

The very large wildfire in the Perth hills catchments in January 2005 had the potential for severe consequences on water quality in domestic water supply reservoirs ... full recovery will take some decades. This large fire was eventually contained when it reached areas that had been prescribed burnt and carried low fuels.

Peter Rutherford. The article published in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on 15 March once again highlights how activist networking paints native forest harvesting as THE threat to the sustainability of NSW native forests. Like many reports advocating for the closure of the native forest industry, the article contains a mix of academic opinion, anti-native forest harvesting rhetoric from a green politician, creative accounting, words to trigger outrage, such as "woodchip exports," and opinions from an activist non-government organisation, that monetise the outrage to generate more outrage and a reporter to join the dots.

When the Maldon Historic Bakery business went up for sale last month, landlords Mark and Valentina Tansley decided to do some research into the bakery’s history. “We know that the bakery was established on this site in 1854 and that the wood-fired brick scotch oven is one of the oldest brick buildings in town,” said Valentina.

New Agribusiness Australia analysis shows a rapidly evolving global trading environment, with profound, radical implications for grains production and markets. Major consumers of grains and oilseeds are in urgent need of supply and are being forced to compromise to maintain food security.