Track 2-15: Biodiversity and Conservation of Grasslands
Description
The transformation of Australian agriculture over the 20th Century saw the conversion of native pastures to improved pastures, largely through the application of artificial fertilisers. During this time biodiversity conservation was largely confined to iconic scenic reserves on public land. Today, nationally endangered temperate native grassland communities are largely confined to private land. The development of the Landcare Movement in the 1980s highlighted the role that agricultural land managers and agricultural landscapes play in maintaining biodiversity across the continent. Research into on-farm conservation was soon being funded by governments at state and commonwealth levels, as well as industry bodies. These industry bodies generally focused on research into the place of biodiversity in production systems, particularly natural pastures, and more broadly in farm businesses. We present the following: (1) An overview of the research undertaken since 1990 in Tasmania; and (2) The results from a limited survey of graziers assessing the contemporary relevance of this research. We then evaluate the influence of industry-based research on the development of incentive programs targeted at agricultural land managers.
Included in
Integration of Biodiversity and Agricultural Production across Australian Temperate Grasslands
The transformation of Australian agriculture over the 20th Century saw the conversion of native pastures to improved pastures, largely through the application of artificial fertilisers. During this time biodiversity conservation was largely confined to iconic scenic reserves on public land. Today, nationally endangered temperate native grassland communities are largely confined to private land. The development of the Landcare Movement in the 1980s highlighted the role that agricultural land managers and agricultural landscapes play in maintaining biodiversity across the continent. Research into on-farm conservation was soon being funded by governments at state and commonwealth levels, as well as industry bodies. These industry bodies generally focused on research into the place of biodiversity in production systems, particularly natural pastures, and more broadly in farm businesses. We present the following: (1) An overview of the research undertaken since 1990 in Tasmania; and (2) The results from a limited survey of graziers assessing the contemporary relevance of this research. We then evaluate the influence of industry-based research on the development of incentive programs targeted at agricultural land managers.
