Offered Papers Theme B: Grassland and the Environment
Description
Concerns are growing about the impact of agriculture on the environment. Particular concerns have been expressed about the impacts of intensive agriculture (e.g. cropping involving fertiliser, pesticides, limited germplasm, fuels, etc) on biodiversity, and both on-site (e.g. soil health and fertility) and off-site resources (e.g. pesticide contamination). Less intensive agriculture (e.g. sown pastures) can also have undesirable impacts. In the woodlands of eastern Australia sown pasture development has been associated with loss of native vegetation and wildlife habitat, accelerated soil acidification, salinisation and poor tree health (McIntyre et al., 2002). Based on this, there have been calls to restrict such development to less than 30% of the area (McIntyre et al., 2002). However, there have been no direct measurements of environmental impacts in relation to the proportion of sown pastures in an area.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Agricultural Intensification: Have Sown Pastures Damaged the Environment?
Concerns are growing about the impact of agriculture on the environment. Particular concerns have been expressed about the impacts of intensive agriculture (e.g. cropping involving fertiliser, pesticides, limited germplasm, fuels, etc) on biodiversity, and both on-site (e.g. soil health and fertility) and off-site resources (e.g. pesticide contamination). Less intensive agriculture (e.g. sown pastures) can also have undesirable impacts. In the woodlands of eastern Australia sown pasture development has been associated with loss of native vegetation and wildlife habitat, accelerated soil acidification, salinisation and poor tree health (McIntyre et al., 2002). Based on this, there have been calls to restrict such development to less than 30% of the area (McIntyre et al., 2002). However, there have been no direct measurements of environmental impacts in relation to the proportion of sown pastures in an area.
