Hydrological impacts and productivity interactions of integrated oil mallee farming systems: Landscape scale effects of dispersed mallee plantings

Hydrological impacts and productivity interactions of integrated oil mallee farming systems: Landscape scale effects of dispersed mallee plantings

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Edited by Kim Brooksbank.

RIRDC Publication No. 11/161

RIRDC Project No. PRJ-000477

As outlined in the Western Australian Salinity Action Plan, and Salinity: A Situation Statement for Western Australia (Government of WA 1996a,b), plantings of mallees in the southern Australian agricultural zone will be driven by commercial returns. However, there is considerable interest in the role of trees in salinity management, and with it a need to better understand the hydrological implications of planting a certain proportion of the landscape to deep rooted perennials and the water management benefits that may accrue. The research reported here is a contribution to fulfilling this need.

Over the past 30 years, much of the wheatbelt in Western Australia has experienced lower than average rainfall, and as this trend looks set to continue, it will become more and more important that our water resources are used as efficiently and effectively as possible. Perennials will be able to capture and use more of the rainfall than annual crops, making them better placed to improve our water use efficiency at a catchment scale.

This report presents findings of an investigation into landscape scale hydrological impacts of integrated mallee plantings across four sites spanning the WA wheatbelt.

Corresponding tree growth data is presented for two of the sites - one in the northern wheatbelt (Goodlands) and one at the southern extent of the wheatbelt near Esperance (Gibson). This data is used to estimate the equivalent no recharge zone (ENOR), as proposed by Ellis et al. (2005).

Mallee biomass data is also presented for an additional eight sites in the central wheatbelt near Narrogin and the south coast region near Esperance, where a total of 185 trees were destructively harvested and their roots excavated in order to assess the below ground biomass accumulation potential of oil mallees. The root biomass data collected, and the relationships developed with above ground indices, will be used by the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) to refine mallee growth estimates in the National Carbon Accounting Toolbox (NCAT) for WA.

Data from over 20 sites was used to calibrate an evolution of the CSIRO physiological growth model 3PG2 for oil mallees. This growth model and calibration was then installed in the Farm Forestry Toolbox (FFT), which is now able to provide estimates of growth of seedlings and regrowth of coppice for the oil mallee species planted across wheatbelt WA.

Publication Title

Hydrological impacts and productivity interactions of integrated oil mallee farming systems: Landscape scale effects of dispersed mallee plantings

ISBN

978-1-74254-339-0

ISSN

1440-6845

Publication Date

11-2012

Document Type

Book

Publisher

Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation

City

Canberra

Keywords

Trees, Salinity, Mallees, Hydology, Western Australia, Low rainfall, Wheatbelt WA, Oil mallee farming, Biomass accumulation

Disciplines

Agribusiness | Agricultural Economics | Agricultural Science | Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Monitoring | Forest Biology | Forest Management | Hydrology | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods | Natural Resource Economics | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Operations and Supply Chain Management | Plant Biology | Water Resource Management

Hydrological impacts and productivity interactions of integrated oil mallee farming systems: Landscape scale effects of dispersed mallee plantings

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