Land degradation is always with us but its causes, extent and severity are contested. We define land degradation as a long-term decline in ecosystem function and productivity, which may be assessed using long-term, remotely sensed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data. Deviation…

Degradation of farmland caused by salinisation is a major environmental issue in Australia. To combat salinisation a community-based approach has been adopted. This paper reviews the nature and effectiveness of this approach, describing its rationale, strengths and weaknesses. The community-…

Over the last 130 years, patterns of land use in central Australia have altered dramatically, and so too have fire regimes and fire management objectives. Although Aboriginal people still have tenure over large parts of the landscape, their lifestyles have changed. Most Aboriginal people now…

This article evaluates irrigated agriculture sector response and resultant economic impactsof climate change for a part of the Murray Darling Basin in Australia. A water balancemodel is used to predict reduced basin inflows for mild, moderate and severe climatechange scenarios involving 10, 20,…

We present a new mathematical programming framework that is adaptable to a variety of spatially explicit landscape problems in environmental investment, conservation, and land-use planning, transport planning, and agriculture. As part of capturing spatial interdependencies, the framework…

After reforesting pasture land, it is often observed that soil carbon stocks decrease. The present work reports findings from a site near Canberra, Australia, where a pine forest (Pinus radiata) was planted onto a former unimproved pasture site. We report a number of detailed observations…

1. A large proportion of the world's land surface is extensively managed for livestock production. In areas where livestock systems are becoming more intensive, a major challenge is to predict those plant species likely to decline, persist or increase as a result of agricultural…

Eucalyptus melanophloia and E. populnea dominate large areas of savanna in eastern Australia. Under aboriginal management, fires probably occurred under a broad range of conditions, but under pastoral management, burning is avoided when soil moisture is low. This experiment subjected E.…

This paper describes an environmental conservation planning model used in Queensland, Australia to purchase agreements on 66 sites covering 81,046ha at a cost of A$1.9 million. The model was used as part of a competitive tendering program called “NatureAssist”. The model maximises conservation…

Throughout the world, many native species inhabit agricultural landscapes. While natural habitats will form the cornerstone of conservation efforts in production-oriented environments, the success of these efforts will be enhanced by a greater understanding of the potential contribution of the…

Water cycle, land management, and environmental sustainability are intimately linked. Sustainable land and water management practices are vital for sustaining agricultural productivity and regional development. Unsustainable land and water management practices that violate the system's…