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PROCEEDINGS OF THE AUSTRALIAN RANGELAND SOCIETY BIENNIAL CONFERENCE Official publication of The Australian Rangeland Society Copyright and Photocopying © The Australian Rangeland Society 2012. All rights reserved. For non -personal use, no part of this item may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the Australian Rangeland Society and of the author (or the organisation they work or have worked for). Permission of the Australian Rangeland Society for photocopying of articles for non -personal use may be obtained from the Secretary who can be contacted at the email address, rangelands.exec @gmail.com For personal use, temporary copies necessary to browse this site on screen may be made and a single copy of an article may be downloaded or printed for research or personal use, but no changes are to be made to any of the material. This copyright notice is not to be removed from the front of the article. All efforts have been made by the Australian Rangeland Society to contact the authors. If you believe your copyright has been breached please notify us immediately and we will remove the offending material from our website. Form of Reference The reference for this article should be in this general form; Author family name, initials (year). Title. In: Proceedings of the nth Australian Rangeland Society Biennial Conference. Pages. (Australian Rangeland Society: Australia). For example: Anderson, L., van Klinken, R. D., and Shepherd, D. (2008). Aerially surveying Mesquite (Prosopis spp.) in the Pilbara. In: `A Climate of Change in the Rangelands. Proceedings of the 15`h Australian Rangeland Society Biennial Conference'. (Ed. D. Orr) 4 pages. (Australian Rangeland Society: Australia). 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The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Rangeland Society and Editors, neither does the publication of advertisements constitute any endorsement by the Australian Rangeland Society and Editors of the products advertised. fie cljulhacCin c.Ran9Eranct cSociEty PpNGEL4N0 Cobar'92 THE AUSTRALIAN RANGELAND SOCIETY 7th BIENNIAL CONFERENCE 'AUSTRALIAN RANGELANDS IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT' 5 - 8 October 1992 COBAR New South Wales These Proceedings are proudly sponsored and printed by Oncirec Suppliers of Crop King, Greenleaf and Agchem, Weed Control and Pasture Nutrition Products to Australian Agriculture Front cover (clockwise from top left): Floods and droughts, disasters occur regardless of technological change Fire, a tool for change in the 1990's Grain carting in the 1920's SLANDER: Soil Loss and Nutrient Decline Erosion Research - high technology in the 1990's Ground tank work in the 1920's Ground tank work in the 1990's Excellent pasture stand Feral goats, contributing to total grazing pressure in the 1990's THE AUSTRALIAN RANGELAND SOCIETY 7th BIENNIAL CONFERENCE 'AUSTRALIAN RANGELANDS IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT' S - 8 OCTOBER 1992 COBAR NEW SOUTH WALES CONFERENCE PAPERS This is not a publication. None of the material contained in these working papers may be abstracted or cited without permission of the author(s) concerned. In such cases the reference should be cited as personal communication. CONTENTS Sponsors i Organizing Committee and Acknowledgments ii Programme iii List of Delegates vi Invited Papers Page CLIMATE CHANGE Keynote address RANGELANDS AND GLOBAL CHANGE 1 8.H. Walker and W.L. Steffen (CSIRO, Canberra) THE POTENTIAL USE OF SIMULATION IN EARLY WARNING OF IMPENDING DROUGHT 10 Ian Beale and Peter Johnston (QDPI, Charleville) ADAPTING GRAZING MANAGEMENT TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEASONAL FORECASTING 12 G.M. McKeon (QDPI, Brisbane) and S.M. Howden (Bureau of Rural Resources, ACT) IMPROVING ACCESS TO CLIMATE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR RANGELAND MANAGEMENT 19 J.R. Willcocks and P.G. Filet (QDPI, Emerald) CHANGING LANDSCAPES Keynote address VEGETATION DYNAMICS IN CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS 25 S. Archer (Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, U.S.A.) PIOSPHERES AND THE STATE -AND - TRANSITION MODEL OF VEGETATION CHANGE IN CHENOPOD SHRUBLANDS 37 L.P. Hunt (Dept of Agriculture, Port Augusta, S.A.) RABBIT CONTROL AT ERLDUNDA STATION IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA - THE STATION AND THE REGIONAL LEVEL 46 W.A. Low (W.A. Low Ecological Services), B.F. Kilgariff (Erldunda Station) and R.W. Millington (Centralian Land Management Association, Alice Springs) THE NATURE OF VEGETATION CHANGES IN MANAGED ECOSYSTEMS 51 R.D.B.Whalley (Univ. New England, Armidale, NSW) CHANGES IN THE PASTORAL /CROPPING ZONE Keynote address CHANGES IN THE PASTORAL /CROPPING ZONE 56 R.J. French (Woodforde, SA) SOIL DEGRADATION UNDER CROPPING IN THE RANGELANDS 75 A.M. Bowman (NSW Agriculture, Walgett) INTEGRATION OF PASTORAL & CROPPING IN MARGINAL RANGELANDS 80 David Fleming ( "Ulah ", Walgett, NSW) COVER LEVELS TO CONTROL SOIL AND NUTRIENT LOSS FROM WIND EROSION ON SANDPLAIN COUNTRY 84 IN CENTRAL N.S.W. John F. Leys (Dept Conservation & Land Management, Buronga, NSW) CHANGING GRAZING MANAGEMENT Keynote address RANGE MANAGEMENT IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE 92 J.E. Danckwerts, (Univ. Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa), P.J. O'Reagain and T.G. O'Connor (Dept Agricultural Development, Stutterheim, South Africa) THE OUTSIDERS: COMPETITION BETWEEN INTRODUCED HERBIVORES AND DOMESTIC STOCK IN RANGELAND 106 GRAZING SYSTEMS David Choquenot (NSW Agriculture, Trangie, NSW) DISTRIBUTION OF SHEEP, GOATS AND KANGAROOS IN SEMI -ARID WOODLAND PADDOCKS 117 J. Landsberg, J. Stol ( CSIRO, Canberra) M. Stafford Smith (CSIRO, Alice Springs) and K. Hodgkinson (CSIRO, Canberra) GRAZING MANAGEMENT BASED ON CARRYING CAPACITY - FACTORS IN DETERMINING LAND CONDITION 122 IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA R.W.Tynan, B.G. Lay, R.T. Lange, A.E.Jensen (Dept Environment and Planning, Adelaide) CHANGING CONSERVATION PERCEPTIONS Keynote address CHANGING CONSERVATION PERCEPTIONS NA Stephen Morton (CSIRO, Alice Springs) THE INTEGRATION OF PASTORALISM AND CONSERVATION ON THE COASTAL WETLANDS OF THE 129 NORTHERN TERRITORY D. Liddle (Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory) HIERARCHICAL DESIGN FOR CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA'S RANGELANDS 137 Mark Stafford Smith and Stephen Morton (CSIRO, Alice Springs) RANGELANDS MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION: MANAGING OUR COMMON GROUND 142 G.D. Harris (Arid Lands Environment Centre, Alice Springs) CHANGING FINANCIAL ENVIRONMENTS Keynote address CHANGING FINANCIAL ENVIRONMENTS 148 John Chudleigh (Univ. New England, Orange) WESTERN LANDS LEASE RENTALS: REASONABLE, RIP-OFF OR RORT? 154 John Pickard (Macquarie University) BUSINESS OR PROPERTY - THE CHANGING SKILLS REQUIRED OF PROPERTY MANAGERS 160 Lesley Johnston (Warrego Graziers Association, Charleville) THE IMPACT OF CHANGING EQUITY LEVELS AND DEBT STRUCTURES ON WESTERN QUEENSLAND GRAZING 162 PROPERTIES AND ASSOCIATED INVESTMENT ISSUES P.A. Newman (DPI, Longreach). CHANGING COMMUNITY ATTITUDES Keynote address CHANGING COMMUNITY ATTITUDES 169 R.L. Ison (University of Sydney) PROVIDING A PUBLIC ACCESS SYSTEM IN THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PASTORAL ZONE: 183 THE COSTS OF EFFECTIVE CONSULTATION A.E. Jensen and B.G. Lay (Dept Environment and Planning, Adelaide) MINING, A PRELUDE TO AGRICULTURE 191 Peter Standish (NSW Dept Mineral Resources, Cobar) DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY BASED LAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN THE SEMI -ARID RANGELANDS 198 Bill Tatnel7 (Dept Conservation & Land Management, Broken Hill) Poster Presentations CLIMATE CHANGE A COMPUTERISED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR MONITORING AND PREDICTION OF DROUGHT 204 IN QUEENSLAND K.D. Brook, J.O. Carter, T. Danaher, G.M. McKeon, A. Peacock, and N. Flood (QDPI, Indooroopilly) SIMULATION OF PASTURE PRODUCTION IN SOUTH WESTERN QUEENSLAND 206 P.W Johnston, J.0 Carter and G.M. McKeon (QDPI, Charleville) CHANGING STOCKING RATES AND BURNING MANAGEMENT TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS 208 FROM NORTHERN QUEENSLAND RANGELANDS. S.M. Howden (Bureau of Rural Resources, ACT), G.M. McKeon, J.C. Scanlan, J.O. Carter (QDPI, Brisbane) & D.H. White (Bureau of Rural Resources, ACT). VARIABILITY OF CLIMATE IN RANGELAND ENVIRONMENTS 211 Elly Spark (Bureau of Meteorology, NSW) CHANGING LANDSCAPES WOODY WEED POPULATION DYNAMICS NEAR BOGGABRI, NSW 214 A.H. Grigg and J.A. Duggin (Univ. New England, Armidale) WOODY WEED CONTROL IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA USING THE HERBICIDE TEBUTHIURON 217 Andrew White (DPIF, Alice Springs) WOODY WEED MONITORING FOR LAND ASSESSMENT 219 Sharon Weir (NSW Agriculture, Dubbo) and Maria Cofínas (NSW Agriculture, Orange) THE CROP KING* GRIDBALLN - A TOOL TO AID MANAGEMENT OF WOODY WEED ENCROACHMENT IN 221 SEMI -ARID AND ARID AREAS OF AUSTRALIA G.R. Tucker (Incitec Ltd, Morningside, Old) INTEGRATED SHRUB CONTROL STRATEGIES USING DILUTE CHEMICAL DEFOLIANTS 225 J.C. Noble, (CSIRO, Canberra) A.C. Grice (NSW Agriculture, Cobar) and W.J. Mü11er (CSIRO, Canberra) MESQUITE - A MAJOR THREAT TO QUEENSLAND'S RANGELANDS 227 Paul Jones (QDPI, Charleville) WOODY WEED CLEARING USING A LOW ENERGY GRUBBER 229 R.M. Barclay (NSW Agriculture, Cobar) USING GOATS TO REDUCE HOPBUSH (DODONAEA VISCOSA) DENSITY 231 Cathy Torpy, Sue Muir and Rex Stanton (NSW Agriculture, Cobar) SEED PRODUCTION AND GERMINATION IN GIANT PARRAMATTA GRASS 233 (Sporobolus indicus var major) T.S. Andrews,