Reviews of High Priority Species for Woody Biomass Crops in Lower Rainfall Australia Southern Australia FLORASEARCH 3B Reviews of High Priority Species for Woody Biomass Crops in Lower Rainfall Southern Australia FloraSearch 3b by Trevor J. Hobbs, John Bartle and Michael Bennell (eds) August 2009 RIRDC Publication No 09/044 RIRDC Project No UWA-98A i © 2009 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. All rights reserved. ISBN 1 74151 847 4 ISSN 1440-6845 Reviews of High Priority Species for Woody Biomass Crops in Lower Rainfall Southern Australia - FloraSearch 3b Publication No. 09/044 Project No. UWA-98A The information contained in this publication is intended for general use to assist public knowledge and discussion and to help improve the development of sustainable regions. You must not rely on any information contained in this publication without taking specialist advice relevant to your particular circumstances. While reasonable care has been taken in preparing this publication to ensure that information is true and correct, the Commonwealth of Australia gives no assurance as to the accuracy of any information in this publication. The Commonwealth of Australia, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), the authors or contributors expressly disclaim, to the maximum extent permitted by law, all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any act or omission, or for any consequences of any such act or omission, made in reliance on the contents of this publication, whether or not caused by any negligence on the part of the Commonwealth of Australia, RIRDC, the authors or contributors. The Commonwealth of Australia does not necessarily endorse the views in this publication. This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. However, wide dissemination is encouraged. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the RIRDC Publications Manager on phone 02 6271 4165. Researcher Contact Details Trevor J. Hobbs John Bartle SA Dept. of Water, Land & Biodiversity Conservation, WA Dept. of Environment and Conservation Waite Road, Urrbrae SA 5064 Locked Bag 104 Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983 Phone: 08 8303 9766 Fax: 08 8303 9555 Phone: 08 9334 0321 Fax: 08 9334 0367 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Michael Bennell SA Dept. of Water, Land & Biodiversity Conservation, Waite Road, Urrbrae SA 5064 Phone: 08 8303 9674 Fax: 08 8303 9555 Email: [email protected] In submitting this report, the researcher has agreed to RIRDC publishing this material in its edited form. RIRDC Contact Details Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Level 2, 15 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600 PO Box 4776 KINGSTON ACT 2604 Phone: 02 6271 4100 Fax: 02 6271 4199 Email: [email protected]. Web: http://www.rirdc.gov.au Electronically published by RIRDC in August 2009 Print-on-demand by Union Offset Printing, Canberra at www.rirdc.gov.au or phone 1300 634 313 ii Foreword The dryland agricultural regions of southern Australia face many natural resource management challenges. Following a long history of widespread vegetation clearance for the development of annual crops and pastures these landscapes now experience significant environmental issues including dryland salinity, soil erosion and other losses of ecosystem function. Broadscale restoration of deep- rooted perennial vegetation to these landscapes can help to address many of these problems and provide opportunities for more sustainable and resilient farming systems in a world of diverse markets and variable climate. Since 2002, the FloraSearch project has researched selection and development of new crop species to supply feedstock for large-scale markets, including wood products, renewable energy, carbon sequestration and fodder. It has investigated a range of Australian native species with potential for domestication as new biomass industry crops, and evaluated the economic and spatial feasibility of these new crops and industries across southern Australia. FloraSearch 3 presents the findings of the latest phase of this research, focussing on a suite of Australian native species suited to new broadscale woody crops and their associated commercial industries. The report is presented in three volumes, with the first providing in-depth information on the productive potential and agronomy of prospective new crops, the second (this volume) enlarging on the domestication potential of three high priority species, and the third analysing of regional industry potential for woody biomass crops in southern Australia. This report (FloraSearch 3b) identifies native species Koojong Wattle (Acacia saligna), Old Man Saltbush (Atriplex nummularia) and Flooded Gum (Eucalyptus rudis) as having particular potential for development as broadscale commercial woody biomass crops in the dryland agricultural regions of southern Australia. It provides detailed species reviews and considers taxonomy, ecology, biology and agronomy in evaluating their potential for domestication as woody biomass crops for Australian dryland farming systems. This project was funded by the Joint Venture Agroforestry Program (JVAP), which is supported by three R&D Corporations - Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), Land & Water Australia (LWA), and Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation1 (FWPRDC). The Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) also contributed to this project. The R&D Corporations are funded principally by the Australian Government. State and Australian Governments contribute funds to the MDBC. Significant financial and in-kind contributions were also made by project partners in the Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre: SA Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation; WA Department of Environment and Conservation; CSIRO; NSW Department of Primary Industries; and Vic. Department of Primary Industries. 1 Now: Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) iii This report is an addition to RIRDC’s diverse range of over 1800 research publications. It forms part of our Agroforestry and Farm Forestry R&D program, which aims to integrate sustainable and productive agroforestry within Australian farming systems. The JVAP, under this program, is managed by RIRDC. Most of RIRDC’s publications are available for viewing, downloading or purchasing online at www.rirdc.gov.au. Purchases can also be made by phoning 1300 634 313. Peter O’Brien Managing Director Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation iv Acknowledgments The editors acknowledge the Joint Venture Agroforestry Program, Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FFI CRC) and CRC for the Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity for funding and supporting this project. We recognise the significant support of our parent organisations - SA Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation and WA Department of Environment and Conservation. The input and helpful advice of project collaborators and interested supporters of the FloraSearch project is gratefully appreciated. This includes Rosemary Lott, Bruce Munday, Mike Ewing, Kevin Goss, Wayne O’Sullivan, Daniel Huxtable, Nicholas George, David McKenna, Richard Mazanec, Craig Neumann, Graeme Olsen, Peter Jessop, Brendan George, Alan Humpries, Daniel Real, Hayley Norman, Jason Emms, Steve Hughes, Dean Revell, George Freischmidt, Des Stackpole, Malem McLeod, Isla Grundy, Olivia Kemp, Peter Butler, Andrew Fisher and Joe Landsberg. We greatly appreciate the research and administrative support of Merv Tucker, Gary Brennan, Julie Dean and Ligita Bligzna. For the Acacia saligna review we especially thank Maurice McDonald and Bruce Maslin for permitting the reproduction of information and pictures relating to species taxonomy. Richard Bennett for producing GIS datasets of the climatic, physiography, substrates and species associations of Acacia saligna. Margaret Byrne for providing information regarding geneflow in the species. Bob Wilson for sharing his knowledge of utilization of Acacia saligna in grazing systems. Lynley Stone for providing advice regarding weed issues. Alasdair Grigg for providing advice on plant-water relations. Peter Hutton for providing information regarding the biological activity of secondary compounds from Acacia saligna. Lex Thompson for providing us with the collection of Acacia saligna literature assembled by CSIRO. Peter White and Andrew Thamo for their assistance with locating wild populations of Acacia saligna and provision of other valuable field observations. Melissa Millar for contributing to the work on geneflow, as well as proof reading the manuscript and providing editorial input. Henry Le Houerou for providing information and pictures of Acacia saligna in the Mediterranean, Charalambos Christodoulou for information and use of photographs of Acacia saligna in Cyprus, and Jean-Marc Dufour-Dror for pictures of Acacia saligna in Israel. In the Atriplex nummularia review the editors thank Ed Barrett-Lennard, Hayley Norman, Enrique Correal, Daniel Real and Dean Revell for valuable and enlightening discussions on the nutritional aspects and development potential of Old Man Saltbush. Julie Dean for collation and maintenance of the reference data base. Merv Tucker and Craig Neumann for assistance in collection of field data. Lynley Stone for providing advice regarding weed issues. For the Eucalyptus