The Impact of Climate Variability on Land Use and Livelihoods in Australia’s Rangelands

Eldridge, David J.; Beecham, Genevieve

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-56681-8_14

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…This is especially true if harvest mortality of adults is compensated by increases in fecundity and survival of juveniles, since the survival of juveniles is often more closely tied to environmental changes whereas the survival of adults may not be as sensitive to these changes (Charnov 1986; Nations & Boyce 1997). It would be prudent for resource managers to more carefully monitor the impacts of harvesting on the viability of kangaroo subpopulations given the current effects of climate change on the rangelands and predicted increases in the magnitude of effects in coming years, such as hotter average temperatures, with less but more variable rainfall, and more frequent droughts (Eldridge & Beecham 2018). This will be particularly important if harvest rates return to the high levels recorded in the years 1991–1996 or 2005–2007 (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the spatial and temporal organization of Red Kangaroo, Western Grey Kangaroo and Eastern Grey Kangaroo populations in eastern Australia using multivariate autoregressive state‐space models

McLeod¹,

Finch²,

Wallace³

et al. 2021

Eco Management Restoration

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SummaryTo identify patterns in the temporal dynamics and spatial organization of kangaroo subpopulations that are commercially harvested, we fitted multivariate autoregressive state‐space (MARSS) models to time series of kangaroo abundance from the main harvest zones of eastern Australia (1990–2019 for New South Wales and 1984–2019 for Queensland). We found that the responses of most populations to process variation, that is variation due to environmental or demographic stochasticity were correlated and that populations responded synchronously to environmental changes. Furthermore, we examined the influence of the covariates lagged rainfall, Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and harvest rate on kangaroo abundance. We found that lagged rainfall had a positive influence, SOI and harvest rate had negative influences but the influence of covariates was not consistent across species or between subpopulations. In terms of population spatial structure, the analysis identified two subpopulations of Red Kangaroo (Osphranter rufus) in New South Wales and four subpopulations of grey kangaroos (a combination of Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) and Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus)), which appeared to be associated with a rainfall gradient from east‐west. In Queensland, separate subpopulations were identified in each of the three main harvest management zones for both Red Kangaroo and Eastern Grey Kangaroo. The implications of these results for the management of commercially harvested kangaroos are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the spatial and temporal organization of Red Kangaroo, Western Grey Kangaroo and Eastern Grey Kangaroo populations in eastern Australia using multivariate autoregressive state‐space models

McLeod¹,

Finch²,

Wallace³

et al. 2021

Eco Management Restoration

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“…For example, temperatures are predicted to rise by 1-5°C across Australia's drylands over the next 50 years, depending on location and modelling scenario (Stokes, Ash, & Howden, 2008). Climatic projections for much of our study area include an increase of up to 3°C in temperature, with the greatest increases in the north, an increase of 10%-20% in summer rainfall, but substantial reductions (20%-50%) in winter precipitation (Eldridge & Beecham, 2017). This could mean a contraction of taxa in Ecological Cluster A to areas experiencing lower rates of temperature increase, such as areas in the south of the study area, and a potential expansion of Ecological Cluster B species northward into areas of increased rainfall.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of climatic legacies on the distribution of dryland biocrust communities

Eldridge

Delgado‐Baquerizo

2018

Global Change Biology

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Predicting the distribution of biocrust species, mosses, lichens and liverworts associated with surface soils is difficult, but climatic legacies (changes in climate over the last 20 k years) can improve our prediction of the distribution of biocrust species. To provide empirical support for this hypothesis, we used a combination of network analyses and structural equation modelling to identify the role of climatic legacies in predicting the distribution of ecological clusters formed by species of mosses, lichens and liverworts using data from 282 large sites distributed across 0.6 million km2 of eastern Australia. Two ecological clusters contained 87% of the 120 moss, lichen and liverwort species. Both clusters contained lichen, moss and liverwort species, but were dominated by different families. Sites where the air temperature increased the most over 20k years (positive temperature legacies) were associated with reductions in the relative abundance of species from the lichen (Peltulaceae and Teloschistaceae) and moss (Bryaceae) families (Cluster A species), greater groundstorey plant cover and lower soil pH. Sites where precipitation has increased over the past 20k years (positive precipitation legacy) were associated with increases in the relative abundance of lichen (Cladoniaceae, Lecideaceae and Thelotremataceae) and moss (Pottiaceae) families (Cluster B species) and lower levels of soil pH. Sites where temperatures have increased the most in the past 20k years suppressed the negative effects of plant cover on Cluster B by reducing plant cover. Increased intensity of grazing suppressed the negative effect of soil pH and the positive effect of soil carbon, on the relative abundance of Cluster B taxa. Finally, increasing temperature and precipitation legacies reduced the negative effect of soil pH on Cluster B. Understanding of the importance of climatic legacies improves our ability to predict how biocrust assemblies might respond to ongoing global environmental change associated with increasing land use intensification, increasing temperature and reduced rainfall.

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“…Importantly, temperatures are projected to increase globally and sheep will therefore be exposed to higher temperatures more frequently and for longer periods. In light of this, heat stress has been identified as one of the key vulnerabilities facing the sheep meat and wool production industries [6][7][8]. Based on observed and projected increases in temperature associated with anthropogenic climate change, the consequences of exposure of sheep to thermal stress will become increasingly serious.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of the impact of heat stress on reproductive performance of sheep

Wettere

Kind

Gatford

et al. 2021

J Animal Sci Biotechnol

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Heat stress significantly impairs reproduction of sheep, and under current climatic conditions is a significant risk to the efficiency of the meat and wool production, with the impact increasing as global temperatures rise. Evidence from field studies and studies conducted using environmental chambers demonstrate the effects of hot temperatures (≥ 32 °C) on components of ewe fertility (oestrus, fertilisation, embryo survival and lambing) are most destructive when experienced from 5 d before until 5 d after oestrus. Temperature controlled studies also demonstrate that ram fertility, as measured by rates of fertilisation and embryo survival, is reduced when mating occurs during the period 14 to 50 d post-heating. However, the contribution of the ram to heat induced reductions in flock fertility is difficult to determine accurately. Based primarily on temperature controlled studies, it is clear that sustained exposure to high temperatures (≥ 32 °C) during pregnancy reduces lamb birthweight and will, therefore, decrease lamb survival under field conditions. It is concluded that both ewe and ram reproduction is affected by relatively modest levels of heat stress (≥ 32 °C) and this is a concern given that a significant proportion of the global sheep population experiences heat stress of this magnitude around mating and during pregnancy. Despite this, strategies to limit the impacts of the climate on the homeothermy, behaviour, resource use and reproduction of extensively grazed sheep are limited, and there is an urgency to improve knowledge and to develop husbandry practices to limit these impacts.

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The Impact of Climate Variability on Land Use and Livelihoods in Australia’s Rangelands

Cited by 6 publications

References 62 publications

Assessing the spatial and temporal organization of Red Kangaroo, Western Grey Kangaroo and Eastern Grey Kangaroo populations in eastern Australia using multivariate autoregressive state‐space models

Assessing the spatial and temporal organization of Red Kangaroo, Western Grey Kangaroo and Eastern Grey Kangaroo populations in eastern Australia using multivariate autoregressive state‐space models

The influence of climatic legacies on the distribution of dryland biocrust communities

Review of the impact of heat stress on reproductive performance of sheep

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