The impacts of grazing land management on the wind erodibility of the Mulga Lands of western Queensland, Australia

The impacts of grazing land management on the wind erodibility of the Mulga Lands of western Queensland, Australia Conference Paper

17th Australian Rangeland Society Biennial Conference

• Author(s): Helene Aubault, Nicholas P. Webb, Craig L. Strong, Joe C. Scanlan, John F. Leys
• Published: 2012
• Publisher: Australian Rangeland Society

Link to resource Report broken link

Abstract: An estimated 110 Mt of dust is eroded by wind from the Australian land surface each year, mainly originating from the arid and semi-arid rangelands. Livestock production is thought to increase the susceptibility of the land surface to wind erosion by reducing vegetation cover and modifying surface soil stability. However, research is yet to quantify the impacts of grazing land management on the erodibility of rangelands, or determine how these impacts vary between land types. We present a simulation analysis that links a pasture growth and animal production model (GRASP) to the Australian Land Erodibility Model (AUSLEM) to evaluate the impacts of stocking rates and stocking strategies on the erodibility of the Mulga Lands in western Queensland, Australia. Our results show that adopting conservative and flexible stocking rates, that enable managers to maintain land in good condition can help reduce the susceptibility of the Mulga Lands to wind erosion.

• Urls: https://www.austrangesoc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Paper-6-5-Helene-Aubault.pdf , https://www.austrangesoc.com.au/biennial-conference/17th-biennial-conference-papers-2012/
• Publisher Location: Kununurra, Western Australia,