An agricultural survey initiated in the Wimmera Mallee for PhD research earlier this year is being extended to wheatbelt regions across the country.

Dennis Williamson, a PhD student conducting research at Deakin University, is encouraging wheatbelt landholders and managers to provide their opinions.

Natural resource management (NRM) managers are also being asked to contribute to the study.

Above: Dennis Williamson, a Deakin University researcher, is investigating Australian Wheatbelt agricultural production and ecological principles. Photo contributed.

The survey focuses on key ecological principles as they relate to and are affected by issues of biodiversity, climate change, and agricultural production.

Williamson, who has worked as a geographer and natural resource specialist in Australia for the past 40 years, is exploring a number of questions related to ecology and agricultural practices:

  • What key ecological principles and systems can benefit agricultural production? What works, what doesnt?

  • How have agricultural practices changed in relation to changes in climatic and weather patterns?

  • Can the application of key ecological principles provide a rapid response to climate change effects on Australian flora and fauna species, especially in the context of habitat/population reduction or potential species extinction?

  • How do the opinions of NRM professionals (government and NGO) vary from those of agricultural landholders and managers? Which conservation programs and messages may be ineffective in need of improvement?

    The background issues driving Williamson's investigation are the combination of climate change effects on broadacre dryland cropping and grazing in Australia's Wheatbelt, related loss of native flora and fauna species, and rising demand for agricultural food production due to world population growth.

    Williamson aims to identify basic ecological principles that have both agricultural and biodiversity conservation benefits when applied across the broader Australian landscape.

    He suggests that focusing on those ecological principles of mutual benefit may provide a more effective and rapid response to climate change for the protection of agricultural production and native species than waiting for longer-term agro-ecological research findings on individual species and specific regions.

    This research is important as agricultural uses occupy nearly 60% of Australia's land mass. If solutions can be found within the Australian Wheatbelt, which has some of the most intensive production landscapes, then they should also be applicable across the wider spectrum of agricultural land uses.

    Williamson believes that the key is to find out what farmers may regard as acceptable ecological principles for application and which other principles they have difficulty applying, why and how their opinions may differ from those of ecologists and NRM professionals who work in wheatbelt regions.

    The survey can be completed online via the weblink below. If internet access is a problem, paper copies may be requested. Currently survey responses should be submitted by 15 October 2016, but the survey may be extended depending on the level of interest.

    Dennis is also open to holding requested workshops with Landcare and other agricultural and NRM groups as he may be available.

    The survey, which should take around half an hour to complete, can be accessed online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/WheatbeltSurvey.

    Dennis may be contacted by email at dnwillia@deakin.edu.au or on mobile 0418331322.