The research investigated how different farm dam management approaches affect bird communities. Researchers compared three management types: unfenced dams with continuous grazing, unfenced dams with rotational grazing, and enhanced dams. Enhanced dams are dams that are fenced to restrict livestock access and have revegetation of native trees and shrubs around the dam.

The study, conducted across 109 farm dams on 34 farms across south-eastern Australia’s tsheep-wheat belt, found that enhanced dams supported a significantly greater number of birds and more species.

The post New research shows grazing management at farm dams improves bird biodiversity appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

Technological advancements offer opportunities for more efficient, scalable, and cost-effective monitoring, but transitioning to new methods presents challenges. A new study led by Dr Jessie Buettel from the Sustainable Farms team, is investigating how innovative technologies such as passive acoustic recorders, drones and environmental DNA (eDNA) offer promising solutions for expanding our capacity to monitor biodiversity, while reducing costs and improving data quality.

The post Technological innovation in ecological monitoring appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

The evaluation, conducted by First Person Consulting, measured Sustainable Farms’ impact against three strategic goals:

1. Undertake innovative multidisciplinary research that informs recommendations for the management of natural assets on farms
2. Increase landholder knowledge and adoption of enhanced natural asset management practices
3. Support the capacity of the NRM sector to support farmers to improve management practices

The evaluation found that Sustainable Farms fills a critical gap in the NRM sector by combining rigorous, long-term scientific research with the ability to translate findings into practical, locally relevant material. Sustainable Farms is highly valued by its stakeholders as a key bridge between university research, agricultural extension and impact on the ground.

The post Sustainable Farms 2018-2023: Achievements & Outcomes appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

The PhD project will be co-designed with project partners and the student within the framework of our larger project. First Nations identified students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Potential topics include: 

• Supporting culturally-informed plant restoration
• Invasive species management post-burning
• Fuel loads and flammability
• Soil-plant feedbacks

Please contact Dr Elle Bowd at the Australian National University for more information and to discuss project ideas: 
elle.bowd@anu.edu.au
0422802195

The post PhD Opportunity: Cultural burning appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

The judges were impressed by our powerful online tool BirdCast, which helps farmers identify management actions to support conservation of birds on their properties.

BirdCast draws on nearly two decades of data collected by Sustainable Farms ecologists on hundreds of farms in south-eastern Australia. With many species of native wildlife under threat and biodiversity declining worldwide, farmers have an opportunity to contribute to creating habitat for numerous species. The BirdCast tool enables farmers to predict what birds might utilise woodland areas on their farm, and to understand how bird occupancy might change under a range of management actions.

Sustainable Farms Lead Scientist Professor David Lindenmayer said this free tool enables land managers to access real science to help them make the best decisions for their farm.

“Biodiversity in the woodlands of southeastern Australia is under threat, and farmers are keen to know how they can help turn this around,” Professor Lindenmayer said.

“The long-term ecological studies undertaken by our team over two decades mean we have a really good understanding of how wildlife responds to management changes.”

This award closely follows on from Sustainable Farms winning the Eureka Prize for Applied Environmental Research, just a few weeks ago.

Click here to find out more and use BirdCast

The post Sustainable Farms wins NSW Sustainability Award appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

The free web tool gives farmers an indication of which woodland bird species might be living on their farms, and how that might change under different scenarios.

Director of Sustainable Farms, Michelle Young, said this latest recognition comes after decades of working closely with farmers to gather data.

“None of this work would been possible without the support of those farmers who enabled our team to monitor biodiversity on their properties for the last two decades,” she said.

“BirdCast is a practical tool that draws on this research, and gives farmers and land managers access to scientific data to help protect and conserve our shared natural heritage.

“For example, it allows farmers to predict the changes that would happen if they planted a new shelterbelt on their farm, or restored a degraded patch of remnant woodland,” Ms Young said.

Click here to find out more and use BirdCast.

The post Bird protection tool nets Sustainable Farms a Eureka Prize appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

The web tool is now in the running for the applied environmental research category in the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.  The prizes are Australia’s most comprehensive and high-profile science awards.

Director of Sustainable Farms at ANU, Michelle Young, said BirdCast helped farmers protect Australia’s incredible wildlife and biodiversity.

“BirdCast is a practical tool that supports farmers and land managers to protect and conserve our shared natural heritage,” she said.

“It enables farmers to predict what birds might use and live in woodland areas on their farm, and to understand how the bird species present might change under a range of scenarios, such as planting a new shelterbelt or restoring a degraded patch of remnant woodland.

The post Bird prediction tool takes flight in national science prizes appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

Anecdotally, many farmers report great satisfaction and increased personal wellbeing from engaging in practices such as tree planting and from observing the results of these practices. Kimberly Brown, mental health and wellbeing researcher at the Centre for Mental Health Research and Sustainable Farms at The Australian National University, and colleagues used data from the University of Canberra’s Regional Wellbeing Survey to test whether these relationships could be quantified.

“We found that tree-planting on agricultural land was linked to higher levels of social connectedness,” Ms Brown said. “This makes sense because many farmers engage in these practices as part of a local group, such as Landcare. Farming can be isolating work, and participating in NRM programs can give farmers a chance to connect with others in the community, which is so important for their mental health.”

“We weren’t able to identify a significant relationship to personal wellbeing, but this is likely because so many factors influence an individual’s wellbeing that a specific practice like tree-planting is unlikely to be a determining factor,” Ms Brown said.

“However, the study also looked at the impact on wellbeing when farmers undertook tree-planting as part of broader, farm-scale change in their NRM practices – and in this case positive impacts on wellbeing were identified.”

Michelle Young, Director of Sustainable Farms, said the findings highlight the complexity of factors at play for farmers who may enhance natural assets on their farms.

“Our natural asset farming framework provides many pathways for farmers to undertake specific NRM projects on farms. This research demonstrates how those specific projects can support social connectedness, which is really key to the health of farmers and to the sustainability of rural communities,” Ms Young said.

“Many farmers tell us that they begin their natural assets journey with one small project such as planting a shelterbelt, often in collaboration with a local community group such as Landcare, but over time often they undertake several projects that cumulatively have a transformative effect on their farm, and on how they feel about their farm environment. This research really aligns with these farmers’ stories. The key insight in this new research is that planting trees can lead to social connectedness, but over time a broader approach to the farm landscape is associated with greater farmer wellbeing.”

“The work provides some important insights into farmer adoption of conservation practices, and how the social benefits of NRM can keep farmers engaged in conservation over the long term. Importantly, it also highlights the importance of ensuring that programs engaging farmers in NRM actively incorporate social gains in their design and implementation,” Ms Young said.

“This particularly important at a time when climate change and the extinction crisis are having a real impact on farms and on farmers. Participation in NRM activities and adoption of practices such as tree-planting are going to be key to the ability of farmers and rural communities to adapt and respond.”

The paper is available online here for journal subscribers. Contact Sustainable Farms directly for alternative access options.

The post New research highlights wellbeing impacts of natural asset management appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

The benefit-cost analysis has been published in the scientific journal PLOS One.

“There is emerging evidence, including via existing Sustainable Farms research and partnerships, for the benefits of renovating farm dams for wildlife, landscape function, carbon emissions and water quality,” Dr Clayton said. “This cost-benefit analysis is another piece of the puzzle, contributing to our growing understanding about potential gains for farmers investing in their natural assets, such as farm dams.”

The newly published research found that there is potential for improved farm profit for cattle grazing enterprises, as a result of livestock weight gain associated with cleaner dam water. The assessment of potential farm profit assumed cattle consuming cleaner water would exhibit weight gain of 11%, a figure that was derived as an average across three different studies conducted overseas (the only studies currently available in the international literature).

The post Benefit-cost analysis lends support for improved farm dam management appeared first on ANU Sustainable Farms.

Each workshop will cover:

• Research on the impacts of enhancing farm dams
• New insights from long-term ecological monitoring in the woodlands (this research was supported by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant)
• Mental health research into connections between biodiversity and wellbeing
• Box gum grassy woodlands environmental accounts
• Optimising investments in natural assets on farms
• How we can work with partners to accelerate practice change by drawing on a strong evidence base, outreach and extension.

Speakers include leading ecologists Professor David Lindenmayer and Dr Ben Scheele, mental health researchers Professor Philip Batterham and Dr Kimberly Brown, agricultural economist Dr Helena Clayton, and regional Sustainable Farms ecologists.

The three workshops will be held in:

• Wagga Wagga on Tuesday 25 May 2021
• Orange on Thursday 27 May 2021
• Wangaratta on Friday 4 June 2021

If you are interested in attending, please contact Project Coordinator Alice Marzano at sustainablefarms@anu.edu.au

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