bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Improving Coastal Vulnerability Assessment Methodologies for Integrated Coastal Zone Management: an Approach from South Australia
Authors: Harvey Nick , Clouston Elizabeth , Carvalho Patricia
Published: March 2003

The global concern about human‐induced climatic change and its potential effect on sea‐level has dominated the debate on coastal vulnerability, particularly since a common assessment methodology was developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1991. There have been numerous attempts to use or adapt this methodology but the focus has remained on sea‐level rise as the single most important issue for coastal vulnerability. This paper presents a revised and more holistic coastal vulnerability assessment methodology which incorporates spatial and temporal scales relevant to the predicted impacts of climatic change and current human‐induced hazards. Three studies in contrasting coastal environments of South Australia demonstrate that there are significant regional variations in sea‐level response, human‐induced hazards and local planning issues and that these may present a greater immediate threat than the possibility of sea‐level rise.
Recovering a ‘Subjugated History’: Disability and the Institution in the Industrial City
Authors: Gleeson B. J.
Published: March 2003

The paper explores physically disabled people’s experiences of institutions in the industrial city, focusing on the case of nineteenth‐century Melbourne. Here ‘institutions’ refers to the panoply of public, semi‐public, private and charitable places that were established in industrial cities to house, and frequently confine, a diverse estate of poor, ill, elderly, disabled and otherwise socially dependent persons. The aim of this paper is to retrace the institutional experiences of disabled people in nineteenth‐century Melbourne, with a view to explaining the role of the institution within a broader ‘social space of disability’in the industrial city. In particular, the analysis seeks to identify the type of institutions that disabled people were admitted to, including places of confinement such as gaols. The paper also explores how disabled people coped with the ‘duty to attend the asylum‘ (after Foucault) that weighed heavily on socially marginalised people in the industrial city.
Regional Forest Agreements: Resolving Resource Conflicts or Managing Resource Politics?
Authors: Lane M. B.
Published: March 2003

Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) are the latest institutional response to conflict over the allocation, use and management of forests in Australia. RFAs involve a process of resource assessment leading to a long‐term agreement between federal and state governments. This paper examines the approach to assessment being used in RFAs with reference to the literature on the practice of resource and environmental assessment and the changing shape of intergovernmental relations in Australia. It concludes that RFAs have not succeeded in resolving conflict over forestry, as was intended, but have successfully managed forest politics, both between governments and in the broader policy community.
Land of Grass: the Loss of Australia's Grasslands
Authors: Rolls E. C.
Published: March 2003

To a large extent, the Australia of 1788 was characterised not by forests but by open woodlands and grasslands. Yet many of these areas now contain dense forest. Possible explanations for this dramatic vegetational shift include the cessation of Aboriginal burning regimes and the displacement by domestic stock of mammals that ate tree seedlings. While Australia's grasslands were being overrun, elsewhere destructive and wasteful felling of timber continued apace. The problems resulting from such clearance began to be widely articulated in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, but general attitudes to ringbarking and felling have changed only slowly. The result of all this is that Australia's vegetation is now thoroughly disorganised. The grassy woodlands have gone and with them birds, animals and numerous varieties of grass. Any attempt to provide an environment suitable for the majority of native plants and animals in temperate Australia must depend on the restoration of a pre‐European‐type mosaic of interconnected grassy woodlands.
Changing Fire Management in the Pastoral Lands of Cape York Peninsula of northeast Australia, 1623 to 1996
Authors: Crowley G.M. , Garnett S.T.
Published: March 2003

Accounts of European explorers between 1623 and 1880 indicate that fires were lit by Aboriginal people on Cape York Peninsula in northeast Australia throughout the dry season (May–October). Diaries kept by three generations of pastoralists in the Musgrave area (1913–1952, 1953–1974 and 1976–1992) show that burning activities were largely confined to a two to six week period between May and early August. The timing of burning depended on the amount and date of cessation of wet season rainfall. More rarely, ‘storm‐burning’, burning under hot conditions within a few days of the first heavy rains of the wet season, was undertaken. Long‐term pastoralists felt a responsibility to use fire wisely and had a detailed knowledge of the role of fire in land management. Their decisions to burn were based on the extent of grass curing, and soil and weather conditions, all of which affected the extent of each burn. They used early dry season fires mainly to maintain forage and control cattle movements. Storm‐burns were reputed to control woody weeds, but were used infrequently because of difficulty in controlling their spread and uncertainty as to when the next rains would stimulate new grass growth.
Rainforests, Agriculture and Aboriginal Fire‐Regimes in Wet Tropical Queensland, Australia
Authors: Hill Rosemary , Griggs Peter , Incorporated Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku
Published: March 2003

This paper challenges the hypothesis that Aboriginal fire‐regimes in the coastal wet tropics of north Queensland have been responsible for significant rainforest decline in the past, and rejects the narrative that recent rainforest expansion is the result of the disappearance of Aboriginal people and their fire practices from the area. Mapping of vegetation in the Mossman district in c. 1890 from surveyors’ plans, and in 1945 and 1991 from aerial photography demonstrates that the expansion of rainforest since 1945 represents a recovery following extensive rainforest destruction associated with sugar cane cultivation in the first 70 years of European occupation. Kuku‐Yalanji Aboriginal people continued to occupy their traditional lands, and participated in the sugar industry, throughout this period. They adapted their fire management practices to the changed economic and social circumstances. Management of fire by the Kuku‐Yalanji people prior to European occupation ensured the presence of extensive rainforest cover, whilst also providing access to fire‐prone forests and their cultural resources.
The Diverging Geographies of Social and Business Interaction Patterns: a Case Study of Rural South Australia
Authors: Smailes P.J.
Published: March 2003

Major changes in personal mobility and in country town service provision have taken place in rural South Australia in the period 1968–69 to 1992–93. The later part of this period was one of major rural recession across Australia as a whole. The impact of this recession is considered by investigating changes in three different geographies of rural South Australians. These are their affective identification with place, their local social interaction and their commercial service consumption. There has been a shift of both commercial and social activity up through the hierarchy of settlement, but this is much more pronounced in the case of commercial activity. These differential rates of change are weakening the once mutually reinforcing links between community self‐identification, social interaction and trading patterns. The full impact of the rural crisis commencing in 1982–83 on social and commercial spatial patterns is unlikely to have been achieved by 1992–93, and adjustment is likely to continue.
‘Defining Moments’ and Refining Myths in the Making of Place Identity: the Newcastle Knights and the Australian Rugby League Grand Final
Authors: McGuirk P.M. , Rowe D.
Published: March 2003

This paper deals with the role of the media in refashioning place identity and in repositioning places in the cultural system of space. Specifically, it examines as a case study the media coverage of the September 1997 success of the ‘Newcastle Knights’ in the Australian Rugby League Grand Final. This event produced an intriguing moment in the reimagination of the identity of Newcastle (New South Wales), an industrial city undergoing ‘deindustrialisation‘. The paper draws on Hall’s (1997) notion of ‘resemanticisation‘ in repositioning place identity to explore how key elements of Newcastle’s dominant identity myths were utilised by the media in the post‐match media coverage. Traditional industrial narratives of embattled place were merged with the vision of a bright economic future for a re‐identified Newcastle and recoverable elements of Newcastle’s problematic industrial place identity were recast, stripped of their troubling connotations, and deployed in furthering the project of reimagining a prosperous future for the city. The paper thus considers the role of the media and sport in locating and relocating places in the Australian cultural system of space.
The Palaeoenvironmental Implications of the Distribution of Intertidal Foraminifera in a Tropical Australian Estuary: a Reconnaissance Study
Authors: Haslett S.K.
Published: March 2003

Modern intertidal foraminifera were investigated in a mangrove‐lined microtidal distributary channel of the Barron River Delta (Cairns, Queensland, Australia). A monospecific assemblage of Trochammina inflata characterises saltmarsh environments (Biozone 1), whilst the more regularly inundated tidal flat is dominated (≥55%) by Ammonia beccarii (Biozone 2). Within the tidal flat environment, two foraminiferal subdivisions can be recognised; a high tidal flat assemblage (Biozone 2a) characterised by ≥70% Ammonia beccarii and low diversity, and a low tidal flat assemblage (Biozone 2b) with 55–65% Ammonia beccarii and high diversity (due to the settling out of small allochthonous species transported into the estuary from shelf environments). Foraminiferal distributions are also compared with tide levels estimated in the field. It appears approximately that Biozone 1 occurs between High Water and Mean High Water (MHW), Biozone 2a between MHW and Mean Tide Level (MTL), and Biozone 2b between MTL and Low Water. From this preliminary study, it is concluded that foraminifera possess significant potential in palaeoenvironmental studies of tropical Australian estuaries as indicators of intertidal environments, and also tidal levels.
Narratives of Community and Change in a Contemporary Rural Setting: The Case of Duaringa, Queensland
Authors: Panelli Ruth
Published: March 2003

Contemporary rural communities are being affected by a range of changes and processes in Australia, including major changes in demographic patterns; the organisation and performance of primary industries; levels of government support for economic and social infrastructure; and wider developments in technology and changing socio‐cultural values. The impact of these processes has been felt unequally and small communities which have had a traditionally close relationship with agricultural industries are particularly challenged. The current paper reports on one such community and provides the opportunity to analyse both the the substance and cultural understandings of such forms of rural change/uncoupling. The paper presents local narratives of community and change in Duaringa, Central Queensland and responds to recent international literature suggesting that the meanings and politics of rural change are as significant as the economic trends that are occurring. The Duaringa narratives demonstrate both the substance and dynamics of expressions of community (and loss). And the paper concludes that these meanings are also influenced by wider processes including consumption‐oriented lifestyles and national interests in South East Asian relations.
Working Towards Regional Agreements: Recent Developments in Co‐operative Resource Management in Canada's British Columbia
Authors: Robinson Cathy
Published: March 2003

Canada's experience with ‘regional agreements’ has attracted considerable attention in Australia as a means by which Indigenous people can secure their native title rights to land and sea and ensure they can participate in the development and management of their homeland territories. However, regional agreements implemented in Canada thus far have often taken years to negotiate. To provide a degree of certainty for resource management and decision‐making while the native title claims process is underway, Canadian governments have proceeded to establish interim resource use and management agreements with Indigenous communities. While both governments and Indigenous people stress that interim arrangements do not replace or limit the scope for future claim settlements, it is recognised that the development of such co‐operative relationships will make long‐lasting formal agreements easier to achieve. This paper draws on several recent examples of interim agreements that have been negotiated for the salmon fishery resource in the Skeena River catchment, and considers how these local experiences offer useful approaches for resource management and native title issues in Australia. These examples demonstrate the importance of building shared understandings of resource values and management approaches prior to cementing co‐management partnerships in formal settlements. They also show some of the problems and prospects facing Indigenous peoples in their efforts to benefit from such co‐management agreements.
The Role of Surface Water Drainage in Environmental Change: a Case Example of the Upper South East of South Australia; an Historical Review
Authors: Taffs Kathryn H.
Published: March 2003

The role of surface water drainage in environmental change in Australia is rarely appreciated. Drains can modify surface water hydrology, not only altering flow regimes but also rapidly dispersing contaminants and altering the natural hydrological balance of associated flora and fauna. Yet drainage continues to be considered a viable management strategy rather than as a cause of land degradation. The impact of surface water drainage in an inherently saline area of South Australia, the Upper South East, is investigated. Surface water drains were constructed by developers in an attempt to increase the area of land available and viable for agricultural land use. Drainage strategies altered the natural direction, magnitude and frequency of surface water flow. The Upper South East has experienced periods of both increased surface water and flooding, and surface water deficit, in the past one hundred years. The region now receives less surface water than under pre‐European conditions, but local runoff is channelled into and through the wetlands more rapidly than before European settlement. Future management strategies are likely to continue this trend, to the detriment of remnant natural wetlands.
Geography in Australia’s New (Post‐1987) Universities
Authors: Jones Roy
Published: March 2003

Distinct Departments/Schools of Geography have been the exception, rather than the rule, in the post‐1987 universities. While majors, courses, honours and higher degrees in Geography have been offered at a number of these institutions and their various antecedents, the Geographers who taught them were characteristically located in multidisciplinary units. Many of these encompassed the Social Sciences, since the place of Geography in secondary schools was nor‐mally in Social Studies (or Studies of Society and the Environment) and most Geography programs were developed in former teacher training institutions. The results of a survey of current and former staff indicate that, while Geographers may be playing an important and growing role within the post‐1987 universities, the place of Geography as a formally identified discipline therein is less secure.
Commodification and Creative Destruction in the Australian Rural Landscape: The Case of Bridgetown, Western Australia
Authors: Tonts Matthew , Greive Shane
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the destructive tendencies associated with the commodification of rurality in some of Australia’s more scenic and accessible rural areas. While development based on the consumption of idealised rural landscapes and cultures can contribute to the accumulation of capital in rural areas, it can also result in the destruction of those aspects which consumers find attractive. These attributes include traditional farming landscapes, picturesque country towns, scenic rural environments, and perceptions of congenial and cohesive local communities. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the processes that lead to the degradation of these attributes. The discussion is set within the context of the ‘commodification of rurality’ and ‘creative destruction’ perspectives, and uses the case of Bridgetown in the south‐west of Western Australia to illustrate how an almost unfettered pattern of development is leading to the gradual destruction of the countryside ideal.
The Consequences for Wilderness Conservation in the Development of the National Park System in Tasmania, Australia
Authors: Mendel Louise
Published: March 2003

Statewide extents of wilderness are mapped and calculated for four historic time‐slices that reflect major periods of national park development in Tasmania. The representation of wilderness in the Tasmanian reserve system is calculated for 1937, 1970 and 1992. National parks were established in wilderness areas during all major periods of reserve development. While the total core wilderness area in Tasmania decreased by 63% between 1916 and 1992, the core wilderness area captured in the reserve system increased by 618%, with the largest increase being in the post‐1970 period. However, those parks established prior to 1970 suffered an enormous attrition of their wilderness resource. This reflects man‐agement policies inconsistent with the maintenance of wilderness during early periods of national park development. The huge increase in wilderness area captured in the reserve system after 1970 suggests that wilderness conservation only became a significant motive behind the expansion of the reserve system in the later decades of the twentieth century.
The Assessment of Land Resources: Achievements and New Challenges
Authors: Davidson Donald A.
Published: March 2003

It is surprising that despite all the pleas and policies regarding the development of sustainable land use systems, there is still considerable ignorance regarding the nature and significance of land resources. This paper traces the development and achievements of land evaluation during the 20th century, with particular reference to soils. The most active period was between 1950 and around 1980 with the development of soil and land capability surveys, methodological advances initiated with the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation, and regional land resource assessments. Thus there were considerable achievements in land evaluation by the early 1980s, and subsequently there have been important advances in the subject through the application of GIS, spatial analysis, modelling and fuzzy set algebra. Since the late 1990s there has been a phenomenal rise in interest in soil quality assessment. Considerable debate has focussed on definition, and methods of assessment and monitoring. The latter part of this paper discusses the major challenges to the development and application of land evaluation. The inadequacy of much soil survey data in terms of variables, quality, spatial coverage and scale is emphasised. Also, there is a continuing need to highlight the centrality of land resource issues in any attempt to develop sustainable land use systems.
Landform Conservation and Flood Control: the Issue of the Chitose Diversion Channel Project in Hokkaido, Japan
Authors: Ono Yugo
Published: March 2003

Landform conservation is the main task of geomorphology in the 21st Century. Since landforms provide the templates for the development of wildlife habitats, landform change is likely to cause habitat loss, inducing a reduction of biodiversity. From the viewpoint of ‘geomorphic species’, specific landforms such as natural rivers, tidal flats and coral reefs are endangered species in the Japanese islands. To avoid the further destruction of natural rivers, environmentally appropriate flood control plans are necessary. The analysis of the Chitose Diversion Channel project in Hokkaido, Japan, revealed that (1) the construction of this diversion channel has caused not only environmental problems but also serious social conflicts relating to habitats within and beyond the drainage basin; (2) excavation of a deep channel changed the groundwater supply which previously supported a natural river system, and (3) selection of a very high discharge value as the target of flood control was the main reason for planning this project. From a landform conservation perspective, the method adopted in Japan is unsuitable because it does not incorporate the scientific procedure necessary for selecting the ‘best’ peak discharge corresponding to the target rainfall with a certain recurrence period. An alternative flood control plan, combining the selection of a lower peak discharge, construction of retention pools and the restoration of meandering river channels is proposed to avoid the further destruction of natural rivers.
A Geomorphic and Environmental Evaluation of the Hula Drainage Project, Israel
Authors: Inbar Moshe
Published: March 2003

The drainage of Lake Hula and its swamps in the 1950s created a new landform and changed the hydrological and sedimentological regime in the Hula valley. The affected area extended over 40 km2 and the work basically improved the drainage conditions of another 20 km2 that were periodically affected by flooding. This man‐made project marked the termination of one of the oldest documented lakes and surrounding wetlands in history, with a rich and diverse aquatic biota. The reclaimed swampy land started to settle immediately upon drainage, mainly due to the compaction of the peat layers. The mean yearly settling rate was 8 cm yr–1. Agricultural development of the reclaimed land was unsuccessful, and soils were affected by continuous underground fires. Weathered peat soils, without a vegetation cover, were eroded by wind. Another ecological effect was the release of nutrients by the decomposing peat, with the nutrients carried by the Jordan river floods into the eutrophic Lake Kinneret. To prevent the natural subsidence a small shallow lake, 110 ha in area, and a network of canals were created in the 1990s. This new wetland and the adjacent agricultural areas are the targets of a multidisciplinary monitoring program. An eco‐tourism development project is currently being planned. Almost 50 years after starting the drainage project the present trend is to restore at least a small fragment of the previous landscape and ecosystem.
Reserve Selection for Nature Conservation in South Australia: Past, Present and Future
Authors: Bryan Brett A.
Published: March 2003

This paper re‐examines the chronology of reserve selection in South Australia in the context of changing social, political and economic attitudes. The effect of these changing attitudes on reserve selection in South Australia is assessed in the light of the principles of a comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) National Reserve System. The outcome of reserve selection in South Australia is the establishment of a vast network of reserves in the arid regions and many fragmented and small reserves in the agricultural regions. It is likely that the remnant ecological system in the agricultural regions is not representative of the regional environmental diversity and that land clearance has precluded the establishment of a CAR reserve system in South Australia. The rate of reserve selection for nature conservation has decreased over the past decade as the opportunities for reserve acquisition decrease. It is concluded that large‐scale and strategic revegetation will be required to facilitate a CAR reserve system in South Australia.
In the Footsteps of J. Alfred Griffiths: a Cataclysmic History of Great Artesian Basin Springs in Queensland, Australia
Authors: Fairfax R.J. , Fensham R.J.
Published: March 2003

The first systematic survey of springs of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) was conducted between 1896 and 1898 by J. Alfred Griffiths. His survey documents 107 GAB spring‐groups from western, northern and central Queensland. These springs were located and assessed by the authors between 1998 and 2000, and the results of this comparison are presented in this paper. Eighty‐seven of 107 (81%) of spring‐groups are no longer active. Of the remaining springs the flows of at least eight are substantially less than that witnessed a century ago. The tapping of the GAB by thousands of bores and consequent reduction of artesian pressure is clearly the overwhelming cause of diminished flows and spring inactivity. The cataclysmic loss of springs has had disastrous impacts on the biota of spring wetlands, almost certainly resulting in the extinction of endemic spring species.
Estuarine Beach Morphology in Microtidal Middle Harbour, Sydney
Authors: Kennedy David M.
Published: March 2003

Microtidal Middle Harbour, Sydney, contains a range of estuarine beach morphologies from steep reflective beachfaces to wide low‐tide terraces. The most exposed beaches are morphologically similar to lowest‐energy open‐ocean beaches; however, the remainder of the profiles cannot be adequately explained by established beach morphodynamic models. Estuarine beach morphology in Middle Harbour appears to be primarily influenced by storm events. Deep‐water ocean waves rework profiles in the lower part of estuary. For beaches protected from these waves, tidal fluctuations are the main determinant of beach profile. Locally‐generated wind waves are only a significant energy contributor where the fetch is large enough; however, this only occurs on two beaches where low‐tide terraces are formed.
The Temperature Response in the Ring Widths of Phyllocladus Aspleniifolius (Celery–top Pine) Along an Altitudinal Gradient in the Warra LTER Area, Tasmania
Authors: Allen K.J.
Published: March 2003

The temperature response of four Phyllocladus aspleniifolius (Celery–top Pine) sites along an altitudinal gradient within a cool temperate broad leaf forest environment in the southwest of Tasmania, Australia was examined. Although strong evidence of a systematically changing response with elevation could not be found, there was evidence that minimum temperature in particular may be important in determining the altitudinal extent of the species. Climatic responses of the Warra LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) area sites were representative of other known sites in southwestern Tasmania. A link between event years in P. aspleniifolius and warm/dry conditions indicates that these event years may provide a guide to the historical frequency of fire weather in Tasmania’s southwest.
Locational Disadvantage and Household Locational Decisions: Changing Contexts and Responses in the Cessnock District of New South Wales, Australia. 1964–1999
Authors: Holmes John , Hartig Kate , Bell Martin
Published: March 2003

Following the rapid demise of local coalmining in the 1950s and early 1960s, the former coal towns of the Cessnock area have survived in their newfound dormitory role, with cheap serviced housing acting as a major constraint on out–migration and an incentive for in–migration for low–income householders, mainly engaged in external commuting or outside the workforce. Behavioural responses to widening local job deficits in the early 1960s were reported in this journal (Holmes, 1965). From household surveys and other sources, Holmes examined the interplay between individual, household and locality variables and presented a spectrum of projected future outcomes for localities, according to accessibility, size and service provision, either attached to the Newcastle–Maitland labour market as low–income outer suburbs or experiencing varying rates of decline while providing low–cost welfare housing. While these broad trends have continued over the last 35 years, significant variants, not predictable in 1965 have emerged, notably: the increased residential attractiveness of some small localities; the strengthening of welfare migration, notably from Sydney; the increase in non–workforce households; and, some evidence of emerging socio–economic polarisation in larger towns. In these respects, Cessnock localities can be viewed as a microcosm of wider trends in Australian society, trends which are most fully revealed in disadvantaged metropolitan peripheral localities.
The Sydney 2000 Olympics and Urban Entrepreneurialism: Local Variations in Urban Governance
Authors: Owen K.A.
Published: March 2003

Hallmark events are important redevelopment tools utilised by entrepreneurial governments. The features of these events are analogous to those of entrepreneurial urban governance. This study examined the local impacts of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, particularly in relation to its social and political legacies, in three local government areas which hosted Olympic venues. It also investigated the nature of urban governance in Sydney, Australia, as it was manifested in the planning of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Examples of entrepreneurialism in planning for the Olympics included the centralisation of planning powers, the increasing involvement of the private sector in government activities, and the relaxation of planning processes, resulting in reduced openness, accountability and public participation. Examples of resistance to the anti–democratic tendencies of entrepreneurialism were however evident in some areas, with managerial and democratic concerns remaining important to some local governments. Local community activism was imperative to achieving civic participation and ensuring commitment by local government to these managerial and democratic concerns. Activism also enabled some local communities to secure significant benefits from the Olympic Games.
The use of Caesium–137 to Assess Surface Soil Erosion Status in a Water–Supply Catchment in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia
Authors: Krause A.K. , Loughran R.J. , Kalma J.D.
Published: March 2003

In the absence of direct erosion measurements, the soil activity of the fallout radionuclide caesium–137 (137Cs) offers an attractive tool for the estimation of long–term (approximately 45 years) net surface and minor rill soil erosion rates for hillslopes. A transect–based soil sampling technique was applied to one woodland and five grazed pasture hillslopes in the Williams River water–supply catchment in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales. An Australian regression model (SOILOSS) relating net soil loss from runoff–erosion plots to 137Cs deficit in soils was used to calculate a weighted net surface and minor rill erosion rate for the six hillslopes. The net median surface erosion rates ranged between 0.00 and 0.64 t ha–1yr–1with the average median soil erosion rate of 0.19 t ha–1 yr–1(std. dev. = 0.23), indicating that these hillslopes were unlikely to be major sources of sediment to the catchment's waterways. Net soil loss rates were also shown to be low in comparison to Australia–wide data and comparable to hillslope data obtained elsewhere in the same region. Minimum and maximum error bounds were provided with each erosion rate to account for radionuclide detector count error. For one hillslope the estimated error due to detection was 1.34 t ha–1yr–1, while the remaining five hillslopes exhibited error of up to 0.41 t ha–1yr–1. Correlation analyses between the net soil loss rates and physical hillslope characteristics were non–significant.
Crop genetic resource policy: the role of ex situ genebanks
Authors: Wright Brian D.
Published: March 2003

The world–wide capacity of genebanks for ex situ conservation of crop genetic resources has increased greatly since the 1970s, improving the access of crop breeders to landraces and wild and weedy relatives. But utilization of genebank resources has not kept pace. The set of popular cultivars in major crops is typically rather small, and their ancestry encompasses only a fraction of the genetic diversity currently available in other cultivars. Discussions of farmers’ rights that focus on compensation for current incorporation of farmers’ varieties in new cultivars have diverted attention from the question of why so little of the newly accessible genetic diversity is currently being utilized by public and private breeders. To optimize the future provision of genebank services, research is needed on the costs of genebanks, the market for their services, the use of genetic resources by breeders, and the implications of recognition of farmers’ rights, evolving intellectual property rights, continued funding problems and developments in biotechnology.
Seasonal variability, land values and willingness–to–pay for a forward wheat contract with protein premiums and discounts
Authors: Fraser Rob
Published: March 2003

This article investigates the impact of a protein premiums and discounts system on the income stream from growing wheat. Based on a biological relationship between protein and yield in uncertain seasonal conditions, it shows that such a system reduces the expected level and variability of wheat income. It is subsequently argued, using a numerical analysis, that protein payments affect both the attraction to wheat growers of forward contracts and the value of land used for wheat. The nature of both of these impacts is related to the level of seasonal variability affecting the land. Consequently, wheat growers in the more unreliable regions of the wheatbelt may have been particularly disadvantaged by the system.
Long‐run Relationships Between World Vegetable Oil Prices
Authors: In Francis , Inder Brett
Published: March 2003

In the international edible oil markets, there is believed to be high substitutability between vegetable oils and fats produced under different conditions. In light of this, we consider the question: what is the nature of the long‐run relationships between vegetable oil prices? Long‐run co‐movements among oil prices are analysed, based on a multivariate cointegration model. The empirical finding is that most co‐movements are consistent with the predictions of market theory. Prices of oils tend to be grouped according to their different end‐uses. Some policy implications of a buffer stock scheme are discussed.
Hired hooves: Transactions in a south Indian village factor market
Authors: Mueller Rolf A.E. , Prescott Edward S. , Sumner Daniel A.
Published: March 2003

Bullocks are an important resource in Indian agriculture where they are used as draft animals. Previous research suggests that farmers who do not own bullocks, or own bullocks in insufficient numbers relative to their land holdings, adjust bullock‐land ratios through transactions in the land market, rather than by hiring bullock services. The reasons given for this behaviour are that there are ‘inhibited’ or ‘missing’ village markets for bullock services. Results from a survey of the activities and transactions of six bullock contractors during an entire cropping period show that village markets for bullock services exist continuously and are far from being inhibited. Close monitoring of the bullock contractors’ transactions supplied rich evidence of the manifold contractual arrangements used in this village market for bullock services.
Quarantine Risk Analysis
Authors: Nunn Mike
Published: March 2003

Australia’s quarantine policy is based on the concept of manageable risk, which is underpinned by quarantine risk analysis, which this article examines with particular reference to recommendations of the 1996 Australian Quarantine Review. Quarantine risk assessment addresses disease concerns associated with any particular proposed import and may also require detailed examination of possible economic and environmental effects. The degree of quantification varies, and more quantitative approaches may be either deterministic or stochastic. Assessments consider both the probability of an event occurring and its consequences, including the direct economic effect of any introduction of an exotic disease.
Spillovers
Authors: Alston Julian M.
Published: March 2003

Interstate and international spillovers from public agricultural research and development (R&D) investments account for a significant share of agricultural productivity growth. Hence, spillovers of agricultural R&D results across geopolitical boundaries have implications for measures of research impacts on productivity, and the implied rates of return to research, as well as for state, national and international agricultural research policy. In studies of aggregate state or national agricultural productivity, interstate or international R&D spillovers might account for half or more of the total measured productivity growth. Similarly, results from studies of particular crop technologies indicate that international technology spillovers, and multinational impacts of technologies from international centres, were important elements in the total picture of agricultural development in the 20th Century. Within countries, funding institutions have been developed to address spatial spillovers of agricultural technologies. The fact that corresponding institutions have not been developed for international spillovers has contributed to a global underinvestment in certain types of agricultural research.
Seasonal variability and a farmer’s supply response to protein premiums and discounts
Authors: Fraser Rob
Published: March 2003

This article extends the analysis of the impact of a system of protein premiums and discounts to that on a farmer’s planned production. Despite an unambiguously negative impact on expected profits of equally likely premiums and discounts, supply response to the introduction of such a system is shown to depend on the level of seasonal variability faced by the farmer. In particular, farmers in regions which are more seasonally unreliable are likely to feature a negative supply response, whereas those in regions which are more seasonally reliable are likely to feature a positive supply response. Consequently, it is suggested that, overall, protein payments for wheat may have encouraged a shift of wheat‐growing activity away from more seasonally unreliable areas.
Incorporating biological regeneration into economic assessments of mining in forest regions
Authors: Allen Christopher , Gooday Peter
Published: March 2003

Assessments of the economic, environmental and social consequences of mining have usually produced an estimate of the commercial benefits that mining in the area would generate, with environmental costs being examined in physical terms only. A theoretical framework for calculating the threshold environmental value of an area (the minimum size of the environmental cost of mining required to make conservation the socially optimal choice) is developed, where both the potential mining benefits and the rate of biological regrowth following mine rehabilitation are known. Including the rate of biological regrowth allows for the calculation of a more meaningful figure, as the benefits generated by rehabilitation are explicitly considered.
The climate change negotiations: the case for differentiation
Authors: Fisher Brian S. , Tulple Vivek , Brown Stephen
Published: March 2003

The major elements of the climate change negotiations since the negotiation in 1995 of the Berlin Mandate to the Framework Convention on Climate Change are outlined and background on the greenhouse effect is provided in this article. It is shown that the same uniform emission reduction target for all countries is inefficient and that such targets would not lead to an equal sharing of the economic burden of achieving a given commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is concluded that the negotiation of differentiated targets can help to solve this problem.
Carnarvon Gorge: a comment on the sensitivity of consumer surplus estimation
Authors: Chotikapanich Duangkamon , Griffiths William E.
Published: March 2003

Beal’s (1995) method of estimating the value of Carnarvon Gorge for recreational use is re‐examined. When an inconsistency in her estimation procedure is corrected, the estimated value of Carnarvon Gorge for camping is found to be six times higher. The sensitivity of the estimate to the choice of functional form is examined, and standard errors and interval estimates for consumer surplus are provided. Comments are made about functional form choice and prediction in log‐log models.
Agriculture: a case study in industrial relations reform
Authors: Ferguson James
Published: March 2003

Organised Australian labour first demonstrated its power in the shearing industry just over 100 years ago. The system of arbitration developed over the last century continues to have a profound impact on agriculture. This article profiles the Australian rural labour market and identifies some continuing regulatory impediments to the proper functioning of the rural labour market. A brief review of the links between agriculture and other industries in Australia concludes that the greatest improvement in farm profitability from a better functioning labour market is to be had from productivity increases in industries outside the farm gate.
Valuing the benefits and costs of improved food safety and nutrition
Authors: Caswell Julie A.
Published: March 2003

Assuring the quality of food products, especially their safety and nutrition levels, is an increasing focus for governments, companies, and international trade bodies. In choosing quality assurance programs, public and private decision‐makers must assess the benefits and costs of expected improvements in food safety and nutrition. This article discusses methods for measuring these benefits and costs as well as how these valuations are related to the mix of voluntary and mandatory quality management systems used in particular countries or trading blocs. These relationships are illustrated by a short case study of safety assurance systems for meat and poultry products.
On the need for more economic assessment of quarantine policies
Authors: James Sallie , Anderson Kym
Published: March 2003

Quarantine policy reviews are becoming more sophisticated yet they still focus primarily on the effects of restrictions solely on import‐competing producers. A fuller analysis that includes the consumers demonstrates that even if imported diseases were to wipe out a local industry, the gains to consumers might outweigh the losses to import‐competing producers from removing a ban on imports. This article provides the simplest partial equilibrium framework for thinking more about the economics of quarantine policy measures using an empirical analysis of Australia’s ban on imports of bananas.
Australian quarantine post the Nairn Review
Authors: Tanner Carolyn , Nunn Mike
Published: March 2003

The Commonwealth government has accepted the basic tenets of the report of the Australian Quarantine Review (the ‘Nairn Review’), except for the recommendations to establish a statutory authority. Australia will maintain its existing high standards of quarantine and enhance activities such as community awareness, manageable risk (based on science), protection of Australia’s unique environment, external input to policy formulation, and recognition of the continuum of quarantine (pre‐border, border and post‐border). Greater emphasis will be given to improved consultation in risk analysis, increased monitoring for pests and diseases, and enhanced national preparedness and response capacity (especially for plants and aquatic animals).
The dynamics of phase farming in dryland salinity abatement
Authors: Mueller Ute , Schilizzi Steven , Tran Tuyêt
Published: March 2003

In Australia, soil salinisation has become a major concern. One way to deal with the problem is for farmers to plant trees or regenerate native bush. However, doing so raises several questions which involve optimal switching times, when switching involves a cost in the form of up‐front investments. Optimality conditions are derived for the three‐stage problem, and applied to dryland salinity control in Western Australia. Optimal management practices are found to be very sensitive to farmers’ discount rates and to the speed at which the watertable rises or falls.
Institutional and social influences on R&D evaluation in agriculture
Authors: Kingwell Ross
Published: March 2003

Benefit‐cost analyses of R&D activity in agriculture increasingly form part of the decision‐making process of allocating R&D funds. This article describes how institutional and social influences can affect the rigour and quality of R&D evaluations. The article explores some possible mechanisms for quality control in benefit‐cost analysis so that appraisals are more likely to be accountable and credible assessments rather than false advertising or biased assessments.
The State of Resource Taxation in Australia: ‘An Inexcusable Folly for the Nation’?
Authors: Fraser Rob
Published: March 2003

This article discusses the principal claims made for the Resource Rent Tax (RRT) by Garnaut and Clunies‐Ross (1975, 1979) relating to its efficiency and potential for generating tax revenue relative to other forms of resource taxation, and also their concern about the greater uncertainty of these revenues. An analysis of the risk‐return trade‐off associated with a shift from ad valorem royalties to an RRT finds this shift to be worthwhile. Estimates are also provided of the foregone tax revenue from the North West Shelf associated with the use of ad valorem royalties rather than the RRT.
The Optimal Management of Research Portfolios
Authors: Bardsley Peter
Published: March 2003

Risky research projects are, other things being equal, intrinsically harder to monitor than projects that are less risky. It is shown using agency theory that a standard cost benefit analysis, which ignores the agency problem, will introduce a bias towards excessively risky projects, and it will under‐estimate the benefits from complementary investments in libraries, scientific equipment and other expenditures that increase the productivity of scientists. Research managers should be risk‐averse in their choice of projects, and they should aim to hold a balanced portfolio of projects. The nature of this portfolio problem is, however, quite different from the portfolio management problem in financial markets.
Scale Efficiency in the New Zealand Dairy Industry: a Non‐parametric Approach
Authors: Jaforullah Mohammad , Whiteman John
Published: March 2003

The aim in this article is to measure the scale efficiency of the New Zealand dairy industry and to examine the relationship between farm size and technical efficiency. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is applied to a sample of 264 dairy farms. The results suggest that 19 per cent of these farms are operating at optimal scale, 28 per cent at above optimal scale, and 53 per cent at below optimal scale. On average, the optimal size for New Zealand dairy farms is estimated at 83 hectares with a herd of 260 animals. Average technical efficiency is estimated at 89 per cent.
Was the Australian Meat and Live‐stock Corporation’s advertising efficient?
Authors: Holoway Garth J. , Peyton L. James , Griffith Garry R.
Published: March 2003

A theory of the allocation of producer levies earmarked for downstream promotion is developed and applied to quarterly series (1970:2–1988:4) on red‐meats advertising by the Australian Meat and Live‐stock Corporation. Robust inferences about program efficiency are contained in the coefficients of changes in promotion effort regressed against movements in farm price and quantity. Empirical evidence of program efficiency is inconclusive. While the deeper issue of efficient disbursement of funds remains an open question, there is evidence, at least, of efficient taxation.