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Increasing the adoption of energy-efficiency measures (EEM) by households is one of the practical strategies to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For the 3.24 million low-income households in Australia, partly due to their potentially disproportionately large waste of usable energy, there is a gap between the potential for energy efficiency through existing EEM and the actual energy-efficiency level. Many measures increase energy efficiency in buildings; however, barriers persist for such households to adopt these measures, of which limited research has yet to be conducted. In response, this study examines the relationships involved by a questionnaire survey of 212 low-income households in Australia, showing that financial barriers have the greatest influence followed by split incentive barriers, with the provision of information having no significant role to play. This paper contributes to filling the gap of limited energy-efficiency research involving low-income households, revealing the effect of energy-efficiency barriers on their adoption of EEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and associated processes can increase the occurrence of some natural hazards and threaten business operations. Therefore, it is widely recommended businesses respond to climate change and implement climate change adaptation. Worldwide, businesses make efforts towards climate change adaptation, but investigation on such efforts is still required. To partially fill this research gap, the paper explores businesses adaptation efforts in the Hunter Valley, Australia. The paper collects primary data from open-ended interviews to 10 representatives of local businesses and supporting organizations. The paper reveals that businesses interpret climate change in different ways. While some businesses are sceptical about climate change, others are aware of it and its impacts on everyday operations. Businesses therefore implement adaptation by integrating climate change into everyday operations and continuity planning. The paper also shows diverse interactions occurring between businesses and other local stakeholders such as governments and communities. Usually, higher government levels offer vague and limited support to businesses and inhibit their adaptive efforts. Meanwhile, interactions between businesses and City Councils can be both collaborative and fragmented. Some businesses also interact with local communities by disclosing information about their operations and response to climate change. The paper discusses these findings and provides conclusions under the form of recommendations for policy and research on Australian businesses and climate change adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factors affecting fertilizer decisions made by grain growers are changing in the context of changing climatic conditions and growing volatility in global fertilizer and grain markets. To ensure sustainable development of grain industries in light of this uncertainty, research, development, extension, and adoption activities associated with growers' fertilizer decisions need to be focused on factors to which they are most sensitive. The aim of this paper is to understand the factors that have the greatest influence on grain producer's fertilizer strategies, how these factors have changed over recent years, and what is the relative importance of agronomic, socioeconomic, and logistical factors affecting these strategies. A telephone survey of 425 grain-growing businesses in Western Australia was conducted, and survey results were analyzed statistically. We show for the first time that grain growers' fertilizer decisions are most sensitive to agronomic factors (especially the amount and distribution of rainfall). Logistic factors (such as difficulties fertilizing increasing areas in short periods of time) are growing in influence as farm size, cropping areas, and the number of fertilizer applications within seasons increase. Fertilizer decisions have become less sensitive to socioeconomic factors over the last 10 to 15 years. To ensure sustainable development of grain production, research through to adoption activities should focus on agronomic issues (such as seasonal forecasting) and logistic issues (such as improving planning, organizational, and technical capacity for developing and implementing fertilizer strategies). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February and March 2022, the eastern coast of Australia recorded an unprecedented amount of precipitation with extended floods and damages to properties amounting at least to AUD 2.3 billions. In this paper we use both reanalysis and observations to perform a statistical and dynamical attribution of this precipitation event to climate change. We define 1948-1977 as the counterfactual period and 1990-2019 as the factual one. The statistical attribution is based on fitting the generalized extreme value distribution for 3-days averaged precipitation annual maxima for the two periods, while the dynamical attribution aims at looking at the recurrence properties of sea-level pressure and geopotential height patterns in both periods. We find that the dynamics of the event consists in an unprecedented combination of several factors: a tropical atmospheric river, the presence of the Coral low pressure system and a blocking anticyclone offshore Eastern Australia. Our main finding is that no clear attribution statements can be made, both because of the unprecedented nature of this event, the lack of long high quality available data and the dependence of the results on the La Nina phase of El Nino Southern Oscillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of major storm surges in the last decade have dramatically emphasized the immense destructive capabilities of extreme water level events, particularly when driven by severe tropical cyclones. Given this risk, it is vitally important that the exceedance probabilities of extreme water levels are accurately evaluated to inform risk-based flood and erosion management, engineering and for future land-use planning and to ensure the risk of catastrophic structural failures due to under-design or expensive wastes due to over-design are minimised. Australia has a long history of coastal flooding from tropical cyclones. Using a novel integration of two modeling techniques, this paper provides the first estimates of present day extreme water level exceedance probabilities around the whole coastline of Australia, and the first estimates that combine the influence of astronomical tides, storm surges generated by both extra-tropical and tropical cyclones, and seasonal and inter-annual variations in mean sea level. Initially, an analysis of tide gauge records has been used to assess the characteristics of tropical cyclone-induced surges around Australia. However, given the dearth (temporal and spatial) of information around much of the coastline, and therefore the inability of these gauge records to adequately describe the regional climatology, an observationally based stochastic tropical cyclone model has been developed to synthetically extend the tropical cyclone record to 10,000 years. Wind and pressure fields derived for these synthetically generated events have then been used to drive a hydrodynamic model of the Australian continental shelf region with annual maximum water levels extracted to estimate exceedance probabilities around the coastline. To validate this methodology, selected historic storm surge events have been simulated and resultant storm surges compared with gauge records. Tropical cyclone induced exceedance probabilities have been combined with estimates derived from a 61-year water level hindcast described in a companion paper to give a single estimate of present day extreme water level probabilities around the whole coastline of Australia. Results of this work are freely available to coastal engineers, managers and researchers via a web-based tool (). The described methodology could be applied to other regions of the world, like the US east coast, that are subject to both extra-tropical and tropical cyclones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional climate models (RCMs) are used to dynamically downscale global climate models (GCMs) to provide high-resolution projections of future climate change to better inform policy and decision making at the regional scale. However, biases from GCMs are transferred to RCMs and this can limit the usefulness of the regional climate projections. This paper investigates the influence of bias correcting 4 GCMs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 3, for regional climate simulations over the CORDEX-Australasia domain using Weather Research and Forecasting. The GCM outputs are bias corrected against ERA-Interim reanalysis as a surrogate truth. Results show that over decadal time scales bias correction removes large systematic precipitation and temperature biases. However, bias correction also introduced biases where there were none, introduced biases of the opposite sign, or enhanced existing biases in other regions in some instances. The dynamical mechanisms driving the changes in the biases are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate about irrigation development of water resources in northern Australia has been hampered by a lack of quantitative information to enable accurate assessment of the volume of water that could potentially be regulated in the ‘North’ (north of the tropic of Capricorn). Too often the debate focuses solely on streamflow volumes and quantities of runoff. In this paper we present simple calculations to estimate a representative irrigation requirement and the potential exploitable yield in each of the 12 drainage divisions of Australia in order to more fully inform this on-going debate. Environmental, social, cultural and economic considerations are not examined. The results indicate that, despite northern Australia generating approximately 64% of the continent’s runoff, only 45% of Australia’s potentially exploitable yield is located in that portion of Australia, due to unfavourable streamflow characteristics, storage constraints and large evaporation losses. If exploitable yield and irrigation requirement were the sole factors constraining sustainable irrigation, under a full development scenario, southern Australia could hypothetically support an area of irrigation about 60% greater than that of northern Australia (based on only 36% of the country’s runoff). Using ‘best estimates’ of rainfall and evapotranspiration projected under changes in climate resulting from a moderate emissions scenario, the percentage of Australia’s exploitable yield located in northern Australia is estimated to increase from 45% to 47% by the year 2050, which equates to a 2% increase to the percentage of Australia’s hypothetical area of irrigation that could be located in northern Australia. These results suggest that efforts towards achieving and developing sustainable irrigation practices in the South will remain most important in achieving Australia’s long term irrigation potential. This study also highlights the need for better regional scale information on the potential to regulate streamflow in Australia, under current and future climates. Such information is essential to guide policy and planning, future Government and private investment, and to manage community expectations of Australia’s water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Adapting to water scarcity is a critical issue for many cities around the world as they respond to the influences of population growth, urbanisation and climate change. There is increasing recognition that geographic context has an impact on experiences of and approaches to domestic water use, but research comparing urban environments is scarce. This paper describes different domestic water cultures after the Millennium drought in three Australian cities-Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. All three cities have experienced drought, or severe water shortages, over the past 15 years, and each city has responded differently. The experience of water scarcity and water restrictions imposed by governments impacted on people's everyday lives in varied and profound ways. Drawing on quantitative data from a national survey ( n = 5194) and qualitative data from focus groups, we found that a sense of water crisis led to household water conservation in Brisbane and Melbourne. In contrast, access to alternative water sources in Perth through desalination plants and household bores de-emphasised personal responses to household water conservation. The implications are that urban specific policies and interventions are needed to provide durable change in domestic water cultures. We argue that greater water sensitivity and responsiveness to water availability should be promoted in different urban centres, and that water supply solutions should be accompanied by initiatives that promote adoption of sustainable water practices and future resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fulfilment of wealthy countries' commitment to mobilise $100 billion a year in climate finance by 2020 will hinge on maintaining domestic political support in contributor countries. Predictability in flows of climate finance is likely to enhance the overall stability of the climate finance system and the broader climate regime. However, at present it remains unclear how the 2020 target will be achieved and little is known about what drives fluctuations in support among contributor countries. This article explores domestic and international factors that may explain fluctuations in national support through a case study of Australia's climate finance from 2007 to 2015. Drawing on documentary analysis and interviews with officials and stakeholders, the paper tracks two domestic factors that may influence support for climate finance-the government's political orientation and public concern about climate change-and two international factors-commitment to multilateral agreements and international peer pressure. While some accounts view climate policy choices as being driven primarily by domestic factors, we find that the government's political orientation on domestic climate policy and aid explains some but not all variations in Australia's stance on climate finance. International peer group effects have moderated the positions of two governments that were otherwise reluctant to act on climate change. National policy reforms combined with improved multilateral oversight and more established replenishment cycles could bolster support in contributor countries and thereby strengthen the capacity of the climate finance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Uncertainty around long-term droughts and water scarcity has been increasing as the impacts of El Nino cycles are felt globally. Understanding how the effects of these events are manifested on the ground in communities is particularly important if governments and associated agencies are to respond appropriately. Using a qualitative approach, this paper examines the impacts of drought on two rural towns in Victoria, Australia, and explores what lessons can be drawn from local experiences. The research suggests that previous responses to drought by governments have been largely ineffectual and as such, we question whether there is a need to reshape institutional understandings of what adapting to drought might mean. This research, therefore, seeks to further the discussion surrounding drought impacts and the myriad of challenges associated with it by drawing on locally situated knowledge to inform future decision-making in this evolving field of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Monitoring is critical to gauge the effect of environmental management interventions as well as to measure the effects of human disturbances such as climate change. Recognition of the critical need for monitoring means that, at irregular intervals, recommendations are made for new government-instigated programs or to revamp existing ones. Using insights from past well-intentioned (but sadly also often failed) attempts to establish and maintain government-instigated monitoring programs in Australia, we outline eight things that should never be done in environmental monitoring programs (if they aim to be useful). These are the following: (1) Never commence a new environmental management initiative without also committing to a monitoring program. (2) Never start a monitoring program without clear questions. (3) Never implement a monitoring program without first doing a proper experimental design. (4) Never ignore the importance of matching the purpose and objectives of a monitoring program to the design of that program. (5) Never change the way you monitor something without ensuring new methods can be calibrated with the old ones. (6) Never try to monitor everything. (7) Never collect data without planning to curate and report on it. (8) If possible, avoid starting a monitoring program without the necessary resources secured. To balance our "nevers", we provide a checklist of actions that will increase the chances a monitoring program will actually measure the effectiveness of environmental management. Scientists and resource management practitioners need to be part of a stronger narrative for, and key participants in, well-designed, implemented, and maintained government-led monitoring programs. We argue that monitoring programs should be mandated in threatened species conservation programs and all new environmental management initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystems are influenced by multiple drivers, which shape ecosystem state and biodiversity. In some ecosystems, interactions and feedbacks among drivers can produce traps that confine an ecosystem to a particular state or condition and influence processes like succession. A range of traps has been recognized, with one of these – "a landscape trap" first proposed a decade ago for the tall, wet Mountain Ash and Alpine Ash forests of Victoria, south-eastern Australia. Under such a trap, young flammable forest is at high risk of reburning at high severity, thereby precluding stand maturation, and potentially leading to ecosystem collapse. These young forests are more common because recurrent wildfire and widespread clearcutting have transformed historical patterns of forest cover from widespread old-growth with small patches of regrowth embedded within it, to the reverse. Indeed, approximately 99% of the montane ash ecosystem is now relatively young forest. Based on new empirical insights, we argue that at least three key inter-related pre-conditions underpin the development of a landscape trap in montane ash forests. A landscape trap has been sprung in these forests because the pre-conditions for its development have been met. We show how inter-relationships among these pre-conditions, leading to frequent high-severity fire, interacts with life history attributes (e.g., time to viable seed production) to make montane ash forests (e.g., which have been highly disturbed through logging and frequent fire) vulnerable to ecosystem collapse. We conclude with the ecological and resource management implications of this landscape trap and discuss how the problems created might be rectified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a significant environmental, social and environmental problem that has been identified by scientists in consensus internationally. The Australian Government’s response is considered by environmental non-government organisations (NGOs) to be inadequate. NGOs are ‘change agents’ of society, and in this role they are agitating to influence political decision-making on climate change response. This paper outlines the campaign strategies being used by Australian NGOs to attract public and political attention to the issue of climate change. Using seven NGOs as case studies, the archival materials of these organisations were accessed and analysed. Current academic and other literature also was used to reflect on their effectiveness. Four campaign themes and, within these, fifteen activities were identified. The results indicate that the notion of whether NGOs are undertaking an ‘revolutionary’ or ‘incremental’ approach, or any other narrow strategic approach put forward by various scholars is too simple for analysing campaigns: none of the NGOs appear to intentionally favour one type of strategy. The question raised by this finding is whether the NGOs’ current ‘multi-strategic’ approach is effective. This research contributes to filling the information gap with regard to NGO campaign strategies on environmental issues, and highlights the need for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Future projections in austral winter characteristics of explosive extratropical cyclones (EECs) in three CORDEX Southern Hemisphere domains (Africa-AFR, Australia-AUS and South America-SAM) are investigated. The projections are obtained with a fine resolution (25 km) Regional Climate Model (RegCM4) within the CORDEX-CORE framework driven by three Global Climate Models (GCMs: HadGEM2-ES, MPI-ESM-MR and NorESM-1 M) under the RCP8.5 scenario. The cyclone database was obtained using a tracking scheme applied to 6-hourly mean sea level pressure fields and EECs are selected using the Sanders and Gyakum criterion. EECs represent ~ 13–17% of the total number of extratropical cyclones during austral winter in the ERA-Interim reanalysis (1995–2014), while both GCMs and RegCM4 ensembles underestimate this percentage. The frequency of EECs is projected to increase in AFR and in SAM domains at the end of the twenty-first century. However, the magnitude of the projected changes needs to be considered with caution because it is smaller than the underestimations in the frequency of EECs of both ensembles in the present climate. EECs in the future will be deeper and faster but with a shorter lifetime. Eady Growth Rate composites, when EECs reach the explosive phase, indicate a less baroclinic large-scale environment in the future. On the other hand, the intensification of precipitation associated with EECs in the future indicates an increase in the contribution of the diabatic processes acting to strengthen the local baroclinicity of the EECs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: In montane systems, closely related species tend to segregate spatially along elevational gradients. The role of biotic interactions, relative to species physiological requirements, in maintaining these distribution patterns is an important question in spatial ecology. Theory suggests that the role of interspecific competition can be significant in the maintenance of elevation replacement distributions. Despite this, there has been limited work investigating factors beyond thermophysiology in determining ranges in temperate montane species. Objectives and methods: We investigated agonistic (i.e. aggressive) behaviour in response to a simulated intruder (conspecific versus heterospecific 3D printed models) in two sister species of temperate montane lizard, Liopholis guthega and L. montana, from south-eastern Australia. The two species have similar thermal tolerances at an area of distributional overlap between 1600 and 1700 m above sea level, above which L. montana is replaced by the high elevation specialist L. guthega. Results: We found that response to intruder stimuli differed between the two species, with the high elevation L. guthega actively biting both conspecific and heterospecific models, whereas the lower elevation L. montana, never attacked either model type. Our findings provide evidence of asymmetric agonistic response in the two montane reptile species. Conclusions: These findings have important implications for understanding how biological interactions and behaviour, in addition to thermo-physiological data, might mediate landscape scale distribution patterns both now and as environments change in the future. More broadly, our results are not consistent with the widespread idea that low elevation species will inevitably 'push' higher elevation species out, as global warming erodes species' thermal envelopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since global warming between 2 and 4.9 °C by 2100 is unlikely to be avoided, humans will have to live with and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Migration has long been touted as a strategy for adapting to climate change, but there is limited understanding of which aspects of climate change will have greatest influence on peoples' decision to move somewhere they consider safer or stay somewhere safe. Here, we present results from two online surveys about mobility decisions from one low (Philippines) and one high (Australia) income country within the Asia-Pacific region with similar vulnerabilities to natural hazards. Online surveys with about 1100 respondents each were conducted in both countries. Results showed that natural hazards played a strong role in the mix of reasons for mobility, particularly in the Philippines. Sudden onset hazards had the greatest influence. Results of ordered probit models showed that the perception of personal damage from hazards was strongly positively associated with mobility decisions of respondents in both countries. Mobility decisions of people in Australia were further influenced by their experience with the specific hazards: those with greater experience of slow onset hazards were more likely, and those who had experience with sudden hazards less likely, to consider these when moving or staying somewhere. People in Australia might only react to sudden onset hazards with temporary relocation since experience had shown that they can adapt to them. This suggests that slow onset climate change related impacts such as heat waves and sea level rise, as well as environmental degradation and pollution, may have more sustained effects on long-term mobility than sudden events. In the Philippines, personal characteristics such as gender, income, and health had the greatest impact while experience with hazards had almost none. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of its negative effect on health, aflatoxin has become one of the most important mycotoxins in the world. As climate stress is one of the main triggers of aflatoxin incidence, climate change could affect its geographic distribution. The primary aim of this study was to examine the effect of climate change on the future distribution of aflatoxin in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) crops in Australia. The projected distributions in 2030, 2050, 2070, and 2100 were modelled by employing the CLIMEX (CLIMatic indEX) model using two global climate models (GCMs), i.e. CSIRO-Mk3.0 and MIROC-H based on SRES A2 and SRES A1B climate scenarios. This study has successfully developed CLIMEX model parameters for aflatoxin and confirmed the climatic zone preference of aflatoxin incidence, as concluded by other studies. Therefore, the model parameters are applicable in all parts of the world. The projection results in Australia confirm that climate change affects the future distribution of aflatoxin, including the distribution in the current peanut-growing areas. Shifts in aflatoxin invasion areas from the tropical and subtropical climate zones of the eastern part of Australia to the temperate climate zones of the south-eastern and south-western parts of the country were projected by 2100. Thus, adaptation and mitigation measures are needed to overcome the negative impacts in the future. Options for these measures include relocation of planting areas, development of host-plant resistance, proper agricultural practices, and mitigation actions by using physical, chemical, and biological approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved building energy efficiency has been shown to contribute substantially to global greenhouse gas abatement objectives. Realisation of these benefits depends on the deployment of appropriate policy instruments. Building energy codes have the potential to deliver economic, environmental, societal and other strategic benefits. Australia's high per capita greenhouse emissions and rates of building construction provide a national case study in climate policy development. Insights into reform of Australia's National Construction Code also provide evidence-based analysis of the efficacy of market-based energy efficiency measures, demonstrating that building energy codes are a cost-effective greenhouse emission reduction instrument and also that market failures inhibit the effectiveness of conventional economic instruments in reducing building sector greenhouse emissions. Although building energy codes do provide a potentially transformative intervention in the property market, their effectiveness is bedevilled by problems with enforcement and stakeholder behaviour in service. Addressing these impediments calls for targeted policy packages to bridge identified gaps between presumptive building performance objectives and outcomes actually observed in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A basic environmental risk assessment was carried out for the top 10 dispensed pharmaceuticals in Melbourne, Australia, in contrast to the more commonly assessed measure of the most used drugs by physical mass. This allowed for the evaluation of compounds that had not previously been the subject of risk assessment. Estimations of the possible fate and behaviour of the target pharmaceuticals in sewage treatment plants were also made. The predicted removal rates of most drugs within standard sewage treatment were expected to be low, with the exception of the statins, which had high removal rates. Each pharmaceutical was predicted to be present in Melbourne wastewater at the nanogram per litre range or lower. All compounds were predicted to be of low toxicity risk, although it was not possible to model mixture effects. Atorvastatin and Irbesartan were also found to possess the potential to possibly bioaccumulate in the aquatic food chain but not to the extent that would require regulation or labelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the response of groundwater levels in alluvial and sedimentary basin aquifers to climatic variability and human water-resource developments is a key step in many hydrogeological investigations. This study presents an analysis of groundwater response to climate variability from 2000 to 2012 in the Queensland part of the sedimentary Clarence-Moreton Basin, Australia. It contributes to the baseline hydrogeological understanding by identifying the primary groundwater flow pattern, water-level response to climate extremes, and the resulting dynamics of surface-water/groundwater interaction. Groundwater-level measurements from thousands of bores over several decades were analysed using Kriging and nonparametric trend analysis, together with a newly developed three-dimensional geological model. Groundwater-level contours suggest that groundwater flow in the shallow aquifers shows local variations in the close vicinity of streams, notwithstanding general conformance with topographic relief. The trend analysis reveals that climate variability can be quickly reflected in the shallow aquifers of the Clarence-Moreton Basin although the alluvial aquifers have a quicker rainfall response than the sedimentary bedrock formations. The Lockyer Valley alluvium represents the most sensitively responding alluvium in the area, with the highest declining (−0.7 m/year) and ascending (2.1 m/year) Sen’s slope rates during and after the drought period, respectively. Different surface-water/groundwater interaction characteristics were observed in different catchments by studying groundwater-level fluctuations along hydrogeologic cross-sections. The findings of this study lay a foundation for future water-resource management in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the drivers of climate change innovations and the effects of these innovations on firm outcomes in a sample of 203 firms in the South Australian wine cluster. The results of structural equation modeling analysis suggest that absorptive capacity has a direct effect on climate change innovations, and stimulates knowledge exchanges (KEs) between firms in the cluster. KEs between firms in the cluster in turn directly affect the climate change innovations. The findings suggest a perhaps counterintuitive interrelationship between firm- and cluster-level impacts, in which KEs between firms in the cluster play a partial mediating role in the innovation process. The study further finds that climate change innovations are related to firm performance (FP) and reductions in greenhouse gases (GHGs): mitigative innovations lead to greater GHG reductions while adaptive innovations impact on FP. Contributions of the findings are discussed, as are future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiata pine plantation resources in Australia and New Zealand are a highly productive source of solid-wood and pulp products for domestic consumption and export. This has largely been achieved through long-term investments in tree breeding programs that select the best-performing genotypes for varied regional environments. However, climate change could threaten the realisation of genetic improvement in plantations due to suboptimal matching of improved planting stock to new climate conditions. Here, we investigate how information from genetic field tests could be utilised under anticipated climate change. We use principal component analysis and Mahalanobis distance measures to find the closest match between climate of plantation regions in the future and current climate of field test sites. By 2050, future climates of some important plantation regions are expected to match climates currently present in different regions. For example, future climates of Green Triangle, a key plantation region in Australia, will better match current climate of Western Australia. The Central North Island of New Zealand will shift to warmer and wetter climate with no current analogue, and Western Australia, to warmer and drier no-analogue climate. The latter is also likely to fall outside the climate niche where radiata pine can be grown in the future. Nevertheless, for the majority of radiata pine plantation regions in Australia and New Zealand our analysis provides a framework of how anticipated climate change can be addressed in tree improvement programs using existing field tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southeast Australia is a region of high rainfall variability related to major climate drivers, with a long-term declining trend in cool-season rainfall. Projections of future rainfall trends are uncertain in this region, despite projected southward shifts in the subtropical ridge and mid-latitude westerlies. This appears to be related to a poor representation of the spatial relationships between rainfall variability and zonal wind patterns across southeast Australia in the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project ensemble, particularly in the areas where weather systems embedded in the mid-latitude westerlies are the main source of cool-season rainfall. Downscaling with regional climate models offers improvements in the mean rainfall climatology, and shows some ability to correct for poor modelled relationships between rainfall and zonal winds along the east coast of Australia. However, it provides only minor improvements to these relationships in southeast Australia, despite the improved representation of topographic features. These results suggest that both global and regional climate models may fail to translate projected circulation changes into their likely rainfall impacts in southeast Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some recent funding programmes in Australia on climate adaptation have expected active engagement with farmers in research projects. Based on our direct experience with 30 farmers and their advisors, we list five reasons why it is difficult to gain traction with farmers in discussing the likely impacts of climate change on their farms and the possible adaptation options they should be considering in preparation for a future changed climate. The reasons concern the slow and uncertain trajectory for changes in climate relative to the time horizon for farm decision-making, when set against short-term fluctuations in weather, prices, costs and government policy. Farmers have optimism for ongoing technological progress keeping abreast of any negative impacts of climate on their production. As one moves from incremental to transformational adaptation options, biophysical research has less to offer because decisions become based more on business structure, portfolio management, off-farm investments and geographical diversification. Some farmers also doubt the intentions of climate change researchers and are wary of anything they may have to offer. We propose there is an actionable decision space where agricultural science and economics can contribute to meaningful analysis of impacts and adaptation to climate change by farmers. This will involve emphasising the principles of farm management rather than defining optimal farm plans; the use of scenario planning to explore possible futures in a turbulent environment for farming; a focus on short-term adjustments as a path to longer term adaptation; re-gaining the trust of some farmers towards climate change scientists through better communication strategies; and understanding the linkages between adaptation options and enabling factors and technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia, a country which has regularly experienced various natural disasters, is now set to face more intense and frequent disasters in the twenty-first century as a result of climate change. Prior research indicates that in Australia, the perceived risks of climate change are mixed and becoming less prevalent across rural and urban locations, posing a threat to the public's adoption of mitigation and adaptation strategies. Research was conducted in four disaster-impacted rural Australian towns to investigate whether prior disaster experience, trust in climate change risk communications and specific location predicted climate change risk perceptions. Four case study sites were chosen exemplifying communities impacted by different types of disaster events. The case study towns were Beechworth (wildfire, 2009) and Bendigo (drought, 2002-2008) in Victoria; Ingham (flood, 2009) and Innisfail (cyclone, 2006) in Queensland. Structural equation modelling analyses of surveys returned by a sample of 1,008 householders across the four towns showed that prior disaster experience had no impact upon climate change risk perceptions. Instead climate change risk perceptions were predicted by trust in climate change communications, climate change knowledge and the geographical location of the sample, suggesting the need for targeted, place-specific contextual communication interventions that consider the needs and socioeconomic characteristics of the community in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lake Purrumbete is located in western Victoria, Australia, and is highly regarded for its ecological, social, economic and scientific values. Recently, many lakes in the region have been dry or at their lowest level in recorded history, due to a drought that broke in 2010. For this study, a modified difference water budget method was employed to estimate net groundwater flux through the difference between the level of the lake and the water table, along with the specific yield and area of the aquifer. This model successfully modelled the lake level fluctuations. In recent years, Lake Purrumbete has fallen below the outflow level; however, because of its large volume, changes in salinity to date are minor and do not affect its freshwater status. An understanding of how these systems will behave in the future and how they may be best managed in a drying climate is considered an important step to adapt to climate change. Postulated future climatic changes in the region of the lake were used to project the lake level fluctuations to 2030 using the water budget model, and showed that dry conditions would cause the lake level to remain below its outlet elevation, but wet conditions would result in a significant recovery in the lake level. If the level of Lake Purrumbete continues to fall, the main threat to its ecological status will be the potential loss of some significant areas of fringing wetland habitat. The lowering in lake level could cause a shift in the abundance of algal plankton and so influence the whole lake food web. This may reduce the invertebrate diversity of the lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heathland is a speciose and floriferous vegetation type, defined by its stature (<2 m) and dominance by scleromorphic shrubs. Heathland has been in decline globally, and much of its loss has been due to less frequent fire, while in some places more frequent fire has resulted in degradation through the loss of obligate seeding species. The aims of the present study were to determine: (1) the extent of the transition from heathland to scrub in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia between c1976 and 2013; (2) the spatial attributes of heathland that are likely to have been the most instrumental in heathland loss; (3) whether the transition to scrub resulted in the loss of local species richness and changed species composition when taking both above ground vegetation and the soil seed bank into account; and (4) the implications of the answers to the first three questions for heathland management. Changes in heathland and scrub extent were mapped from remote sensing imagery and ground truthing. At one locality with floristic data from the heathland of 1976, the scrub that has replaced the heathland was surveyed and soil collected to determine seed banks under heating and non-heating treatments. Approximately one third of the 1976 heathland had become scrub by 2013, mostly around the margins of heathland patches and near built up areas. Twenty-two species present in 1976 were not found in either the scrub or seed bank, with only three species absent from the scrub, but present in the 1976 heath, being found in the seed bank. The species composition of germinates in the unheated treatment was dominated by taxa that colonise mechanically disturbed areas, such as Juncus, while germinates in the heat treated soils were largely scleromorphic heath species. The depletion of species richness by the transition to scrub, and the large extent of its incidence, suggest that a higher frequency of planned fire is needed in south-eastern Tasmania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, while potentially impacting many industries, appears to have considerable significance to the wine industry. Yet little is known about how firms acquire knowledge and gain an understanding of climate change and its impacts. This study, exploratory in nature and studying firms from the wine-producing region of Tasmania, is one of the first in the management literature to use cluster theory to examine the climate change issue. Firms are predicted to exchange knowledge about climate change more readily with other firms internal to the sub-cluster than with those external to the sub-cluster. The hypothesis does not find support. The study also proposes that the different characteristics of knowledge can either increase or decrease their flows in and around clusters. Specifically, 'public' knowledge about climate change is predicted to flow more freely than 'private' knowledge about climate change. The hypothesis does not find support. Finally, firms are expected to acquire knowledge about climate change from sources other than cluster-entrenched firms, and in particular peak national industry bodies. The hypothesis finds partial support. A discussion of the findings is presented along with future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate projection data were applied to two commonly used pome fruit flowering models to investigate potential differences in predicted full bloom timing. The two methods, fixed thermal time and sequential chill-growth, produced different results for seven apple and pear varieties at two Australian locations. The fixed thermal time model predicted incremental advancement of full bloom, while results were mixed from the sequential chill-growth model. To further investigate how the sequential chill-growth model reacts under climate perturbed conditions, four simulations were created to represent a wider range of species physiological requirements. These were applied to five Australian locations covering varied climates. Lengthening of the chill period and contraction of the growth period was common to most results. The relative dominance of the chill or growth component tended to predict whether full bloom advanced, remained similar or was delayed with climate warming. The simplistic structure of the fixed thermal time model and the exclusion of winter chill conditions in this method indicate it is unlikely to be suitable for projection analyses. The sequential chill-growth model includes greater complexity; however, reservations in using this model for impact analyses remain. The results demonstrate that appropriate representation of physiological processes is essential to adequately predict changes to full bloom under climate perturbed conditions with greater model development needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the depiction and prediction of blocking at 140°E and its impact on Australian intra-seasonal climate variability in the Bureau of Meteorology's dynamical intra-seasonal/seasonal forecast model Predictive Ocean Atmosphere Model for Australia version 2 (POAMA-2). The model simulates well the strong seasonality of blocking but underestimates its strength and frequency increasingly with lead time, particularly after the first fortnight of the hindcast, in connection with the model's drifting basic state. POAMA-2 reproduces well the large-scale structure of weekly-mean blocking anomalies and associated rainfall anomalies over Australia; the depiction of total blocking in POAMA-2 may be improved with the reduction of biases in the distribution of Indian Ocean rainfall via a tropical-extratropical wave teleconnection linking blocking activity at 140°E with tropical variability near Indonesia. POAMA-2 demonstrates the ability to skilfully predict the daily blocking index out to 16 days lead time for the ensemble mean hindcast, surpassing the average predictive skill of the individual hindcast members (5 days), the skill obtained from persistence of observed (2 days), and the decorrelation timescale of blocking (3 days). This skilful prediction of the blocking index, together with effective simulation of blocking rainfall anomalies, translates into higher skill in forecasting rainfall in weeks 2 and 3 over much of Australia when blocking is high at the initial time of the hindcast, compared to when the blocking index is small. POAMA-2 is thus capable of providing forecast skill for blocking rainfall on the intra-seasonal timescale to meet the needs of Australian farming communities, whose management practises often rely upon decisions being made a few weeks ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Albedo plays an important role in land-atmosphere interactions and local climate. This study presents the impact on simulating regional climate, and the evolution of a drought, when using the default climatological albedo as is usually done in regional climate modelling, or using the actual observed albedo which is rarely done. Here, time-varying satellite derived albedo data is used to update the lower boundary condition of the Weather Research and Forecasting regional climate model in order to investigate the influence of observed albedo on regional climate simulations and also potential changes to land-atmosphere feedback over south-east Australia. During the study period from 2000 to 2008, observations show that albedo increased with an increasingly negative precipitation anomaly, though it lagged precipitation by several months. Compared to in-situ observations, using satellite observed albedo instead of the default climatological albedo provided an improvement in the simulated seasonal mean air temperature. In terms of precipitation, both simulations reproduced the drought that occurred from 2002 through 2006. Using the observed albedo produced a drier simulation overall. During the onset of the 2002 drought, albedo changes enhanced the precipitation reduction by 20 % on average, over locations where it was active. The area experiencing drought increased 6.3 % due to the albedo changes. Two mechanisms for albedo changes to impact land-atmosphere drought feedback are investigated. One accounts for the increased albedo, leading to reduced turbulent heat flux and an associated decrease of moist static energy density in the planetary boundary layer; the other considers that enhanced local radiative heating, due to the drought, favours a deeper planetary boundary layer, subsequently decreasing the moist static energy density through entrainment of the free atmosphere. Analysis shows that drought related large-scale changes in the regional climate favour a strengthening of the second mechanism. That is, the second mechanism is stronger in a drought year compared to a normal year and this difference is larger than for the first mechanism. When both mechanisms are active, the second mechanism tends to dominate across the model domain, particularly during the 2002 drought period. The introduction of observed inter-annual variations in albedo produces an enhancement of the first mechanism and a weakening of the second mechanism during the onset of the drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riparian corridors in Mediterranean-climate regions (med-regions) are resource-rich habitats within water-limited, larger landscapes. However, little is known about how their plant communities compare functionally and compositionally across med-regions. In recent decades, research on these ecosystems has expanded in both geographic scope and disciplinary depth. We reviewed 286 riparian-vegetation studies across the five med-regions, and identified common themes, including: (1) high levels of plant biodiversity, structural complexity, and cross-region species introductions; (2) strong physical controls on plant demographics and community structure; and (3) intensive human impacts. European and Californian ecosystems were the most represented among the studies reviewed, but Australia, South Africa, and Chile had the greatest proportional increases in articles published since 2000. All med-regions support distinct riparian flora, although many genera have invaded across regions. Plant species in all regions are adapted to multiple abiotic stressors, including dynamic flooding and sediment regimes, seasonal water shortage, and fire. The most severe human impacts are from land-use conversion to agriculture, streamflow regulation, nutrient enrichment, and climate change. Current knowledge gaps and subjects for future research include cumulative impacts to small, ephemeral streams and large, regulated rivers, as well as understudied ecosystems in North Africa, the western Mediterranean basin, and Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetland managers are faced with an array of challenges when restoring ecosystems at risk from changing climate and human impacts, especially as many of these processes have been operating over decadal-millennial timescales. Variations in the level and salinity of the large crater lakes of western Victoria, as revealed over millennia by the physical, chemical and biological evidence archived in sediments, attest to extended periods of positive rainfall balance and others of rainfall deficit. The recent declines in the depth of these lakes have been attributed to a 15% decline in effective rainfall since AD 1859. Whilst some sites reveal state shifts following past droughts, the response of most wetlands to millennial-scale climatic variations is muted. Regional wetland condition has changed comprehensively, however, since European settlement, on account of extensive catchment modifications. These modifications appear to have reduced the resilience of wetlands limiting their capacity to recover from the recent 'big dry'. These sedimentary archives reveal most modern wetlands to be outside their historical range of variability. This approach provides a longer-term context when assessing wetland condition and better establishes the restoration challenge posed by the impact of climate change and variability and human impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to climate warming, high altitude alpine vegetation may be replaced by typically lower altitude species, as species re-assemble and migrate to new areas. However, empirical evidence showing vegetation change in response to climate warming is largely unavailable for Australian alpine areas. Here, we examine changes in species richness with respect to climate and altitude over a 7 year period at a range of spatial scales in a re-survey of five alpine summits that are part of the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments monitoring network. Eighty species were recorded in 2011 across all summits, an increase of 6 species since 2004. Mean species richness increased at the whole-of-summit scale from 45 to 50 species (about 12 %). At this scale, the rate of species richness increase was almost one new species per year, with 15 new species recorded at one summit. Here, shrub and graminoid species showed the largest increases. At the smaller spatial scales, changes in species richness were less pronounced. Turnover at the species and community level was typically moderate at all spatial scales and on all summits. The strength and direction of species richness change (the difference in species richness between the two sample periods, +/−) was not related to altitude nor variation in climate. Future re-surveys of the summits will confirm whether these short-term variations in species richness, particularly increases in shrubs, are indeed signals of longer-term trends and interactions with a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews and analyzes the literature on Yellow dwarf viruses (YDVs) in Australia, examining the range of environmental and climatic factors that explain the observed geographical distribution of the virus and its vectors. BYDV-PAV, vectored mainly by the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi, is the most prevalent YDV species in wheat and grasslands across all states, except Queensland. BYDV-RMV, vectored mainly by Rhopalosiphum maidis, dominates in Queensland grasslands, with very low incidence in wheat. Queensland experiences higher rainfall and warmer temperatures than southern Australia. Across Australia disease incidence in wheat is generally low (around 10 %) and varies from year to year, with the highest incidence found on occasion in Western Australia (up to 52 %) and the lowest in Queensland (<1 %). Across Australia there is a much higher virus incidence and more variation in YDV species present in grasslands than in wheat, although in general BYDV-PAV still dominates. An overview of the differences between the YDV species in terms of symptoms, impacts, frequency, transmission rates and geographical distribution is necessary to appreciate the implications of virus spread across Australia, as well as the risks from the interaction of YDV with more recently introduced wheat pathogens. This overview is set in the context of a changing climate, with a discussion of the possible implications of anthropogenic climate change for future epidemics. For example, increasing temperatures in the future may result in more rapid transmission of the virus in the cooler months than at present, with implications for winter crops such as wheat, where YDV currently does most damage. Also, there is potential for the spread of BYDV-RMV further south, as changes in climatic conditions alter both the transmission potential of the virus as well as the vectoring potential by the aphids R. padi and R. maidis. Finally, critical knowledge gaps are identified, highlighting a need for ongoing seasonal monitoring of the virus and vectors to support the use of simulation models to predict the incidence of YDVs in near real-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia has an extensive coastline extending over 60,000 km through diverse tropical and temperate environments. Indigenous archaeological sites are found along this coastline from the time of earliest settlement at least 50,000 years ago. However, Pleistocene sites are rare owing largely to the destructive impacts of sea-level change associated with the end of the last ice age around 10,000 years ago. After this sites are more numerous but there is variability around the coastline due to the impact of a range of both natural and human factors. Here we focus on six key issues impacting on the development and conservation of coastal archaeological deposits: sea-levels, climate change, cyclones, storms, tsunamis and contemporary human impacts. A number of examples of these impacts are discussed from across Australia. Managing and monitoring of sites has been limited in Australia and geoindicators are discussed as a means of developing a long-term measurement of continuing impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Most studies on climate change response have examined reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet these studies do not take into account ecosystem services constraints and biophysical disruptions wrought by climate change that may require broader types of response. By studying a firm in the wine industry and using a research approach not constrained by structured methodologies or biased toward GHG emissions, the findings suggest that both 'inside out' and 'outside in' actions are taken in response to climate change. While attempts are made by the firm to curtail and reverse climate change through management of carbon emissions, evidence suggests a clear pattern of actions designed to adjust to the adverse consequences of climate change as well. The results both confirm and extend previous findings and suggest that the level and breadth of response to climate change is shaped by situated attention, structural controls, and industry type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Water resources in Australia are sensitive to changes in rainfall. Ongoing droughts in south-west and south-east Australia are stressing water resources in the major cities and in agricultural regions. Climate change scenarios for Australia include reasonable prospects of long-term drying, which would exacerbate these issues. The dryer scenarios would entail major readjustments and costs on natural and human systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In response to a drying climate, an integrated property planning tool was developed over three years to help landowners make better use of available rainfall. A sequence was identified which indicated how parts of each property are affected by soil moisture limitations. The sequence was combined with soil properties to indicate targeted strategies for each location aimed to improve soil moisture availability, biomass utilisation, and long-term viability of the farm or ranching enterprise. As a result of training of land owners and operators in use of this tool, 97% of participants indicated that they have begun or intend to make changes in land management; 78% are intending to make three or more substantial changes; and 91% felt better prepared for the impacts of climate change. The key to the success of this technique is that it identifies critical sustainable production drivers in a simple plan format and offers tailored management options which can address more variable climate conditions. The integrated planning tool has application as a driver of climate change adaptation in agricultural regions where farm units contain substantial landscape variation and seasonal rainfall is frequently limiting to production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vulnerability of coastal areas in the Alligator Rivers Region (northern Australia) to predicted climate change and potential sea level rise was assessed as part of a national study. The coastal area is composed of a number of estuarine and freshwater habitats that are intricately interlinked and can not be effectively managed in isolation of each other. The outcomes of the assessment focused on the floodplain environments of the region, but are also applicable to the broader wetland environments that occur across the northern Australian wet-dry tropics. The management regime in the region is based on traditional Aboriginal ownership of much of the land, which is leased to the federal government as a national park. Scientific research has been intensive; however, important questions have been raised about the collation and effective use of this information. The vulnerability assessment framework required effective use of this information and cooperation with the management authority to identify change scenarios and management and research responses. A climate change scenario was established as the basis for predicting biophysical change in the coastal and wetland environments. The predictions suggest that large-scale change will occur and many of the existing values derived from these areas (i.e., usage by traditional Aboriginal occupants, and nature conservation) could be degraded or even lost. Recommended management responses include the initiation of specific monitoring, empowerment of local bodies to take active management steps, and to increase awareness of the likely consequences of change. Further data coordination and review are needed to ascertain the validity of the predictions and the concomitant management responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a framework for viewing agricultural adaptation, emphasizing the multiple spatial and temporal scales on which individuals and institutions process information on changes in their environment. The framework is offered as a means to gain perspective on the role of climate variability and change in agricultural adaptation, and developed for a case study of Australian agriculture. To study adaptation issues at the scale of individual farms we developed a simple modelling framework. The model highlights the decision making elementof adaptation in light of uncertainty, and underscores the importance of decision information related to climate variability. Model results show that the assumption of perfect information for farmers systematically overpredicts adaptive performance. The results also suggest that farmers who make tactical planting decisions on the basis of historical climate information are outperformed by those who use even moderately successful seasonal forecast information. Analysis at continental scales highlights the prominent role of the decline in economicoperating conditions on Australian agriculture. Examples from segments of the agricultural industry in Australia are given to illustrate the importance of appropriate scale attribution in adapting to environmental changes. In particular, adaptations oriented toward short time scale changes in the farming environment (droughts, market fluctuations) can be limited in their efficacy by constraints imposed by broad changes in the soil/water base and economic environment occurring over longer time scales. The case study also makes the point that adaptation must be defined in reference to some goal, which is ultimatelya social and political exercise. Overall, this study highlights the importance of allowing more complexity (limited information, risk aversion, cross-scale interactions, mis-attribution of cause and effect,background context, identification of goals) in representing adaptation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]