Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change research reports

This SLMACC project followed on from a 25-year study of farm system impacts following land use and management change in the 260-hectare Mangaotama catchment farm (within the former Whatawhata Research Centre). The project has supported an improved understanding of the costs and benefits associated with land use and management change in pastoral hill country, occurring over time scales of multiple decades.

The objective was to compare leaching losses of N and P from diverse pastures, consisting of 5-8 species, with losses from traditional ryegrass-white clover at two sites, near Lincoln, Canterbury and Tihoi, Waikato. Large-scale lysimeters were employed to directly measure leaching for a range of management intensities and across different soil types over four years. The results did not show a consistent difference in leaching between the two pasture types. However, pasture establishment was variable across the sites, with high losses recorded during drainage events that occurred when pasture establishment was incomplete. These results suggest timing of management activities, such as cultivation and irrigation, is likely more important than pasture species composition for reducing leaching losses.

This project sought to provide new information on how catch crops could be established earlier, better managed and shown to reduce the risk of nitrogen leaching and runoff and provide production benefits. The research examined crop choice; sowing method, timing and rate; lysimeter measurements; modelling and farmer uptake of the results. An engaging and collaborative approach was taken throughout the project, from trial establishment on working farms to linking with other researchers and Overseer Ltd as findings emerged.

This project explored management options to maximise the ability of radiata pine to transfer nitrogen from nutrient-rich soils into tree biomass. The project collected data from 12 existing afforestation sites and 3 newly installed pastoral afforestation trials, enabling projections of nutrient movement and storage over the life of a rotation. These predictions demonstrated a substantial opportunity exists to rapidly reduce soil nitrogen loads to manageable levels, but the 3 new afforestation trials need to run another 4 to 5 years to provide sufficient evidence to enable confidence in wider adoption. The trial sites, on Pamu Farms properties, are a unique resource, and could be utilised for silvopastoral systems research on biostimulants, residue management and biofuel generation alongside pastoral farming.

The research was divided into two main objectives which comprised firstly of generating herd testing data (using urine sensor technology) on four case-study dairy farms (located in Waikato and South Auckland, New Zealand) over the first two years of the project (Objective 1). The second phase of the project (Objective 2) utilised data generated in Objective 1 for scenario-based modelling using OVERSEER® model (OverseerSci, version 6.5.1) and subsequent research on how this information could be integrated into the model to mitigate farm N leaching loss with future research and challenges identified.

In this co-designed programme the impacts of predicted climate change and water limitation were considered for the communities in the Ngāti Pāhauwera rohe so that they may understand and identify aspirations and options for future land use for the multiple-owned, small, less well developed and discrete land blocks under those challenges.

This work was part of the critical understanding needed for working with whānau to look at the future use of their whenua, particularly enterprise options suitable for their land blocks in a changing climate that meet their economic, cultural and environmental objectives.

Climate change will influence future production of agricultural commodities (where “agriculture” includes pastoral farming, cropping, horticulture and forestry) in Aotearoa New Zealand and elsewhere, affecting global supply and demand, and altering trade patterns. This project used a large dimensional global trade, climate and economic model to forecast the impacts of climate change on supply and demand for NZ agricultural products, hence associated impacts on trade patterns and pest/disease redistributions, both at the national and regional level. This will help identify future market access opportunities and biosecurity policy needs.

These case studies report on the regional development potential for a durable hardwood industry in Marlborough that could produce over $90 million in GDP based on 5,000 ha of sustainably managed eucalypt forests established between 2025 and 2055. The second report covers a more detailed investigation and evaluation of individual property case studies: the potential economic and environmental implications of growing durable eucalypts to supply a new industry on four individual Marlborough farm and forestry properties.

These case studies report on the regional development potential for a durable hardwood industry in Marlborough that could produce over $90 million in GDP based on 5,000 ha of sustainably managed eucalypt forests established between 2025 and 2055. The second report covers a more detailed investigation and evaluation of individual property case studies: the potential economic and environmental implications of growing durable eucalypts to supply a new industry on four individual Marlborough farm and forestry properties.

The objective was to develop a way to deliver farmscale vegetation land cover detail in a repeatable way. The report documents the methodology used and the process to categorise data and incorporate farmer feedback. Improvements in land cover classification and regional training of the model would improve effectiveness of the technology. Cost effective access to satellite imagery is critical and is changing fast.

The Plant Your Patch tool has been developed to provide useful information to users by suggesting a range of trees that best match the environmental, economic and outcome criteria selected by the user to describe their “patch” and priorities for planting trees. The tool provides links to relevant groups, resources and expertise that may help with decision making. The tool is not intended to determine land management practice, but rather to support users exploring their opportunities and then connect with suitable professionals.

The Greenshell mussel (GSM) is a commercially, ecologically and culturally significant species to New Zealand. Summer die-offs, spat retention issues and a severe decline in GSM spat settlement have been reported in the Marlborough Sounds. The causes of these effects are unknown but preliminary evidence indicates that pressure from anthropogenic activities could contribute. The aims of this study were to

(1) test the toxicity of water and sediment extracts on early life stages of the GSM to identify potential sources of stressors affecting GSM recruitment, and

(2) investigate the effects of temperature on the toxicity of these stressors to help understand the potential impact of climate change and pollution on GSM.

This report has two main objectives.

1) To present a new approach to documenting and predicting people’s willingness to manage invasive species and designing
appropriate public engagement strategies.

2) To present new simulation tools for modelling.

This Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change (SLMACC) project “Quantifying climate change adaptation plans” uses kiwifruit and avocado as exemplars of high-value crops. It aims to predict the performance of horticultural crops under climate change, to quantify growers’ exposure to climate change, and to model how this exposure is affected by adaptations designed to ameliorate climate impacts.