The goal of this research is to determine whether additional evidence supports the initial observation that New Zealand's pastoral production systems may have a substantially reduced ability to cope with environmental stress under elevated CO2 conditions likely to be encountered with global change.

To establish end-user requirements for information and advice on how climate change is likely to affect drought and agricultural production in New Zealand and to establish methodologies and timelines required to develop appropriate updated analyses based on the latest climate change scenarios.

The goal of this report it to provide a platform for capacity development and action on adapting to climate change throughout New Zealand by developing case studies in the kiwifruit industry.

Note, while this document is marked 'confidential', it has since been approved for public release.

This report identifies the major opportunities that climate change brings to extend the growing season and increase forage crop yields through radical changes in forage germplasm and management.

Goal: Development of a methodology and software tool for assessing the sensitivity of rain-fed pastoral production at the regional scale to future climate change impacts on the soil water regime.

This project report provides estimates of the potential effects of climate change on weather elements (e.g. daily rain, temperature), mean daily river flows, irrigation water demand and water supply reliability for one catchment and associated irrigated area (Rangitata River in Canterbury).

There is an urgent need for N.Z. to enhance its ability to conduct comprehensive impact
assessments for pastoral agriculture under projected global change scenarios.

In this report we discuss some of the issues related to warming large areas of vegetation, describe our method of choice and present the results of a design and testing process leading to installation of this treatment in the NZFACE.

This report presents a summary and review of past research on the economic effects of climate on agriculture in New Zealand. These estimated effects are then compared with some new estimates that have been compiled specifically for this report.

Scion, Landcare Research and the University of Canterbury reviewed national and international best practice in steepland plantation forests to understand and minimise the damage from post-harvest landslide and debris flows.

This report details two separate field studies which have quantified greenhouse gas emissions from managed peat soils including nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.

National statistics on Harvested Wood Products and trade are used for two purposes related to climate change mitigation: greenhouse gas inventory reporting and Kyoto Protocol accounting. The objective of this report is to provide information that will allow New Zealand to meet the new requirements for Kyoto Protocol accounting and reporting relating to harvested wood products.

This report quantifies the annual carbon emissions associated with current rates of annual disturbance in New Zealand’s pre-1990 and post-1989 forests, within the context of the Durban Agreement. The Durban Agreement includes definitions and a suggested approach to deriving the baseline level of natural disturbance, but the relevant best practice guidance is yet to be finalised. This adds a significant element of methodological uncertainty.

The research programme explored the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the use of fossil fuels by farm equipment and rural trucking by substitution with biofuel. Biofuel production on that scale requires purpose-grown energy crops. Our research has designed a novel energy crop production system that also reduces GHG emissions (from the manufacture of N fertiliser) by virtue of its ‘closed loop N supply’ feature.

We evaluated the potential of forage rape (Brassica napus L.) to mitigate animal-level methane and nitrous oxide emissions when fed to growing sheep. In a previous study, funded by the PGgRc, feeding forage rape to sheep reduced methane emissions per unit of feed eaten by 25% compared with those from sheep fed ryegrass.

The nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) is used in New Zealand dairy farming to reduce nitrogen (N) losses from leaching and nitrous oxide emissions. Overseas studies have shown that, in certain conditions, DCD can potentially have an effect on a range of crops. This study assesses the impact of DCD on white clover growth and nitrogen fixation.