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Scarcity of ecosystem services : an experimental manipulation of declining pollination rates and its economic consequences for agriculture

- Sandhu, Harpinder, Waterhouse, Benjamin, Boyer, Stéphane, Wratten, Steve

  • Authors: Sandhu, Harpinder , Waterhouse, Benjamin , Boyer, Stéphane , Wratten, Steve
  • Date: 2016
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: PeerJ Vol. 2016, no. 7 (2016), p.
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  • Description: Ecosystem services (ES) such as pollination are vital for the continuous supply of food to a growing human population, but the decline in populations of insect pollinators worldwide poses a threat to food and nutritional security. Using a pollinator (honeybee) exclusion approach, we evaluated the impact of pollinator scarcity on production in four brassica fields, two producing hybrid seeds and two producing open-pollinated ones. There was a clear reduction in seed yield as pollination rates declined. Open-pollinated crops produced significantly higher yields than did the hybrid ones at all pollination rates. The hybrid crops required at least 0.50 of background pollination rates to achieve maximum yield, whereas in open-pollinated crops, 0.25 pollination rates were necessary for maximum yield. The total estimated economic value of pollination services provided by honeybees to the agricultural industry in New Zealand is NZD $1.96 billion annually. This study indicates that loss of pollination services can result in significant declines in production and have serious implications for the market economy in New Zealand. Depending on the extent of honeybee population decline, and assuming that results in declining pollination services, the estimated economic loss to New Zealand agriculture could be in the range of NZD $295-728 million annually. © 2016 Sandhu et al.

Turfgrass education, research and information in Australia : History, development and implications

- Loch, Donald, Aldous, David, McMaugh, Peter, Colmer, T., Martin, Peter, Ford, Phillip, Neylan, J., Burrup, David, Dempsey, F

  • Authors: Loch, Donald , Aldous, David , McMaugh, Peter , Colmer, T. , Martin, Peter , Ford, Phillip , Neylan, J. , Burrup, David , Dempsey, F
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Conference proceedings , Conference paper
  • Relation: ISHS Acta Horticulturae 1122: XXIX International Horticultural Congress on Horticulture: Sustaining Lives, Livelihoods and Landscapes (IHC2014): III International Conference on Turfgrass Management and Science for Sports Fields; Brisbane, Australia; 17th-22nd August; published in Acta Horticulturae Vol. 1122, p. 9-17
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  • Description: The modern Australian turfgrass industry developed from the period between World Wars I and II, in response to increasing urbanisation and construction of more sophisticated, higher quality sporting facilities. Its development intensified from the 1960s onwards with selection of the first widely used local varieties and import of new US-bred greens hybrids. This timetable, together with its underlying drivers, is similar to that in other developed countries in North America, Europe and southern Africa. However, supporting turfgrass education and research have developed very differently in Australia. Vocational greenkeeper training started in the 1940s with instructors from the NSW agriculture department, but moved into the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) system in the 1950s and has developed from there in all states. University-based training at post-graduate, and now undergraduate, level has become more available in the past 20-30 years, but is still a relatively small component within the overall tertiary education sector for agriculture and environmental science. In Australia, food-and fibre-based industries have been backed by strong, stable government research for over 100 years, in contrast to turfgrass (and lifestyle horticulture generally) where formal research support from state government departments has been limited, sporadic and lacked continuity. University research initiated in the past 20-30 years remains limited but is increasing in response to industry funding. Research into specific turfgrass problems has also been conducted over the past 50-80 years by private industry-funded providers, which have come and gone at regular intervals. Australia lacks a numerically strong nucleus of technically competent scientists and educators to provide independent advice to the turfgrass industry. The implications of this in terms of the quality of information accessed by practitioners are explored.

Scenario planning including ecosystem services for a coastal region in South Australia

- Sandhu, Harpinder, Clarke, Beverley, Baring, Ryan, Anderson, Sharolyn, Fisk, Claire

  • Authors: Sandhu, Harpinder , Clarke, Beverley , Baring, Ryan , Anderson, Sharolyn , Fisk, Claire
  • Date: 2018
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Ecosystem Services Vol. 31, no. (2018), p. 194-207
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  • Description: Coastal regions provide vital ecosystem services for the human well-being. Rapid economic growth and increasing population in coastal regions is exerting more pressure on coastal environments. Here we develop four plausible scenarios to the year 2050 that address above issues in the northern Adelaide coastline, South Australia. Four scenarios were named after their characteristics, Lacuna, Gold Coast SA, Down to Earth, and Green & Gold. Lacuna and Gold Coast SA. Economy declined significantly in Lacuna, whereas, there is highest annual GDP growth (3.5%) in Gold Coast SA, which was closely followed by Green & Gold scenario (3%), GDP under Down to Earth grows at moderate 1.5%. There is highest population growth in Gold Coast SA followed by Green & Gold, Down to Earth and Lacuna. Gold Coast SA scenario led to high inequality as estimated by the Gini co-efficient of 0.45 compared to the current value of 0.33. Ecosystem services declined rapidly under Green & Gold and Lacuna as compared to the other two scenarios. The combination of scenario planning and ecosystem services valuation provides the capacity to guide coastal planning by illustrating enhanced social, environmental and economic benefits. © 2018 Elsevier B.V. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Harpinder Sandhu” is provided in this record**
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