List of Titles

Online Farm Trials

- Milne, Robert, Thompson, Helen, Dahlhaus, Peter, MacLeod, Andrew, Freely, Paul, Nicholson, Cam, Norton, Rob

Authors: Milne, Robert , Thompson, Helen , Dahlhaus, Peter , MacLeod, Andrew , Freely, Paul , Nicholson, Cam , Norton, Rob
Type: Text , Dataset
Full Text: false
Description: Online Farm Trials is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by Federation University Australia. The Online Farm Trials (OFT) project is funded and supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), and was initiated in 2013 with the aim of using the latest technology to improve access to, and adoption of, grains industry research data and information. Federation University Australia's Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation is leading the project to develop and deliver the OFT Trial Explorer, Report Library and other trial research resources. The project has a strong collaborative approach, working with a range of crop research groups, industry experts and grain industry organisations to ensure the outcomes are highly relevant, practical and beneficial. The Federation University Australia Spatial Online Farm Trials database includes: An accessible online digital library of national farm trial research reports and documents. Direct online access to trial research data in digital form with download capacity. Online analytical/decision tools for growers, agronomists and researchers. Linking of other sources of relevant data and information with trial research through interoperable systems. Increased networking and collaboration on cropping issues and farm trial research. The principle objective of the project is to help growers improve productivity and sustainability of their farm enterprise through improved access to trial research knowledge.

Digital Soil Mapping

- Dahlhaus, Peter, MacLeod, Andrew, Robinson, Nathan

Authors: Dahlhaus, Peter , MacLeod, Andrew , Robinson, Nathan
Type: Text , Dataset
Full Text: false
Description: DSM is a collaborative workspace for researchers working on digital soil mapping in Australia. This workspace is the initiative of the Advisory Group on Digital Soil Assessment, a working group of theÂ National Committee on Soil & Terrain. The website is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI) at Federation University Australia (FedUni). The International Union of Soil Sciences Digital Soil Mapping Working Group defines DSM as "creation and the population of a geographically referenced soil database, generated at a given resolution by using field and laboratory observation methods coupled with environmental data through quantitative relationships." Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) utilises numerical methods and information technologies to produce predictive maps of soil types and their properties. DSM relies on traditional field mapping, observations and laboratory analyses for soil data but also utilises spatial models of landscape terrain and remotely-sensed properties. Typically numerical methods such as interpolation algorithms and data mining are used to create the maps. OzDSM in collaboration with CeRDI is developing a digital soil mapping tool, and a demonstrator version is displayed on the site. A range of data is included, such as nutrient budgets and soil pH, and with extra data available for the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority region including landslides, erosion and salinity.

Corangamite Soil Health Knowledge Base

- Thompson, Helen, Dahlhaus, Peter, MacLeod, Andrew, McKenna, Kirsten

Authors: Thompson, Helen , Dahlhaus, Peter , MacLeod, Andrew , McKenna, Kirsten
Type: Text , Dataset
Full Text: false
Description: The Corangamite Corangamite soil health knowledge base is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by Federation University Australia. The Corangamite soil health knowledge base is a collaborative research project between the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CMA) and the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI) at Federation University Australia (FedUni). The aim of the research is to develop a comprehensive, informative, intuitive-to-use knowledge base of soil health information that will assist the broader community to respect the values of the soils of the Corangamite region. The project was initiated in June 2013. The research is overseen by the Corangamite CMA Land Health Program Steering Committee. The role of the committee in the project is to advise on the function, use and relevance of the data and information sources in the knowledge base, which is an online repository of soil health information and knowledge: including reports, research papers, maps and descriptions related to current and past soil series mapping, land capability and suitability assessments, agricultural trials, and soil research and investigations. Soil health studies in the Corangamite region date from 1936. The most recent document to revisit soil health issues in the Corangamite region is Soils Vision: A 20-year plan to improve broad-acre agricultural soils in south west Victoria, known as the 'south west agricultural soils plan' (SWASP). This community-led initiative brought together a collaboration of farming groups, agricultural industries, government agencies and research institutions to identify the activities required to improve the condition of soils used for agriculture in South West Victoria. The goal of this project is to provide the essential background knowledge required to implement the appropriate SWASP soil health actions customised for each of the 15 Local Catchment Plans in the Corangamite region. Project aim and research questions The overall aim this project is to develop a comprehensive, informative, intuitive-to-use knowledge base of soil health information that will assist the broader community implement the SWASP within the LCPs of the Corangamite region. To achieve this, the following key questions emerge: What information exists and how relevant is it to the current soil health issues? How reliable is the information and to which landscapes does it apply? How can the relevant soil health information be best maintained and disseminated?

Eureka Stockade: an interactive history

- Gervasoni, Clare, Gillett, Heath

Authors: Gervasoni, Clare , Gillett, Heath
Type: Text , Dataset
Full Text: false
Description: The Eureka Stockade: an interactive history portal contains historical overlays and points of interest in the Ballarat area around the time of the Eureka Stockade. This dynamic map is an interactive spatial interface to the underlying information. The data which is displayed on the map can be manipulated. A transparency tool has been provided for each map layer to enable a clear differentiation between the underlying modern map layer and the historical map overlay. The historic maps are located within the Geoffrey Blainey Research Centre, Federation University Australia. The majority of map data covers the period 1850s to 1870s, but later maps include data from the early 20th century. The system is regularly being refined and updated. Sites of specific relevance and interest to the Eureka Stockade history are indicated and have links to more specific information about them. The website is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation(CeRDI) at Federation University Australia (FedUni).

Fire and Emergency Management Planning

- Thompson, Helen, MacLeod, Andrew, McKenzie, Gregory, Gillett, Heath

Authors: Thompson, Helen , MacLeod, Andrew , McKenzie, Gregory , Gillett, Heath
Type: Text , Dataset
Full Text: false
Description: Fire and Emergency Management Planning is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by Federation University Australia. The site provides comprehensive information on the fire and emergency management planning activities being undertaken at the state, regional and municipal levels. The range of data displayed includes location of forestry plantations and public land; planning, political and agency boundaries; fire incident data; and meteorological data. Federation University Australia's Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation is leading the project on behalf of Emergency Management Victoria. In addition, the Barwon South West Interoperable Spatial Knowledge Base is an Integrated Fire Management Planning (IFMP) initiative, administered by the Barwon South West Regional Strategic Fire Management Planning Committee on behalf of the Victorian State Fire Management Planning Committee. This collaborative project utilises existing data plus open source data overlayed on asset landscapes in order to provide the most current relevant information, including fire risk data, in a manner that supports the community to develop their integrated regional and local fire management plans.

Corangamite Catchment Management Authority Knowledge Base

- Thompson, Helen, Dahlhaus, Peter, MacLeod, Andrew, McKenna, Kirsten

Authors: Thompson, Helen , Dahlhaus, Peter , MacLeod, Andrew , McKenna, Kirsten
Type: Text , Dataset
Full Text: false
Description: The Corangamite Catchment Management Authority Knowledge Base is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by Federation University Australia. The site provides an extensive collection of publications and Datasets on all aspects of the catchment. The collection focuses on information written specifically for the Corangamite Region. The database has been indexed by subject and locality for information retrieval and analysis. Federation University Australia's Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation is hosting the site on behalf of the CCMA. The Federation University Australia Corangamite Catchment Management Authority Knowledge Base was established to ensure the protection and sustainable development of land, vegetation and water resources within a boundary stretching from Geelong to Ballarat and along the coast to Peterborough. About 380,000 people live in the catchment's 13,340 square kilometres of south-western Victoria and 175 kilometres of coastal fringe. The region is defined by four river basins - the Moorabool, Barwon, Lake Corangamite and Otway Coast. It includes all or part of the cities of Ballarat and Greater Geelong, the Borough of Queenscliff and the shires of Moorabool, Surf Coast, Corangamite, Golden Plains, Colac Otway and Moyne. Related initiatives include Soil Health, an online repository of soil health information and knowledge: including reports, research papers, maps and descriptions related to current and past soil series mapping, land capability and suitability assessments, agricultural trials, and soil research and investigations; and, NRM Planning, a pilot project testing how online mapping can be used to match local and regional priorities for catchment management in the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority region.

SWIFFT: State Wide Integrated Flora and Fauna Teams

- Dahlhaus, Peter, Milne, Robert, MacLeod, Andrew

Authors: Dahlhaus, Peter , Milne, Robert , MacLeod, Andrew
Type: Text , Dataset
Full Text: false
Description: SWIFFT is a combined initiative between the community, conservation, education and government sectors.It aims to advance citizen science through facilitating awareness, information and knowledge sharing in relation to biodiversity and threatened species across Victoria and south-eastern Australia. SWIFFT actively encourages contributions from members of the community, conservationists, field naturalists, farmers, land carers, researchers, scientists, management agencies and environmental consultants. SWIFFT is a place for community members to share projects, activities, outcomes, current events and ideas, and to access information from experts in their field. It is also a place to share images of biodiversity projects, species and habitats or go to find out about these things - helping to build a more informed community. SWIFFT is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation(CeRDI) at Federation University Australia (FedUni). Project aim: Key aims of SWIFFT are to build community awareness and understanding of biodiversity and threatened species through sharing information about biodiversity or threatened species projects. Sharing project information can: assist others undertaking similar projects, or those considering starting a project provide opportunities to link science/research with projects increase community understanding and support for biodiversity and threatened species

Lower Jinsha Valley bird study

- Wright, Wendy, Federation University, Australia

Authors: Wright, Wendy , Federation University, Australia
Date: 2011-2013
Type: Text , Report
Full Text: false
Description: This study represents a systematic bird survey in part of the Lower Jinsha Valley, in Western China. The intention of the study is to document the bird fauna of the area before it undergoes significant environmental transformation. The study area will be affected by the construction of a series of large hydropower dams along the Jinsha (Yangtze) River. Flooding of the valleys in this area will be to an elevation of 825m and will result in the inundation of substantial areas of farmland and much of the current sparse and poor quality forest habitat in Ningnan County (Sichuan Province) and Qiaojia County (Yunnan Province). Bird searches were conducted at 15 locations (5 in forest, 5 in farmland, 5 in Leucaena plantation) during two survey periods: Winter 2012: Nov-Dec 2012 (six field days: 30/11 – 7/12) (survey period 3) Summer 2013 June 2013 (seven field days 6/6 – 12/6) (survey period 4) Two visits were made to each location during each study period. One visit occurred during the morning and involved a timed transect search plus a list building search. The other visit occurred during the afternoon and involved a list building search only. The timed transect search involved noting birds seen along the 100m transect during a 20min search period. No recorded calls were used to attract birds during the timed transect search, which always occurred prior to the list building search. List building searches were conducted in the interests of maximizing the opportunity to identify species present at each location. Each list building search involved an initial broadcast playback of the call of Collared Owlet (Glaucidium brodiei) followed by identification of birds seen or heard, including birds responding to the call of the owlet. Collared Owlet is a small owl, which sometimes hunts diurnally. It is commonly mobbed by small songbirds (Mackinnon and Phillips, 2010). Where necessary, previously recorded calls of particular bird species were used to encourage birds to respond and therefore confirm identification. In some cases, calling birds were recorded in situ and these calls were immediately played back in order to encourage a response and allow visual identification. All birds clearly identified visually or by their call were recorded, including birds of prey seen flying overhead or in nearby valleys. Birds seen on roadsides during transit between locations were noted separately and are included in the bird list for the survey period, but not included in analyses. The visualisation of the survey data is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation(CeRDI) at Federation University Australia (FedUni).

Visualising Ballarat

- Thompson, Helen, Dahlhaus, Peter

Authors: Thompson, Helen , Dahlhaus, Peter
Date: 1850-
Type: Text , Report
Full Text: false
Description: Visualising Ballarat is an ongoing project, currently in the early stages of development. It employs a collaborative research approach for developing state-of-the-art knowledge management and planning tools which will empower various community sectors to understand the urban landscape, recognise cultural significance, and assess and monitor change. It proposes a staged approach to a long-term research project that will result in web-based spatial information systems, which include 3-dimensional and 4-dimensional visualisations together with augmented reality experiences of past, present and future Ballarat city landscapes. In September 2013, Ballarat was the first Australian city to join an international pilot program to implement UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL). This recognises the role that urban heritage plays as a social, cultural and economic asset in the development of cities. The HUL program vision is to help Ballarat grow without compromising its heritage; by providing a road map on how to address change without losing Ballarat’s character. At the core of the HUL approach are the community's values, which are the starting point for city management. Hence, there is a need to map these values effectively and have all of Council referencing them as a starting point to city development. It is envisaged that Visualising Ballarat will have a much broader appeal than HUL, extending through a full range of uses - from the utilitarian, such as locating old mine workings and landfill sites - to the esoteric, such as immersive augmented reality experiences of historical places or events. The key component is to provide the community, practitioners, researchers and industry with place-based information on demand, and hence encourage a deeper understanding, consideration and appreciation of the city's historic urban landscape values. Federation University Australia's eresearch and digital innovation capability is being utilised to federate HUL information, data and databases to facilitate access to historic urban landscape information. The developing web-based portal will provide easy access to authoritative and credible heritage information for city managers, developers, planners, researchers, communities of interest, groups and agencies wishing to engage in HUL program activities. It will promote the sharing of knowledge and information, allowing people to gain insights, present ideas, advice and information in a friendly and easy-to-use format, available at people’s convenience. It allows the City of Ballarat citizens to grow their knowledge and share their thoughts and enthusiasm for their city's historic urban landscape. In that sense, the website is deliberately aimed in part at supporting ratepayers, citizens and community groups to feel connected and supported in their heritage interests. The longer-term intention is to encourage the generation of research ideas and projects with other collaborators, locally to globally. This discussion paper outlines a collaborative approach which can be regarded as a blueprint for research that will assist the City of Ballarat and Federation University Australia in achieving their shared goals. The proposed research is founded on the 144-year old relationship between the organisations that has resulted in a substantial repository of regional knowledge. Online liberation of this information, together with that held in the other knowledge repositories of long-standing Ballarat institutions, has the potential to provide new insights into the urban landscapes of this historic city. This visualisation, which is stage 1 of the Historic Urban Landscapes Project, starts the process of bringing together community activities, research and data from government, academics and other sources. It includes: A mapping interface that brings together historic and new data about Ballarat's history and landscape Connections to research on Ballarat's history and landscape and the Historic Urban Landscape approach to managing Ballarat A place for researchers to have an internet 'home' for their projects Connections to existing community activities on Ballarat's heritage and landscape Links into the international 'historic urban landscape' community. This is done through the collection and mapping of data which includes historic landscape imagery, heritage places, parks and gardens, natural landscape and character areas, geological features, community infrastructure and a range of regulatory planning tools and administrative boundaries. This visualisation is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation(CeRDI) at Federation University Australia (FedUni).

Boola Boola Forest bird study

- Wright, Wendy

Authors: Wright, Wendy
Date: 2006-2008
Type: Text , Report
Full Text: false
Description: This study assessed differences in avian biodiversity across different forest age-classes, including mature stands (> 100 years), in a managed, mixed-species eucalypt forest located in Gippsland, south-eastern Australia. Avian surveys and detailed habitat measurements were initially carried out in 50 two hectare stands ranging in age from 100 years. Extensive wildfire which occurred during the study reduced the number of sites to 28 (seven in each of four age classes) upon which analyses and inferences were made. Mature vegetation (> 100 years) had the greatest richness, abundance and biomass of birds. Key ecological resources, such as tree-hollows for nesting, generally occurred mostly in stands > 60 years. There were quantum increases in all measures of avian biodiversity in mature stands (> 100 years). The visualisation of the survey data is part of an interoperable web-GIS maintained by the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation(CeRDI) at Federation University Australia (FedUni).

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