Australian Soils and Landscapes

Australian Soils and Landscapes
Author: Neil McKenzie
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2004-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0643069585

A unique compendium of the most important and widespread soils of Australia and their associated landscapes.

Gardens on the Edge

Gardens on the Edge
Author: Christine Reid
Publisher: Murdoch Books
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2018-11-06
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 9781760634452

This lavishly photographed book, written and curated by internationally respected gardening author Christine Reid and shot by renowned photographer Simon Griffiths, focuses on 18 stunning gardens from around Australia situated on a natural 'frontier'-rainforest, desert, bushland, saltbush plains, a volcanic crater, the ocean's edge, a harbour. The featured gardens have been created or restored in locations where the surrounding natural landscape is as significant as the cultivated and designed elements. In its images and stories Gardens on the Edge is much about the diversity and character of the Australian continent as it about the gardens. The accompanying stories not only explore the establishment of the garden, but also reference Australian history and geography, and cover issues ranging from dealing with droughts and climate change to restoring a long-neglected kitchen garden.

Linking Australia's Landscapes

Linking Australia's Landscapes
Author: James Fitzsimons
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2013-06-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0643107061

Networks of land managed for conservation across different tenures have rapidly increased in number (and popularity) in Australia over the past two decades. These include iconic large-scale initiatives such as Gondwana Link, the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative, Habitat 141°, and the South Australian NatureLinks, as well as other, landscape-scale approaches such as Biosphere Reserves and Conservation Management Networks. Their aims have been multiple: to protect the integrity and resilience of many Australian ecosystems by maintaining and restoring large-scale natural landscapes and ecosystem processes; to lessen the impacts of fragmentation; to increase the connectivity of habitats to provide for species movement and adaptation as climate changes; and to build community support and involvement in conservation. This book draws out lessons from a variety of established and new connectivity conservation initiatives from around Australia, and is complemented by international examples. Chapters are written by leaders in the field of establishing and operating connectivity networks, as well as key ecological and social scientists and experts in governance. Linking Australia's Landscapes will be an important reference for policy makers, natural resource managers, scientists, and academics and tertiary students dealing with issues in landscape-scale conservation, ecology, conservation biology, environmental policy, planning and management, social sciences, regional development, governance and ecosystem services.

Vegetation of Australian Riverine Landscapes

Vegetation of Australian Riverine Landscapes
Author: Samantha Capon
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
Total Pages: 510
Release: 2016-04-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0643104534

Vegetation communities in Australia's riverine landscapes are ecologically, economically and culturally significant. They are also among the most threatened ecosystems on the continent and have been dramatically altered as a result of human activities and climate change. Vegetation of Australian Riverine Landscapes brings together, for the first time, the results of the substantial amount of research that has been conducted over the last few decades into the biology, ecology and management of these important plant communities in Australia. The book is divided into four sections. The first section provides context with respect to the spatial and temporal dimensions of riverine landscapes in Australia. The second section examines key groups of riverine plants, while the third section provides an overview of riverine vegetation in five major regions of Australia, including patterns, significant threats and management. The final section explores critical issues associated with the conservation and management of riverine plants and vegetation, including water management, salinity, fire and restoration. Vegetation of Australian Riverine Landscapes highlights the incredible diversity and dynamic nature of riverine vegetation across Australia, and will be an excellent reference for researchers, academics and environmental consultants.

Geoarchaeology of Aboriginal Landscapes in Semi-arid Australia

Geoarchaeology of Aboriginal Landscapes in Semi-arid Australia
Author: Simon Holdaway
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2014-03-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0643108963

This book provides readers with a unique understanding of the ways in which Aboriginal people interacted with their environment in the past at one particular location in western New South Wales. It also provides a statement showing how geoarchaeology should be conducted in a wide range of locations throughout Australia. One of the key difficulties faced by all those interested in the interaction between humans and their environment in the past is the complex array of processes acting over different spatial and temporal scales. The authors take account of this complexity by integrating three key areas of study – geomorphology, geochronology and archaeology – applied at a landscape scale, with the intention of understanding the record of how Australian Aboriginal people interacted with the environment through time and across space. This analysis is based on the results of archaeological research conducted at the University of New South Wales Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station between 1999 and 2002 as part of the Western New South Wales Archaeology Program. The interdisciplinary geoarchaeological program was targeted at expanding the potential offered by archaeological deposits in western New South Wales, Australia. The book contains six chapters: the first two introduce the study area, then three data analysis chapters deal in turn with the geomorphology, geochronology and archaeology of Fowlers Gap Station. A final chapter considers the results in relation to the history of Aboriginal occupation of Fowlers Gap Station, as well as the insights they provide into Aboriginal ways of life more generally. Analyses are well illustrated through the tabulation of results and the use of figures created through Geographic Information System software.

Conflict and Change in Australia’s Peri-Urban Landscapes

Conflict and Change in Australia’s Peri-Urban Landscapes
Author: Melissa Kennedy
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2016-03-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317162250

In an era of rapid urbanization, peri-urban areas are emerging as the fastest-growing regions in many countries. Generally considered as the space extending one hundred kilometres from the city fringe, peri-urban areas are contested and subject to a wide range of uses such as residential development, productive farming, water catchments, forestry, mineral and stone extraction and tourism and recreation. Whilst the peri-urban space is valued for offering a unique ambiance and lifestyle, it is often highly vulnerable to bushfire and loss of biodiversity and vegetation along with threats to farming and food security in highly productive areas. Drawing together leading researchers and practitioners, this volume provides an interdisciplinary contribution to our knowledge and understanding of how peri-urban areas are being shaped in Australia through a focus on four overarching themes: Peri-urban Conceptualizations; Governance and Planning; Land Use and Food Production; and Solutions and Representations. Whilst the case studies focus on Australia, they advance a variety of tools useful in discerning processes and impacts of peri-urban change globally. Furthermore, the findings are instructive of the issues and tensions commonly encountered in rapidly urbanizing peri-urban areas throughout the world, from landscape valuation and biosecurity concerns to functional adaptation and social change.

Australian Deserts

Australian Deserts
Author: Steve Morton
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
Total Pages: 543
Release: 2022-02-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1486306012

Australian Deserts: Ecology and Landscapes is about the vast sweep of the Outback, a land of expanses making up three-quarters of the continent – the heart of Australia. Steve Morton brings his extensive first-hand knowledge and experience of arid Australia to this book, explaining how Australian deserts work ecologically. This book outlines why unpredictable rainfall and paucity of soil nutrients underpin the nature of desert ecosystems, while also describing how plants and animals came to be desert dwellers through evolutionary time. It shows how plants use uncertain rainfall to provide for persistence of their populations, alongside outlines of the dominant animals of the deserts and explanations of the features that help them succeed in the face of aridity and uncertainty. Richly illustrated with the photographs of Mike Gillam, this fascinating and accessible book will enhance your understanding of the nature of arid Australia.

Australian Legends and Landscapes

Australian Legends and Landscapes
Author: Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Publisher: Milsons Point, N.S.W. : Random House Australia
Total Pages: 207
Release: 1990
Genre: Aboriginal Australians
ISBN: 9780091698201

"This powerful reminder of a rich and varied ancient culture, in which there were once more than 350 languages, features legends told in a variety of styles both in prose and poetry. The styles reflect the individuality of the authors and the differing present-day cultures through which legends are passed on to us. Drawn from an Aboriginal world in which each seperate group has its own legends, the stories are enormous in range. Some are violent, some mysterious, many are gently humorous, touching or even whimsical. The Alcheringa - the time of creation - is implicit in all the stories as is the spirit world so important in Aboriginal culture."--BOOK JACKET.

A Painted Landscape: Across Australia from Bush to Coast

A Painted Landscape: Across Australia from Bush to Coast
Author: Amber Creswell Bell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2018-11
Genre: Landscape painting, Australian
ISBN: 9781760760113

I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror The wide brown land for me!Dorothea Mackellar's words have a knack for swelling the metaphorical chest of many Australians with the evocative descriptions in her iconic encomium, 'My Country'. Just as Mackellar zeroed in on the particular nuances of Australia that make our country so unique, this book forms an aesthetic study of the Australian landscape as seen, experienced and expressed by the Australian artists who choose to paint it.Surveying 50 artists working in various mediums and depicting varied terrains, A Painted Landscape showcases an incredible diversity of landscapes and in doing so, dispels the myth that Australia is all 'beach and bush'. Focusing on contemporary landscape painters, this is Australia in the 21st century through a specifically creative lens.

Back from the Brink

Back from the Brink
Author: Peter Andrews
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2014-10-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 174309504X

Featured on Australian Story, Peter Andrews is a racehorse breeder and farmer credited with remarkable success in converting degraded, salt-ravaged properties into fertile, drought-resistant pastures. His methods are so at odds with conventional scientific wisdom that for 30 years he has been dismissed and ridiculed as a madman. He has faced bankruptcy and family break-up. But now, on the brink of ecological disaster, leading politicians, international scientists and businessmen are beating a path to his door as they grapple with how best to alleviate the affects of drought on the Australian landscape. Described as a man who reads and understands the Australian landscape better than most scientists, supporters of Peter Andrews claim he has done what no scientist ever thought to do - he has restored streams and wetlands to the way they were before European settlement interfered with them. the startling results of his natural sequence farming are said to have been achieved very cheaply, simply and quickly.