Supported by:

The GRAZPLAN project: Modelling and decision support for grasslands
by Dr Andrew Moore and Dr Libby Salmon

Work in Chinese grasslands

In October 2004, the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences invited Drs Moore and Salmon to visit the Institute and its collaborators in the grasslands of Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia. The object of this visit was to examine whether the GrassGro decision support tool could be applied:

• to link large spatial scale data from remote sensing and other grassland monitoring to the farm scale, and

• to help evaluate practical grassland management options for regional administrators and farm advisors.

The scientific outcomes of the visit were:

• rapid development of new parameter sets for 5 key species of the Typical Steppe and the capacity to simulate livestock management systems in Inner Mongolia;

• accurate simulation of ungrazed grassland biomass of the Typical Steppe over 20 years, and reproduction of a grazing disclimax; and

• investigation of changes to grassland biomass and species composition over 20 years using simulations that tested a range of grazing intensities and practical on-farm grazing management options  (spring deferment, rotational grazing and improved supplement quality).

Also, six scientists and students were trained to use GRAZPLAN tools for research purposes.

Possibilities for future work

Once fully parameterized and tested, the GRAZPLAN models might be used in northern China in a number of different ways:

• to help understand the effects in both space and time of alterations to grassland management in the past, as a guide to future management. The scientific issues in this landscape-ecological analysis are the linking of spatial and temporal variability and understanding the large-scale effects of management actions at small spatial scales. These issues are important in Australia as well as in China;

• to provide a new means of educating university students about the functioning of grassland systems and livestock–grassland interactions;

• to assist in the design of improved, practical systems of grassland and livestock management, help establish realistic grassland and livestock production targets for different districts and assess possible State interventions through assistance or regulation.