The potential of deep-rooted species to mitigate the impacts of heatwaves and declining rainfall on pastures in southeast Australia.

Abstract

Adapting to a variable climate will become increasingly important as growing-season rainfall declines and frequency of heatwaves increase across southern Australia. This research used biophysical and economic modelling to determine the value of establishing a deeper-rooted species compared to a shallower-rooted species at a short and a longer growing seaon site in southeast Australia. The Sustainable Grazing Systems Pasture Model (SGS) was used to simulate the monthly growth of two pasture species differing only in root depth, root distribution, and a recently developed method for estimating associated canopy temperature under 3 different climate scenarios. Modelling incoporated updated esti..