Permaculture, originating in 1970s Australia, is an agroecological design system and movement founded on specific ethics and principles. It has since expanded globally, promoting agricultural systems that emulate natural processes and the communities that tend them. As we approach its 50th anniversary, we contend that permaculture provides a robust framework for global agroecological initiatives. However, permaculture is not without its critics. It has been argued that permaculture is largely influenced by Global North perspectives and inadvertently perpetuates obstacles to inclusivity, gender diversity, minority representation, and acknowledgment of traditional knowledge. Strategies to address these challenges are identified by re-examining permaculture’s foundational ethics and principles. Drawing on Global South perspectives, decolonising approaches, and holistic ecological frameworks, the paper illustrates the utility of southern theory for agroecological research to advance the essential North–South knowledge dialogue in agroecology scholarship.

'Snapshot' surveys conducted over 1 year or less are widely used to describe avian community composition. Maron et al. (Austral Ecology, 2005, 30, 383) questioned the utility of snapshot surveys and the conclusions drawn from them following repeat bird surveys at 26 sites in western Victoria, 7 years after initial surveys. They concluded, 'the distribution of most species did not differ significantly from that expected if species had redistributed at random among sites'. Only five of 54 species recorded in both years had distributions that changed significantly less than expected among sites between the survey periods. We question whether this is the exception rather than the rule for Australian landbird communities in wooded habitats for three reasons: (1) passerine species dominate these communities and tend to remain faithful to a site once a breeding territory has been established; (2) most landbird species are sedentary or migratory, not nomadic; and (3) most Australian passerines are long-lived, so surveys conducted within decadal timeframes may sample the same individuals. We examined the constancy of bird community composition by conducting repeat surveys at 29 sites in two vegetation types in the Namoi Valley, northern New South Wales, 7 years after the first survey. Bird assemblage composition in our study exhibited high levels of turnover between surveys, but 21 of 62 species present in both survey periods were significantly more likely to be found at the same sites in the second period as the first, and the tendency of most species was of site fidelity. Mantel tests demonstrated that assemblage composition at the same sites was more similar than expected by chance. Moderate levels of site fidelity among species and significant levels of assemblage composition constancy among sites should be the expectation when monitoring Australian landbird communities in wooded habitats over extended timeframes, except in the cases of major landscape transformation and extreme climatic disruptions. Snapshot surveys conducted over 1 year or less are widely used to describe avian community composition. A study published in this journal reported high rates of turnover in assemblage composition and low rates of site fidelity of bird species in the Wimmera District, Victoria, when surveys were conducted 7 years after the first. In the Namoi Valley of New South Wales, we repeated snapshot surveys at 56 sites after a 7-year interval and likewise report high turnover in bird community composition, but we found strong evidence of site fidelity in many species.image

Australian insectivorous bats are known to occupy and use resources in agroecosystems, yet little is known about their diets. We analysed a scat sample each from two individual bats, both threatened species (Chalinolobus picatus and Vespadelus baverstocki), in a major dryland cotton production zone. Both bats consumed economically important agricultural and cotton pests such as Helicoverpa sp. (bollworm). Our results suggest that these two bat species share around half of the insect prey resources available whilst consuming a wide range of prey items. This snapshot of dietary data provides further evidence that insectivorous bats consume a wide range of insect prey, including pests in cropping areas.

Factors influencing the efficacy of insectivorous vertebrates in providing natural pest control services inside crops at increasing distances from the crop edge are poorly understood. We investigated the identity of vertebrate predators (birds and bats) and removal of sentinel prey (mealworms and beetles) from experimental feeding trays in cotton crops using prey removal trials, camera traps and observations. More prey was removed during the day than at night, but prey removal was variable at the crop edge and dependent on the month (reflecting crop growth and cover) and time of day. Overall, the predation of mealworms and beetles was 1-times and 13-times greater during the day than night, respectively, with predation on mealworms 3–5 times greater during the day than night at the crop edge compared to 95 m inside the crop. Camera traps identified many insectivorous birds and bats over crops near the feeding trays, but there was no evidence of bats or small passerines removing experimental prey. A predation gradient from the crop edge was evident, but only in some months. This corresponded to the foraging preferences of open-space generalist predators (magpies) in low crop cover versus the shrubby habitat preferred by small passerines, likely facilitating foraging away from the crop edge later in the season. Our results are in line with Optimal Foraging Theory and suggest that predators trade-off foraging behaviour with predation risk at different distances from the crop edge and levels of crop cover. Understanding the optimal farm configuration to support insectivorous bird and bat populations can assist farmers to make informed decisions regarding in-crop natural pest control and maximise the predation services provided by farm biodiversity.

Eastern Australia was subject to its hottest and driest year on record in 2019. This extreme drought resulted in massive canopy die-back in eucalypt forests. The role of hydraulic failure and tree size on canopy die-back in three eucalypt tree species during this drought was examined. We measured pre-dawn and midday leaf water potential (Ψleaf ), per cent loss of stem hydraulic conductivity and quantified hydraulic vulnerability to drought-induced xylem embolism. Tree size and tree health was also surveyed. Trees with most, or all, of their foliage dead exhibited high rates of native embolism (78-100%). This is in contrast to trees with partial canopy die-back (30-70% canopy die-back: 72-78% native embolism), or relatively healthy trees (little evidence of canopy die-back: 25-31% native embolism). Midday Ψleaf was significantly more negative in trees exhibiting partial canopy die-back (-2.7 to -6.3 MPa), compared with relatively healthy trees (-2.1 to -4.5 MPa). In two of the species the majority of individuals showing complete canopy die-back were in the small size classes. Our results indicate that hydraulic failure is strongly associated with canopy die-back during drought in eucalypt forests. Our study provides valuable field data to help constrain models predicting mortality risk.

Insectivorous bats exert top-down pressure on pest insect populations in agricultural systems globally. However, few economic estimates exist of their value as pest control agents in many high value crops. We calculated the economic benefit of direct predation of insect pests by bats and the damage averted to cotton yield, a high value commodity crop in Australia. Using a combination of bat dietary studies, average daily energy requirements (estimated by field metabolic rate), prey energy content and acoustic data of bat feeding attempts in cotton crops, we show the direct value of insectivorous bats to the Australian cotton industry is likely between $99-126 ha-1 in dryland Bt-cotton and $286-361 ha-1 in irrigated Bt-cotton through the consumption of pest moth Helicoverpa armigera, amounting to $63.6 million annually. We estimate that a population of bats can remove between 77-119 t of moths from Australian cotton crops in an average year across the growing season. However, different bat species consume different insect pests, highlighting the need to conserve bat diversity in agroecosystems. These results provide further incentive for growers to manage non-crop bat roosting habitat to benefit from natural pest control in crops.

Continuous livestock grazing can have negative effects on biodiversity and landscape function in arid and semi-arid rangelands. Alternative grazing management practices, such as rotational grazing, may be a viable option for broad-scale biodiversity conservation and sustainable pastoral management. This study compared ground cover, plant species composition and floristic and functional diversity along gradients of grazing intensity between a pastoral property rotationally grazed by goats and an adjacent nature reserve (ungrazed by commercial livestock) in semi-arid south-eastern Australia. Understorey plant species composition differed significantly between the rotationally grazed property and the nature reserve, with a greater proportion and frequency of palatable species recorded in the nature reserve. Understorey plant species richness, diversity, functional biodiversity measures and ground cover declined with increasing grazing pressure close to water points under commercial rotational grazing management. However, at a whole-paddock scale, there were few differences in plant biodiversity and ground cover between the rotationally grazed property and the nature reserve, despite differences in overall plant species composition. Flexible, adaptive, rotational grazing should be investigated further for its potential to achieve both socio-economic and biodiversity conservation outcomes in semi-arid rangelands to complement existing conservation reserves.

Landscape and biophysical determinants of insectivorous bat activity and community composition in space and time are central to understanding how growers can maximise bat-mediated pest control services in crops. We measured community composition, abundance, richness and foraging attempts of insectivorous bats in the centre of dryland cotton crops using acoustic sampling. We examined how bat activity was related to woody vegetation in the surrounding landscape, prey insect abundance, distance to crop edge, size of field, proximity to water-bodies and moon illumination to better understand insectivorous bat diversity and foraging in crop interiors. We collected a total of 9467 acoustic files including 1198 foraging attempts (feeding buzzes) of at least 21 insectivorous bat species. The bat assemblage in cotton crop interiors (richness and diversity) was positively related to woody vegetation foliage cover within 5-10 km of the crop, as well as Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera abundance, but was negatively related to distance from the field edge into the crop and moon illumination. Increased feeding attempts were linked to increased Lepidoptera and Hemiptera on nights of high moon illumination ( > 75 %). Bat activity and foraging was also higher during nights of increased insect abundance, particularly Lepidoptera, indicating that bats track food resources. Our results highlight the importance of managing bat roosting habitat at different landscape scales to enhance bat diversity and foraging in crop interiors and thus insect consumption. Given the high bat feeding activity on nights of high moon illumination and increased Hemiptera abundance, the timing of insecticide sprays to target pests, such as Hemipteran sucking bugs, could be scheduled on nights of low moon illumination. Such information is useful in identifying conservation priorities for the management of bats in intensively farmed agroecosystems and should facilitate habitat management by growers to maximise crop pest protection services in crop interiors.

Despite the increasing extent of protected areas throughout the world, biodiversity decline continues. Grazing management that promotes both biodiversity and production outcomes has the potential to improve broad-scale conservation and complement the protected area network. In this study we explored the potential to integrate commercial livestock grazing and conservation in a semi-arid rangeland in south-eastern Australia. Understorey floristic composition and diversity were compared at different spatial scales across three grazing management treatments: (1) continuous commercial grazing management where paddocks were grazed for the majority of the year (≥8 months per annum); (2) rotational commercial grazing management where livestock are frequently rotated and paddocks rested for >4 months per annum; and (3) protected areas managed for conservation with domestic livestock excluded and grazed only by native and feral herbivores. The season of sampling, rainfall, soil characteristics and the spatial location of sites were the dominant drivers of variability in understorey plant species composition; the effect of grazing treatment on understorey plant species composition was relatively minor. However, areas managed for conservation and under rotational forms of commercial grazing management generally had greater floristic richness and diversity than continuously grazed areas, the results varying with season (spring/autumn) and soil type (clay/sandy-loam), particularly at fine scale (1-m2 quadrats). These findings indicate that rotational grazing management on commercial properties has the potential to improve biodiversity conservation outside the reserve system compared to conventional grazing management.

Abstract Insectivorous bats are efficient predators of pest arthropods in agroecosystems. This pest control service has been estimated to be worth billions of dollars to agriculture globally. However, few studies have explicitly investigated the composition and abundance of dietary prey items consumed or assessed the ratio of pest and beneficial arthropods, making it difficult to evaluate the quality of the pest control service provided. In this study, we used metabarcoding to identify the prey items eaten by insectivorous bats over the cotton‐growing season in an intensive cropping region in northern New South Wales, Australia. We found that seven species of insectivorous bat (n = 58) consumed 728 prey species, 13 of which represented around 50% of total prey abundance consumed. Importantly, the identified prey items included major arthropod pests, comprising 65% of prey relative abundance and 13% of prey species recorded. Significant cotton pests such as Helicoverpa punctigera (Australian bollworm) and Achyra affinitalis (cotton webspinner) were detected in at least 76% of bat fecal samples, with Teleogryllus oceanicus (field crickets), Helicoverpa armigera (cotton bollworm), and Crocidosema plebejana (cotton tipworm) detected in 55% of bat fecal samples. Our results indicate that insectivorous bats are selective predators that exploit a narrow selection of preferred pest taxa and potentially play an important role in controlling lepidopteran pests on cotton farms. Our study provides crucial information for farmers to determine the service or disservice provided by insectivorous bats in relation to crops, for on‐farm decision making.

ContextThe Australian cotton industry has committed to (1) understanding the biodiversity value of remnant native vegetation on cotton farms, (2) funding independent, evidence-based assessments of the industry’s sustainability and environmental performance, and (3) investing in research that reports against recognised sustainability indicators.AimsThe present study reports the results of an industry-wide survey to benchmark bird diversity in native vegetation on cotton farms spanning a 1260-km north–south subcontinental gradient from Central Queensland (Qld) to Southern New South Wales (NSW).MethodsBetween September and November 2014, birds were sampled twice on separate days in 2-ha quadrats (20 min per census) in eight remnant vegetation types as well as in native revegetation at 197 sites on 60 cotton farms spread across the principal cotton-growing zones (Central Qld, Border Rivers, Macquarie and Southern NSW) in inland eastern Australia.Key resultsWe recorded 185 bird species in remnant and planted native vegetation on cotton farms. Species richness of bird communities declined from north to south. Bird community composition was similar in the three southern zones, differing somewhat in the north. The most frequent species were large (>60 g), readily detected landbirds common in agricultural districts, but 26 of the 53 extant species of conservation concern in the study region were also recorded, including 16 species of declining woodland birds. Bird composition, abundance, richness and diversity differed among the nine native vegetation types, with maximal and minimal bird abundance and diversity metrics recorded in river red gum-dominated riparian vegetation and grassland respectively.ConclusionsEach remnant vegetation community had a generally distinct bird assemblage, indicating that all vegetation types contribute to regional biodiversity in cotton-growing zones in inland eastern Australia. Appropriate on-farm management of all remnant and planted native vegetation will assist regional biodiversity conservation.ImplicationsFor the Australian cotton industry to meet its stated environmental responsibilities, growers should be encouraged to prioritise the conservation management of remnant, riparian and planted native vegetation on cotton farms and the monitoring of bird species as an indicator of regional biodiversity response.

SummarySuccess of establishing native trees in cool temperate environments depends on the ability of seedlings to withstand subzero temperatures and recurrent frosts. This study compared the survival and growth of five tree and shrub species with two guard types at three landscape positions in an upland pasture. Seedlings were planted between December 2013 and March 2014. Half of the seedlings were planted in tall Corflute® guards (60 cm high), and the remaining seedlings were interplanted in milk cartons (30 cm). Seedling survival and height were measured in November 2014. Hourly temperature readings were recorded between March and November 2014. Seedling height for all species was greater in tall guards than milk cartons at all landscape positions, possibly at least partly due to etiolation. However, seedlings in tall guards survived better than seedlings in milk cartons at mid‐ and upper‐slope positions. Higher temperatures may have benefited seedling performance by prolonging the growing season as average maximum temperature was significantly higher inside tall guards than milk cartons and ambient conditions at all landscape positions. Average daily temperature was significantly higher in tall guards compared to milk cartons and ambient conditions at the upper‐slope site only. There were no significant differences in average minimum temperature between guard types at all landscape positions.

The development and adoption of sustainable grazing strategies is important to improve the functionality and productivity of agricultural landscapes. Alternative grazing systems incorporating periods of planned rest may achieve this compared to continuous grazing systems, but the evidence is conflicting. Using paired paddock contrasts, soil characteristics, ground cover and landscape function (i.e. soil stability, nutrient cycling, infiltration and landscape organisation indices) were compared between alternative grazing management (incorporating periods of rest), traditional (continuous) grazing, and areas managed for conservation (ungrazed by commercial livestock but grazed by native and feral herbivores) on contrasting soil types in semi-arid rangelands. Relationships between the response variables and understorey floristic biodiversity measures were also explored. Total ground cover was greater under conservation management than grazing, and was greater under alternative grazing than traditional grazing management. Indices of landscape function, including stability, nutrient cycling, patch area and landscape organisation were significantly greater, and interpatch length significantly shorter, under conservation compared to traditional grazing management. Alternative grazing management had intermediate values of landscape function which did not differ significantly to traditional grazing or conservation treatments. Ground cover and floristic biodiversity measures were often positively correlated, but there was no clear relationship between most landscape function and plant biodiversity indices. Landscape function may be important in detecting changes in rangelands that remain undetected by floristic diversity measures. Alternative grazing strategies incorporating planned rest have the potential to improve ground cover with the associated benefits of improved productivity and landscape function compared to continuous grazing regimes.

This special issue of Ecological Management and Restoration contains nine papers based on invited presentations at Restore, Regenerate, Revegetate: A Conference on Restoring Ecological Processes, Ecosystems and Landscapes in a Changing World, held at the University of New England from 5–9 February 2017 (Box 1). The issue provides a timely overview of some of the achievements as well as the major challenges facing ecosystem restoration in Australasia. The role of the arts in communicating environmental messages was explored through performance, artworks and a public forum – and field trips were arranged for delegates to visit local restoration projects and meet practitioners. An additional selection of papers based on the plenary and keynote addresses from the conference was published recently in a special issue of The Rangeland Journal (see http://www.publish.csiro.au/RJ/issue/8600/). The audio recordings of most of the conference presentations as well as the conference proceedings containing a further 44 refereed papers can be found at http://www.une.edu.au/about-une/academic-schools/school-of-environmental-and-rural-science/ers-news-and-events/restore-regenerate-revegetate-conference-2017. In his opening comment piece, David Freudenberger discusses the mismatch between the scale of restoration required in Australia and what has been being achieved to date. He notes the potential for farmers to restore the long-term productivity, resilience and economic viability of their farms through revegetation, and the need for a massive increase in expenditure to underpin the required investment in broad-scale restoration. Reviewing funding of land repair over the last three decades, and noting that the Natural Heritage Trust that was created by the part-sale of Telstra in 1997 ceased in 2008, he advocates the creation of a permanent trust, funded perhaps by the royalties generated from mining or a price on carbon pollution, and a partnership with agricultural industries to repair and protect natural capital. Paul Gibson-Roy issues a similar call-to-arms to Australian restoration practitioners, researchers and politicians about the required scale of restoration of grassy ecosystems in southern and eastern Australia. He contrasts the domestic situation with revelations from a recent Churchill Fellowship-funded tour of herbaceous seed production and revegetation infrastructure in the United States. He highlights the degree of regulatory support and government investment in the native wildflower and grass seed restoration industry over several decades and the pivotal role of successive US presidents on both sides of politics from Presidents Roosevelt to Obama in underwriting the expenditure. Australians would do well to demand a similar calibre of leadership here. David Norton and colleagues provide a New Zealand perspective on upscaling ecological restoration for biodiversity conservation in their feature article. They highlight eight important lessons that need to be incorporated in restoration planning to increase the likelihood of success. With new government-led revegetation initiatives announced recently, their feature article is not only timely to assist nurseries, restoration practitioners, community groups, and government and nongovernment organisations for upscaling New Zealand restoration, but relevant to recovering and reconnecting natural ecosystems at scale and improving the prospects for biodiversity everywhere. David Lindenmayer and colleagues outline ten lessons from a 20-year-long research programme on fauna–habitat dynamics in the wheat–sheep belt in south-eastern Australia, and the implications for woodland restoration and habitat management in agricultural landscapes. The authors stress the complementary role of different habitats (plantings, regrowth, old growth, linear remnants, etc.) as habitat for fauna, including species of conservation concern, and the importance of carefully designed, long-term monitoring. They also highlight the human dimension associated with farmland restoration and management, and argue for further research on the important nexus between environmental management, farm profitability and sustainability, and farmer health and well-being. In their commissioned review, Sam Capon and Neil Pettit advocate a functional approach to planning and prioritising riparian restoration based on measurable targets and a broad consideration of spatiotemporal and cultural influences. They summarise the main anthropogenic threats to river functions and recommend practical solutions for robust riparian restoration. As an example, passive regeneration of novel ecosystems may maintain and restore riparian functions and services in agricultural and urban catchments where native riparian vegetation is sparse and the slowing and filtering of runoff important. The authors highlight policy and management directions, including the need for evidence-based decision making by institutions guided by the principles of social justice and adaptive management. In another commissioned review, Carla Catterall reminds us that the ecological processes that maintain or restore ecosystem health and integrity of forests and woodlands involve animal–plant interactions, yet fauna are often an afterthought in restoration. She comments that animals have often been viewed as passengers, responding passively to plant-focused revegetation. Yet fauna can drive plant recruitment processes in farmland restoration (e.g. through seed dispersal) and determine the floristic diversity and composition of revegetation. Although functionally important animals can accelerate woody vegetation restoration through various ecological mechanisms, research is needed to clarify the roles of animals as passengers vs drivers of restoration to develop a more predictive science. Rhiannon Smith and Andrew Watson demonstrate the economic benefits from the environmental approaches implemented by successive generations of Watsons in managing the family farm, ‘Kilmarnock’, on the banks of the Namoi River at Boggabri, New South Wales. Farm income is dominated by irrigated cotton production, and monitoring of on-farm trials over the past 10–15 years have revealed both positive economic and ecological outcomes from several innovations. The advent of genetically modified cotton has allowed insecticide use to be minimised in favour of habitat provision for natural pest control agents (beneficial invertebrates, microbats and insectivorous birds) through farmland revegetation and habitat restoration. Benefits have also accrued from substituting poultry manure for chemical fertilisers and water-use efficiency improvements. Martine Maron and Winnifred Louis argue for greater transparency around restoration funding when sourced from offsets, because the volunteers who undertake a considerable amount of the restoration work in Australia are often not aware that the net environmental outcome of offset-funded restoration is neutral (at best), not environmental gain. If restoration for a mandated offset is undertaken by volunteers, their contribution simply substitutes for work that would otherwise have been done commercially. In effect, the volunteer subsidy distorts the true replacement cost of biodiversity. All environmental nongovernmental organisations, developers, offset funders and brokers should commit to transparency, particularly to landholders, donors and volunteers who donate land, money and labour to restoration, about the environmental impact that is to be offset and the fact that volunteer involvement generates no additional environmental benefit. In the final feature article, Tein McDonald and Kingsley Dixon discuss two of the key principles in the recently published 2nd edition of the National Restoration Standards. They clarify the concepts of reference ecosystem and the required degree of recovery for ecological restoration. It is not about trying to restore a past state per se but about reinstating what would be the current local native ecosystem had it not been degraded, taking anticipated environmental change into account. However, in the event of irreversible environmental change, restoration of altered or completely different local species assemblages better suited to the new conditions may be appropriate. Ecological restoration is also directed towards full recovery ‘insofar as possible’, acknowledging that at times something less than full recovery of the most appropriate local reference ecosystem may be all that can be achieved. The delegates at the Restore, Regenerate, Revegetate Conference held at the University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, from 5–9 February 2017, shared an impressive body of practical and scientific knowledge of how we are restoring Australia's natural heritage and environmental capital across the continent. However, the conference also highlighted several key points that must be addressed if we are to truly meet the challenges and opportunities of land repair. We commend the papers in this special issue to a wide audience and trust that they command as much interest and satisfaction as we derived from working with our guest authors in preparing them for publication. Nick Reid is Professor in Ecosystem Management and Head, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England (Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia; Email: nrei3@une.edu.au). Rhiannon Smith is Research Fellow and Lecturer, Ecosystem Management, School of Environmental and Rural Science, UNE (Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia; Email: rsmith66@une.edu.au). Wal Whalley is Adjunct Associate Professor in Botany, School of Environmental and Rural Science, UNE (Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia; Email: rwhalley@une.edu.au). David A. Norton is Professor, School of Forestry, University of Canterbury (Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand; Email: david.norton@canterbury.ac.nz). Darren Ryder is Professor and Associate Dean Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, UNE (Armidale NSW, 2351, Australia; Email: dryder2@une.edu.au)

The dataset associated with this thesis can be found here: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/215397.

Cloud forests and savannas differ in several environmental aspects, particularly in light irradiance and water availability. Such differences can be selective for specific sets of leaves and architectural strategies to capture light and use water. In the present study we evaluated functional traits variation in a generalist species in two adjacent habitats experiencing an abrupt change in resource availability (light and water availability). We collected several leaf, stem and architectural traits of the tree species Eremanthus erythropappus (DC.) MacLeish in shrubland savanna (habitat facing higher drought stress and wind exposure) and cloud forest (shaded environment). Trees in the shrubland savanna exhibited functional trait values that enhance drought tolerance (i.e. higher wood density and leaf thickness) whereas trees in the cloud forest exhibited functional trait values that enhance light capture (i.e. taller individuals with higher leaf area and specific leaf area). Additionally, the individuals in the shrubland savanna had wider and deeper crowns, pointing that the benefits of a larger canopy area to capture light during the day and humidity from condensation at night exceed the higher risk of mechanical damage by falling debris due to high wind exposure. For all traits, variation among the individuals was lower than variation among habitats. Our results indicate the strong role of the environment as a driver of intraspecific variation and that architectural traits (usually poorly studied compared with other traits) should be included as an important parameter of variation in functional analyses when evaluating the effect of environmental conditions on tree performance.