1. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
A brief Australian perspective on new
technologies for mitigation and adaptation
Mark Howden and Steven Crimp
Presentation, ECLAC Symposium, September 2012

2. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Climate change and Australia
• Australia is one of the largest per capita emitters of
greenhouse gas emissions
• And one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change
• Recognition of this has generated research on both
emission-reduction and on climate change adaptation
• The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has
just finished a 3-year research program, some of the
results are presented here.

3. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Measuring soil carbon
• A new method has been established for measuring soil
carbon in soil samples (mid infra-red spectroscopy), which
reduces the cost of analyses from approximately $1000 by
previous methods to around $40
• Conversion of soil carbon values to carbon stocks (tonnes
per hectare) has been made easier by novel bulk density
scanning techniques demonstrated in the program

4. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Reducing methane emissions
• The screening program identified that several shrubs have
anti-methanogenic properties and good dietary
characteristics
• In vitro tests indicate methane emission reducions of 25 to 50%
• Increased oil or fat component of the diet (up to 6-8%)
can reduce methane significantly (up to 15%)
• Preliminary evidence and estimates for heritability of a
low methane trait in sheep and beef cattle

5. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Nitrous oxide reductions in crops
• Nitrification inhibitors (e.g. DCD) reduced daily nitrous
oxide (N2O) losses by up to 90 per cent
• The effects were most dramatic in summer crops and later
in the winter season
• The impact of DCD was short lived (4-5 weeks) as the
chemical compound degraded under increasing soil
temperatures during spring
• The application of DCD did not translate into higher grain
yields and so remains uneconomical reducing N2O
emissions
• Legume-sourced N look like it has lower N2O emissions

6. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Nitrous oxide reductions from livestock
• A single application of DCD in late winter or late autumn
reduced nitrous oxide emissions by 35-45 per cent when
DCD was applied up to 3 months prior to urine
application, or immediately after urine application
• Nitrous oxide emissions were further reduced when DCD
was applied after each of multiple urine applications.
• However, application of DCD (with or without urea
fertiliser) had minimal effects on pasture production.
• The lack of a production response means that the use of
N2O inhibitors is unlikely

7. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Livestock heat adaptation
• Heat stress reduces intake, reduces production and
increases animal welfare risk
• a low dose of betaine (2 g/day) lowered respiration and
heart rate, and skin and rectal temperature
• while a higher dose (4 g/day) increased these
measurements
• sheep fed low doses of supplemental chromium (200ppb)
had lower rectal temperatures and respiration rate
• the potential use of Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) as markers
of heat stress (HSPs may be useful when selecting animals
better suited to excessively hot temperatures
Di Giacomo et al. (2012)

8. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Winegrape adaptations
• New grape varieties were tested and some show great
potential to deliver high quality wines under warm to hot
Australian conditions
• Significant differences in growth and water use efficiency
were detected between different rootstocks, indicating
that choice of rootstocks will be important in managing
future climate change
• The impact of warmer temperatures on wine grapes is
highly dependent on variety with some varieties showing
improved wine quality and others reduced wine quality
Thomson and Downey (2012)

9. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Winegrape adaptations
After evaluating a range of varieties, clones and selected
breeding lines under hot conditions, varieties can be
identified that have:
• short seasonality to improve water use efficiency
• smaller canopies to minimise transpiration and improve
water use efficiency
• long seasonality to ripen in cooler conditions
• optimal berry composition for harvest at lower maturities
for the production of lower alcohol wines.
Thomson and Downey (2012)

10. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Crop system adaptations

11. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Crop system adaptations

12. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Crop system adaptations

13. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Climate change vulnerability

14. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Summary
• Improved ways of assessing greenhouse gas emissions
from agriculture that can help us design and choose
climate-change-friendly ways of feeding the world
• Options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions although
these are not always economically competitive and
sometimes result in only modest reductions
• Adaptation options that can help Australian agriculture
manage climate change and climate extremes more
effectively now and in the future
• Ways of assessing where to pay more attention to
building adaptive capacity

15. CLIMATE ADAPTATION
Thank you
Climate Adaptation Flagship
Dr Mark Howden
Theme Leader
Phone: +61 2 6242 1679
Email: mark.howden@csiro.au
Contact Us
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Email: Enquiries@csiro.au
Web: www.csiro.au
Website: www.csiro.au/org/ClimateAdaptationFlagship