Climate change will strongly affect Australian agricultural industries.
We need urgent attention in developing and implementing adaption strategies. We are working towards this with these groups:
- The Institute of Agriculture has emerged as an integral player by consolidating education, training and research in agriculture and resource management in light of our changing world.
- The International Centre for Plant Breeding Education and Research is helping to set the national agenda through its work and expertise in world food security.
- Research at the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture focuses on the improvement of such legume-based systems.
- The Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre is developing innovative farming systems that set new standards for profitability and environmental protection through the sustainable use of perennial plants.
- The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms by which the energy-handling systems of plants function so that they can be tailored to the new climate.
- The Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy examines how agriculture is likely to adapt to climate change, and the costs and benefits of emerging opportunities for carbon sequestration.
- The WA Biogeochemistry Centre works in collaboration with the mining industry on the relative dependency of ecosystems on groundwater versus soil and surface water.
- The Soil Biology Group (School of Earth and Environment) researches the activities of a wide range of soil organisms in the context of their contribution to important soil processes.
- The School of Environmental Systems Engineering researches complex processes in natural systems and their interactions with human activity. The Centre for Ecohydrology within the School is a joint venture with the Department of Agriculture and Food.
- The Western Australian Marine Science Institution is underpinning the conservation and sustainable management of Western Australia's marine environment and resources.
