Development of Pasture Growth Models for Grassland Fire Danger Risk Assessment

This project is evaluating the suitability of pasture growth models for assessing current and predicting future levels of grassland curing. A glasshouse trial was undertaken to provide data to better define grass plant senescence, particularly leaf turnover, within these models. A further trial investigated the effect of water stress on the onset and duration of senescence in four representative grassland species.

Field assessment of leaf turnover and curing in representative grassland types was undertaken to validate glasshouse work.

Representative grassland systems will be modelled with appropriately modified pasture growth models and validated with Bushfire CRC pasture datasets.

An investigation of integration of pasture models with seasonal climate forecasting tools will be attempted to enhance the capability to forecast curing rates for grasslands.