Linking Land Use Capability classes and APSIM to estimate pasture growth for regional land use planning
Iris Vogeler A B , Rogerio Cichota A and Josef Beautrais A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A AgResearch Limited, Grasslands Research Centre, Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
B Corresponding author. Email: iris.vogeler@agresearch.co.nz
Soil Research 54(1) 94-110 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR15018
Submitted: 22 January 2015 Accepted: 3 June 2015 Published: 14 January 2016
Abstract
Investigation of land-use and management changes at regional scales require the linkage of farm-system models with land-resource information, which for pastoral systems includes forage supply. The New Zealand Land Resource Inventory (NZLRI) and associated Land Use Capability (LUC) database include estimates of the potential stock-carrying capacity across the country, which can be used to derive estimates of average annual pasture yields. Farm system models and decision support tools, however, require information on the seasonal patterns of pasture growth. To generate such pasture growth curves (PGCs), the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) was used, with generic soil profiles based on descriptions of LUC classes, to generate PGCs for three regions of New Zealand. Simulated annual pasture yields were similar to the estimates of annual potential pasture yield in the NZLRI spatial database, and they provided information on inter-annual variability. Simulated PGCs generally agreed well with measured long-term patterns of seasonal pasture growth. The approach can be used to obtain spatially discrete estimates of seasonal pasture growth patterns across New Zealand for use in farm system models and for assessing the impact of management practices and climate change on the regional sustainability.
Additional keywords: cluster analysis, LUC soil profile descriptions, pasture growths curve.
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