Cargo Road Winery 2020 EOV

ECOLOGICAL OUTCOME VERIFICATION REPORT HUB Australian Holistic Management Cooperative LANDBASE Cargo Road Wines AREA 37 ha VERIFIER Ian Chapman MONITOR Hayden Druce

AUTHOR Ian Chapman

DATE 9th June 2020

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 3 2. Short-Term Monitoring - Ecological Health Index (EHI) ................................................... 3 3. Short-Term Monitoring Results – ‘Year 1’ ....................................................................... 4 EHI Landscape Function Analysis ................................................................................................. 4 Conclusions from Short-Term Monitoring .................................................................................... 7

Actual Indicator scores for the STM paddocks, and in relation the ecosystem processes. ........................... 8

Short-term monitoring photos .................................................................................................... 9

4. Short-Term Monitoring (STM) – Trend Analysis ............................................................ 14 Short-Term Monitoring (STM) – Comparative Results ................................................................ 14

EHI and LFA results 2018 ............................................................................................................................. 15 EHI and LFA results 2019 ............................................................................................................................. 15 2018 comparison with 2019 – 4 paddock and 10 paddock ......................................................................... 15 Context for Comparative Results ................................................................................................................. 17

Conclusions from Short-Term Monitoring Comparison .............................................................. 17

5. Ecological Outcome Verification - Trend ....................................................................... 18 Appendices ...................................................................................................................... 20 Appendix A – EHI Indicators and Ecosystem Processes .............................................................. 20 Appendix B – Ecological Health Index (EHI) Interpretation Guide ............................................... 21

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

1. Introduction The results of the annual Ecological Outcomes Verification (EOV) of Cargo Road Wines farm, carried out on 9th June 2020, are presented. This is the second year of monitoring for the land base. Baseline monitoring was previously carried out in ‘year 0’, and this monitoring event is regarded as ‘year 1’ of the EOV monitoring and verification cycle.

The methodology used corresponds to the EOV 2.0 protocol. Ten monitoring sites were included for Short-Term in this year (year 1).

Baseline monitoring in the previous year (year 0) included four Short-Term sites (STM) and one for Long-Term site (LTM).

Cargo Road Wines Monitoring Plan 2020

2. Short-Term Monitoring - Ecological Health Index (EHI) An EHI evaluation was carried out of the landbase.

Ecosystem function is assessed through the Ecological Health Index (EHI). For this purpose, biological indicators are used according to an evaluation matrix that is

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

adapted to each ecological region. The EHI provides a robust and practical measure of the health of ecosystem processes on agricultural production land (water cycle, nutrient cycle, energy flow and community dynamics) [Xu S et al 2019].

Each indicator receives a score according to the degree of departure from the ecological area potential. The values are added together to obtain a total score at each sampling site. The possible values range from +130 to -140. These quantified variables are surveyed in the field and then processed and weighted to obtain a value per paddock, and a weighted average for the farm. Values above 30 points in non-brittle environments and 15 in brittle ones reflect ecosystem processes (water cycling, nutrient cycling, energy flow and community dynamics) that are reasonably close to the potential of the site. Negative values indicate that ecosystem processes are ineffective, and far from the site's potential.

Cargo Road Wines is situated in a brittle tending environment.

3. Short-Term Monitoring Results – ‘Year 1’

EHI Landscape Function Analysis The table below shows the EHI for each of the Short-Term Monitoring sites, along with an index for each of the ecosystem processes. The combination of indicators used for each ecosystem process can be found in Appendix A. The second table shows the overall EHI, and the Landscape Function Analysis, weighted according to the area of each of the paddocks where the STM sites are located.

This data is then represented in respective bar graphs.

[Xu Sutie, et al, 2019, Ecological Health Index: A Short Term Monitoring Method for Land Managers to Assess Grazing Lands Ecological Health, Environments 2019, 6, 67, www.mdpi.com/journal/environments]

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

LANDSCAPE FUNCTION ANALYSIS

Paddock Name

Area (Ha)

EHI

Water Cycle Index

Mineral Cycle Index

Energy Flow Index

Comm. Dyn Index

Little Italy

3.5

30

90%

67%

75%

68%

Quince

3.5

50

90%

67%

83%

79%

Lagrein

3.8

75

95%

89%

92%

79%

2011 Riesling

3.8

25

70%

44%

42%

64%

Cabernet 98

3.8

65

90%

78%

83%

82%

Primitive

3.8

70

85%

78%

75%

75%

Riesling 83

3.8

50

85%

72%

75%

64%

Phalaris

3.5

55

90%

78%

92%

71%

Sth House

3.5

60

95%

83%

92%

71%

Cherries

3.5

65

95%

83%

92%

75%

TOTAL Landbase Records: YEAR

AREA (HA)

EHI Landbase Weighted Average

2019 10 Pdks

36.5

54.6

LANDSCAPE FUNCTION ANALYSIS (Weighted) Water Cycle Index

Mineral Cycle Index

Energy Flow Index

Comm.

Dyn Index

88%

74%

80%

73%

EHI (Ecological Health Index) Interpretation Guide Low

Medium

High

Very High

<0

1 - 30

30 - 60

> 60

Moderate departure from ecoregion potential. Ecosystem processes affected.

Light to moderate departure from Ecoregion potential.

Most ecosystem processes perform above 60% of potential

Light departure from Ecoregion potential.

Effective ecosystem processes - healthy land.

High to extreme departure from Ecoregion potential.

Land degradation active. Ecosystem processes disrupted.

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Cargo Road Wines â&#x20AC;&#x201C; EOV Report 2020

EHI 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Little Italy Quince

Lagrein

Riesling Cabernet Primitive Riesling 83 Phalaris Sth House Cherries 98

LANDSCAPE FUNCTION ANALYSIS (Weighted) 10 Pdk 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 2019

40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Water Cycle Index Mineral Cycle Index Energy Flow Index

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Community Dynamics Index

Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

Conclusions from Short-Term Monitoring ●

From the short-term monitoring conducted on 9th June 2020, it can be concluded that the ecosystem processes overall are only lightly compromised. However, there is considerable variation in EHI and the overall result is influenced by the low score on two of the ten monitoring sites. The scores of 70 or more on two sites show the impending potential for improvement through current management approaches.

●

EHIs varied from +30 to +75, with an average of +54.6. This score indicates only a light to moderate departure from the Ecoregion potential.

Results are mostly determined by Riesling and Little Italy paddocks, which showed significantly lower scores. Health indication in the other paddock monitoring sites was high.

●

Water cycle was boosted by the lack of bare soil observed in many sites, but limited somewhat by the amount of litter observed on the soil surface on all sites.

●

Mineral cycle was also boosted by the lack of bare soil and good dung decomposition observed in many sites, but reduced by the limited of signs of living organisms and litter on all sites.

●

Energy flow was reduced due to low vegetation cover and low photosynthetic tissue (live canopy abundance), but balanced by the lack of bare soil.

●

Community dynamics were limited by reduced vigour and reproduction of functional groups, including perennial grasses, forbs and legumes.

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Actual Indicator scores for the STM paddocks, and in relation the ecosystem processes.

EHI Indicator

WC

MC

EF

CD

Little Italy

Quince

Lagrein

Riesling

Cabernet 98

Primitive

Riesling 83

Phalaris

Sth House

Cherries

LIVE CANOPY ABUNDANCE LIVING ORGANISMS (MICROFAUNA)

-5

0

5

-5

0

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

0

5

5

5

5

5

5

FG 1 WARM SEASSON GRASSES

-5

0

0

5

5

5

-10

0

0

5

FG 2 COOL SEASSON GRASSES

0

5

10

10

10

10

10

10

5

5

FG 3 FORBS & LEGUMES

5

5

10

0

10

10

10

0

0

0

FG 4 TREES & SHRUBS

5

10

0

5

0

0

0

0

5

5

CONTEXT DESIRABLE RARE SP

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

CONTEXT UNDESIRABLE SP

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

LITTER ABUNDANCE

0

0

5

0

0

5

5

0

5

5

LITTER INCORPORATION

0

0

10

0

5

10

5

5

5

5

DUNG DESCOMPOSITION

5

5

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

20

20

20

0

20

10

10

20

20

20

CAPPING

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

WIND EROSION

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

WATER EROSION

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

BARE SOIL

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Short-term monitoring photos STM 1 – Little Italy: photo 1

STM 1 – Little Italy: photo 2

STM 2 – Quince: photo 1

STM 2 – Quince: photo 2

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

Short-term monitoring photos (continued) STM 3 – Lagrein: photo 1

STM 4 – Riesling: photo 1

STM 3 – Lagrein: photo 2

STM 4 – Riesling: photo 2

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

Short-term monitoring photos (continued) STM 5 – Cabernet 98: photo 1

STM 5 – Cabernet 98: photo 2

STM 6 – Primitive: photo 1

STM 6 – Primitive: photo 2

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

Short-term monitoring photos (continued) STM 7 – Riesling 83: photo 1

STM 7 – Riesling 83: photo 2

STM 8 – Phalaris: photo 1

STM 8 – Phalaris: photo 2

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

Short-term monitoring photos (continued) STM 9 – South House: photo 1

STM 9 – South House: photo 2

STM 10 – Cherries: photo 1

STM 10 – Cherries: photo 2

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

4. Short-Term Monitoring (STM) – Trend Analysis Four Short-Term monitoring sites were installed in ‘year 0’ and the following section analyses the results of the same four STM sites in ‘year 1’.

Cargo Road Wines Monitoring Plan 2019

Short-Term Monitoring (STM) – Comparative Results The tables below show the EHI for ‘year 0’ and ‘year 1’, along with an index for each of the ecosystem processes. The combination of indicators used for each ecosystem process can be found in Appendix A. This data is then represented in respective bar graphs with a comparison based on 4 paddocks and then with 10 paddocks.

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

EHI and LFA results 2018

LANDSCAPE FUNCTION ANALYSIS EHI

Water Cycle Index

Mineral Cycle Index

Energy Flow Index

Comm.

Dyn Index

3.5

0

90%

67%

50%

43%

Quince

3.5

-15

85%

56%

50%

39%

Lagrein

3.8

-25

60%

28%

25%

32%

2011 Riesling

3.8

-20

60%

22%

17%

43%

Paddock Name

Area (Ha)

Little Italy

EHI and LFA results 2019

LANDSCAPE FUNCTION ANALYSIS

Paddock Name

Area (Ha)

EHI

Water Cycle Index

Mineral Cycle Index

Energy Flow Index

Comm. Dyn Index

Little Italy

3.5

30

90%

67%

75%

68%

Quince

3.5

50

90%

67%

83%

79%

Lagrein

3.8

75

95%

89%

92%

79%

2011 Riesling

3.8

25

70%

44%

42%

64%

2018 comparison with 2019 – 4 paddock and 10 paddock

TOTAL Landbase Records: YEAR

AREA (HA)

EHI Landbase Weighted Average

2018 4 Pdks

14.6

2019 4 Pdks 2019 10 Pdks

LANDSCAPE FUNCTION ANALYSIS (Weighted) Water Cycle Index

Mineral Cycle Index

Energy Flow Index

Comm.

Dyn Index

-15.3

73%

42%

35%

39%

14.6

45.2

86%

67%

73%

72%

36.5

54.6

88%

74%

80%

73%

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Cargo Road Wines â&#x20AC;&#x201C; EOV Report 2020

EHI - 4 Pdk & 10 Pdk 80 60 40 20 0 Little Italy Quince -20

Lagrein

Riesling Cabernet Primitive Riesling 83 Phalaris Sth House Cherries 98

-40 2018

100%

2019

LANDSCAPE FUNCTION ANALYSIS (Weighted) - 4 Pdk Comparison

90% 80% 70% 60% 50%

2018

40%

2019

30% 20% 10% 0% Water Cycle Index

Mineral Cycle Index

Energy Flow Index

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Community Dynamics Index

Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

Context for Comparative Results The context for monitoring of Cargo Road Wines on 9th June 2020, is significant drought over the preceding year. The following rainfall data shows drought conditions in the general area over the preceding two years.

Average annual rainfall in the district for Cargo Road Wines is reported as 737 mm. Locally reported rainfall within 4 km of the landbase for 2018 was 519 mm, while for 2019 it was 442 mm. In other words, rainfall for the two years associated with the baseline and ‘year 1’ monitoring was 218 mm and 295 mm respectively below the longer term average.

RAINFALL Mean Median 2018 2019 BOM 737 678 519 442 Landbase – (not available) 880 634.4 522 BOM rainfall data accessed on 1st October 2020 from www.bom.gov.au - Borenore (LyndenBrae) station.

Conclusions from Short-Term Monitoring Comparison ●

From the comparison of four short-term monitoring sites conducted on 9th June 2020 (year 1) with that from the previous year (year 0), it can be concluded that the health of ecosystem processes overall has improved considerably. However, there is variation in EHI among these four sites and the overall result is strongly influenced by the low score on two of these sites. Increasing the number of sites (in year 1) to ten, has produced a weighted average that is higher than for four sites, and giving a more representative assessment of the whole landbase.

●

In year 1, EHIs varied from +25 to +75, with a weighted average of +45.2, compared with an average of -15.3 in year 0. While this score still reveals some degradation, considerable improvement is evident.

All four sites improved but results are mostly affected by Quince and Lagrein paddocks.

●

All four indexes of ecosystem health (water cycle, mineral cycle, energy flow and community dynamics) have shown improvement between the observations from ‘year 0’ (2018) to ‘year 1’ (2019).

●

Energy Flow and Community Dynamics showed the strongest improvements, being of 38% and 33% points respectively.

●

Water cycle was mostly affected by the reduction of bare soil.

●

Mineral cycle mostly benefited by increased insect activity and less bare ground.

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Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

●

Energy Flow improved due to better vegetation cover and photosynthetic tissue (live canopy abundance), and the reduced amount of bare soil.

●

Community dynamics were improved by increasing vigour and reproduction of perennial grasses, forbs and legumes.

5. Ecological Outcome Verification - Trend The following analysis shows whether a trend of improving ecological health has been observed on the landbase: Cargo Road Wines. Robust identification of a trend must be based on like for like comparison. The following charts identify this trend based on comparison of 4 STM sites from ‘year 0’ and ‘year 1’ monitoring events. Future monitoring events will be carried out across 10 STM sites, and will be used for future identification of trend. They have been added here as a useful comparison and a base for future monitoring but the monitoring results from 10 STM sites cannot provide a robust comparison with the original 4 STM sites. The number of sites was initially limited to contain costs.

The comparison bar chart below (4 Pdk vs. 4 Pdk vs. 10 Pdk Comparison) shows that all of the four Landscape Function Indexes have improved based on comparison of the four STM sites that were monitored in ‘year 0’ and ‘year 1’. There is a higher observed level in all four indexes when the additional 6 STM sites are taken into account for ‘year 1’, but these levels cannot be directly compared to the 4 Pdk assessment.

LANDSCAPE FUNCTION ANALYSIS (Weighted) - 4 Pdk vs. 4 Pdk vs. 10 Pdk Comparison 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Water Cycle Index Mineral Cycle Index Energy Flow Index 2108 (4 pdks)

2019 (4 pdks)

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Community Dynamics Index

2019 (10 pdks)

Cargo Road Wines – EOV Report 2020

2018 60.0

EHI Trend

2019

50.0 40.0 30.0 10 Paddock

20.0

4 Paddock

10.0 0.0 -10.0 -20.0

The EHI trend graph shows that the trend of Ecological Health is improving, on a 4 paddock basis. Under the EOV monitoring protocol, an improving EHI result means that the enterprise operating on this landbase is eligible to use the EOV seal, subject to confirmation by the worldwide EOV Quality Assurance team (and guidelines for use of the seal). Based on the improving trend observed in ‘year 1’, Cargo Road Wines is eligible to use the EOV seal.

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Cargo Road Wines â&#x20AC;&#x201C; EOV Report 2020

Appendices

Appendix A â&#x20AC;&#x201C; EHI Indicators and Ecosystem Processes Ecosystem Process

Max score

Min Score

Bare Soil

20

-20

Litter Abundance

10

0

Capping

0

-10

Wind Erosion

0

-20

Water Erosion

0

-20

Total

30

-70

Bare Soil

20

-20

Litter Abundance

10

0

Litter Incorporation

10

0

Living Organisms (Microfauna)

10

-10

Dung Decomposition

10

0

Total

60

-30

Bare Soil

20

-20

Live Canopy Abundance

10

-10

Total

30

-30

Community Dynamics

Bare Soil

20

-20

FG1 - Warm Season Grasses

10

-10

List your indicators

FG2 - Cool Season Grasses

10

-10

FG3 - Legumes/Forbs

10

-10

FG4 - Trees/Shrubs

10

-10

Contextually Desirables Rare Species

10

0

Contextually Undesirables Species

0

-10

Total

70

-70

Water Cycle

Mineral Cycle

Energy Flow

Indicators

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Cargo Road Wines â&#x20AC;&#x201C; EOV Report 2020

Appendix B â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Ecological Health Index (EHI) Interpretation Guide INDICATOR

Unit

LOW <0

Average score

EHI

Interpretation

High to extreme departure from Ecoregion potential.

Land degradation active.

Ecosystem processes disrupted

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MEDIUM 1 - 30

HIGH 30 - 60

VERY HIGH > 60

Moderate departure from ecoregion potential. Ecosystem processes affected.

Light to moderate departure from Ecoregion Potential.

Most ecosystem processes perform above 60% of potential

Light departure from Ecoregion Potential.

Effective Ecosystem processes - healthy Land