2026/07/19 by S. A. Irvine, J. O. Carter, G. S. Stone · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Australian Indigenous Culture and History #Australian History and Society #Pasture and Agricultural Systems
paper · doi:10.1080/00049182.2026.2700831
openalex publication_date 2026/07/19 · openalex created_date 2026/07/21 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/21
Domestic livestock statistics across all Australian jurisdictions have been collected since 1788. Cattle, sheep and horse numbers for the period were digitised from paper sources. Statistical District boundaries were also digitised from mapping sources for each year and coded to link to the digitised livestock records. This work is seen by the authors as a foundation attempt to map historical grazing within Australia as literature sources for any time series for the continental scale mapping of livestock distribution is absent. The domestic livestock statistics were matched to estimates to spatial boundaries for every year. Estimation of pre-European vegetation, natural waters, the development of stock water areas, irrigation and protected areas were used to distribute livestock within each Statistical District for each year. The distribution was based on four grazing land classes which differed for every year due to increasing water availability and vegetation changes in many regions over time. The results allowed yearly maps to be produced showing livestock density for Australia by considering the historical land development that has occurred. This dataset generated from this analysis is a step in the process of estimating total grazing pressure by extending to previously unknown areas. It provides a standard for any investigation to any aspect to Australian historical livestock populations, allowing grazing distribution to be applied to any spatial area.