RESEARCH ARTICLE Integration by case, place and process: transdisciplinary research for sustainable grazing in the Lachlan River catchment, Australia Kate Sherren • Joern Fischer • Helena Clayton • Jacki Schirmer • Stephen Dovers Received: 9 August 2009 / Accepted: 27 May 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 Abstract In a context of global agricultural inten- sification, integrating conservation and agricultural production is a major challenge. We have tackled the problem using a transdisciplinary research frame- work. Our work focuses on part of the upper Lachlan River catchment in southeastern Australia. The region is dominated by livestock grazing, and is part of an internationally recognised threatened ecoregion because most native woodland vegetation has been cleared. In productive areas, most remnant vegetation occurs as scattered and isolated paddock trees, which are dying from old age and not regenerating due to agricultural practices. The policy context and indus- try trends present additional risks for sparse trees. These declining trees provide many ecosystem ser- vices, including enhanced water infiltration, shade for livestock, aesthetic and cultural values, and habitat for native species. Our research aims to identify management options and policy settings that enable landscape-scale tree regeneration while maintaining grazing production. Our findings highlight tensions between the trajectory of tree cover in the region and stakeholder values. Under status quo management, many scattered and isolated paddock trees will be lost from farms, although most farmers would like to see them persist. Case studies on selected farms reveal management strategies that may be more sustainable in terms of tree regeneration and agricultural pro- ductivity, such as rotational grazing. In addition to these applied insights, our work provides a case study illustrating how a transdisciplinary study can be conducted efficiently by a small team. Our pragmatic approach has successfully combined targeted disci- plinary activities with strategic collaborations and stakeholder engagement, all united by shared land- scape, case graziers, and outreach activities. Keywords Fertiliser use Á Landscape restoration Á Rotational grazing Á Scattered trees Á Sustainable grazing Á Transdisciplinary research Á Tree decline Introduction Worldwide, natural ecosystems have been modified to make space for agricultural production (Foley et al. 2005; Tscharntke et al. 2005). Forests and woodlands have been severely impacted (Hoekstra et al. 2005), partly because trees compete directly with agricultural production. At the global scale, livestock grazing is the most widespread form of land use by geographical extent (Asner et al. 2004), and its extent and intensity may further increase with a growing human popula- tion and demand for protein (Tilman et al. 2002). The maintenance of trees and livestock grazing may be K. Sherren (&) Á J. Fischer Á H. Clayton Á J. Schirmer Á S. Dovers Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia e-mail: Kate.Sherren@ANU.edu.au 123 Landscape Ecol DOI 10.1007/s10980-010-9494-x