International Society for Applied Ethology. Special issue: a Selection of Papers from the 38th International Congress of the ISAE, Helsinki, Finland, August 2004

Welcome to the latest collection of papers selected from the International Society for Applied Ethology's (ISAE's) annual congress. The ISAE is a multi-faceted scientific society that supports applied research on animals under the influence of humankind. Every year, we aim to invite congress participants who have submitted papers, plenary talks, run workshops, or presented the memorial lecture on theoretical, review or discussion papers of topical interest to contribute to the Special Issue. These papers are peer-reviewed before being published here in Applied Animal Behaviour Science. International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE) Special Issue 2004.

International Society for Applied Ethology. Special issue: a selection of papers from the 39th International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE), Tokyo, Japan, August 2005

Welcome to the latest collection of papers selected from the International Society for Applied Ethology's (ISAE's) annual congress. The ISAE is a multi-faceted scientific society that supports applied research on animals that are managed by humans. Every year, we aim to invite congress participants who have submitted papers, plenary talks, run workshops, or presented the memorial lecture on theoretical, review or discussion papers of topical interest to contribute to the Special Issue. These papers are peer-reviewed before being published here in Applied Animal Behaviour Science. This year, we have a variety of papers to bring to your attention. The David Wood-Gush Memorial lecture, the keynote address of the congress, was given by Shigeru Watanabe on animal cognition and welfare. His paper highlights how animal's sensory capabilities relate to their welfare. On the topic of human–animal bonds, Stine Christiansen and Björn Forkman explore how animal welfare is assessed in a veterinary context, and how those assessments might be improved by ethologists. Yoshie Kakuma and co-authors report on the discussions from a workshop on the welfare of working and companion dogs in five different countries. Based on their plenary lectures, Michael Cockram discusses the factors that affect farmed animals during road transport and how these might contribute in making decisions to restrict journey times, while Clive Phillips and co-author Danica Peck examine how personality influences the behaviour and interactions between zoo-housed tigers and their keepers. We hope you enjoy these papers. Our sincere thanks go to both the authors and referees, without whom these special issues would not be possible. A selection of papers from the 39th International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE), Tokyo, Japan, August 2005.

Mapping quantitative trait loci for resistance to Pratylenchus thornei from synthetic hexaploid wheat in the International Triticeae Mapping Initiative (ITMI) population

Root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus thornei) is a serious pathogen of wheat in many countries. The International Triticeae Mapping Initiative (ITMI) population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was assessed for resistance to P. thornei to determine the chromosome locations of the resistance genes. The ITMI population is derived from a cross between the resistant synthetic hexaploid wheat W-7984 and a susceptible bread wheat cultivar Opata 85. Two years of phenotypic data for resistance to P. thornei were obtained in replicated glasshouse trials. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was performed using available segregation and map data for 114 RILs. A QTL on chromosome 6DS showed consistent effects for reduced nematode numbers (partial resistance) across years and accounted for 11% and 23% of the phenotypic variation. A second QTL for P. thornei resistance on chromosome 2BS accounted for an additional 19% and 5%. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers associated with the QTLs are physically located in regions rich in major genes at the distal ends of the short chromosome arms of 6D and 2B. SSR markers with potential for marker-assisted selection of P. thornei resistance effective in different genetic backgrounds have been identified.

Using a supply chain approach to guide R&D

Consumers today are presented with an increasing array of products. The growing competition for consumer expenditure requires a whole of supply chain approach to maintain market share for existing cultivars and to successfully commercialise new cultivars. The supply chain needs to deliver value and satisfaction to the end customer and profitability to their members. Critical to getting the product right is developing inherent robustness into the cultivar, and developing processes and systems through the whole supply chain that maintain product quality and add value. This paper describes the approach we have used in working with supply chains in Australia and Indonesia to identify priority areas for improvement. Our experience demonstrates the need for a champion in the supply chain with significant influence and a desire to improve. The paper also describes our approach towards improving a specific supply chain to achieve successful commercialisation of a new cultivar. The cultivar was primarily selected for good production characteristics and attractive visual appeal. The performance of the fruit is being monitored from farm to retail shelf to identify points where quality is lost and practices can be improved. A targeted R&D program is investigating ways of improving production efficiency (nutrition, flowering and canopy management), maturity standards to optimise flavour, harvesting and packing practices to reduce skin damage, and ripening and handling practices to optimise shelf life. This integrated approach is based on similar approaches used to improve the performance of existing mango and avocado cultivars.

The distribution of badnavirus-infected Musa germplasm from the International Transit Centre, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

Bioversity International is reviewing its moratorium on the distribution of virus-infected Musa germplasm from the International Transit Centre (ITC), and the ProMusa Crop Protection Working Group has been invited to comment on policy changes. This paper was written to form a basis of discussion among the working group members during the ISHS/ProMusa symposium. It argues that the distribution of Musa germplasm should be guided by the International Plant Protection Convention, which states that it is the responsibility of the importing country, not the exporter, to impose the phytosanitary measures. There may be special circumstances where the release of badnavirus-infected germplasm from the ITC could be justified.

Competition of sorghum cultivars and densities with Japanese millet (Echinochloa esculenta).

Field studies were conducted at two locations in southern Queensland, Australia during the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 growing seasons to determine the differential competitiveness of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) cultivars and crop densities against weeds and the sorghum yield loss due to weeds. Weed competition was investigated by growing sorghum in the presence or absence of a model grass weed, Japanese millet (Echinochloa esculenta). The correlation analyses showed that the early growth traits (height, shoot biomass, and daily growth rate of the shoot biomass) of sorghum adversely affected the height, biomass, and seed production of millet, as measured at maturity. "MR Goldrush" and "Bonus MR" were the most competitive cultivars, resulting in reduced weed biomass, weed density, and weed seed production. The density of sorghum also had a significant effect on the crop's ability to compete with millet. When compared to the density of 4.5 plants per m2, sorghum that was planted at 7.5 plants per m2 suppressed the density, biomass, and seed production of millet by 22%, 27% and 38%, respectively. Millet caused a significant yield loss in comparison with the weed-free plots. The combined weed-suppressive effects of the competitive cultivars, such as MR Goldrush, and high crop densities minimized the yield losses from the weeds. These results indicate that sorghum competition against grass weeds can be improved by choosing competitive cultivars and by using a high crop density of > 7.5 plants per m2. These non-chemical options should be included in an integrated weed management program for better weed management, particularly where the control options are limited by the evolution of herbicide resistance.

IXth International Symposium on Thysanoptera and Tospoviruses, 31st August-4th September 2009, Sea World Resort, Queensland, Australia.

This proceedings contains abstracts of 108 papers focusing on the different Tospovirus diseases of various crops and their thysanopteran vectors. The genetics of these pests and pathogens, the different methods used in their control and their geographical distribution are also highlighted.

International advances in prawn farm recirculation technology

This report provides details of visits and investigations conducted during an international study tour by the author.

CRC40142 Defining the plant pathogen risk posed by international travellers

This project will define the plant pathogen incursion risk posed by people returning from overseas and interstate travel. This will be achieved through the development of technically sound sample/survey methodologies. The project will initially focus on cereal rusts. An assessment of the current level of human mediated rust entries into Australia will be determined through the sampling of travellers who have been known to have visited grain production regions overseas.

Relocation of Intensive Agriculture to Northern Australia: The Case of the Rice Industry

Development of new agricultural industries in northern Australia is seen as a way to provide food security in the face of reduced water availability in existing regions in the south. This report aims to identify some of the possible economic consequences of developing a rice industry in the Burdekin region, while there is a reduction of output in the Riverina. Annual rice production in the Riverina peaked at 1.7 M tonnes, but the long-term outlook, given climate change impacts on that region and government water buy-backs, is more likely to be less than 800,000 tonnes. Growers are highly efficient water users by international standards, but the ability to offset an anticipated reduction in water availability through further efficiency gains is limited. In recent years growers in the Riverina have diversified their farms to a greater extent and secondary production systems include beef, sheep and wheat. Production in north Queensland is in its infancy, but a potentially suitable farming system has been developed by including rice within the sugarcane system without competition and in fact contributing to the production of sugar by increasing yields and controlling weeds. The economic outcomes are estimated a large scale, dynamic, computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the world economy (Tasman Global), scaled down to regional level. CGE models mimic the workings of the economy through a system of interdependent behavioural and accounting equations which are linked to an input-output database. When an economic shock or change is applied to a model, each of the markets adjusts according to the set of behavioural parameters which are underpinned by economic theory. In this study the model is driven by reducing production in the Riverina in accordance with relationships found between water availability and the production of rice and replacement by other crops and by increasing ride production in the Burdekin. Three scenarios were considered: • Scenario 1: Rice is grown using the fallow period between the last ratoon crop of sugarcane and the new planting. In this scenario there is no competition between rice and sugarcane • Scenario 2: Rice displaces sugarcane production • Scenario 3: Rice is grown on additional land and does not compete with sugarcane. Two time periods were used, 2030 and 2070, which are the conventional time points to consider climate change impacts. Under scenario 1, real economic output declines in the Riverina by $45 million in 2030 and by $139 million in 2070. This is only partially offset by the increased real economic output in the Burdekin of $35 million and $131 million respectively.

Predicting Additive and Non-additive Genetic Effects from Trials Where Traits Are Affected by Interplot Competition

There are two key types of selection in a plant breeding program, namely selection of hybrids for potential commercial use and the selection of parents for use in future breeding. Oakey et al. (in Theoretical and Applied Genetics 113, 809-819, 2006) showed how both of these aims could be achieved using pedigree information in a mixed model analysis in order to partition genetic effects into additive and non-additive effects. Their approach was developed for field trial data subject to spatial variation. In this paper we extend the approach for data from trials subject to interplot competition. We show how the approach may be used to obtain predictions of pure stand additive and non-additive effects. We develop the methodology in the context of a single field trial using an example from an Australian sorghum breeding program.

Can competition with pasture be used to manipulate bellyache bush (Jatropha gossypiifolia L.) population biology?

Bellyache bush (Jatropha gossypiifolia L.) is an invasive weed that poses economic and environmental problems in northern Australia. Competition between pasture and bellyache bush was examined in North Queensland using combinations of five pasture treatments (uncut (control); cut as low, medium, and high pasture; and no pasture) and four bellyache bush densities (0, 2, 6 and 12plantsm(-2)) in a buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) dominated pasture. The pasture treatments were applied approximately once per year but no treatments were applied directly to the bellyache bush plants. Measurements of bellyache bush flowering, seed formation, and mortality were undertaken over a 9-year period, along with monitoring the pasture basal cover and plant species diversity. Maximum flowering rates of bellyache bush occurred after 9 years (97%) in plots containing no pasture, with the lowest rates of 9% in uncut control plots. Earliest flowering (322 days after planting) and seed formation (411 days) also occurred in plots with no pasture compared with all other pasture treatments (range 1314-1393 days for seed formation to occur). No seeds were produced in uncut plots. At the end of 9 years, mortality rates of bellyache bush plants initially planted averaged 73% for treatments with some pasture compared with 55% under the no-pasture treatment. The percentage of herbaceous plant basal cover in uncut plots was increased 5-fold after 9 years, much greater than the average 2% increase recorded across the low, medium, and high pasture treatments. The number of herbaceous species in uncut plots remained largely unchanged, whereas there was an average reduction of 46% in the cut pasture treatments. Buffel grass remained the species with the greatest basal cover across all cut pasture treatments, followed by sabi grass (Urochloa mosambicensis (Hack.) Dandy) and then red Natal grass (Melinis repens (Willd.) Ziska). These results suggest that grazing strategies that maintain a healthy and competitive pasture layer may contribute to reducing the rate of spread of bellyache bush and complement traditional control techniques such as the use of herbicides.

Plot size matters: interference from intergenotypic competition in plant phenotyping studies

Genetic and physiological studies often comprise genotypes diverse in vigour, size and flowering time. This can make the phenotyping of complex traits challenging, particularly those associated with canopy development, biomass and yield, as the environment of one genotype can be influenced by a neighbouring genotype. Limited seed and space may encourage field assessment in single, spaced rows or in small, unbordered plots, whereas the convenience of a controlled environment or greenhouse makes pot studies tempting. However, the relevance of such growing conditions to commercial field-grown crops is unclear and often doubtful. Competition for water, light and nutrients necessary for canopy growth will be variable where immediate neighbours are genetically different, particularly under stress conditions, where competition for resources and influence on productivity is greatest. Small hills and rod-rows maximise the potential for intergenotypic competition that is not relevant to a crop’s performance in monocultures. Response to resource availability will typically vary among diverse genotypes to alter genotype ranking and reduce heritability for all growth-related traits, with the possible exception of harvest index. Validation of pot experiments to performance in canopies in the field is essential, whereas the planting of multirow plots and the simple exclusion of plot borders at harvest will increase experimental precision and confidence in genotype performance in target environments.