An improved technique for estimating short-term survival of released line-caught fish, and an application comparing barotrauma-relief methods in red emperor (Lutjanus sebae Cuvier 1816).

Promotion of better procedures for releasing undersize fish, advocacy of catch-and-release angling, and changing minimum legal sizes are increasingly being used as tools for sustainable management of fish stocks. However without knowing the proportion of released fish that survive, the conservation value of any of these measures is uncertain. We developed a floating vertical enclosure to estimate short-term survival of released line-caught tropical and subtropical reef-associated species, and used it to compare the effectiveness of two barotrauma-relief procedures (venting and shotline releasing) on red emperor (Lutjanus sebae). Barotrauma signs varied with capture depth, but not with the size of the fish. Fish from the greatest depths (40-52 m) exhibited extreme signs less frequently than did those from intermediate depths (30-40 m), possibly as a result of swim bladder gas being vented externally through a rupture in the body wall. All but two fish survived the experiment, and as neither release technique significantly improved short-term survival of the red emperor over non-treatment we see little benefit in promoting either venting or shotline releasing for this comparatively resilient species. Floating vertical enclosures can improve short-term post-release mortality estimates as they overcome many problems encountered when constraining fish in submerged cages.

Best use modelling for sustainable Australia sports field surfaces

The Best Use Modelling for Sustainable Australian Sports Field Surfaces project has achieved significant success. The project has attracted participation from councils throughout Australia, with in excess of 300 sports fields evaluated from 18 councils to date. An important project component is the derivation of a recommended standard procedure for specifying the performance of playing surfaces. An associated step has been to establish recommended playing surface performance standards for community level sports fields. The derived modelling also provides information on the expected usage and associated costs of different sports surface development options. This is expected to assist the Australian turf production industry through demonstrating to councils that cost effective natural turf options exist that can meet higher usage expectation (as a viable alternative to synthetic turf). A web-accessed data base system will be made available to councils from January 2010 on (reference to www.passturf.com). This system will enable participating councils to record and analyse field performance over time. The system is considered world-leading, and will help keep the Australian parks industry to the international forefront. Tools developed as part of the project offer councils the opportunity to internally assess the performance of their current sports field provision, to identify any deficiencies and to determine the best corrective measure if any deficiency is identified. This is expected to offer community benefits to both sports facility providers and facility user groups. In turn this will aid the provision of affordable community access to safe and good quality playing surfaces. Tools and associated information material will be made available to councils throughout Australia by the end of this year, via the Parks and Leisure Aust. web site. The Best Use Modelling Project is work in progress. On-going input will be needed to ensure the web-accessed database software is as user friendly as possible, new performance testing data will need to be inputted, and tools provided to participating councils updated. Through the support of HAL there is now a well-structured, nationally-supported system in place for benchmarking playing surfaces and for assisting councils to optimise their resource allocation to sports field upgrade or maintenance work.

QTL mapping of multiple foliar disease and root-lesion nematode resistances in wheat.

A genetic linkage map, based on a cross between the synthetic hexaploid CPI133872 and the bread wheat cultivar Janz, was established using 111 F1-derived doubled haploid lines. The population was phenotyped in multiple years and/or locations for seven disease resistance traits, namely, Septoria tritici blotch (Mycosphaeralla graminicola), yellow leaf spot also known as tan spot (Pyrenophora tritici-repentis), stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici), leaf rust (Puccinia triticina), stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) and two species of root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchyus thornei and P. neglectus). The DH population was also scored for coleoptile colour and the presence of the seedling leaf rust resistance gene Lr24. Implementation of a multiple-QTL model identified a tightly linked cluster of foliar disease resistance QTL in chromosome 3DL. Major QTL each for resistance to Septoria tritici blotch and yellow leaf spot were contributed by the synthetic hexaploid parent CPI133872 and linked in repulsion with the coincident Lr24Sr24/ locus carried by parent Janz. This is the first report of linked QTL for Septoria tritici blotch and yellow leaf spot contributed by the same parent. Additional QTL for yellow leaf spot were detected in 5AS and 5BL. Consistent QTL for stripe rust resistance were identified in chromosomes 1BL, 4BL and 7DS, with the QTL in 7DS corresponding to the Yr18Lr34/ region. Three major QTL for P. thornei resistance (2BS, 6DS, 6DL) and two for P. neglectus resistance (2BS, 6DS) were detected. The recombinants combining resistance to Septoria tritici blotch, yellow leaf spot, rust diseases and root-lesion nematodes from parents CPI133872 and Janz constitute valuable germplasm for the transfer of multiple disease resistance into new wheat cultivars.