Climate variability, climate change and land degradation

Effective response by government and individuals to the risk of land degradation requires an understanding of regional climate variations and the impacts of climate and management on condition and productivity of land and vegetation resources. Analysis of past land degradation and climate variability provides some understanding of vulnerability to current and future climate changes and the information needs for more sustainable management. We describe experience in providing climate risk assessment information for managing for the risk of land degradation in north-eastern Australian arid and semi-arid regions used for extensive grazing. However, we note that information based on historical climate variability, which has been relied on in the past, will now also have to factor in the influence of human-induced climate change. Examples illustrate trends in climate for Australia over the past decade and the impacts on indicators of resource condition. The analysis highlights the benefits of insights into past trends and variability in rainfall and other climate variables based on extended historic databases. This understanding in turn supports more reliable regional climate projections and decision support information for governments and land managers to better manage the risk of land degradation now and in the future.

A regional interpretation of rules and good practice for greenhouse accounting : Northern Australian savanna systems

Land-use change, particularly clearing of forests for agriculture, has contributed significantly to the observed rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Concern about the impacts on climate has led to efforts to monitor and curtail the rapid increase in concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Internationally, much of the current focus is on the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Although electing to not ratify the Protocol, Australia, as a party to the UNFCCC, reports on national greenhouse gas emissions, trends in emissions and abatement measures. In this paper we review the complex accounting rules for human activities affecting greenhouse gas fluxes in the terrestrial biosphere and explore implications and potential opportunities for managing carbon in the savanna ecosystems of northern Australia. Savannas in Australia are managed for grazing as well as for cultural and environmental values against a background of extreme climate variability and disturbance, notably fire. Methane from livestock and non-CO2 emissions from burning are important components of the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with management of savannas. International developments in carbon accounting for the terrestrial biosphere bring a requirement for better attribution of change in carbon stocks and more detailed and spatially explicit data on such characteristics of savanna ecosystems as fire regimes, production and type of fuel for burning, drivers of woody encroachment, rates of woody regrowth, stocking rates and grazing impacts. The benefits of improved biophysical information and of understanding the impacts on ecosystem function of natural factors and management options will extend beyond greenhouse accounting to better land management for multiple objectives.

Recovering Functional Integrity in Pastures Dominated by an Invasive Grass Species

Exotic grasses have been introduced in countries worldwide for pasture improvement, soil stabilisation and ornamental purposes. Some of these introductions have proven successful, but many have not (Cook & Dias 2006). In Australia, the Commonwealth Plant Introduction Scheme was initiated in 1929, and over-time introduced more than 5000 species of grasses, legumes and other forage and browse plants (Cook & Dias 2006). Lonsdale (1994) suggested that, in tropical Australia, 13% of introductions have become a problem, with only 5% being considered useful for agriculture. Low (1997) suggested that 5 out of 18 of Australia's worst tropical environmental weeds were intentionally introduced as pasture grasses. The spread and dominance of invasive grass species that degrade the quality of pastures for production can impact significantly on the livelihoods of small proprietors. Although Livestock grazing contributes only a small percentage to the world's GDP (1.5%), maintaining the long-term stability of this industry is crucial because of the high social and environmental consequence of a collapse. One billion of the world's poor are dependent on livestock grazing for food and income with this industry occupying more than 25% of the world's land base (Steinfeld et al. 2006). The ling-term sustainability of livestock grazing is also crucial for the environment. A recent FAO report attributed livestock production as a major cause of five of the most serious environmental problems: global warming, land degredation, air and water pollution, and the loss of biodiversity (Steinfeld et al. 2006). For these reasons, finding more effective approaches that guide the sustainable management of pastures is urgently needed. In Australia more than 55% of land use is for livestock grazing by sheelp and/or cattle. This land use dominate in the semi-arid and arid regions where rainfall and soil conditions are marginal for production (Commonwealth of Australia 2004). Although the level of agriculture production by conglomerates is increasing, the majority of livestock grazing within Australia remains family owned and operated (Commonwealth of Australia 2004). The sustainability of production from a grazed pasture is dependent on its botanical composition (Kemp & Dowling 1991, Kemp et al. 1996). In a grazed pasture, the dominance of an invasive grass species can impact on the functional integrity of the ecosystem, including production and nutrient cycling; wwhich will in turn, affect the income of proprietors and the ability of the system to recover from disturbance and environmental change. In Australia, $0.3 billion is spent on weed control in livestock production, but despite this substantial investment $1.9 billion is still lost in yield as a result of weeds (Sinden et al. 2004). In this paper, we adaprt a framework proposed for the restoration of degraded rainforest communities (Lamb & Gilmour 2003, Lamb et al. 2005) to compare and contrast options for recovering function integrity (i.e. a diverse set of desirable plant species that maintain key ecological processes necessary for sustainable production and nutrient cycling) within pasture communities dominated by an invasive grass species. To do this, we uase a case-study of the invasion of Eragrostis curvula (Africal lovegrss; hereafter, Lovegrass), a serious concern in Australian agricultural communities (Parsons and Cuthbertson 1992). The spread and dominance of Lovegrass is a problem because its low palatability, low nutritional content and competitiveness affect the livelihood of graziers by reducing the diversity of other plant species. We conclude by suggesting modifications to this framework for pasture ecosystems to help increase the effiency of strategies to protect functional integrity and balance social/economic and biodiversity values.

Valuing the influence of underlying attitudes and the demand for organic milk in Japan

Subjective perceptions about a product affect consumer choice. Accordingly, acquiring the underlying demand characteristics that consumers find desirable is vital for firms planning future marketing strategies. However, the extent to which product-specific perceptions affect consumer choice is poorly understood. New agricultural standards for organic livestock were introduced in Japan in November 2005 and are expected to influence the market significantly. Choice modeling (CM) is used to explore how consumers evaluate the latent demands and conventional attributes (or tangible values) of organic milk. The results suggest that latent demands, along with socioeconomic characteristics and conventional attributes, provide strong incentives for consumers to move from the purchase of conventional milk to organic milk. The analysis indicates that latent demands reflecting the safeness of organic milk, the better taste of organic milk, the image of environmental friendliness in the production process, and the image of the health and comfort of the cows are important factors that influence consumers' purchasing decisions. However, each specific factor has a corresponding conventional tangible attribute that needs to be targeted in marketing strategy.

Developments in mud filtration technology in the sugarcane industry

Dirt collected with sugarcane is processed and separated from the juice in the sugar factory by filtration equipment for return to the cane fields. New technologies over the past decade have enabled performance improvements to be obtained for this key unit operation. Filter mud product still contains a reasonable amount of sugar and the transportation of high moisture mud product has considerable cost. Australia’s traditional approach has been to use Rotary Vacuum Filters for processing and separating mud and other impurities from juice, but in recent years there has been interest in reducing sugar losses and transportation costs through utilisation of new technologies such as Horizontal Bed Filters, Vacuum Belt Press Filters, Membrane Press Filters and Centrifuges. Increasingly, these alternative equipment are being installed in new factories. This chapter describes the general principles of mud filtration theory and mud conditioning followed by a detailed description and review of the various filtration technologies and analysis of the relative merits associated with the equipment.

Effect of chute level on mill capacity

IN MANY FACTORIES, the feed chute of the first mill is operated with a high chute level for the purpose of maximising the cane rate through the mill. There is a trend towards trying to control chute level within a small control range near the top of a chute that can result in rapid changes in cane feeding rate to maintain the chute level set point. This paper reviews the theory that predicts higher cane rate with higher chute level and discusses the main weakness in the theory that it does not consider the beneficial effect on capacity of cane falling from the top of the chute to the top surface of the cane mat. An extension to the chute theory model is described that predicts higher capacity with lower chute level because of the effect of the falling cane. The original model and this extended model are believed to be the upper and lower limits to the true effect. The paper reports an experiment that measured the real effect of chute level on capacity and finds that increasing chute level does lead to higher capacity but that the trend is only about one-third as strong as the original theory predicted. The paper questions whether the benefits of slightly greater capacity outweigh the costs of operating with the small control range near the top of the chute.

Comparative genomics of koala, cattle and sheep strains of Chlamydia pecorum

Background Chlamydia pecorum is an important pathogen of domesticated livestock including sheep, cattle and pigs. This pathogen is also a key factor in the decline of the koala in Australia. We sequenced the genomes of three koala C. pecorum strains, isolated from the urogenital tracts and conjunctiva of diseased koalas. The genome of the C. pecorum VR629 (IPA) strain, isolated from a sheep with polyarthritis, was also sequenced. Results Comparisons of the draft C. pecorum genomes against the complete genomes of livestock C. pecorum isolates revealed that these strains have a conserved gene content and order, sharing a nucleotide sequence similarity > 98%. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) appear to be key factors in understanding the adaptive process. Two regions of the chromosome were found to be accumulating a large number of SNPs within the koala strains. These regions include the Chlamydia plasticity zone, which contains two cytotoxin genes (toxA and toxB), and a 77 kbp region that codes for putative type III effector proteins. In one koala strain (MC/MarsBar), the toxB gene was truncated by a premature stop codon but is full-length in IPTaLE and DBDeUG. Another five pseudogenes were also identified, two unique to the urogenital strains C. pecorum MC/MarsBar and C. pecorum DBDeUG, respectively, while three were unique to the koala C. pecorum conjunctival isolate IPTaLE. An examination of the distribution of these pseudogenes in C. pecorum strains from a variety of koala populations, alongside a number of sheep and cattle C. pecorum positive samples from Australian livestock, confirmed the presence of four predicted pseudogenes in koala C. pecorum clinical samples. Consistent with our genomics analyses, none of these pseudogenes were observed in the livestock C. pecorum samples examined. Interestingly, three SNPs resulting in pseudogenes identified in the IPTaLE isolate were not found in any other C. pecorum strain analysed, raising questions over the origin of these point mutations. Conclusions The genomic data revealed that variation between C. pecorum strains were mainly due to the accumulation of SNPs, some of which cause gene inactivation. The identification of these genetic differences will provide the basis for further studies to understand the biology and evolution of this important animal pathogen. Keywords: Chlamydia pecorum; Single nucleotide polymorphism; Pseudogene; Cytotoxin

Choose wisely: Network, ontology and annotation resources for the analysis of Staphylococcus aureus omics data

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a prominent human and livestock pathogen investigated widely using omic technologies. Critically, due to availability, low visibility or scattered resources, robust network and statistical contextualisation of the resulting data is generally under-represented. Here, we present novel meta-analyses of freely-accessible molecular network and gene ontology annotation information resources for S. aureus omics data interpretation. Furthermore, through the application of the gene ontology annotation resources we demonstrate their value and ability (or lack-there-of) to summarise and statistically interpret the emergent properties of gene expression and protein abundance changes using publically available data. This analysis provides simple metrics for network selection and demonstrates the availability and impact that gene ontology annotation selection can have on the contextualisation of bacterial omics data.

Applying digital product memories in industrial production

Industrial production and supply chains face increased demands for mass customization and tightening regulations on the traceability of goods, leading to higher requirements concerning flexibility, adaptability, and transparency of processes. Technologies for the ’Internet of Things' such as smart products and semantic representations pave the way for future factories and supply chains to fulfill these challenging market demands. In this chapter a backend-independent approach for information exchange in open-loop production processes based on Digital Product Memories DPMs is presented. By storing order-related data directly on the item, relevant lifecycle information is attached to the product itself. In this way, information handover between several stages of the value chain with focus on the manufacturing phase of a product has been realized. In order to report best practices regarding the application of DPM in the domain of industrial production, system prototype implementations focusing on the use case of producing and handling a smart drug case are illustrated.

Air analysis

There are three distinct categories of air environment to be considered in this chapter. These are as follows: (1) The “ambient” or general outdoors atmosphere to which the members of the population are exposed when they venture out of their homes or offices in industrial, urban or rural environments. (2) Indoor air environments, which occur in buildings such as homes, schools, restaurants, public hospitals and office buildings. This category does not cover factories or workplaces which are otherwise subjected to the provisions of various occupational health standards. (3) Workplace atmospheres, which occur in a variety of industries or factories and for which there are numerous atmospheric concentration limits (or exposure standards) promulgated by appropriate bodies or organisations. Since 2009 setting concentration limits for atmospheric contaminants has been administered by Safe Work Australia. A fourth category of air environment which falls outside this chapter is that which is related to upper atmospheric research, global atmospheric effects and concomitant areas of inquiry and/or debate. Such areas include “greenhouse” gas emissions, ozone depletion, and related matters of atmospheric chemistry and physics. This category is not referred to again in this chapter.

Climate-ready crops: Intellectual property, agriculture, and climate change

In The Climate Change Review, Ross Garnaut emphasised that ‘Climate change and climate change mitigation will bring about major structural change in the agriculture, forestry and other land use sectors’. He provides this overview of the effects of climate change on food demand and supply: ‘Domestic food production in many developing countries will be at immediate risk of reductions in agricultural productivity due to crop failure, livestock loss, severe weather events and new patterns of pests and diseases.’ He observes that ‘Changes to local climate and water availability will be key determinants of where agricultural production occurs and what is produced.’ Gert Würtenberger has commented that modern plant breeding is particularly concerned with addressing larger issues about nutrition, food security and climate change: ‘Modern plant breeding has an increasing importance with regard to the continuously growing demand for plants for nutritional and feeding purposes as well as with regard to renewal energy sources and the challenges caused by climate changes.’ Moreover, he notes that there is a wide array of scientific and technological means of breeding new plant varieties: ‘Apart from classical breeding, technologies have an important role in the development of plants that satisfy the various requirements that industrial and agricultural challenges expect to be fulfilled.’ He comments: ‘Plant variety rights, as well as patents which protect such results, are of increasingly high importance to the breeders and enterprises involved in plant development programmes.’ There has been larger interest in the intersections between sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and food security. The debate over agricultural intellectual property is a polarised one, particularly between plant breeders, agricultural biotechnology companies and a range of environmentalist groups. Susan Sell comments that there are complex intellectual property battles surrounding agriculture: 'Seeds are at the centre of a complex political dynamic between stakeholders. Access to seeds concerns the balance between private rights and public obligations, private ownership and the public domain, and commercial versus humanitarian objectives.' Part I of this chapter considers debates in respect of plant breeders’ rights, food security and climate change in relation to the UPOV Convention 1991. Part II explores efforts by agricultural biotechnology companies to patent climate-ready crops. Part III considers the report of the Special Rapporteur for Food, Olivier De Schutter. It looks at a variety of options to encourage access to plant varieties with climate adaptive or mitigating properties.

Molecular and pathological insights into Chlamydia pecorum-associated sporadic bovine encephalomyelitis (SBE) in Western Australia

Background Despite its global recognition as a ruminant pathogen, cases of Chlamydia pecorum infection in Australian livestock are poorly documented. In this report, a C. pecorum specific Multi Locus Sequence Analysis scheme was used to characterise the C. pecorum strains implicated in two cases of sporadic bovine encephalomyelitis confirmed by necropsy, histopathology and immunohistochemistry. This report provides the first molecular evidence for the presence of mixed infections of C. pecorum strains in Australian cattle. Case presentation Affected animals were two markedly depressed, dehydrated and blind calves, 12 and 16 weeks old. The calves were euthanized and necropsied. In one calf, a severe fibrinous polyserositis was noted with excess joint fluid in all joints whereas in the other, no significant lesions were seen. No gross abnormalities were noted in the brain of either calf. Histopathological lesions seen in both calves included: multifocal, severe, subacute meningoencephalitis with vasculitis, fibrinocellular thrombosis and malacia; diffuse, mild, acute interstitial pneumonia; and diffuse, subacute epicarditis, severe in the calf with gross serositis. Immunohistochemical labelling of chlamydial antigen in brain, spleen and lung from the two affected calves and brain from two archived cases, localised the antigen to the cytoplasm of endothelium, mesothelium and macrophages. C. pecorum specific qPCR, showed dissemination of the pathogen to multiple organs. Phylogenetic comparisons with other C. pecorum bovine strains from Australia, Europe and the USA revealed the presence of two genetically distinct sequence types (ST). The predominant ST detected in the brain, heart, lung and liver of both calves was identical to the C. pecorum ST previously described in cases of SBE. A second ST detected in an ileal tissue sample from one of the calves, clustered with previously typed faecal bovine isolates. Conclusion This report provides the first data to suggest that identical C. pecorum STs may be associated with SBE in geographically separated countries and that these may be distinct from those found in the gastrointestinal tract. This report provides a platform for further investigations into SBE and for understanding the genetic relationships that exist between C. pecorum strains detected in association with other infectious diseases in livestock.

The effects of gas and air flow distributions on the performance of the Farleigh No. 3 boiler

As more raw sugar factories become involved in the manufacture of by-products and cogeneration, bagasse is becoming an increasingly valuable commodity. However, in most factories, most of the bagasse produced is used to generate steam in relatively old and inefficient boilers. Efficient bagasse fired boilers are a high capital cost item and the cost of supplying the steam required to run a sugar factory by other means is prohibitive. For many factories a more realistic way to reduce bagasse consumption is to increase the efficiency of existing boilers. The Farleigh No. 3 boiler is a relatively old low efficiency boiler. Like many in the industry, the performance of this boiler has been adversely affected by uneven gas and air flow distributions and air heater leaks. The combustion performance and efficiency of this boiler have been significantly improved by making the gas and air flow distributions through the boiler more uniform and repairing the air heater. The estimated bagasse savings easily justify the cost of the boiler improvements.

Planning, development and management of sustainable cities: A commentary from the guest editors

Cities are the most dramatic manifestations of human activities on the surface of the earth. These human-dominated organisms—i.e., cities—degrade natural habitats, simplify species composition, disrupt hydrological systems, and modify energy flow and nutrient cycling. Today, these consequential impacts of human activities, originated from population increase, rapid urbanization, high private motor vehicle dependency, deregulated industrialization and mass livestock production, are increasing exponentially and causing great deal of environmental, social, and economic challenges both at global and local scales. In such a situation, establishment of sustainable cities, through sustainable urban development practices, is seen as a potential panacea to combat these challenges responsibly, effectively, and efficiently. This paper offers a critical review of the key literature on the issues relating to planning, development and management of sustainable cities, introduces the contributions from the Special Issue, and speculates on the prospective research directions to place necessary mechanisms to secure a sustainable urban future for all.

Biotechnology in the development of improved phytases

Phytase enzyme supplements are now ubiquitous in the commercial production of a range of livestock, particularly chickens and pigs. Significant effort has been directed over the last two decades towards producing improved enzymes with higher activity, increased stability and at economic levels in industrial fermentations. As such, there are excellent products on the market, but there is a continuing demand for further improvements to drive down costs and for enzyme manufacturers to increase market share. The rapid development of DNA sequencing and gene synthesis technologies has provided ready access to a large number of new and uncharacterised potential phytases. Challenges remain however in identifying and developing those with improved properties.