Cattle, crops and clearing: Regional drivers of landscape change in the Brigalow Belt, Queensland, Australia, 1840-2004

Landscape change occurs through the interaction of a multitude of natural and human driving forces at a range of organisational levels, with humans playing an increasingly dominant role in many regions of the world. Building on the current knowledge of the underlying drivers of landscape change, a conceptual framework of regional landscape change was developed which integrated population, economic and cultural values, policy and science/technology. Using the Southern Brigalow Belt biogeographic region of Queensland as a case study, the role of natural and human drivers in landscape change was investigated in four phases of settlement since 1840. The Brigalow Belt has experienced comparable rates of vegetation clearance over the past 50 years to areas of tropical deforestation. Economic factors were important during all phases of development, but the five regional drivers often acted in synergy. Environmental constraints played a significant role in slowing rates of change. Temporal trends of deforestation followed a sigmoidal curve, with initial slow change accelerating though the middle phases then slowing in recent times. Future landscape management needs to take account of the influence of all the components of the conceptual framework, at a range of organisational levels, if more ecologically sustainable outcomes are to be achieved. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolution of the regular zone of histone H1 in Fabaceae plants

An analysis of the historic H1 subtype, H1-1, in eight legumes belonging to four genera of the tribe Vicieae (Pisum, Lathyrus, Lens, and Vicia), revealed an extended region consisting of the tandemly repeated AKPAAK motifs. We named this region the Regular zone (RZ). The AKPAAK motifs are organized into two blocks separated by a short (two or six amino acids) intervening sequence (IS). The distal block contains six AKPAAK motifs, while the number of repeats in the proximal block varies from six in V. faba to seven in the other species. In V. hirsuta, the first two repeated units of the proximal block are octapeptides AKAKPAAK. The apparent rate of synonymous substitutions in the blocks of RZ is much higher than in the rest of the gene. This can be explained by repeat shuffling within each block. In the C-domain of the orthologous H1 subtype froth Medicago truncatula (tribe Trifolieae), a region corresponding to the RZ of Vicieae species was found. It also consists of two blocks of AKPAAK motifs (four and three repeats in the proximal and distal blocks, respectively). These blocks are separated by a 20-amino acid IS. The first 20 amino acids of the Medicago RZ are not part of AKPAAK repeats. We hypothesise that the RZ has most probably evolved as a result of an expansion of AKPAAK repeats from two separate sites in the C-domain. This process started tens of millions of years ago and was most likely directed by positive selection.

Interaction of the Hsp90 cochaperone cyclophilin 40 with Hsc70

The high-affinity ligand-binding form of unactivated steroid receptors exists as a multicomponent complex that includes heat shock protein (Hsp)90; one of the immunophilins cyclophilin 40 (CyP40), FKBP51, or FKBP52; and an additional p23 protein component. Assembly of this heterocomplex is mediated by Hsp70 in association with accessory chaperones Hsp40, Hip, and Hop. A conserved structural element incorporating a tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain mediates the interaction of the immunophilins with Hsp90 by accommodating the C-terminal EEVD peptide of the chaperone through a network of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. TPR cochaperones recognize the EEVD structural motif common to both Hsp90 and Hsp70 through a highly conserved clamp domain. In the present study, we investigated in vitro the molecular interactions between CyP40 and FKBP52 and other stress-related components involved in steroid receptor assembly, namely Hsp70 and Hop. Using a binding protein-retention assay with CyP40 fused to glutathione S-transferase immobilized on glutathione-agarose, we have identified the constitutively expressed form of Hsp70, heat shock cognate (Hsc)70, as an additional target for CyP40. Deletion mapping studies showed the binding determinants to be similar to those for CyP40-Hsp90 interaction. Furthermore, a mutational analysis of CyP40 clamp domain residues confirmed the importance of this motif in CyP40-Hsc70 interaction. Additional residues thought to mediate binding specificity through hydrophobic interactions were also important for Hsc70 recognition. CyP40 was shown to have a preference for Hsp90 over Hsc70. Surprisingly, FKBP52 was unable to compete with CyP40 for Hsc70 binding, suggesting that FKBP52 discriminates between the TPR cochaperone-binding sites in Hsp90 and Hsp70. Hop, which contains multiple units of the TPR motif, was shown to be a direct competitor with CyP40 for Hsc70 binding. Similar to Hop, CyP40 was shown not to influence the adenosine triphosphatase activity of Hsc70. Our results suggest that CyP40 may have a modulating role in Hsc70 as well as Hsp90 cellular function.

A new method for conservation planning for the persistence of multiple species

Although the aim of conservation planning is the persistence of biodiversity, current methods trade-off ecological realism at a species level in favour of including multiple species and landscape features. For conservation planning to be relevant, the impact of landscape configuration on population processes and the viability of species needs to be considered. We present a novel method for selecting reserve systems that maximize persistence across multiple species, subject to a conservation budget. We use a spatially explicit metapopulation model to estimate extinction risk, a function of the ecology of the species and the amount, quality and configuration of habitat. We compare our new method with more traditional, area-based reserve selection methods, using a ten-species case study, and find that the expected loss of species is reduced 20-fold. Unlike previous methods, we avoid designating arbitrary weightings between reserve size and configuration; rather, our method is based on population processes and is grounded in ecological theory.

Student Difficulties with units in differential equations in modelling contexts

First-year undergraduate engineering students' understanding of the units of factors and terms in first-order ordinary differential equations used in modelling contexts was investigated using diagnostic quiz questions. Few students appeared to realize that the units of each term in such equations must be the same, or if they did, nevertheless failed to apply that knowledge when needed. In addition, few students were able to determine the units of a proportionality factor in a simple equation. These results indicate that lecturers of modelling courses cannot take this foundational knowledge for granted and should explicitly include it in instruction.