Testing landscape metrics as indicators of habitat loss and fragmentation in continuous eucalypt forests (Queensland, Australia)

Landscape metrics are widely applied in landscape ecology to quantify landscape structure. However, many are poorly tested and require rigorous validation if they are to serve as reliable indicators of habitat loss and fragmentation, such as Montreal Process Indicator 1.1e. We apply a landscape ecology theory, supported by exploratory and confirmatory statistical techniques, to empirically test landscape metrics for reporting Montreal Process Indicator 1.1e in continuous dry eucalypt forests of sub-tropical Queensland, Australia. Target biota examined included: the Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis); the diversity of nectar and sap feeding glider species including P. australis, the Sugar Glider P. breviceps, the Squirrel Glider P. norfolcensis, and the Feathertail Glider Acrobates pygmaeus; six diurnal forest birds species; total diurnal bird species diversity; and the density of nectar-feeding diurnal bird species. Two scales of influence were considered: the stand-scale (2 ha), and a series of radial landscape extents (500 m - 2 km; 78 - 1250 ha) surrounding each fauna transect. For all biota, stand-scale structural and compositional attributes were found to be more influential than landscape metrics. For the Yellow-bellied Glider, the proportion of trace habitats with a residual element of old spotted-gum/ironbark eucalypt trees was a significant landscape metric at the 2 km landscape extent. This is a measure of habitat loss rather than habitat fragmentation. For the diversity of nectar and sap feeding glider species, the proportion of trace habitats with a high coefficient of variation in patch size at the 750 m extent was a significant landscape metric. None of the landscape metrics tested was important for diurnal forest birds. We conclude that no single landscape metric adequately captures the response of the region's forest biota per se. This poses a major challenge to regional reporting of Montreal Process Indicator 1.1e, fragmentation of forest types.

Houses near Cotton Tree Housing Estate, Maroochydore

This pilot project at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore, on two adjacent, linear parcels of land has one of the properties privately owned while the other is owned by the public housing authority. Both owners commissioned Lindsay and Kerry Clare to design housing for their separate needs which enabled the two projects to be governed by a single planning and design strategy. This entailed the realignment of the dividing boundary to form two approximately square blocks which made possible the retention of an important stand of mature paperbark trees and gave each block a more useful street frontage. The scheme provides seven two-bedroom units and one single-bedroom unit as the private component, with six single-bedroom units, three two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units forming the public housing. The dwellings are deployed as an interlaced mat of freestanding blocks, car courts, courtyard gardens, patios and decks. The key distinction between the public and private parts of the scheme is the pooling of the car parking spaces in the public housing to create a shared courtyard. The housing climbs to three storeys on its southern edge and falls to a single storey on the north-western corner. This enables all units and the principal private outdoor spaces to have a northern orientation. The interiors of both the public and private units are skilfully arranged to take full advantage of views, light and breeze.

Holiday houses, Judge House, Camp Island

As seen from hill behind.

Weathering of hydrocarbons in mangrove sediments: testing the effects of using dispersants to treat oil spills

This field study was a combined chemical and biological investigation of the relative effects of using dispersants to treat oil spills impacting mangrove habitats. The aim of the chemistry was to determine whether dispersant affected the short- or long-term composition of a medium range crude oil (Gippsland) stranded in a tropical mangrove environment in Queensland, Australia. Sediment cores from three replicate plots of each treatment (oil only and oil plus dispersant) were analyzed for total hydrocarbons and for individual molecular markers (alkanes, aromatics, triterpanes, and steranes). Sediments were collected at 2 days, then 1, 7, 13 and 22 months post-spill. Over this time, oil in the six treated plots decreased exponentially from 36.6 +/- 16.5 to 1.2 +/- 0.8 mg/g dry wt. There was no statistical difference in initial oil concentrations, penetration of oil to depth, or in the rates of oil dissipation between oiled or dispersed oil plots. At 13 months, alkanes were >50% degraded, aromatics were similar to 30% degraded based upon ratios of labile to resistant markers. However, there was no change in the triterpane or sterane biomarker signatures of the retained oil. This is of general forensic interest for pollution events. The predominant removal processes were evaporation (less than or equal to 27%) and dissolution (greater than or equal to 56%), with a lag-phase of 1 month before the start of significant microbial degradation (less than or equal to 7%). The most resistant fraction of the oil that remained after 7 months (the higher molecular weight hydrocarbons) correlated with the initial total organic carbon content of the soil. Removal rate in the Queensland mangroves was significantly faster than that observed in the Caribbean and was related to tidal flushing. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emergence of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in Queensland, Australia

Objectives: To investigate the incidence and epidemiology of non-multiresistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (nmMRSA) infection in south-east Queensland, Australia. Study design: A retrospective survey was done of hospital records of all patients who had non-multiresistant MRSA isolated at Ipswich Hospital (a 250-bed general hospital, 40 km south-west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) between March 2000 and June 2001. Laboratory typing of these isolates was done with antibiogram, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, bacteriophage typing and coagulase gene typing. Results: There were 44 infections caused by nmMRSA. Seventeen infections (39%) occurred in patients from the south-west Pacific Islands (predominantly Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand). Laboratory typing showed that the isolates in Pacific Islanders were Pacific Island strains, and 16/17 of these infections were community acquired. Twenty-three infections (52%) occurred in Caucasians. Eleven of the isolates from Caucasians (48%) were a new predominantly community-acquired strain that we have termed the ‘R’ pulsotype, nine (39%) were Pacific Island strains, and three (13%) were health care institution-associated strains. Four infections occurred in patients who were not Caucasians or Pacific Islanders. Overall, 34 of all 44 infections (77%) were community' acquired. Conclusions: Non-multiresistant MRSA infection, relatively frequently observed in Pacific Islanders in south-east Queensland, is now a risk for Caucasians as well, and is usually community acquired. Clinicians should consider taking microbiological specimens for culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing in patients with suspected staphylococcal infections who are not responding to empirical therapy with β-lactam antibiotics.

Type of housing predicts rate of readmission to hospital but not length of stay in people with schizophrenia on the Gold Coast in Queensland

Accommodation is considered to be important by institutions interested in mental health care both in Australia and internationally. Some authorities assert that no component of a community mental health system is more important than decent affordable housing. Unfortunately there has been little research in Australia into the consequences of discharging people with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia to different types of accommodation. This paper uses archival data to investigate the outcomes for people with schizophrenia discharged to two types of accommodation. The types of accommodation chosen are the person's own home and for-profit boarding house. These two were chosen because the literature suggests that they are respectively the most and least desirable types of accommodation. Results suggest that people with schizophrenia who were discharged to boarding houses are significantly more likely to be readmitted to the psychiatric unit of Gold Coast Hospital although their length of stay in hospital is not significantly different. (author abstract)

Entomological investigations in a focus of dengue transmission in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, by using the sticky ovitraps

Sticky ovitraps (patent pending) were used to sample female Aedes aegypti (L.) weekly in a focus of dengue activity in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. In February 2003, transmission of dengue virus serotype 2 began in the suburb of Parramatta Park, peaking in mid-March 2003. This suburb features many older, unscreened houses with high populations of Ae. aegypti. Highest densities (2-3.5 females per trap per week) were obtained during peak dengue transmission (January and February) before mosquito control was initiated. Beginning in late March, female Ae. aegypti collected in sticky ovitraps were tested for dengue viral RNA by using a TaqMan reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay. Dengue viral RNA was detected in six pools of Ae. aegypti collected in late March. The highest minimum infection rate was 116/1000 mosquitoes. After the initiation of larval control (containers treated with S-methoprene or lambda-cyhalothrin) and adult control (interior harborage sites sprayed with lambda-cyhalothrin) in early March, trap collections dropped to

Inflatable rescue boat-related injuries in Queensland surf lifesavers: The epidemiology - biomechanics interface

The objective was to describe the relationship between epidemiological and biomechanical factors in the causal pathway of inflatable rescue boat (IRB)-related injuries in Australian surf lifesavers; to develop epidemiological and biomechanical methodologies and measurement instruments that identify and measure the risk factors, for use in future epidemiological studies. Epidemiological and biomechanical models of injury causation were combined. Host, agent and environmental factors that influenced total available force for transfer to host were specified. Measurement instruments for each of the specified risk factors were developed. Instruments were piloted in a volunteer sample of surf lifesavers. Participant characteristics were recorded using demographic questionnaires; IRB operating techniques were recorded using a custom-made on-board camera (Grand RF-Guard) and images of operating techniques were coded by two independent observers. Ground reaction forces transmitted to the host through the lifesaver's feet at the time of wave impact were measured using a custom-built piezoelectric force platform. The demographic questionnaire was found practical; the on-board camera functioned successfully within the target environment. Agreement between independent coders of IRB operating technique images was significant (p < 0.001) with Kappa values ranging from 0.5 to 0.7. Biomechanical instruments performed successfully in the target environment. Peak biomechanical forces were 415.6N (left foot) and 252.9N (right foot). This study defines the relationship between epidemiological and biomechanical factors in modifying the risk of IRB-related injury in a population of surf lifesavers. Preliminary feasibility of combining epidemiological and biomechanical information has been demonstrated. Further testing of the proposed model and measurement instruments is required.