Wetland reservation status and reserve design in the Wimmera, Victoria

Article found under "Notes and Abstracts" Pdf/hard copy miss labelled as vol. 2 no.4

Hydrology or floristics? Mapping and classification of wetlands in Victoria, Australia, and implications for conservation planning

A national approach to the conservation of biodiversity in Australia’s freshwater ecosystems is a high priority. This requires a consistent and comprehensive system for the classification, inventory, and assessment of wetland ecosystems. This paper, using the State of Victoria as a case study, compares two classification systems that are commonly utilized to delineate and map wetlands—one based on hydrology (Victorian Wetland Database [VWD]) and one based on indigenous vegetation types and other natural features (Ecological Vegetation Classes [EVC]). We evaluated the extent of EVC mapping of wetlands relative to the VWD classification system using a number of datasets within a geographical information system. There were significant differences in the coverage of extant EVCs across bioregions, different-sized wetlands, and VWD wetland types. Resultant depletion levels were markedly different when examined using the two systems, with depletion levels, and therefore perceived conservation status, of EVCs being significantly higher. Although there is little doubt that many wetland ecosystems in Victoria are in fact threatened, the extent of this threat cannot accurately be determined by relying on the EVC mapping as it currently stands. The study highlighted the significant impact wetland classification methods have in determining the conservation status of freshwater ecosystems.

'Publics' or 'stakeholders'? Performing social responsibility through stakeholder software

Government and corporate organizations increasingly seek the support of the communities where they operate and represent themselves as good corporate citizens with a sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These organizations seek to create and sustain dialogue with their many and varied ‘stakeholders’ and reject traditional ‘PR’ approaches that regard communication as a way to manipulate ‘target publics’. Some of these organizations use a form of ‘stakeholder software’ to guide and support their efforts to embrace CSR in their operations and this article examines two such software packages. It sets their use and the broader drive for CSR in the context of a diminishing trust in traditional institutions and a rise in new, extra-parliamentary forms of activism (new activism); and it examines stakeholder software’s potential contribution to a values-based approach to PR training in universities and colleges.

Freshwater reserves in Australia : directions and challenges for the development of a comprehensive, adequate and representative system of protected areas

The establishment of a system of protected areas that samples all ecosystems, including freshwater environments, in a comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) manner is regarded as a cornerstone for the conservation of biodiversity. There have been few quantitative assessments of the comprehensiveness, adequacy and representativeness of freshwater reserves in Australia. This paper reviews and quantifies the effect of classification of freshwater ecosystems for conservation planning, the importance of reservation status and protection measures for developing a CAR reserve system, and aspects of reserve design for freshwater ecosystems. We propose a strategic and iterative process that incorporates these measures to assist in the efficient and effective development of freshwater reserve systems worldwide. However, the provision of suitable water regimes for freshwater reserves presents further ecological and political challenges, and even adequate reservation of freshwater ecosystems may not conserve constituent biodiversity without effective management.

The unhallowed art : literature and literary fakes in Australia

The fiction of Peter Carey is peopled by the unhallowed; by ghosts and the ghostly. In Bliss (1981), Carey presents us with the Dantesque trials of an advertising executive after he has a heart attack on his front lawn. In The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994), phantom nations are inhabited by simulacra. In True History of the Kelly Gang (2001), a dead bushranger talks. Carey's My Life as a Fake (2003), the subject of this essay, gives us an apotheosis of this literary habit of bringing the unliving to life. It presents us with the flesh-and-blood, machete-wielding, gladiatorial figure of Bob McCorkle, a poet created as a literary hoax.

Wetland reservation on Victoria's northern plains and riverine forests

The depletion and reservation levels of wetlands varied significantly both across the Murray Fans and Victorian Riverina bioregions and in the study area of the Victorian Environmental Assessments Council's River Red Gum Forests Investigation. The proportion of Freshwater Meadows in protected areas was substantially lower than for other wetland types. Furthermore, of the wetlands that are reserved, many were only partially within a protected area. A variety of reserve categories are used to protect wetlands across the three regions, ranging from reserves with high legal protection and a strong focus on biodiversity conservation to reserves with a lower level of protection and emphasis on biodiversity
conservation. The findings highlight that many wetlands are incompletely reserved in Victoria's northern plains and riverine forests. The current review of public land use in the River Red Gum Forests, which includes Barmah Forest, should recognise these issues to ensure the effective reservation of wetland ecosystems.

Effect of orlistat on cardiovascular disease risk in obese adults

Aim: The aim of this study is to compare the effect of orlistat vs. placebo on the predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in obese people with one or more cardiovascular risk factors treated for 12 months, in conjunction with a fat-reduced, but otherwise ad libitum, diet.

Methods: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel study was performed in conjunction with a fat-reduced diet and physical activity advice for 1 year. Participants (n = 339) from eight centres in Australia and New Zealand were randomized to either orlistat (120 mg) three times daily (n = 104 women, 66 men; mean ± s.d. age = 52.0 ± 7.5 years, body mass index (BMI) = 37.6 ± 5.1 kg/m2) or placebo three times daily (n = 89 women, 80 men; age = 52.5 ± 7.4 years, BMI = 38.0 ± 4.9 kg/m2). The primary efficacy criterion was the 10-year risk of developing CVD calculated from the Framingham equation. Secondary efficacy criteria were body weight, waist circumference, blood pressure and serum concentrations of triglycerides, cholesterol (total, LDL and HDL), glucose, insulin and glycated haemoglobin and quality of life.

Results: There was no difference in the change in 10-year CVD risk between orlistat and placebo groups over 1 year. The orlistat group, however, had significant favourable changes in many of the individual CVD risk factors (total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, glucose, glycated haemoglobin, insulin, body weight and waist circumference) and one of the domains of quality of life measured by means of the SF-36 questionnaire (vitality), compared to the placebo group. Significant reductions in medication use for hypertension and diabetes were observed in the orlistat group, compared to those in placebo, but there were no significant differences in medication use for blood lipids.

Conclusions: Orlistat may have reduced CVD risk, as judged by the favourable changes in individual risk factors and reductions in medication use, but the method used in order to measure absolute CVD risk in this study (Framingham CVD equation) was not sensitive enough to detect the changes in this relatively low-risk group (approximately 10% of risk of a CVD event over 10 years).

Identification of novel genes expressed during rhabdomyosarcoma differentiation using cDNA microarrays

Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) are highly aggressive tumors that are thought to arise as a consequence of the regulatory disruption of the growth and differentiation of skeletal muscle progenitor cells. Normal myogenesis is characterized by the expression of the myogenic regulatory factor gene family but, despite their expression in RMS, these tumor cells fail to complete the latter stages of myogenesis. The RMS cell line RD-A was treated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate to induce differentiation and cultured for 10 days. RNA was extracted on days 1, 3, 6, 8 and 10. A human skeletal muscle cDNA microarray was developed and used to analyze the global gene expression of RMS tumors over the time-course of differentiation. As a comparison, the genes identified were subsequently examined during the differentiated primary human skeletal muscle cultures. Prothymosin alpha (PTMA), and translocase of inner mitochondrial membrane 10 (Tim10), two genes not previously implicated in RMS, showed reduced expression during differentiation. Marked differences in the expression of PTMA and Tim10 were observed during the differentiation of human primary skeletal muscle cells. These results identify several new genes with potential roles in the myogenic arrest present in rhabdomyosarcoma. PTMA expression in RMS biopsy samples might prove to be an effective diagnostic marker for this disease.

Ontogeny of diving behaviour in the Australian sea lion: trials of adolescence in a late bloomer

1.Foraging behaviours of the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) reflect an animal working hard to exploit benthic habitats. Lactating females demonstrate almost continuous diving, maximize bottom time, exhibit elevated field metabolism and frequently exceed their calculated aerobic dive limit. Given that larger animals have disproportionately greater diving capabilities, we wanted to examine how pups and juveniles forage successfully.
2.Time/depth recorders were deployed on pups, juveniles and adult females at Seal Bay Conservation Park, Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Ten different mother/pup pairs were equipped at three stages of development (6, 15 and 23 months) to record the diving behaviours of 51 (nine instruments failed) animals.
3. Dive depth and duration increased with age. However, development was slow. At 6 months, pups demonstrated minimal diving activity and the mean depth for 23-month-old juveniles was only 44 ± 4 m, or 62% of adult mean depth.
4. Although pups and juveniles did not reach adult depths or durations, dive records for young sea lions indicate benthic diving with mean bottom times (2·0 ± 0·2 min) similar to those of females (2·1 ± 0·2 min). This was accomplished by spending higher proportions of each dive and total time at sea on or near the bottom than adults. Immature sea lions also spent a higher percentage of time at sea diving.
5. Juveniles may have to work harder because they are weaned before reaching full diving capability. For benthic foragers, reduced diving ability limits available foraging habitat. Furthermore, as juveniles appear to operate close to their physiological maximum, they would have a difficult time increasing foraging effort in response to reductions in prey. Although benthic prey are less influenced by seasonal fluctuations and oceanographic perturbations than epipelagic prey, demersal fishery trawls may impact juvenile survival by disrupting habitat and removing larger size classes of prey. These issues may be an important factor as to why the Australian sea lion population is currently at risk.