Biotic effects of climate change in urban environments: The case of the grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) in Melbourne, Australia

Urban climates are known to differ from those of the surrounding rural areas, as human activities in cities lead to changes in temperature, humidity and wind regimes. These changes can in turn affect the geographic distribution of species, the behaviour of animals and the phenology of plants. The grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) is a large, nomadic bat from eastern Australia that roosts in large colonies known as camps. Historically a warm temperate to tropical species, P. poliocephalus recently established a year-round camp in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. Using a bioclimatic analysis, we demonstrated that on the basis of long-term data, Melbourne does not fall within the climatic range of other P. poliocephalus camp sites in Australia. Melbourne is drier than other summer camps, and cooler and drier than other winter camps. The city also receives less radiation, in winter and annually, than the other summer and winter camps of P. poliocephalus. However, we found that temperatures in central Melbourne have been increasing since the 1950s, leading to warmer conditions and a reduction in the number of frosts. In addition, artificial watering of parks and gardens in the city may contribute the equivalent of 590 mm (95% CI: 450–720 mm) of extra rainfall per year. It appears that human activities have increased temperatures and effective precipitation in central Melbourne, creating a more suitable climate for camps of the grey-headed flying-fox. As demonstrated by this example, anthropogenic climate change is likely to complicate further the task of conserving biological diversity in urban environments.

Style wars: revolution in the suburbs?

Is there a revolution occurring in the Australian suburb? From a brief examination of demographic, economic, political and aesthetic changes, it appears that the suburbs of the new century are very different from those of the last. With the demise of key underpinnings of the older suburban form—the sexual division of labour, particular family forms, localised communities and bucolic private gardens—has gone an end to official support of the expansive suburb and a major shift in their politics, planning, economies and relationship to the CBD and other centres. With falling household sizes has gone a seemingly contradictory trend toward larger houses on smaller blocks of land. In the context of these many changes along with urban containment and consolidation, this paper argues that there is a convergence occurring between the design of inner, middle and outer suburban dwellings. The negativity long heaped upon the suburban bungalow by the custodians of taste is being revisited. The style wars are easing, as suburban homes increasingly resemble those appearing in densified cities across the nation.

Impacts of atrazine in aquatic ecosystems

A portion of all herbicides applied to forests, croplands, road sides, and gardens are inevitably lost to water bodies either directly through runoff or indirectly by leaching through groundwater into ephemeral streams and lakes. Once in the aquatic environment, herbicides may cause stress within aquatic communities and radically alter community structure. Atrazine is one of the most effective and inexpensive herbicides in the world and is consequently used more frequently than any other herbicide. Atrazine is frequently detected in aquatic waters, and has been known to affect reproduction of aquatic flora and fauna, which in turn impacts on the community structure as a whole. This paper presents a summary of the reported direct and indirect impacts of atrazine on aquatic organisms and community structure. The information can be used for developing improved management guidelines and legislation. It is concluded that a single universal maximum limit on the atrazine application in catchments, as suggested by many regulatory authorities, does not provide adequate protection of the aquatic environment. Rather, it is advocated that flexible limits on the application of atrazine be developed in line with the potential risk of contamination to surface and subsurface water and fragility of the aquatic environment.

How residential environments impact on health

This article describes the findings of a research study that investigated the factors (including access to nature such as parks, gardens and bodies of water) impacting on inner city high-rise residents’ health and wellbeing. The findings revealed that a range of factors impact on residents’ health and wellbeing, either directly or indirectly and suggest implications for health and community service professionals, housing management officials, park and open space managers and urban designers/planners.

The contagious magic of James Cook in Captain-Cook's cottage

It is widely known that the so-called Cooks' Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens, relocated from Yorkshire to Melbourne in 1934, was never inhabited by Captain James Cook. Yet a subliminal nationalism, sustained by the ancient traditions of contagious magic, feeds the conviction that the dwelling must be directly connected to Australia's foundation hero — a relic that the great man touched — or else it is meaningless. This paper tracks a sequence of managerial–interpretive strategies derived from a chronology of knowledge systems to make meanings at the cottage. It introduces evidence of the original shape of the building in its Great Ayton location, and observes the consequences on management and interpretation of an older demolition and consequent rebuilding of only half the cottage in Melbourne. Much turns on changing ideas about authenticity, as management strategies fail to engage the popular taste for a hero via the magic of faith. The result is a set of opposing principles in presenting the cottage: the role of the historical record as it has enlarged, and the desires of visitors who expect a simple connection between myth and materiality.

Cultivating health and wellbeing : members' perceptions of the health benefits of a Port Melbourne community garden

This paper reports on a research project undertaken with members of a community garden in Port Melbourne, Australia, to investigate the ways in which such a facility contributes to the enhancement of health, wellbeing and contact with nature for urban dwellers. Ten members from an urban community garden were interviewed using qualitative semi-structured questions exploring perceptions of health and wellbeing benefits associated with membership. The garden was felt by members to be a sanctuary where people could come together and escape daily pressures, a source of advice and social support, and a place which gave them a sense of worth and involvement. Members also identified spiritual, fitness and nutritional benefits arising from participation in the community garden. It is evident even from this small qualitative study that community gardening offers many health and wellbeing benefits to members. This study provides a basis for the benefits of community gardens in Australia to be taken into account by policy-makers and practitioners to enhance urban community health and wellbeing.

Raising the subject : ideology in children's fiction

This thesis is concerned to reveal, by means of textual analysis, ideologies connected to human subjectivity within eight contemporary novels for 'children' . The analyses draw upon the work of Macherey, Eagleton, Jameson and Bakhtin among others. The texts discussed cover more than two decades, from 1955 to 1977. The first, Philippa Pearce's Minnow on the Say, attempts to reconcile a traditional form of subjectivity with a less hierarchic and mare open type. Lyotard's account of customary and scientific knowledge, and Said's of affiliation ion , are the basis for discussion here. Susan Cooper's sequence The Dark is Rising grounds humanism in a mythic British past. Within these texts the problem of situating the subject within a wider social framework is linked to one of nationalism. Her novels are fantasies, and provide an opportunity for a discussion of a non-realist form and its ideological implications, Todorov's account of the fantastic as a genre is a reference—point in this analysis. Jane Garden’s Bilge water presents a discontinuous subject—in-process. Her story is told by a first— person narrator, situated within a framed narrative. Through its themes and structures the text interrogates its central character's project of subjectivity as perfectible, centered and continuous, and finds it untenable. In Russell Hagan’s The House and his Child the possibility of self-determination within language as discourse is of central concern. The tin mice, who are hollow, echo in their persons the text's interest in the distinction between inside and outside, the difference which Lacanian theory posits as essential for an accession to subjectivity- Hoban's work gives an account of the postmodern subject, and calls into question the subjectivities assumed in Pearce's and Cooper's texts.

Beyond mimesis : place, interpretation and response

My study examines the subjective nature of artistic interpretation through the notion of mimesis as process or transformation of material. Influential factors that mediate in the artistic process, such as memory, reflection and an awareness of cultural analogy and metaphor, are examined and related to a specific project in the studio, where the mediation process is further influenced by the materials used to produce the images. My studies of the concept of mimesis have revealed an intermediary realm that exists in the space between empirical reality and its interpretation. Throughout history the process of mimesis has been integral to all forms of the arts. In Plato's time the production of an image that simulated things as they appeared to the eye was considered a desired ideal. Aristotle later introduced developments which extended this concept to include a refiguring or reforming of material derived from the original source, making new connections between existing factors and in this transformation bringing new meanings to a symbolically constituted world. This discussion of the representation of reality, the influence of a dialogue between notions of imitation and the recreation of material continues throughout the exegesis. My study emphasises the interpretive stage of the mimetic process where a consideration of these themes is most relevant and some of the factors that can influence its outcome. It is my opinion that the production of images in response to the particularities of place can be defined in three stages. Firstly, the experience of the place; secondly, the beginning and maturation of the idea or concept; where mimesis takes place, and thirdly, the production of the art work in response. This process is illustrated in Part 2 of the exegesis, where the development of the studio work is documented and linked with the themes discussed in Part 1. The geographic site or place I selected to study is adjacent to Mt. Noorat, a volcanic site in the Western district of Victoria; the surrounding plains are littered with scoria that has been thrown out of the volcano thousands of years ago. Early British, Scottish and Irish settlers to this region used the stone to construct fences reminiscent of their homeland, through this activity they cleared the land and confined and protected their stock. My interests are in factors that include - the material of the stone, notions of enclosure and safety, of boundaries and circumscribed space, and of the cultural reflection that has taken place in this reconstruction of Eurocentric vision. These walls also represent the means by which land was enclosed and property defined, moving from a situation of public access to notions of ownership and the annexation of land for individual gain. Around each point of eruption, the craggy volcanic scoria has been used to create a constructed landscape which both symbolises and mirrors the Anglo - Celtic origins of the people. I have used the legend of Narcissus to illustrate the self-reflective and introspective processes that the settlers invoked in their attempts to come to terms with a strange land. I consider that the story of Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection, finds a parellel in the creation of the walls. The re-creation of artifacts from their own cultural environment provided the settlers with a familiar 'face' in an alien world; a reassurance of the familiar in an unfamiliar terrain. Part of this study is an investigation of this notion of landscape as cultural reflection. Geographers have long known that landscape is a cultural construct, an historically evolving ideal manifested in painting, prints and drawings as well as poetry, gardens and parks. One can view these constructions as illustrations or images of meaning which constitute representations of cultural ideals. The neo-classical influence reflected in the paintings of artists who accompanied the early expeditions to Australia demonstrates these themes. The medium of the mirror provides the opportunity to suggest aspects of a cultural reflection and an awareness of identity that has relevance to contemporary Australian culture, therefore, I have allowed it to play a major role throughout this study. Its role in mimesis, firstly, as a reflection in an imitative sense is established, then in its refigurative role, in which the similarities between the original and the reformed rely more on correlative factors than representation. I have used examples from the history of art to illustrate this potential. The formation and development of a narrative involving reflection threads throughout the thesis, both in the visual presentation and in the exegesis. The production of a body of paintings, drawings and sculpture reflect my interpretation and response to the particular site. The correspondences between these works and my theoretical concerns is articulated in the exegesis. The metaphor implied by the use of the walls as agents of enclosure also refers to the capacity of the individual to be confined by notional boundaries and restrictive practices where totalising systems of thought dominate theoretical debate and restrict its freedom. I have used images where gaps in the walls represent the potential implicit to the concept of liminal space, where the spectator moves from one physical space to another and from one stage of development to another. The threshold of this opening in the walls becomes the site where transformation can take place, a metaphor for the mimetic process where the initial experience is translated and transformed into the final product. The paintings, drawings and other works in this series fulfil the role of marks on the surface of the mirror, separating the initial experience from the processes of memory, reflection and speculation. The works draw attention to the materiality that they represent and yet provide the opportunity for new insights and experiences, allowing the subjective nature of artistic activity to combine symbolic elements relating to the site, resulting in the production of meaning.

The use of contracting out : a case study of decision-making and organisational learning in local government

One objective of government is to provide services at least cost whilst maintaining or improving service quality. While this may be an important objective, questions are being asked whether services can be provided more efficiently and effectively by the private rather than by the government sector. The shift of service provision from the public to the private sector is known as outsourcing or contracting out. The objective in this study is to critically examine whether the contracting out of services by local government to the private sector is an efficient management practice.

The contracting out of Parks and Grounds Maintenance services for the City of Kingston in the State of Victoria, Australia, is used as an exploratory case study to identify the variables associated with management decision-making in the contracting out process. Factors relevant to the contracting out decision such as the criteria used in selecting a contractor; the evaluation of a contractor’s performance; and any subsequent changes to management practice relating to the contracting out of the services are identified and discussed.

Political forces were found to be an important consideration in the initial contracting out decision, and the selection of a contractor was influenced by the potential to avoid costs. It was also found that under-bidding and associated cost /profit constraints lead to contractors engaging in non-sustainable environmental practices which resulted in the degradation of the local government’s Parks and Gardens assets. A sustainable asset management philosophy as opposed to an avoidable costs approach now underpins the contracting out process to ensure the preservation of such assets. Further, administrative processes have been revised to make tender specifications more prescriptive, critical components of services have been brought back in-house, and management practices have been amended so that a greater degree of control is exercised over contractors’ activities.

Living high but healthy : high-rise housing, nature, health and wellbeing

This exploratory mixed method study investigated the factors, including access to nature (i.e. parks and gardens), impacting on inner city high-rise residents' health and wellbeing. Analysis of the integrated findings revealed that a range of factors (including accessibility, choice and control and tenure) impact on residents' health and wellbeing.

Nature and health

This chapter aims to demonstrate that the natural environment is a key determinant of human health. Natural environments are defined as organic environments where the majority of ecosystem processes are present (e.g. the cycle of life and death, reproduction, relationships between species). Including a spectrum of different environments ranging from wilderness areas in National Parks to farms, and human constructed gardens, 'natural' does not necessarily mean unaffected by human intervention. 'Nature' can also refer to any single element of the natural environment (such as plants, animals, soil and water), including domestic and companion animals as well as cultivated plants. The term 'natural environment' differs from the more usual use of the term 'environment' in that it can be a setting in itself, or it can be an element of other settings, including our homes, workplaces and schools.