Preventing weed spread: a survey of lifestyle and commercial landholders about Nassella trichotoma in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia

Nassella trichotoma (Nees) Hack. ex Arechav. (common name, serrated tussock) occupies large areas of south-eastern Australia and has considerable scope for expansion in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. This highly invasive grass reduces pasture productivity and has the potential to severely affect the region’s economy by decreasing the livestock carrying capacity of grazing land. Other potential consequences of this invasion include increased fuel loads and displacement of native plants, thereby threatening biodiversity. Rural property owners in the Northern Tablelands were sent a mail questionnaire that examined use of measures to prevent new outbreaks of the weed. The questionnaire was sent to professional farmers as well as lifestyle farmers (owners of rural residential blocks and hobby farms) and 271 responses were obtained (a response rate of 18%). Key findings were respondents’ limited capacity to detect N. trichotoma, and low adoption of precautions to control seed spread by livestock, vehicles and machinery. This was particularly the case among lifestyle farmers. There have been considerable recent changes to biosecurity governance arrangements in New South Wales, and now is an ideal time for regulators and information providers to consider how to foster regional communities’ engagement in biosecurity, including the adoption of measures that have the capacity to curtail the spread of N. trichotoma.

A survey of the meat goat industry in Queensland and New South Wales. 1. General property information, goat and pasture management.

This study aimed to survey farmers knowledge and practices on the management of pastures, stocking rates and markets of meat goat-producing enterprises within New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. An interview-based questionnaire was conducted on properties that derived a significant proportion of their income from goats. The survey covered 31 landholders with a total land area of 567 177 ha and a reported total of 160 010 goats. A total of 55% (17/31) of producers were involved in both opportunistic harvesting and commercial goat operations, and 45% (14/31) were specialised seedstock producers. Goats were the most important livestock enterprise on 55% (17/31) of surveyed properties. Stocking rate varied considerably (0.3?9.3 goats/ha) within and across surveyed properties and was found to be negatively associated with property size and positively associated with rainfall. Overall, 81% (25/31) of producers reported that the purpose of running goats on their properties was to target international markets. Producers also cited the importance of targeting markets as a way to increase profitability. Fifty-three percent of producers were located over 600 km from a processing plant and the high cost of freight can limit the continuity of goats supplied to abattoirs. Fencing was an important issue for goat farmers, with many producers acknowledging this could potentially add to capital costs associated with better goat management and production. Producers in the pastoral regions appear to have a low investment in pasture development and opportunistic goat harvesting appears to be an important source of income.

Philips' handy atlas of the counties of England : including maps of North & South Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man : reduced from the ordnance survey, and coloured to shew the new parliamentary divisions, according to the redistribution bill, 1885.

Mode of access: Internet.

Two new hemiurine species (Digenea : Hemiuridae) from Spratelloides robustus Ogilby (Clupeiformes : Clupeidae) off south-western Australia and records of Parahemiurus merus (Linton, 1910) from Australian and New Caledonian waters

Two new species of hemiurine hemiurid are described from Spratelloides robustus off Woodman Point in southern Western Australia. Hemiurus lignator n. sp. differs from its congeners by a combination of similar-sized suckers, long sinus-sac, tandem testes, relatively elongate shape and unthickened seminal vesicle wall. Parahemiurus xylokopos n. sp. differs from its congeners in a combination of its squat form, its distinctly lobed vitellarium and the proximity of the gonads to the ventral sucker. P. merus (Linton, 1910) is reported from Acanthopagrus australis, Pomatomus saltatrix and Trachinotus coppingeri off northern New South Wales, Caranx sexfasciatus, Scorpis lineolata, Siganus nebulosus, Thunnus tonggol and T. coppingeri off southern Queensland, Cephalopholis boenak and Euthynnus affinis off Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef, P. saltatrix off southern Western Australia and Priacanthus hamrur off New Caledonia.

Transition from community dwelling to retirement village in older adults:cognitive functioning and psychological health outcomes

Supported living and retirement villages are becoming a significant option for older adults with impairments, with independence concerns or for forward planning in older age, but evidence as to psychological benefits for residents is sparse. This study examined the hypothesis that the multi-component advantages of moving into a supported and physically and socially accessible “extra care” independent living environment will impact on psychological and functioning measures. Using an observational longitudinal design, 161 new residents were assessed initially and three months later, in comparison to 33 older adults staying in their original homes. Initial group differences were apparent but some reduced after three months. Residents showed improvement in depression, perceived health, aspects of cognitive function, and reduced functional limitations, while controls showed increased functional limitations (worsening). Ability to recall specific autobiographical memories, known to be related to social-problem solving, depression and functioning in social relationships, predicted change in communication limitations, and cognitive change predicted changes in recreational limitations. Change in anxiety and memory predicted change in depression. Findings suggest that older adults with independent living concerns who move to an independent but supported environment can show significant benefits in psychological outcomes and reduction in perceived impact of health on functional limitations in a short period. Targets for focussed rehabilitation are indicated, but findings also validate development of untargeted general supportive environments.

Using crowdsourced imagery to detect cultural ecosystem services: a case study in South Wales, UK

Within ecological research and environmental management, there is currently a focus on demonstrating the links between human well-being and wildlife conservation. Within this framework, there is a clear interest in better understanding how and why people value certain places over others. We introduce a new method that measures cultural preferences by exploring the potential of multiple online georeferenced digital photograph collections. Using ecological and social considerations, our study contributes to the detection of places that provide cultural ecosystem services. The degree of appreciation of a specific place is derived from the number of people taking and sharing pictures of it. The sequence of decisions and actions taken to share a digital picture of a given place includes the effort to travel to the place, the willingness to take a picture, the decision to geolocate the picture, and the action of sharing it through the Internet. Hence, the social activity of sharing pictures leaves digital proxies of spatial preferences, with people sharing specific photos considering the depicted place not only “worth visiting” but also “worth sharing visually.” Using South Wales as a case study, we demonstrate how the proposed methodology can help identify key geographic features of high cultural value. These results highlight how the inclusion of geographical user-generated content, also known as volunteered geographic information, can be very effective in addressing some of the current priorities in conservation. Indeed, the detection of the most appreciated nonurban areas could be used for better prioritization, planning, and management.

Lepocreadiidae (Digenea) of Australian coastal fishes: new species of Opechona Looss, 1907, Lepotrema Ozaki, 1932 and Bianium Stunkard, 1930 and comments on other species reported for the first time or poorly known in Australian waters

Opechona austrobacillaris n, sp. is described from Pomatomus saltatrix from marine sites off Western Australia and New South Wales, Australia. It differs from O. bacillaris in its elongate outline, small ventral sucker, longer pseudoesophagus (relative to the oesophagus), relatively shorter ventral sucker to ovary distance and the relatively longer post-testicular region. Lepotrema monile n. sp. is described from Pomacentrus wardi from Heron Island, Queensland. It differs from its congeners in the sphincter around the distal metraterm and the more-or-less oval ovary. Bianium spongiosum n. sp, is described from Ostracion cubicus from Lizard Island, Queensland. It differs from its congeners in lacking lateral flaps in the forebody, but in having large, internal spongiform patches in the lateral forebody. The following species are redescribed from Australian sites: Lepocreadium oyabitcha from Abudefduf whitleyi, Lizard Island; Clavogalea trachinoti from Trachinotus botla, Heron Island and T. coppingeri, New South Wales, Stradbroke Island, Queensland and Heron Island; Myzoxenus insolens from Notolabrus parilus, Western Australia; Bulbocirrus aulostomi from Aulostomus chinensis, Heron Island; Lepocreadioides orientalis [new synonyms: Bicaudum interruptum Bilqees, 1973; Lepocreadioides interruptum (Bilqees, 1973) Madhavi, Narasimhulu & Shameem, 1986; Lepocreadioides discum Wang, 1986; Lepocreadioides sp. of Karyakarte & Yadav (1976)] from Cynoglossus bilineata, Moreton Bay, Queensland; Hypocreadium patellare from Sufflamen chrysopterus, Heron Island; Echeneidocoelium indicum from Echeneis naucrates, Heron Island; Multitestis pyriformis from Epinephelus cyanopodus, Heron Island; Pseudopisthogonoporus vitellosus from Naso brevirostris, Heron Island; and Bianium hispidum from Torquigener whitleyi and T. pleurogramma, southern Queensland. Only M. solens and M. pyriformis have been reported from Australian waters before; both are new host records.

Description of Gluconacetobacter sacchari sp. nov., a new species of acetic acid bacterium isolated from the leaf sheath of sugar cane and from the pink sugar-cane mealy bug

A new species of the genus Gluconacetobacter, for which the name Gluconacetobacter sacchari sp. nov. is proposed, was isolated from the leaf sheath of sugar cane and from the pink sugar-cane mealy bug, Saccharicoccus sacchari, found on sugar cane growing in Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia, The nearest phylogenetic relatives in the alpha-subclass of the Proteobacteria are Gluconacetobacter liquefaciens and Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus, which have 98.8-99.3% and 97.9-98.5% 16S rDNA sequence similarity, respectively, to members of Gluconacetobacter sacchari. On the basis of the phylogenetic positioning of the strains, DNA reassociation studies, phenotypic tests and the presence of the Q10 ubiquinone, this new species was assigned to the genus Gluconacetobacter. No single phenotypic characteristic is unique to the species, but the species can be differentiated phenotypically from closely related members of the acetic acid bacteria by growth in the presence of 0.01% malachite green, growth on 30% glucose, an inability to fix nitrogen and an inability to grow with the L-amino acids asparagine, glycine, glutamine, threonine and tryptophan when D-mannitol was supplied as the sole carbon and energy source. The type strain of this species is strain SRI 1794(T) (= DSM 12717(T)).

The effects of the Cannabis Expiation Notice System on the prevalence of cannabis use in South Australia: evidence from the National Drug Strategy Household Surveys 1985-95

This study sought to examine the impact of the Cannabis Expiation Notice (CEN) scheme on the prevalence of lifetime and weekly cannabis use in South Australia. Data from five National Drug Strategy Household Surveys between 1985 and 1995 were examined to test for differences in trends in self-reported: (1) lifetime cannabis use; and (2) current weekly cannabis use, after controlling for age and gender, between South Australia and the other states and territories. Between 1985 and 1995, rates of lifetime cannabis use increased in SA from 26% to 36%. There were also significant increases in Victoria (from 26% to 32%), Tasmania (from 21% to 33%) and New South Wales (from 26% to 33%). The increase in South Australia was significantly greater than the average increase throughout the rest of Australia, but the other Australian states differed in their rates of change. Victoria and Tasmania had similar rates of increase to South Australia; New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia showed lower rates of increase; and the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory had high rates that did not change during the period. There was no statistically significant difference between SA and the rest of Australia in the rate of increase in weekly cannabis use. While there was a greater increase in self- reported lifetime cannabis use in South Australia between 1985 and 1995 than in the average of the other Australian jurisdictions it is unlikely that this increase is due to the CEN system, because similar increases occurred in Tasmania and Victoria (where there was no change in the legal status of cannabis use), and there was no increase in the rate of weekly cannabis use in South Australia over the same period.

A new lipid from an Australian marine sponge, Callyspongia sp.

A specimen of the sponge Callyspongia sp. collected off the coast of New South Wales, Australia, has yielded the novel lipid (6Z,9Z,12Z,15Z)-1, 6, 9, 12, 15-octadecapenten-3-one, together with (4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z)-4, 7, 10, 13-hexadecatetraenoic acid.