Where and when does a ring start and end? Testing the ring-species hypothesis in a species complex of Australian parrots

Speciation, despite ongoing gene flow can be studied directly in nature in ring species that comprise two reproductively isolated populations connected by a chain or ring of intergrading populations. We applied three tiers of spatio-temporal analysis (phylogeny/historical biogeography, phylogeography and landscape/population genetics) to the data from mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of eastern Australian parrots of the Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans complex to understand the history and present genetic structure of the ring they have long been considered to form. A ring speciation hypothesis does not explain the patterns we have observed in our data (e.g. multiple genetic discontinuities, discordance in genotypic and phenotypic assignments where terminal differentiates meet). However, we cannot reject that a continuous circular distribution has been involved in the group's history or indeed that one was formed through secondary contact at the 'ring's' east and west; however, we reject a simple ring-species hypothesis as traditionally applied, with secondary contact only at its east. We discuss alternative models involving historical allopatry of populations. We suggest that population expansion shown by population genetics parameters in one of these isolates was accompanied by geographical range expansion, secondary contact and hybridization on the eastern and western sides of the ring. Pleistocene landscape and sea-level and habitat changes then established the birds' current distributions and range disjunctions. Populations now show idiosyncratic patterns of selection and drift. We suggest that selection and drift now drive evolution in different populations within what has been considered the ring.

Born of fire, possessed by darkness : mysticism and Australian poetry

This dissertation is structured around five Australian mystical poets: Ada Cambridge, John Shaw Neilson, Francis Webb, Judith Wright and Kevin Hart. It examines the varieties of Western Christian mysticism upon which these poets draw, or with which they exhibit affinities. A short prelude section to each chapter considers the thematic parallels of their contemporaries, while the final chapter critically investigates constructions of Indigeneity in Australian mystical poetry and the renegotiated mystical poetics of Indigenous poets and theologians. The central argument of this dissertation is that an understanding of Western Christian mysticism is essential to the study of Australian poetry. There are three sub-arguments: firstly, that Australian literary criticism regarding the mystical largely avoids the concept of mysticism as a shifting notion both historically and in the present; secondly, that what passes for mysticism is recurringly subject to poorly defined constructions of mysticism as well as individual poets’ use of the mystical for personal, creative or ideological purposes; thirdly, that in avoiding the concept of a shifting notion critics have ignored the increasing contribution of Australian poets to national and international discourses of mysticism.

Ecology of epifaunal caridean shrimps in the Hopkins River estuary, and the role of estuaries in the life history of the atyid "Paratya Australiensis" Kemp, 1917 in south-eastern Australia

This study examined the factors affecting the distribution and abundance of epifaunal caridean shrimps in seagrass meadows of the Hopkins River estuary in south-western Victoria, Australia, and investigated the life history patterns of the freshwater Parana australiensis, found for the first time in estuaries. Adult and sub-adult shrimps were surveyed in seagrass meadows along the estuary over two years, and their planktonic larvae were surveyed in adjacent waters. Three species were collected. The marine Palaemon serenus occurred only near the mouth, summer to autumn, in high salinities. The marine/estuarine Macrobrachium intermedium occurred throughout the estuary. Adults were most abundant in late autumn, and least abundant in summer (unlike trends reported in marine meadows). Densities were higher and less variable in downstream meadows. P. australiensis occurred in the upper estuary all year, most abundantly in spring, due to migration from the river after peak discharge. Ovigerous females dominated, while males, showing less migration into the estuary, dominated above estuarine influence. Adults disappeared from the estuary in summer as salinity rose. Breeding period for P. australiensis was briefer in the estuary (September-December) than upstream (July-April). M. intermedium began breeding later in the upper estuary (November/December-March) than in the lower estuary (October-March), probably reflecting a physiological response to lower salinity, rather than an interaction with P. australiensis. No ovigerous P. serenus were found in the estuary. Larvae of P. australiensis and M intermedium occurred abundantly throughout the estuary, but P. serenus larvae did not. P. australiensis was an early coloniser to the plankton after peak discharge (November-December). Larvae concentrated in the deep saline layer at the head of the intruding salt wedge, thus probably maintaining longitudinal position. Diurnal vertical migrations were evident within the salt wedge, and in a deep pool above tidal influence. M. intermedium larvae occurred October-May in the lower estuary and November-April in the upper estuary, peaking in abundance one to two months after P. australiensis. They were associated with low surface flows and surface salinities greater than 10, over an anoxic deeper layer. All three species exhibited extended development of euryhaline larvae in the laboratory. Tolerances and optimal salinities of larvae of the three species reflected their distributions. M. intermedium was the most euryhaline species. P. australiensis larvae were tolerant of higher salinities than juveniles of adults: capable of developing in salinity of at least 15. Most P. australiensis juveniles recruited to the estuary November-December, after which numbers declined dramatically. After settlement, most recruits probably migrated upstream out of the estuary. Two cohorts of M. intermedium recruited to the estuary from larvae in summer (December and February), but some juveniles also migrated from adjacent coastal waters. Post-larval migration was at least as important a determinant of abundance as direct recruitment from estuarine, planktonic larvae in all three species. Distributions among seagrass meadows along the estuary were determined primarily by physico-chemical patterns driven by hydrological changes. Seasonal variations in salinity and temperature were strongly associated with seasonal variations in shrimp abundance. Salinity tolerances of adults of the three species reflected their distribution patterns. Biotic interactions were more important in determining distributions within meadows. P. australiensis, when abundant, were associated with seagrass biomass. M. intermedium were also, but when seagrass was sparsest and least extensive. The two species apparently partitioned the seagrass meadow according to depth in early summer. Laboratory experiments suggested P. australiensis was displaced from deeper water by M. intermedium. Preference for vegetative complexity and competition for position within meadows suggest the underlying importance of predation in regulating shrimp populations. A survey of south-eastern Australian estuaries found P. australiensis larvae abundant in all stable, open, well-developed, salt-wedge estuaries where adults were abundant. Adults were most abundant in low salinities among submerged leafy macrophytes. Reproductive traits of P. australiensis were compared in estuarine and fresh reaches of three rivers. Early in the breeding season, egg size was smaller, and (size-specific) egg number larger in estuaries than upstream. A trade-off between egg size and egg number resulted in no difference in total (size-specific) reproductive investment between locations. Reproductive investment tended to decrease at some locations over the breeding season, and this decrease was a result of decreased egg size in most cases. The decrease in reproductive investment probably reflected reduced food availability for the adult, while the reduced egg size was probably a response to improved conditions for larval development. In the Hopkins River, larger egg size at upstream sites was reflected in larger early stage larvae. Later stage larvae were larger in the estuary, suggesting more favourable conditions for larval development. Allozyme electrophoresis showed the P. australiensis populations in each of the three rivers to be distinct. Allozyme frequencies were not different within the Hopkins River, but upstream and estuarine locations in the Curdies and Gellibrand were different. Although some variation in reproductive traits within catchments may have been due to genotypic differences, trade-offs between egg size and number, and decreases in egg size over summer were probably due to plastic responses to environmental cues. It is proposed P. australiensis inhabits and reproduces in both estuarine and freshwater environments by plastic response to environmental conditions. Recruitment to estuaries is dependent on the presence of suitable adult, littoral habitat, and a stable salt wedge for larval retention. Estuaries are important recruitment sites for P. australiensis, potentially allowing an extra brood each year before riverine recruitment. Estuarine broods could constitute a large part of the total fecundity of P. australiensis females. Euryhaline larvae and estuarine recruitment of P. australiensis suggest marine transport of larvae between estuaries as a possible dispersal mechanism for Paratya species.

Ethnomusicological study of music makers in an Australian military band

This dissertation reports on a study of music making in a band of the Australian Army Band Corps. The thesis of the dissertation is how the world views of the soldier-musicians of the Australian Army Band, Kapooka, are constructed in the context of their work in military music performance. In arguing this thesis, the author provides a brief history of military music in Australia, and - demonstrates how rank and military discipline intersect with music making in the lived experience of the soldier-musicians; - explores how the dichotomy between music making as a craft and music making as art is resolved in a setting where the employer regards music making as a trade, while the soldier-musicians strive to meet artistic goals; - demonstrates how successful music making and successful soldiering are both forms of work which depend upon effective collective action; - demonstrates that while military bands play the widest repertoire of musical styles of any Western music ensemble, the styles converge toward a homogenous, eclectic, military band performance style: and - explores how military music, which may have limited intrinsic interest, in certain ceremonial settings may link with other visual and auditory symbol systems to generate profound meaning both for the soldier-musicians themselves and for their audiences. The study examines the processes by which the world views of soldier-musicians are shaped by the institutional context in which they work, as they participate in a music tradition which has been a powerful agent in the shaping of Australian patriotic traditions. The study uses a naturalistic participant observation methodology. The author worked as an honorary guest civilian member of the band’s trombone section to collect data in the form of fieldnotes and interviews. Data analysis and interpretation was made according to the tenets of grounded theory. Evidence in the form of first hand accounts from the perspective of the researcher and from the soldier-musicians themselves is employed to generate both emic and etic understandings. An understanding of a music culture from the participant's point of view is a central concern of the study.

Crisis in Clio's family : a study of the discipline of Australian economic history 1918-1965

This thesis presents an intellectual history of the historiography of Australian Economic History between 1918 and 1965. More specifically, it is a contribution to a relatively novel area of research into 'disciplinary history’. It takes as its basic analytical material the four books widely used for significant lengths of time for undergraduate teaching during the period of the study. The thesis consists of five main chapters, plus an appendix which surveys the institutional development of Australian Economic History and provides the empirical basis for the selection of the works named above. After a brief introduction and overview, the next four chapters consist of a detailed study of one of these works, the historical context in which each was written, and an intellectual biography. The fifth chapter is largely theoretical and conceptual. It analyses the epistemological bases of History and Economics and explores the implications of different models of knowledge for the relationship between Economic History and its two antecedent disciplines, History and Economics. Current perceptions of the state of the discipline in Australia and overseas are also examined. There are three main propositions advanced and their implications explored in the fifth chapter. First, that changes which occurred in Australian Economic History during the period 1918-1965 shifted the discipline from the broad area of History to the broad area of Economics. Second, that the inherent tension and fundamental differences between the two disciplinary areas of History and Economics have profound and complex implications for Australian Economic History at a number of levels and in a number of areas. The third proposition posits that the paradigm shift of the 1950s/1960s in Australian Economic History, and the paradigm shift of the 1960s/1970s in Economic History respectively have resulted in crisis. The final part of the chapter summarises the contents of the preceding chapters, and draws some conclusions based on those detailed studies.

Rewriting Australian planning from the margins

If planning is the conscious formulation of a preferred.future and deliberate actions to realise that future in the landscape, then Indigenous Australians have long been involved in planning settlements and regions. Yet such actions - pre and post-contact - are absent from the history of Australian planning, as evidenced by some major texts on the subject. That also passes without serious comment in the planning literature and contemporary practice are the theoretical implications of admitting key aspects of recent Indigenous history - such as prior occupancy, ongoing sovereignty, resistance strategies, ghettoisation and Native Title. There are, therefore, significant gaps in the history and theory of Australian planning which impact negatively on its current teaching and practice. The consequences of such omissions range.from incomplete histories to ongoing injustices in Australian planning practice. My larger research project will collate these absences before reworking the history of Australian planning from the perspective of those systematically excluded from it -women, migrants from racially marked non-white backgrounds and Indigenous Australians. This paper will consider only a small part of this larger project. It will first examine some of the key texts which construct the history of Australian planning before examining one place - Lake Condah in Western Victoria - as one site of permanent settlement by the Gundijmara people who lived in stone houses arrayed in villages around an engineered sophisticated fish farming enterprise. Here then is but one example - admittedly subject to contestation over its scale, anthropological and archaeological fundamentals - which challenges the view of indigenous Australians as not only nomadic and "primitive" but also as legitimately placed outside the history of Australian planning. I will conclude by speculating on what this example might mean to any reworking of that history.

There's a black boy dead and a migloo holding a gun : death, Aboriginality and history in Australian adolescent literature

This essay is concerned with the extent to which the attitudes and ideologies of colonial discourse continue to influence contemporary signifying practices in Australian adolescent historical fiction. Under scrutiny are three novels which take issue with the violent aspects of colonisation when so many members of the Indigenous population either died or were forcibly displaced: Melissa Lucashenko’s Killing Darcy, Gary Crew’s No Such Country and Mark Svendsen’s Poison Under Their Lips. Although these texts share a desire to interrogate monolithic versions of Australia’s history, it is argued that such motivations offer no guarantee that the implied audience is positioned to come to an understanding of perspectives belonging to ex-centric Others.

A life history model for the giant crab Pseudocarcinus gigas

This study examined P. gigas populations from Cape Naturaliste (Western Australia) to Flinders Island (Tasmania), investigated reproduction, developed a unique tag to study their movement and growth, and collected new environmental information that allowed the development of a model of the life history for this iconic endemic Australian species.