Sea turtles as a non-consumptive tourism resource especially in Australia

There is substantial economic potential for exploiting wildlife resources for non-consumptive wildlife-oriented recreation (NCWOR) tourism and this type of tourism if well managed, can result in the long-term conservation of wildlife resources. This is especially important in cases where wildlife resources are declining due to habitat destruction, poaching and other human threats, as is so for sea turtles. In this paper, relevant ecotourism literature outlining the economic values of NCWOR activities is reviewed to show that a significant potential exists for developing sea turtle-based tourism. Duffus and Dearden's (1990. Biological Conservation, 53, 213-231) conceptual framework for the development of wildlife tourism and its extension and application by Higham (1998. Tourism Management, 19 (6), 521-531) is analysed to see if it might be applied to sea turtle-based ecotourism in Australia at Mon Repos Conservation Park. Threats to sea turtle populations are growing especially as a result of human activities and these underline the importance of finding an economic rationale to conserve the remaining species. Economic benefits from turtle-based tourism can provide such a rationale. However, such tourism must be managed appropriately if it is to be sustained. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has adopted management strategies at Mon Repos Conservation Park with this in mind and these strategies are outlined. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The politics of reintegrating Australian Aboriginal and American Indian indigenous knowledge into resource management: The dynamics of resource appropriation and cultural revival

As the United States and Australia struggle with contemporary crises over competing uses of rapidly depleting natural resources, there are striking parallels between American Indian and Australian Aboriginal communities demanding a place at the management table and offering culturally based understandings of and solutions for the ecosystems at risk. These efforts to integrate indigenous knowledge into mainstream natural resource management are part of larger legal and political debates over land tenure, the locus of control, indigenous self-governance, and holistic ecosystems management.

Sex allocation in the sexually monomorphic fairy martin

Offspring sex ratios were examined at the population and family level in the sexually monomorphic, socially monogamous fairy martin Petrochelidon ariel at five colony sites over a 4-year period (1993 1996). The sex of 465 nestlings from 169 broods % as determined using sex-specific PCR at the CHD locus. In accordance with predicted sex allocation patterns, population sex ratios at hatching and fledging did not differ from parity in an), year and the variance in brood sex ratios did not deviate from the binomial distribution, Further, brood sex ratio did not vary with hatching date during the season, brood number, brood size or colony size, The sex ratio or broods with extra-pair young did not differ from those without, while the sex ratio of broods fathered by males that gained extra-pair fertilizations did not differ from broods fathered by other males. Extra-pair chicks were as likely to be male as female. Neither the total number of feeding visits to the brood nor the relative feeding contribution by the sexes varied significantly with brood sex ratio. Brood sex ratios were also unrelated to paternal size, condition and breeding experience or maternal condition and breeding experience, However, contrary to our prediction, brood sex ratio was negatively correlated with maternal size. Generally, these results were consistent with our expectations that brood sex ratios would not vary with environmental factors or parental characteristics, and would not influence the level of parental provisioning. However, the finding that females with longer tarsi produced an excess of daughters is difficult to reconcile with our current understanding or fairy martin life history and breeding ecology.

The 2000 Ogura Lecture: Olfactory neural cells: An untapped diagnostic and therapeutic resource

Objective. This is an over-view of the cellular biology of upper nasal mucosal cells that have special characteristics that enable them to be used to diagnose and study congenital neurological diseases and to aid neural repair. Study Design: After mapping the distribution of neural cells in the upper nose, the authors' investigations moved to the use of olfactory neurones to diagnose neurological diseases of development, especially schizophrenia. Olfactory-ensheating glial cells (OEGs) from the cranial cavity promote axonal penetration of the central nervous system and aid spinal cord repair in rodents. The authors sought to isolate these cells from the more accessible upper nasal cavity in rats and in humans and prove they could likewise promote neural regeneration, making these cells suitable for human spinal repair investigations. Methods: The schizophrenia-diagnosis aspect of the study entailed the biopsy of the olfactory areas of 10 schizophrenic patients and 10 control subjects. The tissue samples were sliced and grown in culture medium. The ease of cell attachment to fibronectin (artificial epithelial basement membrane), as well as the mitotic and apoptotic indices, was studied in the presence and absence of dopamine in those cell cultures. The neural repair part of the study entailed a harvesting and insertion of first rat olfactory lamina propria rich in OEGs between cut ends of the spinal cords and then later the microinjection of an OEG-rich suspension into rat spinal cords previously transected by open laminectomy. Further studies were done in which OEG insertion was performed up to 1 month after rat cord transection and also in monkeys. Results: Schizophrenic patients' olfactory tissues do not easily attach to basement membrane compared with control subjects, adding evidence to the theory that cell wall anomalies are part of the schizophrenic lesion of neurones. Schizophrenic patient cell cultures had higher mitotic and apoptotic indices compared with control subjects. The addition of dopamine altered these indices enough to allow accurate differentiation of schizophrenics from control patients, leading to, possibly for the first time, an early objective diagnosis of schizophrenia and possible assessment of preventive strategies. OEGs from the nose were shown to be as effective as those from the olfactory bulb in promoting axonal growth across transected spinal cords even when added I month after injury in the rat. These otherwise paraplegic rats grew motor and proprioceptive and fine touch fibers with corresponding behavioral improvement. Conclusions. The tissues of the olfactory mucosa are readily available to the otolaryngologist. Being surface cells, they must regenerate (called neurogenesis). Biopsy of this area and amplification of cells in culture gives the scientist a window to the developing brain, including early diagnosis of schizophrenia. The Holy Grail of neurological disease is the cure of traumatic paraplegia and OEGs from the nose promote that repair. The otolaryngologist may become the necessary partner of the neurophysiologist and spinal surgeon to take the laboratory potential of paraplegic cure into the day-to-day realm of clinical reality.

Competition and resource availability in an annual plant community dominated by an invasive species, Carrichtera annua (L. Aschers.), in South Australia

The last decade has seen spirited debates about how resource availability affect the intensity of competition. This paper examines the effect that a dominant introduced species, Carrichtera annua, has upon the winter annual community in the arid chenopod shrublands of South Australia. Manipulative field experiments were conducted to assess plant community response to changing below-ground resource levels and to the manipulation of the density of C. annua. Changes in the density of C. annua had little effect on the abundance of all other species in the guild. Nutrient addition produced an increase in the biomass of the most abundant native species, Crassula colorata. An analysis of the root distribution of the main species suggested that the areas of soil resource capture of C. annua and C. colorata are largely segregated. Our results suggest that intraspecific competition may be stronger than interspecific competition, controlling the species responses to increased resource availability. The results are consistent with a two-phase resource dynamics systems, with pulses of high resource availability triggering growth, followed by pulses of stress. Smaller plants were nutrient limited under natural field conditions, suggesting that stress experienced during long interpulse phases may override competitive effects after short pulse phases. The observed differences in root system structure will determine when plants of a different species are experiencing a pulse or an interpulse phase. We suggest that the limitations to plant recruitment and growth are the product of a complex interplay between the length and intensity of the pulse of resource availability, the duration and severity of the interpulse periods, and biological characters of the species.

Dry matter production and allocation in Eucalyptus cloeziana and Eucalyptus argophloia seedlings in response to soil water deficits

Effects of soil water availability on seedling growth, dry matter production and allocation were determined for Gympie ( humid coastal) and Hungry Hills ( dry inland) provenances of Eucalyptus cloeziana F. Muell. and for E. argophloia Blakely ( dry inland) species. Seven-month-old seedlings were subjected to well-watered (100% field capacity, FC), moderate (70% FC) and severe (50% FC) soil water regimes in a glasshouse environment for 14 wk. There were significant differences in seedling growth, biomass production and allocation patterns between species. E. argophloia produced twice as much biomass at 100% FC, and more than three times as much at 70% and 50% FC than did either E. cloeziana provenance. Although the humid provenance of E. cloeziana had a greater leaf area at 100% FC conditions than did the dry provenance, total biomass production did not differ significantly. Both E. cloeziana provenances were highly sensitive to water deficits. E. argophloia allocated 10% more biomass to roots than did E. cloeziana. Allometric analyses indicated that relative biomass allocation patterns were significantly affected by genotype but not by soil water availability. These results have implications for taxon selection for cultivation in humid and subhumid regions.