Comparative performance of cattle and buffalo on the Sepik Plains, Papua New Guinea

1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (87) ◽  
pp. 550 ◽  
Author(s):  
JH Schottler ◽  
A Boromana ◽  
WT Williams
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Water Buffalo ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Comparative Performance ◽  
Mineral Supplementation ◽  
Calf Mortality ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Native Pastures

Fifty female Brahman-cross cattle and 50 water buffalo were run on the infertile native pastures of the Sepik lowland plains, Papua New Guinea; half the buffalo, and all the cattle, received mineral supplementation (phosphate, Ca, Cu and Co). After the beginning of the experiment all animals were able to maintain, but not improve, their weights. The liveweights attained were everywhere less than those attained on more fertile pastures elsewhere in Papua New Guinea, the discrepancy being greater for cattle than for buffalo. Supplementation improved both the mean liveweight of buffalo and the growth rate of the calves. Calf mortality was 18 per cent in both species. Despite the longer gestation period, the buffalo produced nearly 50 per cent more calves than the cattle; buffalo more often than not conceived while still lactating, whereas cattle did so only rarely. There was some evidence of a long-term improvement in fertility as a result of supplementation. It is concluded that under these difficult conditions buffalo are a better proposition than cattle.

scholarly journals Genome Sequence Analysis of First Ross River Virus Isolate from Papua New Guinea Indicates Long-Term, Local Evolution

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 482
Author(s):  
Alice Michie ◽  
John S. Mackenzie ◽  
David W. Smith ◽  
Allison Imrie
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Febrile Illness ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Ross River Virus ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Mean Time

Ross River virus (RRV) is the most medically significant mosquito-borne virus of Australia, in terms of human morbidity. RRV cases, characterised by febrile illness and potentially persistent arthralgia, have been reported from all Australian states and territories. RRV was the cause of a large-scale epidemic of multiple Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) from 1979 to 1980, involving at least 50,000 cases. Historical evidence of RRV seropositivity beyond Australia, in populations of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, has been documented. We describe the genomic characterisation and timescale analysis of the first isolate of RRV to be sampled from PNG to date. Our analysis indicates that RRV has evolved locally within PNG, independent of Australian lineages, over an approximate 40 year period. The mean time to most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) of the unique PNG clade coincides with the initiation of the PICTs epidemic in mid-1979. This may indicate that an ancestral variant of the PNG clade was seeded into the region during the epidemic, a period of high RRV transmission. Further epidemiological and molecular-based surveillance is required in PNG to better understand the molecular epidemiology of RRV in the general Australasian region.

scholarly journals Life-Long Coral Skeletal Acclimatization at CO2 Vents in Papua New Guinea Reveals Species- and Environment-Specific Effects

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiorella Prada ◽  
Leonardo Brizi ◽  
Silvia Franzellitti ◽  
Stefano Mengoli ◽  
Simona Fermani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Organic Matrix ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Pocillopora Damicornis ◽  
Related Strain ◽  
Acropora Millepora ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Seep Site

Abstract The responses of corals and other marine calcifying organisms to ocean acidification (OA) are variable and span from no effect to severe responses. Here we investigated the effect of long-term exposure to OA on skeletal parameters of four tropical zooxanthellate corals living at two CO2 vents in Papua New Guinea, namely in Dobu and Upa Upasina. The skeletal porosity of Galaxea fascicularis, Acropora millepora, and Pocillopora damicornis was higher (from 17% to 38%, depending on the species) at the seep site compared to the control only at Upa Upasina. Massive Porites showed no differences at any of the locations. Pocillopora damicornis also showed a ~ 7% decrease of micro-density and an increase of the volume fraction of the larger pores, a decrease of the intraskeletal organic matrix content with an increase of the intraskeletal water content, and no variation in the organic matrix related strain and crystallite size. The fact that the skeletal parameters varied only at one of the two seep sites suggests that other local environmental conditions interact with OA to modify the coral skeletal parameters. This might also contribute to explain the great deal of responses to OA reported for corals and other marine calcifying organisms.

scholarly journals TV talk in PNG: A search for policy in a weak state

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-78
Author(s):  
Robert J. Foster
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
State Building ◽  
Weak State ◽  
The Sacrifice

The reasons for the nation-state's weakness are many, but the course of TV talk over the last 10 years in Papua New Guinea reveals one reason in particular: the sacrifice of long-term-state-building to the immediate demands of electoral strategy.

On the road in Highlands Papua New Guinea: intimacy and ethnographic method

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 575-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Maclean
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The Road ◽  
On The Road

Drawing on Schutz’s treatment of the We-relationship and of meaning contexts, and on Michael Jackson’s exploration of the ambiguities of the intersubjective, this article examines the methodological implications of the empathic orientation developed in the context of intimacy for a discipline based on participant observation. I argue that moments of ‘breakdown’, a classic way in which ethnographic questions are revealed, are predicated on the intentional dynamics of intersubjective relationships. I draw on a particular experience of ‘breakdown’ on an overnight truck trip in Highlands Papua New Guinea juxtaposed with expectations of intimacy developed over long-term fieldwork spanning 12 years.

Breast-feeding and sexual abstinence in Papua New Guinea

1984 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
William K. A. Agyei
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Breast Feeding ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Sexual Abstinence ◽  
Urban Mothers ◽  
Mother And Child ◽  
Child Spacing ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Rural Mothers

SummaryData collected in Papua New Guinea between November 1979 and March 1980 show that the main reason for prolonged breast-feeding and sexual abstinence is to ensure the welfare of the mother and child (which is indirectly a means of child spacing). The mean period of breast-feeding for the rural mothers is 21·8 months and for the urban mothers is 20·7 months. The mean duration of sexual abstinence for the rural male respondents is 21·4 months and for the female is 20·2 months. The figures for their urban counterparts are 19·5 months and 16·6 months respectively.

NEST PROVISIONING IN THE MUD-DAUBER WASP SCELIPHRON LAETUM (F. SMITH): BODY MASS AND TAXA SPECIFIC PREY SELECTION

Behaviour ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Jebb ◽  
Mark Elgar
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Prey Selection ◽  
Larval Instar ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Spider Species ◽  
Volumetric Capacity ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Nest Provisioning

AbstractThe mud dauber wasp Sceliphron laetum (F. Smith) lays a single egg in a mud chamber that is provisioned almost exclusively with orb-weaving spiders. In Madang, Papua New Guinea, the wasps provision their chambers with between three and nine spiders that weigh between 0.01 and 0.28 g and are from at least twelve species. The number of spiders placed in each chamber is negatively correlated with the mean mass of each spider. A field experiment revealed that females cease provisioning after capturing a certain mass of spiders, rather than simply filling each chamber to its volumetric capacity. Furthermore, the wasps select different spider species according to the provisioning sequence. In general, wasps avoid provisioning the early larval instar with species of Gasteracantha, perhaps because the newly emerged wasp larvae cannot penetrate the hard integuments of these spiders.

Soil seed bank and growth rates of an invasive species, Piper aduncum, in the lowlands of Papua New Guinea

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard M. Rogers ◽  
Alfred E. Hartemink
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Biomass Accumulation ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
First Year ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Piper Aduncum

Secondary fallow vegetation in parts of the Papua New Guinea lowlands is dominated by the shrub Piper aduncum L. that originates from South America. Here we report on its seed bank, growth rate and biomass accumulation. P. aduncum accounted for 69 % (408 m−2) of the seed bank in the forest and 53 % (1559 m−2) of the seed bank under fallow. About 90 % of the tree seed bank at the fallow site was dominated by P. aduncum whereas this was 78 % in the forest soil. Two-year-old P. aduncum had grown to 4.5 m height and had accumulated 48 Mg dry matter (DM) per ha of above ground biomass. The rate of biomass accumulation increased from 10 Mg DM ha−1 y−1 in the first year to 40 Mg DM ha−1 y−1 in the second year when 76 % of the biomass consisted of mainstems. The highest growth rate of 134 kg DM ha−1 d−1 occurred when P. aduncum was 17-mo-old. Aggressive invasion and monospecific stands of P. aduncum are explained by its dominance in the seed bank, fast growth, and high rates of biomass accumulation. P. aduncum is a major competitor to indigenous tree species and presents a threat to Papua New Guinea's rich biodiversity.

scholarly journals An analysis of atmospheric CH<sub>4</sub> concentrations from 1984 to 2008 with a single box atmospheric chemistry model

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 30259-30282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Tan ◽  
Q. Zhuang
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Methane Flux ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Significant Drop ◽  
Oxidizing Power ◽  
The Mean

Abstract. We present a single box atmospheric chemistry model involving atmospheric methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO) and radical hydroxyl (OH) to analyze atmospheric CH4 concentrations from 1984 to 2008. When OH is allowed to vary, the modeled CH4 is 20 ppb higher than observations from the NOAA/ESRL and AGAGE networks for the end of 2008. However, when the OH concentration is held constant at 106 molecule cm−3, the simulated CH4 shows a trend approximately equal to observations. Both simulations show a clear slowdown in the CH4 growth rate during recent decades, from about 13 ppb yr−1 in 1984 to less than 5 ppb yr−1 in 2003. Furthermore, if the constant OH assumption is credible, we think that this slowdown is mainly due to a pause in the growth of wetland methane emissions. In simulations run for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres separately, we find that the Northern Hemisphere is more sensitive to wetland emissions, whereas the southern tends to be more perturbed by CH4 transportation, dramatic OH change, and biomass burning. When measured CO values from NOAA/ESRL are used to drive the model, changes in the CH4 growth rate become more consistent with observations, but the long-term increase in CH4 is underestimated. This shows that CO is a good indicator of short-term variations in oxidizing power in the atmosphere. The simulation results also indicate the significant drop in OH concentrations in 1998 (about 5% lower than the previous year) was probably due to an abrupt increase in wetland methane emissions during an intense EI Niño event. Using a fixed-lag Kalman smoother, we estimate the mean wetland methane flux is about 128 Tg yr−1 through the period 1984–2008. This study demonstrates the effectiveness in examining the role of OH and CO in affecting CH4.

How Political Commitments Influence Research

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Kirsch
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Nongovernmental Organizations ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The Other ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Political Commitments

This chapter is based on long-term research with people affected by the Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea, including involvement in a lawsuit seeking to halt its destructive environmental impact. It considers examples of ethnographic refusal, when anthropologists do not write about events that might harm their informants. It also examines relationships between engaged anthropologists and colleagues, lawyers and law, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and communities. This chapter and the next address these questions in the context of long-term research projects, while the other examples in the book consider these issues in relation to short-term, problem-focused research, which have their own challenges and opportunities.

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