A comparison of species assemblages between drainage systems with and without floodgates: implications for coastal floodplain management

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 2400-2417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederieke J Kroon ◽  
Dean H Ansell
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
New South ◽  
Species Assemblages ◽  
Floodplain Management ◽  
Drainage Systems ◽  
River Floodplain ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia

Coastal floodplains provide essential nursery habitat for a large number of fish and prawn species, many of which are commercially and recreationally important. Human activities in coastal floodplains, such as those associated with agriculture and (or) development, can have detrimental impacts on this nursery function. We examined the potential role of flood mitigation structures, in particular tidal floodgates, in depleting estuarine and inshore fisheries stocks in eastern Australia. We compared species assemblages (abundance and biomass) in reference and gated drainage systems in the Clarence River floodplain (New South Wales, Australia) over a 1-year period. We subsequently determined which environmental variables were associated with the observed patterns in species assemblages. Our results show that abundance, biomass, and assemblages of juvenile fishes and invertebrates differed significantly and consistently between drainage systems with and without floodgates. The major environmental variables of concern in systems with floodgates were (i) presence of a floodgate, (ii) elevated concentrations of nutrients, and (iii) abundance of aquatic weeds. We discuss our findings in light of potential strategies to improve coastal floodplain management for fisheries production purposes.

Water stress on native vegetation during the drought of 1965

1966 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
EW Pook ◽  
AB Costin ◽  
cWE Moore
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
New South ◽  
Native Vegetation ◽  
Severe Dehydration ◽  
Native Communities ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Water Holding ◽  
Summer Rain

During the first half of 1965 an unprecedented drought caused widespread wilting of native trees from southern Queensland to the New South Wales-Victorian border. The reaction of some of the native vegetation in parts of the Australian Capital Territory and Monaro Region has been studied. Rainfall from January 1 to June 30 was less than one-quarter of the normal, and by the end of March signs of water stress were apparent over a wide area. The communities most severely affected were dry sclerophyll forests, especially on shallow, stony soils on northerly and westerly aspects. The ability of Eucalyptus spp. to withstand sustained severe dehydration is shown by the fact that the relative moisture content of living leaves could be reduced to 40-45 %, and maintained at these levels for long periods. The prolonged period of dehydration caused general drying out of the trees, rather than leaf and twig desiccation only. In the most severe cases, shrinkage and fissuring of the bark of E. rossii, with ultimate separation at the cambium, was observed. It is suggested that so-called ineffective summer rain in south-eastern Australia is both effective and essential for the native communities on soils of low water-holding capacity. The role of drought in the distribution of native communities is discussed.

The Potential Role of Context-Related Exposure in Explaining Differences in Water Safety Cue Utilization

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 825-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark W. Wiggins ◽  
Barbara Griffin ◽  
Sue Brouwers
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Prevention Strategies ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Cue Utilization ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Disproportionate Number

Objective: To examine whether differences in water safety–related cue utilization might be associated with differences in exposure to water-related recreational contexts. Background: A disproportionate number of incidents of drowning were attributable to recent visitors to New South Wales in the 2016–2017 summer swimming season. This was due to their assumed lack of exposure to the water-related recreational settings in which Australians engage and therefore, the absence of cues that are associated with danger. Method: In Study 1, the water safety cue utilization of 101 Australian residents and 328 recent visitors to the country was compared using the Expert Intensive Skills Evaluation (EXPERTise 2.0) program. Accounting for differences between the samples, Australian residents demonstrated significantly superior water safety cue utilization. In Study 2, the water safety cue utilization of a sample of 219 Australian residents was examined, the outcomes of which indicated that those participants who learned to swim before the age of 11 years demonstrated superior water safety cue utilization to participants who learned to swim at a later age. Results: Overall, the results suggest that there are individual differences in water safety cue utilization that are explained, in part, by differences in country of residence and the age at which participants first learned to swim. Conclusion: Water safety cue utilization is likely to be dependent upon exposure to water-related activities. Identifying individual differences enables the development of more targeted, drowning-prevention strategies.

Polyploidy and possible implications for the evolutionary history of some Australian Danthonieae

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Waters ◽  
B. G. Murray ◽  
G. Melville ◽  
D. Coates ◽  
A. Young ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
New South ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Rapid Speciation ◽  
South Wales ◽  
History Of

Polyploidy is a widespread feature of some plants that allows for rapid speciation and occurs widely in Poaceae. However, there have been few studies of Australian native grasses reporting the distribution patterns of cytotypes and examining the potential role of different cytotypes in adaptation. We determined chromosome number for 48, 113, 8, 43 and 33 plants of Austrodanthonia bipartita (Link) H.P.Linder, A. caespitosa (Gaudich.) H.P.Linder, A. eriantha (Lindl.) H.P.Linder, A. fulva (Vickery) H.P.Linder and A. setacea (R.Br.) H.P.Linder, respectively, representing 28 wild populations collected in central western New South Wales. A widespread distribution is reported for tetraploids (2n = 48), whereas diploids (2n = 24) and a limited number of hexaploids (2n = 72) appear to be associated with northern and western populations. In all populations, coexistent cytotypes were found, although tetraploids were the most widespread cytotype for the most commonly occurring species, A. caespitosa. The occurrence of low frequencies of putative intermediate cytotypes, particularly triploids, in all five species provides evidence for inter-specific hybridisation and/or intra-specific crossing between cytotypes. The lack of common ecological factors (climate, edaphic or micro-site) that clearly distinguish diploid from tetraploid A. caespitosa plants provides further evidence for hybridisation between cytological races of this species.

Evidence of High Sea Level during Isotope Stage 5c in Queensland, Australia

1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Pickett ◽  
C. H. Thompson ◽  
R. A. Kelley ◽  
D. Roman
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
New South ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Coastal Dunes ◽  
Intertidal Sediments ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Maximum Period ◽  
High Dune

Thirty-nine species of scleractinian corals have been recovered from under a high dune on the western (mainland) side of North Stradbroke Island, eastern Australia. The corals are associated with thin intertidal sediments and their good condition implies burial in situ and preservation in a saturated zone. Most likely this occurred as the coast prograded and a large dune advanced into the littoral zone, burying intertidal sediments and coral. The species assemblage indicates a sheltered environment but one open to the ocean without wide fluctuations in salinity. Three species yielded a mean 230Th/234U age of 105,000 yr B.P. which is significantly younger than the nearest Pleistocene corals at Evans Head, New South Wales. The corals provide evidence of a sea stand near present sea level during isotope Stage 5c, which is considerably higher than previously suggested for this period. Their good condition implies that the overlying parabolic dune is of comparable age and formed during that high stand of sea level. Also, the isotope age provides a maximum period for the development of giant podzols in the podzol chronosequences on coastal dunes in southern Queensland.

An Aerial Survey of 3 Game Species of Waterfowl (Family Anatidae) Populations in Eastern Australia

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
LW Braithwaite ◽  
M Maher ◽  
SV Briggs ◽  
BS Parker
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waters ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Game Species ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Black Duck ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Central Eastern

Populations of waterfowl of three game species, the Pacific black duck Anus superciliosa, grey teal A. gibberifrons, and maned duck Chenonetta jubata, were assessed by aerial survey in October 1983 within a survey region of 2 697 000 km2 of eastern Australia. The numbers of each species were assessed on all surface waters of over 1 ha, and on a sample of smaller surface waters within 10 survey bands each 30 km wide and spaced at intervals of 2� latitude from 20�30' to 38�30'S. The area within the survey bands was 324 120 km2, which gave a sampling intensity of 12.0% of the land surface area. The area of features shown as wetlands or water impoundments within the survey bands on 1 : 2 500 000 topographic maps was 19 200 km2 or 11.2% of the total area of these features in the survey region. The area of surface waters surveyed was assessed at 465 300 ha. Assessments of populations of each species were tallied for wetlands by grid cells of 6 min of 1� longitude along the survey bands (258-309 km2 depending on latitude). Distributions were then mapped, with log*10 indices of populations in each cell. Distributions of the black duck and grey teal showed a pattern of intense aggregation in limited numbers of cells, that of the maned duck was more evenly distributed. The major concentrations of the Pacific black duck were recorded in northern New South Wales and the south-eastern, western, central eastern and central coastal regions of Queensland; those of the grey teal were in south-western, western and northern New South Wales and central-eastern Queensland; the maned duck was broadly distributed over inland New South Wales with the exception of the far west, inland southern Queensland, and central northern Victoria.

Psychiatry trainees’ views and educational needs regarding the care of patients with a life-limiting illness

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin C. Forster ◽  
Helen Proskurin ◽  
Brian Kelly ◽  
Melanie R. Lovell ◽  
Ralf Ilchef ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
Physical Illness ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Case Based Learning ◽  
Psychiatric Intervention

AbstractObjective:People with a life-limiting physical illness experience high rates of significant psychological and psychiatric morbidity. Nevertheless, psychiatrists often report feeling ill-equipped to respond to the psychiatric needs of this population. Our aim was to explore psychiatry trainees’ views and educational needs regarding the care of patients with a life-limiting physical illness.Method:Using semistructured interviews, participants’ opinions were sought on the role of psychiatrists in the care of patients with a life-limiting illness and their caregivers, the challenges faced within the role, and the educational needs involved in providing care for these patients. Interviews were audiotaped, fully transcribed, and then subjected to thematic analysis.Results:A total of 17 psychiatry trainees were recruited through two large psychiatry training networks in New South Wales, Australia. There were contrasting views on the role of psychiatry in life-limiting illness. Some reported that a humanistic, supportive approach including elements of psychotherapy was helpful, even in the absence of a recognizable mental disorder. Those who reported a more biological and clinical stance (with a reliance on pharmacotherapy) tended to have a nihilistic view of psychiatric intervention in this setting. Trainees generally felt ill-prepared to talk to dying patients and felt there was an educational “famine” in this area of psychiatry. They expressed a desire for more training and thought that increased mentorship and case-based learning, including input from palliative care clinicians, would be most helpful.Significance of Results:Participants generally feel unprepared to care for patients with a life-limiting physical illness and have contrasting views on the role of psychiatry in this setting. Targeted education is required for psychiatry trainees in order to equip them to care for these patients.

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