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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

A New Species Of Neocauculus (Acari: Prostigmata: Caeculidae) From Barrow Island, Western Australia, With A Checklist Of World Cauculidae, Christopher Taylor, Nihara Gunawardene, Adrianne C. Kinnear Jan 2013

A New Species Of Neocauculus (Acari: Prostigmata: Caeculidae) From Barrow Island, Western Australia, With A Checklist Of World Cauculidae, Christopher Taylor, Nihara Gunawardene, Adrianne C. Kinnear

Research outputs 2013

Neocaeculus imperfectus new species is described from material collected on Barrow Island, Western Australia. Keys to genera and Australasian species of Caeculidae are provided, and the relationship between the genera Neocaeculus and Microcaeculus is discussed. A checklist of species for Caeculidae is provided.


Floracultures: Conserving Perth's Botanical Heritage Through A Digital Repository, John C. Ryan Jan 2013

Floracultures: Conserving Perth's Botanical Heritage Through A Digital Repository, John C. Ryan

Research outputs 2013

FloraCultures is a 2013 pilot project in development with Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth, Western Australia, and funded by Edith Cowan University’s Early Career Researcher grant scheme. The project aims to develop a model for documenting the plant-based cultural heritage of 30–50 indigenous species occurring in the Kings Park bushland. The FloraCultures initiative integrates archival and digital design techniques, creating a unique web portal of potential interest to a range of users -- from first-time tourists and amateur naturalists to heritage consultants and evironmental conservationists . The initiative reflects the belief that research into environmental heritage (defined broadly …


Coastal Bacterioplankton Community Dynamics In Response To A Natural Disturbance, Sara K. Yeo, Megan J. Huggett, Alexander Eiler, Michael Rappe Jan 2013

Coastal Bacterioplankton Community Dynamics In Response To A Natural Disturbance, Sara K. Yeo, Megan J. Huggett, Alexander Eiler, Michael Rappe

Research outputs 2013

In order to characterize how disturbances to microbial communities are propagated over temporal and spatial scales in aquatic environments, the dynamics of bacterial assemblages throughout a subtropical coastal embayment were investigated via SSU rRNA gene analyses over an 8-month period, which encompassed a large storm event. During non-perturbed conditions, sampling sites clustered into three groups based on their microbial community composition: an offshore oceanic group, a freshwater group, and a distinct and persistent coastal group. Significant differences in measured environmental parameters or in the bacterial community due to the storm event were found only within the coastal cluster of sampling …


Smaller, Faster Stomata: Scaling Of Stomatal Size, Rate Of Response, And Stomatal Conductance, Paul Drake, Raymond H. Froend, Peter Franks Jan 2013

Smaller, Faster Stomata: Scaling Of Stomatal Size, Rate Of Response, And Stomatal Conductance, Paul Drake, Raymond H. Froend, Peter Franks

Research outputs 2013

Maximum and minimum stomatal conductance, as well as stomatal size and rate of response, are known to vary widely across plant species, but the functional relationship between these static and dynamic stomatal properties is unknown. The objective of this study was to test three hypotheses: (i) operating stomatal conductance under standard conditions (gop) correlates with minimum stomatal conductance prior to morning light [gmin(dawn)]; (ii) stomatal size (S) is negatively correlated with gop and the maximum rate of stomatal opening in response to light, (dg/dt)max; and (iii) gop correlates negatively with instantaneous water-use efficiency (WUE) despite positive correlations with maximum rate …


Meta-Analysis Reveals Complex Marine Biological Responses To The Interactive Effects Of Ocean Acidification And Warming, Ben P. Harvey, Dylan Gwynn-Jones, Philippa J. Moore Jan 2013

Meta-Analysis Reveals Complex Marine Biological Responses To The Interactive Effects Of Ocean Acidification And Warming, Ben P. Harvey, Dylan Gwynn-Jones, Philippa J. Moore

Research outputs 2013

Ocean acidification and warming are considered two of the greatest threats to marine biodiversity, yet the combined effect of these stressors on marine organisms remains largely unclear. Using a meta-analytical approach, we assessed the biological responses of marine organisms to the effects of ocean acidification and warming in isolation and combination. As expected biological responses varied across taxonomic groups, life-history stages, and trophic levels, but importantly, combining stressors generally exhibited a stronger biological (either positive or negative) effect. Using a subset of orthogonal studies, we show that four of five of the biological responses measured (calcification, photosynthesis, reproduction, and survival, …


Delivering Genetic Education And Genetic Counseling For Rare Diseases In Rural Brazil, A.X. Acosta, K Abe-Sandes, R Giugliani, Alan H. Bittles Jan 2013

Delivering Genetic Education And Genetic Counseling For Rare Diseases In Rural Brazil, A.X. Acosta, K Abe-Sandes, R Giugliani, Alan H. Bittles

Research outputs 2013

Brazil is the largest country in Latin America, with an ethnically diverse, Portuguese-speaking and predominantly Roman Catholic population of some 194 million. Universal health care is provided under the Federal Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde) but, as in many other middle and low income countries, access to medical genetics services is limited in rural and remote regions of the country. Since there is no formally recognized Genetic Counseling profession, genetic counseling is provided by physicians, trained either in medical genetics or a related clinical discipline. A comprehensive medical genetics program has been established in Monte Santo, an inland …


Release Of Dissolved Organic Carbon From Seagrass Wrack And Its Implications For Trophic Connectivity, Paul S. Lavery, Kathryn M. Mcmahon, Julia Weyers, Mary C. Boyce, Carolyn Elizabeth Oldham Jan 2013

Release Of Dissolved Organic Carbon From Seagrass Wrack And Its Implications For Trophic Connectivity, Paul S. Lavery, Kathryn M. Mcmahon, Julia Weyers, Mary C. Boyce, Carolyn Elizabeth Oldham

Research outputs 2013

ABSTRACT: The export of old leaves and stems (wrack) from seagrass meadows provides a mechanism for trophic connectivity among coastal ecosystems. As little of this wrack is consumed by mesograzers, leached dissolved organic carbon (DOC) may determine the importance of wrack as a trophic subsidy. However, few studies have examined the effect of seagrass type or age on the release of DOC or its bioavailability. We examined the amount and composition of DOC released from different wrack: Posidonia sinuosa, Amphibolis antarctica and the alga Laurencia sp. We then examined the effect of age on DOC leaching from P. sinuosa wrack. …


Threats And Knowledge Gaps For Ecosystem Services Provided By Kelp Forests: A Northeast Atlantic Perspective, Dan A. Smale, Michael T. Burrows, Philippa J. Moore, Nessa O'Connor, Stephen J. Hawkins Jan 2013

Threats And Knowledge Gaps For Ecosystem Services Provided By Kelp Forests: A Northeast Atlantic Perspective, Dan A. Smale, Michael T. Burrows, Philippa J. Moore, Nessa O'Connor, Stephen J. Hawkins

Research outputs 2013

Kelp forests along temperate and polar coastlines represent some of most diverse and productive habitats on the Earth. Here, we synthesize information from >60 years of research on the structure and functioning of kelp forest habitats in European waters, with particular emphasis on the coasts of UK and Ireland, which represents an important biogeographic transition zone that is subjected to multiple threats and stressors. We collated existing data on kelp distribution and abundance and reanalyzed these data to describe the structure of kelp forests along a spatial gradient spanning more than 10° of latitude. We then examined ecological goods and …


Pine As Fast Food: Foraging Ecology Of An Endangered Cockatoo In A Forestry Landscape, William Stock, Hugh Finn, Jackson Parker, Ken Dods Jan 2013

Pine As Fast Food: Foraging Ecology Of An Endangered Cockatoo In A Forestry Landscape, William Stock, Hugh Finn, Jackson Parker, Ken Dods

Research outputs 2013

Pine plantations near Perth, Western Australia have provided an important food source for endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) since the 1940s. Plans to harvest these plantations without re-planting will remove this food source by 2031 or earlier. To assess the impact of pine removal, we studied the ecological association between Carnaby’s Cockatoos and pine using behavioural, nutritional, and phenological data. Pine plantations provided high densities of seed (158 025 seeds ha21) over a large area (c. 15 000 ha). Carnaby’s Cockatoos fed throughout these plantations and removed almost the entire annual crop of pine cones. Peak cockatoo abundance coincided with …


Variability In The Carbon Storage Of Seagrass Habitats And Its Implications For Global Estimates Of Blue Carbon Ecosystem Service, Paul Lavery, Miguel-Angel Mateo, Oscar Serrano, Mohammad Rozaimi Jan 2013

Variability In The Carbon Storage Of Seagrass Habitats And Its Implications For Global Estimates Of Blue Carbon Ecosystem Service, Paul Lavery, Miguel-Angel Mateo, Oscar Serrano, Mohammad Rozaimi

Research outputs 2013

The recent focus on carbon trading has intensified interest in ‘Blue Carbon’–carbon sequestered by coastal vegetated ecosystems, particularly seagrasses. Most information on seagrass carbon storage is derived from studies of a single species, Posidonia oceanica, from the Mediterranean Sea. We surveyed 17 Australian seagrass habitats to assess the variability in their sedimentary organic carbon (Corg) stocks. The habitats encompassed 10 species, in mono-specific or mixed meadows, depositional to exposed habitats and temperate to tropical habitats. There was an 18-fold difference in the Corg stock (1.09– 20.14 mg Corg cm23 for a temperate Posidonia sinuosa and a temperate, estuarine P. australis …


An Independent Audit Of The Australian Food Industry's Voluntary Front-Of-Pack Nutrition Labelling Scheme For Energy-Dense Nutrition-Poor Foods, Owen B. Carter, Brennen W. Mills, Tina Phan, Elanie Lloyd Jan 2013

An Independent Audit Of The Australian Food Industry's Voluntary Front-Of-Pack Nutrition Labelling Scheme For Energy-Dense Nutrition-Poor Foods, Owen B. Carter, Brennen W. Mills, Tina Phan, Elanie Lloyd

Research outputs 2013

Background/Objective: Since 2006, the Australian food industry has promoted its front-of-pack (FOP) food labelling system-the Daily Intake Guide (DIG)-as a success story of industry self-regulation. With over 4000 products already voluntary featuring the DIG, the industry argues that government regulation of FOP nutrition labelling is simply unnecessary. However, no independent audit of the industry's self-regulation has ever been undertaken and we present the first such Australian data. Subjects/Methods: Energy-dense nutrient-poor (EDNP) snacks were audited at nine Australian supermarkets, including biscuits, candy, ice creams, chocolates, crisps, sports drinks, energy drinks, flavoured milks, sweetened juices and soft drinks. In these categories nutrition …