The incidence of flystrike in sheep in relation to weather conditions, sheep husbandry, and the abundance of the Australian sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

1990 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
KG Wardhaugh ◽  
R Morton
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Cloud Cover ◽  
Rainfall Intensity ◽  
New South ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Lucilia Cuprina ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Australian Sheep ◽  
Gravid Females

The incidence of cutaneous myiases (flystrike) in sheep in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales is examined in relation to the abundance of the Australian sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann), and various management and environmental variables known to affect sheep susceptibility. Regression analysis showed that the incidence of flystrike increased with increases in the density and activity of gravid L. cuprina. Body strike was more predictable than crutch strike, and was positively correlated with monthly rainfall, cloud cover and the rate of pasture growth. Rainfall intensity was also important, with frequent, small falls of rain being more conducive to flystrike than occasional heavy showers. The combination of weather, pasture and fly effects accounted for 76% of the observed variance in body strike and 58% of that for crutch strike. Crutch strike appeared to replace body strike under dry conditions and also when fly densities were low (less than 0.5 gravid females h-1 trap-1), irrespective of weather conditions. The analysis of total strike suggested that rainfall determined overall levels of strike, whereas pasture conditions and cloud cover regulated type of strike.

Models of the distribution and abundance of ground-dwelling mammals in the eucalypt forests of north-eastern New South Wales in relation to environmental variables

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 313 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Catling ◽  
R. J. Burt ◽  
R. I. Forrester
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Slope Position ◽  
Slope Aspect ◽  
Significant Variable ◽  
South Wales ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Eucalypt Forests ◽  
A Site

Statistical models are presented of the distribution and abundance of ground-dwelling mammals in eucalypt forests in relation to environmental variables within an area of approximately 24 000 km2 in north-eastern New South Wales. Environmental variables are defined as climatic or topographic variables that may be useful to map the distribution of fauna. The environmental variables examined were season, temperature, rainfall, elevation, lithology, steepness of slope, position on slope, aspect and landform profile. The probability of recording some species was higher in spring than autumn and many species were in highest abundance in areas of low temperature (high elevation). Although aspect was a significant variable in a number of models, no species was absent from any aspect category. Mid-slopes down to and including creeks and drainage lines were particularly important for many species, as were areas with flatter terrain. Although we have modelled environmental variables only there will no doubt be longer-term interactions between habitat and environmental variables. Fundamentally, environmental variables will determine the type of habitat present at a site, and the distribution of canopy communities, at least, can be predicted from environmental variables. However, other studies have shown for ground-dwelling mammals that environmental variables contribute little and it is the state of the habitat locally, and particularly the understorey, that determines their presence and abundance at a site. The results are discussed in relation to similar models using habitat variables and in relation to the use of such models in the management of ground-dwelling fauna in forests.

When, where and why do people encounter Australian brownsnakes (Pseudonaja textilis : Elapidae)?

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 675 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. B. Whitaker ◽  
R. Shine
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
New South ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Experienced Observer ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Species Ecology

Encounters between humans and dangerously venomous snakes put both participants at serious risk, so the determinants of such encounters warrant attention. Pseudonaja textilis is a large fast-moving elapid snake responsible for most snakebite fatalities in Australia. As part of a broad ecological study of this species in agricultural land near Leeton, New South Wales, we set out to identify factors influencing the probability that a human walking in farmland would come into close proximity to a brownsnake. Over a three-year period, we walked regular transects to quantify the number and rate of snake encounters, and the proportion of snakes above ground that could be seen. The rate of encounters depended upon a series of factors, including season, time of day, habitat type, weather conditions (wind and air temperature) and shade (light v. dark) of the observers’ clothing. Interactions between factors were also important: for example, the effect of air temperature on encounter probability differed with season and snake gender, and the effect of the observers’ shade of clothing differed with cloud cover. Remarkably, even a highly-experienced observer actually saw <25% of the telemetrically monitored snakes that were known to be active (i.e. above ground) nearby. This result reflects the snakes’ ability to evade people and to escape detection, even in the flat and sparsely vegetated study area. The proportion of snakes that were visible was influenced by the same kinds of factors as described above. Most of the factors biasing encounter rates are readily interpretable from information on other facets of the species’ ecology, and knowledge of these factors may facilitate safer coexistence between snakes and people.

Effects of depth and time of sowing on emergence of Danthonia richardsonii Cashmore and Danthonia linkii Kunth

1993 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM Lodge ◽  
AJ Schipp
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Seedling Emergence ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Sowing Time ◽  
Sand Mixture ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Seed Field ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Soil Temperatures

Two experiments examined the effects of sowing time and depth (surface and 10, 25, 50 mm) on emergence of Danthonia richardsonii Cashmore and Danthonia linkii Kunth. Experiment 1 was conducted from January to December 1990 on a loam/sand mixture in boxes. Emergence was highest in both species for seeds sown onto the soil surface in summer and autumn (P < 0.05). Sowing at any depth at any time of the year, or surface sowing in winter and spring, markedly reduced emergence. Experiment 2 was conducted in the field at Tamworth, northern New South Wales from September 1991 to August 1992, on a red brown earth and a black earth. This study confirmed that emergence in both species was highest from surface sown seed. Field emergence was lowest in winter, but in contrast to experiment 1, it was higher in spring, particularly on the black earth. Seedling emergence appeared to be related to mean maximum temperature, decreasing in winter as it declined below 20�C, and increasing in spring when it was greater than 23�C. Differences in seed weight were reflected in emergence of D. richardsonii and D. linkii in experiment 1. Similar emergence was recorded for the loamlsand mixture and sand, indicating that there was little effect of texture. Phalaris aquatica L. cv. Sirosa surface sown in December had lower emergence ( P < 0.05) than both Danthonia spp., but emergence of this larger seeded cultivar was higher at depths of 10 and 25 mm. Laboratory studies to determine reasons for the low emergence of D. richardsonii and D. linkii from depth, indicated that neither had an obligate light requirement for germination. Depth, however, reduced germination (P < 0.05) compared with surface sowing of seed. Seedlings at depth also were observed to have slower rates of shoot and root elongation. In the field, the most successful establishments of D. richardsonii and D. linkii seedlings are likely to occur from surface sowings in April and May. Sowing in spring may also be possible if mean maximum soil temperatures exceed 23�C, and seedlings can establish before the onset of hot, dry conditions in summer.

Recruitment of Curly Mitchell Grass (Astrebla Lappacea) in North-Western New South Wales.

1996 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 179 ◽  
Author(s):  
MH Campbell ◽  
AM Bowman ◽  
WD Bellotti ◽  
DJ Munich ◽  
HI Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Seed Bank ◽  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
New South ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Grazing System ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Annual Weeds ◽  
North Western ◽  
Germinable Seed

The recruitment of Astrebla lappacea was studied from 1986 to 1995 in a pasture in north-western NSW where the density of plants had declined from 1 to 3 plants/m2 in 1970 to 0.023 plants/m2 in 1986. Three treatments were imposed: ungrazed-sprayed-slashed, where annual weeds were treated with herbicides and slashing to reduce competition during recruitment; ungrazed-only; and grazed-only. The seed bank of A. lappacea was measured on four occasions and densities of A. lappacea plants determined after major rainfall events mainly in summer and autumn. On the ungrazed treatments the seed bank of A. lappacea increased from 0 in 1988 to 908, 898 and 286 germinable seed/m2 in, respectively, 1992, 1993 and 1995. Flowering and seedling recruitment occurred each year from 1988 to 1995 but seedlings only survived to become mature plants from the 1988 and 1992 recruitments. The major reason for the death of seedlings was dry conditions in the latter half of the year (1 10 to 135 mm of raid6 months). Frosts and competition from Brassicaceae weeds (mainly Raphistrum rugosum) in winter and spring also contributed to death of seedlings. Recruitment of seedlings and their survival to mature plants was higher on the ungrazed-sprayed-slashed treatment than on the other treatments. Recruitment and survival on the ungrazed-only treatment occurred because Brassicaceae weeds did not establish when recruiting rains fell in summer. Plant densit increased from 0.023 plants/m2 in 1986 to, respectively, 0.86, 0.64 Y and 0.004 mature plantdm and 7.88, 6.37, 0.10 seedlings/m2 on the ungrazed-sprayed-slashed, ungrazed-only and grazed-only treatments in 1995. On the grazed-only treatment the methods used to detect seeds revealed none in the soil during the experiment. However, some seeds were present because there was a low level of recruitment none of which survived to mature plants. The number of mature plants declined from 0.023 to 0.004/m2 indicating that under the present grazing system the complete elimination of A. lappacea from pastures in north-western NSW is possible if some form of managed recruitment is not devised.

Use of bioclimatic analysis to direct survey effort for the long-footed potoroo (Potorous longipes), a rare forest-dwelling rat-kangaroo

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. W. Claridge
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
New Records ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
The Past ◽  
South Wales ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Survey Effort

The long-footed potoroo (Potorous longipes) is one of the rarest and most elusive forest-dwelling mammals in Australia. Survey effort for the species over the past decade or so in south-eastern New South Wales has been driven, primarily, by predictions derived from climatic analyses using BIOCLIM. These predictions were based on known locality records of the long-footed potoroo from adjacent East Gippsland, Victoria. While they have proven useful in confirming the occurrence of the species in New South Wales, recent fortuitous records of the species from north-eastern Victoria fall well outside of the range predicted earlier by BIOCLIM. Using these new records a revised predicted range is calculated, enlarging considerably the potential geographic extent of climatically suitable habitat for the species. The results presented here highlight the limitations of BIOCLIM when given locality records of a species from only a portion of its true geographic range. I argue that less emphasis might be based on this approach to direct survey effort for the species in the future. Instead, a range of other environmental variables might be used in combination with BIOCLIM-derived outputs when selecting survey sites. In this way a more representative picture of the distribution of the species may be obtained.

The estimation of natality in a fruit-infesting insect (Diptera: Tephritidae)

1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Pritchard
Keyword(s):  
Aggressive Behaviour ◽  
Development Time ◽  
New South ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Oviposition Site ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Fruit Tissue ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Gravid Females ◽  
Oviposition Sites

Extraction of eggs of Dacus tryoni from fruit was aided by first identifying oviposition sites with a water-soluble dye and then digesting the fruit tissue around the oviposition site with a mixture of enzymes consisting of equal parts of 1% pectinase and 1% cellulase. The numbers of eggs laid per week were estimated by a formula that incorporated the numbers of hatched and unhatched eggs present on one occasion each week, the proportion of fertile eggs in each variety of fruit, and the development time of eggs.Many more eggs were laid in an orchard in New South Wales, Australia, in a wet year (1966–1967) than in a dry year (1965–1966). This was due in part to a larger population of adults that migrated into the orchard in the wet year and to the fact that fruit remained on the trees longer. There was evidence that the rate of oviposition in the wet season fell off as fruit became scarcer towards the end of the season. Aggressive behaviour of females on fruit and movement of gravid females away from the orchard are possible explanations.

Effects of topdressed superphosphate on the sheep and pasture production of dryland lucerne in central western New South Wales

1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (75) ◽  
pp. 475 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Brownlee ◽  
BJ Scott ◽  
RD Kearins ◽  
J Bradley
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Soil Phosphorus ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Wool Production ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Soil Phosphorus Test

Merino ewes at 3.7, 4.9 and 6.2 ha-1 grazed dryland lucerne (Medicago sativa cv. Hunter River) topdressed annually with superphosphate at 0, 125 and 251 kg ha-1, from September 1969 until December 1972, in an experiment at Condobolin, New South Wales. Superphosphate increased ewe liveweights, total forage available and phosphorus content of the forage by a small amount but did not increase wool production per head. The Bray soil phosphorus test in the top 8 cm of the soil profile rose from 8 p.p.m. to 48 p.p.m., but most of the phosphorus was concentrated in the 0-4 cm layer, where we consider that dry conditions reduced its availability to the lucerne. As stocking rate increased, ewe liveweights and wool production per head decreased and the sheep required more handfeeding for survival. The treatment with the greatest gross margin was the lowest stocking rate with nil fertilizer.

Description of the glochidia of Alathyria pertexta pertexta Iredale, 1934 (Bivalvia : Hyriidae) from south-eastern Queensland

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Michael W. Klunzinger
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Adductor Muscle ◽  
Austral Spring ◽  
Widespread Species ◽  
North West ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Putative Species ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Wet Tropics ◽  
Gravid Females

Most freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionida) have larvae (glochidia in Margaritiferidae, Hyriidae and Unionidae) that are parasitic on fishes. Mechanisms of glochidia release and morphological features (size, shape, larval teeth, etc.) vary across taxa and geography. Among the Australasian Hyriidae, glochidia have been described from 12 of the 28 putative species. Alathyria pertexta Iredale, 1934 is a widespread species from subtropical/semitemperate south-eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales to the northern wet tropics of Queensland and southern New Guinea. Little information is available on its biology and its glochidia have not been described in detail. The aim of this study was to describe the glochidia of A. pertexta pertexta and the method of their release. Gravid females collected from Mary River, near Kenilworth, and Isaac River, north-west of Rockhampton, Queensland, released glochidia in ‘amorphous mucus conglutinates’, in which glochidia are released from exhalent siphons of females in a loose mucus matrix that dissociates in water, during the austral spring (August–October); they then hatched from vitelline membranes but remained tethered by a larval thread and began characteristically ‘winking’. Shells (n = 80) are subtriangular and scalene in shape, 268.1 µm long (±1.21, s.e.), 242.9 µm high (±1.22, s.e.) and have a hinge length of 191 µm (±0.63, s.e.). Larval teeth are spineless, S-shaped hooks with singular interlocking cusps on opposing valves. The surface of the apex and valve margins are crenulated, and valves are smooth and porous, held together by a hinge and a singular internal adductor muscle.

The seasonality of hip fracture and its relationship with weather conditions in New South Wales

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith M.C. Lau ◽  
Bill G. Gillespie ◽  
Lisa Valenti ◽  
Dianne O'Connell
Keyword(s):  
Hip Fracture ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
South Wales

Orientation by gravid Australian sheep blowflies, Lucilia cuprina (Diptera: Calliphoridae), to fleece and synthetic chemical attractants in laboratory bioassays

1995 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.H. Eisemann
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Hydrogen Sulphide ◽  
Lucilia Cuprina ◽  
Sodium Sulphide ◽  
Aqueous Sodium ◽  
Chemical Attractants ◽  
Australian Sheep ◽  
Gravid Females ◽  
Saturated Aqueous Sodium ◽  
Laboratory Bioassays

AbstractGravid females of Lucilia cuprina (Wiedeman) in a laboratory cage orientated positively to samples of fleece. Newly-wetted fleece was significantly more attractive than dry fleece, an effect resulting from the action of water on the fleece and not just addition of water vapour to the volatile fleece kairomones. Fleece contaminated with serous exudate, resulting from myiasis by L. cuprina, was much more attractive than wet, uncontaminated fleece from the same sheep. Kairomones from wetted fleece consistently augmented the attractive effects of 2-mercaptoethanol and indole in separate experiments, and of hydrogen sulphide (released from saturated aqueous sodium sulphide solution) in one trial out of three, but not overall. It is suggested that volatile fleece kairomones play a part in eliciting orientation to sheep by gravid L. cuprina. Fleece kairomones may augment the efficacy of kairomones released by putrefactive conditions in the fleece, which are known to predispose sheep to fly strike. They may also provide an input which helps to retain L. cuprina populations in the sheep’s peridomestic precinct.

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