The Effects of Grazing Activity on the Hydrology of the Bogong High Plains, Australia.

1995 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 138 ◽  
Author(s):  
RE Lawrence

Stock have been grazed on the Bogong High Plains during the summer months every year for more than a century. Several severe droughts between the 1880s and 1920s resulted in abnormally large numbers of stock being depastured there in addition to the usual numbers, which contributed both to the degradation of the vegetation cover and an increase in erosion. In the 1940s, controls were placed on the number of stock permitted to graze the Bogong High Plains, and since that time total numbers 07 grazing stock have declined from 9000 cattle to just over 3000 cattle today. In this paper, historical hydrological data from the Bogong High Plains are examined to see if cattle grazing activities may be related to trends in the run-off of several streams in the subalpine and alpine zone. Long-term declining trends in both cattle grazing numbers and run-off variables were identified as statistically significant in one of the four catchments examined - albeit in the catchment with the longest run-off record. There was some evidence that the monthly run-off from three small catchments subject to differential grazing pressures supported a correlation between high grazing densities and large run-off volumes during the summer months, but this result was not substantiated by modelling daily storm hydrographs for those same months. All the hydrological data examined post-dates the period of major environmental degradation, which may have contributed to the moderate results obtained. The fact that run-off volumes declined between the 1940s and the 1980s suggests that there has been an improvement in the environmental conditions of the Bogong High Plains since grazing controls were introduced, but it is not certain whether full recovery has taken place, or ever will.

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 607 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHA Wahren ◽  
WA Papst ◽  
RJ Williams

Changes in vegetation composition and structure are described for grassland and heathland communities on the Bogong High Plains, in the Victorian Alpine National Park. The data are based on long-term records collected from permanent reference plots over the period 1945 to 1994 from plots established in 1945, 1946 and 1979. In the Pretty Valley grassland plots, established in 1946, cattle grazing has prevented the large-scale regeneration of a number of tall, palatable forbs and short, palatable shrubs, while in the absence of grazing, the cover of these Life forms increased substantially. The amount of bare ground and loose litter was significantly greater on the grazed compared with the ungrazed plot. Between 1979 and 1994, there was little or no identifiable trend in the cover of Vegetation or bare ground at either the Pretty Valley grazed site, or two additional grazed grassland sites established nearby in 1979. The current condition of grazed grassland on the Bogong High Plains is interpreted as stable, yet degraded. Improvement in condition will occur in the absence of grazing. In the Rocky Valley open heathland plots, established in 1945, increases in shrub cover over the study period were due to growth of shrubs following the 1939 bushfires that burnt much of the Bogong High Plains. From 1945-1979 shorter-lived shrubs increased in cover; since 1979, these shrubs have senesced, and are being replaced mainly by grasses. On the grazed plot longer lived, taller shrubs have continued to increase in cover and are not senescing. Between 1979 and 1989, total shrub cover declined on the ungrazed plot, but increased on the grazed plot. There was no evidence that grazing has reduced shrub cover, and therefore potential fire risk, in open heathland. These findings have significant management implications for the Alpine National Park and are consistent with those from other regions in the Australian alps.


1967 ◽  
Vol 06 (01) ◽  
pp. 8-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Collen

The utilization of an automated multitest laboratory as a data acquisition center and of a computer for trie data processing and analysis permits large scale preventive medical research previously not feasible. Normal test values are easily generated for the particular population studied. Long-term epidemiological research on large numbers of persons becomes practical. It is our belief that the advent of automation and computers has introduced a new era of preventive medicine.


The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362199464
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Marcisz ◽  
Krzysztof Buczek ◽  
Mariusz Gałka ◽  
Włodzimierz Margielewski ◽  
Matthieu Mulot ◽  
...  

Landslide mountain fens formed in landslide depressions are dynamic environments as their development is disturbed by a number of factors, for example, landslides, slopewash, and surface run-off. These processes lead to the accumulation of mineral material and wood in peat. Disturbed peatlands are interesting archives of past environmental changes, but they may be challenging for providing biotic proxy-based quantitative reconstructions. Here we investigate long-term changes in testate amoeba communities from two landslide mountain fens – so far an overlooked habitat for testate amoeba investigations. Our results show that abundances of testate amoebae are extremely low in this type of peatlands, therefore not suitable for providing quantitative depth-to-water table reconstructions. However, frequent shifts of dominant testate amoeba species reflect dynamic lithological situation of the studied fens. We observed that high and stable mineral matter input into the peatlands was associated with high abundances of species producing agglutinated (xenosomic) as well as idiosomic shells which prevailed in the testate amoeba communities in both analyzed profiles. This is the first study that explores testate amoebae of landslide mountain fens in such detail, providing novel information about microbial communities of these ecosystems.


2016 ◽  
Vol 214 (5) ◽  
pp. 571-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Herawati ◽  
Daisuke Taniguchi ◽  
Hatsuho Kanoh ◽  
Kazuhiro Tateishi ◽  
Shuji Ishihara ◽  
...  

Multiciliated cells (MCCs) promote fluid flow through coordinated ciliary beating, which requires properly organized basal bodies (BBs). Airway MCCs have large numbers of BBs, which are uniformly oriented and, as we show here, align linearly. The mechanism for BB alignment is unexplored. To study this mechanism, we developed a long-term and high-resolution live-imaging system and used it to observe green fluorescent protein–centrin2–labeled BBs in cultured mouse tracheal MCCs. During MCC differentiation, the BB array adopted four stereotypical patterns, from a clustering “floret” pattern to the linear “alignment.” This alignment process was correlated with BB orientations, revealed by double immunostaining for BBs and their asymmetrically associated basal feet (BF). The BB alignment was disrupted by disturbing apical microtubules with nocodazole and by a BF-depleting Odf2 mutation. We constructed a theoretical model, which indicated that the apical cytoskeleton, acting like a viscoelastic fluid, provides a self-organizing mechanism in tracheal MCCs to align BBs linearly for mucociliary transport.


2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
SJ Holdaway ◽  
PC Fanning ◽  
DC Witter

Recent erosion in arid regions of western NSW has exposed large areas that are scattered with stone artefacts manufactured by Aboriginal people in prehistory. These exposures offer an opportunity for archaeologists to study the artefacts abandoned by Aboriginal people through time and to compare those artefacts that accumulate in different parts of the landscape. To reconstruct the nature of prehistoric behaviour in the rangelands, two approaches are needed. First, the geomorphological context of the artefacts needs to be considered since exposure of the artefacts is a function of landscape history. Second, large areas (measured in thousands of square metres) and large numbers of artefacts need to be considered if patterns reflecting long-term abandonment behaviour by Aboriginal people are to be identified. This paper reports on the Western New South Wales Archaeological Program (WNSWAP) which was initiated in 1995 to study surface archaeology in the rangelands. Geomorphological studies are combined with artefact analysis using geographic information system software to investigate Aboriginal stone artefact scatters and associated features such as heat retainer hearths, in a landscape context. Results suggest that apparently random scatters of stone artefacts are in fact patterned in ways which inform on prehistoric Aboriginal settlement of the rangelands. Key words: Aboriginal stone artefacts; rangelands; landscape archaeology; geomorphology; GIs


2019 ◽  
pp. 244-271
Author(s):  
Martin Pugh

This chapter discusses how, misled by Islamophobic propaganda, Britain and America were unable to come to terms with what they called ‘Islamism’. The origins of what is variously known as Islamism, Islamic fundamentalism, and radical Islamism lie in the 1960s, in the ideas of a handful of Muslims in Pakistan, Egypt, and Iran who believed that Muslims had been led astray from their religion by nationalist movements. Although some Muslims were critical of Western morality and politics, Islamism was not primarily anti-Western: it was essentially a reaction against what were widely seen as the corrupt, authoritarian, and secular regimes that controlled much of the Muslim world. The aim was to evict them, return to a purer form of Islam and re-create an Islamic state. In view of the exaggerated reputation it enjoys in the West, it is worth remembering that this movement has largely been a failure. Yet while fundamentalism appeals to only a small minority, it is also the case that large numbers of Muslims have become aggrieved by the policies of the Western powers. The explanation for this can be found in long-term frustration with the consistently pro-Israeli policy of Britain and the United States over Palestine, in addition to the proximate causes in the shape of two Afghan wars, the genocide in Bosnia, the Rushdie affair, and the first Gulf War in 1990, which made many Muslims see themselves as the victims of Western aggression and interventionism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 240 ◽  
pp. 07011
Author(s):  
Kushagra Shrivastava ◽  
Keith Wen Kai Chia ◽  
Kang Jun Wong ◽  
Alfred Yong Liang Tan ◽  
Hwee Tiang Ning

Solar activity research provides insight into the Sun’s past, future (Science Daily, 2018). The solar activity includes observations of large numbers of intense sunspots, flares, and other phenomena; and demands a wide range of techniques and measurements on the observations. This research needs long term data collection before critical analyses can occur, to generate meaningful learning and knowledge. In this project, we will use solar imaging to make observations of solar activity, and take our baby steps to make contributions in citizen science. Observations will be made in 3 wavelengths to gain a more thorough analysis by looking at different perspectives of the Sun, namely H-Alpha, Calcium-K, and white light.


2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Björnberg ◽  
T. Britton ◽  
E. I. Broman ◽  
E. Natan

In this work we introduce a stochastic model for the spread of a virus in a cell population where the virus has two ways of spreading: either by allowing its host cell to live and duplicate, or by multiplying in large numbers within the host cell, causing the host cell to burst and thereby let the virus enter new uninfected cells. The model is a kind of interacting Markov branching process. We focus in particular on the probability that the virus population survives and how this depends on a certain parameter λ which quantifies the ‘aggressiveness’ of the virus. Our main goal is to determine the optimal balance between aggressive growth and long-term success. Our analysis shows that the optimal strategy of the virus (in terms of survival) is obtained when the virus has no effect on the host cell's life cycle, corresponding to λ = 0. This is in agreement with experimental data about real viruses.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 843-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett D Walker ◽  
Sheila Griffin ◽  
Ellen R M Druffel

AbstractThe standard procedure for storing/preserving seawater dissolved organic carbon (DOC) samples after field collection is by freezing (–20°C) until future analysis can be made. However, shipping and receiving large numbers of these samples without thawing presents a significant logistical problem and large monetary expense. Access to freezers can also be limited in remote field locations. We therefore test an alternative method of preserving and storing samples for the measurement of DOC concentrations ([DOC]), stable carbon (δ13C), and radiocarbon (as ∆14C) isotopic values via UV photooxidation (UVox). We report a total analytical reproducibility of frozen DOC samples to be [DOC]±1.3 µM, ∆14C±9.4‰, and δ13C±0.1‰, comparable to previously reported results (Druffel et al. 2013). Open Ocean DOC frozen versus acidified duplicates were on average offset by ∆DOC±1.1 µM, ∆∆14C± –1.3‰, and ∆δ13C± –0.1‰. Coastal Ocean frozen vs. acidified sample replicates, collected as part of a long-term (380-day) storage experiment, had larger, albeit consistent offsets of ∆DOC±2.2 µM, ∆∆14C±1.5‰, and ∆δ13C± –0.2‰. A simple isotopic mass balance of changes in [DOC], ∆14C, and δ13C values reveals loss of semi-labile DOC (2.2±0.6 µM, ∆14C=–94±105‰, δ13C=–27±10‰; n=4) and semi-recalcitrant DOC (2.4±0.7 µM, ∆14C=–478±116‰, δ13C=–23.4±3.0‰; n=3) in Coastal and Open Ocean acidified samples, respectively.


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