scholarly journals The availability and dimensions of tree hollows that provide nest sites for cockatoos (Psittaciformes) in Western Australia

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 541 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Saunders ◽  
G. T. Smith ◽  
I. Rowley

A 15-ha plot of salmon gum woodland contained 241 hollows with an entrance diameter and depth exceeding 90 mm, in 173 trees, the majority (95%) in salmon gums. Occupancy of these hollows during the spring of 1978 was 47%; eight species of bird (six Psittaciformes, one Anseriformes and one Falconiformes) were involved. Galahs, corellas, red-tailed black cockatoos and Port Lincoln parrots were the most numerous hollow-nesting birds in the area; there were differences in the sizes of hollows they used, which were separable on entrance size and on inside diameter of the hollow 0.5 m below the entrance. There was a trend for hollow size to decrease in the order: red-tailed black cockatoos, corellas, galahs and Port Lincoln parrots. Red-tailed black cockatoos nested in more dead trees, or trees which were lower and had smaller canopies, than did the other three species. The woodland contained few young trees, trees were dying rapidly and there was no regeneration. This situation is typical for woodland throughout the agricultural area, and future prospects are discussed.

1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
DA Saunders

Data on nest hollows were collected from four study areas throughout the range of the short-billed form of the white-tailed black cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus baudinii latirostris, in south Western Australia. Hollows in trees are formed as a result of some destructive agent such as termites or fungi attacking the heartwood of the tree and breaking down the structure of the wood cells. The breaking off of part of the tree provides access to the hollow from the outside, and allows it to be used as a nest site. Throughout their breeding range, white-tailed black cockatoos will nest in any species of eucalypt which has a hollow of suitable size. The aspects of the entrances of hollows are not randomly distributed among compass groups, but the birds' selection of hollows was random. The aspect, depth to the floor and height of the entrance from the ground do not affect the success or failure of the nesting attempt. Female white-tailed black cockatoos searching for and preparing nest hollows chase female conspecifics from an area around their prospective nest tree. They continue this activity until they are incubating; this may result in suitable hollows not being accessible to other females. The rate of loss of hollows was 4.8 and 2.2% at two of the study areas. Hollows are being destroyed by all causes, particularly clearing for agriculture, faster than they are being created. Guidelines for the management of woodland must be drawn up so as to maintain a continuing supply of mature trees and protect hole-nesting species.


1962 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 630 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Greaves

The establishment of colonies of Coptotermes acinaciformis (Froggatt) in living trees results in a central "pipe" being eaten out, this being filled with "mudgut" material. Adjacent trees sometimes contain a clear pipe in the trunk and the connection between these trees and the central colony tree was investigated. The gallery systems radiating from colonies in trees in coastal forests of eastern Australia were studied. In the first study subterranean galleries from one colony were traced to nine other living trees; in the second study, in a different tree association, 15 living trees were attacked from the central colony. Galleries from a colony persisting in a high stump were traced to three living trees in a further study. In each colony studied, dead trees, logs, and stumps were also attacked. The galleries from each colony extended over an area of 0.4 acre, the maximum length of any gallery being 156 ft. In some areas of Australia C. acinaciformis can persist in mound colonies after the host trees have been eaten out, and foraging galleries from a mound colony in Western Australia were traced to several gimlet gums (Eucalyptus salubris F. Muell.). In the Murchison River basin of Western Australia, mound colonies of Coptotermes brunneus Gay occur in an area of sclerophyll woodland and mallee. The foraging galleries were traced to two species of Eucalyptus, one of which was much more susceptible than the other. The sand adjacent to the galleries of C. brunneus is impregnated with some cementing substance. Evidence on the maximum foraging distance of 150 ft for C. brunneus is given. In both species the invasion of trees was often through the living bark tissue covering a root or at the base of the tree trunk. This is in contrast to the initial entry of colony-founding pairs, which can only enter through a tree injury.


2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Ball ◽  
Ross L. Goldingay ◽  
Judith Wake

The squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) is an arboreal marsupial potentially impacted throughout its geographic range by the loss of hollow-bearing trees. We investigated the use of den trees and the availability of hollow-bearing trees near Mackay in the tropical north of the squirrel glider range where information was deficient. Mean den tree size (41.1 ± 2.9 cm (s.e.), diameter at breast height (dbh)) was significantly larger than that of available trees (27.5 ± 0.9 cm). Dead trees (stags) comprised 52% of 27 dens but comprised only 12% of available trees. This likely reflects the greater frequency of hollows in dead trees compared with other trees. Surveys found that 59% of 720 available trees contained hollows. A much lower percentage of trees in the 10–30-cm dbh size class were hollow-bearing (22%) compared with trees >30 cm (77%), and we view these smaller trees as those providing future den trees. Their density varied from 17 to 95 ha–1 among sites, which suggests that most sites have an adequate supply of future hollows. We installed 56 nest boxes to determine use by squirrel gliders. Only 20% were used after 3 years, but use was not influenced by the availability of tree hollows. Tree hollow availability appears adequate for the squirrel glider in these tropical woodlands but further studies are needed to understand the dynamic processes that govern this resource.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 304-304
Author(s):  
J. C. Berengut ◽  
V. A. Dzuba ◽  
V. V. Flambaum ◽  
J. A. King ◽  
M. G. Kozlov ◽  
...  

Current theories that seek to unify gravity with the other fundamental interactions suggest that spatial and temporal variation of fundamental constants is a possibility, or even a necessity, in an expanding Universe. Several studies have tried to probe the values of constants at earlier stages in the evolution of the Universe, using tools such as big-bang nucleosynthesis, the Oklo natural nuclear reactor, quasar absorption spectra, and atomic clocks (see, e.g. Flambaum & Berengut (2009)).


Author(s):  
Gulnaz T. Javan

When Dr. Richard Feynman first gave the good news in 1959 that nanotechnology was on its way to change or perhaps transform the world of technology, many people might have considered his concepts too futuristic to be realized. Criminals, on the other hand, would not have known how effective nanotechnological tools would become in solving crimes in a few decades. Among some of the medical applications of the technology are drug production, diagnostics, and production of medical as well as forensic tools and devices. Forensic science can be described as the sum of scientific tests or techniques used in the investigation of crimes. This chapter is, therefore, aimed at introducing and discussing nanotechnology as applied in forensic science along with instrumentation used in performing nano-analysis. The future prospects of the technology as employed in forensic science and toxicity of nanomaterials are also dealt with in this chapter.


1943 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 329-356 ◽  

Born on 10 September 1859, John Norman Collie was the second son of John Collie and the grandson of George Collie, an Aberdeen merchant, whose ancestors came from Ireland in the days of Cromwell. George Collie married Margaret Roy, the daughter of Captain Roy McGregor. George Collie’s brother was a surgeon in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars. He served on the warships which annexed Western Australia. He discovered the Collie river, and the town of Collie, also named after him, celebrated its centenary in 1935 when the Premier of Western Australia unveiled a statue to him. Dr Collie wrote to his brother George a number of letters in which he described his experiences in Western Australia, and these letters, as the result of negotiations by Professor N. T. M. Wilsmore, himself a native of Perth, W. A.,and a student and later a lecturer at University College, London, are now in the archives of the cities of Perth and Canberra. John Collie married Selina Mary, the third daughter of Henry Winkworth, the son of the Rev. Henry Winkworth who was the vicar of St Saviour’s, Southwark. Henry Winkwrorth married Miss Dickenson of Kentish origin and had by her four daughters, Catherine, Susanna, Selina Mary and Alice, and two sons. Catherine was the author of Lyra Germanica , and Susanna wrote a life of Catherine. Susanna worked for many years in Clifton and Bristol on the provision of model dwellings for workpeople and was in fact one of the pioneers in this field. John Collie and his wife had four sons, the two eldest being Henry and John Norman, and one daughter, Susan Margaret, who was their third child and for many years Head of the Bedford High School for Girls. The foregoing epitome of John Norman’s ancestry is of considerable interest. On the one side he had Highland blood in him and from the other he inherited the Winkworth personality which revealed itself in so many members of that family. To this may be attributed the outstanding personality with which he was unquestionably endowed.


Author(s):  
J W Nicholson

This paper describes the current uses and future prospects for glass-ionomer cements in dentistry and medicine. Glass-ionomers divide into two chemical types, one is known as self-hardening and sets entirely by a neutralization reaction to give relatively brittle materials, the other is known as resin-modified and sets partly by polymerization and partly by neutralization to give slightly tougher materials. Compared with the self-hardening cements, these latter materials have improved aesthetics and easier clinical handling. Both types bond well to enamel and dentine, and release clinically useful amounts of fluoride. They have been used in a variety of applications in dentistry, including as liners/bases, luting cements for stainless steel crowns, and in various restorative procedures for both permanent and primary teeth. The resin-modified glass-ionomers are particularly promising for these latter uses, though it is too soon to be sure how durable they will prove to be over the longer term. Self-hardened glass-ionomers have been shown to have much better biocompati-bility than resin-modified glass-ionomers in a variety of situations and consequently they have been used for various non-dental applications, such as ear, nose and throat surgery and craniofacial reconstruction.


2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 565 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Brennan

The residual value (RV) of molybdenum (Mo) for clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) production was measured for an acidic sand when the fertiliser was spread over the soil surface (topdressed). The RV of Mo, as molybdenum trioxide, the most widely used Mo fertiliser in Western Australia, was measured using yield of dry herbage (DM), Mo concentration of DM, and Mo content of DM (yield of DM multiplied by the Mo concentration of DM). The RV of Mo fertiliser was measured in 1993 for fertiliser Mo applied once only to plots not treated with Mo before, either in 1993 (current Mo) or 1-10 years previously (previous Mo). Relative to the nil-Mo treatment, additions of Mo fertiliser increased DM yield by about 1.20 t/ha (20% DM increase) in October. When 80 or 320 g Mo/ha was applied, all yields were on the maximum yield plateau except for Mo applied 10 years previously. The yield for the 80 g Mo/ha treatment applied 10 years earlier decreased by about 15% relative to the other current and previous Mo treatments. However, as measured using Mo concentration and Mo content in DM, there was a continuous decline in the effectiveness of previous Mo relative to current Mo the longer the previous Mo was in contact with the soil. The decrease in RV was about the same as measured using Mo concentration or content in tissue. Molybdenum applied 5 years previously was about one-third as effective as current Mo for Mo content or Mo concentration of DM.


1967 ◽  
Vol 7 (24) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
GB Taylor ◽  
RC Rossiter

Seed production and persistence of the Carnamah, Northam A, Dwalganup, and Geraldton strains of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) were examined in undefoliated swards in the wheatbelt of Western Australia. The early flowering characteristic of Carnamah was not always associated with higher seed yields. Only when there was a well-defined, early finish to the growing season, or when flowering was very much earlier in Carnamah (viz., following an early 'break' to the season), did this strain clearly outyield both Northam A and Geraldton. The seed yield of Dwalganup was generally inferior to that of the other strains. Factors affecting regeneration are discussed. Under low rainfall conditions, poorer germination-regulation of Carnamah, compared with Geraldton and Northam A, would be expected to result in poorer persistence unless offset by higher seed yields in the Carnamah strain.


1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 237
Author(s):  
TR Hill ◽  
ARJ Bissell ◽  
JR Burt

The yield, plant characteristics (pseudostem height and girth), and relative tolerance to bunch loss of 4 banana varieties (Musa AAA Group, Cavendish subgroup) were studied over 2 crops in the semi-arid subtropics at Carnarvon, Western Australia. The varieties were New Guinea Cavendish, Chinese Cavendish, Hsien.Jen Chiao, and the most widely grown Australian variety, Williams. The marketable yield of Williams was higher (P<0.05) than the mean of the other varieties in the parent crop (70.2 v. 50.7 t/ha) and ratoon 1 crop (65.8 v. 34.4 t/ha). This was the result of lower (P<0.05) bunch loss, about 41% less over the 2 crops, than for the other varieties. Resistance to bunch loss-pseudostem breakage and bunch peduncle snap was not associated with the shorter varieties (New Guinea Cavendish and Chinese Cavendish), but resistance to choke throat was associated with the taller varieties (Williams and Hsien Jen Chiao).


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