The Warrumbungle Post‐Fire Recovery Project—raising the profile of soils

The impacts of a wildfire and subsequent rainfall event in 2013 in the Warrumbungle National Park in New South Wales, Australia were examined in a project designed to provide information on post‐fire recovery expectations and options to land managers. A coherent suite of sub‐projects was implemented, including soil mapping, and studies on soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N), erosion rates, groundcover recovery and stream responses. It was found that the loss of SOC and N increased with fire severity, with the greatest losses from severely burnt sandstone ridges. Approximately 2.4 million t of SOC and ~74,000 t of N were lost from soil to a depth of 10 cm across the 56,290 ha affected. Soil loss from slopes during the subsequent rainfall event was modelled up to 25 t ha^?1, compared to a long‐term mean annual soil loss of 1.06 t ha^?1 year^?1. Groundcover averages generally increased after the fire until spring 2015, by which time rates of soil loss returned to near pre‐fire levels. Streams were filled with sand to bank full levels after the fire and rainfall. Rainfall events in 2015–2016 shifted creek systems into a major erosive phase, with incision through the post‐fire sandy bedload deposits, an erosive phase likely related to loss of topsoils over much of the catchment. The effectiveness of the research was secured by a close engagement with park managers in issue identification and a communications programme. Management outcomes flowing from the research included installation of erosion control works, redesign of access and monitoring of key mass movement hazard areas.     

Animal abuse and family violence: survey on the recognition of animal abuse by veterinarians in New Zealand and their understanding of the correlation between animal abuse and human violence

AIMS: To establish the incidence, frequency and type of deliberate animal abuse seen in veterinary practice in New Zealand, and ascertain veterinarians' knowledge of human abuse within the families where animal abuse was occurring. To explore attitudes of veterinarians to and knowledge about the correlation between animal abuse and human violence, and their perceived role in dealing with such issues. METHODS: A postal questionnaire was sent to practising veterinarians in New Zealand. It covered demographics, frequency and type of animal abuse cases seen, awareness of violence towards humans, within families where animal abuse was seen, the methods used for managing animal and human abuse, the incidence of psychological abuse of animals, and the attitudes of veterinarians towards and their beliefs about the link between animal abuse and human violence. RESULTS: A total of 383/1,412 (27% response rate) questionnaires with useable data were returned. Within the group of respondents, the sexes were evenly represented; 40% of respondents worked in small-animal practice, 50% in mixed practice and 10% in large-animal practice. Deliberate animal abuse had been seen by 63% of respondents in the last 5 years; 37% of these had seen such cases once a year or less, while 9% had seen abuse cases at least four times a year. Dogs were the species most commonly reported as abused, followed, in numerical order, by cats, cattle and horses. Among respondents who had seen deliberate animal abuse, 16% either knew of (4%) or suspected (12%) human abuse within the families of the abused animals. A clear majority of responding veterinarians agreed with the statement that people who abuse their animals are more likely to abuse their children (77%) or spouse (70%). CONCLUSIONS: The survey indicated that the majority of respondents had seen cases of animal abuse within the previous 5 years, and dogs were the species most often reported abused. Responding veterinarians felt a strong ethical duty to deal with cases of animal abuse, but they were less comfortable about issues of human abuse, even though the awareness of the link between abuse of animals and abuse of humans was relatively high. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The greater the awareness of animal abuse and its linkage with human abuse, the greater the possibility that veterinarians can contribute in a meaningful way to the reduction of violence in society.     

Virulence markers in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolated from cattle.

This study identified potential virulence markers in 93 eae-positive and 179 eae-negative Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), isolated from a random sampling of healthy cattle in southwestern Ontario. PCR amplification was used to identify genes for enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC)-hemolysin, the EAF plasmid, and bundle-forming pili (Bfp); adherence to HEp-2 cells and to bovine colonocytes, and the fluorescent actin staining (FAS) test were used to characterize interaction of the bacteria with epithelial cells. The EHEC-hemolysin sequences were detected in 98% of eae-positive isolates compared with 34% of eae-negative isolates. All isolates were negative for EAF and bfp sequences. There was 100% correlation between localized adherence (LA) to HEp-2 cells and the FAS test. Forty-eight (52%) of the eae-positive isolates were LA/FAS-positive, whereas none of the 179 eae-negative isolates was positive in either test. Among the eae-negative isolates, 20 (11%) showed diffuse adherence and 5 (2.8%) showed enteroaggregative adherence to HEp-2 cells. Seventy-three percent of the eae-positive isolates adhered to bovine colonocytes, whereas only 26% of 120 eae-negative isolates that were tested adhered. All 13 O157:H7 isolates were positive for eae and EHEC-hemolysin gene sequences, LA/FAS, and adherence to bovine colonocytes. It is concluded that possession of genes for eae and EHEC hemolysin is correlated with the serotype of STEC, that production of EHEC hemolysin was highly correlated with serotypes implicated in human disease, and that none of the potential markers that were examined can be used to predict the potential virulence of an isolate.     

Influence of mapping resolution on assessments of stream and streamside conditions: lessons from coastal Oregon,USA

• 1. Digital hydrographic data are commonly employed in research, planning, and monitoring for freshwater conservation, but hydrographic datasets differ in spatial resolution and accuracy of spatial representation, possibly leading to inaccurate conclusions or unsuitable policies for streams and streamside areas.
• 2. To examine and illustrate the potential for different hydrographic datasets to influence in‐channel and streamside characterizations, a study area in the US Pacific Northwest was chosen because 1:100 000, 1:24 000, and densified 1:24 000 hydrography are available and widely used in research and management for several species of Pacific salmon and trout at risk. The potential was examined for differences among the digital hydrographic datasets in: (1) spatial extent to influence estimated abundances of fish habitat, streamside buffer conditions, and fish distributions; and (2) spatial position to influence estimated streamside buffer conditions and estimated stream gradient.
• 3. The analysis of spatial extent found the total stream length represented by the 1:100 000 hydrography was approximately one half that of 1:24 000 hydrography and only one fifth that of densified 1:24 000 hydrography. The 1:100 000 and 1:24 000 networks differed significantly for 13 out of 18 fish habitat attributes, and the three hydrographic datasets differed significantly for many characteristics in streamside buffers; fish distributions mapped at 1:24 000 added 6–14% of stream length to 1:100 000 distributions. The analysis of spatial position found few differences between the 1:100 000 and 1:24 000 hydrography in streamside buffer characteristics but significant differences in channel gradient.
• 4. Overall, hydrographic datasets differed only slightly in spatial position but differed in spatial extent to the point of representing different populations of streams. If species inhabiting larger streams (greater mean annual discharge) are of interest, then results derived from studies based on 1:100 000 hydrography should prove useful. However, higher‐resolution hydrography can be critical when designing and implementing strategies to protect fish and other aquatic species at risk in smaller streams.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The importance of environment and life stage on interpretation of silky shark relative abundance indices for the equatorial Pacific Ocean

Recent large fluctuations in an index of relative abundance for the silky shark in the eastern Pacific Ocean have called into question its reliability as a population indicator for management. To investigate whether these fluctuations were driven by environmental forcing rather than true changes in abundance, a Pacific‐wide approach was taken. Data collected by observers aboard purse‐seine vessels fishing in the equatorial Pacific were used to compute standardized trends in relative abundance by region, and where possible, by shark size category as a proxy for life stage. These indices were compared to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), an index of Pacific Ocean climate variability. Correlation between silky indices and the PDO was found to differ by region and size category. The highest correlations by shark size category were for small (<90 cm total length [TL]) and medium (90–150 cm TL) sharks from the western region of the equatorial eastern Pacific (EP) and from the equatorial western Pacific. This correlation disappeared in the inshore EP. Throughout, correlations with the PDO were generally lower for large silky sharks (>150 cm TL). These results are suggestive of changes in the small and medium silky indices being driven by movement of juvenile silky sharks across the Pacific as the eastern edge of the Indo‐Pacific Warm Pool shifts location with ENSO events. Lower correlation of the PDO with large shark indices may indicate that those indices were less influenced by environmental forcing and therefore potentially less biased with respect to monitoring population trends.     

Effect of Environment and Genotype on Durum Wheat Gluten Strength and Pasta Viscoelasticity

Data on the quality of durum wheat genotypes grown under eight environments (site-year combinations) were evaluated to determine the relative effects of genotype and environment on quality characteristics associated with gluten strength, protein content, and pasta texture. The 10 durum wheat genotypes assessed in this study represented a range of gluten strength types from the very strong U.S. desert durum genotype, Durex, to the medium strength Canadian genotype, Plenty. Considerable genetic variability was detected for all quality characteristics studied. Genotype-environment interaction was significant for all quality parameters evaluated, with the exception of mixograph development time. Genotypeenvironment interaction was most important in determining protein content and least important in determining gluten index, gluten viscoelasticity, and SDS sedimentation volume. The nature of the genotype-environment interaction was evaluated by determining the number of significant crossover (rank change) interactions. There was at least one significant crossover interaction between pairs of genotypes and environments for five of eight quality traits tested. Of 45 genotype pairs, eight and six showed significant crossover interactions for protein content and pasta disk viscoelasticity, respectively. Significant crossover interactions were at least partially due to the differential response of Canadian genotypes as compared with U.S. genotypes. With the exception of protein content and pasta disk viscoelasticity, our results suggest that among the selected sample of 10 genotypes, genotype-environment interactions were minor and due primarily to changes in magnitude rather than changes in rank.     

Estimating fishery effects in a marine protected area: Lamlash Bay

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A new approach and case study for estimating extent and rates of habitat loss for ecological communities

The pace and magnitude of biodiversity loss has led to wide recognition that efforts to conserve individual species must be complemented by assessment and planning at community and ecosystem levels. Emerging protocols for assessing the conservation status of communities include as central criteria the current extent, historical reduction and contemporary rate of decline in geographic distribution. Estimation of these parameters is confronted by methodological challenges, data limitations and uncertainties that may vary from case to case. We describe an approach to these issues comprising five steps: (1) classification of the community using an analysis of data from systematic ground surveys; (2) mapping to produce a contemporary baseline distribution (1980s); (3) interpolation to produce a historical distribution (pre-European settlement); (4) interpretation of satellite imagery to update the distribution (various dates up to 2004) and (5) assessment of change in extent over historical and contemporary time scales incorporating plausible bounds of uncertainty around best estimates. The bounds can be based on areas for which image interpretation produces uncertain diagnosis of clearing and differences between credible alternative base maps of the same area. We demonstrated the approach using a case study of Coolibah-Black Box Woodland, a declining semi-arid woodland community in Australia and found that 61% (plausible range 50-67%) of the woodland community had been cleared since European settlement and that during 1998-2004 the community continued to decline on average by 135.3(±21.7) km² each year, or 1.7(±0.3)% of each previous year’s distribution, apparently accelerating in recent years. Strengths of the approach include the use of biological data (cf. remote sensing) to distinguish the target assemblage from others, the use of historical and contemporary base lines to examine change over different time scales, and the use of bounded estimates to incorporate uncertainty into the assessment.