First evidence of spawning migration by goldfish (Carassius auratus); implications for control of a globally invasive species

Goldfish (Carassius auratus) was one of the first fishes to be domesticated and has been widely introduced across the globe, but is now considered one of the world's worst invasive aquatic species. Surprisingly, there is a dearth of information on its spatial and temporal movement patterns, which hampers the development of effective control programmes. We examined the movement patterns of an introduced population of C. auratus in a south‐western Australian river using passive acoustic telemetry. The study population had a high residency index within the array (i.e. proportion of all days at liberty that, on average, each fish was detected by a receiver) with fish being detected on 64% of days. The individuals were also reasonably mobile, travelling a mean of 0.30 km (linear river kilometres).day^‐1 within the array, and one fish moved 231.3 km over the 365‐day study period (including 5.4 km in a 24 hr period). Importantly, C. auratus displayed significant seasonal movement patterns including a clear shift in habitats during its breeding period with most mature individuals being detected in an off‐channel wetland during that time. The results of this study strongly suggest that C. auratus undertook a spawning migration into a lentic habitat. These results have important implications for developing control programmes for the species, such as targeting connections to off‐channel lentic systems during its breeding period.     

Innovation and gendered negotiations: Insights from six small‐scale fishing communities

There has so far been limited investigation into gender in relation to innovation in fisheries. Therefore, this study investigates how gender relations shape the capacity and motivation of different individuals in fishing communities to innovate. We compare six fishing communities in Cambodia, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. Our findings suggest that gendered negotiations mediate the capacity to innovate but that wider structural constraints are important constraints for both men and women. Our findings show that men's and women's capacity to innovate is strongly mediated by the behaviour of their marriage partner. Consequently, we argue that gender research from a social relational perspective has an important contribution to make in understanding poor fishing communities where new ways of doing things or new technologies are being promoted.     

Laryngeal dysplasia: Computed tomographic findings in an Oldenburg mare

A 5-year-old Oldenburg mare presented for poor performance, head-tossing and bucking when ridden. An abnormal respiratory noise was audible during exercise. Computed tomography (CT) revealed right laryngeal dysplasia; an absent cricothyroid articulation, abnormally shaped thyroid cartilage, underdeveloped cricopharyngeus muscle, rostral displacement of the palatopharyngeal arch and an oesophageal air column. In this case, it was unlikely that the laryngeal pathology was related to the horse's clinical signs. This case report provides a reference CT examination of laryngeal dysplasia, corroborating previous findings using magnetic resonance imaging, radiography, ultrasonography and post-mortem examination.     

Influence of nursery soil amendments on water relations,root architectural development,and field performance of Douglas-fir transplants

This experiment evaluated the influence of manure, peat, and vermiculite incorporated at low and high rates (0.0118 and 0.0236 m³/m²) and under two soil moisture regimes on Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) seedling (1+0 for 1+1) xylem water potential (_xylem), whole-plant growth, root architectural development, and subsequent field performance under fertilized and non-fertilized conditions. Trends in soil moisture retention were observed (high manure > high peat > control) but there were no differences in _xylem. Root length in the wetter soil moisture experiment was initially (three months) greatest for seedlings in high vermiculite and least in high manure but there were no differences among treatments at lifting (eight months). Mean height was greatest for seedlings grown in vermiculite and peat (wetter nursery experiment) after two field seasons. Field fertilization (35 g/seedling) with controlled-release fertilizer in the planting hole stimulated height growth initially, but decreased height and diameter growth during the second growing season. Dramatic improvements associated with the use of nursery soil amendments were not realized, but the failure to identify negative effects, a potential reduction in disease incidence, and improvement of nursery soil physical and chemical properties may justify their use.     

Influence of lipid extraction process on the rheological characteristics, swelling power, and granule size of rice starches in excess water

The influence of the lipid extraction process on both macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of nonwaxy rice starch gelatinization in excess water was examined. Surface lipids extraction did not change the thermodynamics of starch gelatinization but lead to a significant reduction (33%) in the enthalpy of starch-lipid complex melting at high temperature, resulting in less viscous dispersions. Internal lipid extraction using hot aqueous alcoholic solutions resulted in an irreversible increase in starch granule diameter (50% increase in D[4,3]) and a dramatic change in cooking characteristics of the starch. Instead of the bimodal swelling observed for native nonwaxy rice starch, only one broad transition in swelling, solubility, granule size, and viscosity was observed in the case of the totally defatted starch. While the total removal of lipids resulted in a slight increase in starch swelling at intermediate temperatures, the harshness of the process caused irreparable changes leading to notably lower swelling at high temperatures.     

A simple approach to soil loss prediction: a revised Morgan–Morgan–Finney model

A revised version of the Morgan–Morgan–Finney model for prediction of annual soil loss by water is presented. Changes have been made to the way soil particle detachment by raindrop impact is simulated, which now takes account of plant canopy height and leaf drainage, and a component has been added for soil particle detachment by flow. When tested against the same data set used to validate the original version at the erosion plot scale, predictions made with the revised model gave slopes of a reduced major-axis regression line closer to 1.0 when compared with measured values. The coefficient of efficiency, for sites with measured runoff and soil loss, increased from 0.54 to 0.65. When applied to a new data set for erosion plots in Denmark, Spain, Greece and Nepal, very high coefficients of efficiency of 0.94 for runoff and 0.84 for soil loss were obtained. The revised version was applied to two small catchments by dividing them into land elements and routing annual runoff and sediment production over the land surface from one element to another. The results indicate that, when used in this way, the model provides useful information on the source areas of sediment, sediment delivery to streams and annual sediment yield.