Comparison of sympatric freshwater turtle populations from an urbanized Sydney catchment

• 1. Australian freshwater turtles are widely distributed throughout the continent, and in each river catchment there are at least two taxa. In south‐eastern Australia Chelodina longicollis and forms of Emydura macquarii co‐habit within a waterway, although they have been shown to partition habitat within the water column in non‐urban bodies of water. Limited comparative data are available for the urban populations.
• 2. Within urban Sydney C. longicollis (eastern long‐necked turtle) and Emydura macquarii dharuk (Sydney short‐necked turtle) share habitat. However, in contrast with non‐urban studies of C. longicollis and other sympatric E. macquarii taxa, it was observed that the population profile of the two species was similar at all sites, and that C. longicollis were present in greater numbers than E. m. dharuk.
• 3. The continued degradation of preferred habitat, low recruitment, and potential competition from introduced turtles place both species in a precarious position.
• 4. The shallow, impounded waterways of the regulated urban bodies of water align more closely with the preferred habitat of C. longicollis than with that of forms of E. macquarii, which prefer deeper flowing waters or large wetlands adjacent to rivers. Emydura m. dharuk may be at greatest risk of extinction in urban areas.
• 5. Across urban Sydney, the low numbers of E. m. dharuk compared with C. longicollis may be due to the lack of mobility of E. m. dharuk such that individuals tend to be stranded in sub‐optimal habitat. In contrast, C. longicollis has a greater propensity for overland movement, and a preference for the ‘new habitat’ resulting from urban impacts on the associated waterways, and thus appears to be able to utilize these modified urban waters more successfully.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intra‐household constraints on educational attainment in rural households in Papua New Guinea

This paper examines intra‐household and socio‐cultural factors leading to differential outcomes in educational attainment by gender and birth order amongst smallholder oil palm households in Papua New Guinea. Not all children share equitably in the household resources allocated to education: females have lower average education levels than males, and high birth order children have higher education attainment than lower birth order siblings, indicating preferential parental investment in sons and early born children. The findings demonstrate that despite households having regular access to relatively high incomes from oil palm and residing in close proximity to schools, primary school net enrolment rates remain significantly lower than those for East Asia and the Pacific region, and the millennium development goal of universal primary education has not been met. This finding is likely to be the result of a combination of intra‐household factors including gender power imbalances, low parental education levels, the agency of youth in educational decision‐making and the weakening attraction of education as a means of improving income‐earning potential.     

Effects of soil pH and soil water content on prosulfuron dissipation

The sulfonylurea herbicide prosulfuron, 1-(4-methoxy-6-methyltriazin-2-yl)-3-[2-(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)phenylsulfonyl]urea, is used for the selective control of broadleaf weeds in corn, sorghum, and cereal grains. To investigate its fate in soils, this study examined the effects of soil pH and water content on the rates of dissipation processes and the products formed under aerobic conditions. Radiometry and chromatography analyses were used to quantify the degradation products and bound residues formed in incubations of 10 different soils. The pH-dependent hydrolysis of the sulfonylurea bridge to form phenyl sulfonamide was the primary transformation process. Significant microbial degradation of prosulfuron occurred in 2 of the 10 soils, yielding (14)CO(2) and desmethyl prosulfuron among the major products. The time required for 50% dissipation of the herbicide (DT(50)) was determined for each soil and water content treatment. At equivalent water contents, prosulfuron DT(50) values were positively correlated with soil pH (P < 0.0001), varying from 6.5 days at pH 5.4 to 122.9 days at pH 7.9. Soil pH and water content strongly influence the fate of sulfonylurea herbicides in agricultural fields. Differences in the effect of soil water content on dissipation kinetics in a comparison of two soils were attributed to differences in soil pH, texture, and the ability of indigenous microorganisms to transform the herbicide.     

Can placement of seed away from relic stubble limit Rhizoctonia root rot in direct-seeded wheat?

Rhizoctonia root rot of wheat can be a problem in no-till systems, especially during the transition from conventional tillage. There are no effective chemical controls or resistant varieties, leaving only cultural methods to manage this disease. In a no-till system, residue and inoculum of soilborne pathogens are not moved by cultivation, therefore the inoculum may be concentrated in the seeding row of the previous year. Using GPS tracking systems with sub-meter accuracy, the seeding row could be placed away from the row of the previous year. We tested the hypothesis that seeding away from the relic row may reduce Rhizoctonia root rot. In two field experiments, plants were sampled at three distances from the seed row, as well as from fumigated plots. Intact soil cores were also removed from the field, planted with seeds at various distances from the previous row, and grown in the greenhouse under controlled conditions. Pasteurized cores served as controls. Disease levels were higher in the field in the second year, but there was no consistent effect of seed row placement on disease or plant parameters. However, soil fumigation and pasteurization had significant effects, indicating that soilborne pathogens were active. Inoculum of Rhizoctonia is not produced in the crowns and lower stems of the plant, but the pathogen survives in living and dead roots of the previous year crop, volunteers, and grassy weeds. Thus, high inoculum densities may be present in between the relic rows, as well as within the rows. If this is the situation with Rhizoctonia, precision placement of seed rows would not be efficacious.     

Establishment techniques affect productivity,nutritive value and atmospheric N2 fixation of two sunn hemp cultivars

Nitrogen fertilization is a common practice for sustaining forage production in forage systems in southeastern United States. Warm-season annual legumes may be an alternative forage to warm-season perennial grasses that do not require N fertilization. Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) is a fast-growing, warm-season annual legume native to India and Pakistan. The objective of this 2-year study was to assess the herbage accumulation (HA), atmospheric N₂ fixation (ANF) and nutritive value of sunn hemp. Treatments were the factorial arrangement of two sunn hemp cultivars (“Crescent Sun” and “Blue Leaf”), three seeding rates (17, 28 and 39 kg seed/ha) and seed inoculation (inoculated or non-inoculated seeds), distributed in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. Crescent sun had greater HA (3,218 vs. 1764 kg DM/ha) and ANF (41 vs. 25 kg N/ha). Blue leaf had greater crude protein (CP) (188 vs. 176 g/kg) and in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM) concentrations (564 vs. 531 g/kg) than crescent sun. Non-inoculated seed had greater CP than inoculated seed, 188 and 177 g/kg, respectively, and inoculation did not affect HA. Intermediate seeding rate (28 kg/ha) decreased HA (2002 kg DM/ha), while HA from high and low seeding rates (17 and 39 kg/ha, respectively) did not differ (2,863 and 2,615 kg DM/ha respectively). Planting non-inoculated crescent sun at 17 kg/ha seeding rate is a feasible management practice to produce sunn hemp in subtropical regions; however, inoculation should always be recommended for proper establishment.     

Cherry picking by pseudomonads: After a century of research on canker,genomics provides insights into the evolution of pathogenicity towards stone fruits

Bacterial canker disease is a major limiting factor in the growing of cherry and other Prunus species worldwide. At least five distinct clades within the bacterial species complex Pseudomonas syringae are known to be causal agents of the disease. The different pathogens commonly coexist in the field. Reducing canker is a challenging prospect as the efficacy of chemical controls and host resistance may vary against each of the diverse clades involved. Genomic analysis has revealed that the pathogens use a variable repertoire of virulence factors to cause the disease. Significantly, strains of P. syringae pv. syringae possess more genes for toxin biosynthesis and fewer encoding type III effector proteins. There is also a shared pool of key effector genes present on mobile elements such as plasmids and prophages that may have roles in virulence. By contrast, there is evidence that absence or truncation of certain effector genes, such as hopAB, is characteristic of cherry pathogens. Here we highlight how recent research, underpinned by the earlier epidemiological studies, is allowing significant progress in our understanding of the canker pathogens. This fundamental knowledge, combined with emerging insights into host genetics, provides the groundwork for development of precise control measures and informed approaches to breed for disease resistance.     

Anaerobic Treatment of Brackishwater Aquaculture Sludge: An Alternative to Waste Stabilization Ponds

Environmental pressure, land utilization, and economic feasibility have resulted in the development of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). For many RAS, sludge is collected and washed from the system to waste stabilization ponds (WSPs). However, disposal of brackishwater aquaculture sludge into WSP is often prohibited because the high salinity can interfere with treatment. Moreover, there are problems associated with WSPs because of elevated salt content, such as the common practice of reusing treated water and land application of stabilized sludge. We tested and compared the treatment of brackishwater aquaculture sludge in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor as an alternative to a WSP. In UASB, wastewater flows upward through a blanket of granular sludge and is treated by anaerobic micro‐organisms. Reduction in organic matter and 5‐d biochemical oxygen demand by 97 and 91%, respectively, was achieved in a UASB as compared to corresponding reductions of 22 and 41% in a WSP. During the UASB digestion process, methane is produced and recovered. Overall, a reduction in potential environmentally harmful factors such as salinization, land requirements, greenhouse gas emissions, as well as transportation costs are achieved, making the UASB reactor an attractive possible alternative for saline aquaculture sludge management.