Terrestrial ecosystem processes of Victoria Land, Antarctica

Terrestrial environments of Victoria Land, Antarctica are ideal systems to test hypotheses about the sensitivity of ecosystem processes to climate variability, and the relationships between soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning because of their high sensitivity to climate change and their limited diversity. This region is also considered among the most pristine of ecosystems, and therefore may serve as an indicator for detecting the response of other ecosystems to global environmental change. Rates and controls over key ecosystem processes remain poorly documented over much of Victoria Land, but it is generally held that the distribution and functioning of soil communities are most limited by the availability of liquid water and organic carbon. Here we review examples of ecosystem processes from several sites in North and South Victoria Land and develop a regional synthesis accounting for variation in the availability of soil resources (i.e. liquid water, organic matter, inorganic nutrients). Variation in soil microclimate, organic matter, moisture and salinity encountered over gradients of coastal to interior sites, latitude, and soil chronosequences are the primary controls over the structure of soil communities and their functioning. Imbalanced stoichiometric nutrient ratios frequently encountered in Victoria Land ecosystems also contribute to limited distribution of soil biota, and where they occur these elemental imbalances indicate lower biological activity and little biotic control over bulk element ratios in soils. Priorities and future directions of Victoria Land soil and ecosystem research are also discussed.     

Effectiveness of protected areas in north-eastern New South Wales: recent trends in six measures

We applied six measures of effectiveness to recent decisions about additional conservation areas in north-eastern New South Wales. Three have been widely used previously: (1) number of conservation areas; (2) total extent of conservation areas; and (3) representativeness (the proportion of natural features such as forest types or animal species represented in conservation areas to some targeted level). The other measures were: (4) efficiency or representation bias (the extent to which some features are protected above target levels at the expense of others that remain poorly protected); (5) relative protection of vulnerable areas within public land (percentage protection of flat, fertile areas relative to that of steep and/or infertile areas); and (6) relative protection of vulnerable areas across all tenures (the correlation between the amount of protection given to features and their vulnerabilities to clearing). We applied the measures in two chronological comparisons: the reserve system in 1994, 1996 and 1997; and before and after the Interim Assessment Process of 1996 which involved negotiations over new reserves and extensive unreserved areas that were temporarily deferred from logging. Over the study period, despite expansion of formal conservation and progress towards quantitative conservation targets, gazetted reserves remained strongly biased to the steep and/or infertile parts of public lands. Both gazetted reserves and areas deferred from logging increased the bias in protection away from forest types most vulnerable to clearing and for which regional conservation targets had already been most compromised. Two major challenges for future conservation decisions in the region are common to conservation planning generally: (1) to focus protection within public tenure on habitats and species most vulnerable to threatening processes such as logging; and (2) to provide more effective conservation management on private lands where loss of native vegetation continues.     

Induction of cellular senescence in immortalized cells by human chromosome 1

The control of cellular senescence by specific human chromosomes was examined in interspecies cell hybrids between diploid human fibroblasts and an immortal, Syrian hamster cell line. Most such hybrids exhibited a limited life span comparable to that of the human fibroblasts, indicating that cellular senescence is dominant in these hybrids. Karyotypic analyses of the hybrid clones that did not senesce revealed that all these clones had lost both copies of human chromosome 1, whereas all other human chromosomes were observed in at least some of the immortal hybrids. The application of selective pressure for retention of human chromosome 1 to the cell hybrids resulted in an increased percentage of hybrids that senesced. Further, the introduction of a single copy of human chromosome 1 to the hamster cells by microcell fusion caused typical signs of cellular senescence. Transfer of chromosome 11 had no effect on the growth of the cells. These findings indicate that human chromosome 1 may participate in the control of cellular senescence and further support a genetic basis for cellular senescence.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies and water "ordering" in the crystalline lens

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the relaxation times of the water in the crystalline lens show that, as in all interfacial systems, these parameters are markedly reduced from their values in pure water, that T(2) is less than T(1), and that both depend on water content. Determination of diffusion coefficients and studies on physiologically inert lenses indicate that reduced relaxation times do not provide direct evidence for ordering of the bulk of the cell water.     

Microwave spectrometer on the nimbus 5 satellite: meteorological and geophysical data

The Nimbus 5 microwave spectrometer has been used to measure thermal radiation in five frequency bands between 22.235 and 58.8 gigahertz, and has yielded both the temperature profile and, over ocean, the vapor and liquid water content of the terrestrial atmosphere, even in overcast conditions. Information has also been obtained on geophysical parameters that affect the surface emissivity, such as ice type, sea roughness, and snow cover. The experiment demonstrates the considerable potential of passive microwave sensing of meteorological and geophysical parameters.     

Formation of virus-like particles by bone cells in mice with a high incidence of spontaneous leukemia

Bone samples from potentially leukemic and leukemic mice revealed numerous 90-to 110-nanometer particles morphologically identical to murine leukemia virus. Particles were observed budding from plasma membranes of osteocytes and osteoblasts but were most numerous in osteocyte lacunae. Particles were not observed in bone samples from mice which rarely develop leukemia.