Changes in the Avifauna of a region, district and remnant as a result of fragmentation of native vegetation: the wheatbelt of western Australia. A case study

The wheatbelt of Western Australia is an area of about 140 000 km² which has undergone massive changes since European settlement in 1827. Clearing of native vegetation for agricultural development has removed up to 93% of the original vegetation in some areas and replaced it with exotic grasses, cereal crops and frequent watering points. The remaining vegetation is made up of thousands of remnants of various sizes, shapes and degreees of isolation scattered across the landscape.

The avifauna of the wheatbelt is examined at the regional level, the district level and at the level of the individual remnant and changes over the last 80 years or so are described. Two species of bird have gone extinct in the wheatbelt out of 148 species of land birds recorded in the region over the last 80–90 years. At the district level, more species have become extinct, the numbers depending on the extent of the removal of native vegetation and length of time since clearing took place. There is demonstrable loss of bird species at the level of the individual remnant; in the example cited (81 ha) three species have gone extinct over the last 10 years.

This rapid loss of species from district avifaunas means that remnant vegetation needs to be retained intact and conservation agencies should develop assessment techniques to identify reserve networks which include the species that have declined so that management can concentrate on them. Priorities for management should then be developed and local communities involved in the management of their local conservation systems or networks.     

Changes in a remnant of salmon gum Eucalyptus salmonophloia and York gum E. loxophleba woodland, 1978 to 1997. Implications for woodland conservation in the wheat-sheep regions of Australia

The condition of salmon gums Eucalyptus salmonophloia with large hollows in them in a 15-ha patch of remnant salmon gum-York gum E. loxophleba woodland in the northern wheatbelt of Western Australia was examined in 1978. The patch was an important breeding area for six species of cockatoo, including two endangered species. The patch was revisited in 1981 when the condition of all 682 salmon gums and York gums in the patch was examined and each was measured and photographed. A further visit was made in 1997 when the condition of the surviving trees was examined and each was again measured and photographed. The condition of the trees at each visit was classified as “good”, “staghorn”, “broken top”, “dead” or “fallen.” Over the period of the study there was a serious decline in the condition of the trees, with few large trees in the “good” category by 1997. The decline was particularly marked between 1978 and 1981 after a period of well-below average annual rainfall. Using data based on the rate of decline over the period 1978-1997, predictions were made of the fate of the trees in the patch. By 2125 only 46 (11% of the 1981 total) salmon gums were predicted to be alive with only one in the “good” category. Only 16 (17%) York gums were predicted to be alive by 2125, with only one in the “good” category. There was no evidence of any regeneration of woodland trees since 1929 when the patch was isolated by clearing for agriculture, and domestic livestock allowed to graze the patch. This deterioration of the dominant trees in the patch is symptomatic of remnant native vegetation over vast areas of Australia's extensively cleared wheat-sheep regions. The future of woodland patches like the one studied is bleak, as is the future of animals dependent on them for food, breeding sites and shelter. Active management, including fencing to exclude domestic livestock and measures to encourage regeneration of native plant communities, is necessary to counter the present regime of benign neglect that characterises most of Australia's management of native vegetation in agricultural landscapes.     

Experimental infection of normal and immunosuppressed pigs with Pseudomonas pseudomallei

A single dose of 5 x 10(8) bacilli of Pseudomonas pseudomallei by intratracheal injection resulted in acute (21 cases) or chronic (19 cases) melioidosis in 40 of 48 pigs. Fifteen (10 acute and 5 chronic) had been immunosuppressed by cyclophosphamide before inoculation. The major clinical signs were initial fever, marked neutrophilia and, in the acute cases, respiratory distress. There were no signs of the nasal and ocular discharge, paresis or diarrhoea seen in acute cases in south-east Asia. The cyclophosphamide treatment caused a significant decrease in the neutrophil count by 7 d after inoculation in all 15 immunosuppressed pigs, and all were culture positive at necropsy. Eight of the 33 non-treated pigs were culture negative at necropsy. Pigs overcoming the initial phase of infection had more abscess-like nodules that were bacteriologically sterile at necropsy than the pigs with acute cases of melioidosis. P. pseudomallei was isolated predominantly from the spleen, lungs and the injection site. Although only one strain was used in this study, it is likely that Australian strains of P. pseudomallei are not as virulent as the south-east Asian isolates.     

Pulmonary clearance of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae and Serratia marcescens in mice

Bacterial counts (per lung) were made from Swiss White and/or C3H mice, inoculated intranasally with either Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae or Serratia marcescens and killed at specific times. The percentages of bacterial survival and clearance at each time were determined. Serratia marcescens was cleared progressively, but not completely, from the lungs of C3H and Swiss White mice. The overall pulmonary clearance of S marcescens by Swiss White mice was significantly greater than that of C3H mice (P less than 0.01). The pulmonary clearance pattern of H pleuropneumoniae in C3H mice differed according to the dose inoculated. With a larger H pleuropneumoniae median lethal dose (0.1 LD50), the organism multiplied consistently up to 25 times by 12 hours after the inoculations were done, when clinical signs and lesions appeared in a few of the mice. The clearance rates at 24 and 48 hours after inoculations were 60.65% and 10.3%, respectively. Mice given 0.04 LD50 H pleuropneumoniae showed a 10-fold increase of H pleuropneumoniae in the first 4 hours, with clearances reaching 33%, 66%, and 99% at 8, 12, and 24 hours, respectively.     

When is a residue not a residue?

Residues of veterinary products in food animals have been the subject of much debate in recent years. This paper attempts to define and classify what is meant by the term 'residue' and to discuss the toxicological significance of various types of residues and how they may be controlled to ensure that no hazard results to consumers.     

Pulmonary Clearance of Bacillus subtilis Spores in Pigs

The pulmonary clearance rate of Bacillus subtilis was determined in ten pigs (23-39 kg) exposed simultaneously for 15 minutes to an aerosol generated by an ultrasonic nebulizer. Two pigs were killed at each interval of zero, two, four, eight and 12 hours and the concentrations of B. subtilis in lungs (all lobes), dorsal and ventral nasal turbinates, trachea, pharyngeal and bronchial lymph nodes were determined. The mean percent (± standard error) pulmonary clearance of B.subtilis was 54.2±11.7, 53.0±11.8, 77.4±5.2 and 88.1±3.7 at two, four, eight and 12 hours, respectively. The numbers of B. subtilis retained in the posterior (caudal and accessory) lobes at zero time were significantly greater than those in the anterior (cranial and middle) lobes (P<0.05). However, by 12 hours postinoculation the numbers of organisms retained in the two regions did not differ significantly (P>0.05). The mean percentage of B. subtilis retained by the turbinates, trachea, pharyngeal and bronchial lymph nodes varied between pigs at each time interval, but was usually less than that retained by the lungs.

It was concluded that deposition of B. subtilis spores took place in all parts of the respiratory tract when pigs were exposed to aerosols and that the spores were progressively cleared by the normal lung.