Lichens and bryophytes on Eucalyptus obliqua in Tasmania: management implications in production forests

Thirty lichen and 25 bryophyte species have been recorded from the buttresses of Eucalyptus obliqua, the dominant tree in wet sclerophyll forest at the Warra Long-Term Ecological Research Site in southern Tasmania. The flora, characterised by four major associations, is very distinctive, containing a relatively high number of eucalypt specialists, particularly among the lichens. A general trend towards increasing species richness with increasing tree diameter is apparent and is attributed mainly to increasing habitat diversity on the buttresses. The increase in species occurs without the loss of pioneers; thus succession involves addition rather than replacement of species. The relationships between epiphytes, tree age and forest age are complicated by the periodic occurrence of fires in the forest. Nevertheless, potential oldgrowth indicators are identified and the possible effects of current silvicultural practices on the conservation of the species are discussed.     

Development and application of molecular methods (PCR) for detection of Tasmanian Atlantic salmon reovirus

Molecular (PCR) diagnostic tests for the detection and identification of aquareovirus in general, and Tasmanian Atlantic salmon reovirus (TSRV) specifically, were developed, and their diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were determined and compared with virus isolation in cell culture. Intralaboratory and interlaboratory comparison of PCR (conventional hemi‐nested RT‐PCR & RT‐qPCR) and virus isolation in cell culture using finfish cell lines, CHSE‐214 and EPC, was carried out for the detection and identification of TSRV using field samples of farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, L. from various aquaculture sites around Tasmania. The interlaboratory comparison of diagnostic methods was carried out between two laboratories, AAHL‐CSIRO and DPIPWE‐Tasmania. A total of 144 fish from nine sites (12–33 fish per site) were sampled from two regions of Tasmania (Tamar River estuary in the north and Huon River estuary in the south‐east) during late spring to early summer of 2009, and the data were analysed using different statistical approaches. The prevalence of TSRV ranged from 6% to 22% in both regions. All the diagnostic methods (data from both laboratories) had high specificity, while the estimated sensitivity varied between tests with RT‐qPCR being the most sensitive (95.2%) method followed by virus isolation and then conventional hemi‐nested RT‐PCR.     

Recent human‐induced salinity changes in Ramsar‐listed Orielton Lagoon,south‐east Tasmania,Australia: a new approach for coastal lagoon conservation and management

• 1. Many coastal lagoons in eastern Australia have changed as a result of recent human activities. However, it is often difficult to determine the extent of change and the ecological implications. A palaeoecological approach allows a quantitative assessment of how an aquatic ecosystem changes and responds to human impacts beyond what is possible with historical data or monitoring programmes.
• 2. Orielton Lagoon (south‐east Tasmania, Australia) is a Ramsar‐listed coastal wetland of international importance for conservation. This study was undertaken at the site to determine whether recent anthropogenic hydrological modifications to the lagoon had influenced its ecology, particularly salinity, and compromised its Ramsar status.
• 3. A diatom–salinity transfer function was constructed from a training data set of 96 diatom taxa from 34 sampling sites in 19 lagoons along the east coast of Tasmania.
• 4. The salinity of Orielton Lagoon has changed in response to a causeway constructed across its mouth, which has transformed the lagoon from an open marine environment to an enclosed, virtually stagnant, brackish water body.
• 5. These changes have compromised the protected coastal wetland status of Orielton Lagoon. Environmental remediation attempts have since partially restored the natural hydrology of the lagoon and it is now returning towards the state it was in prior to causeway construction.
• 6. A palaeoecological approach using diatoms was found to be successful in reconstructing recent salinity changes and investigating human impacts on Orielton Lagoon over the last 50–55 years.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of environmental factors on the distribution of Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis in Tasmania

Aquaculture in Tasmania is mostly carried out in estuaries. These estuarine habitats show a great variety and form unique environments in which Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis, the amoebic gill disease (AGD)-causing protozoan, may or may not survive. Tasmania is divided into two zones, one where AGD is present and one where AGD is absent, but any ecological data to rationalize this distribution is lacking. In in vitro trials N. pemaquidensis strains were exposed to different concentrations of ammonium sulphate, copper sulphate, copper sulphate and tannin, and different Neoparamoeba densities, salinities and temperatures. A trial using field water samples investigated the survival of N. pemaquidensis in waters sourced from AGD-free and AGD-positive zones, and water analysis was performed to determine any differences. Significantly decreased protozoan survival was found with exposure to increasing copper sulphate concentrations from 10 to 100,000 microM (P < 0.001), salinity of 15 per thousand (P < 0.001), low Neoparamoeba densities of 625 and 1,250 cells mL(-1) (P = 0.0005), and water sourced from Macquarie Harbour (P < 0.001). The water chemistry of this AGD-free zone showed significantly lower dissolved calcium and magnesium concentrations which may contribute to this area being AGD-free. Understanding of the ecology of N. pemaquidensis will enable better control and prevention strategies for Tasmanian salmon growers.     

Organic carbon in the silt + clay fraction of Tasmanian soils

Organic carbon (C) was measured in the silt + clay fraction of 78 soils from agricultural areas in Tasmania, and the relationship between C in the silt + clay fraction and the percentage by weight of particles in this fraction was compared with similar data for soils from other regions and climates. Most of the cropping soils from Tasmania followed a previously published linear relationship, which is considered an indication of the capacity of soils to store C. The soils which fell the greatest distance below this relationship were sandy soils, consistent with previous evidence that these soils in Tasmania have been degraded. Soils which showed a major positive departure from the relationship were clay loams with >60% silt + clay. Most were also pasture soils. Tasmania's cool‐temperate climate would promote plant growth and C inputs and slow C breakdown, while the high clay content would help protect C. The results for the clay loam soils are consistent with earlier observations that these soils are generally in good health.     

Wild fish are not a significant reservoir for Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis (Page, 1987)

Amoebic gill disease (AGD), caused by the protozoan Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis (Page, 1987) is the most important disease affecting salmon farms in Tasmania. Reservoirs for this protozoan parasite are largely unknown. This study investigated wild fish as a potential reservoir of N. pemaquidensis . A total of 325 wild fish, comprising 12 different fish species, were caught from and around salmon farms and examined for the presence of AGD. None of the wild fish were infected with AGD. In a laboratory trial, seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis , greenback flounder, Rhombosolea tapirina, and Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, were challenged with N. pemaquidensis . Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis was detected on the gills on 10 of 15 (66.7%) flounder, nine of 24 (37.5%) seahorses, and six of six (100%) Atlantic salmon. However, paramoebae positive flounder and seahorse lacked the characteristic AGD gill pathology. It is concluded that AGD does not appear in wild fish and wild fish do not seem to be a reservoir of the pathogen.     

Colonisation of clearfelled coupes by rainforest tree species from mature mixed forest edges, Tasmania, Australia

Mixed forest, containing a eucalypt overstorey and an understorey of rainforest tree species, accounts for approximately 20% (195,000 ha) of Tasmania's wet eucalypt forest. In wood production areas it is typically clearfelled, burnt and then sown with eucalypt seed. This management removes virtually all standing seed sources within the coupe, so that recolonisation of coupes by rainforest tree species depends largely on seed sources located at the coupe edges. We quantified the influence of mature mixed forest edges on rainforest regeneration following clearfelling by modelling the change in the density of the regeneration of the four dominant rainforest tree species (Nothofagus cunninghamii, Atherosperma moschatum, Phyllocladus aspleniifolius and Eucryphia lucida) with increasing distance from forest edge. We also assessed the influence on rainforest tree regeneration of prevailing wind direction, age of regeneration, characteristics of the mature edge vegetation and of the competing regenerating vegetation within the coupe. Distance from edge and age of coupe were highly significant (p < 0.01) effects in each of the species models. We found that the abundance of regeneration declined with increasing distance from edge for all four rainforest tree species, and with the exception of A. moschatum regeneration, increased with coupe age up to the age of 15 years. The abundance of N. cunninghamii and E. lucida, which are species with restricted seed dispersal, declined most steeply with increasing distance from the edge. A. moschatum, which is a species with the potential for long distance seed dispersal by wind, was more abundant than N. cunninghamii and E. lucida at distances greater than 20 m from coupe edges. More than 500 seedlings ha⁻¹ were present at all distances from coupe edge for P. aspleniifolius, reflecting its capacity to germinate after disturbance from soil-stored and bird-dispersed seed. There were no significant differences in seedling density upwind or downwind of coupe edges, although the potential for dense regeneration of N. cunninghamii and E. lucida and for long distance dispersal of A. moschatum appeared to be greatest downwind of edges. Other variables that significantly affected the abundance of regeneration were the height of rainforest tree species in the edge vegetation (N. cunninghamii model), the cover of rainforest tree species in the edge vegetation (A. moschatum model) and the cover of competing eucalypt regeneration within the coupe (P. aspleniifolius model). The proportion of rainforest tree species that regenerated vegetatively was small (3.1%). We concluded that management which maintains mature mixed forest edges, or patches of mature forest within coupes, is likely to result in greater levels of rainforest regeneration and a more rapid shift towards pre-harvest composition following logging. We use our results to demonstrate that variable retention harvesting systems, such as aggregated retention or stripfelling, which reduce the distance to rainforest seed source, would result in a greater abundance of rainforest regeneration over a larger proportion of the coupe than current clearfell, burn and sow silviculture.     

Early responses of birds to clearfelling and its alternatives in lowland wet eucalypt forest in Tasmania,Australia

The impacts on bird assemblages of silvicultural alternatives to clearfelling in lowland wet eucalypt forest were studied over a decade at Warra, Tasmania. Using a multiple-visit point-count procedure and a before-after-control-impact design, indices of relative incidence were derived for the 44 bird species recorded at 177 survey-points, and used in both univariate and multivariate analyses. The majority of species had strong associations with either mature forest or young regeneration post-harvest, with very few more generalist species present. Bird assemblages in the unharvested mature forest were not static over this period, but this could not readily be explained by the expansion of forest harvesting in the surrounding landscape. However, the shift was subtle compared to the responses to harvesting, which induced a fundamental change in assemblage composition irrespective of the silvicultural system applied. The ability of the different systems to retain elements of the original mature forest avifauna varied markedly. Dispersed retention silviculture was no better than clearfelling, with or without unharvested understorey islands in the latter system. By contrast, both the unharvested parts of coupes subjected to stripfelling, and the retained aggregates in coupes subjected to aggregated retention silviculture, maintained mature forest bird assemblages. The long-term value of stripfelling for mature forest avifauna is compromised because the unharvested strips will be harvested mid-rotation. Aggregated retention silviculture, however, is designed for long-term retention of mature forest in aggregates, and our results suggest that this system may offer a means of sustaining mature forest bird assemblages at the coupe-level. However, individual mature forest species varied in their degree of tolerance, and we suggest that no system is completely resilient to harvesting effects.     

Toxicity in the brain of organophosphate insecticides: Comparison of the toxicities of metabolites with parent compounds using an intracerebral injection method

The toxicity in the brain of several parathion, fenthion, and fensulfothion insecticides and their toxic metabolites was determined by a technique of directly injecting the compounds into the region of the third ventricle of conscious mice, an area rich in cholinesterase activity. The results were compared on a body weight basis to the toxicity of these compounds when given by ip and oral routes. The results show that there is a direct relationship between the relative inhibition of cholinesterase activity in the brain by the organophosphates (e.g., methyl paraoxon, Sumioxon, and some members of the fenthion series) and the toxicity of these compounds in the brain. Methyl paraoxon and Sumioxon were found to be very toxic in the brain, Sumioxon being three to four times less toxic than methyl paraoxon. This is of the same order of effect of these compounds in inhibiting cholinesterases. It is concluded that any selective effects of Sumithion compared with methyl parathion must be due to the greater rate of metabolism of Sumithion to less toxic metabolites as well as to the lower toxicity of the oxon metabolite and not due to the relative rates of penetration of the toxic oxygen metabolites as previously suggested [J. Miyamoto, Agr. Biol. Chem.28, 422 (1964)]. A gas-liquid chromatographic method was employed to assess the distribution in the brain following intracerebral injection of the parathion-type compounds. The results suggest that there may be intracerebral metabolism of thionophosphates in vivo.