King Island Research Articles

The platypus: evolutionary history, biology, and an uncertain future.

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is one of the world’s most evolutionarily distinct mammals, one of five extant species of egg-laying mammals, and the only living species within the family Ornithorhynchidae. Modern platypuses are endemic to eastern mainland Australia, Tasmania, and adjacent King Island, with a small introduced population on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, and are widely distributed in permanent river systems from tropical to alpine environments. Accumulating knowledge and technological advancements have provided insights into many aspects of its evolutionary history and biology but have also raised concern about significant knowledge gaps surrounding distribution, population sizes, and trends. The platypus’ distribution coincides with many of Australia’s major threatening processes, including highly regulated and disrupted rivers, intensive habitat destruction, and fragmentation, and they were extensively hunted for their fur until the early 20th century. Emerging evidence of local population declines and extinctions identifies that ecological thresholds have been crossed in some populations and, if threats are not addressed, the species will continue to decline. In 2016, the IUCN Red Listing for the platypus was elevated to “Near Threatened,” but the platypus remains unlisted on threatened species schedules of any Australian state, apart from South Australia, or nationally. In this synthesis, we review the evolutionary history, genetics, biology, and ecology of this extraordinary mammal and highlight prevailing threats. We also outline future research directions and challenges that need to be met to help conserve the species.

Mid Miocene–Last Interglacial Callitris (Cupressaceae) from south-eastern Australia

Callitris Vent., is the most speciose of the Southern Hemisphere Cupressaceae (conifer) genera, with species indigenous to Australia and New Caledonia. While most other Southern Hemisphere conifers are restricted to wet climates, Callitris species occupy a broad range of habitats, from the margins of rainforests to arid Australia. This study examines fossilized Callitris foliage collected from three south-eastern Australian sites ranging in age from middle Miocene to the Last Interglacial. The oldest, middle Miocene, fossils are from Yallourn, southern Victoria and represent a new (extinct) species, Callitris blackburnii. Much younger, early Pleistocene (~1.59 Ma), fossils are from four slightly different aged horizons within the Stony Creek Basin, western Victorian uplands. One of these specimens is consistent with extant C. rhomboidea R.Br. ex Rich. & A. Rich. in both morphology and size. Specimens from other depths in the Stony Creek sediments are assigned to another extant species, C. columellaris F. Muell., but are smaller in size than the extant species. The youngest fossil specimens (Last Interglacial (~110 ka) Yarra Creek, King Island) are assigned to extant C. rhomboidea. The findings of this study enhance the previously sparse fossil record of Callitris and further indicate that two widespread extant Callitris species have been present in south-eastern Australia for at least ~1.5 million years.

Genetic and radiographic insights into the only known mounted specimen of Kangaroo Island Emu

The Natural History Museum of Geneva holds a mounted specimen of a dwarf emu, which is believed to be the only preserved skin of the extinct Kangaroo Island Emu, Dromaius baudinianus. We obtained new radiographs that show the absence of remaining bones in the preparation, confirming previous statements found in the museum's archives. Moreover, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of this specimen and we compared it to all available emu sequences. The mitogenome of the specimen held in Geneva is very close to that of Common Emus Dromaius novaehollandiae. Overall, the genetic results on insular emus support a shallow divergence between the mainland population and the – now extinct – populations from King Island, Kangaroo Island and Tasmania. Based on these results, we agree with previous molecular studies that the insular emu taxa should be treated as three different subspecies of the Common Emu.

Using a Community Vote for Wind Energy Development Decision-Making in King Island, Tasmania

In 2012, a large scale wind energy project was proposed for development in King Island, Tasmania, Australia. The project proponents adopted what they described as a ‘best practice’ approach to community engagement; an approach expected to achieve positive outcomes for developer and community by maximising community involvement in decision-making, limiting social conflict, and enhancing the potential of achieving the social licence to operate. Despite this, the community experience during the time of the proposal was one of conflict and distress, and the proposal was eventually cancelled due to exogenous economic factors. This case study explores a key element of the engagement process—holding a community vote—that caused significant problems for people and process. The vote appeared to be a democratic means to facilitate community empowerment in the decision-making process. However, in this study, we show that the vote resulted in an increase in conflict and polarisation, challenged the legitimacy of the consultative process and credibility of the proponents, and ultimately led to legal actions taken by opponents against the proponent. Factors including voter eligibility, the benchmark for success of the vote, campaigning, and responses to the outcome of the vote are examined to demonstrate the complexity of decision-making for renewable energy and land use change more generally.

High penetration renewable generation within Australian isolated and remote power systems

Remote communities increasingly integrate renewable source generation to reduce the environmental and economic impact of diesel generation. Despite benefits scaling proportionally with the level of renewable penetration, most systems restrict renewable utilisation to below 30% of annual production. Identifying system complexity as a key barrier to renewable uptake, this paper investigates methodologies to simplify integration of high renewable penetrations. Three approaches are considered, via three Australian case studies; King Island, Tasmania (approach one), Flinders Island, Tasmania (approach two), and Rottnest Island, Western Australia (approach three). Approach one details a methodology for wind plus storage integration. Approach two details a methodology for wind, solar PV, plus storage integration. Approach three details a methodology for wind and solar PV integration, without storage. All approaches facilitate high renewable penetrations, with each island majority renewable supplied. Approach one benchmarks system performance, with King Island one of the worlds’ earliest high penetration renewable islands. Approach two explores benefit via renewable diversification. Approach three investigates rationalisation of energy storage via low load diesel and demand management technology substitution. For approach three a 32% reduction in capital cost was observed, identifying commercial justification for the approach via deferral of energy storage integration.

Survival histories of marsupial carnivores on Australian continental shelf islands highlight climate change and Europeans as likely extirpation factors: implications for island predator restoration

Predators are critical components of ecosystems, but large marsupial carnivores have suffered major declines and extinctions in Australia. To inform predator restoration efforts on Kangaroo Island (South Australia) we examined the survival histories and potential extirpation factors of large marsupial carnivores that previously occurred on Kangaroo Island, King Island and Flinders Island, located off the southern coastline of the Australian mainland. Through a review of historical accounts and fossil evidence, we determined that the pattern of species persistence and extirpation on Kangaroo Island parallels that observed on King and Flinders Islands. Fossil data supports the terminal Pleistocene–early Holocene extinction of the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) from Kangaroo Island and the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) from both Kangaroo and Flinders Islands. Though eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) fossils have been found on both Kangaroo and Flinders Islands, and western quoll (D. geoffroii) on Kangaroo Island, contemporary evidence for their post-European persistence is unclear. In contrast, fossil, museum and anecdotal data supports the presence of the spotted-tailed quoll (D. maculatus) on all three islands and, contrary to established knowledge, its post-European persistence on Kangaroo Island. The loss of T. cynocephalus, S. harrisii, D. geoffroii and D. viverrinus from these islands appears to be commensurate with late to terminal Pleistocene–early Holocene climate change and associated changes in vegetation communities. In contrast, anthropogenic persecution of D. maculatus appears to be the principal cause of its post-European extirpation. We recommend D. maculatus as a suitable candidate marsupial carnivore for reintroduction to Kangaroo Island.

Genetic diversity and drivers of dwarfism in extinct island emu populations.

Australia's iconic emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae novaehollandiae) is the only living representative of its genus, but fossil evidence and reports from early European explorers suggest that three island forms (at least two of which were dwarfs) became extinct during the nineteenth century. While one of these-the King Island emu-has been found to be conspecific with Australian mainland emus, little is known about how the other two forms-Kangaroo Island and Tasmanian emus-relate to the others, or even the size of Tasmanian emus. We present a comprehensive genetic and morphological analysis of Dromaius diversity, including data from one of the few definitively genuine Tasmanian emu specimens known. Our genetic analyses suggest that all the island populations represent sub-populations of mainland Dnovaehollandiae Further, the size of island emus and those on the mainland appears to scale linearly with island size but not time since isolation, suggesting that island size-and presumably concomitant limitations on resource availability-may be a more important driver of dwarfism in island emus, though its precise contribution to emu dwarfism remains to be confirmed.

Mongolian Bling Live from UB

Book Review| January 01 2018 Mongolian Bling Live from UB Mongolian Bling. Benj Binx, writer/director. Nubar Ghazarian, producer. DCP, DVD. 90 minutes. 2012. Flying Fish Films Pty. Ltd., PO Box 232, Currie, King Island, Tas, 7256, Australia.Live from UB. Lauran Knapp, director/producer. Dulguun Bayasgalan, associate producer / translator. DVD. 82 minutes. 2015. Documentary Education Resources, www.der.org. Peter K. Marsh Peter K. Marsh California State University, East Bay Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Ethnomusicology (2018) 62 (1): 157–162. https://doi.org/10.5406/ethnomusicology.62.1.0157 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Peter K. Marsh; Mongolian Bling Live from UB. Ethnomusicology 1 January 2018; 62 (1): 157–162. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/ethnomusicology.62.1.0157 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressEthnomusicology Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright 2018 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois2018 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Queer Livity in the Caribbean: Rosamond S. King's Island Bodies

This essay responds to Rosamond S. King's Island Bodies: Transgressive Sexualities in the Caribbean Imagination (2014) by noting the convergence of progressive legislation and violence that renders notions of transgression and freedom contradictory and fraught in our contemporary moment, thus helping to frame the book's relevance. Island Bodies draws attention to the sexed subject's embeddedness in notions of authenticity (within the Caribbean as well as in relation to first-world narratives of emancipation) and to the dominance of biological men in discussions of Caribbean sexualities, among other issues. King's insistence on analyzing fiction alongside nonfictional contexts, such as court cases and queer organizing, provides a rich texture for the consideration of transgressive sexualities, while also raising questions about archives, presence, and the production of knowledge.

Indigenous Sexualities: Rosamond S. King's Island Bodies and the Radical Politics of Scholarship

This essay offers a critical engagement with Rosamond S. King's Island Bodies: Transgressive Sexualities in the Caribbean Imagination (2014), arguing that King enacts a ground-shifting interdisciplinary and translinguistic approach to the study of Caribbean sexualities and gender explorations. King's work is notable for its bridging of the divide between scholarship, literature, and activism, producing new understandings of transgression and agency that challenge both those who see the Caribbean as homophobic and those who see gender-nonconformity and sexual freedom of expression as global North–influenced corruptions. The essay explores the implications for King's conception of the “Caribglobal” and for her expansive and nuanced explications of the ways Caribbean peoples engage with gender, sexuality, visibility, and community belonging.

Independent lines of evidence of a genetic relationship between acoustic wave velocity and kraft pulp yield in Eucalyptus globulus

Multiple lines of evidence suggest acoustic wave velocity (AWV) would provide a rapid and efficient method to indirectly select for superior pulp yield in Eucalyptus globulus breeding programs. Eucalyptus globulus is one of the most widely planted hardwood species in temperate regions of the world and is primarily grown for pulpwood. To determine if acoustic wave velocity (AWV) can be used to indirectly select for kraft pulp yield in E. globulus. Genetic group effects, additive and non-additive variance components, and genetic correlations were estimated for AWV and pulpwood traits, including Kraft pulp yield. In a separate trial, the relative position of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for these traits was compared. Estimated narrow-sense heritabilities for AWV and pulp yield were both 0.26, and these traits were strongly genetically correlated (0.84). Furthermore, co-located QTL for these traits were identified. Further evidence that AWV could be used to indirectly select for pulp yield was provided by the ranking of genetic groups—Otways and King Island had the highest AWV and pulp yield and Strzelecki and Tasmania the lowest. There was no evidence of dominance variation in wood property traits. Together, these findings suggest that AWV could be used as a selection criterion for kraft pulp yield in E. globulus breeding programs.

Emus von King Island und Kangaroo Island in Europa – Neue Erkenntnisse über 1804 von der Baudin-Expedition mitgebrachte Vertreter inzwischen ausgerotteter Laufvögel

A few specimens of two extinct emu forms formerly distributed on King Island and Kangaroo Island both south of Australian mainland were brought to France by the Baudin expedition in the beginning of 19th century. Two individuals lived in Paris until 1822. Partly different information and opinions about number and identity of the emus loaded on board by the expedition on the named islands and about the whereabouts of the remains of these birds in European museums have been published in both historical and modern literature. This paper contains description, comparison, analysis, and assessment of the different stances and gives an overview about the current scientific knowledge about the subject.

From “White Alice Changes Hands”

This poem is an excerpt from a long poem about the White Alice Communications System installed throughout the American Arctic during the Cold War, and specifically about the decommissioned cold war era Distant Early Warning stations and tactical infrastructure that continues to dominate and erode/weather in the landscape of the subarctic. Throughout the poem, the onomatopoeic word in the King Island Inupiaq dialect for clock reappears: sassaq, set against the translation of one of the tundra bird's songs into English (“Are you yet in a green, green tree?”).

Successful Experience of Renewable Energy Development in Several Offshore Islands

Islands incur more difficult and expensive energy supplies; many offshore islands, therefore, develop renewable energy to supply energy and reduce CO2 emissions. However, most of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, are intermittent and variable sources of power. To overcome the integration problems, numerous islands have utilized several useful methods. For instance, the island of Gran Canaria applied the pumped storage systems to reutilize energy, and the island of Lolland developed renewable hydrogen community. The operation experience of these islands is extremely worthy to appreciate. This article introduces eight offshore islands and discusses about their present situations, policies, successful experience and challenges about renewable energy development. Those islands include Samso, Reunion, Cyprus, Crete, King Island, Agios Efstratios, Utsira and El Hierro. The successful experience on those islands can provide useful information for other islands for developing renewable energy.

Water Storage Instead of Energy Storage for Desalination Powered by Renewable Energy—King Island Case Study

In this paper, we scrutinized the energy storage options used in mitigation of the intermittent nature of renewable energy resources for desalination process. In off-grid islands and remote areas, renewable energy is often combined with appropriate energy storage technologies (ESTs) to provide a consistent and reliable electric power source. We demonstrated that in developing a renewable energy scheme for desalination purposes, product (water) storage is a more reliable and techno-economic solution. For a King Island (Southeast Australia) case-study, electric power production from renewable energy sources was sized under transient conditions to meet the dynamic demand of freshwater throughout the year. Among four proposed scenarios, we found the most economic option by sizing a 13 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) field to instantly run a proportional RO desalination plant and generate immediate freshwater in diurnal times without the need for energy storage. The excess generated water was stored in 4 × 50 ML (mega liter) storage tanks to meet the load in those solar deficit times. It was also demonstrated that integrating well-sized solar PV with wind power production shows more consistent energy/water profiles that harmonize the transient nature of energy sources with the water consumption dynamics, but that would have trivial economic penalties caused by larger desalination and water storage capacities.

How wind became a four-letter word: Lessons for community engagement from a wind energy conflict in King Island, Australia

Wind is recognised as a key source of renewable energy. Despite broad public support for the sector, wind energy proposals have routinely triggered social conflict and localised opposition. To promote social acceptance and avoid conflict, the wind energy sector undertakes community engagement. This paper interrogates the community engagement undertaken in King Island (Tasmania, Australia) for a large scale wind energy development proposal which did not proceed to implementation due to external economic factors. Despite the proponent's adoption of what was described as a ‘best practice’ community engagement strategy, the proposal caused significant social conflict for the community. In-depth interviews (n=30) were conducted with members of the King Island community and were qualitatively analysed through the social identity lens. Five key drivers of the local conflict were identified: problematic pre-feasibility engagement; the lack of a third-party facilitator of the community consultative committee; holding a vote which polarised the community; the lack of a clear place in the engagement process for local opposition, and; the significance of local context. These findings are instructive for improving community engagement practice for wind energy and other energy generation and land use change sectors.

Constraining the VanDieland microcontinent at the edge of East Gondwana, Australia

Using airborne magnetic and marine gravity data, the geological subdivisions of western Tasmania have been interpreted north across Bass Strait into Victoria. The three westernmost Tasmanian zones, the King Island, Rocky Cape and Burnie zones, are inferred to form the largely concealed Selwyn Block in Victoria. The Eastern Tasmania Zone correlates with the Victorian Tabberabbera Zone. Thus the Tasmanian Tamar Fracture Zone corresponds with the Victorian Governor Fault. The Victorian Ceres Gabbro is correlated with magnetic rocks west of King Island that are tentatively considered to be Neoproterozoic. Most of the Cambrian felsic volcanic rocks of the Tasmanian Mount Read Volcanics lie above the Burnie Zone, as do the similar rocks exposed in the Jamieson, Licola and Glen Creek windows in central Victoria. Reinterpretation of a Victorian deep seismic reflection line indicates Burnie Zone equivalent rocks were thrust south-west over Rocky Cape Zone equivalents.A link between western Tasmania and central Victoria is evident from Upper Devonian granites intruded into the Selwyn Block region. The eastern end of the Upper Devonian Cobaw Complex and the Warburton Granodiorite contain calcsilicate enclaves interpreted to be derived from a northern equivalent to the Smithton Basin. The Mount Disappointment Granodiorite has high Ni and Cr contents and pseudomorphs after orthopyroxenes, consistent with having been partly sourced from the underlying basaltic rocks like those on the eastern margin of the King Island Zone. The magnetic responses under the Strathbogie Complex, the Cerberean Caldera and the Lysterfield Granodiorite are attributed to metamorphism of part of an extension of the Smithton Basin, probably equivalents to the 580Ma Spinks Creek Volcanics. Quartzite cobbles in a Devonian conglomerate in the south-eastern Melbourne Zone may be derived from Rocky Cape Group equivalents. When integrated with the geological interpretation of Tasmania, we provide a stratotectonic map of the VanDieland micro-continent.

Immediate action required to prevent another Australian avian extinction: the King Island Scrubtit

For small and rapidly declining populations acting fast to prevent extinction is crucial. However, many endangered species receive little attention or management action. Action paralysis can prevail for several reasons, particularly for data deficient species when conservation resources are scarce. Here we draw attention to one of the world's rarest birds, the King Island Scrubtit (Acanthornis magnus greenianus), a subspecies of a monotypic genus. Recognised as critically endangered for more than two decades, conservation action is virtually non-existent despite a rapid population decline. To establish current baseline information using a repeatable cost-effective monitoring methodology we surveyed 154 sites at eight locations as well as additional sites within the agricultural matrix. We detected the King Island Scrubtit at 28 sites in three locations (Nook Swamp, Colliers Swamp and Pegarah State Forest). At these locations, we estimated overall occupancy to be 0.35 (s.e. 0.05) and detectability to be 0.68 (s.e. 0.05) during a single site visit. We estimate the current area of occupancy of the bird to be <1 km2, declining. This study documents previously unrecognised threats (acid sulfate soils, macropod browsing and wind-throw) and provides a path forward to population recovery. Our results highlight the need for urgent action to prevent Australia’ s next avian extinction.

Investment in new tungsten mining projects

This paper studies investments in new tungsten mining projects, analyzing in-depth five ready-to-go projects around the world that were presented to the financial markets by listed companies to obtain funds so that they could start operations in the near future: the Barruecopardo open-cut project in Spain (Ormonde Mining); Kilba open-cut project in Australia (Tungsten Mining); Hemerdon open-cut project in the United Kingdom (Wolf Minerals); Sangdong underground project in South Korea (Woulfe Mining); and King Island Scheelite, a mixed open-cut and underground project in Tasmania (King Island Scheelite). These investment projects were selected on the basis of having completed a Definitive Feasibility Study on October 2014 (Barruecopardo, Hemerdon, Sangdong and King Island Scheelite) according to Bloomberg. In addition, an Australian project was added within the study (Kilba) due to the high number of Australian mining companies that are developing tungsten mining projects around the world.The conclusions of this research clearly define the future direction in which mining reporting standards should develop in relation to feasibility analysis and provide a strong tool to address the initial steps for analyzing future investments in tungsten mining projects by estimating the initial investment and processing plant costs and operating costs based on the planned mining and processing parameters.

Identification and characterization of serogroup M Dichelobacter nodosus from sheep with virulent footrot

As part of an outbreak-specific footrot vaccination field trial a total of 1282 footrot lesion samples were collected from 2 sheep flocks on King Island, Tasmania. Breeding rams were shared between the two flocks, suggesting a common source of infection. All samples were tested for Dichelobacter nodosus. A total of 1047 D. nodosus isolates were obtained in pure culture (490 from 670 lesion samples from flock 1, and 557 from 612 lesion samples from flock 2) were tested by agglutination and PCR tests for the 9 common Australian serogroups A to I. After the first rounds of a specific vaccination program, a significant proportion of the isolates of D. nodosus from these flocks were found to be negative in the serogrouping tests and the prevalence of the disease remained high in both. Those isolates were tested retrospectively against New Zealand and Nepal serogroup M antisera and found to be positive. Fimbrial gene (fimA) sequences of three isolates collected over three years were identical indicating that these strains belonged to one serogroup and were most closely related to New Zealand and Nepal serogroup M sequences. More than 40% of the D. nodosus isolates from these flocks belonged to serogroup M and were virulent in tests for protease activity. The next most prevalent serogroup was A (23%). This study reports the identification and characterization of serogroup M isolates of D. nodosus from Australia, and led to routine testing for serogroup M in flocks where specific vaccination will be applied for control, treatment and eradication of the virulent footrot.