Parts Of Tasmania Research Articles

Distribution of adult Australian wingless scorpionflies (Mecoptera: Apteropanorpidae)

AbstractApart from a few species of interest to behavioural ecologists, the biology and ecology of most scorpionfly species is not well known. The Apteropanorpidae is a family of wingless Mecoptera endemic to Tasmania, comprising four described species in the genus Apteropanorpa. Intensive field surveys for Apteropanorpa species were conducted from 2001 to 2003 in a range of altitudes and habitats in several parts of Tasmania, and these yielded a large number of adult specimens. Adults were collected from a total of 26 plant species and subspecies belonging to nine families, including both angiosperms and gymnosperms. There was a positive relationship between the total number of plant species sampled at each site and adult abundance, so that sampling a greater number of plant species increased the number of adults collected. There was a positive relationship between plant size and abundance at five out of eight sites, such that adults were more likely to aggregate on larger plants. The overall sex ratio of adults on plants was 1:1. An extremely large series of adults was collected in pitfall traps established along an altitudinal transect on Mt Weld, southern Tasmania, from January to April 2001. Pitfall‐trapped adults comprised two species: Apteropanorpa warra at altitudes ≤1000 m and the alpine species A. tasmanica at altitudes of 1100–1300 m. Total abundance of A. warra in pitfall traps on Mt Weld was low; however, the number of pitfall‐trapped female A. tasmanica was very large and markedly increased linearly with altitude from 1100–1300 m in both March and April 2001. The number of male A. tasmanica was also large and increased markedly from 1100 to 1200 m in both March and April. Data strongly indicate an autumnal peak in adult abundance for the Apteropanorpidae, as is the case for other Australian Mecoptera.

A mass shooting at Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia: a study of its impact on early pregnancy losses using a conception time-based methodology.

Does an acute calamity in a community cause early miscarriage and is this association the same for male and female fetuses? Estimated losses of 29.5% of first trimester pregnancies in the affected region could be associated with an acute calamity, with no statistically significant difference in estimated losses by fetal sex. There are very few studies on the impact of a calamity on early pregnancy loss and its differential effects on male and female fetuses. A decline in the human sex ratio at birth associated with the events of 9/11 in New York has been documented. This is a retrospective descriptive study of birth register data in Tasmania, Australia, from 1991 to 1997, covering the period in which the calamity occurred. The register contains data on all pregnancies that proceeded to >20 weeks gestation. The conception date was calculated by subtracting gestational age from birth date. We estimated that 40 318 pregnancies were conceived in the period 1991-1996 inclusive. These were aggregated to 4-weekly blocks classified by region and sex. The acute calamity was at Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia. On 28 April 1996, a gunman opened fire on visitors and staff in a tourist cafe. A very stressful 20 h period, ended with 35 people dead and 22 injured. A negative binomial regression model was used to assess the association between this calamity and pregnancy loss. This loss is evidenced by a shortfall in the registration of pregnancies that were in their first trimester at the time of the calamity. We estimated a shortfall of 29.5% or 229 registered pregnancies among those in the first trimester at the time of the calamity (P < 0.001), in the region surrounding the calamity site. There was no sex effect in this shortfall (P = 0.911). There was no corresponding shortfall in other parts of Tasmania (P = 0.349). The study is descriptive and cannot produce causal inferences. These first trimester miscarriages are estimated statistically and it is understood that gestational age is an estimate. The use of maternal residential postcodes at birth as a surrogate for geographic area or space assumes that the mother has not moved into the postcode area after the calamity and before the reporting of a birth. The results of this study suggest that calamities bring about significant pregnancy loss affecting both sexes. The methodology presented of inferring conception date from birth date and using this for analysis, provides a more accurate assessment of first trimester pregnancy losses than raw birth data or sex ratio at birth.

G226(P) Circle: one way of developing international research practice

Aim Researchers and academics face many research imperatives ranging from generating income, undertaking high quality research, writing 5 star papers, developing a national and international profile through to undertaking international research. None of this is easy. This presentation aims to explore and reflect on the process and successes achieved so far by the founding members of a community of research practice – Circle. Methods Although perhaps not an obvious academic setting, Circle was developed whilst walking. Many good ideas emerge when friends and colleagues are given the chance to meet, talk, breathe and reflect. We walked and talked across parts of Tasmania, New Zealand and the UK; these walks were separated by months, geography and competing commitments. The initial three walker-researchers co-opted colleagues also working with children and families into a group that would eventually become Circle. Together we mapped our research interests and the research priorities of our home institutions and countries and started to identify research topics which would mean that our international efforts would meet various performance objectives. We discussed funding opportunities and thought about creative ways of building sound international research based on modest resources. We identified ways in which we could capitalise on each others’ strengths and expertise. We also identified ways of building strong co-authorship based on our joint research and common interests. Results From tentative steps we have created a robust and growing Circle of researchers who are working together, providing advice, support and mentorship. Measureable achievements include publication of a textbook on nursing children, co-authored papers and co-presented papers, international supervision of research students, development of a website and completion of an international photo-elicitation study. Conclusion Opportunities exist for international work but these require innovative thinking. Sharing ideas and supporting each other has widened and deepened our thinking about research and practice and created a sense of camaraderie. And we continue to walk together whenever we get a chance.

The modeling and observation of a lee trough event over eastern Tasmania

Due to its complex orography, a lee trough can occur along leeward coasts of Tasmania. Of particular interest to meteorologists and others, is the lee trough that can form along eastern parts of Tasmania. This effect is often observed under broad westerly flow due mainly to a topographic barrier, which lies to the west of the area of interest. The lee trough seems to be most pronounced when the troposphere is stable with an inversion just above the highest parts of the western and central highlands, known as the Western Mountains and Central Plateau, respectively. Blocking of the low-level airflow, coupled with the formation of a windward ridge of high pressure may also contribute to the formation of the lee trough. From time to time, mesoscale thermal lows and pronounced standing wave activity has also been observed to form over parts of the state co-incident with the lee trough. These can further complicate the overall wind pattern over parts of the Tasmania. This study attempts to investigate and verify some aspects of this lee trough by the utilization of a very high resolution numerical weather prediction model, known as HIRES (HIghRESolution).

Feral olives ( Olea europaea) as future woody weeds in Australia: a review

Olives (Olea europaea ssp. europaea), dispersed from 19th century orchards in the Adelaide area, have become established in remnant bushland as a major environmental weed. Recent expansion of the Australian olive industry has resulted in the widespread planting of olive orchards in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland and parts of Tasmania. This paper reviews the literature on the activity of vertebrate (principally avian) olive predators and their potential as vectors for spreading this plant into Australian remnant bushland. The effects of feralisation on the olive plant, which enhances its capacity for dispersal as a weed, place wider areas of south-eastern Australia at risk. A number of approaches for the control of olives as woody weeds are addressed. Proponents of new agricultural crops have moral and environmental obligations to assess the weed potential of these crops.

Conodont geothermometry in Palaeozoic carbonate rocks of Tasmania and its economic implications

Conodont colour alteration index (CAI) values from Early to Middle Palaeozoic marine carbonate rocks of the West Tasmania Terrane range from 1.5 to 8. Highest CAI values are found in hornfels adjacent to a Jurassic dolerite intrusion. CAI of 5 indicate temperatures of 300–480°C and are found either adjacent to Jurassic dolerite intrusions or in an arcuate belt around the west and northwest of the island rimming the Precambrian rocks of the Tyennan and Rocky Cape regions. CAI values of 1.5 are found in the southwest of the state and values of 2 are common in central southern Tasmania. Low vitrinite reflectance values from the unconformably overlying Late Carboniferous‐Late Triassic Parmeener Supergroup, suggest that the major heat input into the conodonts was in the Late Devonian‐Early Carboniferous associated with regional metamorphism and the widespread intrusions of granitoids. High CAI values are not due to thick overburden as these are very unlikely in many parts of Tasmania. It is probable that high ...

Plant communities of the Mt Wellington Range, Tasmania

AbstractAssociations among species of vascular plants in twelve predefined vegetation zones on Mt Wellington, Tasmania, are described. The vegetation zones were based mainly on the dominant species of eucalypt contained therein, following an approach used previously by Martin (1940). The twelve zones were subsequently reduced to a total of six cluster groups using hierarchical classification procedures. Character species, in the sense of the Braun‐Blanquet (1928) system of phytosociology, are identified and tabulated for each group. It is suggested that the division of a survey area into zones based upon dominant euealypts may be applicable to the study of vegetation communities in other parts of Tasmania.

Permian

Permian

A Contribution to the Glacial Geology of Tasmania

I. Introduction. The existence of Pleistocene glaciation in Southern Australia has been so often affirmed on unsatisfactory evidence, that the assertion of a recent glaciation in Tasmania has been received with doubt. Two years ago I read through the literature on the glaciation of Tasmania, and came to the conclusion that, except for such traces of high-level glacial action as those at Mount Sedgwick, recorded by E. J. Dunn and T. B. Moore, and those near the summit of Mount Ida, recorded by Officer, Balfour, and Hogg, the evidence consisted of material that was either not of glacial origin, or was due to glacial action at some Upper Palaeozoic date. The advocates of a low-level, recent glaciation in Tasmania were men who had apparently received no special geological training, and who had not written other papers by which the value of their geological observations could be tested. The professional and the trained geologists were almost unanimous in denying the existence of signs of recent ice-action in the lower valleys of Tasmania. II. The Geology and Topography of the Area. It may be advisable here to introduce a short statement of the geological structure and physical geography of that part of Tasmania in which the deposits described as glacial occur. Most of them have been recorded from the country beside the West-Coast Range, and the western part of the Central Plateau of Tasmania. The West-Coast Range runs north and south, at a distance of 20 to 25 miles from the western