Western Queensland Research Articles

‘… and in the morning …’: adapting and adopting the dawn service

This article examines the structural malleability of the dawn service and the appeal it subsequently has for adaptation – or appropriation – by interests with a need to express, validate or perhaps procure its strong appeal to popular nationalism. A brief account of the history and mythology of the dawn service is given to indicate its origins and development as the element of Anzac Day with the most consistently popular appeal. A morphology of the ritual structure of the event is provided, with illustrative examples from Western Australia, Queensland and Canberra to show the broad variety of format that the morphology allows, while still retaining what large numbers of Australians apparently consider its integral national significance. Two recent instances of adaptation of the dawn service to ostensibly non-Anzac observances for the Bali bombings and Australia Day are then discussed to illustrate the appeal of the morphology to both official and community interests. The article concludes by arguing that the morphological elements of the dawn service can be adapted into a diversity of ritual frameworks that reflect and reinforce the different but, in this case, intersecting imperatives of government and communities.

Duboisia Pituri: A Natural History

In the 1870s, an intense quest revealed to scientists that pituri, an important Aboriginal commodity, was sourced from the plant Duboisia hopwoodii?a shrub named after a well-known colonist. But it was Aboriginal people and white explorer-pastoralists from the Mulligan River region in far western Queensland who provided the samples and alerted scientists to the important chemical properties of pituri. Subsequently, there was a proposal to change the name of the plant to Duboisia pituri. Whom should the plant have been named after, the colonist or the Aborigine?

Assessing rarity and threat in an arid-zone flora

An understanding of rarity and how it relates to extinction risk is a central concern of conservation biology. Classic conceptions of rarity revolve around spatial rarity, based on distribution and abundance, rather than temporal rarity, where species may be common following certain conditions but rare for most of the time. This form of rarity is likely to be especially prevalent in highly variable arid systems. Rarity in the arid zone is also characterised by poorly understood threats, such as grazing, and may also reflect low collection effort given the vast and inaccessible areas involved. This study explores rarity and threat in the arid zone, based on the flora of a large region of western Queensland. The status of all species known to occur in the study area was systematically assessed, and the current list of threatened species was examined for bias in forms of rarity, life forms and habitats. Five threat syndromes were identified, arising from the interaction of plant biology and threatening processes. Over 60 potentially threatened species have been overlooked in the listing process. The list is dominated by narrow endemics from residual and spring habitats and the species from springs at least are genuinely threatened. Widespread but sparsely occurring species are under-represented in the current list, as are grasses. With the exception of spring-dependent species, plant conservation in western Queensland is currently constrained by lack of basic data on distribution, abundance, population dynamics and realistic threat syndromes for nearly all species. Separating the influence of genuine rarity, temporal rarity and low collection effort, as well as a more detailed understanding of threatening processes are needed to address plant conservation in the arid zone.

Chapter 65 Neoproterozoic glacial deposits of the Kimberly Region and northwestern Northern Territory, Australia

Abstract Neoproterozoic glaciogenic formations are preserved in the Kimberley region and northwestern Northern Territory of northern Australia. They are distributed in the west Kimberley adjacent to the northern margins of the King Leopold Orogen, the Mt Ramsay area at the junction of the King Leopold and Halls Creek orogens, and east Kimberley, adjacent to the eastern margin of the Halls Creek Orogen. Small outlier glaciogenic deposits are preserved in the Litchfield Province, Northern Territory (Uniya Fm.) and Georgina Basin, western Queensland (Little Burke Fm.). Glaciogenic strata comprise diamictite, conglomerate, sandstone and pebbly mudstone and characterize the Walsh, Landrigan and Fargoo/Moonlight Valley formations. Thin units of laminated dolomite sit conformably at the top of the Walsh, Landrigan and Moonlight Valley formations. Glaciogenic units are also interbedded with the carbonate platform deposits of the Egan Fm. and Boonall Dolomite. δ 13 C data are available for all carbonate units. There is no direct chronological constraint on these successions, and dispute over the regional correlation of the Neoproterozoic succession has been largely resolved through biostratigraphic, chemostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic analysis. However, palaeomagnetic results from the Walsh Fm. are inconsistent with sedimentologically based correlations. Two stratigraphically defined glaciations are preserved in northwestern Australia: the ‘Landrigan Glaciation’, characterized by SW-directed continental ice-sheet movement and correlated with late Cryogenian glaciation elsewhere in Australia and the world; and, the ‘Egan Glaciation’, a more localized glaciation of the Ediacaran Period. Future research focus should include chronology, palaeomagnetic constraint and tectonostratigraphic controls on deposition.

Lerista desertorum- a new skink species for Queensland with notes on other significant herpetofauna records from western Queensland

2011 Australian Zoologist volume 35 (3) Knowledge of basic information like taxonomy, distribution and habitat preference for much of Australia’s amphibian and reptile fauna is still increasing. For example, regarding reptiles, Wilson and Swan 2008 state that “more than 20 species have been added to this revised edition, and many maps have been adjusted to accommodate range extensions” in the five years since the first edition (2003). Further descriptions have occurred since then (e.g. Hoskin and Higgie, 2008; Couper et al, 2008).

Genetic mapping and QTL analysis of disease resistance traits in the barley population Baudin×AC Metcalfe

A genetic map of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) with 163 amplified fragment length polymorphism and 69 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers was constructed using a population of 178 doubled haploid lines from a cross between the varieties ‘Baudin’ and ‘AC Metcalfe’. Linkage groups were assigned to barley chromosomes using published map locations of SSR markers as reference points. The total length of the map was 1307.2 cM with an average interval length of 5.6 cM between markers. The genetic map was used to locate quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for several disease resistance traits. The population was tested for spot type net blotch, caused by Pyrenophora teres f. maculata, and net type net blotch, caused by Pyrenophora teres f. teres, in greenhouse experiments and in a range of field environments in Western Australia and Queensland. The response of the lines to leaf rust (caused by Puccinia hordei L.) at adult plant growth stages was evaluated in Western Australia. Significant marker–trait associations were found for seedling resistance and symptom severity in adult plants to these diseases. A new locus conferring resistance to P. teres f. maculata at both seedling and adult plant stages was detected on the short arm of chromosome 6H. From the seedling testing against P. teres f. teres, five highly repeatable QTLs were detected, on chromosomes 2HS, 2HL, 3HS, 4HL, and 6HS. For leaf rust, one highly significant QTL was detected on chromosome 2HL. The markers within these QTL regions present an opportunity for marker-assisted selection for these traits in barley-breeding programs.

New pterosaur fossils from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT Pterosaur fossils from Australia are rare. All the specimens that have been described previously are Cretaceous in age, with the majority deriving from the Aptian–Albian shallow marine succession within the Eromanga Basin of western Queensland. The Queensland specimens have tentatively been referred to the pterodactyloid clades Pteranodontidae, Ornithocheiridae, and Archaeopterodactyloidea (cf. Ctenochasmatoidea), each in varying taxonomic guises. Due to their fragmentary nature, more specific referrals of these specimens have not been possible. As such, the overall composition and more precise relationships of Australia's Cretaceous pterosaur fauna have remained enigmatic. Since 1987, a number of new pterosaur specimens have been found in the shallow marine late Albian rocks of the Eromanga Basin of western Queensland. Four of these specimens are described herein: a partial mandible, a metacarpal IV, a wing phalanx, and a humerus. The mandible is assigned to Ornithocheiridae, gen. et sp. indet., whereas the metacarpal and wing phalanx are assigned Ornithocheiridae cf. Anhanguera. The morphology of the humerus suggests that it may belong to a ctenochasmatoid lophocratian. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that Australia's Early Cretaceous pterosaur fauna comprises a mix of taxa already known to occur in Europe and South America in addition to a slightly younger ctenochasmatoid. However, the older specimens may alternatively represent new taxa that combine cranial characteristics of an Ornithocheirus-like taxon or a closely related form, with an Anhanguera-like postcranium. A more precise characterization of Australia's Cretaceous pterosaur fauna cannot be resolved until more complete specimens are found.

Inequalities in child healthy development: Some challenges for effective implementation

Australia is the only developed country to consistently undertake a developmental census of its children nationwide. The repeated collection of the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) has provided an unprecedented opportunity to examine the prevalence of developmental vulnerability across Australia's states and territories, the socio-economic distribution of developmental vulnerability across jurisdictions, and how these distributions might have changed over time.This study employed multivariable logistic regressions to estimate the probability of developmental vulnerability within each jurisdiction and AEDC collection year (2009 to 2018), adjusting for jurisdictional differences in socio-demographic characteristics. To explore socio-economic inequalities in child development, adjusted slope index of inequality (SII) models were utilised.The results of this study found reductions in the adjusted prevalence of developmental vulnerability over time in Western Australia (26% to 20%) and Queensland (30% to 25%), with an increase observed in the Australian Capital Territory (27% to 30%). Analysis also indicated an increase in socio-economic inequalities over time in the Northern Territory (+12%), the Australian Capital Territory (+6%) and Tasmania (+4%). Sensitivity analysis found these effects to be robust with an alternative measure of socio-economic position.There is considerable variation in the prevalence and socio-economic inequalities in developmental vulnerability across Australia's jurisdictions. Future research should explore the policy drivers in early childhood education and health contributing to the findings of this study, with a particular focus on jurisdictions where there have been notable changes in developmental vulnerability and socio-economic inequality over time.Analyses were funded under research contract by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment. Prof Brinkman is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council fellowship, APP1160185.

Dementia risk factors for Australian baby boomers

Baby boomers are individuals born in the years 1946 to 1965. The objective of this paper was to define the risk factors for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and their relevance to Australian baby boomers, with the aim of providing evidence-based guidelines for dementia prevention. A series of PubMed searches (1994–2010) were conducted with relevant key words. Data was included from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in relation to baby boomers in Australia. Article titles and abstracts were assessed by two reviewers for inclusion. Searches through ABS revealed no specific study on baby boomers at a national level; information was only available for Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland. A number of genetic and non-genetic risk factors for dementia were identified most of which remain controversial and require further study. We did not identify significant differences in the prevalence and incidence of dementia in those under 65 years in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. There were no correlations of risk factors and dementia between the Australian states. Modification of risk factors has not been proven to reduce the incidence and prevalence of dementia and AD in baby boomers. Nevertheless, on available evidence, we recommend: i) active management of cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension; ii) the encouragement of a healthy lifestyle (eg, weight reduction, exercise) as offering the best pathways to reduce the emerging dementia risk for baby boomers. The implications are that activities promoting a healthy heart might lead to a healthy brain and help to prevent dementia.

The Winton Formation flora (Albian–Cenomanian, Eromanga Basin): implications for vascular plant diversification and decline in the Australian Cretaceous

The youngest Australian equisetaleans and bennettitaleans are identified within the latest Albian to early Cenomanian Winton Formation flora based on new impression fossils from the Winton district, Eromanga Basin, western Queensland. Typical Winton Formation floras are also confirmed near Isisford and Morney Plains in eastern and central Eromanga Basin. The Winton Formation flora contains over 50 macrofossil plant taxa and marks the transition from seed-fern/conifer to angiosperm dominance in the Australian floristic succession. The pattern of clade representation in Australian late Mesozoic fossil assemblages suggests a causal link between angiosperm diversification and the decline of key understorey and mid-storey plants, particularly equisetaleans, seed-ferns, ginkgophytes and some fern families, through the mid-Cretaceous.

New isolated pterodactyloid bones from the Albian Toolebuc Formation (western Queensland, Australia) with comments on the Australian pterosaur fauna

New isolated pterodactyloid bones from the Toolebuc Formation are described. The first one consists of a complete wing metacarpal 212 mm long, representing an individual with an estimated wing span of 4 m. Small depressions on the anterior surface are present and represent tooth marks showing that this specimen was subjected to scavenging prior to fossilization. The other bone consists of a three-dimensionally preserved cervical vertebra lacking most of the neural arch. The specimens are clearly referable to the derived pterosaur clade Pterodactyloidea. Based on several features such as the position of the pneumatic foramen and the particular shape and proportions of those elements, they possibly are members of, or closely related to, the Anhangueridae. The record of the Australian pterosaurs is reviewed here and represents the known southern distributional limit for Cretaceous pterosaurs, arguing against some older ideas of a more geographically restricted range for these flying reptiles.

Psychiatric Advance Directives and Human Rights

Since the early 1990s many jurisdictions have recognised psychiatric advance directives. In Australia, reviews of mental health legislation have been completed in New South Wales and the Northern Territory, and are on foot in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT and Victoria. To date, only the ACT and Victorian reviews have seriously countenanced the legislative recognition of advance directives. In the current environment of review and debate about the proper balance between rights and risks in psychiatry, the structure of comparable international provisions and international clinical experience with psychiatric advance directives can usefully inform Australian developments. This article outlines the relevant law in Australia and the legislative approaches adopted in Scotland, England and Wales, New Zealand, Canada and the United States of America. It argues that effective law reform in Australia should attend to international precedent, but also be mindful of the deeper human rights principles represented by the psychiatric advance directive movement.

Closing the Gap: some unsettling assumptions

Australian governments are committed to closing the gap between Indigenous and other Australians, yet progress is slow. This paper draws links between these policy efforts and a study of a remote shire in Western Queensland where indicators suggest better than usual socioeconomic outcomes for Aboriginal people. The study conducted over a three year period, and with significant input from Aboriginal people, examines the pathway through which these outcomes have been achieved. Local accounts suggest relations between long term families of both cultures have been a significant factor and are the outcome of an iterative dynamic between people, place and resources, that has a long history, and path dependence. Despite almost full engagement of Aboriginal people in employment over the past 100 years however, indicators do not yet converge, suggesting policy targets are ambitious. The persistent ‘gap’ may be the effect of insistence on making equality conditional on acceptance of settler norms, at significant cost to the lived expression of Aboriginal culture. Whilst this community has managed these tensions, nevertheless their experiences imply that access to community services in remote areas, rather than being a right, is precariously dependent on the vicissitudes of relationship, and these may often depend on the choices Aboriginal people make in response to assimilatory pressures. Keywords: 'Closing the Gap', remote settlements, Aboriginal, Indigenous, intervention, governmentality

Closing the Gap: some unsettling assumptions

A remote region case study Australian governments are committed to closing the gap between Indigenous and other Australians, yet progress is slow. This paper draws links between these policy efforts and a study of a remote shire in Western Queensland where indicators suggest better than usual socioeconomic outcomes for Aboriginal people. The study conducted over a three year period, and with significant input from Aboriginal people, examines the pathway through which these outcomes have been achieved. Local accounts suggest relations between long term families of both cultures have been a significant factor and are the outcome of an iterative dynamic between people, place and resources, that has a long history, and path dependence. Despite almost full engagement of Aboriginal people in employment over the past 100 years however, indicators do not yet converge, suggesting policy targets are ambitious. The persistent ‘gap’ may be the effect of insistence on making equality conditional on acceptance of settler norms, at significant cost to the lived expression of Aboriginal culture. Whilst this community has managed these tensions, nevertheless their experiences imply that access to community services in remote areas, rather than being a right, is precariously dependent on the vicissitudes of relationship, and these may often depend on the choices Aboriginal people make in response to assimilatory pressures.

Building capacity to engage: community engagement or government engagement?

In spite of the significant government focus on community engagement, there is some question as to how effectively community views are incorporated and heard by government. In exploring these concerns, we suggest that it is more effective to consider the issue from the perspective of communities engaging government rather than government engaging community. In doing this, we have developed a methodological approach that focuses on building the capacity of community to more effectively engage government in an effort to strengthen their own community in ways that are meaningful within that community. We illustrate this process with a case study of government engagement undertaken by representatives from the small rural community of Tara in western Queensland. While the case study focuses on community engaging government, this approach could be equally well applied to other forms of non-government institutional engagement that are relevant in other community settings.

Serologic-based Investigation of Leptospirosis in a Population of Free-ranging Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) Indicating the Presence of Leptospira weilii Serovar Topaz

Eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) are one of the most abundant large macropodids sharing the landscape with humans. Despite this, little is known about the prevalence of Leptospira carriage within this species and the role that they may partake in the transmission of this disease in Australia. The sera of 87 free-ranging eastern grey kangaroos, captured in the Warragamba Catchment Area, Sydney, Australia, from June 2004 to November 2006, were screened against a reference panel of 22 Leptospira serovars using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Leptospiral antibodies were detected in 47% (41 of 87) of serum samples collected. Leptospira weilii Topaz, a newly emergent serovar in Australia, was detected in all seropositive kangaroos (41 of 41; 100%). The sex and tail-fat body condition index of kangaroos appeared to have no significant effect on the exposure to the disease. This serologic-based study is the first reported for L. weilii serovar Topaz in New South Wales, to our knowledge, having previously been isolated only in humans and two other animal species (bovine and long-nosed bandicoot [Perameles nasuta]) in Western Australia and Queensland. The potential role of eastern grey kangaroos in the maintenance and zoonotic spread of the disease to livestock and humans is discussed.

Distichlis distichophylla (Labill.) Fassett., a new coastal record for a saltmarsh grass in New South Wales

Several grasses are found in the saltmarsh and saltmarsh fringe vegetation in New South Wales. The most widespread and abundant in Sporobolus virginicus, (nomenclature follows Hnatiuk, 1990) which often forms monospecific swards in the north of the state (Adam, Wilson and Huntley, 1988). Other grasses commonly found in NSW saltmarshes include Agrostis avenacea, Agrostis billardieri, Cynodon dactylon, Paspalum vaginatum, Phragmites Australia, Polypogon monspeliensis, Parapholis incurve, Stipa stipoides and Zoysia macrantha. At higher latitudes S. virginicus is replaced by Distichlis disyichophylla, which is found on saltmarshes in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, and very rarely, in Western Australia. Until now it has not been collected from coastal New South Wales although there is a small population on a disturbed site at Lake Cargelligo in the central west which might represent an introduction (Adam and Smith-White, pers. Comm.). Curiously enough, Maiden (1897) reports “salt grass” Distichlis maritima Rafin. As occurring in “All the colonies except Western Australia and Queensland”. This distributional amount may come from Ferdinand von Mueller’s Australian plant census of 1882 which lists Distichlis maritima for NSW.

Distribution and abundance of the feral camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Australia

In this paper we utilised a range of data sources to estimate the extent, density distribution and population size of the feral camel in Australia in 2008. Camels currently occupy 3.3 million km2 and are spread across much of arid Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and far western Queensland. Up to 50% of Australia’s rangelands are reported as having camels present. The research reported here supports a current minimum population estimate for the feral camel in Australia of ~1 million animals at an overall density of 0.29 camels/km2. Densities vary, and the modelling of available data indicates that two substantial areas of high density are present, one centred on the Simpson Desert and the other on the Great Sandy Desert. The high density area covering the eastern part of the Great Sandy Desert has predicted densities in the range of 0.5 to >2 animals/km2 whereas that on the Simpson Desert is in the range 0.5–1.0 animals/km2.

First record of stubby-root nematode (Paratrichodorus porosus) associated with barley in Australia

High populations (5000 to 20 000/kg soil) of the stubby-root nematode Paratrichodorus porosus were identified morphologically from soil samples taken under patches of poorly growing barley in a field between Yuleba and Surat in western Queensland, Australia. Lower populations (<4000/kg soil) were recovered from soil samples taken from asymptomatic barley. This is the first record of this nematode species on barley in Australia.

Response to comment on 'Impacts of aeolian dust deposition on phytoplankton dynamics in Queensland coastal waters'

In our earlier paper (Shaw et al. 2008; hereafter SGM), we related an increase in phytoplankton biomass in the coastal waters of Queensland, Australia, to the large October 2002 dust storm. Mackie (2010) has questioned these findings, stating that (i) the timing of the phytoplankton response precludes the dust storm as a causative agent for the chlorophyll (CHL) increase, and that (ii) it is not clear that there was actually any change in CHL in response to the dust storm. Mackie has highlighted that for the three regions where a CHL response was observed, the increase in CHL concentration began during the 8-day period ending on 23 October in two regions and on the 8-day period ending on 15 October in one of the regions. We agree with Mackie that these increases are not related exclusively to the large dust storm on 23 October. As stated in SGM, we believe this initial increase to be in response to smaller dust events before the major dust event. In our paper, we provided aerosol optical depth (AOD) data that supported this hypothesis. Mackie has questioned whether AOD is a reliable indicator of particulate load during the dust storm. As noted in SGM, the magnitude of the AOD value does not necessarily reflect the concentration of dust. However, AOD has been widely used in similar studies (e.g. Lenes et al. 2001; Gabric et al. 2002; Boyd et al. 2004) and we believe that, when used in conjunction with dust transport models, it is an appropriate method to indicate the presence of dust, although it does have limitations in determining dust loads. In further support of our hypothesis that there were smaller dust storms in the drought conditions before the CHL response, Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) records show that therewere dust storms inwesternQueensland on 8 of the 22 days leading up to the dust storm on 23 October (BoM 2009). This activity peaked on 19 October, with an intense dust storm in the Birdsville area (reducing visibility to 300m), associated with a small low-pressure system. The red dusts from this localised event in the Simpson Desert–Channel Country would have been much more highly enriched in iron (Bullard et al. 2007) than those from the event on 23 October, which sourced dusts from a much larger area of diverse soils. Independent evidence of these events is available from the Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (EP/TOMS) aerosol data. Daily aerosol index (AI) data, calculated with the version 8 algorithm, were obtained for October 2002 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, http://macuv.gsfc.nasa.gov, verified 18 July 2009). TOMSAImeasurements have been used to determine the sources and distributions of aerosols and have been shown to be an effective measure of atmospheric dust loading (Israelevich et al. 2002 and references therein). EP/TOMS images of AI are shown in Fig. 1, where positive index values indicate the presence of UV-absorbing aerosols. High AI values can be seen in western Queensland on 6–8 October (Fig. 1a–c), in agreement with the BoM record that there were dust storms at this time. From these images, the region of high AI value shifts east, where moderate AI values can be seen off the Queensland coast on 8 and 9 October (Fig. 1c–d). Similarly, very high AI values were observed over central Australia during 17–20 October (Fig. 1e–h), corresponding with dust-storm records in Queensland on 17 and 19October (BoM 2009). On 20 October, high AI values were observed off the coast of Queensland and New SouthWales (Fig. 1h). Therefore, we contend that these dust storms, which occurred before themajor event on 23October, resulted in deposition of dust into Queensland coastal waters and resulted in the initial increase in phytoplankton biomass before 23 October. The second argument put forward byMackie is that the CHL concentration did not increase further following the major dust event in two of the three regions in which a response was observed and therefore it was concluded that the dust storm had no effect on phytoplankton biomass. This conclusion relates only to the intensity of the bloom and fails to acknowledge any effect that themajor dust event had on prolonging the duration of the phytoplankton response. Aperiodic phytoplankton blooms are often short-lived events where high biomass is rapidly attained in response to the addition of new nutrients (Behrenfeld et al. 1996; Cloern 1996). Nutrients are rapidly taken up by large populations of phytoplankton and are quickly depleted, causing the dissipation of the bloom. The duration of the phytoplankton CSIRO PUBLISHING