Ecos articles from April 2002

Ecos archives from April 2002

Age riddle confounds fair fishing for krill. (spectrum).(krill and commercial harvesting)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Antarctic krill was once considered a vast untapped source of protein for the `starving masses'. But trawling in the Southern Ocean is expensive and logistically difficult, so krill has been fished in relatively low volumes, for high-value...

Tuning in to grey nurse conservation. (spectrum).(tracking grey nurse sharks in Australia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... New tracking technologies developed by CSIRO scientists may to help prevent the disappearance of grey nurse sharks from Australia's eastern coast. Using automated receiving stations and acoustic transmitters, Dr John Stevens and Barry...

One fish, two fish. (spectrum).(spear-tooth shark population survey)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... AUSTRALIA hosts no more than a handful of freshwater sharks, sawfish and rays, several of which are thought to be endangered. Among them is the spear-tooth shark (Glyphis spp). In the past 20 years, some 20 spear-tooth sharks have been...

A heavenly harvest. (spectrum).(rainforests in Queensland, Australia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A team of scientists from CSIRO and James Cook University has discovered that upland rainforests in north Queensland have a remarkable ability to harvest water from the skies. Not content with waiting for rain, these forests act as an...

Night shift. (spectrum).(climate change and greenhouse gases)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Eighty-three kilometres up, a thin cloud has formed in the bitterly cold `mesopause' region of the Earth's atmosphere. It's the end of a summer's day in Antarctica, and as the sun sinks low, the cloud, which streaks and ripples its way across...

Gene sleuths get behind the whale. (spectrum).(blue whale diet research)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Spending time at the business end of a blue whale is not always an endearing experience. But for Australian Antarctic Division research scientists Dr Nick Gales and Dr Simon Jarman, the `noxious brown stain' discharged by the whale after eating...

Southern remedies: Wendy Pyper meets some cool contenders in the hunt for novel biological diversity.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The soils, sea ice and cold, saline lakes of Antarctica, are home to a unique microflora that promises to provide a wellspring of new pharmaceuticals, natural remedies, aquaculture feeds and industrial enzymes. About 300 of these microbes...

Birding Australia: research in the Western Australian wheatbelt has shown that landholders must become strategic about revegetation before it's too late to save the birds.
April 1, 2002... From town to town, and farm to farm, David Freudenberger travels Australia's hinterland: a determined evangelist. He carries a ritualistic wooden case containing tiny samples of Australia's vanishing soul. He displays the preserved remains...

Fields of discovery: the CSIRO's long history of environmental research is brought to life in a new book, Fields of Discovery. In this extract, author Brad Collis introduces some early heroes of environmental science.
April 1, 2002... The CSIRO's involvement in wildlife research by the close of the 20th Century was increasingly being driven by the community's awakening to pressures being put on native Australia by industry, urban sprawl, alien predators and alien plants. ...

Reinventing agriculture: can southern Australia be saved from dryland salinity? Steve Davidson checks the view from the frontier.
April 1, 2002... As the tendrils of dryland salinity snake their way across the catchments of southern Australia, scientists involved in salinity research are seeking new ways of returning life and productivity to damaged land. The seriousness of dryland...

Just add termites: Graeme O'Neill discovers the restorative powers of termites, the earthworms or Australia's arid zone.
April 1, 2002... From a human perspective, termites are social insects with distinctly antisocial habits. They are ubiquitous in Australian landscapes, and some of the continent's 350-plus species stand their ground when humans colonise their territory. It's a...

Evolutionary therapies: can we adapt the chemical defences of termites to combat our own ailments and pests?
April 1, 2002... Like ants, bees and wasps, termites form large colonies ruled by a single queen, a prolific egg-layer who is mother to all. This unusually close genetic relationship is the source of the colony's complex, cooperative behaviour. But limited...

Rainforest more or less? Steve Davidson considers how tropical forests might shape up in a warmer world.
April 1, 2002... How do scientists predict the effects of future climate change on ecosystems as complex as tropical forests? After all, each species in the forest might respond to climate change differently. But the exceptionally rich biodiversity of these...

Cats with bells on. (journal extracts).(predation rate)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... DOMESTIC cats are superb hunters and cat owners often attempt to curb their pet's hunting activities by either fitting a bell to their collar, to warn prey of the cat's approach, or by keeping them indoors. There seems little doubt that keeping...

Quokka defence. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... MANY animals form groups and, Like humans, their behaviour tends to change as group size increases. Typically, individuals in a group of animals forage more and become less vigilant as group size increases. This is usually attributed to a...

Moss mystery solved. (journal extracts).(Campylopus pyriformis in Antarctica)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... FOR 25 years, the identity of a tiny moss sample harvested near the summit of the Mount Erebus volcano in Antarctica, has eluded scientists. As a `protonema'--the juvenile form of moss--the sample could not be identified by physical or...

Lobster lines. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... CARIBBEAN spiny lobsters, like many other spiny lobster species, are gregarious for most of their long lives and have some interesting, even odd, habits. During mass migrations across the ocean floor, the lobsters form single-file queues that...

Stepping lightly.(horse riding in conservation areas)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... THE issue of horse riding in conservation areas tends to generate heated debate. Advocates of horse riding are likely to feel aggrieved if their preferred recreational pursuit is restricted while non-equestrians often disapprove of horse riding...

Do dolphins have names?(signature whistles and calls)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Perhaps it's their `smiling' face, large eyes, or athletic prowess? Whatever the reason, dolphins are perceived as special animals with almost-human characteristics. There is no doubting the intelligence of dolphins and they communicate by...