Ecos articles from October 2001

Ecos archives from October 2001

Red alert for red-eyed pigeons. (spectrum).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Before European settlement, fire in the Top End often originated near Aboriginal campsites. Lit early in the dry season, these fires tended to be small and slow burning, creating a fine scale patchwork of burnt and unburnt savanna. Today,...

Agriculture weeds out cadmium. (spectrum).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... A national strategy for reducing cadmium levels in food crops will complement the efforts of fertiliser manufacturers to source low-cadmium phosphates by ensuring the future contribution of governments, horticulturists and farmers. The...

Small particles, big business.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... TRANSPARENT particles, one thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, could revolutionise a multitude of industrial products and processes. Initially used to improve UV absorption in sunscreens and cosmetics, `nanoparticles'...

Cotton blends.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The fungus-resistant qualities of Australia's Sturt's desert rose may be called upon to protect Australia's $1.7 billion cotton industry from the devastating impacts of Fusarium wilt. CSIRO and the Queensland Department of Primary...

A prize for your thoughts.
October 1, 2001... THANK YOU for the huge response we received to our Ecos reader survey sent out in the last issue. More than 500 replies were received, contributing hundreds of encouraging comments and ideas. The Ecos production team is keen to respond to...

Silent streams: Although we now know why frogs are dying, their future is far from assured: Judith Maunders traces international efforts to understand the devastating chytrid fungus.
October 1, 2001... Australia's rainforests, riverbanks and creeks are much quieter these days: the frogs that once inhabited them are gone. In the past 30 years, 27 frog species (13%) have become threatened, 14 species have declined, and eight have disappeared....

Breath-testing the savanna: Australia's tropical savannas are the focus of world-first research into the effects of rising carbon dioxide levels on a natural tropical ecosystem.
October 1, 2001... At Yabulu, 25 kilometres north of Townsville, scientists from CSIRO and lames Cook University (JCU) have ringed six, 15 metre-diameter plots of knee-high savanna grass and tree seedlings with a perimeter of piping and sophisticated electronic...

Astronomical: Australia may host a gigantic new radio telescope that will trace the dawn and demise of the Universe.(Square Kilometre Array)
October 1, 2001... Mention the words `radio telescope' and many of us think of the Parkes Telescope in New South Wales, an icon of Australian science, and star performer in the movie The Dish. Others might picture the giant bowl at Arecibo in Puerto Rico, as...

Lure of the outback.(Square Kilometre Array )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... THE BURNING question is: where will the Square Kilometre Array be built? The international consortium will wait until 2005 before announcing the host country, to give the bidding countries time to prepare their case. For Australia,...

Space-age farming: Western Australian wool-growers are testing the use of satellite imagery to assist pasture management.
October 1, 2001... Satellite images could soon be helping graziers in Western Australia to better manage their pastures and improve productivity. The images are generated by three satellites during the growing season (winter to spring) and show the amount of...

Breeding like rabbits: advanced genetic technologies are being used to help farmers diversify into rabbit production.
October 1, 2001... Rabbits have played a significant yet controversial role in Australian history since their introduction by Europcan settlers in the 1820s. Their speed and sheer numbers have made them a popular target of hunters, their pelts have contributed to...

Surprise pastures: Steve Davidson discovers unexpected diversity amid the rural grasslands of south-east Queensland.
October 1, 2001... Australia's grassy woodlands are a conservation priority as they have been widely used for grazing and cropping and are poorly represented in national parks and other reserves. Commercially grazed pastures traditionally have been overlooked...

Tracking camels. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... FERAL camels occupy an estimated 2.8 million square kitometres, or more than 37% of the Australian mainland, but their environmental impact is poorly understood. To better understand the environmental impact caused by the movement patterns...

Penguins and oil don't mix. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... WHEN the bulk oil carrier Iron Baron ran aground on a reef at the mouth of Tasmania's Tamar River in 1995, it released some 325 tonnes of bunker fuel oil. The little penguin was the most visibly affected species, with 1894 oiled birds being...

Life on the edge. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... THE LOSS and fragmentation of natural habitat causes ecological changes to the composition of bird communities. But which species do these changes affect most: those Living within the habitat or those on habitat edges? To find out, Lainie...

Sharks at all-time low. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... SHARKS and rays are notoriously hard to fish sustainably because their biology predisposes them to over-exploitation. Worldwide demand for shark products, whether shark-liver oil, leather, jewellery, fillets, fishmeal or fertiliser, remains...

Weed-beating wheats. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... IN 1980, the first case of selective herbicide resistance in a weed occurred in Australia when resistant annual ryegrass, a major weed of wheat crops, was detected. Now, some 100 cases of different herbicide-resistant weed species have been...

Bats as aircraft. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... AERONAUTICAL engineer Robert Bullen, and Norman McKenzie, a biologist with the WA Department of Conservation and Land Management, have applied aerodynamic theory to understanding the form and flight of bats. They looked at how the airframe...

Backyard blues.(blue-tongued lizard )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Urbanisation is usually disastrous for wildlife, but the blue-tongued lizard seems to be a striking exception. In Sydney, for example, where lace monitors, bearded dragons, diamond pythons, red-bellied black snakes and other large reptiles have...