Is 500m2 an effective plot size to sample floristic diversity for Queensland’s vegetation?

Species area curves from 37 sites spanning the diversity of native vegetation in Queensland were examined. For the majority of sites investigated a 500 m2 plot captured about 80–90% of the vascular plant species present at the time of sampling. Floristic data collected for grassland, heathland, acacia shrublands and most eucalypt woodlands using a 500 m2 plot is appropriate for floristic analysis and adequately represent the vascular plants present at the site at the time. Using a larger plot would only slightly increase the species capture at a site but it would generally be more efficient to increase the number of sites sampled to more adequately capture the diversity across the extent of the vegetation type. However for many Queensland rainforest communities, a much larger sample size is required to capture the full species richness of a site

Plant strategies, dispersal and origins of flora at the northern Coral Sea Islands Territory, Australia

A checklist of vascular plants of Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve (CHNNR) (17º 11’S, 149º 00’ E to 16º 23’S, 150º 30’E and Willis Island (16º 24’S, 149º 58’E) at the northern Coral Sea Islands Territory of Australia compiled during 2006/07 surveys, recorded 30 species including 18 species indigenous to the Coral Sea Islands (60%), 10 exotic species (33%) and two that were planted (7%). Plant life-forms included: 5 species of trees and tall shrubs (17%), 2 species of low shrubs (6.5%), 21 herbs (70%), and 2 vine/creepers (6.5%). Plant dispersal for the 30 species is predominantly by human activities (40%), ocean currents (33%) and seabirds (27%). The garden species and dispersal modes at Willis Island indicate that non-residential casual human visitation at CHNNR has at present had little effect on establishment of exotic weeds. Resilience of leverage flora, floristic diversity and species origins of CHNNR are discussed in relation to its connectivity with the Melanesian region due to the South Equatorial Current operating in the region. Colubrina asiatica was recorded as a new record for oceanic islands in Australian territories. Previously recorded Ximenia americana and Digitaria ctenantha are considered locally extinct. Pattern analyses indicate that cays of similar size and vegetation structure are the most similar in floristic composition. Willis Island flora is relatively dissimilar to the CHNNR cays, due to the influence of anthropogenic activities associated with a staffed weather station

Distribution patterns, weed incursions and origins of terrestrial flora at the Capricorn-Bunker Islands, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

A checklist of vascular plants of the 15 Capricorn-Bunker Islands (CBI) (lat 23° 11’ to 24° 07’S; long 151° 43’ to 152° 43’E) compiled from 2007/08 surveys, recorded 131 vascular plant species including 44 (34%) native and 87 (66%) naturalized species from 55 families and 104 genera. New native records include Hernandia nymphaeifolia and Boerhavia sp. (Bargara L.Pedley 5382). An increase of about 35 exotic species over 23 years was recorded indicating a weed incursion rate of 1.5 species per annum. Cakile edentula (13 islands) and Solanum americanum (12 islands) are the most widespread exotic weeds. The naturalised flora ranged from 5% at Erskine Island (low disturbance) to 68% at Lady Elliot Island (very high disturbance). Achyranthes aspera, Argusia argentea and Pisonia grandis are the only species found on all 15 islands. Six indigenous species are limited to one island: Boerhavia sp. (Bargara L.Pedley 5382), Calophyllum inophyllum, Clerodendrum inerme, Hernandia nymphaeifolia, Stephania japonica and Ximenia americana. Patterns of plant distributions, diversity and origin are discussed. Eleven indigenous species reach their southern limit at the CBI, indicating connectivity with the Indo-Pacific region. PATN analyses using native flora generated two island groups. Tryon, Heron, North West, Masthead, Wilson, Wreck and Erskine Islands are the most closely related islands. Another group of related islands includes North Reef, Lady Musgrave, Fairfax Islands, Hoskyn and One Tree Islands. With the inclusion of the exotic flora, Lady Elliot Island separated into its own distinct group. Greater conservation management efforts are required to control and minimise the introduction of exotic weed species to islands with high human visitation

Engineering and functional immobilization of opioid receptors

Opioid receptors, like many G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), are notoriously unstable in detergents. We have now developed a more stable variant of the mu-opioid receptor (MOR) and also a method for the immobilization of solubilized, functional opioid receptors on a solid phase (magnetic beads). Starting with the intrinsically more stable kappa-opioid receptor (KOR), we optimized the conditions (i.e. detergents and stabilizing ligands) for receptor extraction from lipid bilayers of HEK293T cells to obtain maximal amounts of functional, immobilized receptor. After immobilization, the ligand binding profile remains the same as observed for the membrane-embedded receptor. For the immobilized wild-type mu-opioid receptor, however, no conditions were found under which ligand binding capacity was retained. To solve this problem, we engineered the receptor chimera KKM where the N-terminus and the first transmembrane helix (TM1) of wild-type MOR is exchanged for the homologous receptor parts of the wild-type KOR. This hybrid receptor behaves exactly as the wild-type MOR in functional assays. Interestingly, the modified MOR is expressed at six times higher levels than wild-type MOR and is similarly stable as wild-type KOR after immobilization. Hence the immobilized MOR, represented by the chimera KKM, is now also amenable for biophysical characterization. These results are encouraging for future stability engineering of GPCR

Quantitative anomalous powder diffraction analysis of cation disorder in kesterite semiconductors

Kesterite type compound semiconductors, containing copper and zinc, have photovoltaic properties depending on cation distribution in the crystal structure. Anomalous diffraction allows discrimination of isoelectronic cations, in principle allowing a straightforward determination of site occupation factors from data collected at multiple energies close to the X ray absorption edges of copper and zinc. However, extremely strong correlation between structural parameters precludes this. We present a recipe based on the direct dependency between refined occupation factors and atomic scattering power, which allows to lift the correlations and to detect issues of individual diffraction patterns or assumptions in the model, thereby allowing for reliable quantitative analysis of the Cu Zn distributio

The Role of Landscape in Achieving Water Sensitive Cities: The Importance and Potential of Landscape Architecture in Influencing Change Towards Sustainable Water Use in Australia’s Urban Environments

This paper discusses research related to generating water sensitive cities in Australia, using Perth, Western Australia, as a site for testing potential applications of landscape architectural design research to do so. The concept of water sensitive cities has newly emerged and its full ramifications have yet to be explored. There is a need particularly to better engage with how cities are designed in order to readdress the relationships to water within them, with a view to realigning them as water sensitive. The research discussed in this paper has been conducted as part of a Doctorate of Philosophy at the University of Western Australia that has yet to be completed. The idea of a ‘water sensitive city’ is now seen as the ultimate goal of water sensitive urban design. Without addressing the entirety of urban water systems, it is questionable that the change required to realise a water sensitive city is achievable. There needs to be exploration into what it means for an urban environment and its inhabitants to be ‘water sensitive.’ This paper discusses how this might be done through design based research in landscape architecture. It outlines the research findings to date generated through a critical enquiry study, which identified the key issues that are proposed as the focus for a responding design phase

The Origins of Phantom Partials in the Piano

Phantom partials are anomalous frequency components identifiable in the sound of the piano and occur at the sum and difference frequencies of two overtones. For several decades they have been identified as crucial components to the sound of the piano and assumed to be generated by the forced longitudinal motion of the string. Recent work has identified that contrary to common belief, most of the power is produced in the non-string components with the most likely source being the wooden structural components. This work presents experimental results for two plausible theories that could explain the origins of phantom partials in the wooden components. Experimentation indicated that a contact nonlinearity is more likely than a pressure induced nonlinearity. A model describing a wooden contact nonlinearity is also presented and indicates that the theory of phantom partial generation resulting from wood-on-wood contact in the piano is plausible

Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film solar cells grown by fast thermal evaporation and thermal treatment

Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films have been produced via rapid thermal evaporation of off-stoichiometric kesterite powder followed by annealing in an Ar atmosphere. Different heating rates were applied during the thermal treatments. The chemical composition and structural properties of the deposited layers as well as the distribution of the elements through the kesterite thin film have been investigated. The initial growth of a SnS secondary phase during evaporation led to the formation of this secondary phase next to the Mo back contact. Solar cell power conversion efficiencies were limited to values about 3 % due to this secondary phase. Furthermore, an increased open circuit voltage was demonstrated by using a Zn(O,S) buffer layerThis work was supported by DAAD project (INTERKEST, Ref: 57050358), Marie Curie-ITN (KESTCELLS, GA: 316488) and MINECO project (SUNBEAM, ENE2013-49136-C4-3-R). RC and ES acknowledge financial support from Spanish MINECO within the Ramón y Cajal program (RYC-2011-08521) and (RYC-2011-09212) respectively. SG also thanks the Government of Spain for the FPI fellowship (BES-2014-068533)

How do children value animals? A developmental review

From a young age, children are deeply curious about animals. Stable patterns exist in the types of attitudes children display towards different kinds of animals: they love pets, value animals that are beautiful, and fear snakes and spiders (Borgi & Cirulli, 2015, https://doi.org/10.2752/089279315X14129350721939). Until recently, we’ve known little about what children think about the moral standing of animals, particularly relative to other entities, including humans. In this review, we synthesize the literature examining children’s perceptions of the moral worth of animals. We present factors about the animal, and factors about the judge (the child), shown to impact children’s evaluations of animal moral worth. Based on current evidence, we make the claim that children grant animals a high moral standing early on in childhood, but that this decreases during late childhood, throughout adolescence, and into adulthood. We provide some suggestions for the cognitive and cultural mechanisms that might drive these differences, and make recommendations for the field going forward