Interstellar MHD Turbulence and Star Formation

This chapter reviews the nature of turbulence in the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) and its connections to the star formation (SF) process. The ISM is turbulent, magnetized, self-gravitating, and is subject to heating and cooling processes that control its thermodynamic behavior. The turbulence in the warm and hot ionized components of the ISM appears to be trans- or subsonic, and thus to behave nearly incompressibly. However, the neutral warm and cold components are highly compressible, as a consequence of both thermal instability in the atomic gas and of moderately-to-strongly supersonic motions in the roughly isothermal cold atomic and molecular components. Within this context, we discuss: i) the production and statistical distribution of turbulent density fluctuations in both isothermal and polytropic media; ii) the nature of the clumps produced by thermal instability, noting that, contrary to classical ideas, they in general accrete mass from their environment; iii) the density-magnetic field correlation (or lack thereof) in turbulent density fluctuations, as a consequence of the superposition of the different wave modes in the turbulent flow; iv) the evolution of the mass-to-magnetic flux ratio (MFR) in density fluctuations as they are built up by dynamic compressions; v) the formation of cold, dense clouds aided by thermal instability; vi) the expectation that star-forming molecular clouds are likely to be undergoing global gravitational contraction, rather than being near equilibrium, and vii) the regulation of the star formation rate (SFR) in such gravitationally contracting clouds by stellar feedback which, rather than keeping the clouds from collapsing, evaporates and diperses them while they collapse.Comment: 43 pages. Invited chapter for the book "Magnetic Fields in Diffuse Media", edited by Elisabete de Gouveia dal Pino and Alex Lazarian. Revised as per referee's recommendation

Occurrence of aquatic invertebrates of the wheatbelt region of Western Australia in relation to salinity

The wheatbelt region of Western Australia has been extensively cleared of indigenous vegetation for agriculture and is now severely affected by dryland salinity. Wetlands that were once freshwater are now saline and others are under threat, as are the animals and plants that inhabit them. Rising groundwater is also affecting the many naturally saline playas. To provide a framework for setting conservation priorities in this region a biological survey was undertaken, including sampling of aquatic invertebrates at 230 wetlands. In this paper, we have used data from the survey to summarise occurrence of species in relation to salinity. Total species richness at a wetland showed no response to salinity below 4.1 g l)1 and then declined dramatically as salinity increased. When halophilic species were excluded from consideration, species richness was found to decline from 2.6 g l)1. These patterns are compared to previous studies of richnesssalinity relationships. There is some evidence that the freshwater invertebrate fauna of the wheatbelt may be comparatively salt tolerant, with 46% of freshwater species collected at salinities above 3 g l)1 and 17% above 10 g l)1, though these proportions differed between various invertebrate groups. While this tolerance will provide a buffer against the effects of mild salinisation, many species are at risk of regional extinction as salinisation becomes more widespread.Adrian M. Pinder, Stuart A. Halse, Jane M. McRae & Russell J. Shie

The effect of Uncinula necator (powdery mildew) and Botrytis cinerea infection of grapes on the levels of haze-forming pathogenisis-related protiens in grape juice and wine

Copyright © 2008 Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology Inc.Powdery mildew on Chardonnay grapes resulted in increased levels of a grape thaumatin-like protein, VvTL2, in the free run juice compared to that from uninfected grapes. These increased levels persisted through winemaking and at the highest level of infection (> 30% of bunches infected) had a significant impact on the haziness in the wine following a heat test. Infection of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes (1-20% of bunches infected) did not affect the protein concentration of free run juice, and only traces of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins remained detectable in the Cabernet Sauvignon wines from either infected or healthy grapes. In contrast, infection of Chardonnay or Semillon grapes by Botrytis cinerea in the vineyard resulted in decreased levels of all PR proteins in the free run juice and in a total protein extract from infected berries compared to that from uninfected grapes. Similar trends were observed when B. cinerea was grown in the laboratory on surface-sterilised berries or in filter-sterilised juice.Teresa Girbau, Belinda E. Stummer, Kenneth F. Pocock, Gayle A. Baldock, Eileen S. Scott and Elizabeth J. Water