Report on phosphorus and potassium experiments conducted on partner farms of the Greener Pastures project

Dairy production in south-western Australia occurs predominantly on sandy soils in the greater than 800 mm annual average rainfall areas of the region. The climate is Mediterranean-type, typically with cool, wet May-October growing seasons and hot, dry November-April. Most dairy pastures are rain-fed and comprise the annual species Subterranean Clover (clover, Trifolium subterraneum L.), Annual Ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.) and Italian Ryegrass (L. multiflorum Lam.). Paddock grown pasture is the cheapest source of feed for dairy production in the region (Dilley and Howes 1998). To remain profitable in the face of diminishing returns, dairy farmers have modified their grazing management to use as much paddock grown pasture as possible (Bolland and Guthridge 2007a, 2007b, 2009). This has been achieved by adopting the three-leaf grazing strategy for ryegrass-based pastures outlined by Fulkerson and Donaghy (2001). Pastures are rotationally grazed with grazing started when ryegrass plants have 2-3 leaves per tiller and about 80% of the pasture is consumed by lactating dairy cows at each grazing (Bolland and Guthridge 2007a, 2007b, 2009).https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1124/thumbnail.jp

Addressing applied fisheries ecology questions across species, fishery, and global scales.

Fisheries are economically and culturally important features of coastal communities around the globe. Ranging from recreational fishing to commercial harvest, fisheries represent the final large-scale vestige of humans hunting for food. While terrestrial food systems shifted almost entirely toward agriculture and cultivation, aquatic and marine food systems are still remarkably reliant on wild capture for their supply. As a result, fisheries and the species they target are inextricably linked to human behavior. Ecologists wishing to better understand fisheries and how to make them more sustainable must account not only for variables in the natural environment, but also variables associated with the anthropogenic use of fisheries resources. My dissertation explores this notion by addressing applied fisheries ecology questions across species, fishery, and global scales. At the species scale, chapters one and two investigate the trophic and movement ecology of Giant Sea Bass (Stereolepis gigas), a species nearly extirpated from United States waters by fishing activities. At the fishery scale, chapter three explores the interdependencies between species harvested by a multispecies fishery and how those relationships change as a function of sea surface temperature. And finally at the global scale, chapter four looks at the nature of global seafood trade and characterizes the management intensity associated with production versus consumption of seafood across countries. Each chapter and scale of fisheries ecology investigated contributes a different type of information to the broader knowledge base of fisheries science, and combined they present a valuable contribution to the field

The effect of grade level, gender, and learning style on responses to conservation type rhythmic and melodic patterns

This study examined the abilities of third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders on the performance of conservation-type tasks in music, using the musical tasks developed by Webster and Zimmerman (1983). The learning styles of the students, specifically their perceptual mode preferences, were determined by the Dunn, Dunn, and Price Learning Style Inventory (1986). Students with visual, tactile, and kinesthetic preferences were chosen for the study. Specific reinforcement was given to the experimental groups during the musical testing. Visual preference students received graphic visual representation of the melodies or rhythms they heard; tactile and kinesthetic preference students clapped rhythms and shaped melodies after hearing them. The control groups received no reinforcement for the auditory tasks. The distribution of the students perceptual mode preference scores was unexpected. Instead of a large number of tactile or kinesthetic preference students in the lower grades, there were very few; the largest number were in the sixth grade. Because of small numbers, third and fourth graders were grouped together for data analysis. Visual learners were more prevalent in the third grade than any other, again contrary to expectations based on learning styles theory. The ANOVA indicated that reinforcement was of significant help to the experimental groups ($p \u3c$.001). No significant differences were found for grade level or gender, even though girls\u27 scores were generally higher than boys\u27. There was no clear evidence of linear progression of higher scores by grade. Melodic tasks were easier than rhythmic tasks, with a significant difference ($p \u3c$.01 or $p \u3c$.001) shown for all grades but the sixth. The mode and meter of the tasks had a significant effect on students\u27 scores ($p \u3c$.05). The highest scores were produced by duple meter and major mode on melodic tasks, and duple meter and pentatonic mode on rhythmic tasks. Most of the students who received the melodic tasks first had better scores, but test order was significant only for the fifth grade

The synthesis of unsaturated Friedel - Crafts polymers

A study has been undertaken to establish whether it is possible to introduce unsaturation into Friedel - Crafts ( F/C) polymers, so that they can be cured free - radically via the unsaturation. It was hoped that the hydrocarbon - only nature of the polymer backbone, and the absence of hydrophilic cure catalysts would produce a material of low water absorption. The introduction of unsaturation has been approached in two ways. The first was to synthesize Friedel - Crafts prepolymers with ethyl side - chains. The side - chains were then tb be chlorinated, and then dehydrochlorinated to produce vinyl unsaturation. The introduction of vinyl unsaturation by this method was concluded to be unsatisfactory, due to the ease of premature crosslinking of the vinyl polymer during dehydrochlorination. The second method of introducing unsaturation was to include an allyl aromatic monomer in a F/C polymerisation. Such allyl F/C prepolymers were successfully prepared, characterised, and crosslinked. The need for a high cure temperature, and the consequent ease of oxidation make the radical cure of the allyl polymers inconvenient. They may be cured at lower temperatures, without oxidation, by cross linking them via a cationic mechanism. A study of the 13 C NMR spectrum of an F/C polymer has yielded new information on the branched structure and on the routes by which the polymer is built from monomer units

The effect of sea surface temperature on the structure and connectivity of species landings interaction networks in a multispecies recreational fishery.

Multispecies fisheries, particularly those that routinely adapt the timing, location, and methods of fishing to prioritize fishery targets, present a challenge to traditional single-species management approaches. Efforts to develop robust management for multispecies fisheries require an understanding of how priorities drive the network of interactions between catch of different species, especially given the added challenges presented by climate change. Using 35 years of landings data from a southern California recreational fishery, we leveraged empirical dynamic modelling methods to construct causal interaction networks among the main species targeted by the fishery. We found strong evidence for dependencies among species landings time series driven by apparent hierarchical catch preference within the fishery. In addition, by parsing the landings time series into anomalously cool, normal, and anomalously warm regimes (the last reflecting ocean temperatures anticipated by 2040), we found that network complexity was highest during warm periods. Our findings suggest that as ocean temperatures continue to rise, so too will the risk of unintended consequences from single species management in this multispecies fishery.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author