Export Performance in South Pacific Countries Comparatively Well Endowed with Natural Resources: Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, 1960 to 1999

Stochastic dominance analysis was used to assess export performance in two Melanesian countries of similar size and structure that are comparatively well endowed with natural resources: Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Total export values increased over the study period in Solomon Islands, brought about by a significant increase in the value of non-agricultural resource exports. Agricultural exports showed small increases but the average annual rate of growth was only 1.3 per cent for agricultural export values compared with 10.7 per cent in non-agricultural export values. The record of commodity export performance in Vanuatu over the study period was less impressive, with a small average annual decline in total export values. This decline was caused by agricultural export values falling by 1.5 per cent per annum although it showed signs of abating in the final decade of the study period. Results suggest that both countries are capable of achieving sustainable economic development, given their generous natural resource endowments, but many factors may militate against this achievement, as witnessed by the current political unrest and crisis in public finance in Solomon Islands.export performance, stochastic dominance, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, International Relations/Trade,

Export Performance in Papua New Guinea, 1960 to 1999

Stochastic dominance analysis was used to assess export performance in Papua New Guinea from 1960 to 1999. A country with abundant natural resources, Papua New Guinea was able to experience significant growth in total export values throughout the final four decades of the 20th century, with each succeeding decade stochastically dominating the previous one. The expansion of mineral and energy exports from the early 1970s was the major source of this growth. The powerful influence of an expanding minerals and energy sector must nevertheless be of concern in that this sector and other non-agricultural resource sectors comprise mainly extractive or quasi-extractive industries given the production practices that currently exist. Little progress has been made in diversifying into secondary and tertiary exports. Furthermore, prospects for the mineral and energy sectors do not look bright, with a collapse of exploration and development in the mining industry (Duncan 2001:11). Growth also took place in agricultural export values during the study period. However, it was more modest than the growth in resource based non-agricultural exports and confined mainly to the 1960s and 1970s.export performance, Papua New Guinea, stochastic dominance, International Relations/Trade,

Export Performance in South Pacific Countries Marginally Endowed with Natural Resources: Samoa and Tonga, 1960 to 1999

Stochastic dominance analysis was used to assess export performance in two Polynesian countries of similar size and structure that are both marginally endowed with natural resources: Samoa and Tonga. In general, total and agricultural export values declined over the study period in both countries, brought about by a significant decline in the value of agricultural exports while non- agricultural exports showed small increases. The one exception to this trend was in Tonga during the 1990s when squash exports brought about a revival in agricultural export values. Results suggest that these countries are likely to struggle to achieve sustainable economic development, given their limited natural resource endowments. The fisheries sector holds the key to whether their economies can continue to be productive by exploiting further the fishery resources within their EEZs to develop domestic fishing industries.export performance, stochastic dominance, Samoa, Tonga, International Relations/Trade,

Export Performance in Fiji, 1960 to 1999

Stochastic dominance analysis was used to assess export performance in Fiji from 1960 to 1999. A country with reasonably abundant resources, Fiji has made effective use of its quite substantial resources to increase total export values significantly over the study period, with an average rate of growth of 2.6 per cent per annum. Non-agricultural exports were the source of this growth, increasing annually by 7.3 per cent. Growth was particularly strong from the late 1980s despite the loss of skills and capital flight in the wake of the May 1987 coup and military takeover. The economy clearly benefited from a policy switch from a trade protectionist policy with a high degree of government intervention to an export-oriented strategy based on private sector-led development. The values of total exports in the 1990s were dominant overall. The values in the 1980s dominated values in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of the expansion of non-agricultural exports. The 1970s stochastically dominated the 1960s clearly and the 1980s dominated the 1970s for non-agricultural exports. Non-agricultural export values continued to expand in the final decade of the study period, rendering overall stochastic dominance of the 1990s over the 1980s and preceding decades. The dominant decade for agricultural exports was the 1970s. However, the increase in agricultural export values during the 1970s was offset by a decline in agricultural export values in the final two decades of the study period such that there was no trend in agricultural export values over the whole study period.export performance, Fiji, stochastic dominance, International Relations/Trade,

An Assessment of Commodity Export Performance in South Pacific Countries, 1960 to 1999

We examine export performance and the factors influencing export growth in ten South Pacific countries, concentrating on the comparative influences of geographic endowments, policies and institutions. The countries under study are Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Only Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands experienced a positive trend in total commodity export values. Agricultural export values grew significantly only in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Most countries experienced growth in non-agricultural commodity export values, albeit from a low base. As a general rule, export performance was superior for countries with richer endowments of natural resources. Geographic factors associated with small size impeded export performance in small South Pacific countries, in particular. Evidence suggests that export performance was not improved by good policies unless those policies were properly implemented. To be satisfactorily implemented, they required soundly operating and effective institutions. Unfortunately, institutional performance deteriorated over the study period and was likely to have adversely affected export performance, particularly in the primary industries.International Relations/Trade,

Export Performance in South Pacific Countries With Inadequate Endowments of Natural Resources: Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue and Tuvalu, 1960 to 1999

Stochastic dominance analysis was used to assess export performance in four South Pacific island countries with very limited natural resources: Cook Islands; Kiribati; Niue; and Tuvalu. Total export values declined significantly over the study period in all four countries, brought about by a significant decline in the value of agricultural exports while non-agricultural exports showed only small increases. Results seem to confirm the view that these countries have insufficient natural resource endowments for sustainable economic development without outside support. The fisheries sector holds the key to whether the economies under study (bar Niue) can transform themselves into productive ones by exploiting further the fishery resources within their EEZs to develop domestic fishing industries.export performance, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, stochastic dominance, Tuvalu, International Relations/Trade,

A meta-analysis examining how fish biodiversity varies with marine protected area size and age

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a well-established conservation practice worldwide, but their effectiveness in protecting or replenishing fish biodiversity remains uneven. Understanding the patterns of this heterogeneity is central to general guidelines for MPA design and can ultimately provide guidance on how to maximize MPA potential. Here, we examine associations between the degree of protection, duration of protection, and protected area size, with fish biodiversity inside of protected areas relative to that of sites nearby, but outside of protected areas. We quantitatively synthesize 116 published estimates of species richness from 72 MPAs and 38 estimates of Shannon entropy from 21 MPAs. We show that species richness is on average 18% (95% CIs: 10%–29%) higher in protected areas than in areas open to fishing; on average, Shannon entropy is 13% (95% CIs: −2% to 31%) higher within protected areas relative to outside. We find no relationship between the degree and duration of protection with the ratio of species richness inside versus outside of protected areas; both fully and partially protected areas contribute to the accumulation of species inside of protected areas, and protected areas of all ages contribute similarly on average to biodiversity conservation. In contrast to our expectations, increasing protected area size was associated with a decreased ratio of species richness sampled at sites inside versus outside of the protected area, possibly due, for example, to insufficient enforcement and/or low compliance. Finally, we discuss why meta-analyses such as ours that summarize effect sizes of local scale biodiversity responses, that is, those at a single site, can only give a partial answer to the question of whether larger protected areas harbor more species than comparable unprotected areas

A comparison of the occurrence, sporulation and survival of Phytophthora cinnamoni rands in soils supporting native forest in south-eastern New South Wales and south-western Western Australia

Four aspects of the behaviour of Phytophthora cinnamomi in soil collected from healthy and diseased sites at Durras in south-eastern New South Wales and Jarrahdale in south-western Western Australia were examined. The occurrence and distribution of P.cinnamomi in these two areas was compared using two different sampling and isolation techniques over a 16 month period. Samples of soil and fine roots collected from along a transect from the New South Wales site yielded P.cinnamomi when baited using the lupin seedling technique while similar baiting of comparable samples from Western Australia failed to yield the organism. Direct plating of samples of upper roots and root collars of recently dead Banksia grandis from Western Australian sites yielded P.cinnamomi while the organism was not isolated from comparable samples of chloratic Macrozamia communis collected at the New South vJales site. These results suggested that the form of occurrence of P.cinnamomi and its association with disease in Australia varies in different situations. A comparison was made of the microbial populations in soil from healthy and diseased forest at both sites using the soil dilution plate technique. There was a general association between low microbial populations and the occurrence of disease. However, it could not be ascertained whether disease occurred in areas where lower microbial populations existed or whether microbial populations dropped as a result of disease incidence. An inverse association was demonstrated between the frequency of isolation of P.cinnamomi and the population of the Aspergillus+ Penicillium group of microorganisms. The survival of chlamydospores and mycelium of P.cinnamomi in the field and in soil subjected to three moisture regimes was investigated using soils from diseased and healthy forest at both sites. The moisture regime appeared to have a greater effect on the survival of the fungus than the particular soil employed. P.cinnamomi survived for three to four months in the field when the soil was moist and for a comparable period in the laboratory in soil maintained at -5 kPa. P.cinnamomi may have survived even longer in waterlogged soils but the fungus could not persist for three weeks in soils which were allowed to air dry. These results provided an explanation for the observed pattern of ready isolation of P.cinnamomi from soil samples collected from Durras in New South Wales in contrast with those from Jarrahdale in Western Australia. The sporangial inducing ability of soils from healthy and diseased forest at Durras and Jarrahdale were examined. It was concluded that there was probably no major difference in the sporangial inducing ability of these soils because soils as distinct as washed river sand and garden loam induced comparable numbers of sporangia on mycelial mats of P.cinnamomi inserted directly in soil. It was suggested that the sporangial inducing principle per se had little potential epidemiological significance in P.ainnamomi induced disease except in exceptional circumstances. Using three different techniques it was demonstrated that the results of experiments studying sporangial induction performed on separate occasions were not comparable because of variation in the sporangial producing capacity of different cultures of a single P.ainnamomi isolate. Hence, experiments were not reproducible. The ecological and management implications of the differences in the behaviour of P.ainnamomi in the two areas studied were discussed and some future research priorities were briefly outlined

Microbial processes with the potential to mobilize As from a circumneutral-pH mixture of flotation and roaster tailings

The Northwest Tailings Containment Area at the inactive Giant Mine (Canada) contains a complex mixture of arsenic-containing substances, including flotation tailings (84.8 wt%; with 0.4 wt% residual S), roaster calcine wastes (14.4 wt% Fe oxides), and arsenic trioxide (0.8 wt%) derived from an electrostatic precipitator as well as As-containing water (21.3 ± 4.1 mg L−1 As) derived from the underground mine workings. In the vadose zone the tailings pore water has a pH of 7.6 and contains elevated metal(loid)s (2.37 ± 5.90 mg L−1 As); mineral oxidizers account for 2.5% of total 16S rRNA reads in solid samples. In the underlying saturated tailings, dissolved Fe and As concentrations increase with depth (up to 72 and 20 mg L−1, respectively), and the mean relative abundance of Fe(III)-reducers is 0.54% of total reads. The potential for As mobilization via both reductive and oxidative (bio)processes should be considered in Giant Mine remediation activities. The current remediation plan includes installation of an engineered cover that incorporates a geosynthetic barrier layer

Discovery of sea urchin NGFFFamide receptor unites a bilaterian neuropeptide family

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