La politica del locale. Valori nazionali e politica sociale in Scozia [The politics of place: national values and social policy in Scotland]

No abstract available

Ecophysiological traits of grasses: resolving the effects of photosynthetic pathway and phylogeny

C4 photosynthesis is an important example of convergent evolution in plants, having arisen in eudicots, monocots and diatoms. Comparisons between such diverse groups are confounded by phylogenetic and ecological differences, so that only broad generalisations can be made about the role of C4 photosynthesis in
determining ecophysiological traits. However, 60% of C4 species occur in the grasses (Poaceae) and molecular phylogenetic techniques confirm that there are between 8 and 17 independent origins of C4 photosynthesis in the Poaceae. In a screening experiment, we compared leaf physiology and growth traits across several major
independent C3 & C4 groups within the Poaceae, asking 1) which traits differ consistently between photosynthetic
types and 2) which traits differ consistently between clades within each photosynthetic type

La politica del locale. Valori nazionali e politica sociale in Scozia

А partire dal 1999 la devoluzione ha creato nuovi spazi di divergenza politica all’interno del Regno (sempre più dis-)Unito. Nell’ambito del discorso politico, i «valori nazionali» vengono sistematicamente chiamati in causa per suscitare fedeltà e solidarietà con le «comunità immaginate» (Anderson B., 2000). Il presente articolo riconosce l’eterogeneità presente nelle varie delimitazioni nazionali e l’interconnessione delle quattro nazioni che compongono il Regno Unito. I confronti tra le varie nazioni indicano che le attitudini sociali non divergono in maniera radicale e sono rifratte da specifiche policy communities, istituzioni civiche e sistemi di competizione politica tra partiti a nord e a sud della frontiera anglo-scozzese. I sistemi di sicurezza sociale e i servizi pubblici sono luoghi chiave per la contestazione quando si deve optare tra politiche alternative. Nell’ambito del comunitarismo di centro-sinistra il dibattito sul welfare, sulla coesione sociale e sulla «buona società» fa emergere tensioni irrisolte fra la virtù di una società civile pluralista e le concezioni di «comunità forte» del nazionalismo unionista e di quello secessionista. Da questo punto di vista, il ravvivare la «nazione dei cittadini» (Colley L., 1999) risulta un progetto maggiormente produttivo rispetto al recupero dello stato-nazione. Devolution from 1999 has created new spaces for policy divergence within the disUniting Kingdom. Within political discourse «national values» are routinely deployed to evoke allegiance and solidarity with «imagined communities» (Anderson B., 1991). This article acknowledges heterogeneity within borders and the interconnectedness of the four nations of the UK. Cross-national comparisons indicate that social attitudes do not diverge radically and are refracted by distinctive policy communities, civic institutions and systems of party political competition north and south. Welfare and public services are key sites of contestation in deliberation on policy alternatives. The debate on welfare, social cohesion and the «good society» raises unresolved tensions within centre-left communitarianism between the virtue of pluralist civil society vis-a-vis notions of «strong community» in both unionist and secessionist nationalism. From this perspective the revivification of the «citizen-nation» (Colley L., 1999) is a more productive project than the recovery of the nation-state

The politics of place - national values and social policy in Scotland

[Italian] A partire dal 1999 la devoluzione ha creato nuovi spazi di divergenza politica all’interno del Regno (sempre più dis-)Unito. Nell’ambito del discorso politico, i «valori nazionali» vengono sistematicamente chiamati in causa per suscitare fedeltà e solidarietà con le «comunità immaginate» (Anderson B., 2000). Il presente articolo riconosce l’eterogeneità presente nelle varie delimitazioni nazionali e l’interconnessione delle quattro nazioni che compongono il Regno Unito. I confronti tra le varie nazioni indicano che le attitudini sociali non divergono in maniera radicale e sono rifratte da specifiche policy communities, istituzioni civiche e sistemi di competizione politica tra partiti a nord e a sud della frontiera anglo-scozzese. I sistemi di sicurezza sociale e i servizi pubblici sono luoghi chiave per la contestazione quando si deve optare tra politiche alternative. Nell’ambito del comunitarismo di centro-sinistra il dibattito sul welfare, sulla coesione sociale e sulla «buona società» fa emergere tensioni irrisolte fra la virtù di una società civile pluralista e le concezioni di «comunità forte» del nazionalismo unionista e di quello secessionista. Da questo punto di vista, il ravvivare la «nazione dei cittadini» (Colley L., 1999) risulta un progetto maggiormente produttivo rispetto al recupero dello stato-nazione. [English] Devolution from 1999 has created new spaces for policy divergence within the disUniting Kingdom. Within political discourse «national values» are routinely deployed to evoke allegiance and solidarity with «imagined communities» (Anderson, 1991). This article acknowledges heterogeneity within borders and the interconnectedness of the four nations of the UK. Cross-national comparisons indicate that social attitudes do not diverge radically and are refracted by distinctive policy communities, civic institutions and systems of party political competition north and south. Welfare and public services are key sites of contestation in deliberation on policy alternatives. The debate on welfare, social cohesion and the «good society» raises unresolved tensions within centre-left communitarianism between the virtue of pluralist civil society vis-a-vis notions of «strong community» in both unionist and secessionist nationalism. From this perspective the revivification of the «citizen-nation» (Colley, 1999) is a more productive project than the recovery of the nation-state

Integrating invasive species policies across ornamental horticulture supply-chains to prevent plant invasions

1.Ornamental horticulture is the primary pathway for invasive alien plant introductions. We critically appraise published evidence on the effectiveness of four policy instruments that tackle invasions along the horticulture supply chain: pre-border import restrictions, post-border bans, industry codes of conduct and consumer education. 2.Effective pre-border interventions rely on rigorous risk assessment and high industry compliance. Post-border sales bans become progressively less effective when alien species become widespread in a region. 3.A lack of independent performance evaluation and of public disclosure, limits the uptake and effectiveness of voluntary codes of conduct and discourages shifts in consumer preference away from invasive alien species. 4.Policy implications. Closing the plant invasion pathway associated with ornamental horticulture requires government-industry agreements to fund effective pre- and post-border weed risk assessments that can be subsequently supported by widely adopted, as well as verifiable, industry codes of conduct. This will ensure producers and consumers make informed choices in the face of better targeted public education addressing plant invasions

Crop Updates 2001 - Cereals

This session covers forty two papers from different authors: PLENARY 1. Planning your cropping program in season 2001, Dr Ross Kingwell, Agriculture Western Australia and University of Western Australia WORKSHOP 2. Can we produce high yields without high inputs? Wal Anderson, Centre for Cropping Systems, Agriculture Western Australia VARIETIES 3. Local and interstate wheat variety performance and $ return to WA growers, Eddy Pol, Peter Burgess and Ashley Bacon, Agritech Crop Research CROP ESTABLISHMENT 4 Soil management of waterlogged soils, D.M. Bakker, G.J. Hamilton, D. Houlbrooke and C. Spann, Agriculture Western Australia 5. Effect of soil amelioration on wheat yield in a very dry season, M.A Hamza and W.K. Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 6. Fuzzy tramlines for more yield and less weed, Paul Blackwell1 and Maurice Black2 1Agriculture Western Australia, 2Harbour Lights Estate, Geraldton 7. Tramline farming for dollar benefits, Paul Blackwell, Agriculture Western Australia NUTRITION 8. Soil immobile nutrients for no-till crops, M.D.A. Bolland1, R.F. Brennan1,and W.L. Crabtree2, 1Agriculture Western Australia, 2Western Australian No-Tillage Farmers Association 9. Burn stubble windrows: to diagnose soil fertility problems, Bill Bowden, Chris Gazey and Ross Brennan, Agriculture Western Australia 10. Calcium: magnesium ratios; are they important? Bill Bowden1, Rochelle Strahan2, Bob Gilkes2 and Zed Rengel2 1Agriculture Western Australia, 2Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, UWA 11. Responses to late foliar applications of Flexi-N, Stephen Loss, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, Lisa Leaver, CSBP futurefarm 12. A comparison of Flexi-N placements, Stephen Loss, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, Lisa Leaver, CSBP futurefarm 13. What is the best way to apply potassium? Stephen Loss, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, CSBP futurefarm 14. Claying affects potassium nutrition in barley, Stephen Loss, David Phelps, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, Lisa Leaver, CSBP futurefarm 15. Nitrogen and potassium improve oaten hay quality, Stephen Loss, Tim O’Dea, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, Lisa Leaver, CSBP futurefarm AGRONOMY 16. Agronomic responses of new wheat varieties in the northern wheatbelt, Darshan Sharma and Wal Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 17. Wheat agronomy research on the south coast, Mohammad Amjad and Wal Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 18. Influence of sowing date on wheat yield and quality in the south coast environment, Mohammad Amjadand Wal Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 19. More profit from durum, Md.Shahajahan Miyan and Wal Anderson, Agriculture Western Australia 20. Enhancing recommendations of flowering and yield in wheat, JamesFisher1, Senthold Asseng2, Bill Bowden1 and Michael Robertson3 ,1AgricultureWestern Australia, 2CSIRO Plant Industry, 3CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems 21. When and where to grow oats, Glenn McDonald, Agriculture Western Australia 22. Managing Gaidner barley for quality, Kevin Young and Blakely Paynter, Agriculture Western Australia PESTS AND DISEASES 23. Strategies for leaf disease management in wheat, Jatinderpal Bhathal1, Cameron Weeks2, Kith Jayasena1 and Robert Loughman1 ,1Agriculture Western Australia. 2Mingenew-Irwin Group Inc 24. Strategies for leaf disease management in malting barley, K. Jayasena1, Q. Knight2 and R. Loughman1, 1Agriculture Western Australia, 2IAMA Agribusiness 25. Cereal disease diagnostics, Dominie Wright and Nichole Burges, Agriculture Western Australia 26. The big rust: Did you get your money back!! Peter Burgess, Agritech Crop Research 27. Jockey – winning the race against disease in wheat, Lisa-Jane Blacklow, Rob Hulme and Rob Giffith, Aventis CropScience 28. Distribution and incidence of aphids and barley yellow dwarf virus in over-summering grasses in WA wheatbelt, Jenny Hawkes and Roger Jones, CLIMA and Agriculture Western Australia 29. Further developments in forecasting aphid and virus risk in cereals, Debbie Thackray, Jenny Hawkes and Roger Jones, Agriculture Western Australia and Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture 30. Effect of root lesion nematodes on wheat yields in Western Australia, S. B. Sharma, S. Kelly and R. Loughman, Crop Improvement Institute, Agriculture Western Australia 31. Rotational crops and varieties for management of root lesion nematodes in Western Australia, S.B. Sharma, S. Kelly and R. Loughman, Crop Improvement Institute, Agriculture Western Australia WEEDS 32. Phenoxy herbicide tolerance of wheat, Peter Newman and Dave Nicholson, Agriculture Western Australia 33. Tolerance of wheat to phenoxy herbicides,Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and Mario F. D\u27Antuono, Agriculture Western Australia 34. Herbicide tolerance of durum wheats, Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and David Nicholson, Agriculture Western Australia 35. Herbicide tolerance of new wheats, Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and David F. Nicholson, Agriculture Western Australia BREEDING 36. Towards molecular breeding of barley: construction of a molecular genetic map, Mehmet Cakir1, Nick Galwey1, David Poulsen2, Garry Ablett3, Reg Lance4, Rob Potter5 and Peter Langridge6,1Plant Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, UWA, 2Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Qld, 3Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW, 5SABC Murdoch University, WA, 6Department of Plant Science University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond SA 37. Toward molecular breeding of barley: Identifying markers linked to genes for quantitative traits, Mehmet Cakir1, Nick Galwey1, David Poulsen2, Reg Lance3, Garry Ablett4, Greg Platz2, Joe Panozzo5, Barbara Read6, David Moody5, Andy Barr7 and Peter Langridge7 , 1Plant Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, UWA, 2Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Warwick, QLD,3Agriculture Western Australia, 4Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW, 5VIDA Private Bag 260, Horsham VIC, 6NSW Dept. of Agriculture, Wagga Wagga NSW, 7Department of Plant Science, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond SA 38. Can we improve grain yield by breeding for greater early vigour in wheat? Tina Botwright1, Tony Condon1, Robin Wilson2 and Iain Barclay2, 1CSIRO Plant Industry, 2Agriculture Western Australia MARKETING AND QUALITY 39. The Crop Improvement Royalty, Howard Carr, Agriculture Western Australia 40. GrainGuardÔ - The development of a protection plan for the wheat industry, Greg Shea, Agriculture Western Australia CLIMATE 41. Rainfall – what happened in 2000 and the prospects for 2001, Ian Foster, Agriculture Western Australia 42. Software for climate management issues, David Tennant,Agriculture Western Australia CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR CONTACT DETAIL

A strong conditional mutualism limits and enhances seed dispersal and germination of a tropical palm

Seed predation and seed dispersal can have strong effects on early life history stages of plants. These processes have often been studied as individual effects, but the degree to which their relative importance co-varies with seed predator abundance and how this influences seed germination rates is poorly understood. Therefore, we used a combination of observations and field experiments to determine the degree to which germination rates of the palm Astrocaryum mexicanum varied with abundance of a small mammal seed predator/disperser, Heteromysdesmarestianus, in a lowland tropical forest. Patterns of abundance of the two species were strongly related; density of H. desmarestianus was low in sites with low density of A. mexicanum and vice versa. Rates of predation and dispersal of A. mexicanum seeds depended on abundance of H. desmarestianus; sites with high densities of H. desmarestianus had the highest rates of seed predation and lowest rates of seed germination, but a greater total number of seeds were dispersed and there was greater density of seedlings, saplings, and adults of A. mexicanum in these sites. When abundance of H. desmarestianus was experimentally reduced, rates of seed predation decreased, but so did dispersal of A. mexicanum seeds. Critically, rates of germination of dispersed seeds were 5 times greater than undispersed seeds. The results suggest that the relationship between A. mexicanum and H. desmarestianus is a conditional mutualism that results in a strong local effect on the abundance of each species. However, the magnitude and direction of these effects are determined by the relative strength of opposing, but related, mechanisms. A. mexicanum nuts provide H. desmarestianus with a critical food resource, and while seed predation on A. mexicanum nuts by H. desmarestianus is very intense, A. mexicanum ultimately benefits because of the relatively high germination rates of its seeds that are dispersed by H. desmarestianus