Afforestation and plantation forestry

Plantation forests now comprise around 135 million ha globally, with annual plantation afforestation and reforestation rates nearing 10% of total area. Some 90% of plantation forests have been established primarily to provide industrial wood, and their relative global importance in this role is increasing rapidly. Most of the remaining 10% of plantation forests were established primarily to supply fuel or wood for non-industrial use. About 75% of the existing plantation forest estate is established in temperate regions, but it is in the tropics that the rate of expansion is greatest. The expanding tropical plantation forest estate includes trees grown primarily as agricultural plantation crops and which now also supply wood to forest industries. Almost all existing plantation forests were established and are managed as even-aged monocultures; species and interspecific hybrids of a few genera dominate plantation forestry worldwide. Effective research and development, based on appropriate genetic resources and good silviculture, are the foundations of successful plantation forestry production. Resolving relatively fundamental issues remain the priority in many young plantation programmes; in more advanced programmes, the application of more sophisticated technologies - particularly in biotechnology and processing - is necessary to maintain improvements in production. Many plantation forests, particularly in the tropics, are not yet achieving their productive potential. The sustainability of plantation forestry is an issue of wide interest and concern. The evidence from industrial plantation forestry suggests that biological sustainability, in terms of wood yield, is likely to be realised provided good practice is maintained. The relative benefits and costs of plantation forestry in broader environmental terms, and in terms of its social impacts, are the subject of greater controversy, and pose the greatest challenge to plantation foresters as we approach the millennium. Our experience with plantation forestry as it has developed this century offers us an excellent platform for rising to these challenges

Audiovisual temporal correspondence modulates human multisensory superior temporal sulcus plus primary sensory cortices

The brain should integrate related but not unrelated information from different senses. Temporal patterning of inputs to different modalities may provide critical information about whether those inputs are related or not. We studied effects of temporal correspondence between auditory and visual streams on human brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI). Streams of visual flashes with irregularly jittered, arrhythmic timing could appear on right or left, with or without a stream of auditory tones that coincided perfectly when present ( highly unlikely by chance), were noncoincident with vision ( different erratic, arrhythmic pattern with same temporal statistics), or an auditory stream appeared alone. fMRI revealed blood oxygenation level-dependent ( BOLD) increases in multisensory superior temporal sulcus (mSTS), contralateral to a visual stream when coincident with an auditory stream, and BOLD decreases for noncoincidence relative to unisensory baselines. Contralateral primary visual cortex and auditory cortex were also affected by audiovisual temporal correspondence or noncorrespondence, as confirmed in individuals. Connectivity analyses indicated enhanced influence from mSTS on primary sensory areas, rather than vice versa, during audiovisual correspondence. Temporal correspondence between auditory and visual streams affects a network of both multisensory ( mSTS) and sensory-specific areas in humans, including even primary visual and auditory cortex, with stronger responses for corresponding and thus related audiovisual inputs

National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management

Bushfires are an inherent part of the Australian environment. We cannot prevent them, but we can minimise the risks they pose to life, property and infrastructure, production systems, and the environment. Australia has a large and very capable force of volunteer and career firefighters, advanced firefighting technologies, and significant firefighting resources. But the geographical scale of our country, the large and expanding rural–urban interface, and the potential for rapid bushfire development and spread under adverse weather conditions mean that individual Australians cannot rely solely on fire agencies to protect their lives and property from bushfires. Bushfires have a fundamental and irreplaceable role in sustaining many of Australia’s natural ecosystems and ecological processes and are a valuable tool for achieving land management objectives. However, if they are too frequent or too infrequent, too severe or too mild, or mistimed, they can erode ecosystem health and biodiversity and compromise other land management goals. We have been learning to live with fire since the first Australians arrived on our continent. We need to continue, and enrich, that learning process in contemporary circumstances and be able to adapt our planning and responses to change. This report seeks to help all Australians meet these challenges

Multilateral forestry research and tertiary forestry education for development: reflections on progress since the 1970s

The contemporary institutional landscapes for multilateral forestry research and tertiary forestry education for development were shaped largely in the last three decades of the 20 th century. Some limitations of largely post-colonial arrangements in the 1970s for forestry research for development were addressed by the establishment of CIFOR and incorporation of ICRAF into the CGIAR system in the early 1990s, following international processes in which FAO, IUFRO and the World Bank played central roles. Contemporaneously, tertiary forestry education evolved and internationalised in conjunction with that sector more generally. Institutional arrangements for multilateral forestry research are now undergoing another phase of change, as key actors seek more impact without more investment. Traditional models of tertiary forestry education for development are similarly challenged by ongoing changes in higher education systems. Both forestry research and education need now to address the profound challenges and potential opportunities associated with major forces such as ongoing forest loss and degradation, climate change, economic globalisation, and social and demographic change. In parallel, the value of evidence-based policy and practice, and of multilateralism, are being challenged by resurgent political populism and nationalism. Together, these contexts suggest that those engaged in forestry research and education for development will need to be politically and institutionally astute, and proactive and strategic, in catalysing and pursuing opportunities; and that various collaborative models, both nationally and internationally, will remain important vehicles for sharing resources, commanding the attention of decision-makers, and realising development impacts

Should all patients with hyperparathyroidism be screened for a CDC73 mutation?

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PH) is a common endocrine abnormality and may occur as part of a genetic syndrome. Inactivating mutations of the tumour suppressor gene CDC73 have been identified as accounting for a large percentage of hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumour syndrome (HPT-JT) cases and to a lesser degree account for familial isolated hyperparathyroidism (FIHP) cases. Reports of CDC73 whole gene deletions are exceedingly rare. We report the case of a 39 year-old woman with PH secondary to a parathyroid adenoma associated with a large chromosomal deletion (2.5 Mb) encompassing the entire CDC73 gene detected years after parathyroidectomy. This case highlights the necessity to screen young patients with hyperparathyroidism for an underlying genetic aetiology. It also demonstrates that molecular testing for this disorder should contain techniques that can detect large deletions

Lao Plantation Policy: Prospects for Change

Policies to promote tree plantations in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic have been developed since independence to support national socio-economic and environmental goals, and in response to domestic and international markets. The effectiveness of these policies has been variable, and the resulting plantation wood value chains are poorly developed due to contradictory and confusing laws and regulations with inconsistent application and high transaction costs. Consequently, there has been limited tree plantation investment, and few investments have realized the anticipated benefits. Renewed interest in plantations from the government, investors and other sectors in Laos has prompted policy reviews and recognition of the need for new policy settings. We reviewed the development of plantation policies in Laos and assessed policy effectiveness and barriers to policy options. Through document analysis, interviews with key stakeholders and actors, stakeholder forums, and field research, we found that smarter regulation, and facilitating value-chain partnerships and knowledge sharing, can motivate smallholders and industry investors in plantations, and increase community-level benefits and financial returns to the Government and private sector. These results are discussed in the context of current international developments in plantation policy and the convergence in related policy processes in Laos.This research was funded by The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research through projects ADP/2014/047 and FST/2016/151

Foveal pRF properties in the visual cortex depend on the extent of stimulated visual field

Previous studies demonstrated that alterations in functional MRI derived receptive field (pRF) properties in cortical projection zones of retinal lesions can erroneously be mistaken for cortical large-scale reorganization in response to visual system pathologies. We tested, whether such confounds are also evident in the normal cortical projection zone of the fovea for simulated peripheral visual field defects. We applied fMRI-based visual field mapping of the central visual field at 3 T in eight controls to compare the pRF properties of the central visual field of a reference condition (stimulus radius: 14°) and two conditions with simulated peripheral visual field defect, i.e., with a peripheral gray mask, stimulating only the central 7° or 4° radius. We quantified, for the cortical representation of the actually stimulated visual field, the changes in the position and size of the pRFs associated with reduced peripheral stimulation using conventional and advanced pRF modeling. We found foveal pRF-positions (≤3°) to be significantly shifted towards the periphery (p<0.05, corrected). These pRF-shifts were largest for the 4° condition [visual area (mean eccentricity shift): V1 (0.9°), V2 (0.9°), V3 (1.0°)], but also evident for the 7° condition [V1 (0.5°), V2 (0.5°), V3 (0.9°)]. Further, an overall enlargement of pRF-sizes was observed. These findings indicate the dependence of foveal pRF parameters on the spatial extent of the stimulated visual field and are likely associated with methodological biases and/or physiological mechanisms. Consequently, our results imply that, previously reported similar findings in patients with actual peripheral scotomas need to be interpreted with caution and indicate the need for adequate control conditions in investigations of visual cortex reorganization

Consequences of Broadscale Timber Plantations for Biodiversity in Cleared Rainforest Landscapes of Tropical and Subtropical Australia

In Australia, as in many countries, there has been a shift in timber production from native forests to plantations. While plantations are primarily considered an efficient means of producing timber, there is increasing interest in their potential contribution to biodiversity conservation. Plantations may have both positive and negative consequences for biodiversity, at a range of scales. We compiled a list of these consequences from the literature, and used them to assess plantation scenarios proposed for cleared rainforest landscapes in tropical and subtropical Australia. The scenarios were monocultures of: (i) hoop pine, (ii) exotic pine and (iii) eucalypts; (iv) mixed species plantations; (v) a mosaic of monoculture plantations; and (vi) a mosaic of plantations and ecological restoration plantings. Of these scenarios, plantations of eucalypts and exotic pines have the least positive consequences for biodiversity: they have little or no intrinsic value in rainforest landscapes, provide poor quality habitat for rainforest biota, and (particularly eucalypts) are characterised by a relatively open canopy which in cleared landscapes favours the recruitment of grasses and other weeds. The three scenarios based on plantations of rainforest trees have similar, moderately positive consequences for biodiversity, while a mosaic of plantations and restoration plantings has the most positive consequences for biodiversity in cleared rainforest landscapes. All scenarios may have negative impacts on biodiversity conservation if plantations replace remnant forest, provide habitat for weeds, or the tree species used in plantations or their genes escape into native forests. In practice, the relative importance of positive and negative impacts, and hence the ranking of scenarios may vary with landscape forest cover. Scenarios with strongly positive consequences for biodiversity would be favoured for the reforestation of heavily cleared landscapes, whereas scenarios with few negative consequences for biodiversity would be favoured in well-forested landscapes. Consequently, any plantation of rainforest trees may have acceptable consequences for biodiversity in well-forested landscapes, provided the trees are not invasive or carrying exotic genotypes, and plantations are managed to control weeds and feral animals. With the same caveats, plantations of exotic pines may also be acceptable from a biodiversity conservation perspective in well-forested landscapes. At present our capacity to design and manage rainforest plantations for both timber and biodiversity objectives is limited by a lack of information on factors affecting timber production, biodiversity values and trade offs or synergies between these objectives. Obtaining this information will require the integration of large-scale long-term biodiversity research in broadscale plantation projects

Framing an independent, integrated and evidence-based evaluation of the state of Australia's biophysical and human environments

A new approach was developed for Australia's 2011 national State of the Environment (SoE) report to integrate the assessment of biophysical and human elements of the environment. A Common Assessment and Reporting Framework (CARF) guided design and implementation, responding to jurisdictional complexity, outstanding natural diversity and ecosystem values, high levels of cultural and heritage diversity, and a paucity of national-scale data. The CARF provided a transparent response to the need for an independent, robust and evidence-based national SoE report. We conclude that this framework will be effective for subsequent national SoE assessments and other integrated national-scale assessments in data-poor regions.The work reported here was funded and supported by DSEWPaC, and we recognise the high level of professional support provided by the DSEWPaC SoE Team and other staff, the professional support of Biotext information consultancy (biotext. com.au), the vision of the commissioning Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts (Peter Garrett) in presenting us with this challenge, and the support of the presenting Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (Tony Burke) in accepting and delivering the final report to Australia