Sustainable Design for Oyster Reef Restoration

Due to over harvesting and habitat destruction 85% of oyster reef populations have been lost globally over the past several decades. Apart from being a keystone species, oysters provide many ecosystem services that make them near perfect for living shorelines; a recent ecological engineering design strategy that naturally stabilizes the shoreline as well as provides protection for intertidal environments. Oyster reefs increase wave attenuation protecting the shoreline environment from intense wave action in addition to the reef\u27s ability to cause sediment accretion; not just protecting shoreline environments but expanding them as well. Oysters produce baby oysters called spat that require a substrate to attach to in order to grow. Ordinarily, other oysters in the reef provide such substrate but with reef populations being over-harvested, much of the spat doesn\u27t have an appropriate surface to bind to. In the ACE Basin area a lack of substrate rather than spat is hindering oyster reef development. In an attempt to protect coastal shorelines as well as rehabilitate oyster reef populations within the ACE Basin area lightweight, biologically-compatible structures have been designed and implemented to provide the necessary substrate for oyster spat attachment

FAIR data and metadata: GNSS precise positioning user perspective

ABSTRACTThe FAIR principles of Wilkinson et al. [1] are finding their way from research into application domains, one of which is the precise positioning with global satellite navigation systems (GNSS). Current GNSS users demand that data and services are findable online, accessible via open protocols (by both, machines and humans), interoperable with their legacy systems and reusable in various settings. Comprehensive metadata are essential in seamless communication between GNSS data and service providers and their users, and, for decades, geodetic and geospatial standards are efficiently implemented to support this. However, GNSS user community is transforming from precise positioning by highly specialised use by geodetic professionals to every-day precise positioning by autonomous vehicles or wellness obsessed citizens. Moreover, rapid technological developments allow alternative ways of offering data and services to their users. These transforming circumstances warrant a review whether metadata defined in generic geospatial and geodetic standards in use still support FAIR use of modern GNSS data and services across its novel user spectrum. This paper reports the results of current GNSS users’ requirements in various application sectors on the way data, metadata and services are provided. We engaged with GNSS stakeholders to validate our findings and to gain understanding on their perception of the FAIR principles. Our results confirm that offering FAIR GNSS data and services is fundamental, but for a confident use of these, there is a need to review the way metadata are offered to the community. Defining standard compliant GNSS community metadata profile and providing relevant metadata with data on-demand, the approach outlined in this paper, is a way to manage current GNSS users’ expectations and the way to improve FAIR GNSS data and service delivery for both humans and the machines

Genetic control of duration of pre-anthesis phases in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and relationships to leaf appearance, tillering, and dry matter accumulation

The duration of pre-anthesis developmental phases is of interest in breeding for improved adaptation and yield potential in temperate cereals. Yet despite numerous studies on the genetic control of anthesis (flowering) time and floral initiation, little is known about the genetic control of other pre-anthesis phases. Furthermore, little is known about the effect that changes in the duration of pre-anthesis phases could have on traits related to leaf appearance and tillering, or dry matter accumulation before terminal spikelet initiation (TS). The genetic control of the leaf and spikelet initiation phase (LS; from sowing to TS), the stem elongation phase (SE; from TS to anthesis), and, within the latter, from TS to flag leaf appearance and from then to anthesis, was studied in two doubled-haploid, mapping bread wheat populations, Cranbrook×Halberd and CD87×Katepwa, in two field experiments (ACT and NSW, Australia). The lengths of phases were estimated from measurements of both TS and the onset of stem elongation. Dry weight per plant before TS, rate of leaf appearance, tillering rate, maximum number of tillers and number of leaves, and dry weight per plant at TS were also estimated in the Cranbrook×Halberd population. More genomic regions were identified for the length of the different pre-anthesis phases than for total time to anthesis. Although overall genetic correlations between LS and SE were significant and positive, independent genetic variability between LS and SE, and several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with different effects on both phases were found in the two populations. Several of these QTLs (which did not seem to coincide with reported major genes) could be of interest for breeding purposes since they were only significant for either LS or SE. There was no relationship between LS and the rate of leaf appearance. LS was strongly and positively correlated with dry weight at TS but only slightly negatively correlated with early vigour (dry weight before TS). Despite significant genetic correlations between LS and some tillering traits, shortening LS so as to lengthen SE without modifying total time to anthesis would not necessarily reduce tillering capacity, as QTLs for tillering traits did not coincide with those QTLs significant only for LS or SE. Therefore, the study of different pre-anthesis phases is relevant for a better understanding of genetic factors regulating developmental time and may offer new tools for fine-tuning it in breeding for both adaptability and yield potential

Genetic and environmental effects on crop development determining adaptation and yield

Slafer, Gustavo Ariel. ICREA - AGROTECNIO - Spain.Kantolic, Adriana Graciela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Appendino, María Laura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Tranquilli, Gabriela Edith. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Recursos Naturales. Instituto de Recursos Biológicos. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Miralles, Daniel Julio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Savin, Roxana. ICREA - AGROTECNIO - Spain.Crop development is a sequence of phenological events controlled by the genetic background and influenced by external factors, which determines changes in the morphology and/or function of organs (Landsberg, 1977). Although development is a continuous process, the ontogeny of a crop is frequently divided into discrete periods, for instance ‘vegetative’, ‘reproductive’ and ‘grain - filling’ phases (Slafer, 2012). Patterns of phenological development largely determine the adaptation of a crop to a certain range of environments. For example, genetic improvement in grain yield of wheat has been associated with shorter time from sowing to anthesis in Mediterranean environments of western Australia (Siddique et al., 1989), whereas no consistent trends in phenology were found where drought is present but not necessarily terminal, including environments of Argentina, Canada and the USA (Slafer and Andrade, 1989, 1993; Slafer et al., 1994a) (Fig. 12.1). Even in agricultural lands of the Mediterranean Basin where wheat has been grown for many centuries, breeding during the last century did not clearly change phenological patterns (Acreche et al., 2008). This chapter focuses on two major morphologically and hysiologically contrasting grain crops: wheat and soybean. For both species, we have an advanced understanding of development and physiology in general. Wheat is a determinate, long-day grass of temperate origin, which is responsive to vernalization. Soybean is a typically indeterminate (but with determinate intermediate variants), short-day grain legume of tropical origin, which is insensitive to vernalization. Comparisons with other species are used to highlight the similarities and differences. The aims of this chapter are to outline the developmental characteristics of grain crops and the links between phenology and yield, to revise the mechanisms of environmental and genetic control of development and to explore the possibilities of improving crop adaptation and yield potential through the fine-tuning of developmental patterns

Alltägliche Architektur. Die gebaute Umwelt in unserer Alltagswirklichkeit

Grössere bauliche Veränderungen in unserer gebauten Umwelt – vor allem im Fall von moderner Architektur – lösen regelmäßig hitzige Debatten aus. Häufig verstummen nach einiger Zeit unversöhnlich und resigniert die Diskussionen zwischen einer irritierten oder kritischen Bevölkerung und den Architekturverantwortlichen bzw. Städteplanern, die die Kritik als grundsätzliche Abwehrhaltung gegenüber ihrer Profession verstehen. Stephanie Kernich untersucht die gebaute Umwelt als ein Stück materiale Kultur aus der Perspektive von personalen Akteuren. Damit wird ein besonderer und bisher wenig untersuchter Teil unserer Alltagswirklichkeit schrittweise im Forschungsstil der Grounded Theory Methodologie erschlossen. Mit ihrer empirischen Untersuchung gelingt es ihr aufzuzeigen, woran sich ‚Laien’ in der gebauten Umwelt – von aussen betrachtet – orientieren

Weathering, erosion and element mobilisation in a catchment at the Luxemburg Copper/Gold site, Olary Domain, South Australia

This item is only available electronically.The Olary Domain, Curnamona Province has significant economic importance as a target for base metal and gold exploration. A veneer of Cainozoic or younger regolith occurs over large areas of the Olary Domain, which complicates mineral exploration. The study area is located within a small catchment at the old Luxemburg Cu/Au mining site in the mid North of South Australia in the Southern area of the Olary Domain. This investigation focuses on relating physical and chemical weathering processes present between basement amphibolite, granites and gneisses and a local waterway, including parameters such as bedrock geochemistry, regolith profile interpretation, channel morphology, and landscape evolution. Mapping the extent and character of the regolith in the Luxemburg area in a detailed Regolith Landform Map was also a large feature of this study. Results from the Regolith Landform Map allow inferences on the present day surface dispersion pathways. Geochemical investigations of the regolith profile within the catchment indicate a considerable fingerprint from the underlying amphibolite, specifically shown by Fe, Ti, Ni, Cr, V and Sc values. The elemental signature of the surface regolith reflects the underlying parent regolith units. Geochemical patterns within the ephemeral channel can be related to source geology, streambed morphology and landscape position. Harker plots and grain size analysis indicate that the channel sediment is chemically immature and La/Sc plots against Ti, Zr and Th illustrate that the amphibolite body primarily controls its elemental signature. The geochemistry of the underlying moderately weathered bedrock can be seen and deciphered in an area of iron rich, relatively thin regolith. Bedrock signatures are also evident within the chemistry of bulk samples from the local ephemeral channel deposits. Recent mining activity within the area does not seem to have influenced the results of this study.Thesis (B.Sc.(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Physical Sciences, 200