Temporal introduction patterns of invasive alien plant species to Australia

We examined temporal introduction patterns of 132 invasive alien plant species (IAPS) to Australia since European colonisation in 1770. Introductions of IAPS were high during 1810–1820 (10 species), 1840– 1880 (51 species, 38 of these between 1840 and 1860) and 1930–1940 (9 species). Conspicuously few introductions occurred during 10-year periods directly preceding each introduction peak. Peaks during early European settlement (1810–1820) and human range expansion across the continent (1840-1860) both coincided with considerable growth in Australia’s human population. We suggest that population growth during these times increased the likelihood of introduced plant species becoming invasive as a result of increased colonization and propagule pressure. Deliberate introductions of IAPS (104 species) far outnumbered accidental introductions (28 species) and were particularly prominent during early settlement. Cosmopolitan IAPS (25 species) and those native solely to South America (53 species), Africa (27 species) and Asia (19 species) have been introduced deliberately and accidentally to Australia across a broad period of time. A small number of IAPS, native solely to Europe (5 species) and North America (2 species), were all introduced to Australia prior to 1880. These contrasting findings for native range suggest some role for habitat matching, with similar environmental conditions in Australia potentially driving the proliferation of IAPS native to southern-hemisphere regions. Shrub, tree and vine species dominated IAPS introduced prior to 1840, with no grasses or forbs introduced during early colonisation. Since 1840, all five growth forms have been introduced deliberately and accidentally in relatively large numbers across a broad period of time. In particular, a large number of grass and forb IAPS were deliberately introduced between 1840 and 1860, most likely a direct result of the introduction of legislation promoting intensive agriculture across large areas of the continent. Since the 1980s, only three IAPS have been introduced (all deliberately introduced forbs). The decline in IAPS introductions is most likely a reflection of both increased surveillance and biosecurity efforts and the likelihood that many potential IAPS are still within a pre-expansion lag period

'Cap and Trade': Reducing Carbon Emissions and the Climate Change Act 2008

The Climate Change Act 2008 came into force on the 26th November 2008 with the aim of establishing effective regulatory mechanisms to limit the UK’s carbon emissions and to mitigate the effects of climate change. The Act effectively introduces two elements into the legal system for reducing the UK’s net carbon emissions. First, the legislation enacts measures to mitigate the current damage made to the climate, by introducing carbon reduction commitments and setting targets for industry sectors. Second, it enables the Secretary of State to adapt policies according to the progress of the system, information for which will be provided by a reporting system. The UK is the first legal system in the world to formally adopt legislation aimed directly at these issues

A lens on national parks past and present: Bringing conservation and climate change into collective focus

My Honors Capstone Creative Project, A Lens on National Parks Past and Present: Bringing Conservation and Climate Change into Collective Focus, examines the effects of climate change in Joshua Tree National Park, Glacier National Park, Assateague Island National Seashore, and Shenandoah National Park through the research of historical photographers who documented the parks in the past, interviews with key figures on the subject at each park, and my own photographic documentation of the parks. I was awarded James Madison University’s 2018 College of Visual and Performing Arts Undergraduate Research Grant to travel and pursue my proposed research and photographic documentation in Arizona, California, Montana, Maryland, and Virginia. I first traveled to the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona in May 2018. I viewed relevant exhibitions and studied the original photographs and documents of Ansel Adams (1902-1984) and Mark Klett (b. 1952), who are renowned for their environmental activism and documentation of the national parks in the past. I then traveled, conducted current climate change research, and photographed Joshua Tree National Park in the Southern California desert in May 2018 and Glacier National Park in Montana in August 2018, both which stand to lose their namesakes and provide two very different visuals on the effects of climate change. I continued with similar studies in proximity to JMU at Shenandoah National Park and Assateague Island National Seashore in order to show local and regional climate change within parks closer to Harrisonburg. My project concluded in a solo exhibition to serve as a tool to educate and increase community awareness of this important issue facing our public lands. This exhibition took place in the Duke Hall Gallery of Fine Art at JMU from April 8th to April 13th, 2019