Recreational trampling negatively impacts vegetation structure of an Australian biodiversity hotspot

Recreational trampling damage of natural vegetation is an increasing problem in the global context and has the potential to impact on vegetation communities that are of high ecological and socio-economic interest. Wildflower tourism in the national parks of southwest Australia, a global biodiversity hotspot, has the potential to damage the flora on which it depends through trampling. Little research has been previously undertaken in these largely shrub-dominated communities to identify and quantify such impacts. This study is the first to do so, using observational studies of tourists, a descriptive study, and trampling experiments. The behaviours of independent tourists and tour groups were observed. Of the 213 independent visitors observed 41 visitors left trails to view flowers and in the process trampled vegetation. Vegetation height and cover were measured at three sites frequented by wildflower tourists. Vegetation height and cover declined in response to use by tourists. Trampling experiments, which relied on trampling treatments of 0, 30, 100, 200, 300/500 passes, where 0 passes represents the control, were applied at four sites. Trampling led to a significant reduction in vegetation height immediately post-treatment, for all treatments, with a non-significant recovery over time. Trampling also significantly reduced vegetation cover, with the resistance indices for these experimental sites ranging from 30 to 300 passes. Collectively these results illustrate the low resilience and resistance of these valued communities and the possible impacts of wildflower and other nature based tourism, through trampling. The paper concludes with suggested management strategies, which strongly emphasise the importance of education for the tourism industry and provide for international comparisons in regard to recreational trampling impacts on biodiverse shrub land communities

Maximizing the impact of mining investment in water infrastructure for local communities

Mining activities requiring the development of new or expansion of existing water infrastructure provide an opportunity to benefit local communities with limited access to clean water. Mining companies have commonly assisted water service provision to communities as part of their mining concession or through corporate social responsibility programs. In addition to the water infrastructure provided to local communities, the accompanying capacity building, infrastructure governance, and the consultation process all have notable impacts not only on the sustainability of the water infrastructure, but also the level of benefit to communities. Using recent Australian Government funded water and sanitation interventions along the Nacala Economic Corridor (Mozambique) as a case study, we provide an examination of how mining companies can most effectively ensure the delivery of sustainable water infrastructure to local communities

Catharanthus mosaic virus: A potyvirus from a gymnosperm, Welwitschia mirabilis

A virus from a symptomatic plant of the gymnosperm Welwitschia mirabilis Hook. growing as an ornamental plant in a domestic garden in Western Australia was inoculated to a plant of Nicotiana benthamiana where it established a systemic infection. The complete genome sequence of 9636 nucleotides was determined using high-throughput and Sanger sequencing technologies. The genome sequence shared greatest identity (83% nucleotides and 91% amino acids) with available partial sequences of catharanthus mosaic virus, indicating that the new isolate belonged to that taxon. Analysis of the phylogeny of the complete virus sequence placed it in a monotypic group in the genus Potyvirus. This is the first record of a virus from W. mirabilis, the first complete genome sequence of catharanthus mosaic virus determined, and the first record from Australia. This finding illustrates the risk to natural and managed systems posed by the international trade in live plants and propagules, which enables viruses to establish in new regions and infect new hosts

Using baseline surveys to inform interventions and follow-up surveys: a case-study using the Nampula Province Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program

The Nampula Province Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program is a partnership among the Government of Mozambique, UNICEF, and the Australian Government focused on achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation in Mozambique and concentrated on five small towns in Nampula Province. Before implementation of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions in these towns, a baseline survey was carried out in 2012. We show how such a survey can be used to characterize the state of the three WASH sub-themes (water, sanitation, hygiene) pre-intervention, suggest possible new emphases of or modifications to proposed interventions, and inform the design of follow-up surveys to best gauge the impact of the interventions

Social facilitation for conservation planning: understanding fairy tern behavior and site selection in response to conspecific audio-visual cues

Simulated social facilitation techniques (e.g. decoys and call playbacks) are commonly used to attract seabirds to restored and artificially created nesting habitats. However, a lack of social stimuli and conspecific cueing at these habitats may limit the use of these sites, at least in the short term. Therefore, testing the effectiveness of simulated audio-visual cues for attracting gregarious birds is important for conservation planning. In this study, we (1) assessed whether call playback and decoys were associated with an increased likelihood of Australian fairy terns Sternula nereis nereis visiting potentially suitable nesting habitats; (2) tested their behavioral response to different cues; and (3) documented whether social facilitation had the potential to encourage colony establishment. A full cross-over study design consisting of all possible pairings of decoy and call playback treatments (control [no attractants], decoys, call playback, both decoys and playback), allocated as part of a random block design, was undertaken at 2 sites. Linear modeling suggested that call playback was important in explaining the time spent aerial prospecting as well as the maximum number of fairy terns aerial prospecting, although this only appeared to be the case for 1 of the 2 sites. Decoys, on the other hand, did not appear to have any effect on time spent aerial prospecting. The results from this study suggest that audio cues have the potential to encourage site selection by increasing social stimuli, but attractants may be required over several breeding seasons before colonies are established

Microplastics on the menu: Plastics pollute Indonesian Manta Ray and Whale Shark feeding grounds

The implications of plastic pollution, including microplastics, on marine ecosystems and species are increasingly seen as an environmental disaster. Yet few reports focus on filter-feeding megafauna in regions heavily impacted by plastic pollution, such as Indonesia in the Coral Triangle, a global marine biodiversity hotspot. Here, we evaluate plastic abundance and characterize debris from feeding grounds for manta rays Mobula alfredi and whale sharks Rhincodon typus in three coastal locations in Indonesia: Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area, Komodo National Park, and Pantai Bentar, East Java. A 200 μm plankton net was used to sample the top 0.5 m of the water column (‘trawl survey’) and floating plastics were assessed along ∼440 m long transects (‘visual survey’) during the Indonesian north-west (wet) and south-east (dry) monsoon seasons during 2016–2018. Microplastics were identified visually, measured and categorized from trawl samples, and larger floating plastics were counted and categorized visually from boats. Plastic abundance ranged widely from 0.04 to 0.90 pieces m–3 (trawl survey) and 210 to 40,844 pieces km–2 (visual survey). Results from linear models showed significant seasonal and location differences in estimated plastic abundance for trawl and visual surveys in Nusa Penida and Komodo. Plastic abundance was up to ∼ 44 times higher in the wet than the dry season, with the largest seasonal effect observed in Nusa Penida. Overall, small pieces  50% combined) were the most prevalent plastics. Theoretical plastic ingestion rates were calculated using estimated filtration volumes of manta rays and whale sharks and the mean plastic abundance in their feeding grounds. Upper plastic ingestion estimates for manta rays were ∼63 and 25 pieces h–1 for Nusa Penida and Komodo locations, respectively, and ∼137 pieces h–1 for whale sharks in Java. Analysis of manta ray egested material confirmed plastic ingestion, the consequences of which might include exposure to toxic plastic additives and adhered persistent organic pollutants. Communicating this information to communities who stand to benefit from healthy megafauna populations might help local governments as they work toward reducing plastics in the marine environment

Using natural resource wealth to improve access to water and sanitation in Mozambique: A 2012 Australian Development Research Awards Scheme Project—Final Report, October 2015

The project “Using Natural Resource Wealth to Improve Access to Water and Sanitation in Mozambique” was funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through its 2012 Australian Development Research Awards Scheme programme. The project ran from May 2013 to October 2015 and sought to build the case for long-term investment in the water and sanitation sector in Mozambique. In particular, it considered the opportunities afforded by mining activity and associated revenue to address significant gaps in water supply and sanitation (WSS)