University of the Sunshine Coast
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Temporal variations in litterfall biomass input and nutrient return under long-term prescribed burning in a wet sclerophyll forest, Queensland, Australia
No full textLitterfall helps maintaining nutrient return in forest ecosystems. However, the influence of long-term prescribed burning on the dynamics of litterfall biomass and carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling is poorly understood. A 39-year old prescribed burning field trial in a wet sclerophyll forest, southeast Queensland, Australia, was used to investigate the interactive effects of prescribed fire regimes and temporal variation on the quantity and quality of litterfall and C and N return. Treatments included no burning (NB) since 1969, 2 yearly burning (2yrB; burned 19 times) and 4 yearly burning (4yrB; burned 9 times) since 1972. Litterfall was collected monthly on 32 occasions between 2011 and 2013. Significant temporal variation was observed in monthly and annual litterfall biomass. Both burning treatments had lower monthly inputs of total litterfall and leaf litter, mean annual cumulative litter biomass, litter C concentrations and C return via leaf litter, compared with the NB treatment. Most significant reductions in litter N concentrations and N return via litter were associated with 2yrB treatment. The 4yrB and the NB treatments did not differ significantly in terms of twig biomass, litterfall C:N ratios and N return via leaf litter. Despite both long-term prescribed burning treatments negatively impacting C return to the soil by reducing the quantity and quality of litter inputs, previous studies at the site suggest no difference in 0–10 cm soil organic carbon levels between the 4yrB treatment and the unburnt treatment. Hence a longer period of prescribed burning at the 4yrB frequency is likely required before lower C return translates to differences in ecosystem productivity in this wet sclerophyll forest ecosystem. The 2yrB can potentially alter forest C and N cycling and net primary productivity, but these alterations are unlikely to be detected through short-term studies
Engendering belonging: thoughtful gatherings with/in online and virtual spaces
No full textConference attendance is a feature of contemporary academic work and an accepted way of building academic identities and networks through the dissemination and promotion of ideas, achievements and research. However, our personal experiences have caused us to problematise the traditional conference and consider alternatives which mitigate its associated problems yet achieve its aims. In this paper, we use collaborative autoethnography to engage in inquiry about the roles of conferences, and their inhabited notions of representation, membership and inclusion/exclusion. We use personal experiences of virtual confer-ring to highlight that many agreed-upon purposes of attending conferences can be effectively achieved through other means. We explore how particular ways of engaging with technologies enable responsive gathering spaces, relational knowledge production, kinship and community; and facilitate the development, and promotion of scholars and scholarship. We offer a view that confer-ring interactions in online/virtual spaces can support collegial, feminist and egalitarian sharing and knowledge exchange
Introduction: The imperative of critical pedagogies for social work
No full textThe Routledge Handbook of Critical Pedagogies for Social Work traverses new territory by providing a cutting-edge overview of the work of classic and contemporary theorists, in a way that expands their application and utility in social work education and practice; thus, providing a bridge between critical theory, philosophy, and social work. Each chapter showcases the work of a specific critical educational, philosophical and/or social theorist including: Henry Giroux, Michel Foucault, Cornelius Castoriadis, Herbert Marcuse, Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Joan Tronto, Iris Marion Young, Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci and many others to elucidate the ways in which their key pedagogic concepts can be applied to specific aspects of social work education and practice. The text exhibits a range of research-based approaches to educating social work practitioners as agents of social change. It provides a robust and much needed, alternative paradigm to the technique-driven ‘conservative revolution’ currently being fostered by neoliberalism in both social work education and practice. The volume will be instructive for social work educators who aim to teach for social change, by assisting students to develop counter-hegemonic practices of resistance and agency, and reflecting on the pedagogic role of social work practice more widely. The volume holds relevance for both postgraduate and undergraduate/qualifying social work and human services courses around the world. [Book Synopsis
The media and crime
No full textWhat is crime? How much crime is there in our community? Why do people offend? How do we prevent crime? The text is written by leading Australian criminologists and aims to answer these questions.
This book is for university students (particularly suited to first-year students) and others interested in crime to the fields of criminology and criminal justice. Each chapter is written by one or more of Australia’s most widely respected authorities on criminology, lending this collection legitimacy and currency.
The contributors to this volume guide readers through contemporary research on crime and criminality from Australia and overseas. The large majority of chapters do not simply summarise current knowledge but include data from the authors’ original research, as well as offering distinctive insights and policy recommendations.
The content in the text is a blend of Australian and international research, content and context.
This text can be delivered via Revel, offering an interactive learning experience available on all devices. Revel is an additional cost and not included in the book's price. [Book Synopsis
Identifying restoration hotspots that deliver multiple ecological benefits
No full textEcological restoration principally seeks to restore lost or degraded ecosystems. Restoration can, however, also deliver a suite of wider ecological, social, and economic benefits. To optimize performance it is, therefore, important to plan the design and placement of restoration initiatives with a view to maximizing joint effects on ecosystems, animal populations, ecological functions, and ecosystem services. We measured the effects of multiple (13) restored oyster reefs on a suite of restoration benefits (oyster settlement and growth, fish diversity and abundance, the ecological functions of scavenging and predation) in the Noosa River estuary, Australia, and used distribution models to identify potential restoration sites with the greatest overall benefits. Oysters recruited to reefs, and reefs enhanced the diversity and abundance of fishes and had higher rates of ecological functions than control sites. However, the growth of oyster reefs was most correlated with the proximity of restoration sites to urbanized shorelines and the estuary mouth, and the area of mangroves around the site. By contrast, fish diversity and abundance, and the rates of ecological functions, were typically negatively correlated with the proximity of reefs to both mangroves and seagrasses. This complex spatial mosaic resulted in distinct areas predicted to achieve all restoration benefits that were significantly smaller than the total area that could be restored. Applying a systematic and defensible method to identify potential restoration sites that maximize multiple benefits while lowering costs is a sensible social, economic, and ecological strategy
Litter dynamics recover faster than arthropod biodiversity during tropical forest succession
No full textLitterfall and litter decomposition are key elements of nutrient cycling in tropical forests, a process in which decomposer communities such as macro‐arthropods play a critical role. Understanding the rate and extent to which ecosystem function and biodiversity recover during succession is useful to managing the growing area of tropical successional forest globally. Using a replicated chronosequence of forest succession (5–15, 15–30, 30–45 years, and primary forest) on abandoned pastures in lowland tropical wet forest, we examined litterfall, litter chemistry, and effects of macro‐arthropod exclusion on decomposition of two litter types (primary and 5‐ to 15‐years‐old secondary forest). Further, we assessed macro‐arthropod diversity and community composition across the chronosequence. Overstory cover, litterfall, and litter nutrients reached levels similar to primary forest within 15–30 years. Young secondary forest litter (5–15 years) had lower initial N and P content, higher C:N, and decayed 60 percent faster than primary forest litter. The presence of macro‐arthropods strongly mediated decomposition and nutrient release rates, increasing litter mass loss by 35–44 percent, N released by 53 percent, and P release by 84 percent. Forest age had no effect on soil nutrients, rates of litter decomposition, nutrient release, or macro‐arthropod influence. In contrast, abundance and community composition of macro‐arthropods remained significantly lower and distinct in all ages of secondary compared with primary forest. Order richness was lower in 5–15 years of secondary compared with primary forest. Our results suggest that in highly productive tropical wet forest, functional recovery of litter dynamics precedes recovery of decomposer community structure and biodiversity
Services Trade Restrictiveness and Manufacturing Export Sophistication
No full textThis paper highlights the importance of services trade liberalization. It is well-known that there is a strong relationship between the level of economic development of a country and the quality of its export basket. Since the pioneering work of Hausmann, Hwang, and Rodrik (2007), several studies have attempted to identify the determinants of export sophistication. In this paper, based on the existing literature, we argue that restrictiveness of services sector trade can have a negative impact on the level of export sophistication. Using panel data from 36 countries over the 2005-2014 period, we show that the impact of services sector trade restrictiveness on export sophistication is negative and statistically significant. We find that this negative effect has increased in the post-2007 period. Furthermore, restrictiveness of trade in modern services is relatively more detrimental to manufacturing export sophistication. A series of endogeneity and robustness tests confirm the reliability of our main empirical result. Our analysis suggests that services sector trade liberalization can also be used as a development strategy by developing countries
Factors influencing low sodium intake in people with non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease
No full textObjective: To evaluate dietary sodium intake in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and identify contributing factors tolow sodium intake by applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) framework.Design and Methods:Non‐dialysed people with CKD completed a 24‐hour urinary sodium excretion test and ScoredSalt Questionnaire (SSQ). A survey including socio‐demographic information, Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, ShortSodium Knowledge Survey and Dietary Sodium Restriction Questionnaire based on TPB measured the factors contributing todietary adherence.Results:Sixty‐three people [age: 71 (IQR: 64–77); 27% female] participated with 80% having high urinary sodium excretion[median: 134 mmol/day (111; 183)] but only 40% reported high sodium intake [SSQ score=53 (39; 75)]. Overall sodiumknowledge was high in 57% of participants although only 33% had seen a dietitian. There was a positive correlationbetween attitude towards a low‐sodium diet and subjective norm (social expectations), r=0.44, p<0.01; urinary sodiumand the extent of perceived consequences of CKD (r=0.26, p<0.05); and the extent to which willpower was perceived as abarrier to adherence to dietary sodium restriction (r=0.27, p<0.05). Multiple regression analysis revealed taste of low‐saltfoods (β=8.9, p<0.01) explained 26.4% of variance in dietary sodium intake (R2=0.264, F(12, 34), p<0.01).Conclusion:TPB successfully identified barriers to follow a low‐sodium diet in non‐dialysed people with CKD. Tastepreferences, willpower, meeting social expectations and disease concern were identified as key contributing factors to adherence
Improving emergency department transfer for patients arriving by ambulance: A retrospective observational study
No full textOBJECTIVE: Extended delays in the transfer of patients from ambulance to ED can compromise patient flow. The present study aimed to describe the relationship between the use of an Emergency Department Ambulance Off-Load Nurse (EDAOLN) role, ED processes of care and cost effectiveness.
METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study over three periods of before (T1), during (T2) and after (T3) the introduction of the EDAOLN role in 2012. Ambulance, ED and cost data were linked and used for analysis. Processes of care measures analysed included: time to be seen by a doctor from ED arrival (primary outcome), ambulance-ED offload compliance, proportion of patients seen within recommended triage timeframe, ED length of stay (LoS), proportion of patients transferred, admitted or discharged from the ED within 4 h and cost effectiveness.
RESULTS: A total of 6045 people made 7010 presentations to the ED by ambulance over the study period. Several measures improved significantly between T1 and T2 including offload compliance (T1: 58%; T2: 63%), time to be seen (T1: 31 min; T2: 28 min), ED LoS (T1: 335 min; T2: 306 min), ED LoS <4 h (T1: 31%; T2: 33%). Some measures carried over into T3, albeit to a lesser extent. Post-hoc analyses showed that outcomes improved most for less urgent patients. The annualised net cost of the EDAOLN (if funded from additional resources) of $130721 could result in an annualised reduction of approximately 3912h in waiting time to be seen by a doctor.
CONCLUSION: With the EDAOLN role in place, slight outcome improvements in several key ambulance and ED efficiency criteria were noted. During times of ED crowding, the EDAOLN role may be one cost-effective strategy to consider