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A rose in any other shade: Is alpine flower pollinator distribution driven by colour?
Get PDFWhile some plant–pollinator relations are born of scarcity, competition or necessity, the stunning diversity of Australian alpine flora lends itself to rich fields of varied blooms. If there is any plant–pollinator selection happening in the Australian Alps, then it is likely due to insect colour preference. Insects often prefer flowers of specific colours, as visual cues provide guidance for resource distribution. Bees generally prefer yellow flowers, flies white flowers and beetles white flowers.
There are more white flowers (53.5 per cent), than yellow (21.3 per cent) in Kosciuszko National Park. Oxylobium ellipticum, the common shaggy-pea, is a yellow flower found near Charlotte Pass. Epacris paludosa, a star-shaped flower, is white and found in a range of alpine areas. Olearia phlogopappa, the dusty daisy-bush, blooms both purple and white and is found over much of Australia
Estimating subadult age-at-death from skeletal remains: Dentition analysis
Get PDFEstimating age-at-death of skeletal remains is a vital method of biological profiling. Dentition analysis is presented in this essay as a highly accurate and valuable means of estimating the age-at-death of juvenile skeletons. Throughout this essay prominent dental-aging methods will be critiqued and analysed for their accuracy and relevance to age-at-death estimation. It is argued that Gustafson and Koch (1974) and Ubelaker’s (1987) published standards present the most accurate estimation methods of age-at-death compared with competing standards. The application and reliability of these methods is illustrated through osteological individuation in forensic case studies and further demonstrated in medico-legal contexts
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis): An adaptive paradox
Get PDFNeanderthals are widely believed to be a cold-adapted species due its unique craniofacial and postcranial characteristics (Harvati 2003), however in recent years this theory has come in to question (Churchill 1998; Holton and Fransiscus 2008; Rae et al. 2011). This essay reviews arguments that the morphology of Neanderthals are adaptations to a cold environment, and critically examines their validity. This essay begins by outlining the distribution and environment of Neanderthals from 300,000 to 30,000 years ago, provide an overview of Neanderthal derived morphological traits and discuss alternative arguments to the cold-adaptation hypotheses for these traits. The increased pneumatisation, prognathism, and the dolichocephalic cranium found in Neanderthals are unlikely to be a direct adaptation to cold climates. These findings are consistent with Neanderthal postcranial morphology, where body size and shape cannot solely be explained by adaptation to the cold. Instead, other theories are explored, such as increased mobility and activity, anterior dental loading, and hormonal anomalies. Evidence reviewed in this article indicates that the unique morphological characteristics of Neanderthals are likely to be the result of a combination of factors, and are not solely due to cold adaptation
Non-National and Other Approaches to Emissions Reduction: Why More Attention Should Be Given by Economists
Get PDFClimate change policy has been set back by politics in the United States (US) and Australia as the US withdraws from the Paris Agreement and as the Australian government abolished the carbon pricing mechanism. Given the political gridlock at the national level, this article argues that non-national policies are not necessarily economically inferior despite the greater efficiency and scale of national policies. To argue this point, the general theory of second best is used (Lipsey & Lancaster, 1956), there is a review of some sub-national emissions reduction policies and the potential of behavioural economics in climate change is mentioned. The article finds that there is great potential and scope for the implementation of non-national climate change policies
Can examples of ancient human bone neoplasms inform current biomedical bone cancer research?
Get PDFWhilst cancer is often considered to be a modern disease, examples of bone neoplasms can be seen in skeletal remains from ancient human populations. Such ancient examples suggest it is neither a distinctly modern, nor ancient, disease in humans. This essay evaluates the paleopathological study of metastatic carcinoma in relevance to modern biomedical studies, addressing whether the available evidence of these investigations can reliably be used in the development of new methods of bone cancer treatment
Thermal acclimation of photosynthesis and respiration in Eucalyptus pauciflora of varying growth temperatures in Kosciuszko National Park
Get PDFThe processes of photosynthesis and respiration in plants are largely responsible for levels of atmospheric CO2 globally. Predicting future output and uptake of carbon by plants is therefore crucial for developing accurate climate change models. The effect of temperature acclimation on photosynthesis and respiration rates in plants is currently not considered in global carbon models. Therefore, current terrestrial carbon models may be overestimating carbon release from plants as acclimation to higher growth temperatures in many species leads to a fall in respiration and an increase in the temperature at which photosynthesis is optimised. In this study, the ability of photosynthesis and respiration in snow gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora) to acclimate was tested. Leaf samples were taken from trees at four different elevations, and rates of photosynthesis and respiration were measured at 25°C using a licor 6400 Gas Exchange System. Temperatures of each collection site (growth temperatures) were measured hourly over three days using temperature and humidity data loggers (ibuttons). Results were analysed by comparing growth temperature of the samples to the rate of respiration and photosynthesis at 25°C. Lower temperatures correlated to low rates of photosynthesis and higher rates of respiration, when measured at the common temperature of 25°C. These results indicate that respiration and photosynthesis in snow gums does acclimate to ambient temperature, and this allows for the development of more accurate climate change models
Research-based learning: Designing the course behind the research
Get PDFIt is hoped that the papers in this book have encouraged readers to share the authors’ appreciation of the ecology of Kosciuszko National Park—its diversity, variability, subtlety and uniqueness. The authors also hope readers have been intrigued, challenged and informed by the research problems tackled in the papers, as well as the scientific responses and solutions to those problems. This chapter explains a little more of the way in which this research came about, and makes some connections across some key findings. It also explains the pride that the course design team (the authors of this chapter) have in the work of the papers’ authors, most of whom had just a couple of semesters of university study when they embarked on this research
An analysis of the categorisation of the Skhul-Qafzeh hominin remains as modern
Get PDFThe Skhul and Qafzeh hominin fossil remains were found in Qafzeh and Es Skhul Caves in Israel in the late 1920s and early 1930s (Pettitt 2013). Initially classified as descendants of Homo heidelbergensis—i.e. anatomically modern humans—continued analysis of the remains, particularly of the crania, has caused many academics to question this classification (Eiseley 1946). This paper investigates to what extent the Skhul and Qafzeh crania are modern H. sapiens, with particular focus on the anatomically modern and archaic traits of the splanchnocranium, neurocranium, and mandible. The analysis of the remains relative to other hominin species highlights that although the remains possess many anatomically-modern features such as a high cranial vault and gracile browridge, the number of archaic traits still apparent illustrates that the Skhul-Qafzeh remains are unlikely to belong to anatomically modern humans. In this paper, through the analysis of cranial anatomy, I conclude that Skhul and Qafzeh fossilised remains may represent a transitional species between archaic and modern Homo sapiens
A New Way to Rebel: A Case Study on the Methods of Radicalisation and Religious Justifications used by the Islamic State
Get PDFIn the June of 2014, the global jihadist group known today as the Islamic State broke onto the global stage with its unanticipated capture of the Syrian border town of Mosul. Known for their strong belief in the Islamic concept of lesserjihad and their unabashed brutality (for which al-Qaeda denounced them) (Stern and Berger, 2015) the Islamic State has made Jihad a household term. This quick rise to power brought the questions of what exactly caused the radicalisation of those who sought to join the group, and where the Islamic State drew their religious legitimacy from, to the forefront of the public mind
Plastic responses to environmental stressors: Biosynthesis of anthocyanins increases in Eucalyptus pauciflora and Richea continentis with elevation
Get PDFAs a subclass of the flavonoid family of secondary metabolites, anthocyanins have been studied closely in recent years for their multitudinous protective properties in plants. Described as ‘nature’s Swiss army knife’, anthocyanins have putative antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-cancer, photo-protective and colligative characteristics, which have made them a subject of much scientific interest. Anthocyanins are the primarily expressed group of flavonoids in angiosperms such as Eucalyptus pauciflora and Richea continentis. These species of plants are widely found in the Australian alpine environment of the Kosciuszko National Park, a region that is particularly susceptible to climate change. In studying anthocyanin concentration in the leaves of E. pauciflora and R. continentis in parts of the Kosciuszko National Park, anthocyanin concentration was found to positively correlate with elevation. In accordance with previous scientific research, anthocyanin accumulation greatly increased in leaves showing evidence of pathogen attack. In spite of methodological limitations, results of this study support the notion of plasticity in the expression of enzymes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Furthermore, these findings may have implications in climate change modelling in relation to plant species distribution of the Australian alpine region and in conservation ecology.