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Preliminary analysis of immune competence traits in northern Australian tropically adapted beef breeds.
No full textImmune competence traits (cell-mediated and antibody-mediated immune responsiveness) were evaluated in northern Australian tropically-adapted beef breeds. A total of 784 Brahman, Droughtmaster, and Santa Gertrudis steers were recorded at weaning for the two traits. The development of a statistical model showed year of birth and breed were significant (P<0.05) for both immune competence traits. For the cell-mediated immune response, the starting (day 0) live weight and the baseline skin thickness ratio was also significant. Heritability estimates were low to moderate for both traits, with 0.18 and 0.22 for cell-mediated and antibody-mediated immune responses, respectively. These preliminary results indicate that genetic variation exists for these immune competence traits in tropically adapted beef breeds. Further research is required to determine if selecting for immune competence in tropical breeds also improves profit by improving production, health (i.e. reduced reliance on antibiotics to prevent or treat disease) and welfare traits
Expected effects of a global transformation of agricultural pest management
No full textAmbitious policy goals to reduce pesticide use and risks have been established at global and regional levels. Here, we provide an assessment of the expected effects of such a global transformation of agricultural pest management. We develop a holistic assessment framework covering economic, human health, food security, social, and environmental effects and conduct a global survey with 517 experts from key disciplines and major agricultural production regions. This is an important step to identify leverage points for advancing pesticide policies and focusing future research efforts. Our results demonstrate that transforming agricultural pest management could be an important nexus for addressing multiple sustainability challenges. We find the highest expected benefits for the environmental and human health domains and the lowest for the economic and food safety domains. For regions with low income and low pesticide use, we find higher benefits and less trade-offs of the transformation than for intensive production systems in Europe and North America. Finally, a transformation is not free of costs and our results indicate that it will require a combination of new and locally adapted pest management solutions, research and support for their implementation on the ground, and an enabling policy environment
Identification of constitutively overexpressed and induced genes in spinosad-resistant Phthorimaea absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)
No full textSpinosad plays a crucial role in the control of Phthorimaea absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), a major pest of tomato, as it is approved for use in both conventional and organic tomato production. However, loss of efficacy due to resistance development has been reported. In this study, we assessed the susceptibility of five field-collected P. absoluta strains to spinosad. Additionally, comparative transcriptome analyses were performed to investigate expression changes of constitutively overexpressed and induced genes associated with spinosad resistance in P. absoluta. Reduced susceptibility (up to 79-fold resistance) to spinosad was identified in the field strains. Transcriptome analysis revealed 3438 genes with constitutive overexpression and 799 genes exhibiting differential expression following spinosad treatment. Further analysis showed that 117 constitutive and 245 spinosad-induced gene expressions related to defense, insecticide detoxification, transport, and stress response, which may play a role in spinosad resistance in P. absoluta. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that the up-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in neural regulatory processes, potentially indicating neuronal adjustments following spinosad exposure. Our research lays an important basis for a better understanding of spinosad resistance and its management
Biosecurity planning With Biosecurity Queensland’s Backing Local Governments Team
No full textTo help local governments fulfil their legislative obligations, Biosecurity Queensland (BQ) has redeveloped a suite of planning tools useful for the development of biosecurity plans—the Invasive Species Planning Toolkit.
The Invasive Species Planning Toolkit is designed to help local governments assess and prioritise invasive species for prevention, surveillance, treatment and eradication. The tools provide a user-friendly, science-based guide to biosecurity planning strategies and actions for effective management. The Invasive Species Planning Toolkit will be available soon on the Department of Primary Industries website.
The Backing Local Governments project—a new BQ initiative—will support Queensland councils in their management of invasive species. In addition to the launch of the revised Invasive Species Planning Toolkit, the team are updating guidance material and templates to assist local governments in fulfilling their obligations under the Biosecurity Act 2014 (the Act).
This presentation will share the project’s insights with PAWS delegates into current best practice in biosecurity planning and pest prioritisation since commencement of the project in October 2024
Seek and you shall find - early detection success stories
No full textPreventing the establishment of high-risk invasive plants generates an estimated benefit to cost ratio of 100:1. In Queensland, the species that pose the highest risk and that are not present in the state, or are the subject of prevention or eradication actions, are listed as prohibited matter under the Biosecurity Act 2014.
Pre-emptive surveillance is our best chance of detecting incursions of these high-risk target species while populations are small and vulnerable to complete elimination. However, early detection is challenging and needs to be approached strategically.
Biosecurity Queensland and partners have developed several surveillance strategies, including (1) the Weed Spotters Network, a network of 1800 citizen scientists trained to detect and report target species, (2) monitoring observations of target species submitted through the online biodiversity cataloguing application iNaturalist, and (3) monitoring ‘sentinel sites’ – locations where target species are most likely to be found.
Three outstanding early detection success stories are: (1) yellow fever tree (Vachellia xanthophloea) reported through the Weed Spotters Network; (2) Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata) detected via iNaturalist and the Atlas of Living Australia Biosecurity Alerts Service; and (3) tropical soda apple (Solanum viarum) detected at a sentinel site. In all three examples, detection resulted in delimitation and removal of the population. Such action is predicted to have prevented multimillion-dollar problems from developing. Tropical soda apple alone costs Florida cattle producers an estimated US$15 million per annum in lost production.
These case studies demonstrate that implementing multiple targeted surveillance strategies and engaging citizen scientists increases the likelihood of early detection
Mapping the condition of Queensland’s grazing lands
No full textGrazing land condition is the ability of grazing land to convert rainfall into useful forage and is determined by changes in pasture, soil, and woodland condition. The Grazing Land Management framework defines four condition classes (A, B, C or D), indicating maintenance of 100%, 80%, 50% and 20% of productive potential respectively. The Queensland Government is currently funding a six-year program to map grazing land condition in key Great Barrier Reef catchments. The work incorporates assessment of thousands of grazing land sites using the Land Condition Assessment Tool (LCAT), modelling the ABCD land condition class at those sites and generating modelled land condition maps across the targeted regions. Modelling and mapping land condition across large areas presents some significant challenges. For example, land condition is a multidimensional outcome that can be hard to mathematically fit to a unidimensional scale like ABCD, and spatial data that might predict some of these dimensions is either absent or limited. This has led the project to investigate and trial a number of approaches to delivering land condition mapping. This paper outlines the project’s progress and some of our key learnings so far. These include an outline of LCAT sampling to date, an overview of the modelling and validation process and details around the planned rollout of the mapping
Arresting grazing land condition decline in Queensland’s northern gulf should be framed around improving business performance
No full textMonitoring Australia’s Northern Gulf region over the past two decades has shown a continuous decline in land condition, reflecting declining capacity to respond to rainfall and produce useful livestock forage. In 2004, 69% of monitored sites had their carrying capacity estimate reduced based on one or more land condition indicators, increasing to 92% in 2023. If grazing pressure and management on the ever-diminishing natural resource base continues as is, the rate of decline in land condition may further escalate.
On-property experience and research results demonstrate the importance of improved land condition, and consequently improved long-term land and animal productivity, profitability, and resilience to climatic variability. Northern beef industry financial performance data confirm business performance is maximised when per animal performance is maximised. But barriers to adoption persist and these must be overcome. Therefore, landholder engagement and extension efforts to improve land condition should focus on improving business performance through maximising per head animal performance while addressing constraints to adoption
What’s good in the wood: unveiling chemical shifts induced by Cryptotermes brevis digestion
No full textThe West Indian drywood termite, Cryptotermes brevis , causes large economic impacts by consuming wooden structures. The complexity of the lignocellulosic matrix presents many challenges to termites, who have evolved methods to tolerate recalcitrant components. Chemical variations among wood species and the ability of C. brevis to consume them remains understudied. This work compared the chemical composition of hoop pine ( Araucaria cunninghamii ) and shining gum ( Eucalyptus nitens ) before (whole wood) and after ingestion (frass) by C. brevis . Holocellulose content in hoop pine declined from 58.7 % of the original wood to 10.9 % in frass, while shining gum holocellulose content decreased from 55.7 % to 12.5 % in the frass. Reductions in hemicellulose were 62 % and 38 %, respectively, while >90 % reductions in α-cellulose were observed within either wood source. Klason lignin levels were similar in wood and frass for both diets. The total extractives did not differ between wood and frass, but specific compounds varied independently. The results suggest the C. brevis gut and/or its microbiome primarily utilised carbohydrate components while essentially disregarding lignin and extractives. The results improve the understanding of how wood sources affect termite activity and may advise future material choices for improved pest management
Design uncertainty in long span mass timber floors: proposed band-beam solution
No full textThe low relative density of timber compared to other building materials (concrete and steel) increases its sensitivity to low frequency footfall vibrations. Coupled with the scarcity of experimental data on in-situ floor vibration performance, shorter clear spans (~8 m) and excessive panel thicknesses are often prescribed for mass timber floors. This study combines in-situ performance testing of an existing mass timber floor under a conventional 5.5 m span supported by glulam with a conceptual cross-laminated timber band-beam. The existing floor performance met those of a high frequency floor (>10 Hz natural frequency, 2.93% damping ratio). Sensitivity testing indicated damping ratios and floor classifications (low or high frequency) can greatly impact response factor calculations. A conceptual floor design was implemented by replacing the hardwood glulam with thinner, laboratory-tested band-beams. The numerical results indicated a change in the floor classification and an increase in response factor. Further experimental investigations can help determine the optimal band-beam design
Degradation information-guided Mamba for underwater image enhancement
No full textUnderwater imaging process is degraded by absorption and scattering, hindering the development of marine science. Underwater Image Enhancement (UIE) techniques have been developed to address this issue. Most of the current best performing UIE methods adopt solutions combining deep learning and physical models. However, mainstream deep learning networks fail to strike a good balance between globality and computational cost. In addition, existing physics-informed deep learning typically relies on a single source of physical information with degradation from a single aspect. The issue of integrating and fusing multiple physical information to UIE is not well addressed. Based on the above analysis, a degradation information-guided Mamba for underwater image enhancement is proposed, named UIEMamba. In the framework, an advanced Mamba-based backbone is designed to achieve the balance between globality and computational cost. Under the Mamba framework, the Two-Stream Swap subnet (TSS-subnet) is designed to extract and fuse information from transmission maps and color difference maps, indicating degradation levels at multiple sources. To fully utilize and fuse this degradation information, a Local to Global Multi-level Fusion subnet (LGMF-subnet) is proposed with traditional local convolution and a newly designed global Degradation Information Guided Mamba (DIG-Mamba). Our method is tested on four real-world underwater datasets, and the experimental results demonstrate that UIEMamba outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods in both quantitative metrics and visual quality