Academic literature on the topic 'Atherton Tableland region (Qld.)'

Summary Ficophagus from collecting trips in eastern Australia, made over 15 years, are summarised and show that species of the genus occurred widely in sycones of Ficus, subgenus Urostigma, section Malvanthera. Two new species (based on morphological differences and molecular sequencing) are described: Ficophagus elizabethae sp. n. from Ficus macrophylla, F. rubiginosa and F. obliqua, and Ficophagus richardi sp. n. from Ficus obliqua; and a morphospecies, Ficophagus Morphospecies malandicus from Ficus obliqua. Ficophagus elizabethae sp. n. is characterised by having the excretory pore (EP) opening from the level of the junction of the conus and shaft of the stylet to that of the knobs, a relatively long procorpus (1.0-2.5 times length of stylet), female tail with an obliquely truncate tail with a hyaline area and a finely to broadly rounded tip which may be mucronate; post-vulval uterine sac (PUS) ca one vulval body diam. (VBD) in length; rose-thorn-shaped spicule with distinct rostrum and prominent condylus; and genital papillae arranged as largest pair adcloacal, second pair posterior to mid-tail length, and third small pair near tail tip; and was collected from Sydney in New South Wales, to Bundaberg in Queensland (QLD). Ficophagus richardi sp. n. is characterised by having the EP opening at the level of the junction of the stylet shaft and conus, a labial cap which is raised around the opening for the stylet; procorpus 0.8-1.7 times length of the stylet, PUS <1 VBD in length, long uterus, and female tail with a V-shaped hyaline area at the bluntly rounded tip; rose-thorn-shaped spicule with a small rostrum and prominent condylus, three pairs genital papillae, first and largest on anterior cloacal lip, second at 70% of tail length measured from cloacal aperture, and third near tip, and was collected from Ban Ban Springs in the south to the Bundaberg region in the mid-north of QLD. In addition, in the absence of pertinent molecular sequences, a morphospecies is described. Ficophagus Morphospecies malandicus is characterised by having the EP opening anterior to the junction of the stylet conus and shaft, procorpus 0.9-2 times length of stylet, a short PUS usually <1 VBD long, short uterus, rose-thorn-shaped spicule with a raised condylus and prominent rostrum, and three pairs of subventral papillae on the tail (one adcloacal, one posterior to mid-tail and one near tail tip); and was collected from the Atherton Tableland, QLD. A table comparing morphological characteristics is provided to help with identification of Ficophagus nematodes from figs of the section Malvanthera in eastern Australia.

A taxonomic revision of Acacia aulacocarpa Cunn. exBenth. and its seven close relatives is presented. These species comprise theA. aulacocarpa group in the AcaciaMill. section Juliflorae and occur naturally in eastern and northernAustralia, New Guinea and Wetar, eastern Indonesia. In the past, the nameA. aulacocarpa has been widely misapplied. This speciesis relatively uncommon but has an extensive geographic range extending fromthe Atherton Tableland region in Queensland, south to northern New SouthWales. Acacia aulacocarpa var.fruticosa C.T.White is considered conspecific withA. aulacocarpa. The nameA. lamprocarpa O.Schwarz is reinstated for a northernAustralian taxon that extends from western Queensland through NorthernTerritory to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Five new taxa aredescribed from A. aulacocarpa sens. lat., namelyA. celsa Tindale (Queensland),A. disparrima subsp. disparrimaM.W.McDonald & Maslin (northern New South Wales and Queensland),A. disparrima subsp. calidestrisM.W.McDonald & Maslin (Queensland), A. midgleyiM.W.McDonald & Maslin (Queensland) andA. peregrina M.W.McDonald & Maslin (New Guinea).A full description is provided for A. crassicarpa Cunn.ex Benth. Mainly on the basis of their mode of pod dehiscence, two subgroupswithin the A. aulacocarpa group are defined:A. aulacocarpa, A. celsa andA. disparrima comprise theA. aulacocarpa subgroup and have pods that dehisce alongthe dorsal suture; and A. crassicarpa,A. lamprocarpa, A. midgleyi,A. peregrina and A. wetarensiscomprise the A. crassicarpa subgroup and have pods thatdehisce along the ventral suture. All species in the group, including theIndonesian species A. wetarensis, are illustrated and akey to the taxa is provided. Acacia celsa,A. crassicarpa, A. peregrina andA. midgleyi have considerable potential for wood production in tropical plantation forestry.

Australian sites that are claimed to preserve evidence of fossil spores and pollen for Late Neogene (Late Miocene, Pliocene) climates, mostly lack one or both of the prerequisites, i.e. accurate dating and continuous preservation of plant microfossils. Nevertheless, the available data confirm that climatic gradients closely parallelled those of the present day in direction although not in strength: broad-scale vegetation successions are ecologically consistent with long-term cooling and (middle to high latitudes) drying trends in global climate. Although it is rarely possible to establish precise meteorological values for the individual sites along these gradients, climatic envelopes can be estimated for many localities. For example, during the Late Miocene–Pliocene, mean annual precipitation along the northern margin appear to range from 600 mm to 1500 mm in the Kimberley region of north-western Western Australia to above 2000–3000 mm on the Atherton Tableland, north-eastern Queensland. If these and other estimates are correct, then environments along the northern margin show only gradual (unidirectional?) change or did not fall below biologically critical thresholds during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene but began to approach modern values during Late Pliocene time. Whether the observation implies that meteorological controls at this time were similar to modern synoptic scale systems is unknown. Climates along the southern margin were more labile. For example, there is unequivocal evidence that Early Pliocene climates in the Bass Strait region were effectively more humid and warmer than at present, possibly resembling conditions now found on the northern New South Wales and southern Queensland coast. This phase was preceded (weak evidence) and succeeded (strong evidence) by less temperate conditions during the Late Miocene and Late Pliocene respectively. Forcing factors appear to include changes in relative sea level, orographic effects and, speculatively, remote events such as the isolation and reconnection of the Mediterranean Sea to the world ocean. One promising direction for future research is provided by a recently located onshore basin in Western Australia which preserves an extraordinarily long (100 m), detailed sequence of Late Neogene palynofloras.

Abstract ContextFeral cats have been identified as a key threat to Australia’s biodiversity, particularly in arid areas and tropical woodlands. Their presence, abundance and potential impacts in rainforest have received less attention. AimsTo investigate the distribution and diet of feral cats (Felis catus) in upland rainforest of the Wet Tropics. MethodsWe collated available occurrence records from the Wet Tropics, and data from upland camera-trapping surveys over an 8-year period, to assess geographic and elevational distribution of feral cats in the bioregion. We also assessed the diet of feral cats from scats collected at upland sites. Key resultsFeral cats are widespread through the Wet Tropics bioregion, from the lowlands to the peaks of the highest mountains (&gt;1600m), and in all vegetation types. Abundance appears to vary greatly across the region. Cats were readily detected during camera-trap surveys in some upland rainforest areas (particularly in the southern Atherton Tablelands and Bellenden Ker Range), but were never recorded in some areas (Thornton Peak, the upland rainforest of Windsor Tableland and Danbulla National Park) despite numerous repeated camera-trap surveys over the past 8 years at some of these sites. Scat analysis suggested that small mammals comprise ~70% of the diet of feral cats at an upland rainforest site. Multivariate analysis could not detect a difference in mammal community at sites where cats were detected or not. ConclusionsFeral cats are widespread in the Wet Tropics and appear to be common in some upland areas. However, their presence and abundance are variable across the region, and the drivers of this variability are not resolved. Small mammals appear to be the primary prey in the rainforest, although the impacts of cats on the endemic and threatened fauna of the Wet Tropics is unknown. ImplicationsGiven their documented impact in some ecosystems, research is required to examine the potential impact of cats on Wet Tropics fauna, particularly the many upland endemic vertebrates. Studies are needed on (1) habitat and prey selection, (2) population dynamics, and (3) landscape source–sink dynamics of feral cats in the Wet Tropics.

Sugarcane is a tropical plant grown for sugar production under a wide range of mainly warmer climates throughout the world whereas under temperate climates sugar beet is grown for sugar production. In Australia, sugarcane is grown predominantly in the tropical and subtropical regions of the east coast. Since 1996 there has been a rapid expansion of sugarcane production in the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Area (MDIA), which is part ofthe Atherton Tableland region, about 50 km inland from Cairns in north Queensland. The expansion has been due to declining sugar yields from sugarcane grown on the coast, several years of devastating storms and cyclones, population growth of Cairns taking up cane land for residential use and the availability of land and water in the MDIA. A major effect of this rapid expansion of sugarcane in the MDIA has been on the availability, supply and cost of irrigation water and the efficiency of water use has become an important issue for growers. This study investigates the potentia for sugar beet to be included into the cropping options of both established sugarcane farmers and other producers in the MDIA. As sugar beet has never been grown in the MDIA (and not commercially in Australia since the 1930 's) a number ofexperiments were conducted to provide yield information under local conditions. Variety trials studied the performance ofa number ofvarieties used in the main sugar beet growing areas ofthe UK, Europe and the USA. Results showed little difference in sugar yield between varieties which were in the range found under commercial production overseas (1012 t/ha). Nitrogen, irrigation and population experiments at two sites (Southedge and Walkamin) in1999 studied the effects of these inputs on sugar beet growth and yield. At Southedge the amount ofapplied nitrogen was having the greatest effect on root yield with 180 kg/ha N giving the highest sugar yield (13.9 t/ha) while the amount of irrigation and population level were less influential. At 180 kg/ha of N, water use efficiency (WUE) was 11.8 and 2.3 t/ML for root and sugar yield respectively in comparison to an estimated sugarcane WUE in the MDIA ofabout 8 and 1.5 t/MLfor cane and sugar yield. At Walkamin it was population level that was having the greatest effect with 100,000 plants/ha giving very high root yields (>100 t/ha) however the sucrose concentration was much less compared to Southedge and so sugar yields were not as high as may have been expected but still higher than Southedge (about 16 t/ha). Water use was about 50 % more on the heavier soil at Walkamin compared to Southedge with 100,000 plants/ha giving an average WUE of12.7 and 1.8 t/ML for root and sugar yield respectively. Growth analysis studies at Southedge showed that radiation would not be limiting to dry matter production, with the excess radiation increasing water use. At Walkamin dry matter production was related to plant population and a higher radiation use efficiency at Walkamin compared to Southedge. An economic study using simple gross margin analysis and yield data from the Southedge trial showed that sugar heet could be a profitable crop in the MDIA however at the current low world sugar prices commercial production is unlikely.