Cooperative Research Centre

About: Cooperative Research Centre is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Sea ice. The organization has 7633 authors who have published 8607 publications receiving 429721 citations.

The effects of salinity on aquatic plant germination and zooplankton hatching from two wetland sediments

Abstract: SUMMARY 1. The effect of increasing salinity on the emergence of zooplankton eggs and the germination of aquatic plant seeds from the sediment of two wetlands was examined. Salinity was found to cause reductions in species richness and abundance of aquatic plants and zooplankton at salinities between 1000 and 5000 mg L )1 . Aquatic plants also had an associated decrease in above ground biomass. 2. Individual taxa showed different responses to salinity, and four response patterns were identified: (i) increased number of organisms emerging at 1000 mg L )1 ; (ii) decreased number of organisms emerging above 1000 mg L )1 ; (iii) decreased number of organisms emerging between 300 and 1000 mg L )1 ; (iv) no difference in number of organisms emerging across the range of salinities. Response patterns (iii) and (iv) were common to both plants and zooplankton, whereas response patterns (i) and (ii) were only identified for zooplankton. 3. Results indicate that there is potential for the increasing salinity in Australian rivers and wetlands to decrease the species richness of aquatic communities resulting in loss of wetland biodiversity.

Strong resistance to phosphine in the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) (Coleoptera: Laemophloeidae): its characterisation, a rapid assay for diagnosis and its distribution in Australia

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The recent development of very high resistance to phosphine in rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), seriously threatens stored-grain biosecurity. The aim was to characterise this resistance, to develop a rapid bioassay for its diagnosis to support pest management and to document the distribution of resistance in Australia in 20072011. RESULTS: Bioassays of purified laboratory reference strains and field-collected samples revealed three phenotypes: susceptible, weakly resistant and strongly resistant. With resistance factors of > 1000 x , resistance to phosphine expressed by the strong resistance phenotype was higher than reported for any stored-product insect species. The new time-to-knockdown assay rapidly and accurately diagnosed each resistance phenotype within 6 h. Although less frequent in western Australia, weak resistance was detected throughout all grain production regions. Strong resistance occurred predominantly in central storages in eastern Australia. CONCLUSION: Resistance to phosphine in the rusty grain beetle is expressed through two identifiable phenotypes: weak and strong. Strong resistance requires urgent changes to current fumigation dosages. The development of a rapid assay for diagnosis of resistance enables the provision of same-day advice to expedite resistance management decisions. (c) 2012 Commonwealth of Australia. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.