Edith Cowan University

About: Edith Cowan University is a education organization based out in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 4040 authors who have published 13529 publications receiving 339582 citations. The organization is also known as: Edith Cowan & ECU.

The future of Blue Carbon science

Abstract: The term Blue Carbon (BC) was first coined a decade ago to describe the disproportionately large contribution of coastal vegetated ecosystems to global carbon sequestration. The role of BC in climate change mitigation and adaptation has now reached international prominence. To help prioritise future research, we assembled leading experts in the field to agree upon the top-ten pending questions in BC science. Understanding how climate change affects carbon accumulation in mature BC ecosystems and during their restoration was a high priority. Controversial questions included the role of carbonate and macroalgae in BC cycling, and the degree to which greenhouse gases are released following disturbance of BC ecosystems. Scientists seek improved precision of the extent of BC ecosystems; techniques to determine BC provenance; understanding of the factors that influence sequestration in BC ecosystems, with the corresponding value of BC; and the management actions that are effective in enhancing this value. Overall this overview provides a comprehensive road map for the coming decades on future research in BC science.

Meta-analysis reveals complex marine biological responses to the interactive effects of ocean acidification and warming.

Abstract: Ocean acidification and warming are considered two of the greatest threats to marine biodiversity, yet the combined effect of these stressors on marine organisms remains largely unclear. Using a meta-analytical approach, we assessed the biological responses of marine organisms to the effects of ocean acidification and warming in isolation and combination. As expected biological responses varied across taxonomic groups, life-history stages, and trophic levels, but importantly, combining stressors generally exhibited a stronger biological (either positive or negative) effect. Using a subset of orthogonal studies, we show that four of five of the biological responses measured (calcification, photosynthesis, reproduction, and survival, but not growth) interacted synergistically when warming and acidification were combined. The observed synergisms between interacting stressors suggest that care must be made in making inferences from single-stressor studies. Our findings clearly have implications for the development of adaptive management strategies particularly given that the frequency of stressors interacting in marine systems will be likely to intensify in the future. There is now an urgent need to move toward more robust, holistic, and ecologically realistic climate change experiments that incorporate interactions. Without them accurate predictions about the likely deleterious impacts to marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning over the next century will not be possible.

Smaller, faster stomata: scaling of stomatal size, rate of response, and stomatal conductance

Abstract: Maximum and minimum stomatal conductance, as well as stomatal size and rate of response, are known to vary widely across plant species, but the functional relationship between these static and dynamic stomatal properties is unknown. The objective of this study was to test three hypotheses: (i) operating stomatal conductance under standard conditions (g op) correlates with minimum stomatal conductance prior to morning light [g min(dawn)]; (ii) stomatal size (S) is negatively correlated with g op and the maximum rate of stomatal opening in response to light, (dg/dt)max; and (iii) g op correlates negatively with instantaneous water-use efficiency (WUE) despite positive correlations with maximum rate of carboxylation (Vc max) and light-saturated rate of electron transport (J max). Using five closely related species of the genus Banksia, the above variables were measured, and it was found that all three hypotheses were supported by the results. Overall, this indicates that leaves built for higher rates of gas exchange have smaller stomata and faster dynamic characteristics. With the aid of a stomatal control model, it is demonstrated that higher g op can potentially expose plants to larger tissue water potential gradients, and that faster stomatal response times can help offset this risk.

Insights into perovskite-catalyzed peroxymonosulfate activation: Maneuverable cobalt sites for promoted evolution of sulfate radicals

Abstract: Metal-based catalysis has significantly contributed to the chemical community especially in environmental science. However, the knowledge of cobalt-based perovskite for aqueous phase oxidation still remains equivocal and insufficient. In this study, we discovered that Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF) perovskite was exclusively effective for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to produce free radicals, whereas the BSCF was inert to activate peroxydisulfate (PDS) and hydrogen peroxide. The BSCF/PMS exhibited superior performance to the benchmark Co3O4 nanocrystals and other classical PMS activators such as α-MnO2 and spinel CoFe2O4, meanwhile achieving an impressive stability with manipulated cobalt leaching in neutral and basic environment. In situ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) revealed the evolution of massive sulfate radicals (SO4 −) and hydroxyl radicals ( OH) during the oxidation. A comprehensively comparative study of BSCF and Co3O4 nanocrystals was performed, including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammograms (CV) in PMS solution as well as hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR) and oxygen temperature-programmed desorption (O2-TPD) tests. The results unveil that the cobalt-based perovskite, BSCF, exhibited a better electrical conductivity and redox potential than the spinel cobalt oxide to interact with PMS. More importantly, the oxygen vacancies and less-electronegativity A-site metals may secure cobalt sites with a lower valence state for donating electrons to PMS simultaneously for radical generation. This study advances the mechanism of cobalt-based heterogeneous catalysis in environmental remediation.

Variables affecting information technology end-user satisfaction

Abstract: The level of end-user satisfaction with information technology (IT) has widely been accepted as an indicator of IT success. The present research synthesizes and validates the construct of IT end-user satisfaction using a meta-analysis. It accomplishes this by analysing the empirical results of 45 end-user satisfaction studies published between 1986 and 1998 and by focusing on relationships between end-user satisfaction and nine variables: perceived usefulness, ease of use, user expectations, user experience, user skills, user involvement in system development, organizational support, perceived attitude of top management toward the project and user attitude toward information systems (IS) in widely divergent settings. The present analysis found positive support for the influence of all nine variables on end-user IT satisfaction but to varying degrees. The most significant relationships were found to be user involvement in systems development, perceived usefulness, user experience, organizational support and user attitude toward the IS. This has implications for IS analysis and design as well as user training and the development of training support packages.