Griffith University

About: Griffith University is a education organization based out in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 13830 authors who have published 49318 publications receiving 1420865 citations.

Carbon Stocks of Tropical Coastal Wetlands within the Karstic Landscape of the Mexican Caribbean

Abstract: Coastal wetlands can have exceptionally large carbon (C) stocks and their protection and restoration would constitute an effective mitigation strategy to climate change. Inclusion of coastal ecosystems in mitigation strategies requires quantification of carbon stocks in order to calculate emissions or sequestration through time. In this study, we quantified the ecosystem C stocks of coastal wetlands of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (SKBR) in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. We stratified the SKBR into different vegetation types (tall, medium and dwarf mangroves, and marshes), and examined relationships of environmental variables with C stocks. At nine sites within SKBR, we quantified ecosystem C stocks through measurement of above and belowground biomass, downed wood, and soil C. Additionally, we measured nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from the soil and interstitial salinity. Tall mangroves had the highest C stocks (987±338 Mg ha(-1)) followed by medium mangroves (623±41 Mg ha(-1)), dwarf mangroves (381±52 Mg ha(-1)) and marshes (177±73 Mg ha(-1)). At all sites, soil C comprised the majority of the ecosystem C stocks (78-99%). Highest C stocks were measured in soils that were relatively low in salinity, high in P and low in N∶P, suggesting that P limits C sequestration and accumulation potential. In this karstic area, coastal wetlands, especially mangroves, are important C stocks. At the landscape scale, the coastal wetlands of Sian Ka'an covering ≈172,176 ha may store 43.2 to 58.0 million Mg of C.

Residents’ Support for Tourism Testing Alternative Structural Models

Abstract: Social exchange theory (SET) has made significant contributions to research on residents’ support for tourism. Nevertheless, studies are based on an incomplete set of variables and are characterized by alternative, yet contradictory, and theoretically sound research propositions. Using key constructs of SET, this study develops a baseline model of residents’ support and compares it with four competing models. Each model contains the terms of the baseline model and additional relationships reflecting alternative theoretical possibilities. The models were tested using data collected from residents of Niagara Region, Canada. Results indicated that in the best fitted model, residents’ support for tourism was influenced by their perceptions of positive impacts. Residents’ power and their trust in government significantly predicted their life satisfaction and their perceptions of positive impacts. Personal benefits from tourism significantly influenced residents’ perceptions of the positive and negative impacts...

Can sustainable tourism survive climate change

Abstract: This opinion piece contends that tourism's expanding engagement with climate change, as it is currently unfolding, is not necessarily conducive to the interests of tourism sustainability. Inherent unpredictability, long-term timeframes, lack of directly tangible consequences or clearly identifiable villains, issues with credibility and vested interests and cost implications in an era of chronic economic uncertainty all combine to increase the likelihood of unsuccessful climate change policies and strategies. Additional complications arise within the tourism sector from the rudimentary state of knowledge about the relationships between the tourism and climate change, an apathetic and fickle travelling public and a reciprocally uncommitted tourism industry. I argue that adaptation is a rational business response to climate change that is not directly related to environmental and sociocultural sustainability, and that mitigation measures should be supported to the extent that they yield practical and tangibl...

The Fusarium mycotoxin deoxynivalenol elicits hydrogen peroxide production, programmed cell death and defence responses in wheat

Abstract: Fusarium species infect cereal crops worldwide and cause the important diseases Fusarium head blight and crown rot in wheat. Fusarium pathogens reduce yield and some species also produce trichothecene mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON), during infection. These toxins play roles in pathogenesis on wheat and have serious health effects if present in grain consumed by humans or animals. In the present study, the response of wheat tissue to DON has been investigated. Infusion of wheat leaves with DON induced hydrogen peroxide production within 6 h followed by cell death within 24 h that was accompanied by DNA laddering, a hallmark of programmed cell death. In addition, real-time PCR analysis revealed that DON treatment rapidly induced transcription of a number of defence genes in a concentration-dependent manner. Co-treatment with DON and the antioxidant ascorbic acid reduced these responses, suggesting their induction may be at least partially mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS), commonly known to be signalling molecules in plants. Wheat defence genes were more highly expressed in wheat stems inoculated with a DON-producing fungal strain than those inoculated with a DON-non-producing mutant, but only at a late stage of infection. Taken together, the results are consistent with a model in which DON production during infection of wheat induces ROS, which on the one hand may stimulate programmed host cell death assisting necrotrophic fungal growth, whereas, on the other hand, the ROS may contribute to the induction of antimicrobial host defences.