Showing papers by "James Cook University published in 1987"
TL;DR: The data suggest that reserve status is causal in these differing abundance and size structure estimates for the large, common, reef fish Cheilodactylus spectabilis (Hutton).
Abstract: Total abundance estimates for the large, common, reef fish Cheilodactylus spectabilis (Hutton) were obtained for a marine reserve and adjacent section of coast in north-eastern New Zealand during 1985. Visual strip-transects were used to estimate abundance and size structure in both areas. The accuracy, precision and cost efficiency of five transect sizes (500, 375, 250, 100, 75 m2) were examined over three times per day (dawn, midday and dusk), by simulating transects over mapped C. spectabilis populations. Two transect sizes showed similarly high efficiency. The smaller of the two (20x5 m) was chosen for the survey because of the general advantages attributable to small sampling units. Biases related to strip-transect size are discussed. Preliminary sampling indicated that C. spectabilis was distributed heterogeneously, and that density was habitat-related. An optimal stratified-random design was employed in both locations, to obtain total abundance and size-structure estimates. This reduced the between-habitat source of variability in density. The total number of sampling units used was governed by the time available. The resulting total abundance estimates obtained were 18 338±2 886 (95% confidence limit) for the 5 km marine reserve, compared to 3 987±1 117 for an adjacent, heavily fished 4 km section of coast. When corrected for total area and habitat area sampled, this represented a 2.3-fold difference in abundance. If sampling had been designed to detect an arbitrary 10% difference in abundance within each habitat, an infeasible 440 h of sampling would have been required. Size-frequency distributions of C. spectabilis at the reserve had a larger model size class than distributions from the adjacent area. The data suggest that reserve status is causal in these differing abundance and size structure estimates.
170 citations
TL;DR: Results suggest that it may be possible to track the movements of coral embryos and larvae directly for the first one or two days following mass spawning, and indirectly thereafter by monitoring other surface features.
Abstract: Aerial surveys and surface samples in the spring of 1985, showed that slicks of coral eggs and embryos (coral spawn) formed in large numbers within and between reefs in the Central Great Barrier Reef Region. Coral-spawn slicks appeared on the days immediately following the annual mass multispecific spawning of reef corals. They were white or pink in colour, and were often highly elongate in form extending up to 5 km in length, and 10 m in width. Over 99% of each slick sampled during the surveys consisted of dead eggs, embryos and their breakdown products, which formed dense, highly viscous patches readily recognizable during aerial surveys. Despite the low proportion of live material, the slicks contained high concentrations of live embryos (15 to 230 per litre) which were over two orders of magnitude greater than concentrations in adjacent water masses. The distinctive colour, shape and texture of the coral-spawn slicks generally distinguished them from slicks formed by blooms of the blue-green alga Oscillatoria erythraea, which also occur commonly in the region. Many of the slicks were closely associated with surface oceanographic features, such as fronts between water parcels, and wakes and eddies behind reefs. Although more detailed sampling and surveys are required, these results suggest that it may be possible to track the movements of coral embryos and larvae directly for the first one or two days following mass spawning, and indirectly thereafter by monitoring other surface features.
118 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the structural styles of mineralisation within these environments are similar except that hydrothermal intrusive breccia pipes are more common in boron-rich environments and apogranite/massive greisen systems are more frequent in fluorine-rich ones.
Abstract: Individual Sn provinces or regions within provinces are sometimes enriched in fluorine or boron, giving rise to fluorine-rich and boron-rich environments. The structural styles of mineralisation within these environments are similar except that hydrothermal intrusive breccia pipes are more common in boron-rich environments and apogranite/massive greisen systems are more common in fluorine-rich environments. The increased solubility of H2O in B-bearing magmas compared to F-bearing magmas may play a role in the structural evolution of the mineralising systems. The greater mechanical energy produced during crystallisation of B-rich magmas provides a mechanism for breccia pipe and stockwork formation, while the more passive crystallisation of F-rich magmas often results in the formation of disseminated mineralisation. The partitioning of boron toward the aqueous fluid phase and the enhanced solubility of silica in the fluid phase frequently results in tourmalinisation and silicification of the wall-rocks in B-rich environments. In contrast, feldspathic and sericitic alterations usually predominate in F-rich environments.
105 citations
TL;DR: Field experiments in which fragments of one individual sponge were transplanted to different conditions of illumination and depth demonstrate that the chemical variability reflects the range of environmental conditions under which R. odorabile lives rather than any genetic differences.
76 citations
TL;DR: It appears that terpenoids from soft coral may contribute to the lack of epizoic organisms on soft-coral polyparies.
Abstract: Colonies of the soft coral Lobophytum pauciflorum (Ehrenberg, 1834) (Coelenterata: Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Alcyoniidae), some of which were heavily overgrown by the algae Ceranium flaccidum (Kuetzing) Ardissone and Enteromorpha sp., and other minor epizoites, were collected at Taylor Reef (17°50′S; 146°35′E) in the Great Barrier Reef. Overgrown colonies contained the diterpene 2-epi-sarcophytoxide as the major secondary metabolite, while conspecific colonies with clean polyparies contained two diterpenes in approximately equal amounts: 14-hydroxycembra-1,3,7,11-tetraene and 15-hydroxycembra-1,3,7,11-tetraene. By contrast, twenty conspecific pairs of overgrown and clean colonies of other alcyoniid soft corals collected from Pelorus Channel, Palm Island Group (18°34′S; 146°29′E), showed no chemical differences within in the pairs. Cultures of a common species of Ceramium [C. codii (Richards) Mazoyer] were incubated with different concentrations of nine soft-coral-derived diterpenes and significant algal growth inhibition was observed in many cases. It appears that terpenoids from soft coral may contribute to the lack of epizoic organisms on soft-coral polyparies.
72 citations
TL;DR: The leeward fringing reef at Fantome Island (central Great Barrier Reef province) is a carbonate body which has developed under the influence of terrigenous sedimentation as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The leeward fringing reef at Fantome Island (central Great Barrier Reef province) is a carbonate body which has developed under the influence of terrigenous sedimentation. The reef flat is up to 1000 m wide and is surfaced by mobile sand and gravel, with almost all live corals restricted to the seaward rim. The reef slope has coral columns and heads on the upper part, but below 5 m water depth it is a muddy substrate with scattered mounds of branching corals. Three high recovery cores show the reef is up to 10 m thick and developed over a gently sloping terrace of weathered Pleistocene alluvium. Three post-glacial stratigraphic units are recognised : (I) carbonate reef top unit of coral rudstone and framestone including Sinuluriu spiculite; (2) lower slope unit of coral floatstone in a terrigenous muddy matrix; and (3) transgressive basal unit of skeletal arkosic sand. The acid insoluble content of matrix and of individual corals increases downwards. Coral growth rates decrease downwards, reflecting slower growth in muddier environments. Radiocarbon dating shows that the reef prograded seaward at almost stable sea level. An average vertical accumulation rate of 6.7 mm yr-’ is indicated. Two age reversals are interpreted as material transported by storms or by erosion in response to a late Holocene sea-level fall. The carbonate reef top unit has developed adjacent to, and is environmentally compatible with a muddy terrigenous, lower slope unit. Terrigenous influx has not changed during the Holocene, and terrigenous content of sediments is controlled by deposition on the reef slope of fine sediment winnowed from the reef flat and concentration of coarse sediment in the transgressive basal sheet.
72 citations
TL;DR: By manipulating the colour frequencies of subpopulations of small snails isolated on individual trees, it was shown that the disappearance of yellow and brown shells was frequency-dependent, consistent with hypotheses of mimicry of background elements by the morphs and of apostatic selection by unknown predators.
Abstract: Littoraria filosa (Sowerby) is a member of the L. scabra group, found amongst the foliage of mangrove trees in northern Australia. The colour of the shell is polymorphic, showing two discrete ground colours, either yellow or orange-pink, with a variable degree of superimposed brown patterning. At a site on Magnetic Island, northern Queensland, colour frequencies of small snails were similar on different backgrounds. Amongst larger shells yellows were more frequent on Avicennia trees with abundant foliage, and browns on relatively bare trees, suggesting that visual selection for crypsis occurred. There was no evidence of substrate selection by the morphs. Yellow shells were cooler than brown shells, but differences in colour frequencies on sunny and shaded trees, and at different seasons, did not suggest climatic selection. By manipulating the colour frequencies of subpopulations of small snails isolated on individual trees, it was shown that the disappearance of yellow and brown shells was frequency-dependent. This result is consistent with hypotheses of mimicry of background elements by the morphs and of apostatic selection by unknown predators. Only the latter can account for the persistence of the highly conspicuous pink morph at a low frequency.
62 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the fate of high river discharge in the Central Great Barrier Reef by producing near-record floods between Townsville and Cairns and concluded that terrestrial runoff has not reached the Reef in historical times except, perhaps, during rare Burdekin River floods.
Abstract: Tropical Cyclone Winifred (1 February 1986) provided an ideal opportunity to examine the fate of high river discharge in the Central Great Barrier Reef by producing near-record floods between Townsville and Cairns. Comparison of the carbon isotope ratio of organic matter in shelf sediment collected immediately before and after the cyclone showed that the bulk of terrestrial plant detritus from the Johnstone River was deposited within 2 km of the rivermouth and none moved more than 15 km offshore. By comparing the magnitude of the Johnstone River flow to the maximum recorded flows on other rivers in the Great Barrier Reef Province, we conclude that terrestrial runoff has not reached the Reef in historical times except, perhaps, during rare Burdekin River floods. Terrestrial detritus initially deposited near chore, however, is resuspended during tropical cyclones and may eventually be transported to the Reef.
61 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that a relationship between toxicity and morphology can be demonstrated, but it is heavily dependent upon which specific morphological characters are being considered and at what level of taxonomic resolution the analysis is being performed.
Abstract: The relationship between ichthyotoxicity and predation-related defensive functional morphology was examined in alcyonacean soft corals of the central and northern regions of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. Approximately 170 specimens were assessed encompassing a number of genera within three families: 1) the Alcyoniidae (Lobophytum, Sarcophytum, Sinularia, Cladiella, Parerythropodium, and Alcyonium); 2) Neptheidae (Lemnalia, Paralemnalia, Capnella, Lithophyton, Nephthea, Dendronephthya, Scleronephthya, and Stereonephthya), and 3) Xeniidae (Anthelia, Efflatounaria, Cespitularia, Heteroxenia, and Xenia). Ichthyotoxicity data were derived from earlier studies which used Gambusia affinis Baird and Girard (Vertebrata, Pisces) as a test organism. These data were compared to morphological data collected from specimens in the field and laboratory. Three sets of statistical analyses were performed, each considering a progressively narrower group of taxa. The first included 68 specimens and considered 16 morphological characters in each, falling into the general categories of gross colony form, colony texture, presence of mucus, colony color, polyp retractility, and sclerite morphology and distribution. These were tested for independence against ichthyotoxicity data. The second set of analyses involved a more restricted morphological data set derived from 28 species of Sinularia in combination with 28 species within the Nephtheidae, comparing them to their respective toxicity ranks. The third analysis considered the previous two taxonomic groups separately in relation to their toxicity levels.The attempt to consider many morphological characters in a taxonomically diverse collection did not reveal any general association in the Alcyonacea between defensive morphology and toxicity, and those associations which did emerge were clearly erroneous. The second analysis, considering only Sinularia spp. and nephtheids, demonstrated a negative association between ichthyotoxicity and the morphological characters of a) polypary armament, b) microarmament of the individual polyp, and c) strong mineralization of the coenenchyme. The third analysis revealed that the negative association found between toxicity and the first two characters was derived entirely from the nephtheids while the association detected between toxicity and the third character was restricted to Sinularia. It is concluded that a relationship between toxicity and morphology can be demonstrated, but it is heavily dependent upon which specific morphological characters are being considered and at what level of taxonomic resolution the analysis is being performed. An approach utilizing many characters over many taxa is unlikely to yield significant, reliable, or meaningful results.
58 citations
TL;DR: Evidence is presented which indicates the arabinose occurs primarily at the terminal position of oligosaccharide side chains, and no evidence for linkage of N-acetylglucosamine to any other glycoses in the glycoprotein.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, drift and upstream movement were monitored over 14 months in a seasonal upland tropical stream in northeastern Australia, where drift density ranged from 0.36 to 3.98 animals per m3 (monthly mean = 1.26).
Abstract: Drift and upstream movement were monitored over 14 months in a seasonal upland tropical stream in northeastern Australia. There were distinct seasonal pulses in the drift with variable peak levels in the summer wet season and low more stable levels during the dry season. Drift density ranged from 0.36 to 3.98 animals per m3 (monthly mean = 1.26). There was no correlation between drift density and either benthic density or stream discharge. In the absence of catastrophic drift, drift was dispersive, not depletive in the wet season. A total of 121 taxa were caught in the 14 drift samples. Most taxa had nocturnal maximum drift levels with a peak immediately after sunset, a pattern apparently related to level of light and not temperature. Compensation for drift by upstream-moving nymphs and larvae was least during the wet season and increased during the dry season to a peak of 27% by numbers. Mean compensation was 8.2%. It is suggested that apart from in the wet season when an animal may drift substantial distances, most riffle animals will spend their larval lives in one small stretch of stream.
TL;DR: The application of high-performance liquid chromatography to the quantitative analysis of organic acids in sugar cane process juice is described and allows the simultaneous determination of oxalic, cis-aconitic, citric, phosphoric, malic, trans-aconsitic, succinic, glycolic, lactic, formic and acetic acids.
TL;DR: 28 degrees C (range 25-33 degrees C) was found to be the optimum temperature for the development and survival of the free-living stages of strongyle parasites occurring in horses in tropical north Queensland, and Larval development was very rapid and yields of infective larvae highest at this temperature.
TL;DR: The pattern of development of the pools' communities was much as expected from island biogeography theory, except that there was no relationship between species richness and duration and size of pools.
Abstract: Nine pools were studied in an intermittent stream. They were close to each other but differed in size, substratum, amount of shade and duration of water presence. Initial conditions were set by wet season flooding, following which each pool developed its own character. Cluster analysis showed that communities changed substantially with time in both species composition and abundance, and that some initially similar communities diverged while some initially dissimilar ones converged. Principal Components Analysis showed that these community changes were due largely to the drying of the pools, and to seasonal effects. Specialised drying communities developed in the pools of longer duration (up to 8 months), but not in the short-lived pools (3–4 months). Apparently similar numerical responses in different pools were often caused by different suites of predominant species. The diversity of the fauna (total of 78 species) was high in comparison with similar habitats in non-tropical regions. The pattern of development of the pools' communities was much as expected from island biogeography theory, except that there was no relationship between species richness and duration and size of pools. The species complements were largely opportunistic, being governed by extreme environmental disturbance.
TL;DR: Because seasonality in tropical habitats is controlled primarily by variations in rainfall rather than variations in temperature, this constrains the ways in which tropical species can adapt to seasonally adverse conditions and in particular, may give greater importance to migratory behaviour as a component of seasonal adaptation.
Abstract: Because seasonality in tropical habitats is controlled primarily by variations in rainfall rather than variations in temperature, it is frequently less predictable in timing, and spatially more patchy than seasonality in temperate habitats. This constrains the ways in which tropical species can adapt to seasonally adverse conditions, and in particular, may give greater importance to migratory behaviour as a component of seasonal adaptation. Australian pierid and nymphalid butterflies illustrate these points. The species studied are present as adults during the dry season. Some undergo a reproductive diapause while others breed continuously. Major seasonal shifts in geographic distribution are a conspicuous feature of their biology, except in species whose reproduction is cued directly by rainfall, or are restricted to less seasonal microhabitats. Reproductive diapause is often associated with aggregation and with non-melanic polyphenism. Reasons for spending the dry season as an adult may include the fact that adult food remains available through the dry season even though larval resources disappear, and an improved capacity for opportunistic dispersal before breeding begins. The use of direct rainfall cues to control diapause may exclude non-migratory species from subtropical or temperate regions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used implanted trays in Yuccabine Creek, a n upland stream in north-eastern Australia which exhibits a strong seasonal pattern of discharge and temperature, and found that drift alone could have accounted for all colonization in late wet season, 63% of colonization in mid dry season and less (unmeasured) in late dry season.
Abstract: SUMMARY 1. Experiments using implanted substrata were conducted in Yuccabine Creek, a n upland stream in north-eastern Australia which exhibits a strong seasonal pattern of discharge and temperature. The implanted substrata were either set in the stream bed or were raised in the water column. Three experiments were run, at different times of the year.
2. Colonization rate was dependent on benthic abundance, mobility of the fauna and distribution of resources. The rates on embedded trays were similar in the late wet season and mid dry season, but colonization rate in the late dry season was greater.
3. Drift alone could have accounted for all colonization in the late wet season, 63% of colonization in the mid dry season and less (unmeasured) in the late dry season. Drift acts to disperse early instars to patches of suitable habitat after the summer wet-season peak in reproduction.
4. Following the wet season, stream discharge decreases, benthic abundance increases, resources become more concentrated, and movements of animals in contact with the substratum play an increasingly important role in colonization.
TL;DR: The purified glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) was absolutely specific with respect to the coenzyme substrate (NADP+/NADPH), and was insensitive to allosteric regulation by nucleotides; unlike other coelenterate GDHs, the coral enzyme was absorlutely specific for ammonium as amino group donor in the reductive amination reaction, and major differences in kinetic properties were apparent.
Abstract: As an initial step in our study of nitrogen metabolism in the coral/algal symbiosis we have purified glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.4) to homogeneity from polyp tissue of the staghorn coral Acropora formosa collected from Magnetic Island (North Queensland) in 1985–1986. The purified enzyme had a specific activity of 78 U mg-1. The native enzyme had a relative molecular weight, M
r, of 360 000 (±20 000), and appears to be a hexamer with subunits of M
r=56000 (±3 000). Like the enzyme from other coelenterates, the coral glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) was absolutely specific with respect to the coenzyme substrate (NADP+/NADPH), and was insensitive to allosteric regulation by nucleotides; unlike other coelenterate GDHs, the coral enzyme was absorlutely specific for ammonium as amino group donor in the reductive amination reaction, and major differences in kinetic properties were apparent. Linear Michaelis-Menten kinetics were observed for the substrates a-ketoglutarate, NADPH and NADP+, the K
m values being 0.93, 0.11 and 0.03 mM, respectively. However glutamate dehydrogenase displayed biphasic kinetics with respect to l-glutamate and ammonium, indicating two apparent K
m values (18 and 81 mM for l-glutamate and 9.2 and 416 mM for ammonium). The enzyme also exhibits Scatchard plots, Hill coefficients and cooperativity indices characteristic of enzymes displaying negative cooperativity.
TL;DR: The main Bounty Channel is about 800 km long and forms a sediment transport link between the continental margin and the distal Bounty Fan, located at the mouth of the Bounty Trough and onlapping onto abyssal oceanic crust as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Bounty Channel system is located within the Bounty Trough, a Cretaceous rift on the eastern edge of the New Zealand microcontinent. Today, the system is fed with sediment from the eastern South Island shelf, through the Otago Fan complex. The main Bounty Channel is about 800 km long and forms a sediment transport link between the continental margin and the distal Bounty Fan, located at the mouth of the Bounty Trough and onlapping onto abyssal oceanic crust. The Bounty Channel system has existed in its present setting since the inception of the Alpine Fault plate boundary in the mid-Cenozoic, while ancestral marine channel systems occur back to the Paleocene.
TL;DR: Mariculture research and methods that have been developed to culture giant clams, in particular for the largest and fastest-growing species, Tridacna gigas, are described.
Abstract: Recent research has been directed at methods for farming giant clams to meet the demands for giant clam products and to replenish overfished populations. Giant clams differ from other bivalves not only in their large size but also in their dependence on symbiotic algae for nutrition. Typical bivalve mariculture methods are thus not necessarily applicable to giant clams, and innovations have been required. We describe mariculture research and methods that have been developed to culture giant clams, in particular for the largest and fastest-growing species, Tridacna gigas.
TL;DR: A procedure based on fuzzy set theory is presented which extends content analysis by permitting the researcher to use fuzzy, or “blurred” categories for coding, which are allowed to overlap one another, thereby enabling the researchers to investigate overlap and inclusion relationships among thematic categories.
Abstract: Conventional content analysis uses “hard-edged” categories for coding qualitative data (e.g., content themes), and this practice not only loses valuable information but also restricts the ways in which such data may be analyzed. This paper presents a procedure based on fuzzy set theory which extends content analysis by permitting the researcher to use fuzzy, or “blurred” categories for coding. These categories are allowed to overlap one another, thereby enabling the researcher to investigate overlap and inclusion relationships among thematic categories. The technique is briefly explained, and the bulk of the paper is devoted to a demonstration of its use in an applied research context. The final section discusses some extensions of this technique and its applications in exploratory data analysis.
TL;DR: The equine phycomycotic agent, known commonly as Hyphomyces destruens or occasionally as Pythium gracile, is described as a new species Pythium destruensing on the basis of morphological features, temperature growth profiles, esterase/lipase activity, and carbohydrate utilization ability.
Abstract: The equine phycomycotic agent known commonly as Hyphomyces destruens or occasionally as Pythium gracile, is described as a new species Pythium destruens. Separation is on the basis of morphological features, temperature growth profiles, esterase/lipase activity, and carbohydrate utilization ability. P. diclinum (synonymous with P. gracile sensu Middleton) showed minor differences in vesicle, oospore and oogonium size from P. destruens. P. destruens grew at 40°C on corn meal agar and hydrolysed esters of lauric and oleic acids. These abilities were not displayed by P. diclinum, but this species grew more vigorously on cellobiose, fructose, gentibiose, inulin, raffinose, maltose, mannose, salicin, starch and sucrose than P. destruens. The latter species showed no substantial ability for growth on inulin, raffinose, and salicin. Equine isolates from Australia, Japan and New Guinea were similar.
TL;DR: The comparative study showed that O. gibsoni and O. volvulus have many derived morphological characteristics in common and that in the other species more primitive stages of development of these morphological marks can be observed.
Abstract: The midbody regions of female worms of six Onchocerca species (O. flexuosa, O. tarsicola, O. lienalis, O. gutturosa, O. armillata, O. gibsoni) were studied by transmission electron microscopy. The cuticular layering was rather similar in all species with the ridges built up by the cortical layers and the inner cuticular striations by the median or basal layers. Differences in the epicuticular morphology were considerable. O.flexuosa and O. lienalis had a thin epicuticle without protuberances, the epicuticle of O. armillata carried small knobs, and O. tarsicola, O. gutturosa, and O. gibsoni had a thick trilaminar epicuticle with long protuberances. Extreme hypertrophy of hypodermis and reductions of somatic musculature were observed in O. flexuosa and O. gibsoni. Less extended thickenings of the hypodermis were observed in the other species. No degenerative alterations were found in the muscle cells of O. gutturosa and O. lienalis. The intestinal lumen of most of the species was in a central position, but in O. tarsicola and O. gibsoni the lumen was reduced to small clefts between the intestinal cells. In these species, numerous electron-dense, concentric granules were observed in the cytoplasm of the intestinal cells. The proportions of the various organs differed considerably from species to species, e.g., the uteri contained the embryos filed one behind the other in O. tarsicola, whereas 50 or more embryos were found beside one another in cross-sections of the uterus of O. gibsoni. The comparative study showed that O. gibsoni and O. volvulus have many derived morphological characteristics in common and that in the other species more primitive stages of development of these morphological marks can be observed.
TL;DR: The Palmerville Fault is the principal fault in a complex imbricate thrust system that has resulted in the basement rocks over-riding sediments of the Hodgkinson Province as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Along part of the Precambrian‐Palaeozoic boundary in northern Queensland adjacent Palaeozoic flysch sequences (1) are separated by major reverse faults, (2) differ markedly in sedimentary characteristics and (3) have anomalous stratigraphic relations suggesting that they were originally deposited far apart. Internally, the sequences young mainly to the west towards the basement. These relationships suggest a tectonic model in which the Palmerville Fault is the principal fault in a complex imbricate thrust system that has resulted in the basement rocks over‐riding sediments of the Hodgkinson Province. The Palmerville Fault has been steepened by later movements on the underlying faults and by regional shortening. The fault is localized along a pre‐existing (?)Precambrian mylonite zone. A minimum age of Late Carboniferous (300 Ma) has been obtained for the last major fault movement by K‐Ar dating of granitoids intruding the fault.
TL;DR: The Middle Permian Collinsville Coal Measures of the northern Bowen Basin illustrate a range of cold to cold-temperate, coal-forming environments as mentioned in this paper, which is indicated by Glossopteris flora in coal measures, and by restricted marine fauna dominated by brachiopods and bryozoa in correlative marine sequences of the Back Creek Group which contains also abundant lonestones (dropstones).
TL;DR: The crinoid community of Davies Reef, a midshelf reef in the central Great Barrier Reef, was systematically sampled in all major crinoids habitats and revealed a consistent structure characterized by a species-rich ensemble around the periphery of the reef which was attenuated towards the inside of the Reef.
Abstract: The crinoid community of Davies Reef, a midshelf reef in the central Great Barrier Reef, was systematically sampled in all major crinoid habitats. A total of 294 individuals of 27 species-level taxa was found in 25 sites across the reef. Of these 27 taxa, 20 were confidently assigned to known species. The 25 sitesx27 taxa matrix was subjected to an array of pattern extraction and diagnostic techniques — numerical classification, ordination and minimum spanning trees — to elucidate the structure of the community. These analyses revealed a consistent structure characterized by a species-rich ensemble around the periphery of the reef which was attenuated towards the inside of the reef. This structure contrasts strongly with the patterns seen in other major reef communities, such as hard and soft corals, fish or sponges. In these communities, different parts of the reef are characterized by distinctive sets of species, a depthbased zonation of the communities is evident, and the fore-reef slope typically supports a different ensemble from the back-reef slope. We conclude that the crinoid community offers a significant opportunity to observe the coral reef ecosystem from a different perspective.
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: Razran (1965) pointed out that a system of psychology based wholly on conditioned reflexes, not drawing a basic distinction between animal and human learning, would be highly mechanistic and reductionistic.
Abstract: Language is undoubtedly one of the most powerful means by which human behavior is controlled, and most schools of psychotherapy—including behavior therapy—rely on some form of language-based interventions as part of their therapeutic methods. Although animals possess rudimentary forms of language (e.g., the chimp’s sign language), it is generally agreed that complex language is one of the key characteristics that distinguishes humans from animals. Razran (1965) pointed out that a system of psychology based wholly on conditioned reflexes, not drawing a basic distinction between animal and human learning, would be highly mechanistic and reductionistic. Pavlov, in his later years, clearly recognized this danger. He viewed speech as a system of second signals—unique to human beings—that are in essence abstractions of reality and means of generalization. Although he regarded words as conditioned stimuli governed by “the fundamental laws of learning,” he also emphasized the differences between words and other stimuli: “Of course a word is for a man as much a real conditioned stimulus as are other stimuli common to men and animals, yet at the same time it is so all-comprehending that it allows no quantitative or qualitative comparisons with conditioned stimuli in animals” (in Razran, 1965, p. 48).
TL;DR: Pieris rapae females produce a more aggregated egg distribution, and lay their eggs more quickly, than do Australian females, and the adaptive reason for this divergence probably lies in the relative costs of increased flight time and increased local crowding.
Abstract: Australian and U.K. Pieris rapae differ markedly in their oviposition behaviour; U.K. females produce a more aggregated egg distribution, and lay their eggs more quickly, than do Australian females. The adaptive reason for this divergence probably lies in the relative costs of increased flight time (more costly in the U.K.) and increased local crowding (more costly in Australia). There is also a strong relationship between juvenile developmental rate (at constant temperature) and oviposition behaviour, but the form of this relationship differed between the two populations. The adaptive reasons for the link between developmental rate and behaviour is not clear. It may be that this link represents the tip of the iceberg; i.e. that physiological, developmental, and behabioral characters all co-vary in ways and for reasons that we do not yet understand.