James Cook University

About: James Cook University is a education organization based out in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Coral reef. The organization has 9101 authors who have published 27750 publications receiving 1032608 citations. The organization is also known as: JCU.

Integrating biophysical models and evolutionary theory to predict climatic impacts on species’ ranges: the dengue mosquito Aedes aegypti in Australia

Abstract: Summary 1. Climate change will alter the distribution and abundance of many species, including those of concern to human health. Accurate predictions of these impacts must be based on an understanding of the mechanistic links between climate and organisms, and a consideration of evolutionary responses. 2. Here we use biophysical models of energy and mass transfer to predict climatic impacts on the potential range of the dengue fever vector, Aedes aegypti, in Australia. We develop a first-principles approach to calculate water depth and daily temperature cycles in containers differing in size, catchment and degree of shading to assess habitat suitability for the aquatic life cycle phase. We also develop a method to predict the potential climatic impacts on the evolutionary response of traits limiting distribution. 3. Our predictions show strong correspondence with the current and historical distribution and abundance of Ae. aegypti in Australia, suggesting that inland and northern limits are set by water availability and egg desiccation resistance, and southern limits by adult and larval cold tolerance. 4. While we predict that climate change will directly increase habitat suitability throughout much of Australia, the potential indirect impact of changed water storage practices by humans in response to drought may have a greater effect. 5. In northern Australia, we show that evolutionary changes in egg desiccation resistance could potentially increase the chances of establishment in a major centre (Darwin) under climate change. 6. Our study demonstrates how biophysical models of climate‐animal interactions can be applied to make decisions about managing biotic responses to climate change. Mechanistic models of the kind we apply here can provide more robust and general predictions than correlative analyses. They can also explicitly incorporate evolutionary responses, the outcomes of which may significantly alter management decisions.

Coral-Associated Bacteria and Their Role in the Biogeochemical Cycling of Sulfur

Abstract: Marine bacteria play a central role in the degradation of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) to dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and acrylic acid, DMS being critical to cloud formation and thereby cooling effects on the climate. High concentrations of DMSP and DMS have been reported in scleractinian coral tissues although, to date, there have been no investigations into the influence of these organic sulfur compounds on coral-associated bacteria. Two coral species, Montipora aequituberculata and Acropora millepora, were sampled and their bacterial communities were characterized by both culture-dependent and molecular techniques. Four genera, Roseobacter, Spongiobacter, Vibrio, and Alteromonas, which were isolated on media with either DMSP or DMS as the sole carbon source, comprised the majority of clones retrieved from coral mucus and tissue 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. Clones affiliated with Roseobacter sp. constituted 28% of the M. aequituberculata tissue libraries, while 59% of the clones from the A. millepora libraries were affiliated with sequences related to the Spongiobacter genus. Vibrio spp. were commonly isolated from DMS and acrylic acid enrichments and were also present in 16S rRNA gene libraries from coral mucus, suggesting that under “normal” environmental conditions, they are a natural component of coral-associated communities. Genes homologous to dddD, and dddL, previously implicated in DMSP degradation, were also characterized from isolated strains, confirming that bacteria associated with corals have the potential to metabolize this sulfur compound when present in coral tissues. Our results demonstrate that DMSP, DMS, and acrylic acid potentially act as nutrient sources for coral-associated bacteria and that these sulfur compounds are likely to play a role in structuring bacterial communities in corals, with important consequences for the health of both corals and coral reef ecosystems.

The TPTP Problem Library

Abstract: This paper provides a detailed description of the CNF part of the TPTP Problem Library for automated theorem-proving systems The library is available via the Internet and forms a common basis for development and experimentation with automated theorem provers This paper explains the motivations and reasoning behind the development of the TPTP (thus implicitly explaining the design decisions made) and describes the TPTP contents and organization It also provides guidelines for obtaining and using the library, summary statistics about release v121, and an overview of the tptp2X utility program References for all the sources of TPTP problems are provided

Abundance and the environmental niche: Environmental suitability estimated from niche models predicts the upper limit of local abundance

Abstract: Ecologists seek to understand patterns of distribution and abundance of species. Studies of distribution often use occurrence data to build models of the environmental niche of a species. Environmental suitability (ES) derived from such models may be used to predict the potential distributions of species. The ability of such models to predict spatial patterns in abundance is unknown; we argue that there should be a positive relationship between ES and local abundance. This will be so if ES reflects how well the species’ physiological and ecological requirements are met at a site and if those factors also determine local abundance. However, the presence of other factors may indicate that potential abundance is not attained at all sites. Therefore, ES should predict the upper limit of abundance, and the observed relationship with ES should be wedge shaped. We tested the relationship of ES with local abundance for 69 rain forest vertebrates in the Australian wet tropics. Ordinary least squares and ...

Managing the whole landscape: historical, hybrid, and novel ecosystems

Abstract: The reality confronting ecosystem managers today is one of heterogeneous, rapidly transforming landscapes, particularly in the areas more affected by urban and agricultural development. A landscape management framework that incorporates all systems, across the spectrum of degrees of alteration, provides a fuller set of options for how and when to intervene, uses limited resources more effectively, and increases the chances of achieving management goals. That many ecosystems have departed so substantially from their historical trajectory that they defy conventional restoration is not in dispute. Acknowledging novel ecosystems need not constitute a threat to existing policy and management approaches. Rather, the development of an integrated approach to management interventions can provide options that are in tune with the current reality of rapid ecosystem change.