Abundance of the introduced seastar, Asterias amurensis, and spatial variability in soft sediment assemblages in SE Tasmania: Clear correlations but complex interpretation

The northern Pacific seastar, Asterias amurensis, was first collected in southeast Tasmania in 1986. Mistaken for the endemic asteroid Uniophora granifera, its true identity was not realised until 1992. It is now a conspicuous predator in soft sediment habitats in this region, and is considered a major threat to native assemblages and commercial species. We examined the structure of soft sediment assemblages at different spatial scales in southeast Tasmania, and correlated spatial variation in community composition with seastar abundances. We found that the structure of soft sediment assemblages is highly variable at a range of spatial scales from metres to tens of kilometres. Clear differences in the composition of assemblages and abundances of major taxa were detected between areas with and without seastars and between areas with low and high seastar densities. However, the nature of these patterns suggests that they are more likely due to differences in sediment characteristics than due to impacts of the seastar. Thus, spatial differences in soft sediment assemblages might have been erroneously attributed to seastars without detailed information on important physical factors such as sediment characteristics. A second survey, using larger sampling units (1 m²) but across a more limited spatial extent, targeted bivalves and heart urchins that were identified as important prey of the seastar in observations of feeding and in experimental studies. Large-scale patterns of abundance and size structure were consistent with seastar effects anticipated from small-scale experimental and feeding studies for some, but not all, species. While the field survey ultimately provided evidence about the presence or absence of seastar impacts at large-scales, the identification of key ecological variables in experimental and feeding studies proved crucial to both the design and interpretation of patterns observed in the large-scale surveys. Overall, this work highlighted the necessity to consider multiple lines of evidence rather than relying on a single ‘inferential’ test, in the absence of pre-impact data.     

Rare species, habitat diversity and functional redundancy in marine benthos

Macro-ecological theories relating species richness, abundance, range size, biological traits and environmental tolerance have rarely been tested in marine soft-sediments, despite the spatial extent of these habitats and the inherent richness of resident communities. This study examines the contribution of rare species to marine soft-sediment communities from New Zealand, focussing on the relationships of range size with abundance, environment, habitat diversity and life history traits. 54% of the 351 species sampled exhibited restricted ranges (found at ≤ 2 sites). In contrast to many terrestrial systems, we observed only a weak positive relationship between abundance and frequency of occurrence. Restricted-range species were not randomly distributed, with their distribution related to habitat characteristics, suggesting an important link between habitat diversity and rarity. They exhibited a similar range of traits to the total observed species pool, suggesting that they are not only important to biodiversity but could play a role in stability. Restricted range species were generally not small and this, together with the number of different biological traits represented, suggests that rare species are important to the functioning of marine systems. Thus, our results highlight the importance of considering rare species in habitat-based approaches to conservation.     

Mountain hazards

The review examines mountain land risks, especially those that involve sudden, more or less localized bouts of damage and disasters. Geographers' studies to date have mainly dealt with natural hazards, emphasizing those like avalanches, large landslides or natural dams that are uniquely associated with mountain environments. Such work is briefly reviewed. Earthquake risks are then singled out to help define and discuss problems faced by this work. They are shown to depend strongly upon aspects of mountain environments other than seismicity. Human vulnerability appears to be mainly dependent upon socioeconomic and habitat conditions which, although they determine seismic impacts, may and usually do develop independent of it. Moreover, these ingredients of risk are most closely associated with, or definitive of, the mountain people and areas. They are most strongly influenced by human agency, both in deciding who and what are exposed to risk, and in actually increasing or decreasing unfavorable responses to earthquakes. Recent earthquake disasters in the mountains also record how rapid changes in these social and habitat conditions, rather than seismicity, are increasing the scale and altering the forms of damage. These changes in turn, however, are largely dependent upon developments, initiatives and penetration from outside the mountains, and responses of mountain people more or less enforced by them. The importance of so-called highland-lowland interactions, is even more obvious in the most destructive of human hazards discussed, those of war and other armed violence. Mountain lands and peoples are shown to have been subject to recurrent warring, and a disproportionate share of the deployment of state violence in this century. Most of the casualties are resident civilians. They have been usually threatened by other uses of armed violence, including insurgency and counter-insurgency warfare and genocidal actions by state forces. Refugees and expellees from war zones have included great numbers of mountain folk. Another fast growing hazard of the late twentieth century, not unrelated to war and militarism, the international trafficking in and addiction plagues of hard drugs, has a unique relation to mountains. The South American growers of the coca leaf, and Southwest and Southeast Asian growers of the opium poppy are mountain farmers. Their participation is bringing a range of severe risks to their high valleys, as well as benefits. Finally the paper addresses the conceptual problems brought about by the compounding of determinist assumptions in both mountain land and hazards research. These include not only environmental determinist notions, or related Neo-Malthusian and Social Darwinist ideas, but the various historicist ones of assumed technological, economic and political stages of development. It is argued that such social constructions of the problem of hazards and disaster are dubious, and have become a major impediment to understanding and risk mitigation. Alternative frameworks require more attention to the regional, state, and global patterns of influence shaping risk in mountain lands, but also to the human ecology of mountain societies taking account of matters to which the expediences of technocratic expertise have made us blind.     

Calcareous algae and cyanobacteria

Algae is an informal term used to describe a broad group of simple organisms from the plant kingdom. The organisms included within this grouping are aquatic photosynthetic biota with an extensive range of life habits and forms. These organisms range from micron-sized unicellular forms to giant seaweeds and kelps, which can grow to several metres long. Both benthic and planktonic modes of life are known and display a wide variety of life cycles.     

The historical topography of the Battle of Hastings: A geographical reconstruction

In 1066, English and Norman forces engaged in a decisive battle near Hastings. The battlefield itself provides an example of the way in which physical geography can contribute to our understanding of historical events. According to historical accounts, the rolling landscape of the Hastings battle site was unquestionably an important factor in understanding the conflict. Yet surprisingly few analyses of the local terrain exist to test this proposition. In part, this is because historians of the battle have largely affirmed that the current battle site bears little or no physical resemblance to that present in 1066, and thus is unsuitable for contemporary analysis that might shed light on the outcome of the battle itself. By applying advanced geographical analysis using the RUSLE model, this study demonstrates that there is in fact considerable evidence to suggest that a limited amount of sediment was removed, hence the battlefield has in fact changed very little since the battle. This finding is significant, insofar as it opens the door to new research on the Battle of Hastings which may shed additional light on the events that occurred there and the factors that influenced the outcome of this key conflict in British history.     

The impact of dynamic sea-ice on the climatology and climate sensitivity of a GCM: a study of past, present, and future climates

 We assess two parametrisations of sea-ice in a coupled atmosphere–mixed layer ocean–sea-ice model. One parametrisation represents the thermodynamic properties of sea-ice formation alone (THERM), while the other also includes advection of the ice (DYN). The inclusion of some sea-ice dynamics improves the model's simulation of the present day sea-ice cover when compared to observations. Two climate change scenarios are used to investigate the effect of these different parametrisations on the model's climate sensitivity. The scenarios are the equilibrium response to a doubling of atmospheric CO₂ and the response to imposed glacial boundary conditions. DYN produces a smaller temperature response to a doubling of CO₂ than THERM. The temperature response of THERM is more similar to DYN in the glacial case than in the 2×CO₂ case which implies that the climate sensitivity of THERM and DYN varies with the nature of the forcing. The different responses can largely be explained by the different distribution of Southern Hemisphere sea-ice cover in the control simulations, with the inclusion of ice dynamics playing an important part in producing the differences. This emphasises the importance of realistically simulating the reference climatic state when attempting to simulate a climate change to a prescribed forcing. The simulated glacial sea-ice cover is consistent with the limited palaeodata in both THERM and DYN, but DYN simulates a more realistic present day sea-ice cover. We conclude that the inclusion of simple ice dynamics in our model increases our confidence in the simulation of the anomaly climate. Received: 24 May 2000 / Accepted: 25 October 2000     

Mechanisms for the prevention of marine bioinvasions for better biosecurity

Biosecurity management allows countries to meet a number of international obligations and provides some protection from potential degradation of environmental, economic, social and cultural values. Ocean governance relies on the precepts of ecologically sustainable development to manage the multiple uses in the coastal zone. The increasing reliance on aquaculture to provide food security and economic development has led to an increase in the use of non-native target species grown as food sources. Increased economic activity has led to shifting trade patterns and increased efficiencies in vessels with the resulting increase in the number of introduced marine species via ballast water and hull fouling. Herein we review the different marine biosecurity strategies and legislation that have been implemented internationally and locally that aid in preventing and managing introduced marine species, with some attention to Australia and New Zealand as examples. Typical tools being used include quarantine, Import Health Standards, voluntary cleaning guidelines, and risk assessment, all of which aim to prevent introductions.     

SECOND-ORDER ANALYSIS OF BIVARIATE POINT PATTERNS

Second-order methods of point pattern analysis have only recently received attention from geographers. This paper demonstrates the use of these methods in a spatial analysis of two interrelated categories of objects in a finite region. Two contrasting methods of analyzing the spatial structure of bivariate point data provide insight into the potential of second-order methods. The first is the conventional “within” group analysis that compares a spatial pattern of points to a Poisson random pattern. The second, a “between” groups analysis, allows a distribution-free investigation of locational interdependencies between two categories of points. The map pattern of a sample of commercial investments in Cincinnati illustrates the utility of this approach.