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This paper investigates the historical loss of root-initial consonants, using a case study of Middle Paman languages of Cape York Peninsula, in northeastern Australia. Systematic loss of initial consonants is a typologically unusual phenomenon, mainly found in Australia, that has often been regarded as a starting point for far-reaching changes in root structure, phonotactics and even phoneme inventory. So far, the literature has focused mainly on identifying phonetic causes of initial loss. This study focuses on the actual processes and pathways of initial loss, which is an equally important part of the historical puzzle. Specifically, it shows that there are multiple pathways for initial loss: it can be the result of a gradual phonetic process involving intermediate steps like lenition, as is assumed in part of the literature, but it can also be due to more abrupt processes involving borrowing and even morphosyntactic alternations. This adds to a more diversified model of how initial loss actually proceeds, which together with earlier work on the diversity of phonetic causes of initial loss produces a more comprehensive understanding of this typologically and diachronically unusual phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diurnal cycle of precipitation and its associated land‐sea breeze circulation over coastal northern Australia are investigated using surface wind speed and enthalpy (latent and sensible heat) fluxes from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System. Composite results during the austral summer of 2018–2022 show that diurnal precipitation propagates westward from the Cape York Peninsula into the Gulf of Carpentaria. The diurnal cycle of precipitation and surface wind speed are strongly coupled, with the wind speed maximum slightly leading the precipitation maximum. Additionally, analysis of the moist static energy budget shows that surface fluxes help support the westward‐propagation of diurnal precipitation. These results—based on novel satellite data and reanalysis—are consistent with previous studies that have examined the impact of the land‐sea breeze on the diurnal cycle of precipitation. The results provide a benchmark for model representation of this important atmosphere‐ocean‐land interaction. Plain Language Summary: The modulation of the diurnal cycle of precipitation over coastal northern Australia by surface winds was studied using the recently launched NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS). Results show a strong connection between the daily cycles of precipitation and surface wind speed, with an offshore wind speed maximum leading the precipitation maximum by a few hours. Westward propagation of diurnal precipitation and wind speed signals occurs from the Cape York Peninsula into the Gulf of Carpentaria. A thermodynamic analysis supports the importance of the wind speed signal and associated surface fluxes for fostering offshore precipitation propagation. The novelty of this paper lies in the use of the new CYGNSS retrievals, which provide better space and time coverage of surface wind speed than previous satellite‐based measurements and are not as negatively affected by precipitation contamination. Key Points: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System wind speeds and latent heat fluxes are used to study the diurnal cycle over the northern Australia coastal regionEnhanced diurnal precipitation is associated with enhanced surface wind speed and convergenceDiurnal precipitation and surface wind speed signals propagate westward in tandem from the Cape York Peninsula [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the functions of interactional devices used by co-tellers in multiparty stories in Umpila and Kuuku Ya'u, two closely related dialects of a Paman language of Cape York Peninsula, Australia. Within the Umpila and Kuuku Ya'u speech community there is a strong cultural preference for multiparty storytelling – a preference which has been noted in a number of Aboriginal Australian contexts. This paper seeks to understand the mechanisms through which co-tellers in these multiparty narratives contribute to the story. It first discusses co-teller roles, and distinguishes three key narrator roles and orders of conduct associated with each. The analysis then focuses on the use of questions and evaluative comments used by one type of co-teller, supporting narrators. The following discussion demonstrates that questions and evaluative comments go beyond immediate functions of seeking information or spontaneous expressive reactions. They help to fulfil expectations on supporting narrators to engage actively in the talk. It is additionally shown that these devices have functions in highlighting key aspects of the story and developing stance in intricate ways that complement the main line of the storytelling. The analysis demonstrates the close coordination of co-tellers in constructing a story; piece-by-piece they collaboratively describe and evaluate the story events as a group, prioritizing a local and situated shared telling over other potential story goals like performance and progressivity of a plot. The analysis of Umpila and Kuuku Ya'u storytelling contributes to the field of interaction and narrative studies by furthering our understanding of the organization of storytelling in different cultures and languages contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex intersecting social, economic and environmental dilemmas in Australia's Cape York Peninsula present a number of challenges for planners seeking to develop and implement land use and natural resource management (NRM) plans. There have been five different attempts at land use and NRM planning in Cape York Peninsula over the last 20 years. These processes have (to greater or lesser extents) failed to deliver community-owned and government-supported plans to guide development and/or the management of the region's natural resources. The region is remote, sparsely populated, and home to a significant Indigenous population. Much of the contestation within the region surrounds the access, use and ownership of the region's internationally valuable natural resources. This paper reviews, from the literature, the relevancy and applicability of criteria for best practice planning and governance. A range of identified best practice governance and planning principles are applied to assess the governance arrangements for planning in the Peninsula. The paper finds that decision-making arrangements for land use and NRM planning in the Peninsula are still in their infancy and are inadequate to support effective outcomes. The paper concludes that broader attention to best practice principles in governance for planning is needed to improve planning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global processes associated with the expansion of colonialism and the emergence of capitalist economies after 1500 were often driven by a desire to create new capital via the acquisition of land and resources, with severe implications for Indigenous peoples. These processes were highly variable, and strongly shaped by the local circumstances encountered at the periphery of European networks of commerce and trade. A number of researchers have suggested that a particularly acute phase of violence and landscape expropriation, sometimes referred to as war capitalism or terra nullius colonialism, underpinned the establishment of colonial settlements and new economic enterprises. This paper characterises processes of colonization and the establishment of capitalist industry within a discrete study area in Cape York Peninsula, northeastern Australia. In particular, we aim to examine in an holistic fashion the nature of encounters and interactions between Indigenous custodians and settler-colonists between 1860 and 1939, using a documentary archaeology approach combined with qualitative data analysis methods. We demonstrate that while violence of various forms was a routine aspect of interactions, a holistic approach to analysis of available data enables the development of a more nuanced understanding of the contours and pattern of colonialism and the nature and implications of different forms of violence for Indigenous peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outstanding natural and cultural values of Cape York have been acknowledged for decades, but those decades have been characterised by deep conflict. Non-government organisation intervention in local politics has seen a forceful push for nominating some or all of the Cape York Peninsula as a World Heritage Site. We illuminate the authorised heritage discourse at work in heritage-making, and highlight contested issues of ownership, governance, authenticity, and value. These themes contribute to the possibility of marginalising the voices of local people who wish to contribute to heritage-making in Cape York. Politics infuses all aspects of heritage-making in Cape York, and the specific experiences on Cape York reflect larger political processes occurring in World Heritage discourse. The paper draws on interviews undertaken in May and June 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abundant shell matrix sites around Albatross Bay near Weipa, western Cape York Peninsula, provide an important source of evidence for models of mid- to late Holocene Aboriginal subsistence strategies in the region. While there is considerable variation in the size and spatial distribution of these sites, their surficial species composition is almost invariably dominated by Anadara granosa (blood cockle). In this paper I describe a complex of shell matrix sites at Norman Creek, ∼60 km south of Weipa, that do not conform to this trend. Like the Albatross Bay sites, they exhibit considerable variation in size, but their surficial species composition is dominated by Marcia hiantina (hiant Venus). This suggests that, in the past, shellfish foraging in the region was not exclusively focused on A. granosa. There are several factors that may influence variation in species composition, including shellfish ecology, economic and cultural values, and taphonomic processes. Further research, including detailed sub-surface investigation of shell matrix sites, is necessary to evaluate the role(s), and interplay, of these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two subspecies of Graceful Honeyeater Meliphaga (Microptilotis) gracilis are recognised in north-eastern Queensland: imitatrix inhabiting the Wet Tropics and gracilis inhabiting northern Cape York Peninsula. Vocalisations differ greatly between the two, so the strong possibility emerges that they are distinct species. The ranges of these taxa are separated by ~140 km in the vicinity of Cape Flattery-Princess Charlotte Bay on the eastern coast of Cape York Peninsula. Significantly, a thorough search confirms that there have been no specimens collected from this geographical gap between the two populations and previously suspected intergradation does not occur. This paper describes the considerable differences between the two, especially with respect to vocalisations, and suggests that these taxa represent distinct species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian banjo frogs are a distinctive group of medium to large, terrestrial, and burrowing limnodynastid frogs known for their conspicuous, single-note advertisement calls which are often likened to the pluck of a banjo string. Preliminary analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences had previously indicated that the present taxonomy of the group, based primarily on morphology and advertisement calls, may not best reflect the true evolutionary relationships among taxa. In this study, we use comprehensive geographic sampling and integrative analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences, nuclear single-nucleotide polymorphisms, adult morphology, and advertisement call data to re-evaluate the systematics and taxonomy of the Northern Banjo Frog (Limnodynastes terraereginae) and allied taxa. Our study reveals the presence of three evolutionarily distinct, morphologically divergent, and narrowly allopatric lineages that replace each other in a north-south series from the tip of Cape York Peninsula to the Sydney Basin in the south. Our findings demonstrate that our understanding of the systematics and taxonomy of Australian frogs remains incomplete, even for large and apparently "well-known" species that live in densely populated areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free prior informed consent is a critical concept in enacting the rights of Indigenous People according to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This paper outlines a case for the inclusion of free prior informed consent in World Heritage nomination processes and examines issues that are problematic when enacting free prior informed consent. Case research was used to analyse current issues in the potential nomination of certain areas of Cape York Peninsula, Australia. The authors’ reflexive engagement within this case offers insights into the praxis of developing a World Heritage nomination consent process. The outcomes of this research were: preconditions need to be addressed to avoid self-exclusion by indigenous representative organisations; the nature of consent needs to account for issues of representation and Indigenous ways of decision making; the power of veto needs to have formal recognition in the nomination process; and prioritising self-determination within free prior informed consent ensures the intent of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The paper contributes to the human rights agenda of Indigenous People and conservation management processes by helping address the issues that will be raised during a World Heritage nomination process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Previous research on remote nineteenth-and early twentieth-century Indigenous missions in northern and central Australia point to their often tenuous existence and the complex nature of engagements between Christian Missionaries and Indigenous people. This paper explores the contribution and significance of Indigenous production of wild foods in the context of one such settlement located at Weipa on Cape York Peninsula, north eastern Australia. It is premised on the assertion that investigation of the economies of these often remote settlements has the potential to reveal much about the character of cross-cultural engagements within the context of early mission settlements. Many remote missions had a far from secure economic basis and were sometimes unable to produce the consistent food supplies that were central to their proselytizing efforts. In this paper it is suggested that Indigenous-produced wild foods were of significant importance to the mission on a day-to-day basis in terms of their dietary contribution (particularly in terms of protein sources) and were also important to Indigenous people from a social and cultural perspective. We develop this argument through the case study of culturally modified trees that resulted from the collection of wild honey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of personal and family connections to traditional homelands has been the subject of considerable attention—and dispute—in Australia's ‘native title era’. This paper examines contemporary Indigenous connections to country in Central Cape York Peninsula and, in particular, the affective aspects of local and diaspora ties to place. Drawing on recent theorisations of place and locality, I outline some of the ways in which Indigenous attachments to specific localities are becoming both more complex and increasingly inflected by the location of Indigenous people within late modern liberal society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historically unequal grazing industry in Cape York Peninsula, far northeast Queensland, gave rise to intercultural relationships between Aboriginal stock workers and settler-descended graziers. However, in recent decades, Aboriginal employment on cattle stations has fallen. Nowadays, many younger Aboriginal people work in government-funded jobs which settler-descended graziers frame as 'hand-out style' work. Settler-descended graziers have come to value an ethic of hard work related to both the Protestant work ethic and aspects of pioneer mythology which are entwined with graziers' senses of belonging. Contemporary Aboriginal people are positioned by settler-descended graziers as having a 'different' relationship to work and lacking the valuation of hard work that graziers deem a moral good. In their discussions of Aboriginal people as lacking a valuation for 'hard work', graziers seek to critique what they perceive as government overreach in the form of land rights and government-funded jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marrying into the community whose culture you are studying opens up philosophical and practical quandaries for the researcher and facilitates opportunities that are not otherwise available. Marriage brings with it many subtle shifts in relationships within the community. George Orwell (1937) speaks of class difference but could equally have been talking of cultural difference when he said ‘it is not so much a stone wall as a plate glass pane of an aquarium; it is so easy to pretend that it isn't there, and so impossible to get through it’. Does marriage enable you to cross that barrier? What difference, if any, is there in the nature of the resulting research and its benefits or otherwise to the community? This paper provides a glimpse into the author's journey as a researcher in Northern Cape York Peninsula, Australia and reflects on the way interpersonal relationships influenced her approach to research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: This paper describes the background to, implementation of and evaluation challenges associated with an innovative, arts-based, wellbeing and mental health recovery project in a remote Indigenous setting. Results: Creative Recovery is a community-based arts initiative for Indigenous people with mental health problems. It has been rolled out as a pilot project in a remote Cape York community and is aimed at promoting wellbeing and recovery. The theoretical basis for the initiative is modelled on ideas of the role that social capital plays in improving mental health. This involves both the beneficial impact community participation and the social cohesion it creates can have, not only on an individual's mental health, but also on the social and emotional wellbeing of the communities they are part of. Such initiatives have already been adopted as an integral part of mental health promotion in countries such as the UK, and in other Australian states such as Victoria and Western Australia. The following paper will locate Creative Recovery in the current field of mental health promotion theory and Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing, and will discuss some of the evidence for and challenges inherent in adopting such initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1859 the Dutch historian, L.C.D. van Dijk published a book on the voyages of discovery made by Jan Carstenszoon in 1623 and Jean Etienne Gonzal in 1756 to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The book contains a commentary of the two voyages as well as a copy of Carstenszoon's journal. It also contains a curious map that not only renames the Gulf of Carpentaria and the west coast of Cape York Peninsula, but also questions the naming of Arnhem Land and some of its named locations. This paper examines some of the possible reasoning behind this unusual map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the functions of represented speech and thought (RST) in narratives in Umpithamu, a Pama-Nyungan language of Cape York Peninsula (Australia). The paper first surveys the different mechanisms available for marking a shift from the narrator's deictic centre to a narrative participant, including a number of constructions that use perception and motion predicates to signal RST. The analysis then focuses on the narrative functions of RST, showing that it has a macrostructural function beyond the representation of a specific participant's speech and thought, more specifically highlighting the central episodes of a narrative. The evidence comes from an analysis of three genres with a different macrostructure: one (personal history) for which the classic Labovian schema of complication–resolution works well and two others (both dealing with the supernatural world) that rely on different structuring principles. It is shown that RST is systematically associated with central episodes across the three genres, and that the location and nature of RST co-vary with the different location and nature of these episodes in the three genres. In narratives of supernatural encounter, for instance, RST conveys modal negotiation about the interpretation of the central events in terms of the supernatural world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a semantic analysis of ''experienced action'' constructions in Umpithamu, a Paman language from Cape York Peninsula (Australia). The basic argument is that these constructions are related to the better-attested category of experiencer object constructions (e.g. Evans, Non-nominative subjects 1: 69--192, 2004), which in Umpithamu describe involuntary experience of bodily processes. Experienced action constructions extend the feature of ''involuntary experience'' from processes within the body to actions originating outside the body, and thus provide a semantically marked alternative for standard transitive clauses. The constructions are typologically interesting because they show the need to identify different loci of experiential semantics in a construction, and they help to clarify the status of control for human Undergoers within semantic typologies of reduced transitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines invasion of grasslands on Cape York Peninsula, Australia, by Melaleuca viridiflora and other woody species, and the role of storm-burning (lighting fires after the first wet season rains) in their maintenance. Trends in disturbance features, fuel characteristics, ground layer composition, and woody plants dynamics under combinations of withholding fire and storm-burning over a 3-year period were measured on 19 plots in three landscape settings. Population dynamics of M. viridiflora are described in detail and 20-year population projections based on transition matrices under different fire regimes generated. Numerous M. viridiflora suckers occurred within the grass layer, increasing each year regardless of fire regime, and were rapidly recruited to the canopy in the absence of fire. Storm-burning had little impact on fuel, ground layer or woody plant composition, but maintained open vegetation structure by substantially reducing recruitment of M. viridiflora suckers to the sapling layer, and by reducing the above-grass-layer abundance of several other invasive woody species. Population projections indicated that withholding fire for 20 years could cause a sevenfold increase of M. viridiflora density on Ti-tree flats, and that annual to triennial storm-burning should be effective at maintaining a stable open vegetation structure. These findings argue against vegetation thickening being an inevitable consequence of climate change. We conclude that a fire regime that includes regular storm-burning can be effective for maintaining grasslands and grassy woodlands being invaded by M. viridiflora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bauxite mining operations are increasingly sited on Indigenous-owned land, particularly in tropical areas, including northern Australia. The environmental impacts of bauxite mining are significant. Native vegetation, including commercially valuable forests, is cleared and typically windrowed and burnt. For many Indigenous Australians, mining of their land creates much concern about biocultural, community health and livelihood impacts from the loss of access to traditional lands and resources, and the ability to 'care for country'. Improved pre-mining utilisation of forest resources and effective mine rehabilitation can mitigate some of these impacts and it is important to Indigenous communities that they are engaged in these processes. But Indigenous peoples' expectations are rarely considered or adequately addressed in site clearing activities or mine completion criteria, and there is limited guidance on how their expected outcomes can be monitored and evaluated for mine closure and relinquishment. This paper reports on a case-study of the Western Cape York Peninsula bauxite mining region in northern Australia. The paper reviews mine rehabilitation in the case-study region, including related Indigenous forest livelihoods initiatives, presents local Indigenous peoples' expectations for pre- and post-mining forest and landscape management as an integrated mining-community forestry 'vision', and discusses implications for mine completion criteria, mine closure and relinquishment. The findings highlight the need for Indigenous peoples' full and transparent free, prior and informed consent participation in all aspects of mine closure planning, and for further research to trial the development and assessment of mine completion criteria linked to local biocultural landscape restoration and Indigenous livelihoods. The findings can inform mining policymakers, regulators and industry professionals on the design, implementation and monitoring of mine completion criteria and associated pre- and post-mining management that will improve environmental outcomes and socio-cultural benefits for Indigenous communities impacted by mining. • Bauxite mining impacts Indigenous Traditional Owners (TOs). • TOs expect improved pre- and post-mining forest and landscape management. • Mine rehabilitation via Indigenous community forestry can support TO livelihoods. • Mine completion criteria must consider biocultural landscape restoration. • How to evaluate successful biocultural landscape restoration and livelihood outcomes? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2006 marks the quatercentenary of the first known European charting of any part of the Australian coastline, when the Dutch mariner Willem Janszoon explored 300 kms of the north-west coast of Cape York Peninsula. He bestowed seven placenames, two of which, Moent and Dubbelde Ree have ambiguous meanings or referents. This paper attempts to resolve the enigmas behind these names by considering geographic, linguistic and historical evidence. Moent is particularly challenging, with several possible linguistic sources, some more plausible than others. The most compelling evidence points to it either referring to the western entrance to Endeavour Strait, or a Dutch rendition of an Indigenous Australian word. Dubbelde Ree is less problematic. The issue surrounding this name is whether its second element is meant to be Ree, an abbreviation of Reede (‘Roadstead’), or Rev, an abbreviation of Revier (‘River’). The search for the meaning of these placenames has provided credible evidence demonstrating that Janszoon explored the coastline in greater detail than has hitherto been thought, and that, in all likelihood, made contact with the local inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an alternative interpretation of shell mound phenomena at Albatross Bay, near Weipa on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula. Past researchers have interpreted these distinct mounded middens as functional edifices, constructed to enable small family groups to camp closer to resources during the late wet season. Here I propose that the mounds at Weipa were associated with relatively large groups of people intensively exploiting the shell fish Anadara granosa. This argument is based on a range of factors, including the biological characteristics of Anadara, a species that makes up over 904570360f the composition of shell mounds, as well as archaeological and ethnographic evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of Hypolimnas anomala (Wallace) in Australia is reviewed following recent new records from Darwin and Dundee Beach, Northern Territory, Australia. In Australia, the butterfly was previously known from two males from Darwin, Northern Territory and two males and a female from Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. The current and historic records are illustrated and their occurrence in Australia discussed. As a result of this review, one male of Hypolimnas anomala anomala (Wallace) is now known from Darwin, Northern Territory with the remaining Darwin specimens belonging to Hypolimnas anomala albula (Wallace). The two Iron Range specimens reported from Cape York Peninsula are actually Hypolimnas antilope mela Fruhstorfer. It is likely that H. a. albula is not resident in Australia and specimens are merely vagrants that have entered Australia via the north-west monsoonal winds from nearby Timor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large mounded deposits of shell are prominent archaeological features across much of the north Australian tropical coast. Many of the shell mounds are composed almost entirely of the bivalve Anadara granosa (Linnaeus 1758), a food source for Aboriginal people in the past. A relatively long history of inquiry into the nature and significance of the shell mounds has focussed primarily on analysing the shell component as clues to Australian Aboriginal coastal economies in the past. This paper presents results of new analyses on the non-shell sediments, examining the physical and chemical signatures of depositional and post-depositional processes within shell mounds near Weipa in far north Queensland, Australia, with a view to obtaining insights into how they formed and for what purposes, and how their morphology, structure and content may have changed since they ceased accumulating. We also consider how such changes might relate to past and present environmental conditions. Physical and chemical analyses indicate that the primary purpose of mound building was most likely to discard the large volumes of shell resulting from A. granosa harvesting and consumption. Post-depositional diagenetic alteration has strongly influenced the present day composition and form of the shell mounds, in particular the accession of carbon and silica to the mounds by environmental burning aided by strong leaching under the seasonal high rainfall conditions. As such the mound chemistry is more likely to reflect modern environmental conditions rather than provide an archive of, or an opening to, the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bowerbirds are well known for their unique courtship behaviour during which, in an attempt to attract a mate, a male builds a ‘bower’ or small enclosed structure of woven sticks and pebbles and decorates it with bright shiny objects. The bower provides shade and a place for the male’s elaborate courtship dance. This article was prompted by the discovery of an elaborate bower constructed by an Australian Great Bowerbird,Chlamydera nuchalis.The bower was located while undertaking an archaeological survey of the Wenlock Goldfields on the boundary of the Northern Kaanju Indigenous Protected Area in Cape York, Queensland. This bower was constructed using a large number of colonial era artefacts, supporting previous research that indicates a link between the very particular mating behaviour ofC. nuchalisand systematic site disturbance. We draw parallels between systematic site disturbance caused by bowerbirds in both pre-colonial and colonial era sites. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Obtaining accurate counts that do not cause harm to the animals being studied are important for assessing a species' conservation status. A single evening exodus of ghost bats (Macroderma gigas) was recorded using a thermal imaging camera placed outside the entrance to a cave on Alwal National Park (CYPAL) in September 2022. At least 463 bats were counted, making it the largest known ghost bat colony in Queensland. Further work is required to determine the extent to which this colony is related to other nearby colonies in Cape York Peninsula. Work is also required to identify and reduce threats to this population and ensure its conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sediment budget modeling has become a widely used management tool for setting priorities for natural resource management in Australia and globally. Two of the most widely used models in Australia, SedNet, and its more recent successor Source Catchments, rely on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to predict sediment production from hillslope erosion. In Australia, however, very little empirical data exists with which to test the hillslope sediment yields predicted by the RUSLE, particularly in the more remote savannah woodlands of northern Australia that are used by the cattle grazing industry. These savannah woodland landscapes comprise the vast majority of the catchment area draining into key ecological assets such as the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. In this paper we present the design and evaluation of a simple, low cost hillslope sediment trap (HST) that requires little to no maintenance across an entire wet season. It can consequently be deployed in remote, inaccessible areas to collect sediment generated through hillslope erosion processes as a means of testing predictions of erosion. Using these traps, it is possible to develop locally calibrated hillslope erosion models that will provide far more realistic predictions of erosion than have previously been employed. Laboratory flume evaluations of the HSTs also show that the traps will accurately sample the full particle size distribution of sediment mobilized on a given hillslope, with a suspended sediment (< 63 μm) trapping efficiency conservatively estimated to be 50%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Miltotranes Zimmerman, 1994 is a genus of weevils pollinating Bowenia cycads belonging to two small endemic Australian species included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and CITES Appendix II. We provide the first taxonomic revision of Miltotranes resulting in the identification of two previously described species and a newly recognised species, M. wilsoni sp. n. from the McIlwraith Range of the Cape York Peninsula. Morphological comparison reveals its affinity to Tranes, whose species are the pollinators of Macrozamia and Lepidozamia cycads. It appears that the association of Miltotranes with Bowenia may represent a secondary host switch in the Tranes group due to a closer relationship between Macrozamia, Lepidozamia and African Encephalartos than with Bowenia. The coincidence of the geographic ranges of Miltotranes weevils with distribution of their cycad hosts indicates that the isolated Bowenia population in the McIlwraith Range may represent a distinct, third species of Bowenia. Likely, the conspecificity of the Miltotranes weevils occurring in the Wet Tropics also suggests that several morphologically enigmatic localised populations represent B. spectabilis, confirming earlier botanical conclusions. The present study highlights the significance of systematic study of tightly plant-associated insects and its relevance for the taxonomy of their host plants. The Australian endemic weevils of the genus Miltotranes Zimmerman, 1994 (Curculionidae: Molytinae: Tranes group), comprising two species, M. prosternalis (Lea, 1929) and M. subopacus (Lea, 1929), are highly host-specific and the only known pollinators of Bowenia cycads, which comprise two CITES-protected species restricted to Tropical Queensland in Australia. In the present study, the taxonomy of Miltotranes is reviewed, a lectotype for the name Tranes prosternalis Lea, 1929 is designated and a new species associated with the Bowenia population in the McIlwraith Range is described as M. wilsoni sp. n. The descriptions and diagnoses of all species are supplemented with illustrations of their habitus and salient structures, and an identification key to all species and a distribution map are provided. Potential implications of the new species and of the taxonomy and biogeography of Miltotranes overall on the systematics and conservation of Bowenia are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Buff-breasted Button-quail Turnix olivii is arguably the rarest, most threatened bird species in Australia. Despite many reports over the last four decades, the species has never been reliably photographed nor its vocalisations definitively recorded. No records in contemporary literature are supported irrefutably. Consequently, examining historical museum specimens of skins and eggs is critical to ascertain the species' distribution and autecology, understand potential threatening processes, and ultimately determine the species' conservation status. We review all known specimens of Buff-breasted Button-quail and contextual information where available. Current literature suggests the holotype was collected in 1899, while the last collected specimens (six skins, four clutches of eggs) were collected by William Rae McLennan near Coen in 1921 and 1922. We found a total of 15 specimens: seven skins and eight clutches of eggs. Two specimens collected by McLennan previously documented as 'missing' were located in the Natural History Museum, Tring. An additional four clutches of eggs not previously reported were located. Two represented verified specimens while the other two require further analysis to determine identity. All specimens were collected in the Cape York Peninsula bioregion. There are no specimens from the more southern Wet Tropics and Einasleigh Uplands bioregions, where the majority of contemporary observations have been made. As there have been no verified specimens collected for nearly a century, we argue that considerable concern and urgent action are warranted to improve the conservation outlook of this species. The species should be listed as critically endangered in both state and federal legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypolimnas antilope (Cramer) is recorded from mainland Australia for the first time based on the collection of a single male from Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park (NP), Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. In Australia, the butterfly was previously known from Dauan, Masig, Erub and Mer Islands in Torres Strait, Queensland. Thus, our new record extends the species' distribution approximately 350 km south of Torres Strait (Masig) to Iron Range. The Australian specimen is provisionally assigned to H. antilope mela Fruhstorfer based on its geographical proximity. The recent destruction and regeneration of the rainforest in Kutini-Payamu NP following Tropical Cyclone Trevor in March 2019 is illustrated, and its implication for sustaining a breeding population of H. antilope mela discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how the speakers of Manyjilyjarra (Great Sandy Desert) and Umpila/Kuuku Ya'u (Cape York Peninsula) linguistically categorize the landscape in which they live. Located on opposite sides of Australia, in highly contrasting arid inland and tropical coastal environments, the semantics of the landscape feature terminology in these two Australian languages have key similarities. Both lexical sets overwhelmingly classify the landscape with the use of abstract and general concepts of shape and material make-up. Together with a lack of specification of size or fixedness in this terminology, this presents intriguing issues for received conceptualizations of landscape in the geosciences and language sciences. This article finds that complex and recurrent interests in material make-up extend beyond landscape feature terminology in both languages and reveal possible cultural priorities underlying the semantic patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In 2007 the Hope Vale - Pelican project (now in its 6 year) inaugurated a digital storytelling component into the program. The project is a partnership between Hope Vale Elders (championed by Des and Estelle Bowen) and Pelican Expeditions. In 2007 Pelican Expeditions and the Elders invited Samia Goudie, a researcher and digital storytelling consultant, to pilot a digital storytelling project with Natalie Davey, a founding member of Pelican Expeditions. The Hope Vale - Pelican (HVP) project is mainly run out of Connie's beach, Cape Flattery in Cape York. The success of this pilot resulted in the design and implementation of a larger digital storytelling media camp being embedded as a co-creative practice in the 2008 Hope Vale - Pelican project. This paper seeks to tell the story of this process and explore some of the early findings of both the benefits and problems of using digital storytelling to promote social and emotional wellbeing and caring for country with an Indigenous community within a trans-disciplinary partnership project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decisions about fire management on pastoral properties are often made with little empirical knowledge. Proper accounting of the interactions between land, pasture, trees and livestock within the context of climatic variability and market conditions is required in order to assess financial implications of alternative fire management regimes. The present paper aims to facilitate such accounting through the development of a manager-driven decision-support tool. This approach is needed to account for variable property conditions and to provide direction towards considering optimal practices among a vast array of potential activities. The tool is an interactive model, developed for a hypothetical property, which analyses the costs and benefits of a baseline (no fires) against a historically based probability of wildfire overlaid by four alternative fire management regimes, representing cumulatively increasing levels of fire management intensity. These are: Regime 1, no action taken to prevent or stop wildfires; Regime 2, fire suppression (reactive fighting of wildfire); Regime 3, Regime 2 plus prevention (early dry-season burning); and Regime 4, Regime 3 combined with storm-burning (burning soon after the first wet-season storm). The model, which shows that fire and fire management have significant influences on the gross margin of Cape York Peninsula cattle properties, can be used as a decision-support tool in developing fire management strategies for individual properties. Specific fire management recommendations follow, together with the identification of potential areas of future work needed to facilitate use of the tool by clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five new species of bees are described from the Quinkan region of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia: Austrothurgus nanussp. nov. (Megachilidae), Nomia (Paulynomia) eburatasp. nov. (Halictidae), Leioproctus (Protomorpha) quinkanensissp. nov., Chrysocolletes loripessp. nov., Chrysocolletesaureussp. nov. (Colletidae). A sixth species, Chrysocolletes doreyisp. nov. (Colletidae), is described from Walker Creek, East of Karumba in the Gulf Country, Queensland. Most descriptions are associated with DNA‐barcodes. Modified identification keys and image plates with diagnostic characters are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies traditional and non-traditional production activities of indigenous communities in Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Definition of traditional activities; Economic activities in the area; Subsistence economy; Economic value and contribution of traditional activities to regional economy.

William Hann's Northern Expedition set off on 26 June 1872 from Mount Surprise, a pastoral station west of Townsville, to determine the mineral and agricultural potential of Cape York Peninsula. The expedition was plagued by disharmony and there was later strong criticism of the leadership and its failure to provide any meaningful analysis of the findings. The authors (a descendent of Norman Taylor, expedition geologist, and a descendent of Jerry, Indigenous guide and translator) use documentary sources and traditional knowledge to establish the role of Jerry in the expedition. They argue that while Hann acknowledged Jerry's assistance to the expedition, his role has been downplayed by later commentators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the risk to threatened species of population decline from anthropogenic disturbances is challenging when there are issues with species identification, and little is known of their biology, distribution, population size, and habitat preference. The bare-rumped sheath-tailed bat (Saccolaimus saccolaimus) is one such species that has a poorly defined distribution over two broad areas of northern Australia. Environmental impact assessments are expected to consider the possibility of its presence in intervening areas outside the known distributions. Our study presents new empirical data that can assist with detection of S. saccolaimus across the entire expanse of northern Australia, provides a critical analysis of acoustics-based identification of the species, and assessed presence within the potentially high value habitat of tall Eucalyptus tetrodonta -dominated forest on the western side of Cape York Peninsula using a combination of trapping and acoustic recordings. Capture of other Saccolaimus species was the greatest of any survey conducted to date in Australia, demonstrating that the capture of these high-flying bat species in tall forest habitats can be relatively effective with mist net arrays hoisted into the tree canopy. In addition, reference echolocation call collections from the focal trapping area plus other locations across northern Australia allowed characterisation and comparison of the calls of most low-frequency-emitting (LFE) echolocating bat species of northern Australia. In addition to separation of species-specific search phase call types using multivariate statistics, a compilation of features from search phase, approach phase and feeding buzz echolocation calls will help distinguish S. saccolaimus from most other LFE species. However, the similarity of the echolocation calls of S. mixtus and S. saccolaimus prevented them from being distinguished from one another. A multi-method approach that emulates the present study and incorporates our recommendations and cautions will lead to robustness in ecological studies and greater clarity in environmental impact assessments. The bare-rumped sheath-tailed bat is listed as a threatened species under Australian national environmental legislation. However, it has been difficult to identify from echolocation calls, and surveys are still helping to define its distribution in Australia's remote north. Based on an intensive field survey and acoustic analysis of reference echolocation calls, we present a summary of characters and criteria that can assist with detection and subsequent identification. Photo by Mikey Kudo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical Cyclone Oswald (2013) is considered to be one of the highest-impact storms to make landfall in northern Australia even though it only reached a maximum category 1 intensity on the Australian category scale. After making landfall on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula, Oswald turned southward, and persisted for more than 7 days moving parallel to the coastline as far south as 308S. As one of the wettest tropical cyclones (TCs) in Australian history, the favorable configurations of a lower-latitude active monsoon trough and two consecutive midlatitude trough–jet systems generally contributed to the maintenance of the Oswald circulation over land and prolonged rainfall. As a result, Oswald produced widespread heavy rainfall along the east coast with three maximum centers near Weipa, Townsville, and Rockhampton, respectively. Using high-resolution WRF simulations, the mechanisms associated with TC Oswald’s rainfall are analyzed. The results show that the rainfall involved different rainfall mechanisms at each stage. The land–sea surface friction contrast, the vertical wind shear, and monsoon trough were mostly responsible for the intensity and location for the first heavy rainfall center on the Cape York Peninsula. The second torrential rainfall near Townsville was primarily a result of the local topography and land–sea frictional convergence in a conditionally unstable monsoonal environment with frictional convergence due to TC motion modulating some offshore rainfall. The third rainfall area was largely dominated by persistent high vertical wind shear forcing, favorable large-scale quasigeostrophic dynamic lifting from two midlatitude trough–jet systems, and mesoscale frontogenesis lifting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Trachypetidae is a newly recognised family of Ichneumonoidea endemic to Australia and one of the most distinctive wasp groups on the continent based on their large body size and superficial resemblance to some ichneumonids and aculeate wasps. The family is united in the presence of a unique sensory or glandular structure at the base of the mandibles. It is known from three genera: Cercobarcon Tobias, 1979, Megalohelcon Turner, 1918 (= Rhamphobarcon Tobias, 1979) and Trachypetus Guérin de Méneville, 1830, totalling eight described species. Trachypetines are rarely encountered, with very few specimens having been collected or recognised in collections since the group was revised in 1993. Here we report on a newly discovered species from Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, the first to be recognised in more than 25 years, and take much pleasure in naming it after Dr John La Salle, in celebration of his career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In north-eastern Queensland, the Masked Owl Tyto novaehollandiae is a rare and taxonomically complex species in apparent decline. It has typically been recorded in open sclerophyll forest and woodland, often adjacent to cleared areas, but current records suggest a patchy distribution. We used all available high-veracity records of the Masked Owl in north-eastern Queensland to examine habitat associations based on regional ecosystem data, and present a spatial model of its potential distribution within the Cape York Peninsula, Wet Tropics and Einasleigh Uplands bioregions. We conclude that the currently disjointed distribution is probably because of a lack of systematic surveys and that this species might be more widespread than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This paper describes the challenges in implementing an innovative arts-based mental health project in a remote Indigenous community. Method: The author (the Art Centre Manager) presents a personal narrative of the development of the Aurukun Creative Livelihoods project. Results: A partnership between an existing arts and mental health project (Creative Recovery) and the Wik and Kugu Arts and Craft Centre is described. This collaboration aims to enhance the emotional and social wellbeing of vulnerable Aboriginal people in a remote Indigenous community in Cape York - Aurukun. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mbarrumbathama is a clan-named variety of Lamalama, a language of Cape York Peninsula, in the northeast of Australia. Together with Umbuygamu (Ogilvie 1994, Sommer 1998, Verstraete 2017) and Rimanggudinhma (Godman 1993), Lamalama forms the Lamalamic subgroup of Paman languages (Laycock 1969, Rigsby 1997, Verstraete 2018), themselves a subgroup of Pama-Nyungan (Hale 1964, 1966; see also Bowern & Atkinson 2012). The language is no longer spoken, but it is traditionally associated with about 20 clans (as reconstructed by Rigsby 1999, 2014) belonging to the southern shores of Princess Charlotte Bay, on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula (see Figure 1). The clans' estates are mainly coastal, extending from the Normanby River mouth in the east to about 10 km west of the North Kennedy River mouth, but they also include some inland estates (see Rigsby 1992: 356). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Umbuygamu is a Pama-Nyungan language of the east coast of Cape York Peninsula, in the northeast of Australia. Genetically, the language belongs to the Lamalamic subgroup (Laycock 1969, Rigsby 1997) of Paman languages, themselves a subgroup of Pama-Nyungan (as proposed by Hale 1964, 1966; see also Bowern & Atkinson 2012). Umbuygamu is the language of three clans at the southern end of Princess Charlotte Bay, about halfway up the east coast of Cape York Peninsula. Their estates are centred on a lagoon called Emanha (or Dinner Hole in English); they extend inland into the upper Running Creek system, and include the Cliff Islands group along the coast; see Rigsby 1992 for more details, and Verstraete & Rigsby (2015: 2) for a map of the region and its languages. Neighbouring languages are the Middle Paman language Umpithamu, along the coast to the north (see, for instance, Verstraete 2010, 2012) and two Lamalamic languages, Rimanggudinhma to the southwest (located inland; Godman 1993, Sommer 1999b), and Lamalama to the southeast (along the coast; Sommer 1999a). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six weather types (WTs) are computed for tropical Australia during the wet season (November–March 1979–2015) using cluster analysis of 6-hourly low-level winds at 850 hPa. The WTs may be interpreted as a varying combination of at least five distinct phenomena operating at different time scales: the diurnal cycle, fast and recurrent atmospheric phenomena such as transient low pressure, the intraseasonal Madden–Julian oscillation, the annual cycle, and interannual variations mostly associated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation. The WTs are also strongly phase-locked onto the break/active phases of the monsoon; two WTs characterize mostly the trade-wind regime prevalent either at the start and the end of the monsoon or during its breaks, while three monsoonal WTs occur mostly during its core and active phases. The WT influence is strongest for the frequency of wet spells, while the influence on intensity varies according to the temporal aggregation of the rainfall. At hourly time scale, the climatological mean wet intensity tends to be near-constant in space and not systematically larger for the monsoonal WTs compared to other WTs. Nevertheless, one transitional WT, most prevalent around late November and characterized by weak synoptic forcings and overall drier conditions than the monsoonal WTs, is associated with an increased number of high hourly rainfall intensities for some stations, including for the interior of the Cape York Peninsula. When the temporal aggregation exceeds 6–12 h, the mean intensity tends to be larger for some of the monsoonal WTs, in association with more frequent and also slightly longer wet spells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archaeology in Oceania is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Two species of orioles, namely the Olive-backed Oriole (Oriolus sagittatus) and the Yellow Oriole (O. flavocinctus), occur across northern Australia. In New Guinea, both are confined to the Trans-Fly region immediately north of Cape York Peninsula. They occur there in Melaleuca-dominated 'swamp savanna', which is neither eucalypt savanna nor rainforest typical of their Australian habitats. A readily identifiable specimen of the Olive-backed Oriole collected in 2014 from the Trans-Fly has a mitochondrial DNA ND2 haplotype identical with Yellow Orioles. Its dorsal plumage has traits typical of Yellow Orioles. We infer it to have been descended from a hybridisation event involving a female Yellow Oriole followed by successive generations of backcrossing with Olive-backed Orioles. Three aberrantly plumaged orioles from New Guinea's Trans-Fly region date from 1937, 1969 and 2014. The 1969 specimen appears to be an aberrant Yellow Oriole. Molecular data are similarly not available for the 1937 specimen but its plumage is suggestive of hybrid origin. The 2014 bird's ND2 haplotype is identical with some Olive-backed Orioles and is inferred to be descended from hybridisation involving a female Olive-backed Oriole. Integration of phenotypic and genetic data directs study to understand drivers underpinning an unusually high frequency of aberrantly plumaged orioles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the roaming of Indigenous community dogs and potential interaction with wild dogs and dingoes. Design Cross-sectional survey and longitudinal follow-up study. Methods Six remote Indigenous communities in Cape York Peninsula and Arnhem Land in northern Australia were selected. Hair samples were collected from community dogs and microsatellite DNA analyses were used to determine hybrid (>10% dingo DNA) status. Dogs were fitted with GPS collars and home range (ha) was estimated during monitoring periods of up to 3 days. Results In Cape York Peninsula, 6% of the 35 dogs sampled were dingo hybrids, whereas in Arnhem Land 41% of the 29 dogs sampled were hybrids. The median extended home range was estimated to be 4.54 ha (interquartile range, 3.40 − 7.71). Seven community dogs were identified with an estimated home range > 20 ha and home ranges included the bushland surrounding communities. No significant difference in home ranges was detected between hybrid and non-hybrid dogs. Conclusions Study results provide some evidence (dingo hybridisation, bushland forays) of the potential interaction between domestic and wild dogs in northern Australia. The nature of this interaction needs further investigation to determine its role in disease transmission; for example, in the case of a rabies incursion in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B actrocera frauenfeldi ( Schiner), the 'mango fruit fly', is a horticultural pest originating from the Papua New Guinea region. It was first detected in Australia on Cape York Peninsula in north Queensland in 1974 and had spread to Cairns by 1994 and Townsville by 1997. B actrocera frauenfeldi has not been recorded further south since then despite its invasive potential, an absence of any controls and an abundance of hosts in southern areas. Analysis of cue-lure trapping data from 1997 to 2012 in relation to environmental variables shows that the distribution of B . frauenfeldi in Queensland correlates to locations with a minimum temperature for the coldest month >13.2°C, annual temperature range <19.3°C, mean temperature of the driest quarter >20.2°C, precipitation of the wettest month >268 mm, precipitation of the wettest quarter >697 mm, temperature seasonality <30.9°C (i.e. lower temperature variability) and areas with higher human population per square kilometre. Annual temperature range was the most important variable in predicting this species' distribution. Predictive distribution maps based on an uncorrelated subset of these variables reasonably reflected the current distribution of this species in northern Australia and predicted other areas in the world potentially at risk from invasion by this species. This analysis shows that the distribution of B . frauenfeldi in Australia is correlated to certain environmental variables that have most likely limited this species' spread southward in Queensland. This is of importance to Australian horticulture in demonstrating that B . frauenfeldi is unlikely to establish in horticultural production areas further south than Townsville. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]