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In the absence of consensus on the quantity and level of zoning protection required for coral reef and lagoon ecosystems, which process can guide decision makers? The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) worked with experts in a collaborative process to develop a set of Biophysical Operational Principles to guide the design of a network of no-take areas. First, 82 expert scientists were asked to provide data and advice on the physical, biological and ecological dimensions of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. They recommended that an independent Scientific Steering Committee (the Committee) was set up. How this Committee worked successfully with the GBRMPA staff is detailed here in a manner to enable other resource managers to adopt the process if they are working in data-limited marine environments. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comprehensive survey of the benthic assemblages of the Torres Strait was conducted in order to provide critical baseline information for regional marine planning, assessing the environmental sustainability of fisheries and understanding the ecosystems of the region. Over 150 sites throughout the region were sampled with a modified prawn trawl, towed underwater video, pipe dredge and epibenthic sled. This manuscript provides a broad overview of the activities undertaken and data collected. Two thousand three hundred and seventy-two different nominal species were sampled by the trawl and sled, only 728 by both gears. The towed video was not able to provide the same level of taxonomic resolution of epibenthic taxa, but was particularly useful in areas where the seabed was too rough to be sampled. Data from the trawl, sled and video were combined to characterise the epibenthic assemblages of the region. Data from the towed video was also used to provide a characterisation of the inter-reefal benthic habitats, which was then analysed in combination with physical covariate data to examine relationships between the two. Levels of mud and gravel in the sediments, trawling effort and seabed current stress were the covariates most significantly correlated with the nature of the seabed habitats.

Several species of marine mammals are at risk of extinction from being captured as bycatch in commercial fisheries. Various approaches have been developed and implemented to address this bycatch problem, including devices and gear changes, time and area closures and fisheries moratoria. Most of these solutions are difficult to implement effectively, especially for artisanal fisheries in developing countries and remote regions. Re-zoning of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) in 2004 closed 33% of the region to extractive activities, including commercial fishing. However, the impact of re-zoning and the associated industry restructuring on a threatened marine mammal, the dugong (Dugong dugon), is difficult to quantify. Accurate information on dugong bycatch in commercial nets is unavailable because of the large geographic extent of the GBRWHA, the remoteness of the region adjacent to the Cape York Peninsula where most dugongs occur and the artisanal nature of the fishery. In the face of this uncertainty, a spatial risk-assessment approach was used to evaluate the re-zoning and associated industry restructuring for their ability to reduce the risk of dugong bycatch from commercial fisheries netting. The new zoning arrangements appreciably reduced the risk of dugong bycatch by reducing the total area where commercial netting is permitted. Netting is currently not permitted in 67% of dugong habitats of high conservation value, a 56% improvement over the former arrangements. Re-zoning and industry restructuring also contributed to a 22% decline in the spatial extent of conducted netting. Spatial risk assessment approaches that evaluate the risk of mobile marine mammals from bycatch are applicable to other situations where there is limited information on the location and intensity of bycatch, including remote regions and developing countries where resources are limited.

Dugong habitats were considered in the design for the new zoning network for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park as part of the Representative Areas Program. One of the specific design guidelines developed as part of the biophysical operational principles recommended that 50% of all high priority dugong habitats should be incorporated in the network of no-take areas. The high priority dugong habitat incorporated in no-take protection increased from 1396 to 3476 km2 (or 16.9-42.0% of all identified sites). Although this increase in protection fell short of the recommended 50%, overall the level of protection afforded by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003 increased for all the locations identified.

When tropical cyclone Larry crossed the Queensland coast on 20 March 2006, commercial, recreational and naval vessels in the port of Cairns, 60 km north of the eye of the cyclone and others closer to the eye, were protected from the destructive winds by sheltering in deep mangrove creeks in Trinity Inlet and off other coastal rivers. The Trinity Inlet mangroves are protected under the comprehensive multi-use Trinity Inlet Management Plan, agreed by the local and state government agencies (Cairns City Council, the Cairns Port Authority and the Queensland Government). Using this Australian example and one from the town of Palompon in Leyte province, central Philippines, we show how long-term mangrove habitat protection resulting from well-conceived coastal planning can deliver important economic and infrastructure benefits.

Das Handbuch des EU-Projektes "URGE - Förderung von Grünflächen zur Verbesserung der Lebensqualität in Städten und urbanen Räumen" bildet eine Synthese von Arbeiten, in die Erfahrungen aus vielen Teilen Europas eingeflossen sind, und präsentiert eine Sammlung von Instrumenten, die im Projekt erarbeitet wurden. Sie wurden gezielt für die Planung städtischen Grüns entwickelt und bieten verschiedene Zugangsweisen sowohl für die Analyse urbaner Grünstrukturen wie für die Bewertung der einzelnen Grünfläche. Anhand gelungener Beispielen u.a. aus den Partner- und Referenzstädten gibt das Handbuch Anleitungen zur Verbesserung der Grünsituation in den Städten. Der Text der gedruckten Version ist in englischer Sprache gehalten, die beiliegende CD ROM enthält die Planungsinstrumente betreffenden Textpassagen in weiteren Sprachen, darunter im Deutschen, bereit.

In 2000–2002, Carrot virus Y (CarVY) was found infecting carrot crops in six Australian states. Its occurrence was greater where carrot production was continuous (New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia), than where production was restricted mostly to the summer (Tasmania) or winter (Queensland) months. The percentages of farms and crops infected, respectively, were New South Wales (71%, 56%), Queensland (5%, 4%), South Australia (56%, 56%), Tasmania (4%, 4%), Victoria (93%, 74%) and Western Australia (28%, 19%). Infection was detected in 30 of 36 carrot cultivars. Possible explanations for the widespread distribution and incidence of CarVY in Australian carrots are discussed.

Abnormal CAG expansions in the IT-15 gene are associated with Huntington disease (HD). In the diagnostic setting it is necessary to define the limits of the CAG size ranges on normal and HD-associated chromosomes. Most large analyses that defined the limits of the normal and pathological size ranges employed PCR assays, which included the CAG repeats and a CCG repeat tract that was thought to be invariant. Many of these experiments found an overlap between the normal and disease size ranges. Subsequent findings that the CCG repeats vary by 8 trinucleotide lengths suggested that the limits of the normal and disease size ranges should be reevaluated with assays that exclude the CCG polymorphism. Since patients with between 30 and 40 repeats are rare, a consortium was assembled to collect such individuals. All 178 samples were reanalyzed in Cambridge by using assays specific for the CAG repeats. We have optimized methods for reliable sizing of CAG repeats and show cases that demonstrate the dangers of using PCR assays that include both the CAG and CCG polymorphisms. Seven HD patients had 36 repeats, which confirms that this allele is associated with disease. Individuals without apparent symptoms or signs of HD were found at 36 repeats (aged 74, 78, 79, and 87 years), 37 repeats (aged 69 years), 38 repeats (aged 69 and 90 years), and 39 repeats (aged 67, 90, and 95 years). The detailed case histories of an exceptional case from this series will be presented: a 95-year-old man with 39 repeats who did not have classical features of HD. The apparently healthy survival into old age of some individuals with 36-39 repeats suggests that the HD mutation may not always be fully penetrant.

Approximately 1000 km2 of seagrass was lost from Hervey Bay after two major floods and a cyclone within a 3 week period in 1992. This represents 24% of the known area of seagrass along the Queensland east coast, which spans 17 degrees of latitude. Anecdotal evidence suggests that such a loss is unprecedented in the past 100 years. The seagrasses in deep water (at least 10 m depth) apparently died as a result of light deprivation caused by a persistent plume of turbid water that resulted from the floods and the resuspension of sediments caused by the cyclonic seas. Seagrasses in shallow water (less than 10 m depth) were uprooted by the heavy seas. Ten months after these events, virtually no recovery was detected. Nearly 2 years after the floods there was substantial recovery, apparently from seed germination, in deep water areas. There was virtually no recovery in shallow water areas (less than 10 m). Sediment disturbance associated with the cyclone may have deeply buried the seeds in shallow areas, or they may have died after being abraded by the churning sediment. The recovering sites in deep water were dominated by Halophila decipiens Ostenfeld, although a few sites had returned to their pre-disturbance state of a high percentage cover of tall Halophila spinulosa (R. Brown) Ascherson with a sparse understorey of Halophila ovalis (R. Brown) Hooker f. Poor catchment management and intensive penaeid shrimp trawling may have exacerbated the effects of the floods and cyclone.