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Growing bioenergy feedstocks can provide a long-term sustainable production system for marginal land resources and is essential for minimizing food vs. fuel competition for prime croplands. However, the term “marginal” is too often used in research reports without being defined. We here suggest that clearly specifying the biophysical factors and agroeconomic context contributing to marginality will greatly enhance the utility and comparability of published research.

The foundational assumptions of the framing discourses in social education have often been assumed to be neutral and natural. Utilizing a poststructural perspective in the analysis of the foundations of teacher education reform and multicultural education discourses this paper highlights the dangers of uninterrogated normalizing practices in social education. These discursive practices are illustrative of reductionist tendencies and governing mentalities that exclude through gendered and raced discourses. This reduction includes the legitimized (dominant) construction of the subject position of “good” teacher, citizen, and student. Talking differently about the challenges of critical and transformative efforts in social education suggests spaces for a more adequate knowing that complicates our assumptions of citizenship within social education by theorizing about the refusals of citizenship.

The author first used life history as a research method in her master of education thesis at a Canadian university. She now believes that the issues and questions that arose from that experience were mired in a critical perspective that reflected realist assumptions. Increasing dissatisfaction with her efforts to work through the life history data gathered in 1995 has led her to problematize the methodological implications of studying research participants’ lives this way. Main points discussed include questions and issues with voice and collaborative methodologies, the epistemological assumptions that frame life history research, and a discussion of victory narratives within the redemptive culture of the human and social sciences. And, just what do we do with “unexpected stories”?

Seasonal stream habitats in New Mexico supported 10 species of winter-emerging stoneflies. Winter precipitation in combination with low winter temperatures created a seasonal moisture surplus and seasonal streamflow in this semi-arid region. Study area streams were dry for long periods in spring and autumn. Two different types of seasonal (ahyporheic) habitats were identified. Small high mountain streams fed by seasonal snowmelt runoff (type M) were inhabited by Capnia decepta, Eucapnopsis brevicauda, Isocapnia vedderensis, Capnia californica, Capnura wanica, Mesocapnia werneri, Taenionema jacobii, and Capnura fibula. Mesocapnia arizonensis and M. frisoni seemed to specialize in low-elevation watercourses fed by winter rains and rising water tables (type L). Adaptations for survival during spring and autumn periods of no streamflow, desiccation, or flash flooding include small size, rapid development, and diapause during egg or larval stages.

Current fire management practices in the fire-prone vegetation of south-eastern Australia are based mainly on the concept of hazard reduction via the use of periodic low-intensity fires to maintain the amount of flammable fuel within specified (low) limits. We examined the possible conflict between the requirements of fire management for hazard reduction and requirements for species conservation in the dry-sclerophyll shrublands and woodlands of the Sydney region. Our data indicate that potentially severe fire hazards (fine fuel loads of ≥10 t.ha−1) can reappear in the woodland and shrubland vegetation within 2–4 years after low-intensity fires, such as are typical of the fuel-reduction burns usually prescribed. Our data also show that low-intensity fires will have significant effects on the species composition of the communities if they occur with an inter-fire interval of less than 7–8 years, causing a significantly reduced abundance of long-lived woody shrub species. There is thus a clear conflict in south-eastern Australia between fire management practices based solely on prescribed burning for hazard reduction and the fire management practices necessary to maintain ecosystem biodiversity, and this conflict is greatest for fire-sensitive shrub species. The conflict between these two vegetation management objectives cannot be resolved by a simple compromise, as prescribed fires with inter-fire intervals any greater than 4 years will allow a potentially severe fire hazard to exist, while a burning regime with any inter-fire intervals less than 8 years will result in loss of biodiversity. This conflict means that it will probably not be possible to achieve simultaneously both hazard reduction and species conservation for any specified managed area.

Fire frequency is the number of fires experienced by a particular community within a given time period. This variable can potentially be resolved into a number of interacting components, including time since the most recent fire, and the length of the inter-fire intervals. We estimated the effects of inter-fire intervals and sequences of inter-fire intervals, independently of time-since-fire, on the floristic composition of 26 samples from dry sclerophyll vegetation with different fire histories in Brisbane Water National Park near Sydney. In particular, we examined the effects in the recent fire history of : the length of the shortest inter-fire interval (1-26 years) ; repetition of very short (1-3 years) and medium (7-14 years) inter-fire intervals ; and recovery from very short (1-3 years) and short (4-6 years) inter-fire intervals. Our analyses suggest that inter-fire interval may account for about 55% of the floristic variation among our samples, which were taken at a uniform 18 months after the most recent fire. There appear to be at least three general and unrelated effects of the recent history of inter-fire intervals on the floristic composition of this vegetation : (i) shorter inter-fire intervals were associated with a reduction in the number of species present in the community, along with a more unequal abundance of the remaining species, particularly of those large Proteaceae shrubs that often dominate the community biomass in dry sclerophyll shrublands of southeastern Australia ; (ii) the presence of an inter-fire interval that is 1-6 years long was associated with an additional reversible reduction in the number of fire-sensitive species present in the community, particularly those common shrub species with a canopy-stored seed-bank and non-leguminous species with a soil-stored seed-bank ; and (iii) repetition of inter-fire intervals that are 1-5 years long was associated with an increase in the abundance of herbaceous fire-tolerant species. This means that variation in these characteristics is associated with changes in abundance of different plant species, and that the floristic composition of any one area can be influenced in three different ways by these variables. Management of fire for plant species conservation must therefore be based on both length of time-since-fire and length of inter-fire intervals if it is to be effective.

Fire frequency is the number of fires experienced by a particular community within a given time period. This concept can potentially be resolved into a number of interacting variables, including: time since the most recent fire, the length of the inter-fire intervals, and the variability of the length of the inter-fire intervals. We estimated the effects of these three variables on the floristic composition of 65 samples from dry sclerophyll vegetation with different fire histories in Brisbane Water, Ku-ring-gai Chase and Royal National Parks near Sydney. Our analyses suggest that fire frequency may account for about 60% of the floristic variation among our samples. They confirm the hypothesis that the recent (

Combustion wind tunnels are often used to investigate the propagation of free-moving fires through solid-phase fuels, typically standardised ‘artificial’ fuel beds. However, the results of such studies are difficult to apply directly to wildland fire situations primarily due to the disparity between the generally uniform artificial fuel and the heterogeneous fuel found in nature. To explore the feasibility of using heterogeneous ‘natural’ fuel beds in subsequent combustion wind tunnel experiments, this study quantified the variability in forward rate of fire spread resulting from the use of heterogeneous fuel beds in a combustion wind tunnel under a given set of burning conditions. The experiment assessed the effects of fuel type and air speed, and controlled for the effects of fuel moisture content, fuel load and fuel particle size. It was found that the variability in rate of spread increased with its mean, but the overall residual variance (σ2e

This study explores effects of climate change and fuel management on unplanned fire activity in ecosystems representing contrasting extremes of the moisture availability spectrum (mesic and arid). Simulation modelling examined unplanned fire activity (fire incidence and area burned, and the area burned by large fires) for alternate climate scenarios and prescribed burning levels in: (i) a cool, moist temperate forest and wet moorland ecosystem in south-west Tasmania (mesic); and (ii) a spinifex and mulga ecosystem in central Australia (arid). Contemporary fire activity in these case study systems is limited, respectively, by fuel availability and fuel amount. For future climates, unplanned fire incidence and area burned increased in the mesic landscape, but decreased in the arid landscape in accordance with predictions based on these limiting factors. Area burned by large fires (greater than the 95th percentile of historical, unplanned fire size) increased with future climates in the mesic landscape. Simulated prescribed burning was more effective in reducing unplanned fire activity in the mesic landscape. However, the inhibitory effects of prescribed burning are predicted to be outweighed by climate change in the mesic landscape, whereas in the arid landscape prescribed burning reinforced a predicted decline in fire under climate change. The potentially contrasting direction of future changes to fire will have fundamentally different consequences for biodiversity in these contrasting ecosystems, and these will need to be accommodated through contrasting, innovative management solutions.

Numerous studies have investigated the effects of vehicle trafficking on terrain and how soils and soil conditions affect the mobility of military vehicles. However, the majority of these studies were conducted on non-vegetated soils. The purpose of our four-year study is to investigate the effects of heavy vehicle trafficking on vegetated soils and to assess the impacts of vegetation, specifically grass, on vehicle mobility. The research program includes a series of experiments assessing the effects of trafficking, mowing, and burning on vegetated soil strength. Three test sections were constructed and planted with perennial ryegrass: one section represented outdoor field conditions and two were controlled indoor sections (sand and silty loam). Mobility parameters of motion resistance and traction were collected in each test section prior to trafficking by a large military vehicle (HEMTT). Before and after trafficking, each test section was characterized including soil strength, moisture content, soil density, and terrain disturbance. The results show that vegetation affects soil strength and thus the terrain impacts of trafficking. Additionally, treatment of the vegetation affects soil strength, especially in silty loam soils. This paper summarizes the first year results regarding soil condition, soil strength, and vehicle impact severity. Future years will assess the recovery of the vegetation in the tested areas with the ultimate goal of making recommendations for the treatment of vegetated military training lands.

Believe it or not, I am much more subtle in my pedagogical work these days. I have spent over a decade teaching in higher education around the topic of social justice and the social construction of knowledge in the total institution of education. One of my first publications came out of that topic as I discussed the refusals or exclusions of citizenship in Social Education (2001). It was rather oppositional work. Now I am trying to work out how to think differently regarding ‘refusals’ with respect to Critical Pedagogy. In this chapter I will give a brief outline of my theoretical journey and share some painful insights into a Pedagogy of Strategic Confrontation in conservative spaces!

For demographic models of resprouting species in relation to fire regimes, spatially separated populations of different ages are usually treated as a chronosequence, and the average behaviour of these populations is used as the estimate of the generalized behaviour of a single population through time. Using the data of Bradstock (1990), we examine the way in which the between-population variability affects the demographic parameters for Banksia serrata (Proteaceae) and thus assess whether the estimates of the shortest inter-fire interval necessary to maintain a stable population size under low and high intensity fires are robust to variation in these parameters. The range of our estimates compares well to the average estimate of Bradstock (1990) for high intensity fires, but not for low intensity fires. However the relevant demographic parameters appear to vary more between populations than they do as a result of the length of the inter-fire intervals, and the specific demographic model discussed here may have only local application.

Resprouting and seed recruitment are important ways in which plants respond to fire. However, the investments a plant makes into ensuring the success of post-fire resprouting or seedling recruitment can result in trade-offs that are manifested in a range of co-occurring morphological, life history and physiological traits. Relationships between fire-response strategies and other traits have been widely examined in fire-prone Mediterranean-type climates. In this paper, we aim to determine whether shrubs growing in a non-Mediterranean climate region exhibit relationships between their fire-response strategy and leaf traits.Field surveys were used to classify species into fire-response types. We then compared specific leaf area, leaf dry-matter content, leaf width, leaf nitrogen and carbon to nitrogen ratios between (a) obligate seeders and all other resprouters, and (b) obligate seeders, facultative resprouters and obligate resprouters.Leaf traits only varied between fire-response types when we considered facultative resprouters as a separate group to obligate resprouters, as observed after a large landscape-scale fire. We found no differences between obligate seeders and obligate resprouters, nor between obligate seeders and resprouters considered as one group.The results suggest that facultative resprouters may require a strategy of rapid resource acquisition and fast growth in order to compete with species that either resprout, or recruit from seed. However, the overall lack of difference between obligate seeders and obligate resprouters suggests that environmental factors are exerting similar effects on species' ecological strategies, irrespective of the constraints and trade-offs that may be associated with obligate seeding and obligate resprouting. These results highlight the limits to trait co-occurrences across different ecosystems and the difficulty in identifying global-scale relationships amongst traits.

Fire management will face many challenges in the future from global climate change to protecting people, communities, and values at risk. Simulation modeling will be a vital tool for addressing these challenges but the next generation of simulation models must be spatially explicit to address critical landscape ecology relationships and they must use mechanistic approaches to model novel climates. This chapter summarizes important issues that will be critical for wildland fire management in the future and then identifies the role that simulation modeling can have in tackling these issues. The challenges of simulation modeling include: (i) spatial representation, (ii) uncertainty, (iii) complexity, (iv) parameterization, (v) initialization, (vi) testing and validation. The LANDFIRE project is presented as an example on how simulation modeling is used to support current fire management issues. Research and management needs for successful wildland fire-related simulation modeling projects will need (i) extensive mechanistic research programs, (ii) comprehensive databases, (iii) statistical validation methods and protocols, (iv) software and hardware research, (v) modeling science explorations, and (vi) extensive training. Models will continue to play an integral role in fire management but only if the science keeps pace and managers are poised to take advantage of advances in modeling.

In an effort to obtain a developmental sequence of mutations in the Rhizobium-legume interaction within a single legume species, we have characterized the early events of nodule development in 10 nodulation mutants of sweetclover, Melilotus alba Desr. cv U389, representing five genetic loci. Both seed and root exudates from all of the sweetclover mutants induced expression of the nod genes of Rhizobium meliloti. Mutants in three loci were blocked in the early stages of root hair curling. Of these, a mutant in the sym-3 locus exhibited root hair deformations in response to inoculation with R. meliloti but produced no nodules or emerging nodule primordia, suggesting a blockage in the signal transduction events leading to nodule organogenesis. In contrast, mutants in both the sym-1 and sym-5 loci formed ineffective nodules in response to inoculation but differed slightly in the type of root hair response observed. None of these three early mutants formed infection threads. Infection threads were observed in mutant sym-2 as well as in ineffective nodules. Mutant sym-4 also formed infection threads but lacked nodules. The phenotypes observed for mutants from these five loci suggest that a secondary receptor or signal produced by the plant is required for nodule development.

Background Molecular feedback loops involving transcription and translation and several key genes are at the core of circadian regulatory cycles affecting cellular pathways and metabolism. These cycles are active in most adult animal cells but little is known about their expression or influence during development. Methodology/Principal Findings To determine if circadian cycles are active during mammalian development we measured the expression of key circadian genes during embryogenesis in mice using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. All of the genes examined were expressed in whole embryos beginning at the earliest age examined, embryonic day 10. In contrast to adult tissues, circadian variation was absent for all genes at all of the embryonic ages examined in either whole embryos or individual tissues. Using a bioluminescent fusion protein that tracks translation of the circadian gene, per2, we also analyzed protein levels. Similar to mRNA, a protein rhythm was observed in adult tissue but not in embryonic tissues collected in-vivo. In contrast, when tissues were placed in culture for the continuous assay of bioluminescence, rhythms were observed in embryonic (E18) tissues. We found that placing embryonic tissues in culture set the timing (phase) of these rhythms, suggesting the importance of a synchronizing signal for the expression of circadian cycles in developing tissues. Conclusions/Significance These results show that embryonic tissues express key circadian genes and have the capacity to express active circadian regulatory cycles. In vivo, circadian cycles are not expressed in embryonic tissues as they are in adult tissues. Individual cells might express oscillations, but are not synchronized until later in development.

The separation of symmetric, remote, secondary diol stereoisomers bu stereoselective enzyme-catalyzed acetylation with acetic anhydride in anhydrous, low polarity organic solvents or by stereoselective enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of the corresponding peracetate in aqueous media is described. Whether or not an alcohol is acetylated or an acetate is hydrolyzed is determined solely by its own stereochemical arrangement and not by the stereochemistry at any other stereogenic center

These guidelines were prepared to help military land managers select appropriate seed mixtures for revegetation on actively used training lands in the Intermountain West of the United States. Recommending a seed mixture is complicated because of the various ecosystems, land uses, soils, and plant selection goals. We wanted to keep the guidelines as simple as possible but still be able to recommend seed mixtures adapted for this region. We have broken down the process into four steps that we feel cover the important aspects of selecting the most adapted seed mixture to meet revegetation goals on actively used lands such as training ranges, airfields, and MOUT sites. Tables provide information to assist in selection of species to include in seed mixtures for various soil types, climates, and land usage. Characteristics of the militarily important plants mentioned in this guide are also given. This information is provided in two appendices containing a summary table and individual plant description sheets.

When it is bound to a specific ligand such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, mild heating can convert the Ah (aryl hydrocarbon) receptor into a form capable of binding DNA. We found that physiological (1-3 mM) levels of ATP substantially increased the transformation of the receptor to its DNA-binding form. GTP, UTP and CTP had similar effects. ADP also promoted this transformation, but was less effective than ATP at low concentrations. Pyrophosphate too promoted transformation, but AMP had little effect. The process did not require nucleotide hydrolysis, since non-hydrolysable analogues of ATP such as adenosine 5′-[beta gamma-imido]triphosphate were nearly as effective as ATP itself. Inhibitors of ATP-stimulated proteases did not significantly affect the ability of ATP to promote receptor transformation, which suggests that the effect of ATP was not mediated by these proteases.

Wildland fire is a major disturbance in most ecosystems worldwide (Crutzen and Goldammer 1993). The interaction of fire with climate and vegetation over long time spans, often referred to as the fire regime (Agee 1993; Clark 1993; Swetnam and Baisan 1996; Swetnam 1997), has major effects on dominant vegetation, ecosystem carbon budget, and biodiversity (Gardner et aL 1996; Lenihan et aL 1998; Ryan 1991; Starfield and Chapin 1996). These effects include cycling nutrients, regulating succession, maintaining diversity, reducing biomass, controlling insect and disease populations, triggering interactions between vegetation and animals, and maintaining important biological and biogeochemical processes (Johnson 1992; Agee 1993; Crutzen and Goldammer 1993; DeBano et al. 1998). Carbon cycles are intimately linked to fire regimes because of the accumulation and combustion of fuel and post-fire vegetation development (Kasischke et al. 1995; Olsen 1981). Fire has sculpted landscapes for millennia by dictating pattern dynamics and community composition (Knight 1987; Swanson et al. 1997).

Firebrands of ribbon bark eucalypt are notorious for igniting spotfires many kilometres ahead of a bushfire. However, no research to date has demonstrated that this bark type can sustain combustion at its terminal velocity for the travel time required. Fifty samples of shed bark of Eucalyptus viminalis of three distinct morphologies were ignited at one end and burned tethered in a vertical wind tunnel at air velocities approximating their terminal velocity. Mean terminal velocity and burnout time for ‘flat plates’, ‘simple cylinders’ and ‘internally convoluted cylinders’ were 5.4 m s–1 and 251 s; 5.2 m s–1 and 122 s; and 5.8 m s–1 and 429 s. The corresponding maximum burnout times were 785 s, 353 s and 1304 s. One internally convoluted cylinder flamed continuously and consumed its length of 368 mm in 271 s. The maximum burnout time for the internally convoluted cylinders is commensurate with a potential spotting distance exceeding 20 km given a mean wind speed during transport of 60 km h–1. This is the first study in which combustion times exceeding a few minutes have been recorded for this bark morphology, and thus provides some corroboration of the notoriety for long-distance spotting.

The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity of modelled area burned to environmental factors across a range of independently-developed landscape-fire-succession models. The sensitivity of area burned to variation in four factors, namely terrain (flat, undulating and mountainous), fuel pattern (finely and coarsely clumped), climate (observed, warmer & wetter, and warmer & drier) and weather (year-to-year variability) was determined for four existing landscape-fire-succession models (EMBYR, FIRESCAPE, LANDSUM and SEM-LAND) and a new model implemented in the LAMOS modelling shell (LAMOS(DS)). Sensitivity was measured as the variance in area burned explained by each of the four factors, and all of the interactions amongst them, in a standard generalised linear modelling analysis. Modelled area burned was most sensitive to climate and variation in weather, with four models sensitive to each of these factors and three models sensitive to their interaction. Models generally exhibited a trend of increasing area burned from observed, through warmer and wetter, to warmer and drier climates with a 23-fold increase in area burned, on average, from the observed to the warmer, drier climate. Area burned was sensitive to terrain for FIRESCAPE and fuel pattern for EMBYR. These results demonstrate that the models are generally more sensitive to variation in climate and weather as compared with terrain complexity and fuel pattern, although the sensitivity to these latter factors in a small number of models demonstrates the importance of representing key processes. The models that represented fire ignition and spread in a relatively complex fashion were more sensitive to changes in all four factors because they explicitly simulate the processes that link these factors to area burned.

Approaches to management of fireprone forests are undergoing rapid change, driven by recognition that technological attempts to subdue fire at large scales (fire suppression) are ecologically and economically unsustainable. However, our current framework for intervention excludes the full scope of the fire management problem within the broader context of fire−vegetation−climate interactions. Climate change may already be causing unprecedented fire activity, and even if current fires are within the historical range of variability, models predict that current fire management problems will be compounded by more frequent extreme fire-conducive weather conditions (eg Fried et al. 2004). Concern about climate change has also made the mitigation of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and increased carbon (C) storage a priority for forest managers.

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has been performing optical wavefront testing at cryogenic temperatures since 1999 in the Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center's (SOMTC's) X-ray / Cryogenic Facility (XRCF). Recently the cryogenic optical testing capability has been extended to a smaller chamber. This smaller horizontal cylindrical vacuum chamber has been outfitted with a helium-cooled liner that can be connected to the existing helium refrigeration system bringing the kilowatt of refrigeration capacity to bear on a 1 x 2 meter test envelope. Cryogenic cycles to 20 Kelvin, including set-up and chamber evacuation/backfill, are now possible in only a few days. Since activation and chamber characterization tests in September 2001, the new chamber has been used to perform a number of proprietary cryogenic tests on mirrors, adhesives, and actuators. A vibration survey has also been performed on the test chamber. Chamber specifications and performance data, vibration environment data, and optical test capability will be discussed.

Summary form only given. The development of high power, diode-pumped self-frequency doubling (SFD) lasers, such as Nd:YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7/ (Nd:YCOB) may be an attractive alternative to lasers incorporating intra-cavity doubling with a separate nonlinear crystal. Several SFD lasers have shown efficient frequency doubling into the green. However, modeling of diode-pumped SFD lasers using end-pumping configurations have shown limitations resulting from a low power density of the pump volume. We report fundamental laser action and SFD operation under high power diode-pumping of Nd:YCOB.

Summary form only given. Recent publications show high slope efficiencies, high emission cross section, and low laser threshold for Yb/sup 3+/ in appatite host structures. We have developed a Czochralski technique for producing SVAP crystalline boules with up to 6% Yb (by weight in the starting melt). Contrary to common practice in growing oxyfluoride crystals, high oxidation in the growth atmosphere produces better quality SVAP single crystals. Large crystalline boules were grown without the tendency toward grain boundaries, cracks, or spiraling, suggesting that our method can make this host market-ready. Diode-pumped operation of Yb/sup 3+/:SVAP was achieved for the first time by generating emission at 906 nm from a new high brightness InGaAs/AlGaAs laser diode which overlapped well with the broad absorption at 905 nm.

Summary form only given. Ytterbium doped laser media are well suited for diode pumping and have favorable spectroscopic properties for compact high average power lasers emitting either tunable or ultrashort infrared radiation. In our previous work, we have demonstrated YCa/sub 4/O(BO/sub 3/)/sub 3/ (YCOB), to have some advantages such as broad wavelength tunability and the capability of self-frequency doubling. We have investigated the potential of Yb:YCOB under diode pumping utilizing widely available 980 nm diodes. Additional experiments were performed to show laser operation of Yb:YCOB under 900 nm pumping using a tunable CW Ti-sapphire.

The phenomenon of fire in the Australian landscape traverses many interests and disciplines. At a national level, there is an urgent need for the integration of both the natural and social sciences in the formulation of public policy. With contributions from 30 leading experts, Australia Burning draws together these issues, under the themes: Ecology and the environment Fire behaviour and fire regime science People and property Policy, institutional arrangements and the legal framework Indigenous land and fire management The book examines some of the key questions that relate to the ecology, prediction and management of fire, urban planning, law, insurance, and community issues, including indigenous and non-indigenous concerns. It looks at what we need to know to inform public policy, given the present risks and uncertainty, and explores the avenues for closer integration between science, policy and the community.

Critical developmental and gene expression profiles were charted during the formation of shoots from root explants in Arabidopsis tissue culture. Shoot organogenesis is a two-step process involving pre-incubation on an auxin-rich callus induction medium (CIM) during which time root explants acquire competence to form shoots during subsequent incubation on a cytokinin-rich shoot induction medium (SIM). At a histological level, the organization of shoot apical meristems (SAMs) appears to occur during incubation on SIM about the time of shoot commitment, i.e. the transition from hormone-dependent to hormone-independent shoot development. Genes involved in SAM formation, such as SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (STM) and CLAVATA1 (CLV1), were upregulated at about the time of shoot commitment, while WUSCHEL (WUS) was upregulated somewhat earlier. Genes required for STM expression, such as CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON 1 and 2 (CUC1 and 2) were upregulated prior to shoot commitment. Gene expression patterns were determined for two GFP enhancer trap lines with tissue-specific expression in the SAM, including one line reporting on CUC1 expression. CUC1 was generally expressed in callus tissue during early incubation on SIM, but later CUC1 was expressed more locally in presumptive sites of shoot formation. In contrast, the expression pattern of the enhancer trap lines during zygotic embryogenesis was more localized to the presumptive SAM even in early stages of embryogenesis.

This chapter focuses on the contracting of the Tod River Catchment Salinity and Water Quality Management Project (one of the projects funded under the 'Accelerated Regional Implementation of the Natural Heritage Trust in South Australia') to the Tod River Catchment Landcare Group. The impact of the project and the sustainability and replicability of some of the changes brought about through the project are discussed.

Wildland fire managers make daily decisions about ways to allocate scarce resources to meet policy objectives. Making these decisions has become more challenging as the frequency and size of fires increase, as does associated risk to assets and costs of management. There is growing interest in using economic evaluation to inform resource allocation decisions, but little work has examined the economic evaluation needs of wildland fire managers, their current use of economic information and the factors that aid or hinder use. This study examined these issues through a survey of Australian wildland fire managers in fire management and policy roles. We found that despite strong interest in economic evaluation, managers have limited familiarity with most evaluation methods or use of the information derived. Several actions can improve the use and usefulness of economic evaluation for wildland fire managers: first, building capacity of managers to both commission and use economic information; second, integrating analysis of market and non-market benefits and costs as part of economic evaluation and third, better integrating economic evaluation with the broader context of decision-making processes.

Shoots and roots can be regenerated through organogenesis in tissue culture by subjecting plant explants to the appropriate regime of hormone treatments. In an effort to understand the control of shoot organogenesis, we screened for mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Columbia ecotype for enhanced shoot development at sub-optimal concentrations of cytokinin. Mutants in four different complementation groups were identified, one of which represents a new locus named increased organ regeneration1 (ire1) and another that is allelic to the previously identified pom1/erh2 mutant. Although the mutants were selected for their response to cytokinin, they were neither hypersensitive to, nor were they over-producers of cytokinins. The mutations identified in this study not only promote more robust shoot production in tissue culture, but also enhance green-callus and root formation. We interpret this to mean that, in tissue culture, IRE genes act before organ specification during the time when root explants acquire the competency to respond to organ formation signals. In normal plant development, IRE genes may down-regulate the competency of vegetative tissue to respond to hormonal signals involved in shoot and root organogenesis.

The first demonstration of diode-pumped laser action using a 980 nm diode, and wavelength-tunability in Yb3+:YCOB is reported.