SciNews

Scientists call for "global cooling" to save coral reefs

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:27:12 +1100

November 9, 2009 – for immediate release

Australian marine scientists have issued an urgent call for massive and rapid worldwide cuts in carbon emissions, deep enough to prevent atmospheric CO2 levels rising to 450 parts per million (ppm).

In the lead up to United Nations Copenhagen Climate Change Conference Professors Charlie Veron (former Chief Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science) and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and The University of Queensland, have urged the world’s leaders to adopt a maximum global emission target of 325 parts per million (ppm).

This will be essential, they say, to save coral reefs worldwide from a catastrophic decline which threatens the livelihoods of an estimated 500 million people globally.

This is substantially lower than today’s atmospheric levels of 387 ppm, and far below the 450ppm limit envisaged by most governments attending Copenhagen as necessary to restrain global warming to a 2 degree rise, on average.

“This may take a long time. However, climate change is an intergenerational issue which will require intergenerational thinking”, Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said.

“If CO2 levels are allowed to continue to approach 450 ppm (due by 2030–2040 at the current rates at which emissions are climbing), reefs will be in rapid and terminal decline world-wide from mass coral bleaching, ocean acidification, and other environmental impacts associated with climate change,” Professor Charlie Veron, Prof. Hoegh-Guldberg, Dr Janice Lough of COECRS and the Australian Institute of Marine Science and colleagues warn in a new scientific paper published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin.

“Damage to shallow reef communities will become extensive with consequent reduction of biodiversity followed by extinctions,” they add. “Reefs will cease to be large-scale nursery grounds for fish and will cease to have most of their current value to humanity. There will be knock-on effects to ecosystems associated with reefs, and to other (marine) ecosystems.”

The researchers say that coral deaths due to bleaching were first observed when global atmospheric CO2 levels passed 320ppm in the 1970s. By the mid-1980s, at 340 ppm, sporadic, highly-destructive events were being recorded.

In the paper they argue for a long-term limit “below 350ppm” to be set.

Prof Veron told the British Royal Society recently that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef would be on ‘death row’ unless urgent action was taken to stem global carbon emissions.

“We are tracking the IPCC’s worst case scenario. The global CO2 situation, tracked by temperature and sea level rise, is now following the worst case scenario,” he says. “The people meeting at Copenhagen need to hear this message.”

At the same time CO2 emissions are turning the oceans more acidic, causing damage to corals and all life with a carbonate skeletons or shells and, if unchecked, potentially leading to mass extinctions of ocean life like those of the geological past.

Prof Hoegh-Guldberg warns “We are already well above the safe levels for the world’s coral reefs. The proposed 450ppm/2 degree target is dangerous for the world’s corals and for the 500 million people who depend on them.”

“We should not go there, not only for reasons of coral reefs, but for the many other impacts that are extremely likely,” he says.

“We deduce, from the history of coral bleaching, that the safe level for coral reefs is probably about 320 or 325ppm. From fossil air taken from ice cores we know the world has not exceeded 300ppm for at least the last 760,000 years, so we are already in dangerous territory. We are already way outside the limits that mother earth has been operating within for millions of years.”

“Then there is sea level rise. The latest scientific consensus that the minimum sea level rise we can expect globally is 1 m. The IPCC’s earlier estimates on this are now seen as far too conservative. A metre of rise will displace at least 30 million people and contaminate the underground water supplies of many coastal cities with salt.

“Tens of millions of people are going to be displaced. This is not just about corals. Big issues of food security and regional security are also at stake, and we all need to wake up to the fact that climate change is not simply about warm days.”

“It will cost less than 1 per cent of GDP growth (over the next 50 years) to sort this problem out. In times of war individual countries have devoted anything from 40 to 70 per cent of their GDP to the war effort, so the effort required to cease emitting carbon is far, far smaller.

“It is completely affordable, completely achievable.

“The consequences of not cutting carbon emissions sharply are extremely serious for humanity. It is time all people understood this.”

The paper “The coral reef crisis: The critical importance of <350 ppm CO2” by J.E.N. Veron, O. Hoegh-Guldberg, T.M. Lenton, J.M. Lough, D.O. Obura, P. Pearce-Kelly, C.R.C. Sheppard, M. Spalding, M.G. Stafford-Smith, A.D. Rogers, is in Marine Pollution Bulletin 58 (2009) 1428–1436

More information:
Professor Charlie Veron, 07 4778 4609 or 0419 701 935
Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, CoECRS and Global Change Institute at UQ,
contact (07) 3346 7417 for interviews. (Mob 0401 106 604 , oveh@uq.edu.au)
Janice Lough, CoECRS and AIMS, ph 07 4753 4248
Jenny Lappin, CoECRS, 07 4781 4222
Jan King, UQ Communications Manager, +61 (0)7 3365 1120
Jim O’Brien, James Cook University Media Office, 07 4781 4822 or 0418 892449
http://www.coralcoe.org.au/
http://www.coralreefresearch.org/index.htm

Bats are not the bad guys

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:25:37 +1100

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 6 November 2009

Hendra has given bats a bad name. Understandable given Hendra virus has killed people and horses, and scientists have discovered that Hendra virus is carried by bats. But it’s not all the bats’ fault.

“Flying-foxes or fruit bats are large, very mobile animals that can fly long distances, possibly 100s of kilometres overnight. They are also very social animals, and roost during the day in large communal groups. We are very aware of them because they are so visible at dawn and dusk when we see them leaving or returning to their roosts” says Billie Roberts, an expert in flying-fox ecology and behaviour.

“Because flying-foxes roost and feed within urban and coastal landscapes people have the impression there are more flying-foxes than ever, when in fact some species are actually undergoing dramatic decreases in numbers because of habitat loss and shooting of flying-foxes to protect crops.”

We’ve long had a mixed relationship with bats. These species are important to Australian forests because they are the major pollinators and seed dispersers of the forests, and tourist operators regarded them as a key ecotourism species. In urban areas, though, local governments are interested in the impact of flying fox camps on residential areas, because people are disturbed by the bats’ noise and smell. Farmers are concerned about fruit damage and loss. And now health departments and horse owners are worried about Hendra virus.

But some of the negative outcomes we blame on bats are of our own making.

“As urban development sprawls the flowering eucalypt trees that flying foxes should be feeding on are being chopped down. As a result, hungry flying foxes have to travel more to search for food, and sometimes they find an orchard with ripe fruit as a substitute to their natural food.”

“We should think of flying foxes as the canary in the coalmine; they are messengers of what we’re doing to our environment. We shouldn’t be shooting the messengers but regarding them as important indicators of the health of our environment.”

Scientists are starting to think that the recent appearance of Hendra virus is a symptom of bats showing stress as a result to changes we’ve made to the environment.

“The actual virus is uncommon in flying-foxes and does not appear to cause them any problems. All indications are that Hendra virus spills over from bats to horses and then from horses to humans – there are no known cases of people contracting Hendra virus from flying-foxes” says Dr Stephen Prowse, CEO with the Australian Biosecurity CRC.

Despite recent annual outbreaks, Hendra infection is rare in horses and people. Hendra virus does not appear to be highly infectious and does not spread easily; however when it does the consequences can be devastating.

“More research is required to get a better understanding of how the virus persists in bats and spreads to horses, and for the development of vaccines and treatments. However, the public should not be unduly concerned about fruit bats but treat them as they would any other wild animal and enjoy having them in our urban environment. We need to better learn to live with bats.”

So, if you find a sick or injured bat don’t try to pick it up, but call the RSPCA or the bat rescue helpline on 0488 228 134. Horse owners need to try to minimise the likelihood of contact between fruit bats and horses. And horse owners and veterinarians need to improve their biosecurity and infection control practices.

In this way we can better manage and reduce the risks of Hendra virus outbreaks and allow bats, horses and people to safely share our environment.

For more information about Hendra virus research visit www.abcrc.org.au/

END

For interview:

Ms Billie Roberts
Flying-fox ecologist, Griffith University
Phone: (02) 6641 1569
Email: billie.roberts@griffith.edu.au

Dr Stephen Prowse
CEO, Australian Biosecurity CRC
Phone: +61-(0)7 3346-8861
Mobile: +61-(0)419 371 134
Email: stephen.prowse@abcrc.org.au

For assistance with arranging interviews:

Corinna Lange
Communication Manager, Australian Biosecurity CRC
Mobile: +61-(0)423 782 198
Email: corinna.lange@abcrc.org.au

The Australian Biosecurity CRC is one of 30 CRCs announced in 2002 by the Federal Government. The total resources of the Centre will be more than $60 million over 7 years. The Centre has major research nodes in Brisbane, Geelong and Perth, and partners in Bangkok (Thailand), New York (USA) and Winnipeg (Canada). For more information about the AB-CRC visit www.abcrc.org.au

GM coexistence experts in Melbourne

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:21:36 +1100

More than 200 experts on GM and non-GM coexistence will converge on Melbourne next week as part of the GMCC-09 conference.

Conference chair, Professor German Spangenberg, says GMCC-09 will provide an opportunity to showcase world-leading science on the development and implementation of coexistence frameworks.

“Coexistence between GM and non-GM crops will be considered across the entire agricultural supply chains,” said Professor Spangenberg.

“The conference will be a truly international experience, with confirmed speakers from over 20 countries.”

“This provides an excellent opportunity for the scientific community working in this area to share best-practice experiences and provide insights into how coexistence is handled across the world.”

“The conference will also include presentations from experts on coexistence in anticipation of new GM crop releases.”

Professor Spangenberg said that GMCC-09 will include speakers from across research, industry and policy.

“We are particularly excited to have attracted world-leading experts to cover a range of themes including the global status of coexistence, the socioeconomics of coexistence, managing coexistence in farming systems and the marketplace”.

For a full list of speakers or more information, visit the website www.gmcc-09.com

--------ENDS--------

More information

Melanie Carew
Communication Manager
Molecular Plant Breeding CRC
03 9479 1698
Melanie.carew@molecularplantbreeding.com

Bullies evict little fish as the Reef warms

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:24:56 +1100

November 3, 2009 – for immediate release

Small fish are at risk of being bullied to death by big ones as coral reef resources are hit by climate change.

The finding from new research by a scientist at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) has serious implications for both fishing and reef-based tourism industries.

In the battle to survive on severely bleached corals, large damselfish push smaller ones further from the limited shelter and resources, exposing them to predators that snap them up, the study by Associate Professor Mark McCormick of CoECRS and James Cook University finds.

“Juvenile damselfish living on bleached or dead corals are four times more likely to die than those living on healthy coral,” Prof. McCormick says.

“We knew that coral bleaching events were causing an increase in fish deaths, but this is the first study to reveal the behavioural mechanism that is driving this mortality,” he says.

“On healthy coral, juvenile damselfish of all sizes have an equal chance of dying, but on bleached coral, it’s every fish for themselves and death rates are much higher among the runts,” he adds.

“The results were surprising, as these damselfish are known to use a broad range of habitats. They are found living on dead coral, rubble and live coral so we didn’t think that coral bleaching would have such a dramatic affect on their mortality. We would expect even more striking impacts on fishes that have a closer association with live coral. ”

“Coral bleaching is predicted by scientists to increase in frequency and severity as ocean temperatures rise due to global warming. Since damselfish are prey for many large fish on the Great Barrier Reef, the behavioural changes could have far-reaching effects,” says Prof. McCormick.

A decline in the number of small fish that live on reefs, means lower numbers of the predatory fishes that eat them – and these are the fish we commonly harvest, like coral trout, he warns.

In order to understand why mortality was increasing, Prof. McCormick placed juvenile damselfish on healthy, bleached and dead corals on the Great Barrier Reef.

He found that fish stayed closer to shelter on live coral, while on bleached and dead coral they moved higher up the coral making them more vulnerable to predation, with the smaller ones being pushed right into open water.

The study also revealed that where damselfish settle at the end of their larval phase plays a crucial role in their survival. “I expected that if fish settled on a bleached or dead coral they would soon move to a healthy one, but this turned out not to be the case,” says Prof. McCormick.

“Even when the damselfish were only 40 cm away from healthy, live coral with fewer inhabitants, they avoided moving. So their initial choice of habitat is key to their subsequent survival.”

Compounding the problem is the fact that most fish reach the end of their larval stage during the hottest months of the year, when coral is particularly vulnerable to bleaching. This timing means that a large number of juveniles are likely to settle onto live coral that may subsequently bleach. The different behaviour they exhibit on bleached coral means that virtually all will die, according to Prof. McCormick.

“Those that do manage to survive in degraded habitats will have different body characteristics than those who survive on live coral. The results suggest that if widespread bleaching occurs we may expect to see changes in the characteristics of juveniles – for example, it may be advantageous to settle larger. The natural balance between the number of fish that die as larvae and the number that die when they reach the reef may also be disrupted.” he adds.

The only way to reduce the effect of coral bleaching on fish communities is to make the system more resilient, said Prof. McCormick.

“If we take away the stress of harvesting and pollution caused directly by human activities, the habitat may be better able to resist the stress of increased water temperature and the community may be able to bounce back more quickly from major environmental change.”

The paper, “Behaviourally Mediated Phenotypic Selection in a Disturbed Coral Reef Environment”, by
Mark I. McCormick was published in PLoS ONE on Friday 18 September. The article is freely available online at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007096.

More information:
Assoc Prof Mark McCormick, CoECRS and JCU +61 (0)7 4781 4048 or 0408 008 246
Jenny Lappin, CoECRS, +61 (0)7 4781 4222
Jim O’Brien, James Cook University Media Office, 07 4781 4822 or 0418 892449
http://www.coralcoe.org.au/

CAST Media Release - International Magnesium Award for Mark Easton

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:07:36 +1100

International Magnesium Award for CAST’s Mark Easton

Weimar, Germany - Last night at the 8th International Conference on Magnesium Alloys and Applications, Australia’s Dr Mark Easton was announced as the winner of the GKSS Magnesium Research Award.

The GKSS Research Centre in Geesthacht initiated the award to honour innovative work by an individual researcher in the area of the science and technology of magnesium alloys.

Magnesium is a logical lightweight alternative to traditional materials, especially for automotive applications. Magnesium is 33% lighter than aluminium and 75% lighter than cast iron, has an excellent strength to weight ratio, high shock and dent resistance and will dampen noise and vibrations significantly more than either aluminium or steel.

Dr Easton was selected from a field of applicants from Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. According to GKSS, Dr Easton received the award because of his “important contributions to the understanding of the relationship between nuclei and grain refinement for magnesium alloys.”

“Dr Easton was involved in the development of new grain refiner for wrought alloys containing zirconium in its most effective form. He has led teams in the development of several new alloys, predominantly for casting, and for a range of other applications. Dr Easton has provided considerable leadership in the Australian research community and globally.”

According to Dr Easton, “My passion is for doing research that spans the gap between good science and the development of real technologies.”

“Research is able to contribute to some of the important issues that face the world and humanity. One of the greatest issues is how we learn to live in a resource limited world. I like to think that my research goes some way to addressing these issues.”

Mark Easton is a Research Program Manager with the CAST Cooperative Research Centre based at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

Dr. Easton graduated from Monash University and obtained his PhD in Materials Engineering from the University of Queensland. In 1999, he worked at Comalco Research and Technical Services in Thomastown, Victoria, Australia. From 2000-2004, he was a Research Engineer at Monash University with the CRC for CAST Metals Manufacturing (CAST). Since 2005, Dr Easton has been a Research Program Manager with the CAST at Monash University.

More power sought for desert people

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:17:52 +1100

October 27, 2009 – for immediate release

Sweeping changes in the management of water and other key resources and in the structure of the desert institutions responsible for them are recommended in a new report from the desert Knowledge CRC.

“Let the locals lead – they know what is best. You could say that sums it up,” says Dr Alex Smajgl, a leader of the DKCRC team which prepared the study “Outback Institutions - an application of the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to four case studies in Australia’s outback”.

The study covered four Outback regions – the Etheridge and Diamantina Shires in Queensland and the Daly River region and Alice Springs water resources planning in the NT. It found that the unique local situation facing each of these regions, driven by the variable desert climate, argues for greater empowerment and better support for local people in making their own decisions.

“The Australian outback is a unique ecological and social landscape,” the study says. “The people who live here cope with harsh and variable environmental conditions, particularly in terms of rainfall and the availability of surface water. The human population density is very low – less than 0.001 people per km2 – which is considerably less than the national average of 2.6 people per km2. This population is widely dispersed around small urban centres that are remote from major Australian cities.

“Environmental drivers are dominated by the availability of water, with ‘droughts and flooding rains’likely to remain a central feature of life in outback regions of Australia. Water supply for human or ecosystem use across this region is determined by the highly variable rainfall and very high evaporation rates relative to rainfall.

“Water issues are very different between coastal and interior outback regions, including in the regions in this study. Along the coastal and semi-arid region surface water flows are more reliable; in the interior they are highly episodic and hence unreliable. In the interior, water bores are vitally important sources of reliable water necessary to support human populations and their production systems. These harsh environmental factors frame all human activities in these regions.”

Faced with such limitations remote bureaucracies in coastal capitals cannot be expected to grasp the detail of situations affecting local communities spread of thousands of square kilometres of the inland.

At the same time the sheer size of some of these desert regions means they sometimes fall under many overlapping federal, state and local jurisdictions, creating a governmental maze which perplexes and exhausts those trying to navigate it.

The report’s recommendations centre on eight key areas:
- changing desert institutions by devolving centralised power to them
- improving the capacity of local people to lead and participate
- improving the transparency of the decision-making process
- improving its fairness
- ensuring ways to manage conflict are in place
- improving the accessibility of information
- giving greater recognition to the local context
- establishing effective monitoring.

“Primarily we found that devolving power downwards can improve decision-making outcomes under the challenging conditions of the Outback,” Dr Smajgl says.

“There need to be well-defined resource boundaries, based on real science, to let people know what they should be doing to manage the resources well.

“Also there needs to be a lot more transparency about who is in charge, what they are doing and the extent of their powers.”

The report also places strong emphasis on capacity building – training up local leaders to take charge of these new responsibilities and to acknowledge all the different interests that come into play when resources like water and land use are under debate. Where conflicts arise, there need to be effective mechanisms to manage them.

It urges greater recognition of local knowledge and a more helpful stance in providing information by state agencies.

And it commends ways of monitoring the performance of local institutions that tell the desert community how well they are performing, ensure genuine outcomes in land, water and environmental management and also enable state and federal bodies to see what is going on.

The study can be found at:
http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/publications/downloads/DKCRC-Report-31-Outback-Institutions_Application-of-the-IAD-framework.pdf

More information:
Dr Alex Smajgl, DKCRC and CSIRO, ph 07 4753 8615 or mobile 0419 793439
Craig James, DKCRC, ph 0408 838 194 or 02 6242 1509
Jan Ferguson, Managing Director, DKCRC, 08 8959 6041 or 0401 719 882
Prof. Julian Cribb, DKCRC media, 0418 639 245
www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au

Crabs in a colourful and threatening world

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:24:10 +1100

October 26, 2009 – for immediate release

Crabs inhabit a dangerous, challenging and colourful world – and have developed the eyes to cope with it.

Researchers at The Vision Centre and The Australian National University have achieved a world-first in working out how fiddler crabs perceive their world and respond to it.

Their research is also expected to assist in the design of better machine vision for robots.

Fiddler crabs have life-and-death decisions to make, says Dr Jan Hemmi. They must instantly detect a predator, a mate, a competitor or landmark in their flat, beach world – and act accordingly. “Our work is aimed at understanding how they process the visual signals they receive and convert them into behaviour – a process common to all visual organisms, ourselves included.”

Fiddler crabs have virtually all-round vision, including overhead, provided by 9000 separate eye facets, or ommatidia. Working with Dr Hemmi, researcher Dr Jochen Smolka is the first person to map the crab’s visual field, work out how its different parts dictate the animal’s behaviour and help it interpret what it sees.

“Unlike our eyes, the crab’s eyes do not move, so it uses different parts of its visual field for different tasks. Some require a sharp focus and some of which require just a general lookout to be maintained,” Dr Hemmi explains.

“In the fiddler crab, Jochen has demonstrated that the sharpest vision is in the horizontal plane immediately in front of the animal. Its eyes here are really adapted to fine detail. This it uses for identifying and communicating with potential mates.”

The crab also sees quite well horizontally to either side with especially good spatial perception enabling it to see how far objects are from one another. It uses this to keep watch for rival crabs and monitor how far it is from its own burrow, so it can run for cover.
The eye cells that make up its overhead and rear vision are much more thinly spread, sufficient just to provide warning of the approach of a predator like a gull, outlined against the bright sky. These provide no fine detail, only bright/dark signals. “The crab only needs to see one dark spot moving in its upward vision to know it must run for its burrow,” Jan says.

To test the response of crabs to objects glimpsed above them, the team has also constructed a ‘crab treadmill’ – a ball suspended on a column of air that tracks the direction the crab scuttles when it sees something scary, using the same principle as a computer mouse.

Crabs also see their world in unusual colours, they say. The beach where they live is drenched in ultraviolet light, and the team has found that crabs can see in the near ultra-violet as well as other colours. This ability may provide a way to recognise mates or rivals based on UV patterns on their shell, they say.

“All vision has tradeoffs including our own,” Jan says. “There are areas where we need very sharp vision for detail, and areas where we need much less acute vision to warn us of danger. No creature has acute vision all round.

“In the case of humans, all our acute vision is provided by the fovea, a small pit at the back of the eye where vision cells are thickly concentrated, enabling us to read, recognise faces and see detail. In the case of the crab, it has a concentration of vision cells a few degrees above and below the horizon and towards its front, where its most acute vision exists.”

“So while the crab may seem a simple creature, its vision is exquisitely adapted to the featureless mudflats it inhabits, providing it with all the information it needs to navigate, feed, mate, fight rivals and dodge predators.”

The crab’s eyes may hold important lessons for robot design, Jan says. “Most robots use TV cameras which are like the human eye and provide a flood of information which is hard to process quickly. The crab’s eye, on the other hand, performs all the essential tasks needed in autonomy, but with far less information being processed.”

“For certain types of robot, this type of machine vision may be far more practical and appropriate – and the crabs can teach us much,” he says. The team plans to build a panoramic sensor based on the crab’s eye to test in robots.

Part of the program at The Vision Centre in which Dr Hemmi’s team works is devoted to applying the principles used by creatures such as honey bees and crabs in their vision to robotic aircraft and other autonomous devices.

Their paper The topography of vision and behaviour was published in The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2009; 212: pp 3522-3532.

The Vision Centre is funded by the Australian Research Council as the ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science.

More information:
Dr Jan Hemmi, The Vision Centre and ANU, +61 (0)2 6125 8561 or 0403660221
Dr Jochen Smolka, The Vision Centre and ANU, +61 (0)2 6125 8273 or 0415275115
Professor Trevor Lamb, ARC Vision Centre, ph +61 (0)2 61258929 or 0434022375
Professor Julian Cribb, ARC Vision Centre media contact, 0418 639 245
Martyn Pearce, ANU Media, 02 6125 5575 or 0416 249 245

IMAGES: photos of fiddler crabs and the treadmill are available at http://www.vision.edu.au/

Scientists call for 'ocean parks' to protect seas

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:28:10 +1100

October 19, 2009 – for immediate release

An international team of scientists has called for the creation of marine protected areas in the open oceans to protect the world’s sea life from growing damage and loss caused by overexploitation, pollution and other human impacts.

The open oceans make up 99 per cent of the total region inhabited by life on Earth – yet are currently among our least-protected ecosystems, the researchers say in an opinion article in the world’s leading ecology journal.

They argue that pelagic ecosystems – the high seas – are in as urgent need of protection as the coastal areas where marine protected areas (MPAs) have already been declared, or areas that fall within national maritime boundaries.

“Pelagic ecosystems now face a multitude of threats including overfishing, pollution, climate change, eutrophication, mining and species introductions,” the researchers warn in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution (TREE). These threats can act together to cause far greater damage to marine food chains, fish stocks and ecosystems.

“Mobile pelagic species also suffer from the cumulative impact of sublethal stressors. Chronic exposure to chemical and acoustic pollution from shipping, military activities or oil and gas exploration and exploitation can lead to immunosuppression and reproductive failure in marine mammals ,” they add.

The high seas provide almost 80 per cent of humanity’s fish supplies, carry out half the photosynthesis (conversion of solar energy to sustain life) that takes place on the planet and, through their ability to absorb CO2, are a dominant influence over the speed and extent of climate change.

“It is clear from declines in many species that there is inadequate protection for pelagic biodiversity and ecosystems,” the researchers from Australia, South Africa and Poland say.

“Fewer protected areas exist in the open ocean than in any other major ecosystem on Earth,” explains Professor Bob Pressey of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, a co-author of the article.

“Although there is growing support for the idea of marine protected areas in the open oceans, critics have argued they would be difficult and costly to enforce and manage in the ever-changing ocean environment.

“However my colleagues and I consider that recent advances in conservation science, oceanography and fisheries science can provide the necessary evidence, tools and information to operate these ‘ocean parks’ for the conservation of marine species that live in the high seas.

“But, to be frank, we won’t know how difficult it is until we try,” he adds.

The scientists argue ocean protected areas should be seen as simply another form of MPA, except that they will extend in three dimensions – across the surface and deep into the water itself.

They note that on the high seas, there is no single global body with the authority to establish protected areas or to regulate access to and use of an area for more than one purpose.

However they say progress can be made through Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, the International Maritime Organisation and by individual countries doing more to protect the outer parts of their 200 mile sovereign territories.

They point out that establishing the Pelagos Marine Sanctuary in the Mediterranean had the effect of encouraging countries such as Italy to tighten controls over the discharge of industrial
pollution into the sea.

By reducing the cumulative impact of human activities on the world’s oceans, MPAs can help to mitigate the severity of particular threats that cannot be directly controlled: “For example, if pelagic systems of the Black Sea had not suffered severe pollution and overfishing, they would have been less vulnerable to invasive species,” the say.

“Despite the challenges highlighted here, there are also enormous opportunities for MPAs in the pelagic ocean: weak private property rights, limited habitat transformation and potentially lower costs of protected area management,” the researchers say.

“We believe that pelagic MPAs have now come of age as an important tool in the planet’s last frontier of conservation management.”

More information:
Professor Bob Pressey, CoECRS, ph 07 4781 6194, mobile 0418 387 681
Dr Edward Game, The Nature Conservancy, 3214 6921
Jenny Lappin, CoECRS, 07 4781 4222
Jim O’Brien, James Cook University Media Office, 07 4781 4822 or 0418 892449
http://www.coralcoe.org.au/

Scientists warn against ‘clean-and-green’ complacency

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:26:39 +1100

Friday Oct 16, 2009

Australians need to avoid complacency about the ‘clean and green’ image widely used to market our food produce at home and overseas, according to a leading Australian contaminant scientist.

Marking international World Food Day on Oct 16, Managing Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Professor Ravi Naidu, said that despite excellent food regulation and safeguards in Australia, we and other citizens of industrialised countries face an unprecedented cocktail of toxic substances in our daily lives.

‘Today the human body has to deal with a complex array of chemicals arriving via our indoor and outdoor air, in our water supplies, and as residual chemicals in our food supply’, Professor Naidu said.

‘At no time in its evolution has the human body had such an onslaught of unfamiliar and toxic substances to deal with’.

We are also inventing new substances every week that can enter our tissues and organs long before medical science can fully understand what their future effect may be, he said.

‘For example, we simply don’t know enough about the rapidly increasing range of nanoparticles being used in the manufacturing sector, or how they will behave in our bodies or affect our health’, Professor Naidu said. Nanoparticles are present naturally in the environment, but we are also inventing lots of new ones.

Australian food producers have an enviable global reputation for being clean and green, which helps us compete in international markets, Professor Naidu said.

However, we are also heavy users of chemicals and fertilisers - not to mention big consumers of fossil fuel per kilogram of food produced.

‘We must avoid complacency about the ‘clean and green’ reputation of our foodstuffs’, Professor Naidu said. ‘We may not be quite so clean nor quite so green as we like to think’, he said.

‘As well as the new types of chemicals and materials, we need to keep educating industries and consumers about the risks that existing common contaminants represent to our soils and water and therefore our food.’

The huge release of lead dust in Esperance in 2007, the long-term fallout onto crops and grazing lands from smelters, the dust from exposed mining operations blown long distances, and the leaching from generations of poorly managed arsenic cattle and sheep dips, landfills, petroleum tanks and other pollution sources are all common examples of existing contamination, he said.

‘We know about these, and we can even get a bit blasé about them’, Professor Naidu said.

‘We need to remember that in the long term it is more likely that science will discover precisely how these materials creep into our food supplies and injure us than come up with easy and cheap solutions to restore our damaged health’, he warned.

We need to remain vigilant about the quality of the soils and water that produce our food and what we add to them, whether on purpose or by accident, he said.

In addition to home-grown problems, Australian consumers also face real risks from imported foodstuffs that are poorly regulated in the country of origin. The presence of mercury in some imported fish products is an example. Some Asian vegetable imports may also be grown under conditions that would not be acceptable in Australia.

Professor Naidu said that our growing cities are encroaching on what was once our most productive market garden land, while freshwater supplies were shrinking and energy costs escalating. Yet at the same time we were deliberately increasing the Australian population at the fastest rate in the developed world.

‘This is going to lead us into increasingly intense forms of food production which carry with them extra risks of contamination from chemicals and fertilisers’, he said.
An example is the risk of endocrine disruptor chemicals entering our food chain when we irrigate with recycled wastewater.

‘Whether we are talking about unknowingly growing our vegies in backyards that used to be industrial land, or in soil polluted by old waste from careless businesses, or about large areas of dry or irrigated farmland, we cannot afford to relax measures that prevent food contamination.’

Professor Naidu said that rapid new sensors of toxic metals being developed by his CRC could make a real contribution to future food safety.

‘World Food Day ought to be a reminder to us all that our own health, as well as our ability to earn revenue from food exports to a hungry world, depends on the care we take to avoid contamination’, he said.

More information:
Professor Ravi Naidu, CRC CARE, 08 8302 5041 or 0407 720 257
Peter Martin, CRC CARE communication, ph 08 8302 3933 or 0429 779 228
peter.martin@crccare.com
www.crccare.com

Tasting the delights of desert raisin

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:19:16 +1100

October 13, 2009 – for immediate release

A unique report written in both in the Alyawarr Aboriginal language and English marks a new milestone in Australia’s efforts to perpetuate the deep knowledge and cultural heritage of desert Aboriginal people.

Titled “A Desert Raisin Report”, it offers Australians from other backgrounds a rare chance to share the insights, wisdom and cultural traditions of our desert people, courtesy of nine members of the Alyawarr people from Ampilatwatja in Central Australia, a translator and researchers of the Desert Knowledge CRC.

It tells the story of one of the most significant and increasingly valuable native fruits, the Desert raisin – also known as the bush tomato – from the perspective of the people who for countless generations have watched over, guarded, encouraged and harvested it.

“It offers us a first-hand insight into the detail and complexity of Aboriginal knowledge and practice associated with a species that forms an important part of the desert landscape and the cultures that depend on it,” explains project leader Dr Fiona Walsh of DKCRC and CSIRO. “It is one of the few Australian research documents written in an Aboriginal language and English.”

The report has three aims – to record some of the skill and insight of Alyawarr people, to help keep their traditional knowledge and practices alive for future generations, and as a way of thanking them for their generosity in sharing their knowledge, Fiona explains.

With colourful pictures, original Alyawarr commentary and an English translation “A Desert Raisin Report” takes the reader on a vivid journey into the past, present and future of the deserts, through a gathering expedition for one of their most reliable of food sources.

It describes how, for thousands of years, Aboriginal people burned patches of desert to promote the growth of Akatyerr (Desert raisin or bush tomato) explaining how nowadays bushfire regulations limit this, making the fruit harder to find. It describes the different creatures that depend on them (emus and bush turkeys), where the fruit can mostly be found and how to harvest, process, prepare and store them.

“It’s like an iceberg,” Fiona says. “Beneath a simple food story sits an enormous wealth of knowledge and experience, stretching back through time – one that illuminates our understanding of the depth of the connections between the Alyawarr and their country.”

Another reason for sharing their harvest story is the growing consumer demand, both in Australia and round the world, to sample the delights of desert fare. Traditionally Alyawarr and other desert people ate the fruits fresh or made them into seed cakes that would keep for a year or more. Today it is appearing in shops and supermarkets in jams, sauces, dressings, marinades and other products.

“Our report underlines the relevance of Aboriginal knowledge and practice associated with Aboriginal plants and lands to national food security, and also the need to find new crops that suit a drying climate and growing deserts,” she says.

“It also highlights the importance of improving Australia’s ecosystem management of desert lands with the help of Aboriginal land management systems, which are a unique repository of knowledge about species, landscape and practices.”

The report is partly for non-Aboriginal people who wish to know more about Aboriginal culture, desert food and how it is obtained, she says. It is also designed as an educational tool for Aboriginal children and non-Aboriginal children, to help keep cultural knowledge alive in Australia and achieve wider recognition of the special skills and knowledge of desert people. It includes teacher’s notes with curriculum activities based upon the plant and local knowledge.

She pays tribute to Edie Holmes, Eileen Bonney, Jilly Holmes, Frank Holmes and other Alyawarr people whose wisdom and words the report contains. Also to David Moore who translated it, her co-author, Josie Douglas (CSIRO Aboriginal Research Fellow) and teacher linguist Ange Harrison.

This report is now on the web at: http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/publications/downloads/DKCRC_Angka-Akatyerr-akert_A-Desert-raisin-report.pdf

More information:
Fiona Walsh, DKCRC and CSIRO, ph 08 8950 7145 or 0403 868 426
Jan Ferguson, Managing Director, DKCRC, 08 8959 6041 or 0401 719 882
Craig James, General Manager Commercialisation and Communication, DKCRC, 0408 838 194
Prof. Julian Cribb, DKCRC media, 0418 639 245

Edge detection crucial to eyesight

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:27:10 +1100

7 October, 2009 – EMBARGOED UNTIL 10AM AEST

In a major advance in understanding how our eyesight works, Australian scientists have shown that birds’ amazing flight and landing precision relies on their ability to detect edges.

The research suggests that edge detection is crucial in helping all animals, including humans, move around safely, and may be more important than our ability to see colour.

The study by the Vision Centre and University of Queensland found that budgerigars ignore colour and look for the edge of an object in order to ensure a smooth landing, and will be published in PLoS ONE on 7 October, 2009.

Although a lot is known about the visual cues that help birds navigate when flying over long distances, this is the first study to reveal how budgies navigate from moment to moment and choose where they land, said Partha Bhagavatula, who completed the research as part of his PhD.

“It makes sense that birds use contrasting edges to target their landing - the edge of an object normally presents a good place to get a strong grip and it can help birds to avoid over or undershooting,” said Bhagavatula.

The findings have helped scientists understand how birds fly and land so accurately, particularly in dense spaces and low light, and also provide insight into human vision.

“Our results reflect studies on edge detection in bees and primates and suggest that edge detection is critical to helping all animals, including humans, move around. Colour vision is important when it comes to recognising objects, but these findings suggest you don’t need it in order to do many day to day tasks,” said Professor Mandyam Srinivasan, Bhagavatula’s co-supervisor from the Queensland Brian Institute.

The findings also suggest that edge detection may be the key to creating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and flying robots that can dodge objects while travelling through cluttered environments, a feature that is in high demand, according to Dr Srinivasan.

In order to test the visual features that guide budgies landing, Bhagavatula and a team placed a feeder tray in the middle of a disc on a background of blue paper.

Even though the food was in the centre of the disc, the birds landed on the edge and then walked to the middle. “This showed that they were using the contrasting edge of the disc to guide a safe landing, instead of just setting down close to the food,” said Bhagavatula.

Different coloured discs were used under the same conditions, and although the budgies had the ability to differentiate between all of the colours and the background, there were certain shades that they appeared to be unable to find the edge of. When these discs were used, the budgies landed anywhere.

“Birds can see in all three of the human primary colours – red, blue and green – and also ultraviolet, but their edge detection skills appear to be colour-blind,” said Bhagavatula.

This suggests that the ability to detect edges may have evolved before colour vision in birds and may be more useful for navigating in their environment, he added.

“When birds are flying through dense foliage they may not be able to see much colour, as it is often in the low light of dawn or in the dark, but the contrast between edges is a fairly constant marker. It may be more practical for them to manoeuvre this way.”

The fact that animals that are so different, like birds, bees and humans, all use edge detection to help them navigate in cluttered environments shows just how crucial this aspect of vision is, according to Dr Charles Claudianos, a co-supervisor from the Queensland Brain Institute.

“It is great to take information we have learned from insect studies and applied it to studies of vertebrates. It is remarkable how the evolution of such different creatures leads to very similar mechanisms,” said Dr Michael Ibbotson, a co-supervisor from the Vision Centre at the Australian National University.

The study in birds could also help scientists understand exactly how the human eye detects edges, he added.

“We are finding more and more that things we discover in bees and birds are also true in humans. We know a lot more about nerve cells in certain animals than we do in human ones, so we can work out how they detect edges and then apply it to humans.”

The findings will also help to build flying robots and UAVs that can fly quickly in dense environments, said Dr Srinivasan.

“Birds are very agile, especially when flying through cluttered environments, and edge detection plays an important role in their manoeuvring. We can use this knowledge to create UAVs capable of dodging skyscrapers and flying in busy CBDs, which is something people are particularly interested in at the moment.”

The paper, Edge Detection in Landing Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), by Partha Bhagavatula, Charles Claudianos, Michael Ibbotson and Mandyam Srinivasan will be published in PLoS ONE on Wednesday 7 October at 10am AEST. The article is freely available online at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007301.

The Vision Centre is funded by the Australian Research Council as the ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science.

More information:
Partha Bhagavatula, Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland,
ph +61 (0)437 399 481
Professor Mandyam Srinivasan, Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland,
ph +61 (0)434 603 082
Professor Julian Cribb, The Vision Centre media contact, +61 (0)418 639 245
Jan King, University of Queensland media, ph +61 (0)7 3365 1120
Martyn Pearce, ANU media , ph +61 (0)2 6125 5575 or 0416 249 245

Corals 'could starve in high CO2'

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:28:06 +1100

October 5, 2009 – for immediate release

As human activity pumps more and more carbon into the atmosphere, a new threat has emerged to the world’s coral reefs – starvation.

Scientists at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and The University of Queensland have discovered that the symbiotic algae – known as zooxanthellae – which supply 99 per cent of the corals’ food supply may be disrupted by high CO2 levels and increased ocean acidification.

The result could be decreased productivity in corals, increasing their vulnerability to bleaching, diseases and other impacts, say PhD researcher Alicia Crawley, Dr Sophie Dove and colleagues, following investigations carried out at Orpheus Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef.

By exposing the algae to levels of CO2 likely to occur if the world fails to limit carbon emissions, the researchers found that production of a key enzyme that protects the symbiotic algae from sunlight is reduced by up to half.

“This enzyme provides protection to the zooxanthellae from harmful solar radiation while they are carrying out photosynthesis and producing energy for the corals,” Alicia explains.

“If the algae do not produce enough of this enzyme then the excess light causes oxidative stress, which in turn reduces their ability to convert sunlight into nourishment for the coral.”

“Should this effect continue for some time, the coral may actually expel the zooxanthellae, which is the cause of bleaching. If they do not then recover their algae quickly, the corals die of hunger.”

The researchers say the effect is independent of global warming, as it is driven primarily by increased emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, and the ocean acidification that results from them.

“Our research suggests that ocean acidification may present a double jeopardy for corals – on the one hand it will disrupt the process by which they form their chalky skeletons – the osteoporosis of the reef – and on the other, it will reduce their food supply from their zooxanthellae,” Dr Sophie Dove explains.

The combined effect may exacerbate the impact of global warming on the world’s reefs and the 500 million humans who depend on them, making coral ecosystems more vulnerable to bleaching at lower temperatures.

“This gives us yet another reason to reduce our CO2 emissions,” Alicia says. “Our research suggests there may be some benefits for zooxanthellae under lower carbon conditions – but not if we continue to pump out carbon dioxide at the rate we are now doing.”

“It is important to note that this enzyme represents just one change in coral organisms that will occur under high CO2. There are likely to be other changes that we haven’t yet examined,” says Ms Crawley.

“However it is a further reason for Australia’s leaders to act now to tackle climate change issues. The future of our coral reefs depends on it.”

Their article “The effect of ocean acidification on symbiont photorespiration and productivity in Acropora Formosa” appears in the online journal, Global Change Biology http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122314657/abstract

More information:
Alicia Crawley, COECRS and UQ, ph +61 (0)7 3365 7262 or +61 (0)438 259 295
Dr Sophie Dove, COECRS and UQ, ph +61 (0)7 3365 7229 or +61 (0)413 789 094
Jenny Lappin, CoECRS, 07 4781 4222
Jan King, UQ Communications Manager, +61 (0)7 3365 1120
http://www.coralcoe.org.au/

Aircraft that can see for themselves

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:24:37 +1000

October 1, 2009 – for immediate release

Australian researchers have made two important advances in the development of unmanned aircraft capable of seeing for themselves as they fly fast and low over dangerous terrain.

A team from the The Vision Centre and Queensland Brain Institute has developed highly effective new visual systems inspired by honey bees and how they navigate successfully around the landscape, despite their tiny brains.

The two innovations, one of which provides stereo vision to enable aircraft to see their way around obstacles in very low-level flight, and the other which controls the aircraft’s attitude by watching the horizon, offer light, low-cost, highly-efficient technologies for use in unmanned aircraft (UAVs).

Both will be unveiled for the first time at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, in St Louis, USA from Oct 11-15.

Unmanned aircraft today have rapidly expanding roles ranging from mineral exploration, mapping, environmental monitoring and coastal surveillance to military applications from scouting and intelligence gathering to interception. In future they are expected to play an important role in the exploration of Mars.

Richard Moore and his colleagues at the University of Queensland node of the ARC Vision Centre, based at the Queensland Brain Institute, have developed a stereo system employing two cameras and two sophisticated, highly curved mirrors, for observing the terrain as it flows beneath the aircraft. The cameras feed back information on height and distance to the terrain and its obstacles in a steady flow.

“You know how things that are close seem to speed by, whereas things farther away seem to travel more slowly,” Richard explains. “Our design eliminates that distortion, enabling us to use the flow of optical data from all parts of the landscape in view to navigate the aircraft, even if it is moving very fast.”

Engineer Saul Thurrowgood and his colleagues have devised a new way to keep aircraft ‘upright’, or to detect their attitude, simply by visual reference to the horizon.

“Aircraft have long used gyroscopes to monitor their attitude, but inertial systems are subject to drift over long times. They also don’t like massive acceleration or high levels of vibration. Our visual system is proof against all these things,” he says.

The system compares the blue colour of the sky with the red-green colours of the ground to detect whether the aircraft is pitching up or down, or rolling from side to side. “It provides an absolute reference to where you are, unlike inertial guidance which infers it from the Earth’s gravity.”

“Trials show our method performs well in varied conditions of cloud, sun, altitude and different imaging systems, and is resistant to false horizon edges such as large trees, sky reflection from lakes or glare when the sun is in full view,” Saul says. The technology is designed to be incorporated into an existing aircraft visual system, or to be stand-alone.

Both systems have been developed to operate in daylight, but the researchers say they are capable of being adapted to infra-red and other forms of visual sensing for operation in the dark or low light. They are both lighter, cheaper and more efficient than radar-based sensing systems.

The research team has collaborated with the US space agency NASA on the use of visual navigation for the tiny unmanned aircraft which are envisioned as the main explorers and mappers of the planet Mars, once exploration begins in earnest.

The Vision Centre is funded by the Australian Research Council as the ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science.

More information:
Richard Moore, The Vision Centre and QBI/UQ, +61 (0)413 377 751
Saul Thurrowgood, The Vision Centre and QBI/UQ, +61 (0)432 507 950 or +61 (0)7 33467862
Professor Trevor Lamb, The Vision Centre, ph +61 (0)2 61258929 or 0434 022 375
Professor Julian Cribb, The Vision Centre media contact, 0418 639 245
Jan King, UQ Communications Manager, +61 (0)7 3365 1120

Images and vision of unmanned aircraft using the new vision technology is available to media at: http://www.vision.edu.au/

Public trust: antidote to toxic outrage

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:18:04 +1000

September 30, 2009

Public trust and confidence are essential ingredients in the clean-up of toxic contamination, according to a leading British academic.

Professor Simon Pollard of Cranfield University, UK, will tell the CleanUp 09 conference in Adelaide today that when it comes to remediating contaminated sites, unfair processes and lack of transparency often lead to community outrage and opposition.

Communicating the risks involved in assessing and cleaning up a contaminated site to the public – an increasingly frequent event in cities with a long history of heavy industry – was difficult and scientifically complex, but that did not mean it should not be attempted, Prof. Pollard and his colleagues say in a paper “Community Engagement – Making it Real”.

“An unfair process will almost always generate outrage. Citizens who believe they are being treated unfairly, in a condescending manner, or being ignored altogether, will become aggrieved, possibly to the point of active opposition,” they say.

In the past so-called ‘risk communication’ had sought to beat down public concerns by asserting the risks were not as great as an anxious community thought: “The focus of much activity and energy among technically-oriented risk professionals has been to try and ‘fix’ the public’s misperceptions of risk, rather than recognizing that there are valid reasons for the differing views on risk,” Prof Pollard explains.

“For a risk assessor, or someone relying on a risk assessor, to engage in a discussion on the basis that she or he knows the ‘real’ risk and the other person is merely ‘perceiving’ the risk, is like saying, ‘I’m right and you’re wrong, but let me explain to you why you are wrong.’ That is a formula for conflict, not enlightened discussion,” he says.

“Rather than improving understanding and reducing conflict, ‘risk communication’ efforts aimed at convincing the public about the accuracy of technical risk estimates, in many, if not most cases, result in experts and the public becoming increasingly frustrated and angry with one another. One-way risk communication of this sort does not work.”

The key to successfully remediating contaminated land or water often lies in getting the public on-side, in engaging them with the issues and challenges involved in reducing or eliminating the risk, and in being completely open about not only about the risks but also the scientific uncertainty which usually surrounds them, he argues.

This does not guarantee there will be no public doubt or opposition – but it reduces the chances. “Effective communication must be a two-way process. The days of announcing and then defending a decision are over,” he declares.

Furthermore, the communication must not only be open – it must be clear to all involved. “There is substantial potential for miscommunication because of double meanings and the confusing use of various terms within scientific disciplines, compared with how the same terminology is used by the public.

Efforts should be made to improve the quality and clarity of scientific and technical messages so that there is a greater possibility of the public comprehending the issue, and participating effectively.

“If there has been a history of unfair dealings with the community, or the current process is inherently unfair, there is likely to be no possibility of influencing community views or of reaching any agreement on a resolution of the problem.

“Dealing fairly with the community is an over-riding requirement for the successful remediation of toxic contamination issues in our society,” he concludes.
Professor Pollard will deliver the paper at 1.10 PM on September 30, 2009.

The CleanUp 09 conference is being hosted by the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment at the Hilton Hotel, Adelaide from September 28-30.

More information:
Professor Simon Pollard, Cranfield University, UK, +44 1234 754 101
Peter Martin, CRC CARE communication, ph 0429 779 228
Peter.martin@crccare.com
Conference number: 08 8217 2000 and ask for CleanUp 09

Paper:
“Community Engagement – Making it Real”. Simon Pollard, Linda Heath, Garry Smith and Steve Hrudey, CleanUp 09, September 30, 2009

Full copy of conference program:
http://www.cleanupconference.com/program.htm

Homebush shows degraded sites 'can be cleaned up'

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:23:51 +1000

September 30, 2009

The successful remediation of one of Australia’s most notorious contaminated waterways proves that even heavily-contaminanted sediment and soil can be salvaged, an expert from Thiess Services will tell the CleanUp 09 Conference in Adelaide today.

Homebush Bay, situated in the middle of Sydney opposite the site of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games precinct, has been left heavily contaminated by decades of industrial activity to an extent that there are bans on eating fish caught there and in nearby waterways because of the potential health risks.

However, a lengthy and ongoing remediation process is significantly improving the ecology in the Bay and making the area safe for human use again, according to John Hunt, Manager of Technical Services, for one of Australia’s market leading remediation contractors, Thiess Services.

Homebush Bay and the adjacent prime residential land on the Rhodes Peninsula were contaminated over several decades with a ‘cocktail’ of organic contaminants, including Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), such as DDT and dioxins. Over time the POPs have built up in the food chain so that fish caught in Homebush Bay are unsafe for human consumption and a fin-fishing ban is in place for the area.

“There has been a great desire to redevelop the former industrial site into a high value harbour side residential precinct. However cleaning up dioxins and pesticides in soil and sediment is a complex process and remediation of the land and the bay was considered too difficult for a decade or more,’’ Hunt said.

“In the early 1990s, everyone in the remediation industry, myself included, said it couldn’t be done. A decade later thermal soil treatment technologies had been developed to the point where we were able to tell people that it now could be done.”

Several remediation strategies were considered to clean up the POPs in the bay, including monitored natural attenuation, capping, and removal followed by either landfilling or treatment. Removal and treatment was eventually selected given the persistent nature of the contaminants and their ability to migrate by natural processes in the marine environment.

The remediation method used by Thiess Services involves dredging the top half a metre of sediment from the bay and either thermally treating the sediment (removing the POPs entirely) or placing it, untreated, at a depth onshore, depending on contamination levels. A clean shale cap is then placed into the dredged area.

The dredging footprint is located parallel to the shoreline of the former Union Carbide and adjoining Allied Feeds sites. It was initially designed to ensure the reduction of POPs was sufficient enough to reduce contaminant transmission to a level where fish from the area would be safe to eat and new housing developments had a clean common area in front of them. “Following consultation with local residents it was later extended to remove additional contaminant hotspots further into the bay,” said Hunt.

“Our objective was to make the bay safe for humans and the environment, and to see the fin-fishing ban lifted.”

Although it will require a period of monitoring before the fin fishing ban is removed, the bay will be safe for human contact and development of the neighbouring land has begun, Hunt said. The success of the remediation shows that polluted sites around Australia that have previously been in the ‘too hard basket’ could be cleaned up with new technology, according to Hunt.

“This project has succeeded because the timing was right, the technology was ready and there was a large collaborative effort and will to succeed, involving environmental groups, the New South Wales Government, residents and industry,” he said.

“As Australia emphasises its focus on sustainability in the future, it will be important to remediate these sorts of contaminated sites in prime locations, as it’s better to clean up and recycle what we have, rather than expand the footprint of our cities even further.

“The lesson that Australia can learn from the successful restoration of Homebush Bay is that polluted areas once deemed ‘unusable’ should be re-examined as new technology evolves that allow them to be cleaned up their value restored.

“This is the first significant remediation effort in the Sydney harbour, and the works are already greatly benefiting the city. This shows that sites that have been badly contaminated in the past are not necessarily worthless.”

John Hunt will deliver his paper at 11.10 AM on Wednesday September 30, 2009.

The CleanUp 09 conference is being hosted by the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment at the Hilton Hotel, Adelaide from September 28-30.

More information:
John Hunt, Manager of Technical Services and Remediation, Thiess Services,
ph +61 419 617 148

Peter Martin, CRC CARE communication, ph 0429 779 228
Peter.martin@crccare.com

Conference number: 08 8217 2000 and ask for CleanUp 09

Full copy of conference program:
http://www.cleanupconference.com/program.htm

Radioactive backyards - how to avoid a nightmare

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:23:37 +1000

September 30, 2009

There are serious gaps in how Australia deals with the problem of radiation contamination of suburban homes, a leading lawyer will tell the CleanUp 09 conference in Adelaide today.

The long running saga of how government sold a radioactive property situated on prime waterfront land in the Sydney suburb of Hunters Hill to private owners has highlighted serious deficiencies in how Australia manages the issue of sites contaminated with radioactive waste, says Dr Nicholas Brunton, a partner in the law firm of Henry Davis York.

The main issues he raises at the conference are:
• There is a loss of expertise within the regulatory agencies
• There are no national criteria for cleaning up sites contaminated with radioactive waste
• Not enough is known about how to appropriately measure and monitor radioactive contamination, the pathways by which it can reach people and the resulting risk to human life, especially over time.

“The nightmare for our clients began when they received a brochure in the mail advising them that neighbouring blocks were contaminated with radioactive waste and were going to be cleaned up,” says Dr Brunton, who represented the owners through a Parliamentary Inquiry, two media campaigns and Supreme Court proceedings before the case was settled.

“They were naturally very concerned. Further investigations found their home was the site of an old uranium processing plant from 1910-1916 and that waste ore had been dumped on the site. Then we found that the government had long been aware of this.”

Tests carried out for the NSW Department of Health by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) confirmed the block was radioactive – but ANSTO were not asked to assess the potential dose from inhalation of radon, radioactive dusts or particles, or assess levels of contamination in the soil. Despite this, the Health Department claimed the site posed no health risk. After the owners hired their own expert, Australian Radiation Services, they were alarmed to discover that soil contamination was up to 400 times above background radiation levels and the external gamma radiation dose received by an individual living on the property was up to two and a half times the recommended maximum. This meant they couldn't live in the $3.4m house, rent it out, or attempt to sell it.

“Gamma radiation is just one way a resident can be exposed. There is also radon gas, dust inhalation and physical contact with the soil or the eating of vegetables grown in it,” he says

One former resident who lived at the property during her childhood has indeed developed Hashimoto’s disease, a radiation induced syndrome, while many others believe that the radiation has caused cancer in those who lived in the area.

The situation came about when the NSW Government bought three blocks in the early 1980s when further studies showed the site to be seriously contaminated. The land was transferred to the Health Department who allegedly carried out some minor clean-up in 1989 and then re-sold one of the homes to a private owner. They later issued a certificate stating it was "clear of contamination". When the subsequent owners bought the house, the usual property searches did not indicate any risk of contamination.

Dr Brunton says the situation of industrial plant processing uranium on the banks of the Parramatta River almost a century ago is unique, but there may be other sites in Australian cities where high levels of radiation exist from former sand mining operations or from situations where radioactive waste was stored or dumped.

“Many experts in this field today say that even one millisievert above background levels is too much radiation if you are exposed to it for long enough – and that is the current national guideline. In the case of Hunters Hill, our expert found far higher levels.

“This case clearly demonstrated that in some areas there is a lack of understanding in measuring radiation, no national criteria for clean up of radioactive contaminated sites, and limited expertise within government agencies to deal with the complexity of radioactive sites."

Dr Nicholas Brunton will deliver his paper at 2.30 PM on Wednesday September 30, 2009.

The CleanUp 09 conference is being hosted by the CRC for Contamination and Remediation of the Environment at the Hilton Hotel, Adelaide from September 28-30.

More information:
Dr Nicholas Brunton, Henry Davis York, ph 0408 669 831
Peter Martin, CRC CARE communication, ph 0429 779 228
Peter.martin@crccare.com
Conference number: 08 8217 2000 and ask for CleanUp 09

Full copy of conference program:
http://www.cleanupconference.com/program.htm

Removing toxic metals, quicker

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:16:53 +1000

September 29, 2009

Toxic heavy metals can be sucked out of soils far more quickly and efficiently using a powerful new electrical method, the CleanUp 09 conference will hear in Adelaide today.

“Our aim was speed up the established process for removing metals like lead and cadmium from soil using electrokinetic methods, so that rapid clean-up can occur when this is needed to protect community health and safety,” Dr Lisbeth Ottossen of the Technical University of Denmark, says.

Conventional electrokinesis, developed in the 1980s, works by using a powerful electrical field to cause ions of heavy metals to ‘flow’ through the soil, drawn to an electrical pole where they can be gathered and removed. However this process takes place very slowly and it may take months of treatment to achieve effective clean-up.

“Where the community’s health and safety are at stake, or a redevelopment project needs to go ahead, it may be important to remediate a contaminated site much more quickly than this,” she explains.

Her team has combined traditional electrokinetic soil remediation with conventional electrodialysis to produce a newer, faster and more thorough way of cleansing contaminated soils.

Contaminated soil is diluted with water, washed, stirred and then exposed to electrical treatment. Experimenting with soils from a former wood preserving plant, heavily polluted with lead, copper, chromium and arsenic, the team found that 90 per cent of the contaminating lead and 99 per cent of the copper could be removed in the space of about two weeks. The fact that the mixture was more acidic than the surrounding soil helped in freeing up the metal ions so they could be removed.

The combined method also removed up to 28 per cent of the chromium and 65 per cent of the arsenic from the soil. “We concluded we need to add an enhancement to the solution to achieve proper remediation of the soil, for these two metals,” she adds.

Dr Ottossen will deliver her paper at 1.40 PM on Tuesday September 29, 2009.

The CleanUp 09 conference is being hosted by the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment at the Hilton Hotel, Adelaide from September 28-30.

More information:
Dr Lisbeth Ottossen, Technical University of Denmark, +45 42 24 52 47
Peter Martin, CRC CARE communication, ph 0429 779 228
Peter.martin@crccare.com
Conference number: 08 8217 2000 and ask for CleanUp 09

Full copy of conference program:
http://www.cleanupconference.com/program.htm

'Green chemistry' to reshape consumer demand

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:24:51 +1000

September 29, 2009

“Green chemistry” – the creation of consumer goods and industrial products that don’t leave a toxic timebomb for future generations – is poised to reshape the way we shop and consume, and the fundamental production processes in industry.

The US State of California aims to become a ‘cradle-to-cradle’ economy producing no waste by 2050, Thomas Vandenburg, an attorney with Los Angeles-based law firm Dongell Lawrence Finney will tell the CleanUp 09 conference in Adelaide today.

Mr Vandenburg, who specialises in environmental law, says green chemistry received a major boost when the California Environmental Protection Agency launched a major initiative promoting it in April 2007.

“The California EPA defines “green chemistry” as “a strategy to reduce the use of toxic substances so that they do not harm the public or contaminate the environment,” he explains.

California’s Green Chemistry Initiative issued its final report in December 2008, calling for the State to:

• Expand Pollution Prevention
• Develop Green Chemistry Workforce Education and Training
• Create an Online Product Ingredient Network
• Create an Online Toxics Clearinghouse
• Accelerate the Quest for Safer Products
• Move toward a Cradle-to-Cradle Economy by the year 2050.

“California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control has effectively reduced generation of hazardous waste for targeted industries, but on a very small scale. Green Chemistry represents a far more ambitious effort, affecting many industries and production processes,” Mr Vandenburg says.

To achieve the switch to production systems which generate little or no toxic waste requires major changes not only in industry – but also in the market signals it receives from consumers.

“Consumer awareness and consumer choice are key elements of a strategy to promote green chemistry,” he says.

“Public awareness of the concept of “green chemistry” is increasing. It is a concept which the public in California is already inclined to embrace, based upon public opinion polls. Increased public awareness of green chemistry and focused attention upon specific green chemistry products and/or manufacturing practices should lead to changes in consumer behaviour.”

“These changes in the behaviour of the California consumer will strongly affect the behaviour of manufacturers, because the State of California by itself is the fifth largest economy on the planet, and California is considered a trendsetter for the rest of the United States.”

Previous public awareness campaigns around anti-smoking and reduced energy use give confidence the green chemistry would also catch on, he adds.

While most new eco-friendly industries depended on the availability of venture capital to get them started, green chemistry will likely instead rely upon innovation within existing manufacturers, encouraged by R&D tax credits.

Major research institutions should also be encouraged to enter into public-private partnerships with leading manufacturers as a cost-effective way to speed the development of green chemistry.

Thomas Vandenburg will deliver his paper at 12 noon on Tuesday September 29, 2009.

The CleanUp 09 conference is being hosted by the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment at the Hilton Hotel, Adelaide from September 28-30.

More information:
Thomas Vandenburg, Dongell Lawrence Finney, ph +1 310-963-5887 email: tvandenburg@dlflawyers.com
Peter Martin, CRC CARE communication, ph 0429 779 228
Peter.martin@crccare.com
Conference number: 08 8217 2000 and ask for CleanUp 09

Full copy of conference program:
http://www.cleanupconference.com/program.htm

Turning waste into gold

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:22:06 +1000

September 29, 2009

Millions of tonnes of unwanted waste spewed out by Australia’s power stations, mineral processing plants and municipalities can be re-used to create fertility, health, wealth, beauty and abundance.

Professor Richard Haynes of CRC CARE and the University of Queensland will tell the CleanUp 09 conference in Adelaide today of striking progress in developing new uses for substances which have become a real headache for society to dispose of.

“A major thrust of our work is to transform industrial and municipal wastes that nobody wants into an environmentally friendly opportunity to make viable and marketable products,” he says.

“For example Australia currently produces 13 million tonnes of flyash from coal-fired power generation and a similar quantity of ‘red mud’ from bauxite processing, along with millions of tonnes of biosolids from urban sewage treatment and green waste from parks, people’s gardens, food and factory effluent.

“By combining these resources in creative ways we can produce new products to boost fertility, overcome soil deficiencies, absorb toxic contaminants and beautify our urban landscapes,” Prof. Haynes explains. “These include garden mulches, organic soil amendments, garden compost, potting media and specially manufactured soils.”

Research at CRC CARE has included co-composting green waste with inorganic substances such as coal fly ash and organic resources such as grease trap waste, poultry manure and biosolids.
“Because urban green waste usually contains a lot of shredded wood and bark it doesn’t break down all that easily. However by adding readily decomposable material, this raises the temperature and produces a much better compost.

“By adding 20 per cent fly ash to green waste we can greatly increase its water-holding capacity, producing a topsoil replacement that is highly suitable for use in urban settings where people want to save water.”

Prof. Haynes team have also investigated a wide range of inorganic wastes such as steel slag, blast furnace slag, coal fly and bottom ash, red mud, water treatment sludge as well as organic sources such as tree bark, sugar mill mud, spent brewery yeast and prawn processing waste

“We have shown some of the more promising materials can be used to immobilize heavy metals in a metal-contaminated soil. This means we can use industrial wastes to prevent the toxic contamination caused by other forms of waste disposal.

“Both sugarcane and rice have a high requirement for silicon in the soil to grow properly – and we have found that slags, red mud, fly ash can all provide this important nutrient to crops at low cost.
“Likewise wastewater from dairy and meat processing plants can be used to supply nitrogen and phosphorus to farming soils if applied in the correct amounts.

By such methods, Prof. Haynes says, some of society’s worst waste problems can be turned into assets, helping to provide food, fertility and healthier landscapes while saving water and preventing pollution.

Professor Haynes will deliver his paper at 10.40 AM on Tuesday September 29, 2009.

The CleanUp 09 conference is being hosted by the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment at the Hilton Hotel, Adelaide from September 28-30.

More information:
Professor Dick Haynes, CRC CARE and UQ, 0448 501 352
Peter Martin, CRC CARE communication, ph 0429 779 228
Peter.martin@crccare.com
Conference number: 08 8217 2000 and ask for CleanUp 09

Full copy of conference program:
http://www.cleanupconference.com/program.htm

The Public: key to effective clean-up

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:17:39 +1000

September 28, 2009

The Australian public is a vital player in the safe, effective clean-up of industrial contamination that poses risks to the nation’s health.

Public engagement in clean-up processes, understanding of what is involved and support for the outcomes will help reduce the risks posed by contaminated sites close to where people live and work, Professor Brian Priestly of Monash University will tell the CleanUp09 conference in Adelaide today.

Prof. Priestly is a distinguished Australian toxicologist, who has been involved in numerous investigations into contaminated sites such as Botany Bay and Mt Isa, headed the Therapeutic Goods Administration and helped shape Commonwealth Government policy on toxins, pesticides, drugs and other chemicals over many years.

“Australia has thousands of contaminated, or potentially contaminated, sites from its long industrial history – but a clear picture of the actual health risks involved to the population can only be obtained by close investigation of each individual site and what it contains,” he says.

“To do this we have the National Environmental Protection Measure (NEPM) - currently being further strengthened - and use Health Risk Assessments, which deliberately take a very conservative view of the possible risks at a particular site.”

However, Prof Priestly concedes, the public in communities affected by contamination doesn’t always appreciate this, and their view of the actual risk is coloured by their natural apprehensions about their own and their children’s safety.

“Even an HRA which finds that the risks involved are very small will not necessarily assuage public concern, or reduce the emotion behind it. The only way to do that is to engage the community in understanding and helping to solve the issue from the start.”

There needs to be a higher level of engagement between environmental protection agencies, industry and the public in dealing with contamination generally, he says.

“You have to take the community into the discussion. The worst thing you can do is try and fob them off with a bureaucratic PR exercise by trying to tell them it is all right – as sometimes still happens,” he warns.

Community perceptions of risk associated with contaminated sites can fall into two polarised camps, Prof Priestly says. “There are those that say “Those chemical nasties in the ground will harm my health, or that of my family. Get rid of them!” and there are those who say “So what! I’m not worried because I don’t eat dirt and I presume that any nasty chemicals will stay where they are.”

“Both statements are to some extent incorrect.

“People’s perception of risk is usually influenced to a large extent by emotive factors. A favourable outcome from a HRA will not necessarily ameliorate such emotions. To address people’s concerns there needs to be proper engagement with affected communities from the beginning of the site assessment process to engender mutual trust in the outcomes.”

While the people who dismiss the risk, tend to ignore the fact that chemicals can be mobile, moving in the form of gases, airborne dust and water, he explains: “A Health Risk Assessment has to take account of all these pathways.”

The answer in both cases is to bring the community to a clearer understanding of the nature of the contamination, the risks it may – or may not – pose and the various options for dealing with it. This will help them participate in and have confidence in the ultimate decisions.

“Unfortunately government departments sometimes still hide behind their communicators, and it can be difficult for the scientists and technical experts to get their messages out to the public to give them confidence in what is being done. This needs to change,” Prof Priestly says.

Prof Priestly will deliver his paper at 1.40PM on September 28, 2009.

The CleanUp 09 conference is being hosted by the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment at the Hilton Hotel, Adelaide from September 28-30.

More information:
Professor Brian Priestly, Australian Centre for Human health Risk Assessment, Monash University, ph 0413 607 285
Peter Martin, CRC CARE communication, ph 08 8302 3933 or 0429 779 228
Peter.martin@crccare.com
Conference number: 08 8217 2000 and ask for CleanUp 09

Full copy of conference program:
http://www.cleanupconference.com/program.htm