`Loggers are Environmentalists Too‘. Towards an Ethnography of Environmental Dispute,Rural New South Wales 1994–19951

The discourse of environmentalism is now more integral than that of any other new social movement to national political debate in Australia. One of the most important consequences of this has been the intensity of political dialogue focussed on the timber industry, especially recent exchanges over the exploitation of native forests for woodchipping. One of the more intriguing results has been the resort of avowedly apolitical loggers, timber contractors, sawmillers, and others to mass protest. This article aims to show how an anthropological perspective can illuminate the various cultural factors which are transforming the landscape of forest politics.     

The appropriation of an Aboriginal landscape in northern New South Wales

The attachment of Australian Aboriginal people to land has not only been amply documented by anthropologists since the late 19^th century, it is also one of their own enduring tropes of differentiation from non‐Aboriginal and “official” Australian state society. In the face of widespread and concerted alteration of the pre‐settlement landscape engendered by industrial and commercial development, Aboriginal people seek to reclaim or reappropriate remnants of a pristine environment untransformed by modern development. Alteration of the landscape, as far as Aboriginal people are concerned, also goes hand in hand with the progressive decimation of Aboriginal populations in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries through violence and disease. Contemporary Aboriginal communities seek to protect the sites of violent death, believed heavily populated with the frustrated spirits of the deceased, from disturbance, particularly by non‐Aboriginal people. In this chapter I discuss some of the anthropological implications of seeing landscape as a terrain of intercultural conjunction in such a bifold society in northern New South Wales, and what levels of transformation are and are not acknowledged by a marginal, minority indigenous population seeking to insulate their historical landscape from development.     

The Oriental Goby, Acanthogobius flavimanus (Temminck and Schlegel), an introduced fish in the coastal waters of New South Wales, Australia

Since 1971 over 100 specimens of the oriental goby, Acanthogobius flavimanus , have been collected from New South Wales' waters. When this species, a native of Japan, was introduced to San Francisco Bay (U.S.A.) it underwent a population explosion, becoming a common member of estuarine fish communities in that area.
The occurrence of both reproductively maturing females and juveniles in the harbours of the Sydney region (central New South Wales coast) suggests that the species may have bred successfully here. However, the relatively low numbers of A. flavimanus collected during the study indicate that as yet there has been no population explosion in New South Wales waters. A number of aspects of the biology and ecology of the species was examined in an attempt to identify features which may limit its distribution and abundance in the Sydney region.
The inhibition of successful reproduction by the relatively warm-water temperatures in this area and the potential for competition with native fishes are proposed as possible explanations.     

Environmental Change and Human Health in Upper Hunter Communities of New South Wales,Australia

This article presents the theory and method informing an ongoing study of environmental change and human distress in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The nature of environmental change in the Upper Hunter landscape over the past two centuries is first described, followed by the preliminary results of a long-term study that aims to investigate the nature of residents’ understanding of, and responses to, environmental change. Data from in-depth interviews found that the transformation of the environment from mining and power station activities was associated with significant expressions of distress linked to negative changes to interviewees’ sense of place, well-being, and control. A new concept, “solastalgia,” is introduced to help explain the relationship between ecosystem health, human health, and powerlessness. We claim that solastalgia, as opposed to nostalgia, is a type of homesickness (distress) that one gets when one is still “at home.” Future research will aim to validate a questionnaire to test the hypothesis that environmental distress is associated with levels of depression, quality of life, and rates of stress-related disease, as well as activism and environmental rehabilitation.     

A survey of koala road kills in New South Wales.

Between 1984 and 1990, 75 koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) from the central northern coast of New South Wales (Australia) were presented for necropsy due to motor vehicle accidents. The koalas consisted of 44 males and 31 females. Fifty one of these were between 2 and 7 yr (39 males and 12 females). The greater proportion of koalas, especially males, were struck by vehicles between June and December. The main injuries detected were head injuries (44), hemoperitoneum (16), limb injuries (16), hemothorax (15) and spinal injuries (7). Nine koalas were not dead at the time of the accident but died later following complications from the trauma. Twelve koalas had evidence of underlying disease at the time of accident. Ten of these had either conjunctivitis, cystitis, prostatitis, periovarian cysts, endometritis or a combination of the diseases. All 10 koalas still had good body condition. It is suggested that healthy young to middle-aged males are particularly prone to vehicular accidents during the mating period. This has implications for the management of local koala populations.     

Nutrient Concentrations in Foliage of Species Within a New South Wales Sub-Tropical Rainforest

Sub-tropical rainforests in New South Wales are complex, oftenwith more than 30 tree species ha^–1. Estimation of nutrientcontents involves obtaining information on the range of nutrientconcentrations both in different species and in different foreststrata. The foliage from the tree and shrub components of an undisturbedforest were analyzed chemically together with the small treeand shrub component of an area logged two years previously.The site had high nutrient availability. All nutrients analyzed(nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese,aluminium, sodium, zinc, iron, boron and chloride) varied betweenspecies. Some individuals accumulated high concentrations ofspecific nutrients, but an accumulator of one nutrient was notnecessarily an accumulator of any other. Assessment of nutrient concentrations on the basis of foreststrata showed major differences. Nutrients were accumulatedin higher concentrations on a disturbed site than on an undisturbedsite. This has been discussed in relation to nutrient conservationmechanisms after disturbance. Within the undisturbed stand,the large shrub stratum had the highest concentrations of nitrogen,phosphorus, potassium and boron. Mean concentrations of aluminium,sodium and chloride were highest in the small shrub stratum,mainly because several species accumulate these elements. Sub-tropical rainforest, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, aluminium, sodium, zinc, iron, boron, chloride     

A radar and aerial-trapping study of an early spring migration of moths (Lepidoptera) in inland New South Wales

The migrations of a number of species ofnoctuid and pvralid moths were studied with a specialpurpose radar unit and by direct sampling with a kite-borne net at a locality in central-western New South Wales during the early spring of 1980. The observations coincided with the appearance of very large numbers of moths throughout much of south-eastern Australia, and immediately followed a major caterpillar plague in south-western New South Wales. The migrations occurred mainly at night, and were most intense during periods of warm weather. Several different directions of migration were observed, but the movements were always approximately downwind; distances of a few hundred kilometres were typically covered during a single night. A number of quantitative measures of the migration intensity have been estimated for some of the flights. The migrating population frequently exhibited a degree of mutual alignment, which was sometimes in a direction different from that of the migration. Migrants became concentrated into layers at high altitudes (up to 1900 m) on two occasions during the night. Similar high-altitude migrations were also detected during daylight. It is inferred that an early spring re-invasion of drought-affected inland areas, and of areas on the continental periphery which have a cool winter climate, by means of long-distance migrations from inland areas where autumn and winter conditions have been favourable for larval development, is an almost regular feature of the population dynamics of several moth species that are of economic importance in south-eas-tern Australia. These migrations are interpreted as an adaptation to the geographie and climatic factors that control larval development and moth flight in this region, and especially to the erratic rainfall regime of the inland source areas.     

Litter production and decomposition from an overstorey of Eucalyptus spp. on two catchments in the New England region of New South Wales

Litter fall on two catchments, one with an almost continuous canopy of Eucalyptus spp., the other with a discontinuous eucalypt canopy was measured for 29 4-week periods. Annual litter accretion(2.5-3.7 t ha^?1) was low by world standards, but similar to other Australian dry sclerophyll forests. Between 33 and 54% of the total litter fall occurred during summer, and only 6-13% in winter. Leaf was the major component of litter fall and usually contributed more than 50% of the total. Variability between the 4-weekly litter falls was high, but coefficients of variation for the total annual fall were low (<5%). Half-life of total litter fall in the continuous forest (2.14 y) was double that in the discontinuous forest (0.98 y), and may have been due to differences in air temperature and surface soil moisture. The pattern of litter fall on each catchment was related to hydro-meteorological variables including air temperature, solar radiation, rainfall and soil moisture content.     

Some factors affecting flight in field populations of the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera (walker), in New South Wales

An attempt was made to determine some of the factors regulating flight activity in the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera (Walk.) by comparing the physiological characteristics of flying and non-flying locusts at different times of the day. Flight during the day did not appear to involve extensive displacements of the insects and was dependent largely on the, environmental conditions. The physiological state and age did not seem important and the milling flight of swarms involved insects of all ages and states of sexual maturity and the insects were commonly fully fed. There was probably at this time a continual interchange of insects between the air and the ground provided wind speeds are not too high and the air temperature was not below 19°C. Night flight, however, was observed only in locusts after the teneral period, when cuticle deposition was nearing completion around 10 days after the imaginal ecdysis and, in the case of the females, the oocytes were relatively undeveloped. Night flight was also associated with a failure to feed prior to sunset; only those with empty foreguts being stimulated to fly with the drop in light intensity, when the temperature was not too low and certainly not below 17·5°C. It is probably the older insects which take-off in these circumstances for by the time of sunset 30 to 40 per cent of the older, ones apparently fail to feed on any one evening and empty locusts tend to be more active than fully fed ones. The females appeared to show a flight periodicity related to the oviposition cycle, which under suitable conditions, leads to the displacement of about one-third of the population which is sexually immature or which has already recently oviposited. The flight activity of females is probably greater than that of the males for the sexes were in equal ratio in insects caught in flight while males exceeded females in ground populations. At sunset, fewer females than males still had full foreguts and were perhaps more likely to take-off while a higher proportion of younger females than males may soon re-alight if their physiological state is unfavourable for prolonged flight at night.     

The conservation value of paddock trees for birds in a variegated landscape in southern New South Wales. 2. Paddock trees as stepping stones

The use of paddock trees as stepping stones by birds was assessedin a grazing landscape in southern New South Wales, Australia. A totalof 70 paddock tree sites was surveyed for 20 min each inthe morning, and 36 sites were surveyed again in the afternoon in March2000. During the surveys, the presence, direction of arrival, anddirection of departure to and from sites was recorded for each bird. Astepping stone effect of paddock trees was examined in two ways: (1) byanalysing the arrival and departure direction of birds relative tosurrounding vegetation cover, and (2) by analysing the departuredirection of birds relative to their arrival direction. An arrivaldirection was obtained for 150 independently acting groups of birds, anda departure direction was obtained for 203 independently acting groupsof birds. Both arrival and departure direction were obtained for 87independently acting groups. Foliage-foraging birds tended to followrelatively densely vegetated areas. There was some indication thatgranivores and nectarivores also preferred to move along denselyvegetated areas. This trend was absent for open-country species. Allgroups of birds examined tended to return to their place of origin ormove in the opposite direction of their arrival. This trend was mostpronounced for nectarivores and the foliage-foraging White-plumedHoneyeater (Lichenostomus penicillatus), and lesspronounced for open-country species and parrots. The results arediscussed in relation to the biology and ecology of the various speciesof birds. We conclude that paddock trees have the potential to enhancelandscape connectivity by acting as stepping stones to assist movement.This further highlights their conservation value as demonstrated in thefirst paper of this series.     

Influence of woodland remnant edges on small skinks (Richmond,New South Wales)

Abstract Habitat fragmentation due to clearing often results in an increase in edge areas compared with overall remnant size, but there are limited data on the influence of increased edge areas on generalist species. Therefore, the abundance of small (<55 mm) generalist scinid lizards in small woodland remnants of the Cumberland Plain (western Sydney, Australia) was compared. Using pitfall trapping and points of transect survey techniques, three species were encountered: Lampropholis guichenoti, Lampropholis delicata and Cryptoblepharus virgatus. The abundance and diversity of these skinks differed significantly between edge and core areas; fewer individuals were encountered on the edge of the remnants than in core sites. Cryptoblepharus virgatus was only observed in edge sites where L. guichenoti made up the greatest skink abundance. In contrast, L. delicata abundance was greatest at core sites. There was also a significant difference between the edge and core with respect to the size structure of the L. guichenoti population. Larger numbers of subadults were observed in the edge sites, whereas there were significantly fewer adults and juveniles in these areas. Habitat characteristics did not account for the skink distribution observed.