Ponies Out of Place? Wild Animals,Wilderness and Environmental Governance

Powerful institutions in Australia regularly depict the continent as overrun with fauna variously described as ‘feral’, ‘vermin’, ‘alien’ and ‘invasive’. This paper addresses the issue of ‘animal matter out of place’ through the ethnographic analysis of a long-running conflict over ‘feral’ ponies in Coffin Bay National Park, South Australia. As the Department of Environment and Heritage manoeuvred to eliminate this ‘alien’ presence from the ‘pristine’ landscape of the Coffin Bay Peninsula, local residents argued that the herd was a product of this ecological niche and should remain in its ‘natural’ home. The trajectory of the conflict suggests that the expansion of environmental governance from centre to periphery is by no means as predictable and inevitable as is often anticipated.1     

Wilderness and biodiversity

The arrival of wilderness as a policy issue, following the passing of a European Parliament resolution in 2009, has increased the profile of the issue and provided a challenge for policy-makers and practitioners. There is a need for a policy relevant definition that can guide decision-making in relation to the protection and management of wilderness areas, including their exploitation for economic benefit, and for information and data about the extent of existing wilderness and wild areas and the opportunities for its recreation. The scale of the challenge requires a high level of aspiration and any efforts will require the coordination of policy and implementation well beyond the borders of Europe itself.     

Effects of livestock exclusion on in‐stream habitat and benthic invertebrate assemblages in montane streams

1. Stream and riparian ecosystems in arid montane areas, like the interior western United States, are often just narrow mesic strands, but support diverse and productive habitats. Meadows along many such streams have long been used for rangeland grazing, and, while impacts to riparian areas are relatively well known, the effect of livestock grazing on aquatic life in streams has received less attention. 2. Attempts to link grazing impacts to disturbance have been hindered by the lack of spatial and temporal replication. In this study, we compared channel features and benthic macroinvertebrate communities (i) between 16 stream reaches on two grazed allotments and between 22 reaches on two allotments where livestock had been completely removed for 4 years, (ii) before and after the 4‐year grazing respite at a subset of eight sites and (iii) inside and outside of small‐scale fenced grazing exclosures (eight pairings; 10+ year exclosures) in the meadows of the Golden Trout Wilderness, California (U.S.A.). 3. We evaluated grazing disturbance at the reach scale in terms of the effects of livestock trampling on per cent bank erosion and found that macroinvertebrate richness metrics were negatively correlated with bank erosion, while the percentage of tolerant taxa increased. 4. All macroinvertebrate richness metrics were significantly lower in grazed areas. Bank angle, temperature, fine sediment cover and erosion were higher in grazed areas, while riparian cover was lower. Regression models identified riparian cover, in‐stream substratum, bank conditions and bankfull width‐to‐depth ratios as the most important for explaining variability in macroinvertebrate richness metrics. 5. Small‐scale grazing exclosures showed no improvements for in‐stream communities and only moderate positive effects on riparian vegetation. In contrast, metrics of macroinvertebrate richness increased significantly after a 4‐year period of no grazing. 6. The success of grazing removal reported here suggests that short‐term removal of livestock at the larger, allotment meadow spatial scale is more effective than long‐term, but small‐scale, local riparian area fencing, and yields promising results in achieving stream channel, riparian and aquatic biological recovery.     

Where the wild things are: environmental preservation and human nature

Environmental philosophers spend considerable time drawing the divide between humans and the rest of nature. Some argue that humans and our actions are unnatural. Others allow that humans are natural, but maintain that humans are nevertheless distinct. The motivation for distinguishing humans from the rest of nature is the desire to determine what aspects of the environment should be preserved. The standard view is that we should preserve those aspects of the environment outside of humans and our influence. This paper examines the standard view by asking two questions. First, are the suggested grounds for distinguishing humans from the rest of the environment viable? Second, is such a distinction even needed for determining what to preserve? The paper concludes that debates over whether humans are natural and whether humans are unique are unhelpful when deciding what to preserve.     

MASS MORTALITY OF MARINE AND ESTUARINE FISH IN THE SWARTVLEI AND WILDERNESS LAKE SYSTEMS,SOUTHERN CAPE.

Summary

Two incidences of mass mortality of fish were recorded in two saline waterbodies (Swartvlei estuary and Rondevlei) in the Wilderness National Park. Species affected were the Knysna seahorse (Hippocampus capensis) and longsnout pipefish (Syngnathus acus) in the Swartvlei estuary, and Cape stumpnose (Rhabdosargus holubi) and white steenbras (Lithognathus lithognathus) in Rondevlei. Comparison of water quality parameters during fish mortalities to past ranges and reported species tolerances indicated that the probable causes for the mortalities were high water temperature in the Swartvlei estuary, and low dissolved oxygen concentration in Rondevlei.     

Manipulating the wild: a survey of restoration and management interventions in U.S. wilderness

Landscape scale restoration is a common management intervention used around the world to combat ecological degradation. For wilderness managers in the United States, the decision to intervene is complicated by the Wilderness Act's legal mandate to preserve wilderness character and demonstrate managerial restraint (16 U.S.C. § 1131–1136). We assessed the frequency and type of management interventions, specifically actions to manage ecosystems, that have occurred in the National Wilderness Preservation System between 2011 and 2015, including the specific type of intervention, the methods used, the project proponent, and the factors that influenced the decision to act. We sent an online survey to staff members at 527 wilderness units from four federal agencies that manage wilderness and found that management interventions occurred in 37% of wildernesses sampled (n = 210). The greatest frequency of interventions occurred in the National Park Service (75%), and the three most common interventions were vegetation treatments (46%), wildfire (35%), and wildlife restoration projects (18%). Our findings point to a need for greater transparency about information on management interventions. We recommend creating an interagency database to track information on management interventions in wilderness to better understand which actions are occurring and why; such a database could help inform wilderness stewardship decisions while demonstrating best practices for ecological restorations implemented within the constraints of the Wilderness Act.     

The suppression of Dendroctonus frontalis and subsequent wildfire have an impact on forest stand dynamics

Question: Interacting disturbance effects from Dendroctonus frontalis outbreaks and wildfire are thought to maintain Pinus spp. composition in the southeastern U. S. Our objective was to assess forest composition, structure, and succession following the interaction of two frequently occurring disturbance events in southern Pinus spp. forests: cut‐and‐leave suppression, a commonly used means for managing D. frontalis outbreaks, and wildfire. Location: Western Gulf Coastal Plain, Louisiana, USA. Method: Pinus taeda stands with cut‐and‐leave suppression and subsequent wildfire were compared to stands undisturbed by D. frontalis but with the same wildfire events twenty years after Pinus spp. mortality. The woody plant community was assessed in three different size classes and used to predict future forest types with the Forest Vegetation Simulator (50 years). Results: P. taeda is the most abundant (> 50%) species of saw‐ and poletimber‐sizes following cut‐and‐leave suppression with wildfire and in stands only with fire. Using canonical correspondence analysis, vegetation assemblages were primarily explained by slope position and elevation (7.6% variation explained). Fire intensity and stand age also accounted for variance in the ordination (4.4% and 3.1%, respectively). Dominant and co‐dominant P. taeda forest types were predicted by the model to be the most abundant forest types in each disturbance regime. In addition, new regeneration represents high hazard for future mortality from D. frontalis. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that cut‐and‐leave suppression with additional wildfire disturbance maintains P. taeda composition, and does not alter forest composition differently from stands receiving only wildfire. As a result, predicted Pinus spp. basal area under both disturbances is great enough to facilitate future bark beetle disturbance.     

Exotic Vertebrate Fauna in the Remote and Pristine Sub-Antarctic Cape Horn Archipelago, Chile

Pristine wilderness is a scarce global resource, but exotic species are so common that they constitute a principal component of worldwide ecological change. The relationship between these two topics, invasion and remoteness, was the impetus behind five years of fieldwork aimed at identifying the assemblage and range of exotic vertebrates in Cape Horn, Chile, identified as one of the world's most pristine wilderness areas. While the archipelago has extremely low human population density and vast tracts of undisturbed land, we discovered that several terrestrial vertebrate groups were dominated by exotic species. Native birds were diverse (approx. 154 spp), and only 1.3% (or two spp.) were introduced. In contrast, exotic terrestrial mammals (12 spp.) and freshwater fish (three spp.) outnumbered their native counterparts, constituting 55% and 75% of the assemblages. Using GIS, we found that not all areas were impacted equally, largely due to intensity of human occupation. Human settled islands (Navarino and Tierra del Fuego) hosted the greatest number of exotics, but humans alone did not explain observed patterns. Remote islands also had introduced species. North American beavers (Castor canadensis), American minks (Mustela vison) and feral domestic dogs and cats were particularly widespread, and their range in isolated parts of the study area raised important ecological and management questions. In conclusion, the Cape Horn Archipelago retained areas free of exotic vertebrates, particularly parts of the Cape Horn and Alberto D’Agostini National Parks, but at many sites introduced species were overwhelming native biota and altering these previously remote natural ecosystems.     

Fire disturbance and forest structure in an old‐growth Pinus ponderosa forest,southern Cascades,USA

Questions: Did fire regimes in old‐growth Pinus ponderosa forest change with Euro‐American settlement compared to the pre‐settlement period? Do tree age structures exhibit a pattern of continuous regeneration or is regeneration episodic and related to fire disturbance or fire‐free periods? Are the forests compositionally stable? Do trees have a clumped spatial pattern and are clumps even‐ or mixed‐age? How might information from this old‐growth forest inform current restoration and management practices? Location: A 235‐ha old‐growth forest in the Ishi Wilderness, southern Cascade Mountains, California. Methods: Age, size, and spatial pattern of trees were quantified in seven stands. Fire history was reconstructed using fire scar dendrochronology. The influence of fire on stand structure was assessed by comparing fire history with age, size, and spatial structure of trees and identifying and measuring trees killed by two recent fires. Results: Species composition in plots was similar but density and basal area of tree populations varied. Age structure for P. ponderosa and Quercus kelloggii showed periods of episodic recruitment that varied among plots. Fire disturbance was frequent before 1905, with a median period between fires of 12 years. Fire frequency declined after 1905 but two recent fires (1990, 1994) killed 36% and 41% of mostly smaller diameter P. ponderosa and Q. kelloggii. Clusters of similar age trees occurred at scales of 28‐1018 m² but patches were not even‐aged. Interactions between tree regeneration and fire promoted development of uneven age groups of trees. Conclusions: Fire disturbance strongly influenced density, basal area, and spatial structure of tree populations. Fire exclusion over the last 100 years has caused compositional and structural changes. Two recent fires, however, thinned stands and created gaps favorable for Q. kelloggii and P. ponderosa regeneration. The effects of infrequent 20th century fire indicate that a low fire frequency can restore and sustain structural characteristics resembling those of the pre‐fire suppression period forest.     

Subalpine vegetation pattern three decades after stand‐replacing fire: effects of landscape context and topography on plant community composition,tree regeneration,and diversity

Objective: Our purpose was to characterize vegetation compositional patterns, tree regeneration, and plant diversity, and their relationships to landscape context, topography, and light availability across the margins of four stand‐replacing subalpine burns. Location: Four 1977 to 1978 burns east of the Continental Divide in Colorado: the Ouzel burn, a burn near Kenosha Pass, the Badger Mountain burn, and the Maes Creek burn. Methods: Vegetation and environmental factors were sampled in 200 0.01‐ha plots on transects crossing burn edges, and stratified by elevation. We utilized dissimilarity indices, mixed‐effects models, and randomization tests to assess relationships between vegetation and environment. Results: Three decades after wildfire, plant communities exhibited pronounced compositional shifts across burn edges. Tree regeneration decreased with increasing elevation and distance into burn interiors; concomitant increases in forbs and graminoids were linked to greater light availability. Richness was roughly doubled in high‐severity burn interiors due to the persistence of a suite of native species occurring primarily in this habitat. Richness rose with distance into burns, but declined with increasing elevation. Only three of 188 plant species were non‐native; these were widespread, naturalized species that comprised <1% total cover. Conclusions: These subalpine wildfires generated considerable, persistent increases in plant species richness at local and landscape scales, and a diversity of plant communities. The findings suggest that fire suppression in such systems must lead to reduced diversity. Concerns about post‐fire invasion by exotic plants appear unwarranted in high‐elevation wilderness settings.     

Recent advances in the study of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus replication and pathogenesis

It has now been over twenty years since a novel herpesviral genome was identified in Kaposi's sarcoma biopsies. Since then, the cumulative research effort by molecular biologists, virologists, clinicians, and epidemiologists alike has led to the extensive characterization of this tumor virus, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus(KSHV; also known as human herpesvirus 8(HHV-8)), and its associated diseases. Here we review the current knowledge of KSHV biology and pathogenesis, with a particular emphasis on new and exciting advances in the field of epigenetics. We also discuss the development and practicality of various cell culture and animal model systems to study KSHV replication and pathogenesis.     

The structure, reproduction and taxonomy of Vidalia and Osmundaria (Rhodophyta, Rhodomelaceae)

Comprises species occurring mostly in subtidal habitats in tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate areas of the world. An analysis of the type species, V. spiralis (Sonder) Lamouroux ex J. Agardh, a species from Australia, establishes basic characters for distinguishing species in the genus. These characters are (1) branching patterns of thalli, (2) flat blades that may be spiralled on their axis, (3) width of the blade, (4) primary or secondary derivation of sterile and fertile branchlets and (5) position of sterile and fertile branchlets on the thalli. Application of the latter two characters provides an important basic method for separation of species into three major groups. Osmundaria , a genus known only in southern Australia, was studied in relation to Vidalia , and its separation from the Vidalia assemblage is not accepted. Species of Vidalia therefore are transferred to the older genus name, Osmundaria. Two new species, Osmundaria papenfussii and Osmundaria oliveae are described from Natal. Confusion in the usage of the epithet, Vidalia fimbriala Brown ex Turner has been clarified, and Vidalia gregaria Falkenberg, described as an epiphyte on Osmundaria pro/ifera Lamouroux, is revealed to be young branches of the host, Osmundaria prolifera.