Comparison of DRASTIC and DRASTICL groundwater vulnerability assessments of the Burdekin Basin, Queensland, Australia.

In the Burdekin Basin, Queensland, Australia, groundwater contamination due to agricultural activities has led to concerns over its impacts on globally significant ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef. An appropriate method for groundwater vulnerability assessment is essential for the sustainable use of this groundwater resource and its longer-term environmental management. The aim of this study is to apply and assess the suitability of the standard DRASTIC index-based method for groundwater vulnerability assessment of the Burdekin Basin.

Groundwater vulnerability assessment: A review including new statistical and hybrid methods.

The concept of groundwater vulnerability was first introduced in the 1970s in France to recognize sensitive areas in which surface pollution could affect groundwater, and to enable others to develop management methods for groundwater protection against surface pollutants. Since this time, numerous methods have been developed for groundwater vulnerability assessment (GVA). These can be categorized into four groups: (i) overlay and index-based methods, (ii) process-based simulation models, (iii) statistical methods, and (iv) hybrid methods.

Appraisal of Low-Cost Pushbroom Hyper-Spectral Sensor Systems for Material Classification in Reflectance.

Near infrared (NIR) remote sensing has applications in vegetation analysis as well as geological investigations. For extra-terrestrial applications, this is particularly relevant to Moon, Mars and asteroid exploration, where minerals exhibiting spectral phenomenology between 600 and 800 nm have been identified. Recent progress in the availability of processors and sensors has created the possibility of development of low-cost instruments able to return useful scientific results.

Camera-traps are a cost-effective method for surveying terrestrial squamates: A comparison with artificial refuges and pitfall traps.

Introduction: Fundamental data on the distributions, diversity, and threat status of terrestrial snakes and lizards (hereafter squamates) is limited. This is due to the cryptic nature of species in this faunal group, and to limitations in the effectiveness of the survey methods used to detect these species. Camera-traps are a useful tool for detecting numerous vertebrate species, yet their use for detecting squamates has been limited.

Elucidating Patterns in the Occurrence of Threatened Ground-Dwelling Marsupials Using Camera-Traps.

Establishing trends in endangered fauna against management efforts is a key but often challenging enterprise. Camera-traps offer a new and literal window into monitoring many different mammalian species. Getting it right demands seeking baseline information about how often target species interact with these devices, prior to setting a long-term monitoring strategy.

Re-examination of a proposed case of stasipatric speciation: phylogeography of the Australian morabine grasshoppers (Vandiemenella viatica species group).

Karyotypic differences have been used for delimiting populations or species, although whether these mutations provide strong barriers to gene flow between populations and promote speciation remains contentious. In this study, we assessed whether 11 chromosomal races of Australian morabine grasshoppers (Vandiemenella viatica species group) represent genetically distinct populations by analyses of cytological and allozyme (35 loci) data and DNA sequences of the elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1alpha), anonymous Mvia11, and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) loci. While the Vandiemenella chromosomal taxa generally represent genetically distinct units, a substantial portion of the total genetic variation in our samples was not explained by the chromosomal variation.

Genetic analysis of a chromosomal hybrid zone in the Australian morabine grasshoppers (Vandiemenella, viatica species group).

Whether chromosomal rearrangements promote speciation by providing barriers to gene exchange between populations is one of the long-standing debates in evolutionary biology. This question can be addressed by studying patterns of gene flow and selection in hybrid zones between chromosomally diverse taxa. Here we present results of the first study of the genetic structure of a hybrid zone between chromosomal races of morabine grasshoppers Vandiemenella viatica, P24(XY) and viatica17, on Kangaroo Island, Australia.