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New Guinea (new + guinea)
Kinds of New Guinea Terms modified by New Guinea Selected AbstractsTHINKING THROUGH IMAGES: KASTOM AND THE COMING OF THE BAHA'IS TO NORTHERN NEW IRELAND, PAPUA NEW GUINEATHE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 4 2005Graeme Were We can learn a lot about religious ideas by studying not just the impact on them of missionization but also how religious beliefs and practices are translated into local religious forms. In this article I draw attention to the case of the Baha'i faith in the Nalik area of northern New Ireland (Papua New Guinea). In discussing how the faith became strongly associated with the ability to harness ancestral power, I argue that this relationship emerged through Nalik people's ability to think through images, in other words through transforming forms in order to create new understandings. This study not only underlines the importance of localized studies into the technology of image production but also fills a gap in anthropological studies that, up until now, have systematically ignored the Baha'i movement and its place in the contemporary Pacific. [source] Credibility of REDD and Experiences from Papua New GuineaCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010David Melick No abstract is available for this article. [source] Evaluating social performance in the context of an ,audit culture': a pilot social review of a gold mine in Papua New GuineaCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2008Martha Macintyre Abstract The growth of sustainable development frameworks that emphasize the social dimension has created a need for new approaches to evaluate social performance. The paper describes the design and pilot of a social review conducted at the Lihir Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea. The aim was to investigate more integrated measures , understood as combining qualitative and quantitative measures, and bridging international and local community standards , of social performance. The paper discusses the demands of time and resources placed on a range of stakeholders as part of a review. It then identifies impediments to developing integrated approaches, and analyses these with reference to Power's (1999, 2003) discussion of an emerging audit culture, which focuses on management systems rather than first-order questions of quality and performance. The authors conclude that, while an audit culture influenced this pilot study, an integrated approach on these two dimensions remains an achievable goal. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] ,Best Practice' Options for the Legal Recognition of Customary TenureDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2005Daniel Fitzpatrick Is there a ,best practice' model for the legal recognition of customary tenure? If not, is it possible to identify the circumstances in which a particular model would be most appropriate? This article considers these questions in the light of economic theories of property rights, particularly as illustrated by the World Bank's 2003 land policy report. While these theories have their flaws, the underlying concept of tenure security allows a typological framework for developing legal responses to customary tenure. In particular, this article suggests that the nature and degree of State legal intervention in a customary land system should be determined by reference to the nature and causes of any tenure insecurity. This hypothesis is discussed by reference to a wide variety of legal examples from Africa, Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific. The objective is not to suggest that law determines resource governance outcomes in pluralist normative environments, but to improve the quality of legal interventions in order to assist customary groups to negotiate better forms of tenure security and access to resources. [source] The spermatozoon of the Old Endemic Australo-Papuan and Philippine rodents , its morphological diversity and evolutionACTA ZOOLOGICA, Issue 3 2010William G. Breed Abstract Breed, W.G. and Leigh, C.M. 2010. The spermatozoon of the Old Endemic Australo-Papuan and Philippine rodents , its morphological diversity and evolution.,Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 91: 279,294 The spermatozoon of most murine rodents contains a head in which there is a characteristic apical hook, whereas most old endemic Australian murines, which are part of a broader group of species that also occur in New Guinea and the Philippines, have a far more complex sperm form with two additional ventral processes. Here we ask the question: what is the sperm morphology of the New Guinea and Philippines species and what are the trends in evolutionary changes of sperm form within this group? The results show that, within New Guinea, most species have a highly complex sperm morphology like the Australian rodents, but within the Pogonomys Division some species have a simpler sperm morphology with no ventral processes. Amongst the Philippines species, many have a sperm head with a single apical hook, but in three Apomys species the sperm head contains two additional small ventral processes, with two others having cockle-shaped sperm heads. When these findings are plotted on a molecular phylogeny, the results suggest that independent and convergent evolution of highly complex sperm heads containing two ventral processes has evolved in several separate lineages. These accessory structures may support the sperm head apical hook during egg coat penetration. [source] Elevational gradients, area and tropical island diversity: an example from the palms of New GuineaECOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2004Steven Bachman The factors causing spatial variation in species richness remain poorly known. In this study, factors affecting species richness of palms (Palmae/Arecaceae) were studied along the elevational gradient of New Guinea. Interpolated elevational ranges were calculated from a database of all known collections for 145 species in 32 genera. The amount of land area at different elevations greatly affects the species richness gradient. If assessed in equal-elevation bands species richness appears to decline monotonically, but when assessed in equal-area bands species richness shows a pronounced mid-elevation peak, due to the large proportion of lowlands in New Guinea. By randomising species ranges within the total elevational gradient for palms and accounting for area, we found the mid-elevation peak to be consistent with a mid-domain effect caused by the upper and lower limits to palm distribution. Our study illustrates the importance of accounting for area in macroecological studies of richness gradients and introduces a novel yet simple method for doing this through the use of equal-area bands. Together, the effect of area and the mid-domain effect explain the majority of variation in species richness of New Guinea palms. We support calls for the multivariate assessment of the mid-domain effect on an equal footing with other potential explanations of species richness. [source] Host specificity of ambrosia and bark beetles (Col., Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae) in a New Guinea rainforestECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 6 2007JIRI HULCR Abstract 1.,Bark and ambrosia beetles are crucial for woody biomass decomposition in tropical forests worldwide. Despite that, quantitative data on their host specificity are scarce. 2.,Bark and ambrosia beetles (Scolytinae and Platypodinae) were reared from 13 species of tropical trees representing 11 families from all major lineages of dicotyledonous plants. Standardised samples of beetle-infested twigs, branches, trunks, and roots were taken from three individuals of each tree species growing in a lowland tropical rainforest in Papua New Guinea. 3.,A total of 81 742 beetles from 74 species were reared, 67 of them identified. Local species richness of bark and ambrosia beetles was estimated at 80,92 species. 4.,Ambrosia beetles were broad generalists as 95% of species did not show any preference for a particular host species or clade. Similarity of ambrosia beetle communities from different tree species was not correlated with phylogenetic distances between tree species. Similarity of ambrosia beetle communities from individual conspecific trees was not higher than that from heterospecific trees and different parts of the trees hosted similar ambrosia beetle communities, as only a few species preferred particular tree parts. 5.,In contrast, phloeophagous bark beetles showed strict specificity to host plant genus or family. However, this guild was poor in species (12 species) and restricted to only three plant families (Moraceae, Myristicaceae, Sapindaceae). 6.,Local diversity of both bark and ambrosia beetles is not driven by the local diversity of trees in tropical forests, since ambrosia beetles display no host specificity and bark beetles are species poor and restricted to a few plant families. [source] Moving Beyond Postdevelopment: Facilitating Indigenous Alternatives for "Development"ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2003George N. Curry Using the example of smallholder oil-palm production in Papua New Guinea, this article illustrates how elements of a market economy and modernity become enmeshed and partly transformed by local place-based nonmarket practices. The persistence, even efflorescence, of indigenous gift exchange, in tandem with greater participation in the market economy, challenges conventional notions about the structures and meanings of development. The introduced market economy can be inflected to serve indigenous sociocultural and economic goals by place-based processes that transform market relations and practices into nonmarket social relationships. These kinds of inflections of the market economy are common and widespread and therefore worthy of consideration for their theoretical insights into processes of social and economic change and the meanings of development. The article concludes by outlining some preliminary thoughts on how development practice could be modified to provide more scope for this process of inflection, so that development strategies accord better with indigenous sociocultural meanings of development. [source] Rural hospital generalist and emergency medicine training in Papua New GuineaEMERGENCY MEDICINE AUSTRALASIA, Issue 2 2007David Symmons Abstract The present paper describes the role of the hospital generalist in rural Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the contribution of emergency medicine training to that practice. Generalist practice in Tinsley District Hospital in Western Highlands Province is described, with emphasis on emergency surgery and anaesthesia. The potential of the PNG emergency medicine training programme for preparing generalists is discussed. Tinsley Hospital served a population of 40 000 people, with 4000 admissions and 300,400 operations performed annually. Two doctors and 50 nurses and community health workers provided care with minimal resources. The doctors provided supervision and teaching for nurses, community health workers, hospital administrators and primary health carers, including on long range medical patrols. Over 16 months, doctors performed 243 emergency surgical procedures including orthopaedics, general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology. The generalist in rural hospitals is required to perform a wide variety of medical tasks in isolated settings yet there is no active postgraduate training programme. The Master of Medicine, Emergency Medicine programme includes rotations through the major disciplines of surgery, anaesthesia, internal medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology. It has the potential to train doctors in PNG for a generalist role as graduates will learn the foundations of the required skills. [source] HIV antibody seroprevalence in the emergency department at Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New GuineaEMERGENCY MEDICINE AUSTRALASIA, Issue 4 2005Chris Curry Abstract Objective:, To determine the prevalence of HIV antibody in patients presenting to the ED at Port Moresby General Hospital in Papua New Guinea. Method:, Three hundred patients in whom blood samples were taken for investigation of illness or injury between April and July 2003 were surveyed for HIV antibodies. Sex, age and presenting illness were recorded. Results:, Fifty-four tests (18%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 14,23%) were positive. Forty-seven per cent were men and 53% were women. The most common presenting illnesses were respiratory tract infections (37%) and gastrointestinal tract infections (26%). Because of resource constraints results were not linked to patients and there was no follow up. Conclusion:, These limited data support the prediction that the developing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Papua New Guinea will be serious. [source] Sponge disease: a global threat?ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2007Nicole S. Webster Summary Sponges are the most simple and primitive metazoans, yet they have various biological and ecological properties that make them an influential component of coral-reef ecosystems. Marine sponges provide refuge for many small invertebrates and are critical to benthic-pelagic coupling across a wide range of habitats. Reports of sponge disease have increased dramatically in recent years with sponge populations decimated throughout the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Reports also suggest an increased prevalence of sponge disease in Papua New Guinea, the Great Barrier Reef and in the reefs of Cozumel, Mexico. These epidemics can have severe impacts on the survival of sponge populations, the ecology of the reef and the fate of associated marine invertebrates. Despite the ecological and commercial importance of sponges, the understanding of sponge disease is limited. There has generally been a failure to isolate and identify the causative agents of sponge disease, with only one case confirming Koch's postulates and identifying a novel Alphaproteobacteria strain as the primary pathogen. Other potential disease agents include fungi, viruses, cyanobacteria and bacterial strains within the Bacillus and Pseudomonas genera. There is some evidence for correlations between sponge disease and environmental factors such as climate change and urban/agricultural runoff. This review summarizes the occurrence of sponge disease, describes the syndromes identified thus far, explores potential linkages with environmental change and proposes a strategy for future research towards better management of sponge disease outbreaks. [source] Contiguous multi-proxy analyses (X-radiography, diatom, pollen, and microcharcoal) of Holocene archaeological features at Kuk Swamp, Upper Wahgi Valley, Papua New GuineaGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 6 2009Tim Denham Contiguous multi-proxy analyses (X-radiography, diatom, pollen, and microcharcoal) have been conducted on the fills of early, mid-, and mid-late Holocene features at Kuk Swamp, Upper Wahgi Valley, Papua New Guinea. The features are associated with key periods of archaeological interest: plant exploitation (ca. 10,000 cal yr B.P.), earliest cultivation (6950,6440 cal yr B.P.), and earliest ditches (ca. 4000 cal yr B.P.). The analyses are designed to clarify uncertainties regarding the reliability and association of different samples within feature fills for the interpretation of human activities on the wetland in the past. Methodologically, these investigations have clarified site formation processes, including pedogenesis within feature fills, which enable a better determination of archaeological associations for different samples within those fills. Substantively, the results provide higher resolution interpretations of paleoenvironments and past human activities on the wetland margin. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The geochemical characterization and correlation of Late Holocene tephra layers at Ambra Crater and Kuk Swamp, Papua New GuineaGEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 5 2009Sarah E. Coulter Abstract Major element geochemical analyses of volcanic glass shards from visible, macroscopic tephra layers in Papua New Guinea were used to test field-based correlations between local Late Holocene sequences. Previously, synchronization of sediment records at archaeological and palaeoecological sites across the Papua New Guinea highlands had been based largely on the physical properties and stratigraphic relationships of visible volcanic layers. The geochemical analysis of tephra-derived glass demonstrates miscorrelations and enables more robust tephrostratigraphic links to be made between a globally significant archaeological site, Kuk Swamp, and a nearby volcanic cone, Ambra Crater. The results indicate that field-based correlations of tephras can be problematic, especially given variable post-depositional changes in colour and texture of relatively thin tephra layers in different depositional environments. Additionally, the findings call into question some previous tephrochronological associations at archaeological and palaeoecological sites in the Papua New Guinea highlands, and demonstrate the necessity of grain-discrete geochemical analysis of glass shards as a basis for future tephrochronological studies in this region. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Ritter Island Volcano,lateral collapse and the tsunami of 1888GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2003Steven N. Ward SUMMARY In the early morning of 1888 March 13, roughly 5 km3 of Ritter Island Volcano fell violently into the sea northeast of New Guinea. This event, the largest lateral collapse of an island volcano to be recorded in historical time, flung devastating tsunami tens of metres high on to adjacent shores. Several hundred kilometres away, observers on New Guinea chronicled 3 min period waves up to 8 m high, that lasted for as long as 3 h. These accounts represent the best available first-hand information on tsunami generated by a major volcano lateral collapse. In this article, we simulate the Ritter Island landslide as constrained by a 1985 sonar survey of its debris field and compare predicted tsunami with historical observations. The best agreement occurs for landslides travelling at 40 m s,1, but velocities up to 80 m s,1 cannot be excluded. The Ritter Island debris dropped little more than 800 m vertically and moved slowly compared with landslides that descend into deeper water. Basal friction block models predict that slides with shorter falls should attain lower peak velocities and that 40+ m s,1 is perfectly compatible with the geometry and runout extent of the Ritter Island landslide. The consensus between theory and observation for the Ritter Island waves increases our confidence in the existence of mega-tsunami produced by oceanic volcano collapses two to three orders of magnitude larger in scale. [source] A reflector at 200 km depth beneath the northwest PacificGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2001S. Rost SUMMARY We present an analysis of precursors to PP produced by underside reflections from discontinuities in the upper mantle beneath the NW Pacific. The events used for this study occur in the western Pacific Rim (New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon, New Guinea, Philippine Islands) and are recorded at the short-period Yellowknife Array (YKA) in northern Canada. The source,receiver combination results in PP reflection points which allow us to study the upper mantle structure in a corridor from the Hawaiian Islands to the Kuril subduction zone. To detect the weak precursors in the time window between the P arrival and the PP onset and to identify them as PP underside reflections, special array techniques are used. Our analysis indicates a reflector at a depth of ,200 km beneath the northwestern Pacific. This reflector shows strong topography of some tens of kilometres on length scales of several hundred kilometres, complicating the detection of this reflector in global or regional stacks of seismograms. Different models for the impedance jump across the reflector, the thickness and the possible fine structure of the reflector are modelled using synthetic seismograms and are compared with the data. The thickness of the reflector has to be less than 7 km and the P wave impedance contrast has to be larger than 5.0,6.5 per cent to be detected by this study. This corresponds to a P -velocity jump of ,4 per cent assuming the PREM density model. [source] Three-dimensional seismic structure beneath the Australasian region from refracted wave observationsGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2000Y. Kaiho The earthquakes in the seismicity belt extending through Indonesia, New Guinea, Vanuatu and Fiji to the Tonga,Kermadec subduction zone recorded at the 65 portable broad-band stations deployed during the Skippy experiment from 1993,1996 provide good coverage of the lithosphere and mantle under the Australian continent, Coral Sea and Tasman Sea. The variation in structure in the upper part of the mantle is characterized by deter-mining a suite of 1-D structures from stacked record sections utilizing clear P and S arrivals, prepared for all propagation paths lying within a 10° azimuth band. The azimuth of these bands is rotated by 20° steps with four parallel corridors for each azimuth. This gives 26 separate azimuthal corridors for which 15 independent 1-D seismic velocity structures have been derived, which show significant variation in P and S structure. The set of 1-D structures is combined to produce a 3-D representation by projecting the velocity values along the ray path using a turning point approximation and stacking into 3-D cells (5° by 50 km in depth). Even though this procedure will tend to underestimate wave-speed perturbations, S -velocity deviations from the ak135 reference model exceed 6 per cent in the lithosphere. In the uppermost mantle the results display complex features and very high S -wave speeds beneath the Precambrian shields with a significant low-velocity zone beneath. High velocities are also found towards the base of the transition zone, with highS -wave speeds beneath the continent and high P -wave speeds beneath the ocean. The wave-speed patterns agree well with independent surface wave studies and delay time tomography studies in the zones of common coverage. [source] The migration route and behaviour of Eastern Curlews Numenius madagascariensisIBIS, Issue 3 2002Peter V. Driscoll Eastern Curlews Numenius madagascariensis were satellite-tracked onto breeding grounds in north-eastern Russia from south-eastern Queensland over a distance of 12 000 km. They made initial non-stop, long distance flights across the Western Pacific Ocean towards the coastlines of China and Korea followed by shorter flights, over a period of more than a month. The return journey involved a major flight-leg as well, south from the Yellow Sea region. Many birds attempted to migrate but returned to the non-breeding grounds over periods of up to several months. Islands of the Western Pacific region, the southern coastline of New Guinea and north-eastern coastline of Australia are important, particularly for birds that stop migrating. Eastern Curlews that stopped migrating generally survived, which suggests that the species has adapted to deal with adverse conditions en route and/or a physical inability to complete the migration. Such a capacity is perhaps characteristic of a large wader with low annual mortality. [source] Ribosomal DNA spacer genotypes of the Anopheles bancroftii group (Diptera: Culicidae) from Australia and Papua New GuineaINSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2001N. W. Beebe Abstract Mosquitoes of the Anopheles bancroftii group collected from Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) were investigated for sequence variation within the ribosomal DNA ITS2. Wing fringe morphology originally used to identify members of this group was compared to genotypes identified by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (RFLP) and heteroduplex analysis (HDA) of the rDNA ITS2. Members of this group separated into four RFLP genotypes (A, B, C and D) with some genotypes displaying wing fringe polymorphisms. Heteroduplex analysis of the ITS2 within and between populations identified genotype A as containing two geographically separate ITS2 sequences: A1 from the Northern Territory of Australia and A2 from Queensland and the Western Province of PNG. Genotypes B and C and genotypes C and D were found sympatric and appeared to be evolving independently suggesting the possibility of cryptic species. Genotype C contained two ITS2 sequence types within the genome. [source] Prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV infection in Pacific countriesINTERNAL MEDICINE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007P. Rupali Abstract Introduction: A generalized epidemic of HIV infection has been evolving in Papua New Guinea over the last decade, whereas in other Pacific Island countries and territories (PICT) HIV transmission has generally been less widespread. Programmes to detect HIV infection in pregnant women and to prevent mother to child transmission (MTCT) during either delivery or breast-feeding can decrease the incidence of infection in infants. The limited health infrastructure present in some PICT may delay the implementation of effective programmes to decrease MTCT of HIV. Methods: We used a standardized questionnaire to survey health-care providers in 22 PICT for information on the epidemiology of HIV infection and strategies used during 2004 to prevent MTCT of HIV infection in their country. We supplemented these survey responses with data obtained from regional organizations supporting national responses to HIV. Results: We obtained responses from 21 PICT. The reported prevalence of known HIV infection was >150 per 100 000 persons in Papua New Guinea, approximately 100 per 100 000 persons in French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia and Tuvalu and <50 per 100 000 persons in the remaining 14 PICT. Other than in Papua New Guinea, where an estimated 500 pregnant women had HIV infection diagnosed in 2004, reported HIV infection among pregnant women was rare. Ten PICT reported that an HIV antibody test was offered as a routine component of antenatal care and 11 reported that antiretroviral medications were available for the prevention of MTCT of HIV infection. Conclusion: The prevalence of HIV infection differs greatly between PICT with a varying risk of MTCT of HIV infection. Successful prevention of MTCT of HIV infection throughout the PICT will require improved uptake of antenatal HIV antibody testing and better access to antiretroviral medications. [source] Betel quid not containing tobacco and oral cancer: A report on a case,control study in Papua New Guinea and a meta-analysis of current evidenceINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 6 2007Steven J. Thomas Abstract Smoking and betel quid chewing are associated with increased risk of oral cancer but few studies have reported on associations in populations where betel quid does not contain tobacco. We conducted a case,control study in Papua New Guinea and a systematic review. Our case,control study recruited 143 cases with oral cancer and 477 controls. We collected information on smoking and betel quid chewing. Current smoking was associated with an increased risk of oral cancer with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) for daily smokers of 2.63 (95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 1.32, 5.22) and amongst heaviest smokers of 4.63 (95% CI 2.07, 10.36) compared to never-smokers. Betel chewing was associated with increased risk of oral cancer with an adjusted OR for current chewers of 2.03 (95% CI 1.01, 4.09) and in the heaviest chewers of 2.47 (95% CI 1.13, 5.40) compared to nonchewers. The OR in those who both smoked tobacco and chewed betel quid was 4.85 (95% 1.10, 22.25), relative to those who neither smoked nor chewed. The systematic review identified 10 previous studies that examined risk of oral cancer associated with betel quid chewing that controlled for smoking in populations where betel quid did not contain tobacco. In studies that reported results for non-smokers the combined OR was 2.14 (95% CI 1.06, 4.32) in betel quid chewers and in studies that adjusted for smoking the combined OR was 3.50 (95% CI 2.16, 5.65) in betel quid chewers. Preventive efforts should discourage betel quid chewing as well as smoking. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Change in mean temperature as a predictor of extreme temperature change in the Asia,Pacific regionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 10 2005G. M. Griffiths Abstract Trends (1961,2003) in daily maximum and minimum temperatures, extremes and variance were found to be spatially coherent across the Asia,Pacific region. The majority of stations exhibited significant trends: increases in mean maximum and mean minimum temperature, decreases in cold nights and cool days, and increases in warm nights. No station showed a significant increase in cold days or cold nights, but a few sites showed significant decreases in hot days and warm nights. Significant decreases were observed in both maximum and minimum temperature standard deviation in China, Korea and some stations in Japan (probably reflecting urbanization effects), but also for some Thailand and coastal Australian sites. The South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ) region between Fiji and the Solomon Islands showed a significant increase in maximum temperature variability. Correlations between mean temperature and the frequency of extreme temperatures were strongest in the tropical Pacific Ocean from French Polynesia to Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and southern Japan. Correlations were weaker at continental or higher latitude locations, which may partly reflect urbanization. For non-urban stations, the dominant distribution change for both maximum and minimum temperature involved a change in the mean, impacting on one or both extremes, with no change in standard deviation. This occurred from French Polynesia to Papua New Guinea (except for maximum temperature changes near the SPCZ), in Malaysia, the Philippines, and several outlying Japanese islands. For urbanized stations the dominant change was a change in the mean and variance, impacting on one or both extremes. This result was particularly evident for minimum temperature. The results presented here, for non-urban tropical and maritime locations in the Asia,Pacific region, support the hypothesis that changes in mean temperature may be used to predict changes in extreme temperatures. At urbanized or higher latitude locations, changes in variance should be incorporated. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society. [source] Breeding Pesquet's parrotPsittrichas fulgidusat Jurong BirdParkINTERNATIONAL ZOO YEARBOOK, Issue 1 2000J. BUAY Pesquet's parrot Psittrichas, futgidus, which is indigenous to New Guinea, is a threatened species that needs particular attention from aviculturists. The captive population in zoos and private collections is not well established and breeding of P. fulgidus in [source] When Thailand was an island , the phylogeny and biogeography of mite harvestmen (Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi, Stylocellidae) in Southeast AsiaJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 6 2010Ronald M. Clouse Abstract Aim, To develop a comprehensive explanation for the biological diversity of Southeast Asia, especially in the Wallacea and Sundaland regions. This study focuses on a group of arachnids, mite harvestmen, which are thought to be an extremely old group of endemic animals that have been present in the region since most of its land supposedly formed part of the northern rim of the supercontinent Gondwana. Location, Eastern Himalayas, Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, and New Guinea. Methods Approximately 5.6 kb of sequence data were obtained from 110 South-east Asian Cyphophthalmi specimens. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted under a variety of methods and analytical parameters, and the optimal tree was dated using calibration points derived from fossil data. Event based and paralogy-free subtree biogeographical analyses were conducted. Results, The Southeast Asian family Stylocellidae was recovered as monophyletic, arising on what is now the Thai-Malay Peninsula and diversifying into three main clades. One clade (Meghalaya, here formally placed in Stylocellidae) expanded north as far as the eastern Himalayas, a second clade entered Borneo and later expanded back across the Sundaland Peninsula to Sumatra, and a third clade expanded out of Borneo into the entire lower part of Sundaland. Molecular dating suggested that Stylocellidae separated from other Cyphophthalmi 295 Ma and began diversifying 258 Ma, and the lineage that inhabits mostly Borneo today began diversifying between 175 and 150 Ma. Main conclusions, The topology and molecular dating of our phylogenetic hypothesis suggest that Stylocellidae originated on Gondwana, arrived in Southeast Asia via the Cimmerian palaeocontinent, and subsequently diversified north, then south. Their present distribution in the Indo-Malay Archipelago is explained largely by a diversification over the Sundaland Peninsula before western Sulawesi departed and the peninsula was extensively inundated. [source] Beta diversity of frogs in the forests of New Guinea, Amazonia and Europe: contrasting tropical and temperate communitiesJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 5 2009Chris Dahl Abstract Aim, To test the hypothesis that animal communities within environmentally relatively uniform lowland forests are characterized by low beta diversity, both in tropical and in temperate areas. Location, Lowland forests in the basins of the Sepik and Ramu rivers in New Guinea, the Amazon river in Bolivia, and the Elbe and Dyje rivers in the Czech Republic. Methods, A network of 5,6 study sites spanning distances from 20,80 to 300,500 km in each study area was systematically surveyed for all frogs, using visual detection and call tracking. The community data were analysed for alpha and beta diversity. Results, Local (alpha) diversity of frog communities was similar in the two tropical areas, New Guinea (mean ± SE of 22 ± 1.4 species per site) and Amazonia (24 ± 1.7 species), but was significantly lower in Europe (8 ± 0.8 species). In Amazonia, 36 of the total of 70 species were recorded from single sites. In contrast, widespread species dominated in Europe, whereas New Guinea exhibited an intermediate pattern with both local and widespread species well represented. The rate of species accumulation across different sites was lowest in Europe, intermediate in New Guinea and highest in Amazonia. The regional species diversity, expressed as the combined number of species from five study sites, was 1.5 times higher than the local species diversity at a single site in Europe, 2.0 times higher in New Guinea and 2.7 times higher in Amazonia. The proportion of species shared between communities decreased with geographic distance in New Guinea and Europe, but not in Amazonia. Main conclusions, Frog communities in the lowland tropical rain forests of New Guinea and Amazonia had similar numbers of species, but differed in their beta diversity. More species in Amazonia had restricted distributions than in New Guinea. Both tropical areas had markedly higher alpha and beta diversity than the temperate area in Europe. [source] ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Cycads in the insular South-west Pacific: dispersal or vicariance?JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 6 2008Gunnar Keppel Abstract Aim, Cycads constitute an ancient plant group that is generally believed to disperse poorly. However, one group of cycads (subsection Rumphiae) is thought to have dispersed relatively recently from a Malesian source area westwards to East Africa and eastwards into the Pacific, using a floatation-facilitating layer in their seeds. We use morphological and allozyme characters to investigate the relationships among the species within this group and to deduce whether the wide distribution was achieved by recent dispersal (as evidenced by high genetic similarity) or more distant vicariance events (high genetic differentiation). Location, We examined specimens collected throughout the range of subsection Rumphiae, from East Africa through Southeast Asia to Tonga in the South-west Pacific. Methods, We investigated relationships within subsection Rumphiae of the genus Cycas by analysing 18 variable (11 informative) morphological characters and 22 allozyme loci for seven of the 10 species currently assigned to this taxon. Results, Distinctive morphological characters are few and fail to resolve relationships within the group. Allozyme data show that species within this subsection are closely related and suggest that there are two groups within the subsection, one comprising Cycas thouarsii (East Africa) and C. edentata (the Philippines), and the other the remaining species (from Malesia and the Pacific). The Australian species C. silvestris is sister to subsection Rumphiae in the morphological analysis but is closely allied to C. rumphii (nested within the subsection) in the allozyme analysis, suggesting that Rumphiae may be paraphyletic and that characters thought to be taxonomically important may need to be re-evaluated. Main conclusions, Cycads within subsection Rumphiae are closely related, and the wide distribution of this group was probably achieved through relatively recent oceanic dispersal events. Separate events probably account for the dispersal of these cycads into the Pacific and to Africa. The origin and distribution of C. silvestris (Australia) could be explained by a dispersal event from New Guinea or may have resulted from a former land connection between Australia and New Guinea. [source] Panbiogeography of Nothofagus (Nothofagaceae): analysis of the main species massingsJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 6 2006Michael Heads Abstract Aim, The aim of this paper is to analyse the biogeography of Nothofagus and its subgenera in the light of molecular phylogenies and revisions of fossil taxa. Location, Cooler parts of the South Pacific: Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, montane New Guinea and New Caledonia, and southern South America. Methods, Panbiogeographical analysis is used. This involves comparative study of the geographic distributions of the Nothofagus taxa and other organisms in the region, and correlation of the main patterns with historical geology. Results, The four subgenera of Nothofagus have their main massings of extant species in the same localities as the main massings of all (fossil plus extant) species. These main massings are vicariant, with subgen. Lophozonia most diverse in southern South America (north of Chiloé I.), subgen. Fuscospora in New Zealand, subgen. Nothofagus in southern South America (south of Valdivia), and subgen. Brassospora in New Guinea and New Caledonia. The main massings of subgen. Brassospora and of the clade subgen. Brassospora/subgen. Nothofagus (New Guinea,New Caledonia,southern South America) conform to standard biogeographical patterns. Main conclusions, The vicariant main massings of the four subgenera are compatible with largely allopatric differentiation and no substantial dispersal since at least the Upper Cretaceous (Upper Campanian), by which time the fossil record shows that the four subgenera had evolved. The New Guinea,New Caledonia distribution of subgenus Brassospora is equivalent to its total main massing through geological time and is explained by different respective relationships of different component terranes of the two countries. Global vicariance at family level suggests that Nothofagaceae/Nothofagus evolved largely as the South Pacific/Antarctic vicariant in the breakup of a world-wide Fagales ancestor. [source] The biogeography of Gunnera L.: vicariance and dispersalJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 7 2003Livia Wanntorp Abstract Aim The genus Gunnera is distributed in South America, Africa and the Australasian region, a few species reaching Hawaii and southern Mexico in the North. A cladogram was used to (1) discuss the biogeography of Gunnera and (2) subsequently compare this biogeographical pattern with the geological history of continents and the patterns reported for other Southern Hemisphere organisms. Location Africa, northern South America, southern South America, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Guinea/Malaya, Hawaii, North America, Antarctica. Methods A phylogenetic analysis of twenty-six species of Gunnera combining morphological characters and new as well as published sequences of the ITS region, rbcL and the rps16 intron, was used to interpret the biogeographical patterns in Gunnera. Vicariance was applied in the first place and dispersal was only assumed as a second best explanation. Results The Uruguayan/Brazilian Gunnera herteri Osten (subgenus Ostenigunnera Mattfeld) is sister to the rest of the genus, followed sequentially upwards by the African G. perpensa L. (subgenus Gunnera), in turn sister to all other, American and Australasian, species. These are divided into two clades, one containing American/Hawaiian species, the other containing all Australasian species. Within the Australasian clade, G. macrophylla Blume (subgenus Pseudogunnera Schindler), occurring in New Guinea and Malaya, is sister to a clade including the species from New Zealand and Tasmania (subgenus Milligania Schindler). The southern South American subgenus Misandra Schindler is sister to a clade containing the remaining American, as well as the Hawaiian species (subgenus Panke Schindler). Within subgenus Panke, G. mexicana Brandegee, the only North American species in the genus, is sister to a clade wherein the Hawaiian species are basal to all south and central American taxa. Main conclusions According to the cladogram, South America appears in two places, suggesting an historical explanation for northern South America to be separate from southern South America. Following a well-known biogeographical pattern of vicariance, Africa is the sister area to the combined southern South America/Australasian clade. Within the Australasian clade, New Zealand is more closely related to New Guinea/Malaya than to southern South America, a pattern found in other plant cladograms, contradictory to some of the patterns supported by animal clades and by the geological hypothesis, respectively. The position of the Tasmanian G. cordifolia, nested within the New Zealand clade indicates dispersal of this species to Tasmania. The position of G. mexicana, the only North American species, as sister to the remaining species of subgenus Panke together with the subsequent sister relation between Hawaii and southern South America, may reflect a North American origin of Panke and a recolonization of South America from the north. This is in agreement with the early North American fossil record of Gunnera and the apparent young age of the South American clade. [source] Australian biogeographical connections and the phylogeny of large genera in the plant family MyrtaceaeJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 7 2003Pauline Y. Ladiges Abstract Aim To compare the phylogeny of the eucalypt and melaleuca groups with geological events and ages of fossils to discover the time frame of clade divergences. Location Australia, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Indonesian Archipelago. Methods We compare published molecular phylogenies of the eucalypt and melaleuca groups of the plant family Myrtaceae with geological history and known fossil records from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Results The Australasian eucalypt group includes seven genera, of which some are relictual rain forest taxa of restricted distribution and others are species-rich and widespread in drier environments. Based on molecular and morphological data, phylogenetic analyses of the eucalypt group have identified two major clades. The monotypic Arillastrum endemic to New Caledonia is related in one clade to the more species-rich Angophora, Corymbia and Eucalyptus that dominate the sclerophyll vegetation of Australia. Based on the time of rifting of New Caledonia from eastern Gondwana and the age of fossil eucalypt pollen, we argue that this clade extends back to the Late Cretaceous. The second clade includes three relictual rain forest taxa, with Allosyncarpia from Arnhem Land the sister taxon to Eucalyptopsis of New Guinea and the eastern Indonesian archipelago, and Stockwellia from the Atherton Tableland in north-east Queensland. As monsoonal, drier conditions evolved in northern Australia, Arnhem Land was isolated from the wet tropics to the east and north during the Oligocene, segregating ancestral rain forest biota. It is argued also that the distribution of species in Eucalyptopsis and Eucalyptus subgenus Symphyomyrtus endemic in areas north of the stable edge of the Australian continent, as far as Sulawesi and the southern Philippines, is related to the geological history of south-east Asia-Australasia. Colonization (dispersal) may have been aided by rafting on micro-continental fragments, by accretion of arc terranes onto New Guinea and by land brought into closer proximity during periods of low sea-level, from the Late Miocene and Pliocene. The phylogenetic position of the few northern, non-Australian species of Eucalyptus subgenus Symphyomyrtus suggests rapid radiation in the large Australian sister group(s) during this time frame. A similar pattern, connecting Australia and New Caledonia, is emerging from phylogenetic analysis of the Melaleuca group (Beaufortia suballiance) within Myrtaceae, with Melaleuca being polyphyletic. Main conclusion The eucalypt group is an old lineage extending back to the Late Cretaceous. Differentiation of clades is related to major geological and climatic events, including rifting of New Caledonia from eastern Gondwana, development of monsoonal and drier climates, collision of the northern edge of the Australian craton with island arcs and periods of low sea level. Vicariance events involve dispersal of biota. [source] Colonization of an island volcano, Long Island, Papua New Guinea, and an emergent island, Motmot, in its caldera lake.JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 11-12 2001Abstract Biogeographical context Long Island, in Vitiaz Strait, is 55 km north of New Guinea, 60 km from Umboi Island and 125 km from New Britain. After its explosive caldera-forming eruption in about 1645, Long is being recolonized by animals and plants. Through renewed volcanic activity in the 1950s a new island emerged from Long's caldera lake, 4 km from the nearest lake shore and was recreated by eruptions in 1968. Long Island thus provides the opportunity to study a nested pair of natural colonization sequences. The geological background, eruptive history, course and results of the seventeenth century eruption, and the geographical features and climate of Long Island are summarized. Existing knowledge of Long's recolonization, confined almost entirely to surveys of its avifauna in 1933 and 1972, is reviewed. The geological history of Motmot is outlined, and published knowledge of its colonization by animals and plants from 1968 to 1988 is summarized. The 1999 expedition and aims An expedition to Long Island and Motmot in 1999 set out to investigate the hitherto little-known flora and present vertebrate fauna of Long Island and to survey the entire flora and fauna of Motmot for comparison with the results of previous surveys. The methods used in the 1999 survey are described, and the papers setting out the results briefly introduced. [source] Colonization of an island volcano, Long Island, Papua New Guinea, and an emergent island, Motmot, in its caldera lake.JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 11-12 2001Abstract Aim Long Island erupted catastrophically in c. 1645 with the probable destruction of its entire biota. While several expeditions have visited the island since, no survey of its flora has been published. In 1968 a small island, Motmot, emerged from its caldera lake. Motmot has been surveyed several times but not since 1988. The aim of this study was to investigate the colonization by vascular plants of this interesting nested pair of islands. Location Long Island is 55 km off the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Motmot lies in its fresh water caldera lake, Lake Wisdom, c. 4 km from the rim of the surrounding volcano. Methods We conducted a complete survey of the vascular plants on Motmot and made ad hoc collections on Long Island, including surveying three small plots, over 15 days in 1999. In addition, we incorporated data from several collections lodged at the regional herbarium in Lae. Data on seed dispersal syndromes and plant habit were obtained from the literature. Results We recorded 305 species of vascular plants from Long Island, but most trees were small and the species diversity was low. Motmot was still very sparsely vegetated and only forty-five species of vascular plants were found. Communities on Motmot were unspecialized and common species widespread. The flora of Motmot was not significantly different from that on Long Island in terms of the number of species amongst higher taxa, seed dispersal syndromes or plant habits. Main conclusions Low rainfall combined with very porous soils may be responsible for the small stature and low diversity of the forest on Long Island's caldera rim. The absence of specialist littoral species on Motmot, as a result of its landlocked situation, is probably responsible for the very slow species recruitment on the island. This community appears to be functionally important for colonization by comparison with other small volcanic islands in a marine situation. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||