FAIR WORK AMENDMENT (RESPECT FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES VOLUNTEERS) BILL 2016
31 August 2016
Parliament House, Canberra
Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER: I move that this Bill now be read a second time.
Today, my Government gets on with the job of delivering on important commitments we made to Australians at the election.
We are acting on the mandate we received from the Australian people.
And we expect the Parliament to respect that mandate.
We are at a critical juncture; the decisions we take today, the decisions of this Parliament, will determine whether we enable our children and grandchildren to enjoy the same standard of living that we do ourselves.
I said during the election that we are focused on creating more and better jobs.
We are committed to ensuring our workplace relations system delivers the best outcome for jobs, investment and growth, stops unions from abusing their power, and allows Australians to go to safe workplaces, without fear of intimidation or coercion.
Today, I am implementing a vital legislative agenda, two elements of which were the very reason we went to the double dissolution election.
This agenda advances our economic plan while protecting people’s rights.
This first Bill the Government is introducing is the Fair Work Amendment (Respect for Emergency Services Volunteers) Bill 2016. It honors our commitment to doing all we can to protect Australia’s emergency services from a Union takeover.
Australia’s proud tradition of volunteer firefighting is under threat.
The actions of the United Firefighters Union of Australia have placed the Victorian Country Fire Authority in the position of having to choose between the best interests of its brave volunteers and conceding to the demands of the union.
Unfortunately for the proud volunteers of the CFA, the Victorian Government has taken sides against them.
For this reason, it is of paramount importance that the Commonwealth Parliament steps in to protect them.
This is not a decision we take lightly.
Obviously, there is a place for unions fairly to represent their members in Australia’s workplace relations system.
However, the UFU continues to demand an unreasonable degree of control over the CFA and its volunteers.
The former CFA Board repeatedly stated it was willing to reach a fair and reasonable agreement, but this call was ignored and the Victorian Government demanded that the CFA accede to the Union’s demands.
The Victorian Emergency Services Minister resigned in protest.
The CFA board was sacked by the Victorian Government.
The CFA Chief Executive and the Chief Fire Officer resigned in protest.
Even advice from the Chief Executive of Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria that the proposed agreement will significantly impede fire season operations has not altered the intransigence.
We will not allow selfless Australian volunteers to be undermined in this way.
The Victorian Government has now hand-picked new appointments to the board to wave the agreement through.
The government’s new Board reached agreement with the Union, having made some cosmetic changes to the agreement while not addressing the fundamental concerns of the volunteers.
The agreement still contains discriminatory terms and still interferes with the capacity of the CFA to manage its volunteers in a range of areas.
For example, the agreement mandates that a minimum of seven paid firefighters are dispatched before the paid firefighters commence firefighting operations.
Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria advise that this will have flow on effects for workload, operational and fire ground safety implications for volunteers.
Other concerning terms in the agreement include:
- providing that paid firefighters can only report to another paid firefighter with the exception of the incident controller;
- requiring Union agreement at integrated stations to cross-crewing of firetrucks by volunteers and paid firefighters;
- requiring Union agreement to workplace changes through the consultation term, including matters that may impact on the use of volunteers;
- requiring Union agreement on the structure of any Volunteer Support Programs; and
- requiring that uniforms of volunteers cannot be the same as those provided to paid firefighters.
I note that the agreement is seeking these changes despite the Victorian CFA Act stating that:
‘The Parliament recognises that the Authority is first and foremost a volunteer-based organisation, in which volunteer officers and members are supported by employees in a fully integrated manner’.
I also note that the CFA Volunteer Charter commits the Victorian Government to:
‘recognise, value, respect and promote CFA Volunteers, their families and employers for their contributions to the well-being and safety of the people of Victoria’.
Given that the Government of Victoria has abdicated its authority on this matter and capitulated to the union, it is our duty to intervene to protect the efforts of our volunteers.
The CFA volunteers are the heroes of our regional communities.
They are everyday mums and dads committed to sacrificing their time to protect life and property.
The Union is jeopardising their selfless goodwill.
It is an outrage.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of organisations like the CFA.
We simply cannot allow their hard work to be undermined.
There is a lot at stake if we do not protect our volunteers.
As the Chief Executive of Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria Andrew Ford has pointed out; if we allow their role to be eroded and demeaned, volunteers will walk away and the CFA will be destroyed.
This is why the Government announced during the election campaign that we will amend the Fair Work Act to stop this happening.
This Bill will ensure that enterprise agreements cannot be used in a way that permits unions to exert power over the valuable contributions of volunteers.
To do this, the Bill expands the definition of unlawful term in the Fair Work Act to include an ‘objectionable emergency management term’.
The new objectionable emergency management term will prohibit terms in enterprise agreements that:
- restrict or limit the ability of certain firefighting or SES bodies to engage, deploy, provide support or equipment to its volunteers, or manage its operations in relation to its volunteers, or
- require a body to consult, or reach agreement with, any other person or body in relation to managing its volunteers, or
- restrict or limit a body’s ability to recognise, value, respect or promote the contribution of its volunteers to the well-being and safety of the community, or
- require or permit a body to act other than in accordance with a law of a state or territory that imposes a duty, power or function on the body that could affect its volunteers.
The Fair Work Commission will not be able to approve agreements that include such terms.
Any such terms in an existing agreement will be legally ineffective from the day that the legislation commences operation.
Actions taken under existing agreements before this time will not be affected.
The amendments will also give volunteer organisations a voice, by providing them the right to make submissions to the Fair Work Commission about enterprise agreements covering certain emergency services bodies that could affect the volunteers that they represent.
The amendments have been carefully drafted to only apply to firefighting and state emergency service bodies that are established under a statute, use volunteers and are covered by the Fair Work Act.
They will not impact other volunteering organisations such as Surf Life Saving Australia or the Salvation Army.
The Government has of course received the best expert legal advice to confirm the constitutional validity of these reforms, as we do for all Bills we bring to the Parliament.
The amendments are simple, targeted measures and it is vital that we implement this solution quickly.
We cannot afford to wait any longer.
We must safeguard the tens of thousands of volunteers who protect our communities.
I commend the Bill to the House.
Landholders’ Right To Refuse (Gas And Coal) Bill 2015
This Private Member’s Bill provides that landholders have the right to refuse the undertaking of gas and coal mining activities by corporations on their land without prior written authorisation; sets out the requirements of a prior written authorisation; provides for relief which a court may grant a land owner when prior written authorisation is not provided; prohibits hydraulic fracturing for coal seam gas, shale gas and tight gas by corporations; and provides for civil penalties.
The Bill was first introduced in March 2015, has had its second reading in the House of Representatives and is currently before the Senate.
Warriewood Beach Clean-up
Sunday September 18
Join Wanderlightly & Living Ocean for our monthly beach clean-up as we move along our local beaches keeping keep them Plastic Free.
Please bring your own Gloves & bucket or bag to collect the trash in.
Plan: We will clean from 10 then sort & record the collected trash for Tangaroa Blue.
What to Bring: A bucket or bag to collect trash in & a pair of gloves to keep your mitts safe.
Where to meet: Warriewood beach SLSC for a 10am start
For more info email Sarah at info@wanderlightly.com
Feel free to share this event & bring everyone you know, the more the merrier!!
Live-Stream Air Quality Data From Coal-Seam Gas Regions
25 August, 2016: CSIRO Media Release
Data from the first comprehensive air quality measurement program in the Surat Basin is now available online for anyone to live-stream.
CSIRO, through the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance (GISERA), is leading a study which includes collection of air quality measurements through a network of five ambient air quality stations in the Chinchilla, Miles and Condamine region of Queensland.Specialised instruments are measuring a wide range of pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particles in the atmosphere.
Right: Coal seam gas well with air monitoring station in the background
The data collected is streamed live to the Queensland Department ofEnvironment and Heritage Protection website.
CSIRO atmospheric researcher Sarah Lawson said live streaming the data showed transparency of the data collection process.
"The data is accessible to everyone which means local communities and the general public can stay informed about the air quality in the Western Downs region, how it compares to other parts of Queensland and how levels compare to the government's air quality standards," Ms Lawson said.
The Air Quality Monitoring team within the Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation (DSITI) will be responsible for publishing the air quality monitoring data on the DEHP website.
Queensland Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy, Leeanne Enoch said this was a great example of scientific collaboration between CSIRO and Queensland Government.
"Hosting the live air quality data from coal seam gas regions to local community and people of Queensland is a great way to show transparency and build confidence in the research that is taking place," Ms Enoch said.
An air quality model will also be used to explore the degree to which different emission sources in the Surat Basin contribute to the levels of air pollution.
The model includes a variety of natural and man-made emission sources including the CSG industry, power stations, mines, livestock production, motor vehicles, bushfires, and vegetation.
By running the model with different emission sources switched on and off, the degree of contribution from sources, including the CSG industry can be investigated.
The model will also provide an understanding of the distribution of pollutants over a much larger area than can be determined by fixed monitoring stations.
"Both the air quality data and modelling results can be used by government to inform policy and regulations around CSG development and by industry to focus on improving practices that reduce emissions of pollutants" Ms Lawson said.
About GISERA
GISERA is a collaborative vehicle established to undertake publicly-reported independent research addressing the socio-economic and environmental impacts of Australia's natural gas industries. The governance structure for GISERA is designed to provide for and protect research independence and transparency of funded research. Visitwww.gisera.org.au.
SUNDAY MORNING BIRDWATCHING with PNHA
Would you like to know more about our local birds and explore our bushland reserves? Then join us on one of our bird walks:
PNHA Birdwatching 8am Sunday 25 September, Warriewood Wetlands, followed by Morning Tea and a talk on the Birds of Warriewood Wetlands at 9.30am.
Warriewood Wetlands is one of Sydney’s birding hotspots with over 150 species recorded. Come along and see how many you can find.
At 9.30am, after the walk, join us for morning tea and a talk on the birds of Warriewood Wetlands provided by PNHA. We are holding this event as part of the Friends of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment's Narrabeen Spring Celebration.
Meet: 8am for the walk, and/or come at 9.30am for the morning tea and talk, Katoa Close, off Garden St, North Narrabeen.
Bring: For the walk: Binoculars, water, insect repellent, hat. Morning tea will be provided (see Bookings)
Bookings: Please book this time, for catering. Text or call 0439 409 202.
Our last walk of the year is at 7.30am on Sunday 27 November at Warriewood Wetlands. The summer migratory species will have arrived and the Wetlands will be home to nesting birds and birds with young. there should be plenty to see.Meet at Katoa Close, North Narrabeen.
Most walks last a couple of hours. Bring binoculars and morning tea for afterwards if you like. Contact pnhabirdwatching@gmail.com for details of each walk.
Tasmanian Devils Evolve To Resist Deadly Cancer
August 30, 2016
Tasmanian devils are evolving in response to a highly lethal and contagious form of cancer, a Washington State University researcher has found.
Andrew Storfer, WSU professor of biology, and an international team of scientists discovered that two regions in the genomes of Australia's iconic marsupials are changing in response to the rapid spread of devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), a nearly 100 percent fatal and transmissible cancer first detected in 1996.
The work, published in Nature Communications, suggests some Tasmanian devil populations are evolving genetic resistance to DFTD that could help the species avoid extinction.
Additionally, the genomic data will support future medical research exploring how animals evolve rapidly in response to cancer and other pathogens.
"Our study suggests hope for the survival of the Tasmanian devil in the face of this devastating disease," Storfer said. "Ultimately, it may also help direct future research addressing important questions about the evolution of cancer transmissibility and what causes remission and reoccurrence in cancer and other diseases."
Disease kills 80 percent
Tasmanian devils are the largest carnivorous marsupials in the world and an integral part of Australia's natural heritage. Devils display significant aggression toward one another, which often involves biting on the face. This sometimes transmits DFTD, one of only three known forms of transmissible cancer and by far the most deadly.
Twenty years since its discovery, DFTD has wiped out an estimated 80 percent of devils in Tasmania, the only place in the world where the animals live.
By comparison, canine transmissible venereal tumor, a sexually transmitted form of cancer that only affects dogs, has been around for at least 11,000 years and is generally not fatal to domesticated animals.
Collections offer unique research opportunity
Despite models that predicted extinction, populations of Tasmanian devils at long-diseased sites persist. Storfer, an evolutionary geneticist who has studied DFTD for nearly a decade, teamed up with colleagues in the United States, Great Britain and Australia to investigate whether there was a genetic component to some of the devils' survival.
"If a disease comes in and knocks out 90 percent of the individuals, you might predict the 10 percent who survive are somehow genetically different," said study co-author Paul Hohenlohe, assistant professor of biology at the University of Idaho. "What we were looking for were the parts of the genome that show that difference."
The researchers mined a vast trove of devil DNA collected and stored before and after the outbreak of DFTD by wildlife ecologist and associate professor Menna Jones, study co-author, and her research team at the University of Tasmania.
Hopeful of breeding resistant devils
The frequency of genes in specific regions of the old DNA were compared to the frequency of genes in corresponding regions of DNA collected following DFTD emergence at three sites on Tasmania.
Storfer and colleagues identified two small genomic regions in the DNA samples from all three sites that exhibited significant changes in response to the strong selection imposed by the disease. Five of seven genes in the two regions were related to cancer or immune function in other mammals, suggesting that Tasmanian devils are indeed evolving resistance to DFTD.
The researchers are in the process of determining the specific functionality of the genomic regions identified in the study.
They are hopeful that disease free devils with the apparently DFTD resistant DNA can be bred to enhance the genetic diversity of an off-island captive insurance population in case devil reintroductions are needed in the future.
Brendan Epstein, Menna Jones, Rodrigo Hamede, Sarah Hendricks, Hamish McCallum, Elizabeth P. Murchison, Barbara Schönfeld, Cody Wiench, Paul Hohenlohe, Andrew Storfer. Rapid evolutionary response to a transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils. Nature Communications, 2016; 7: 12684 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12684
United Wambo Open Cut Coal Mine Project
Street 134 Jerrys Plains Road
City Warkworth
Exhibition Start 11/08/2016
Exhibition End 22/09/2016
See all available documents and have your say here
A Joint Venture project between United Collieries and Wambo Coal which combines the existing open cut operations at Wambo with a proposed new open cut at United.
The Project will utilise the existing Wambo Mining Infrastructure Area (MIA), Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP) and train loading facility. The Project anticipates delivering up to 6Mtpa of product coal, providing jobs for around 500 employees with a life of mine of approximately 23 years. The Project proposes to relocate a 2km section of the Golden Highway and a section of 330kV powerlines to optimise coal recovery in the United Open Cut.
Extent of Mining Areas: Refer to Figure 1.3 - The project proposes realignment of the Wambo Open Cut boundary to maximise resource recovery. The realignment would result in approximately 5 hectares of additional disturbance for the Wambo Open Cut mine.
The Proposed United Open Cut mine is situated to the weast of the existing Wambo operations (refer to Figure 1.3)
The conceptual staged mine plans are shown on Figure 3.2 to Figure 3.6
Operating Hours 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Figure 1.3
Figure 3.2
NSW Oyster Industry Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy Third Edition 2016
The NSW Oyster Industry Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy (OISAS):• identifies those areas within NSW estuaries where oyster aquaculture is a suitable and priority outcome;
• secures resource access rights for present and future oyster farmers throughout NSW;
• documents and promotes environmental, social and economic best practice for NSW oyster farming and ensures that the principles of ecological sustainable development, community expectations and the needs of other user groups are integrated into the management and operation of the NSW oyster industry;
• formalises industry's commitment to environmental sustainable practices and a duty of care for the environment in which the industry is located;
• provides a framework for the operation and development of a viable and sustainable NSW oyster aquaculture industry with a clear approval regime and up-front certainty for existing industry participants, new industry entrants, the community and decision makers;
• identifies the key water quality parameters necessary for sustainable oyster aquaculture and establishes a mechanism to maintain and where possible improve the environmental conditions required for sustainable oyster production; and
• ensures that the water quality requirements for oyster growing are considered in the State's land and water management and strategic planning framework.
Also see:
all Maps-Area HERE
NSW Oyster Industry Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy 2016 -
HAVE YOUR SAY
What's this about?
The NSW Oyster Industry Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy (OISAS) is the key management and policy document for the NSW oyster industry.
OISAS currently contains:
• Best practice guidelines;
• A code of conduct;
• Identification of areas where oyster farming is a priority;
• Water quality protection and improvement measures; and
• Streamlined approval for oyster leases in Priority Oyster Aquaculture Areas.
The OISAS was first gazetted in December 2006 and has now been revised and updated.
Have your say
The 2016 Draft OISAS is on public exhibition for 14 days fromWednesday 31 August until Tuesday 13 September 2016.
To view the 2016 Draft OISAS online, visit the DPI Website.
Send your feedback via email to:
Date: Aug. 31 - Sep. 13, 2016
Time: 9:00am — 5:00pm
How Songbirds Island-Hopped Out Of Australia
August 30, 2016
This yellow-breasted satinbird (Loboparadisea sericea) is among the songbirds research shows first dispersed out of Australia about 23 million years ago through early islands in the Indonesian archipelago into Asia and subsequently the entire globe. Credit: University of Kansas | KU News Service
While it is widely accepted that songbirds originated from the Australian continent, how and when they diversified and colonized the rest of the globe has remained a mystery.
Researchers from the University of Kansas, Louisiana State University and three other institutions reconstructed the evolutionary history of songbirds using thousands of DNA sequences from majority songbird lineages and information from the fossil record to provide answers to these questions. They found that songbirds began diversifying about 33 million years ago and underwent extensive diversification in Australia. Furthermore, the researchers also found that songbirds first dispersed out of Australia about 23 million years ago through early islands in the Indonesian archipelago into Asia and subsequently the entire globe.
This new research will be published in Nature Communications on Aug. 30.
"One of the challenges with deciphering songbird evolutionary history is that they diversified so rapidly that previous studies had a difficult time estimating the branching pattern of the songbird family tree," said lead author Rob Moyle, KU professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and curator of ornithology at the KU Biodiversity Institute. "With advances in DNA sequencing technology, we were able to collect an unprecedented amount of DNA sequence data that helped clarify songbird relationships."
Songbirds comprise the largest group of birds, with about 5,000 species, accounting for nearly half of avian diversity. They are found on almost all corners of the globe, with the exception of Antarctica, and include the familiar crows and sparrows, as well as elaborate singers like mockingbirds and lyrebirds.
With a better understanding of the songbird family tree, Moyle and his colleagues were able to infer the colonization history undertaken by songbird ancestors.
The dispersal of songbirds from Australia through Indonesia, Moyle said, seems like an obvious explanation to anyone who knows world geography; but one has to bear in mind that tens of millions of years ago, world geography looked a lot different because of the Earth's constant process of plate tectonic movements. "Thirty-three million years ago, Australia was thousands of kilometers away from any continent, and New Guinea barely existed," Moyle said.
Another issue confounding our understanding of songbird evolution is the estimated age of the group, said co-lead author Carl Oliveros, a postdoctoral researcher at Louisiana State University.
"Our estimate for the age of songbirds is about half of most previous estimates, placing songbird evolution in a very different geological landscape than previously thought," said Oliveros, who earned his doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology at KU. "Thus the previous hypothesis of long-distance dispersal by songbirds from Australia to Africa via Indian Ocean landmasses are put into question because these Indian Ocean islands were submerged by the time we think songbirds diversified."
Oliveros' and his colleagues' work also provides an alternative explanation to the high diversity of songbirds that are presently found only in New Guinea. Previous research suggested that songbirds diversified extensively in proto-islands of New Guinea before colonizing adjacent areas.
However, Oliveros and his colleagues believe that songbirds underwent extensive diversification in Australia and subsequently colonized New Guinea after the formation of the New Guinea landmass. They suggest that the aridification of Australia caused the extinction of forest-adapted songbird lineages in the continent, which left relicts of the first colonizers as sole surviving lineages in New Guinea. According to the researchers, this idea is supported by the presence of fossils in Australia of plants and mammals that are currently only found in New Guinea.
The study used tissue samples of birds deposited at the KU Biodiversity Institute collected from expeditions to 25 countries within the past 25 years. This research is supported by funds from the National Science Foundation, KU and Louisiana State.
The above is reprinted from materials provided by University of Kansas.
Life Thrived On Young Earth: Scientists Discover 3.7-Billion-Year-Old Fossils
August 31, 2016
Associate Professor Vickie Bennett (left), Professor Allen Nutman (centre), and Dr Clark Friend (right), examining the rocks in Greenland.
Credit: Courtesy of Yuri Amelin
In an extraordinary find, a team of Australian researchers have uncovered the world's oldest fossils in a remote area of Greenland, capturing the earliest history of the planet and demonstrating that life on Earth emerged rapidly in the planet's early years.
Led by the University of Wollongong's (UOW) Professor Allen Nutman, the team discovered 3.7-billion-year-old stromatolite fossils in the world's oldest sedimentary rocks, in the Isua Greenstone Belt along the edge of Greenland's icecap.
The findings are outlined in a study published in Nature, with co-authors Associate Professor Vickie Bennett from The Australian National University (ANU), the University of New South Wales' (UNSW) Professor Martin Van Kranendonk, and Professor Allan Chivas, from UOW.
The discovery of the Isua stromatolite fossils provides a greater understanding of early diversity of life on Earth and researchers said could have implications for our understanding of life on Mars. Professor Nutman, from UOW's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said the Isua stromatolite fossils predated the world's previous oldest stromatolite fossils -- which were found in Western Australia -- by 220 million years.
The discovery pushes back the fossil record to near the start of Earth's geological record and points to evidence of life on Earth very early in its history. The Isua stromatolites, which were exposed by the recent melting of a perennial snow patch, were laid down in shallow sea, providing the first evidence of an environment in which early life thrived.
For much of Earth's history, life was just single cells, and stromatolite fossils are mounds of carbonate constructed by these communities of microbes.
"The significance of stromatolites is that not only do they provide obvious evidence of ancient life that is visible with the naked eye, but that they are complex ecosystems," Professor Nutman said.
"This indicates that as long as 3.7 billion years ago microbial life was already diverse. This diversity shows that life emerged within the first few hundred millions years of Earth's existence, which is in keeping with biologists' calculations showing the great antiquity of life's genetic code."
Co-lead investigator Associate Professor Vickie Bennett, from ANU, said this study provided a new perspective into the history of Earth.
"This discovery turns the study of planetary habitability on its head," Associate Professor Bennett said.
"Rather than speculating about potential early environments, for the first time we have rocks that we know record the conditions and environments that sustained early life. Our research will provide new insights into chemical cycles and rock-water-microbe interactions on a young planet."
Professor Martin Van Kranendonk, Director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at UNSW, of which Professor Nutman is also an Associate Member, said it was a groundbreaking find that could point to similar life structures on Mars, which 3.7 billion years ago was a damp environment.
"The structures and geochemistry from newly exposed outcrops in Greenland display all of the features used in younger rocks to argue for a biological origin," Professor Van Kranendonk said.
"This discovery represents a new benchmark for the oldest preserved evidence of life on Earth. It points to a rapid emergence of life on Earth and supports the search for life in similarly ancient rocks on Mars."
The investigation, conducted by the Australian science team in collaboration with a UK partner, was funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council.
Allen P. Nutman, Vickie C. Bennett, Clark R. L. Friend, Martin J. Van Kranendonk, Allan R. Chivas. Rapid emergence of life shown by discovery of 3,700-million-year-old microbial structures. Nature, 2016; DOI: 10.1038/nature19355
An Imbalance In Nutrients Threatens Plant Biodiversity
August 29, 2016: Queensland University of Technology
Professor Jennifer Firn, right, and colleague Emma La Douceur, are part of a global network of researchers testing the impact increased nutrient levels is having on biodiversity. Credit: QUT: Jennifer Firn
An unnatural balance of nutrients threatens biodiversity in a survival of the fittest scenario, according to the results of a world-first global experiment published in the journal Nature. Professor Jennifer Firn, from QUT's Science and Engineering Faculty, is part of a global network of researchers who have tested the impact increased nutrient levels is having on grasslands across six continents.
The article is titled "Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity" and was led by Professor Stan Harpole from UFZ and iDIV, Germany.
"As part of the Nutrient Network, researchers tested the Charles Darwin 'entangled bank' observation which is used to explain how species can coexist even if they require the same limiting resources.
"This theory explains the mechanism of how a number of species should be competing for resources when they are actually coexisting because of the subtle differences in their resource needs.
"But what we found was that if you change the limiting resources and add an abundance of resources such as nutrients like phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium, it will lead to a favouring of some species over others because competition is then shifted above ground for light.
"This will in turn evoke competition between species, leading to one species dominating the land area."
The experiment was conducted across 45 grassland sites spanning the multi-continent Nutrient Network.
Professor Firn said the human influence on the nutrient cycle through greater globalisation, was having a damaging effect on ecosystem biodiversity.
"The loss of diversity was not driven by the addition of any single added resource for example nitrogen or potassium, we found greatest diversity loss occurred with the addition of a combination of two or more resources," she said.
"Simply put, the more nutrients, the less biodiversity."
She said many of the ecosystem functions that humans need to survive were provided by richly diverse ecosystems, such as oxygen production, water filtration, nutrient cycling, pollination, and carbon sequestration.
"The irreplaceable loss of native biodiversity is accelerating at an alarming rate globally," she said.
"What this research does is provide tangible evidence that global change is driving environmental conditions beyond our planetary boundaries."
The Nutrient Network is the only collaborations of its kinds in which individual researchers have set up the same experiments at sites around the world. It is coordinated through the US-based National Science Foundation's funding to biologists Prof. Elizabeth Borer and Prof. Eric Seabloom of the University of Minnesota.
W. Stanley Harpole, Lauren L. Sullivan, Eric M. Lind, Jennifer Firn, Peter B. Adler, Elizabeth T. Borer, Jonathan Chase, Philip A. Fay, Yann Hautier, Helmut Hillebrand, Andrew S. MacDougall, Eric W. Seabloom, Ryan Williams, Jonathan D. Bakker, Marc W. Cadotte, Enrique J. Chaneton, Chengjin Chu, Elsa E. Cleland, Carla D’Antonio, Kendi F. Davies, Daniel S. Gruner, Nicole Hagenah, Kevin Kirkman, Johannes M. H. Knops, Kimberly J. La Pierre, Rebecca L. McCulley, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Suzanne M. Prober, Anita C. Risch, Martin Schuetz, Carly J. Stevens, Peter D. Wragg. Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity. Nature, 2016; DOI: 10.1038/nature19324
What's Hiding Behind The Trapdoor?
August 30, 2016: Griffith University
A trapdoor found in the Lamington National Park. Credit: Jeremy Wilson
Australia is known as a country full of deadly creatures - now people have trapdoor spiders hiding in their backyards.
The mysteriously elusive creatures are hiding in most forests in Brisbane and are tucked away in national parks throughout the state of Queensland, Australia.
PhD student Jeremy Wilson recently returned from a mission with the Queensland Museum to collect new specimens for its upcoming Wild State display, while also uncovering species of golden trapdoor spiders in common or remote parts of the state from Fraser Island to Cape York.
Mr Wilson has even found new spiders in Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast Hinterland, species that build intricate traps near Gympie and others around the Capricorn Caves in Rockhampton.
Because trapdoor spiders spend most of their life underground their true number and diversity has been a bit of a mystery.
Just four species of golden trapdoor spiders are known in southeast Queensland, but Mr Wilson says he's identified at least 10 more in that area alone.
"We believe there are many more undiscovered species out there," he says.
"The really cool thing about them is that they're really long lived and they don't move much, they live in these holes their entire life.
"What that means is it's really easy for populations to become isolated and become new species."
While some people's first instinct is to swat a spider away, Mr Wilson says these guys have an important role to play in the ecosystem.
The big female trapdoor spiders are likely to be the top invertebrate predator in their ecosystem.
Because populations are so dense, there can be a lot in a very small area which means whole populations could be wiped out by clearing a patch of forest.
"In Australia especially there is so much that is still unknown about them," Mr Wilson says.
"When they do conservation planning they need to know what's there. With only four species of so many potentially, these trapdoor species are in danger of going extinct before we even know they exist.
"The key thing to highlight is that predators are crucial to ecosystems as they control the population of all organisms at lower levels of the food chain."
Because they stay so well hidden, their danger is somewhat unknown but with 1cm fangs on some, there is potential to do serious damage.
Mr Wilson has become good at spotting the traps and handling the "aggressive" spiders.
"You have to be very careful with the spiders and if they're in a bad mood you don't pick them up. If you hesitate that's when it will bite you."
Mr Wilson wants to delve further into how the species and its trapdoors have evolved.
"If we know why evolution occurs and why different species occur then we can predict how things like climate change and deforestation could affect these spiders in the future.
"There's so much work that needs to be done and it's important work because these spiders get overlooked. They live in trapdoors and no one sees them."
The above is reprinted from materials provided by Griffith University.
