Digital Photography Assignment: Reptiles

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

For my final assignment for my Digital Photograph 1 unit, we were asked to shoot 12 photos that were on a theme of our choosing. I decided to highlight what happens when society and wildlife clashes. This is all about urbanisation and biodiversity conservation. I’ve decided to present this assignment to you over four posts. I hope you will enjoy today’s introductions: Reptiles.

This coastal python (Morelia spilota mcdowelli) came from Mullumbimby. He was noticed by local residents and was described as “not looking well with several infected wounds”.  He was very underweight, a condition that wildlife carer Michael McGrath is desperately trying to reverse.  Michael says, “We’re not sure what happened to him although the injuries look like dog bites”. He has been in care for about 6 weeks already, and will be in care until he is better. As snakes take a long time to rehabilitate, that may be months.  The cost for this snakes rehabilitation so far has been around $70 and has included a trip to the vets for antibiotics, and routine feeding.

Pythons are exceptionally long-lived animals. Some reports have dated them to be in excess of 100 years of age. Research indicates that they are extremely bound to their home range. Removing them from their home range will often cause clinical stress, dissociation and disorientation. The python will search for long periods to find its own home range, exhausting itself in the process. Research suggests that a large majority of relocated snakes starve. This is no small statement, considering it takes up to a year for an adult snake to die for starvation.

Technical side note: I shot this photo specifically for this look. This python was a huge 2 metres long, and I wanted to emphasise that by going out of focus (tail end) to clarity at the head. This image has not been submitted by mistake, but rather, with excitement! I will be interested to see how you feel about the foreground being (intentionally) out of focus.

This red bellied black snake is in care with reptile handler Michael McGrath. It was attacked by a dog, causing extensive injuries to its body. As part of its treatment, it requires regular dosing with an antibiotic to treat the infection caused by the attack. Snakes take a long time to heal, requiring continual handling. This poses issues for both snake and handler, and without techniques such as this tubing technique, care for this animal would be impossible.

It is true that Australia is home to 18 of the top 20 deadly snakes in the world. Despite this fact, we have some of the lowest instances of snake bite, and death resulting from snake bite. Most people who do get bitten are trying to kill or capture the snake at the time. Yet despite these facts, people will still try to kill a snake once they have seen it. People fear that the snake poses a threat to their pets, kids and themselves. There is little evidence to support this fear, however, overwhelming academic evidence supports the fact that snakes are shy and avoid contact with society at large.

Technical side note: Despite the weather being a spoiled sport, I got several good photos from this sequence. I love the intense concentration in Michael’s face during this procedure. The posture of the snakes tail tells me that he is in considerable discomfort from the injection. I think it’s a really powerful image (although, I would have loved for that spray bottle to have been anywhere except there!).’

Working with venomous snakes is dangerous. Over time, handlers have developed many different methods of handling and caring for venomous snakes without being bitten. This method, known as “tubing” involves allowing a snake to put its head into a tube and holding it in place once its head is safely half way along the tube. The diameter of the tube needs to be carefully selected; if it is too small, it may injure or even kill the snake while a tube that is too big may allow him to turn in the tube and put him in range of your hand. Although there is condensation on the tube from his breathing, this red bellied black snake is displaying no obvious signs of stress.

A turtles top shell, known as a “carapace” is made of bone and the turtles whole skeletal structure is fused to it – his spine, ribs, shoulders and pelvis. This poor saw shelled turtle came into care after serving as a chew toy for a dog in Lismore. The dogs teeth punched holes straight through the carapace. While he is no doubt traumatised, physically strained and compromised, he is an amazing story of survival. About a quarter of his entire carapace is missing in what seems to be an old injury sustained in the wild.

This turtle is one of the most amazing statements of survival I have seen in a wild animal. From my experience, an injury of this nature would have taken a year to heal at least in captivity. I can only assume it would have taken much longer in the wild. With the placement of the missing carapace, a good deal of ribs and at least half of his pelvis is missing. Yet somehow, despite all of this, he is alive, and in amazing condition considering his (assumed) history.

How sad and ironic would it be if, after having survived whatever caused his injuries, he dies to a dog attack? Most people have heard the term “responsible pet ownership”, however, most people don’t think about the impacts of pet ownership on the wildlife that inhabits our yards. Luckily for this turtle, he has found himself in the hands of experienced wildlife carer, Michael McGrath. If he will survive this latest threat to his life, the odds are in his favour with Michael to look after him. Michael says, “Its been in care for 3 weeks now.  So far we have spent about $20 for its food, heating and antibiotics”.

 

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Assignment: Discuss the economic importance of Biodiversity

Posted on May 29, 2012 by

The major assignment for this subject was a choice of three questions. I chose to answer this question:

Discuss the economic importance of Biodiversity

We could answer this in any way we wanted in under 3000 words. I decided to branch out into a new territory and decided to do mine by video. Below is the supporting paperwork / mind map / think pad for my ideas. I hope you will enjoy these videos.

Background

I have a passion in the ethics and sustainability of food. As consumers, I think most of us over consume, contributing to declines in environmental health. During this course, I have become more and more aware of the impact of consumerism and indeed, the economic vehicle that drives it all. I wanted to do something that tied in my love of biodiversity, sustainability and food in an economical context.

This document

This document is my “think pad” / mind map. It is my end notes, that is, what actually made it into the end production. A LOT of editing went on before this final version while I worked through the processes. I thought you might like to see how I thought through my process and how I aimed to present the material. It might not be in the exact order of the final document, but you can see how my readings have influenced what I presented.

Referencing resource rationale

A lot of the material I have presented through this presentation is really a summary of three years worth of study and as such, referencing in general was difficult. Although unorthodox, I have chosen to lean heavily on FAO documents for a few reasons. This does not mean I didn’t read widely, just that I chose to include these as my primary sources. The rationale is as follows:

  1. They are an independent global authority.
  2. Most independent research I looked at referred to FAO.
  3. FAO have reported about food for more than a decade.
  4. Most countries are signatories for the United Nations, the parent organization for FAO giving their documents a lot of political weight.

Viewing the Video

I used a somewhat free (cost me $30) website for my animations which I think turned out really well. Because of size constraints, the entire presentation runs over four videos. For simplicity, I have broken them into acts and scenes.

I have wracked my brains to think of a way to send them to you without bursting your email box. I think the simplest way for me to give you my work is to actually post it on youtube and give you the links. IF you do want me to send them to you, I can, but they are quite large files. Please let me know either way.

You can see Act 1 at:  http://youtu.be/pa2ZLL7WXGA (0.40 min)

You can see Act 2 Scene 1 at: http://youtu.be/fzKCi-Ga81Y (2.11 min)

You can see Act 2 Scene 2 at: http://youtu.be/nkj-aS5wTqE?t=3s (4.30 min)

You can see Act 3 at:  http://youtu.be/b1pz-BQc_2c (1.06 min)

These URLs do work (I’ve had people test them for me) even though they seen odd with a dot in the middle. This is because they are hidden from public view and can only be accessed if you have this link.

The final word

I have to say, I have enjoyed this process. I had NO idea how to produce a video 4 weeks ago and am pretty happy with the end results. I would love to know how to combine them into one presentation, but it seems impossible on a PC (Found lots of easy ways to do it on a Mac – so typical!). At the end of the day, I am sure it conveys the message and answers the question. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Cheers!

Act 1 – Dinner (introduction)

Scene: Ordering Dinner

  • Son orders dinner – a burger, fries and a soda.

Act 2 – Biodiversity (Body)

Scene: What are you eating?

  • Exchange between Son and Biodiversity Crusader
  • Wait! Do you know what you are eating?
  • What’s in that burger?
  • BIG MAC BUN:
    • Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Sugar, Vegetable Oil (Canola), Sesame Seed, Iodised Salt, Gluten, Soy Flour, Preservative (282), Emulsifiers (471, 472e, 481), Malt Flour, Mineral Salt (170), Antioxidant (300, 304, 307, 330), Enzyme (1100) Vitamin (Thiamin, Folate).
  • BEEF PATTIES:
    • Beef (100%). Energy (kJ)  2060 24% 1020
  • CHEESE:
    • Cheese (Milk, Salt, Starter Cultures, Enzyme (rennet)), Water, Milk Solids, Butter, Emulsifier (331), Salt, Acidity Regulators (260, 330, 339), Colours (160b, 160c), Soy Lecithin, Preservative (200).
    • SALAD
Scene: The burger (McDonalds, 2012a, 2012c, 2012b)

Scene: Biodiversity in food

  • Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for food and agriculture play a critical role for the survival of man. Biodiversity for food and agriculture is essential for feeding the world’s human population and improving quality of life (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012b).
  • The management of agricultural production is one of the most important factors globally affecting biodiversity (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012d).

Scene: What is Biodiversity

Scene: Socio Economics

  • Today, there are 7 billion mouths to feed and that number is expected to increase to 9 billion by 2050. Today, 1 billion people are undernourished and that is expected to double by 2050 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2011).
  • Agricultural management decisions are driven by socio – economic factors such as policy, cost and benefits to the farmer and land management opportunities and constraints. The need to feed the worlds hungry people will be a vital contributor to economic development (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2011).
  •  In the face of a growing population, these pressures will only increase as food security becomes more prominent (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012d).
  • Some of that diversity stems from thousands of years of agricultural practices and millions of years of natural selection (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012b).
  • Agricultural system sand landscapes have been created, shaped and maintained by generations of farmers and herders based on the available resources using local and adopted management practices (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012a).
  • Outdated and unsustainable practices (Smil, 1997) contribute to climate change and climate change is expected to negatively affect agricultural productivity up to 40% (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012b) while population increase demands 70% more food than required today (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2011).
Scene: Agricultural Heritage

Act 2 – Sustainability

Scene: What is Sustainability?

  • Dialogue: But what is sustainability (Butler et al., 2007; Deke, 2008)?
  • “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987)
  • Land use conflicts result from an increasing need for food, demographic pressures, climate change and water (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2011).

Scene: The externalities of Agriculture

  • We are living, right now, through the sixth mass extermination of species in the history of planet Earth (Hay, 2008).
  • Land use conflicts – habitat clearing for grazing land results in biodiversity loss, soil instability and degradation. Agriculture already uses 11% of the worlds land surface.
  • Water conflicts – increased competition for water resulting in a decline in water, in some cases, only 5% of the former water volumes remain in streams. Run off pollutes available water. Ground water stores are becoming depleted. Agriculture makes up to 70% of all water withdrawals.
  • Green House Gasses – agriculture is the largest GHG contributor account for 13.5% of all GHG emissions. The resulting climate change brings unpredictability for farmers; extreme weather events, shifts in rainfall patterns, warming and aridity.
  • Overfished and collapsing fish stocks resulting in a changed ecosystem (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010).

Scene: Ecosystem Approach

  • For agriculture to change to more sustainable methodologies, an ecosystem approach to management is needed. Such as system would manage land, water and resources in amore conservative and equitable way utilising scientific methodologies that incorporate local knowledge (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012c).
  • Ecological opportunities and trade offs must be identified and managed efficiently. Adopt a One Health approach where the genetic resources of livestock and fisheries are supported and used in a sustainable fashion (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012c)
  • Agricultural practices adopt and incorporate sustainable land use techniques.

Scene: How can we mitigate

  • Biodiversity is important. How can we stop further decline? (Sullivan, 2012c, 2012d, 2012e)
  • PES (Payments for Environmental Services),  Carbon trading schemes, Carbon Taxes (Sullivan, 2012a, 2012b)

Act 3 – Changing the order (Summary)

Scene: Changing the order

  • Son gets a chance to recap and change the order.

References

Butler, S. J., Vickery, J. A., & Norris, K. (2007). Farmland Biodiversity and the Footprint of Agriculture. Science, 315(5810), 381-384. doi: 10.1126/science.1136607

Deke, O. (2008). Environmental Policy Instruments for Conserving Global Biodiversity. Kieller Studien – Kiel Studies, 339.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2010). State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. Rome, Italy.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). The state of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture. Rome, Italy.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2012a). Biodiversity and Agricultural Heritage  Retrieved 19 May, 2012, from http://www.fao.org/biodiversity/cross-sectoral-issues/agricultural-heritage/en/

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2012b). Biodiversity for a world without hunger  Retrieved 19 May, 2012, from http://www.fao.org/biodiversity/en/

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2012c). Ecosystem Approach  Retrieved 19 May, 2012, from http://www.fao.org/biodiversity/cross-sectoral-issues/ecosystem-approach/en/

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2012d). Socio-economics  Retrieved 19 May, 2012, from http://www.fao.org/biodiversity/cross-sectoral-issues/socio-economics/en/

Hay, P. (2008). Science, ethics and emotion in the politics of biodiversity. In T. Lefroy, K. Bailey, G. Unwin & T. Norton (Eds.), Biodiveristy: integrating conservation and production: case studies of Australian farms, forests and fisheries. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing.

McDonalds (2012a). Allergen – Ingredient List – Nutrition Information. Core Menu Australia.  Retrieved 16 April, 2012, from http://mcdonalds.com.au/sites/mcdonalds.com.au/files/images/Main-Menu-Combined-List-6-March.pdf

McDonalds (2012b). Big Mac (R)  Retrieved 16 April, 2012, from http://mcdonalds.com.au/our-food/menu/#/favourites/big-mac

McDonalds (2012c). What’s in it? Quality Ingredients for Quality Food.  Retrieved 16 April, 2012, from http://mcdonalds.com.au/our-food/whats-in-it

Smil, V. (1997). Some unorthodox perspectives on agricultural biodiversity. The case of legume cultivation. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 62(2–3), 135-144. doi: 10.1016/s0167-8809(96)01138-3

Sullivan, C. (2012a, 21 March). [Topic 5  Decision Making for Environmental Management].

Sullivan, C. (2012b, 10 April). [Topic 6 - Economic instruments for environmental management].

Sullivan, C. (2012c, 17 April). [Topic 7 - Ecosystem Good and Services].

Sullivan, C. (2012d, 24 April). [Topic 8 - Economic Development and Sustainability].

Sullivan, C. (2012e, 15 May). [Topic 10 - The Economics of Water Resources].

World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. In G. Brundtland (Ed.): United Nations.

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Threatened species still missing out

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

Written by Adam Morton, published May 9, 2012 in the Sydney Morning Herald

a male dingo with pups Deutsch: ein männlicher...

a male dingo with pups Deutsch: ein männlicher Dingo mit Welpen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

FEWER than half of the threatened species listed under Victorian flora and fauna laws have had a formal plan drawn up by the environment department to manage their survival.

An analysis by lawyers at the Environment Defenders Office (EDO) found that of 599 threatened plant and animal species listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, only 270 have an action statement to manage their conservation as legally required.

Of the 75 ecological communities and potentially environmentally harmful processes listed under the act, just 31 have action statements.

Only one draft action statement – for the dingo – has been released in the past year.

The analysis found that virtually nothing had changed since a damning April 2009 Auditor-General’s report concluded that laws to protect threatened species were out of date, underused and failed to provide a framework to conserve endangered flora and fauna.

White dingo (Canis lupus dingo).

White dingo (Canis lupus dingo). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

EDO chief executive Brendan Sydes said steps to protect threatened species had further slowed under the Baillieu government, which had made no mention of a 2010 draft biodiversity strategy prepared by the previous Labor government in response to the Auditor-General’s report.

Mr Sydes said it showed state governments could not be trusted to administer national environmental laws. He said legal powers to protect species were almost never used. When they were, they were administered without transparency or accountability.

”There seems to be a policy vacuum at the moment on where the government stands on protected species and biodiversity protection under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act,” he said. ”This demonstrates that state governments don’t really have the capacity or wherewithal to handle that responsibility.”

Dingo on a chain in Alice Springs

Dingo on a chain in Alice Springs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A state government spokeswoman said the Coalition had spent $2.4 million on threatened species recovery programs. ”The department [of Sustainability and Environment] has progressed in establishing new systems to meet our obligations,” spokeswoman Emily Broadbent said.

The Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 requires the secretary of the department to prepare an action statement as soon as possible after a species, ecological community or threatening process is listed.

An action statement is supposed to apply for three to five years before being updated. As of 2009 only 15 of the completed statements were updated.

While the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act was found to be poorly administered, the EDO analysis judged that the Wildlife Act was better used.

But it found decisions made under the Wildlife Act, such as declarations of state wildlife reserves and nature reserves, were difficult to find.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/threatened-species-still-missing-out-20120508-1yawr.html#ixzz1vazkvjoH

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Parallels between seal and kangaroo slaughter

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

Written by Steve Jacobs. Published May 28, 2012 in Sydney Morning Herald

Kangaroo

Kangaroo (Photo credit: Subhash Chandra)

The slaughter of kangaroos in Australia is going largely unnoticed when compared with Canada’s widely condemned annual seal hunt, a prominent Canadian animal rights lawyer says.

Lesli Bisgould is embarking on a 12-stop tour of Australia, hosted by animal protection institute Voiceless, to highlight the plight of Australia’s icon.

Voiceless says that the annual hunt of Australia’s kangaroos is the world’s largest commercial slaughter of land-based wildlife, with almost 90 million lawfully killed in the past 20 years.

By comparison, Canada’s harp seals are hunted in the world’s largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals, with almost 4 million killed lawfully in the past two decades.

This year, Voiceless will explore legal comparisons between the two hunts and the lessons Australia can learn from its Canadian counterpart in the 2012 Voiceless Animal Law Lecture Series, starting in Sydney on Wednesday.

Seals and kangaroos are both slaughtered away from the public eye and many suffer for long periods of time before death, Voiceless says.

Ms Bisgould will share her legal insights and experiences of the seal hunt while local speakers will provide a legal perspective on the commercial hunting of kangaroos.

With the two countries holding such similar records, the presentations will also explore the legal parameters of the hunts and what the public can do.

English: A Phoca largha seal pup taken at Alas...

English: A Phoca largha seal pup taken at Alaska, Bering Sea. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ms Bisgould was the first lawyer in Canada to specialise in animal rights, she wrote the first Canadian text on the subject and has lectured widely throughout Canada and the US.

She has challenged the Canadian government, questioning its justifications of the hunt.

She was co-counsel in two lengthy court cases. The first challenged the sale of seal penises as they contain a controlled substance, testosterone.

The second challenged the Canadian government’s efforts to thwart observation of the hunt by independent observers. She claimed that the government did not want observers to document accurate images of the horrors of the hunt, which contradicted the government’s own assertions about it.

“Every person has a part to play in animal protection. If we look at images of the seal and kangaroo hunts and we are uncomfortable with them, we are each responsible for holding our governments to account,” she says.

“Canada and Australia share startling similarities, with legislation that overlooks the reality of what’s happening on the ground and fails to protect our native animals from terrible suffering.”

Joining her in the Law Lecture Series are a collection of Australia’s prominent legal minds including chairman of the Barristers Animal Welfare Panel Graeme McEwen, Dr Melissa Perry, QC, and lawyer and research fellow with think tank for kangaroos, THINKK, Keely Boom.

The Law Lecture Series will be held at 12 venues around the country, including the University of Sydney, Arnold Bloch Leibler (Sydney), Bond University (Gold Coast), Allens Arthur Robinson (Perth), Australian National University (Canberra), Clayton Utz (Brisbane), Griffith University (Brisbane), Murdoch University (Perth), Flinders University (Adelaide), University of Melbourne, Corrs Chambers Westgarth (Melbourne) and the University of Tasmania (Hobart).

These free events are open to the public and will run from Wednesday until June 18. To register, click here

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/parallels-between-seal-and-kangaroo-slaughter-canadian-lawyer-20120528-1zete.html#ixzz1w9CBqSAk

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Digital Photography Assignment: Macropods

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

For my final assignment for my Digital Photograph 1 unit, we were asked to shoot 12 photos that were on a theme of our choosing. I decided to highlight what happens when society and wildlife clashes. This is all about urbanisation and biodiversity conservation. I’ve decided to present this assignment to you over four posts. I hope you will enjoy today’s introductions: Macropods.

Sue Ulyatt is a dedicated macropod carer. Her day starts at 8am when she does her first round of feeding. Each joeys in her care requires feeding every 4-5 hourly depending on stage of development. The last feeding session for Sue is at midnight every night. It is well after 1am by the time Sue has washed and sterilised the bottles. In addition to this massive time commitment, each joey may cost up to $5oo to raise before it is independent and wild.

Macropods are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (meaning big foot). Kangaroos are herbivores with most species endemic to Australia (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2008). They are found through all Australian landscapes, and although often seen grazing or sleeping during the day, they are largely nocturnal keeping the bulk of energy sapping activities to dusk and dawn periods. Kangaroos are an evolved part of the Australian ecosystem and their large soft padded feet cause no degradation to their natural environment (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2008; Dooley, 2004; Office of Environment and Heritage, 2012).

Technical Side Note: I had a lot of difficulties getting clear images of the joeys in their pouches. That little area there is very dark, and I was unable to use lighting / move / make sound. I shot perhaps 100 photos through this sequence and this one made such an impression on me. My intended subject is in Sue’s lap is a joey, almost totally obscured from view.  The look on Sues face is one of utter fatigue and this image really struck me as a story really worth telling.

The work load of a macropod carer is huge. There are pouches to be made and washed, teats to be made, bottles to be cleaned and sterilised, milk to be made, natural vegetation to cut, food to be prepared, pens to be cleaned – in fact the list is long and exhausting. These are the limitation for wildlife carers. Sue Ulyatt said that she tries to limit herself to six joeys at a time. Each joey costs between $200 – 500 to raise, which each individual carer must find.

You might find yourself asking why Sue does this? At the time of European settlement in Australia, 53 species were known to be in existence on the continent. Six species have become extinct and another 11 are known to be endangered nationally (Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, 2009). Kangaroos are protected in Australia under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Department of Sustainability, Environment, Population and Community, 1999).

Technical Side Note: There is something about this photo. I’m not sure what it is, exactly, but I really liked its composition and colour.

This young swamp wallaby explores her enclosure. Close to release stage, this youngster no longer totally dependant on her bottles. To supplement her diet, she browses some natural foliage, preparing herself naturally for release. She came in after being tangled in a barbed wire fence in early 2012. She was just furred so would have been following Mum on one of her first “out of pouch” experiences.  She will be in care for approximately 8 months in total.

Kangaroos are a matriarchal society. The females, known as “does”, remain with their mothers and sisters for life. Upon maturity, bucks (males) leave the extended family group, known as a “mob” in search of an unrelated group. Kangaroos are capable of breeding all year around when food and water conditions allow. Females of all macropod species have a top opening front facing pouch that houses four teats (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2008). The kangaroo baby, known as a joey is born in an immature embryonic state and climbs into the pouch. Depending on the species, the joey can remain in the pouch for up to 11 months  (Dooley, 2004).

Once it has matured, it will remain at its mother’s side. This stage of development is known as “at-foot” young. During this stage, the at-foot young will continue to suckle from the same teat until independent. This is around 18 months of age in some species such as the Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropodus giganteus) (Dooley, 2004). During this phase of maturity, the doe will have produced a new joey which will have attached itself to a different teat in the pouch. In an unparalleled feat in the animal kingdom, the mother will produce two different milk compositions for her two dependant joeys which are tailored specifically for their developmental stage (Dooley, 2004).

Technical Side Note: These young wallabies were exceptionally difficult to shoot. They were extremely fast-moving, and the camera had a difficult time focusing on their faces (both on full manual and auto). I got a lot of shots where one would be in focus, and the other would not be. These two older joeys refused to feed while I was there, a definite sign that my presence had caused them a little stress. To minimise stress to these animals, I had to stay relatively still and quiet, limiting my ability to get the shots I wanted.

This photo was my back up photo in case I decided not to use one of the others. I decided to share it with you guys :)

References

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2008). About Australia: Kangaroos  Retrieved 4 March, 2012, from http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/kangaroos.html

Department of Sustainability, Environment, Population and Community (1999). Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999). Department of Sustainability, Environment, Population and Community  Retrieved 24 April, from http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/

Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (2009). EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna  Retrieved 1 March, 2012, from http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=fauna

Dooley, C. (2004). Macropodology: A guide to raising and releasing kangaroos and wallabies (2nd ed.). Sydney, NSW: WIRES.

 

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Topic 10: Water Management

Posted on May 27, 2012 by

In topic 10 is the final topic of my Environmental and Ecological Accounting for Sustainable Development unit. This week we looked at Water Management. Below are my answers for this weeks questions.

10A – in 200 words: ‘Without a price on water, it will never be managed properly. Discuss’.

As we have discovered throughout the past 13 weeks, the economic systems places a value on scarce resources. The more scarce a resource is, the higher the value, and more often than not, the higher the market price (Waud et al., 1989; Asafu-Adjaye, 2009; Farmer, 2010; Sullivan, 2012a, 2012b, 2012d, 2012e). Traditional economic models have viewed natural capital as free services (A. Smith, 1776), however, this approach has resulted in an over exploitation and degradation of natural resources and the environment at an unsustainable rate (Costanza et al., 1970; Pearce et al., 1993; Costanza et al., 1997; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2006; Asafu-Adjaye, 2009; Daly et al., 2011; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2011; United Nations, 2011). For effective resource management all levels of government and industry must establish a value for natural capital and assign appropriate pricing to it that reflects its value in the market place (Costanza et al., 1970; Costanza et al., 1997; Asafu-Adjaye, 2009; Rockström et al., 2009; Sullivan, 2012c, 2012d, 2012e).

As described above, water has always been viewed as a free and plentiful resource, however, modern scientific knowledge indicates this may not be accurate. Although water covers 75% of the earths surface, 97.5% of it is saline and is locked in the worlds oceans rendering it undrinkable by humans (Sullivan, 2012f). Just 2.5% of all the worlds’ water stores are fresh water (Grotzinger et al., 2007). Of this amount, just 0.3% is found in our river and lake systems despite modern conceptions of abundance (Sullivan, 2012f). The majority of the world’s fresh water is inaccessible, located in ice caps and glaciers (Figure 1). Half of our drinkable water is obtained from groundwater stores such as aquifers and current withdrawal rates exceed recharge rates highlighting our unsustainable usage (Sullivan, 2012f). When viewed statistically and scientifically, fresh accessible drinking water is indeed rare. It is only when environmental goods and services are viewed as rare (and have a high value) that policy makers are obliged to protect the resource.

Figure 1: Distribution of the world’s water. (Source: http://earth.rice.edu/mtpe/hydro/hydrosphere/hot/freshwater/0water_chart.html)

10B(i) In 80 words: People must have water to live. If this is true, why are diamonds more expensive than water?

As discussed in 10A, water has always been viewed as a free and plentiful resource, similar to air and sunlight. This concept has resulted in water been undervalued and unvalued entirely. Modern scientific evidence indicates that fresh water is actually a limited resource and the availability of potable water may decrease. As global warming melts ice caps and glaciers, the freshwater run into the oceans making it inaccessible once more.

Diamonds, on the other hand, have always been rare and their market value (and price) reflects this rarity.

 10B(ii) In 80 words: Why must water be allocated to the environment?

Plants and other photosynthetic organisms provide food for other life forms through the biological functioning known as photosynthesis (Campbell et al., 2009). During this complex metabolic reaction, plants utilise sunlight, water, nutrients and carbon dioxide to produce sugars and oxygen which forms the building blocks of life (T. Smith et al., 2009). Fundamentally, the environment, which is also a living organism, requires water to function as life ultimately relies upon photosynthetic producers for survival (Campbell et al., 2009; T. Smith et al., 2009).

Water in the environment has many other functions which include transportation of nutrients, carbon sequestration, oxygen cycling, temperature regulation, and acts as a solvent.

Figure 2: The photosynthesis cycle. (From http://www.vtaide.com/png/photosynthesis.htm)

10B(iii) In 80 words: Why is water economics so difficult?

For economists, water is difficult to value. Water is not equally distributed throughout the world. In the tropics where water is abundant, the value would be lower than in dessert and drought prone countries. Water is also unreliable by nature; El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena’s, for example, affect hydrology patterns with often dire consequences. Additionally, water is often in motion, traversing country boundaries. This raising ethical questions such as ‘Who owns the water?’ and ‘How should it be shared?’.

Figure 3: This fantastic image displays the equity argument surrounding water. Who owns it and how should it be distributed. (From http://www.circumspecte.com/2010/10/water-wars-dawn-of-scary-new-reality.html)

10B(iv) In 80 words: What is Integrated Water Resource Management and how does economics fit into it?

IWRM is an orchestrated, goal driven process of allocating and controlling the use of the world’s water systems. In Australia, the use and abuse of the Murray – Darling River systems is a classic example to illustrate the requirements of IWRM to effectively manage and distribute water resources. When no authority effectively manages water, it leaves the resource open to over exploitation and generalised abuse as seen in the Murray – Darling with total environmental collapse of some of the rivers length. IWRM aims to manage the river system to forestall and / or stop further degradation.

Figure 4: The steps of a IWRM cycle include establishing goals, preparing strategies, implanting frameworks and monitoring the processes. (From http://www.gwp.org/The-Challenge/What-is-IWRM/IWRM-Application)

Reference

Asafu-Adjaye, J. (2009). Environmental economics for non economists: techniques and policies for sustainable development. (2nd ed.). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd.

Campbell, N., Reece, J., Taylor, M., Simon, E., & Dickey, J. (2009). Biology: concept and connections (Vol. 6th). San Francisco, CA: Benjamin Cummings.

Costanza, R., Cumberland, J., Daly, H., Goodland, R., & Norgaard, R. (1997). An introduction to Ecological Economics. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.

Costanza, R., d’Arge, R., de Groot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., . . . van den Belt, M. (1970). The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, 387, 253 – 260.

Daly, H., & Farley, J. (2011). Ecological Economics (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Island Press.

Farmer, R. (Producer). (2010, 21 February 2012). How Economy Works. [Video Lecture] Retrieved 21 February 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXxp4WO4cTw

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2006). Livestock’s Long Shadow. In Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Ed.). Rome, Italy.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). The state of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture. Rome, Italy.

Grotzinger, J., Jordan, T., Press, F., & Siever, R. (2007). Understanding Earth (3rd ed.). Basingstoke, England: WH Freeman and Company.

Pearce, D., & Warford, J. (1993). World without End; Economics, Environment and Sustainable Development. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Rockström, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K., Persson, A., Chapin, F., Lambin, E., . . . Foley, J. (2009). Planetary boundaries: exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecology and Society, 14(2), 32.

Smith, A. (1776). The Weath of Nations: Random House, Inc.

Smith, T., & Smith, R. (2009). Elements of Ecology (7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education inc.

Sullivan, C. (2012a, 21 February). [Topic 1 Lecture: How Economy Works].

Sullivan, C. (2012b, 6 March). [Topic 3  Lecture: Enviromental Valuation].

Sullivan, C. (2012c, 10 April). [Topic 6 - Economic instruments for environmental management].

Sullivan, C. (2012d, 17 April). [Topic 7 - Ecosystem Good and Services].

Sullivan, C. (2012e, 24 April). [Topic 8 - Economic Development and Sustainability].

Sullivan, C. (2012f, 15 May). [Topic 10 - The Economics of Water Resources].

United Nations (Producer). (2011, 21 February 2012). Branching out for a Green Economy. [Short Animaged Film] Retrieved 21 February 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIknTqWNy9Y

Waud, R., Hocking, A., Maxwell, P., & Bonnici, J. (1989). Economics (Australian ed.). New York, New York: Harper and Row Publishers Inc.

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Digital Photography Assignment: Amphibians

Posted on May 26, 2012 by

For my final assignment for my Digital Photograph 1 unit, we were asked to shoot 12 photos that were on a theme of our choosing. I decided to highlight what happens when society and wildlife clashes. This is all about urbanisation and biodiversity conservation. I’ve decided to present this assignment to you over four posts. I hope you will enjoy today’s introductions: Amphibians.

Green Tree Frogs were once “the norm” in suburban backyards and local waterways. They are often an indicator of environmental health; clean waterways will host many species of frogs while degraded, polluted environments  will often kill off endemic frog populations. The humble frog is also at risk of a newly discovered disease known as Chytridomycosis or Chytrid Fungus. This infections disease has been linked to the dramatic reduction of wild frog populations world-wide. It has also been associated with extinctions, but localised and globally of some species in many countries. Unfortunately, this disease eventually kills its victims, but not until it has had a chance to spread itself throughout populations. It is also thought that this disease is spread between population groups through people directly handling frogs and their spawn and transporting frogs, soil and water. Threats from pollution, urbanisation, habitat loss and disease has placed almost all native frog species in a precarious position.

Technical Side Note: It was really difficult to focus on this tadpole manually and impossible on full automatic. I just made minute adjustments to the focus and continued shooting the whole time. This is the best of a very bad bunch of photos but I really liked the vulnerability of the image.

Technical Side Note: This urban gutter (within 2 km of uni grounds) is currently playing host to a frog nursery. I was attempting to take photos of the immature frogs in the water when a friend’s daughter came to watch. When I viewed the photo later on, I just fell in love with it. Can you see the frog?

 

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Posted in Fauna Conservation, Subject: Digital Photography 1, University Works | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments