Journal articles on the topic 'Algal populations South Australia West Island'

The long-nosed (or New Zealand) fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) breeds in southern Australia and New Zealand. Most of the Australian population is in South Australia, between Kangaroo Island and Eyre Peninsula. Fur seal populations in southern Australia were heavily exploited by colonial sealers between 1801 and 1830, resulting in major reductions. Numbers remained low for 150 years, then slowly built up and new colonies established across their presumed former range. Here we present estimates of pup abundance at South Australia colonies, mostly during the 2013–14 breeding season. Long-nosed fur seals bred from Baudin Rocks in the south-east to Fenelon Island in the north-west. In total, 29 breeding colonies produced 20 431 pups, 3.6 times greater than the 1989–90 estimate; the increase is attributed to recovery from 19th century overharvesting. The 2013–14 pup estimate leads to an estimate of abundance of long-nosed fur seals in South Australia of 97 200. Most pups were on Kangaroo Island (49.6%) and the Neptune Islands (38.6%). New breeding colonies were identified on Williams Island and at two small sites on Kangaroo Island. The increasing trend in South Australia is likely to continue over the coming decade, primarily by expansion in colonies on Kangaroo Island and by establishment of new colonies.

AbstractGenetic variation among 14 populations of Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus) from USA (Geneva, New York), Brazil (Brasilia), Japan (Okayama), The Philippines (Caragan de Oyo), Uzbekistan (Tashkent), France (Montpellier), Benin (Cotonou), South Africa (Johannesburg), Réunion Island (Montvert), and five localities in Australia (Adelaide, Brisbane, Mareeba, Melbourne, Sydney) were assessed by analysis of allozyme frequencies at seven polymorphic loci. Most of the populations were not in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and had a deficit in heterozygotes. The global differentiation among populations was estimated by the fixation index (Fst) at 0.103 for the 14 populations and at 0.047 when populations from Australia and Japan, which differed most and had a strong genetic structure, were excluded from the analysis. By contrast, the populations from Benin (West Africa) and Brazil (South America) were very similar to each other. Genetic differentiation among the populations was not correlated with geographical distance.

Univariate and bivariate analyses were used to demonstrate that C. gouldii increases in size from north to south and, to a lesser extent, from west to east. There is little difference between the sexes in most dimensions. Although significant differences exist between animals from localities widely separated geographically, multivariate analyses suggest that C. gouldii once occurred over most of mainland Australia, Tasmania, Norfolk I. and New Caledonia. The species appears to have become extinct or very rare in recent times on Norfolk I.; the possibility of re-introduction is discussed.

Three new species of Gingidia (Apiaceae: Apioideae) segregated from the G. montana (J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) J.W.Dawson complex are named, with G. montana now regarded as a New Zealand endemic. The new Australian endemic, G. rupicola I.Telford & J.J.Bruhl, is restricted to the eastern escarpment of the New England Tableland, New South Wales. With few populations and limited numbers of plants, the conservation assessment of G. rupicola is Endangered. G. haematitica Heenan is described as a new species from North-West Nelson, South Island, New Zealand, where it is restricted to base-rich substrates in the Burnett Range. Because of its restricted distribution and the continued mining for dolomite at the site of the largest population, G. haematitica is considered to have a conservation assessment of Nationally Critical. The second New Zealand endemic, G. amphistoma Heenan, is known from alpine habitats in the Southern Alps, South Island. Distributions of the three new species are mapped, habitats noted, and a table compares attributes of these species and G. montana.

Characterising patterns of dispersal and gene flow in habitat-forming organisms is becoming a focal concern for conservation and management strategies as anthropogenic impacts drive change in coastal ecosystems. Here, we use six microsatellite markers to characterise dispersal and gene flow across the South Australian distribution of the habitat-forming kelp Ecklonia radiata. Populations of E. radiata on subtidal reefs in South Australia were highly genetically structured on large (100s of km, FST = 0.211) and small (10s of km, FST = 0.042) spatial scales with the extent of differentiation positively correlated with geographic distances among populations. Neither the presence of oceanic currents nor intervening rocky reef habitats appeared to facilitate widespread gene flow. There was a trend for island populations to be more genetically differentiated from those on the mainland and to have slightly greater levels of heterozygosity than mainland populations. Our results show relatively low dispersal and gene flow suggesting that recovery following kelp loss may be slow. Such information not only provides insights into relative rates of recovery, but may also identify which populations may be best used for propagation and restoration efforts.

Ustilago spinificis, a floral smut of Spinifex hirsutus and S. sericeus, was collected across southern Australia from Yanchep, W.A. on the west coast to Seaspray, Vic, on the south-eastern coast and from the North Island of New Zealand. The host plants are most abundant on beaches with extensive sand dunes and the smut is common in regions where the host is abundant. The distribution limits for the smut are set by the replacement of S. hirsutus by a non-host, S. longifolius, north of Perth on the west coast; by the absence or rarity of host plants on rocky coastlines across the Great Australian Bight and in the SE. and SW. corners of Australia; and by the limited occurrence of host plants on the east coast of Australia. Spinifex inflorescences were sampled on 33 beaches and on the 29 beaches where smut was found the mean frequency of smutted inflorescences was 22%. These high infection rates represent a natural epidemic of a plant disease and data on other natural populations of smut fungi are presented to show that these results are not exceptional.

Western Australia has five species of rock-wallabies. Petrogale brachyotis, Petrogale burbidgei and Petrogale concinna occur in wet-dry tropical habitats in the Kimberley region. Petrogale rothschildi is a Pilbara region endemic, while Petrogale lateralis has the largest distribution, extending from the south-west Kimberley to islands off the southern coastline. There have been few collections of the three species restricted to the Kimberley. Their small size, secretive disposition and variable pelage have hampered field identification, and thus, understanding of their distribution and status. The populations of all three are currently believed to be stable and their status is considered secure. Petrogale rothschildi is known from the Hamersley and Chichester Ranges, the east Pilbara, the Burrup Peninsula and four islands in the Dampier Archipelago. It is abundant on three of these islands but has declined on Dolphin island. The status of the mainland populations is uncertain. Petrogale lateralis is a diverse species, with two subspecies and two chromosomal races occurring in WA. Petrogale lateralis hacketti is restricted to three islands in the Archipelago of the Recherche. Petrogale lateralis lateralis has declined throughout its mainland range, with extant populations known from six localities in the Wheatbelt; Cape Range; the Calvert Range; and Barrow and Salisbury Islands. It may still be extant in Kalbarri National Park. Petrogale lateralis West Kimberley race has a restricted distribution but appears secure, while P. lateralis MacDonnell Ranges race has declined markedly in recent years. Fox predation has been implicated in the decline of some populations of P. lateralis and P. rothschildi. The impact of factors such as competition from introduced grazers (stock, rabbits, goats), fire and habitat clearing have not been examined. Increased control of exotic predators, taxonomic research to clarify the identity of unsampled populations and field surveys are needed to improve the conservation outlook for WA rock-wallabies.

The status of Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies (Petrogale xanthopus) and Black-footed Rock-wallabies (P. lateralis) in South Australia was assessed by comparing recent survey and census data with previously collated information about the distribution and relative abundance of each taxon. Petrogale xanthopus has maintained most of its known geographic range within the state; however, its relative abundance has declined significantly and 35 (or 15%) of a total of 229 recorded colonies have become extinct since European settlement. Eight of these colony extinctions have occurred over the past 25 years; three of them since 1981. As this species is continuing to decline it should be regarded as threatened within the state. Petrogale lateralis has at least two sub-species which occur in South Australia. Petrogale lateralis pearsoni is endemic to the state and occurs on offshore islands. Since 1960 its natural occurrence of about 3-500 individuals on North Pearson Island has been expanded to four other islands through translocations and the total population is now about 700-1100 animals. This subspecies, while not occurring in large numbers, is nonetheless relatively secure due to the additional populations established and the fact that these are on islands isolated from most mainland threats. The mainland subspecies, Petrogale lateralis MacDonnell Ranges race, by comparison has suffered a drastic reduction in both geographic range and abundance to the point where it is South Australia’s most critically endangered vertebrate taxon. It has declined from being a very common species in the state’s far north- west to only two known, widely separated, colonies which total less than 100 animals between them. Management and research recommendations are provided.

Gilbert’s potoroo (Potorous gilbertii) was previously widespread in south-west Australia but is now restricted to one location – a granitic area of shrubby heath at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve on the south coast of Western Australia. To alleviate the threat of extinction a program is under way to establish potoroos in other locations. At Two Peoples Bay Gilbert’s potoroos feed almost exclusively on truffle fungi. However, it was not known whether potoroos translocated to any new areas would be able to rapidly access and consume fungi after translocation, or whether truffles could be a sustainable food supporting breeding populations of potoroos in translocation sites. Furthermore, it was not known whether translocation of potoroos would be successful only in areas with vegetation similar to their refuge at Two Peoples Bay. The current study addressed these questions by analysing the diet of potoroos translocated into two contrasting areas – one on Bald Island with similar topography and vegetation to that of Two Peoples Bay, and the other a 14-ha enclosure on the mainland dominated by Eucalyptus–Allocasuarina woodland. The diet of potoroos was characterised by microscopic examination of scats from individuals trapped after their translocation to these areas. At Bald Island a diverse range of fungi was consumed immediately after translocation. Four potoroos released onto the island only 4–8 days previously consumed 23 species of fungi. Consumption was sustained over time. Three potoroos released onto Bald Island 1–2 years previously and one island-born individual consumed 27 species of fungi during a two-day sampling period. Nine of the 27 fungi species were the same as those that had been consumed by the potoroos within days after their release onto the island. This indicates that production of fungi and their consumption by potoroos on the island was sustained at least 1–2 years after translocation. Potoroos bred on Bald Island during this period. During the same period, two potoroos that were moved from captivity to the mainland site (Ryedene) were consuming six species of truffles within 29 days after release, and 14 species within three months. Such data indicate that a wider selection of vegetation types and areas than just those similar to where potoroos occur at Two Peoples Bay may be able to sustain potoroos and should be investigated for future translocations.

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) escaped from quarantine facilities on Wardang Island in September 1995 and spread through South Australia to Queensland by December 1995. To determine the impact of this biological control agent on wild rabbit populations in Queensland, shot sample and spotlight count data were collected at six sites. RHDV spread across Queensland from the south-west to the east at a rate of at least 91 km month–1 between October 1995 and October 1996. The initial impact on rabbit density appeared highly variable, with an increase of 81% (255 ± 79 (s.e.) to 385 ± 73 rabbits km–2) at one site and a decrease of 83% (129 ± 27 to 22 ± 18 rabbits km–2) at another during the first outbreak. However, after 30 months of RHDV activity, counts were at least 90% below counts conducted before RHDV arrived. Using a population model to account for environmental conditions, the mean suppression of rabbit density caused by rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) was estimated to be 74% (ranging from 43% to 94% between sites). No outbreaks were observed when the density of susceptible rabbits was lower than 12 km–2. Where rabbit density remains low for long periods RHDV may not persist. This is perhaps most likely to occur in the isolated populations towards the northern edge of the range of rabbits in Australia. RHDV may have to be reintroduced into these populations. Further south in areas more suitable for rabbits, RHDV is more likely to persist, resulting in a high density of immune rabbits. In such areas conventional control techniques may be more important to enhance the influence of RHD.

Understanding the spatial structure of populations is important in developing effective management options for threatened species, and for managing habitat connectivity for metapopulation function, and for demographic and genetic heterogeneity. We used genetic information to investigate the structure of populations of the quokka, Setonix brachyurus, in south-west Western Australia. We hypothesised that movement between known populations would be relatively rare and result in significant genetic structuring. Genetic analyses from 412 adult individuals at 14 nuclear markers (microsatellite) from 33 sampling locations identified structure, diversity and spatial separation of quokkas across their mainland distribution and on two islands. We identified nine inferred (K = 9) populations of quokka that would be otherwise difficult to define with standard ecological techniques. The highest genetic diversity was evident in a large central population of quokka in the southern forest area and genetic diversity was lower at the peripheries of the distribution. The Rottnest Island population contained 70% of the genetic diversity of the mainland populations but the genetic diversity of animals on Bald Island was markedly lower. Populations of quokka in the northern jarrah forest were the only ones to show evidence of recent or long-term population bottlenecking. Of particular interest was the recently identified population at the Muddy Lakes area (the only remaining locality on the Swan Coastal Plain), which was identified as being genetically associated with the southern forest population. Overall, spatial and population cluster analysis showed small insular populations in the northern jarrah forest area, but in the southern forests there appears to be a large panmictic population.

SUMMARYThe exposure of indigenous humans and native fauna in Australia and the Wallacea zoogeographical region of Indonesia to exoticSalmonellaserovars commenced during the colonial period and has accelerated with urbanization and international travel. In this study, the distribution and prevalence of exoticSalmonellaserovars are mapped to assess the extent to which introduced infections are invading native wildlife in areas of high natural biodiversity under threat from expanding human activity. The major exoticSalmonellaserovars, Bovismorbificans, Derby, Javiana, Newport, Panama, Saintpaul and Typhimurium, isolated from wildlife on populated coastal islands in southern temperate areas of Western Australia, were mostly absent from reptiles and native mammals in less populated tropical areas of the state. They were also not recorded on the uninhabited Mitchell Plateau or islands of the Bonaparte Archipelago, adjacent to south-eastern Indonesia. Exotic serovars were, however, isolated in wildlife on 14/17 islands sampled in the Wallacea region of Indonesia and several islands off the west coast of Perth. Increases in international tourism, involving islands such as Bali, have resulted in the isolation of a high proportion of exotic serovar infections suggesting that densely populated island resorts in the Asian region are acting as staging posts for the interchange ofSalmonellainfections between tropical and temperate regions.

New Zealand fur seals, Arctocephalus forsteri, have been increasing in abundance in South Australia for at least the past three decades. A survey of New Zealand fur seals during the 1989/90 breeding season determined that about 20% of the Australian population bred at 16 sites in Western Australia, amounting to 1429 pups and an absolute abundance estimate of 7100 fur seals. A further survey of all fur seal colonies in Western Australia to determine current pup production and abundance estimates, and trends in pup production since the previous survey was undertaken in January 1999. Of the 17 breeding sites now known in Western Australia, 16 were surveyed and pup production had increased at all but one. The rate of change in pup production at the one unsurveyed site (West Island), was estimated as being equivalent to the mean rate of change at other sites. The estimated mean annual, exponential rate of increase (r) for all sites was 0.09, equivalent to a 9.8% annual increase in pup production and an overall increase in pup production in Western Australia of 113.3% between surveys. Total annual pup production has increased to 3090. The estimate of absolute abundance of New Zealand fur seals in Western Australia is now 15 100, in contrast to the 7100 estimated for the 1989/90 season. Mortality of pups at the time of the survey was estimated to be at least 1.3%. It is predicted that New Zealand fur seal populations will continue to increase in Western Australia. This is likely to have important management implications regarding aquaculture and fisheries activities. The increase in fur seal populations appears to be in contrast to populations of Australian sea lions, Neophoca cinerea, for which preliminary data show no evidence for a population increase. It is unknown whether the dynamics affecting these two species are related.

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) escaped from quarantine facilities on Wardang Island in September 1995 and spread through South Australia to Queensland by December 1995. To determine the impact of this biological control agent on wild rabbit populations in Queensland, shot sample and spotlight count data were collected at six sites. RHDV spread across Queensland from the south-west to the east at a rate of at least 91 km month–1 between October 1995 and October 1996. The initial impact on rabbit density appeared highly variable, with an increase of 81% (255 ± 79 (s.e.) to 385 ± 73 rabbits km–2) at one site and a decrease of 83% (129 ± 27 to 22 ± 18 rabbits km–2) at another during the first outbreak. However, after 30 months of RHDV activity, counts were at least 90% below counts conducted before RHDV arrived. Using a population model to account for environmental conditions, the mean suppression of rabbit density caused by rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) was estimated to be 74% (ranging from 43% to 94% between sites). No outbreaks were observed when the density of susceptible rabbits was lower than 12 km–2. Where rabbit density remains low for long periods RHDV may not persist. This is perhaps most likely to occur in the isolated populations towards the northern edge of the range of rabbits in Australia. RHDV may have to be reintroduced into these populations. Further south in areas more suitable for rabbits, RHDV is more likely to persist, resulting in a high density of immune rabbits. In such areas conventional control techniques may be more important to enhance the influence of RHD.

Extant representatives of the ancient crustacean family Anaspididae are restricted to the island State of Tasmania, Australia. Allanaspides hickmani and Allanaspides helonomus were first described in the early 1970s from surface pools in buttongrass moorland in two adjacent watersheds in south-west Tasmania. Both of these catchments have since been inundated for hydroelectric power generation (Lake Gordon and Serpentine Impoundments). Surveys indicate that both species persist in a small number of highly fragmented populations on the margins of the two impoundments. A. hickmani and A. helonomus have extant Areas of Occupancy of c. 21 and 54 km2, respectively. We estimate that inundation resulted in the loss of 85–94% of the original range of A. hickmani and c. 78% of the original range of A. helonomus. Under IUCN Red List guidelines and National threatened species legislation A. hickmani but not A. helonomus may qualify for listing as Vulnerable (Area of Occupancy <20 km2). At the present time only A. hickmani is listed as Rare under Tasmanian (State) threatened species legislation but A. helonomus merits the same listing under State legislation. Global warming appears to pose the most significant potential threat to Allanaspides species.

Tarakihi (Nemadactylus macropterus) is an important fishery species with widespread distribution around New Zealand and off the southern coasts of Australia. However, little is known about whether the populations are locally adapted or genetically structured. To address this, we conducted whole-genome resequencing of 175 tarakihi from around New Zealand and Tasmania (Australia) to obtain a dataset of 7.5 million genome-wide and high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Variant filtering, FST-outlier analysis, and redundancy analysis (RDA) were used to evaluate population structure, adaptive structure, and locus-environment associations. A weak but significant level of neutral genetic differentiation was found between tarakihi from New Zealand and Tasmania (FST = 0.0054–0.0073, P ≤ 0.05), supporting the existence of at least two separate reproductive stocks. No clustering was detected among the New Zealand populations (ΦST &lt; 0.001, P = 0.77). Outlier-based, presumably adaptive variation suggests fine-scale adaptive structure between locations around central New Zealand off the east (Wairarapa, Cape Campbell, and Hawke’s Bay) and the west coast (Tasman Bay/Golden Bay and Upper West Coast of South Island). Allele frequencies from 55 loci were associated with at least one of six environmental variables, of which 47 correlated strongly with yearly mean water temperature. Although genes associated with these loci are linked to various functions, the most common functions were integral components of membrane and cilium assembly. Projection of the RDA indicates the existence of a latitudinal temperature cline. Our work provides the first genomic insights supporting panmixia of tarakihi in New Zealand and evidence of a genomic cline that appears to be driven by the temperature gradients, together providing crucial information to inform the stock assessment of this species, and to widen the insights of the ecological drivers of adaptive variation in a marine species.

IntroductionTasmania hangs from the map of Australia like a drop in freefall from the substance of the mainland. Often the whole state is mislaid from Australian maps and logos (Reddit). Tasmania has, at least since federation, been considered peripheral—a region seen as isolated, a ‘problem’ economically, politically, and culturally. However, Tasmania not only cleaves to the ‘north island’ of Australia but is also subject to the gravitational pull of an even greater land mass—Antarctica. In this article, we upturn the political conventions of map-making that place both Antarctica and Tasmania in obscure positions at the base of the globe. We show how a changing global climate re-frames Antarctica and the Southern Ocean as key drivers of worldwide environmental shifts. The liquid and solid water between Tasmania and Antarctica is revealed not as a homogenous barrier, but as a dynamic and relational medium linking the Tasmanian archipelago with Antarctica. When Antarctica becomes the focus, the script is flipped: Tasmania is no longer on the edge, but core to a network of gateways into the southern land. The state’s capital of Hobart can from this perspective be understood as an “Antarctic city”, central to the geopolitics, economy, and culture of the frozen continent (Salazar et al.). Viewed from the south, we argue, Tasmania is not a problem, but an opportunity for a form of ecological, cultural, economic, and political sustainability that opens up the southern continent to science, discovery, and imagination.A Centre at the End of the Earth? Tasmania as ParadoxThe islands of Tasmania owe their existence to climate change: a period of warming at the end of the last ice age melted the vast sheets of ice covering the polar regions, causing sea levels to rise by more than one hundred metres (Tasmanian Climate Change Office 8). Eleven thousand years ago, Aboriginal people would have witnessed the rise of what is now called Bass Strait, turning what had been a peninsula into an archipelago, with the large island of Tasmania at its heart. The heterogeneous practices and narratives of Tasmanian regional identity have been shaped by the geography of these islands, and their connection to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. Regions, understood as “centres of collective consciousness and sociospatial identities” (Paasi 241) are constantly reproduced and reimagined through place-based social practices and communications over time. As we will show, diverse and contradictory narratives of Tasmanian regionality often co-exist, interacting in complex and sometimes complementary ways. Ecocritical literary scholar C.A. Cranston considers duality to be embedded in the textual construction of Tasmania, writing “it was hell, it was heaven, it was penal, it was paradise” (29). Tasmania is multiply polarised: it is both isolated and connected; close and far away; rich in resources and poor in capital; the socially conservative birthplace of radical green politics (Hay 60). The weather, as if sensing the fine balance of these paradoxes, blows hot and cold at a moment’s notice.Tasmania has wielded extraordinary political influence at times in its history—notably during the settlement of Melbourne in 1835 (Boyce), and during protests against damming the Franklin River in the early 1980s (Mercer). However, twentieth-century historical and political narratives of Tasmania portray the Bass Strait as a barrier, isolating Tasmanians from the mainland (Harwood 61). Sir Bede Callaghan, who headed one of a long line of federal government inquiries into “the Tasmanian problem” (Harwood 106), was clear that Tasmania was a victim of its own geography:the major disability facing the people of Tasmania (although some residents may consider it an advantage) is that Tasmania is an island. Separation from the mainland adversely affects the economy of the State and the general welfare of the people in many ways. (Callaghan 3)This perspective may stem from the fact that Tasmania has maintained the lowest Gross Domestic Product per capita of all states since federation (Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics 9). Socially, economically, and culturally, Tasmania consistently ranks among the worst regions of Australia. Statistical comparisons with other parts of Australia reveal the population’s high unemployment, low wages, poor educational outcomes, and bad health (West 31). The state’s remoteness and isolation from the mainland states and its reliance on federal income have contributed to the whole of Tasmania, including Hobart, being classified as ‘regional’ by the Australian government, in an attempt to promote immigration and economic growth (Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development 1). Tasmania is indeed both regional and remote. However, in this article we argue that, while regionality may be cast as a disadvantage, the island’s remote location is also an asset, particularly when viewed from a far southern perspective (Image 1).Image 1: Antarctica (Orthographic Projection). Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Modified Shading of Tasmania and Addition of Captions by H. Nielsen.Connecting Oceans/Collapsing DistanceTasmania and Antarctica have been closely linked in the past—the future archipelago formed a land bridge between Antarctica and northern land masses until the opening of the Tasman Seaway some 32 million years ago (Barker et al.). The far south was tangible to the Indigenous people of the island in the weather blowing in from the Southern Ocean, while the southern lights, or “nuyina”, formed a visible connection (Australia’s new icebreaker vessel is named RSV Nuyina in recognition of these links). In the contemporary Australian imagination, Tasmania tends to be defined by its marine boundaries, the sea around the islands represented as flat, empty space against which to highlight the topography of its landscape and the isolation of its position (Davies et al.). A more relational geographic perspective illuminates the “power of cross-currents and connections” (Stratford et al. 273) across these seascapes. The sea country of Tasmania is multiple and heterogeneous: the rough, shallow waters of the island-scattered Bass Strait flow into the Tasman Sea, where the continental shelf descends toward an abyssal plain studded with volcanic seamounts. To the south, the Southern Ocean provides nutrient-rich upwellings that attract fish and cetacean populations. Tasmania’s coast is a dynamic, liminal space, moving and changing in response to the global currents that are driven by the shifting, calving and melting ice shelves and sheets in Antarctica.Oceans have long been a medium of connection between Tasmania and Antarctica. In the early colonial period, when the seas were the major thoroughfares of the world and inland travel was treacherous and slow, Tasmania’s connection with the Southern Ocean made it a valuable hub for exploration and exploitation of the south. Between 1642 and 1900, early European explorers were followed by British penal colonists, convicts, sealers, and whalers (Kriwoken and Williamson 93). Tasmania was well known to polar explorers, with expeditions led by Jules Dumont d’Urville, James Clark Ross, Roald Amundsen, and Douglas Mawson all transiting through the port of Hobart. Now that the city is no longer a whaling hub, growing populations of cetaceans continue to migrate past the islands on their annual journeys from the tropics, across the Sub-Antarctic Front and Antarctic circumpolar current, and into the south polar region, while southern species such as leopard seals are occasionally seen around Tasmania (Tasmania Parks and Wildlife). Although the water surrounding Tasmania and Antarctica is at times homogenised as a ‘barrier’, rendering these places isolated, the bodies of water that surround both are in fact permeable, and regularly crossed by both humans and marine species. The waters are diverse in their physical characteristics, underlying topography, sea life, and relationships, and serve to connect many different ocean regions, ecosystems, and weather patterns.Views from the Far SouthWhen considered in terms of its relative proximity to Antarctic, rather than its distance from Australia’s political and economic centres, Tasmania’s identity undergoes a significant shift. A sign at Cockle Creek, in the state’s far south, reminds visitors that they are closer to Antarctica than to Cairns, invoking a discourse of connectedness that collapses the standard ten-day ship voyage to Australia’s closest Antarctic station into a unit comparable with the routinely scheduled 5.5 hour flight to North Queensland. Hobart is the logistical hub for the Australian Antarctic Division and the French Institut Polaire Francais (IPEV), and has hosted Antarctic vessels belonging to the USA, South Korea, and Japan in recent years. From a far southern perspective, Hobart is not a regional Australian capital but a global polar hub. This alters the city’s geographic imaginary not only in a latitudinal sense—from “top down” to “bottom up”—but also a longitudinal one. Via its southward connection to Antarctica, Hobart is also connected east and west to four other recognized gateways: Cape Town in South Africa, Christchurch in New Zealand; Punta Arenas in Chile; and Ushuaia in Argentina (Image 2). The latter cities are considered small by international standards, but play an outsized role in relation to Antarctica.Image 2: H. Nielsen with a Sign Announcing Distances between Antarctic ‘Gateway’ Cities and Antarctica, Ushuaia, Argentina, 2018. Image Credit: Nicki D'Souza.These five cities form what might be called—to adapt geographer Klaus Dodds’ term—a ‘Southern Rim’ around the South Polar region (Dodds Geopolitics). They exist in ambiguous relationship to each other. Although the five cities signed a Statement of Intent in 2009 committing them to collaboration, they continue to compete vigorously for northern hemisphere traffic and the brand identity of the most prominent global gateway. A state government brochure spruiks Hobart, for example, as the “perfect Antarctic Gateway” emphasising its uniqueness and “natural advantages” in this regard (Tasmanian Government, 2016). In practice, the cities are automatically differentiated by their geographic position with respect to Antarctica. Although the ‘ice continent’ is often conceived as one entity, it too has regions, in both scientific and geographical senses (Terauds and Lee; Antonello). Hobart provides access to parts of East Antarctica, where the Australian, French, Japanese, and Chinese programs (among others) have bases; Cape Town is a useful access point for Europeans going to Dronning Maud Land; Christchurch is closest to the Ross Sea region, site of the largest US base; and Punta Arenas and Ushuaia neighbour the Antarctic Peninsula, home to numerous bases as well as a thriving tourist industry.The Antarctic sector is important to the Tasmanian economy, contributing $186 million (AUD) in 2017/18 (Wells; Gutwein; Tasmanian Polar Network). Unsurprisingly, Tasmania’s gateway brand has been actively promoted, with the 2016 Australian Antarctic Strategy and 20 Year Action Plan foregrounding the need to “Build Tasmania’s status as the premier East Antarctic Gateway for science and operations” and the state government releasing a “Tasmanian Antarctic Gateway Strategy” in 2017. The Chinese Antarctic program has been a particular focus: a Memorandum of Understanding focussed on Australia and China’s Antarctic relations includes a “commitment to utilise Australia, including Tasmania, as an Antarctic ‘gateway’.” (Australian Antarctic Division). These efforts towards a closer relationship with China have more recently come under attack as part of a questioning of China’s interests in the region (without, it should be noted, a concomitant questioning of Australia’s own considerable interests) (Baker 9). In these exchanges, a global power and a state of Australia generally classed as regional and peripheral are brought into direct contact via the even more remote Antarctic region. This connection was particularly visible when Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to Hobart in 2014, in a visit described as both “strategic” and “incongruous” (Burden). There can be differences in how this relationship is narrated to domestic and international audiences, with issues of sovereignty and international cooperation variously foregrounded, laying the ground for what Dodds terms “awkward Antarctic nationalism” (1).Territory and ConnectionsThe awkwardness comes to a head in Tasmania, where domestic and international views of connections with the far south collide. Australia claims sovereignty over almost 6 million km2 of the Antarctic continent—a claim that in area is “roughly the size of mainland Australia minus Queensland” (Bergin). This geopolitical context elevates the importance of a regional part of Australia: the claims to Antarctic territory (which are recognised only by four other claimant nations) are performed not only in Antarctic localities, where they are made visible “with paraphernalia such as maps, flags, and plaques” (Salazar 55), but also in Tasmania, particularly in Hobart and surrounds. A replica of Mawson’s Huts in central Hobart makes Australia’s historic territorial interests in Antarctica visible an urban setting, foregrounding the figure of Douglas Mawson, the well-known Australian scientist and explorer who led the expeditions that proclaimed Australia’s sovereignty in the region of the continent roughly to its south (Leane et al.). Tasmania is caught in a balancing act, as it fosters international Antarctic connections (such hosting vessels from other national programs), while also playing a key role in administering what is domestically referred to as the Australian Antarctic Territory. The rhetoric of protection can offer common ground: island studies scholar Godfrey Baldacchino notes that as island narratives have moved “away from the perspective of the ‘explorer-discoverer-colonist’” they have been replaced by “the perspective of the ‘custodian-steward-environmentalist’” (49), but reminds readers that a colonising disposition still lurks beneath the surface. It must be remembered that terms such as “stewardship” and “leadership” can undertake sovereignty labour (Dodds “Awkward”), and that Tasmania’s Antarctic connections can be mobilised for a range of purposes. When Environment Minister Greg Hunt proclaimed at a press conference that: “Hobart is the gateway to the Antarctic for the future” (26 Apr. 2016), the remark had meaning within discourses of both sovereignty and economics. Tasmania’s capital was leveraged as a way to position Australia as a leader in the Antarctic arena.From ‘Gateway’ to ‘Antarctic City’While discussion of Antarctic ‘Gateway’ Cities often focuses on the economic and logistical benefit of their Antarctic connections, Hobart’s “gateway” identity, like those of its counterparts, stretches well beyond this, encompassing geological, climatic, historical, political, cultural and scientific links. Even the southerly wind, according to cartoonist Jon Kudelka, “has penguins in it” (Image 3). Hobart residents feel a high level of connection to Antarctica. In 2018, a survey of 300 randomly selected residents of Greater Hobart was conducted under the umbrella of the “Antarctic Cities” Australian Research Council Linkage Project led by Assoc. Prof. Juan Francisco Salazar (and involving all three present authors). Fourteen percent of respondents reported having been involved in an economic activity related to Antarctica, and 36% had attended a cultural event about Antarctica. Connections between the southern continent and Hobart were recognised as important: 71.9% agreed that “people in my city can influence the cultural meanings that shape our relationship to Antarctica”, while 90% agreed or strongly agreed that Hobart should play a significant role as a custodian of Antarctica’s future, and 88.4% agreed or strongly agreed that: “How we treat Antarctica is a test of our approach to ecological sustainability.” Image 3: “The Southerly” Demonstrates How Weather Connects Hobart and Antarctica. Image Credit: Jon Kudelka, Reproduced with Permission.Hobart, like the other gateways, activates these connections in its conscious place-branding. The city is particularly strong as a centre of Antarctic research: signs at the cruise-ship terminal on the waterfront claim that “There are more Antarctic scientists based in Hobart […] than at any other one place on earth, making Hobart a globally significant contributor to our understanding of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.” Researchers are based at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), with several working between institutions. Many Antarctic researchers located elsewhere in the world also have a connection with the place through affiliations and collaborations, leading journalist Jo Chandler to assert that “the breadth and depth of Hobart’s knowledge of ice, water, and the life forms they nurture […] is arguably unrivalled anywhere in the world” (86).Hobart also plays a significant role in Antarctica’s governance, as the site of the secretariats for the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), and as host of the Antarctic Consultative Treaty Meetings on more than one occasion (1986, 2012). The cultural domain is active, with Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) featuring a permanent exhibit, “Islands to Ice”, emphasising the ocean as connecting the two places; the Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum aiming (among other things) to “highlight Hobart as the gateway to the Antarctic continent for the Asia Pacific region”; and a biennial Australian Antarctic Festival drawing over twenty thousand visitors, about a sixth of them from interstate or overseas (Hingley). Antarctic links are evident in the city’s natural and built environment: the dolerite columns of Mt Wellington, the statue of the Tasmanian Antarctic explorer Louis Bernacchi on the waterfront, and the wharfs that regularly accommodate icebreakers such as the Aurora Australis and the Astrolabe. Antarctica is figured as a southern neighbour; as historian Tom Griffiths puts it, Tasmanians “grow up with Antarctica breathing down their necks” (5). As an Antarctic City, Hobart mediates access to Antarctica both physically and in the cultural imaginary.Perhaps in recognition of the diverse ways in which a region or a city might be connected to Antarctica, researchers have recently been suggesting critical approaches to the ‘gateway’ label. C. Michael Hall points to a fuzziness in the way the term is applied, noting that it has drifted from its initial definition (drawn from economic geography) as denoting an access and supply point to a hinterland that produces a certain level of economic benefits. While Hall looks to keep the term robustly defined to avoid empty “local boosterism” (272–73), Gabriela Roldan aims to move the concept “beyond its function as an entry and exit door”, arguing that, among other things, the local community should be actively engaged in the Antarctic region (57). Leane, examining the representation of Hobart as a gateway in historical travel texts, concurs that “ingress and egress” are insufficient descriptors of Tasmania’s relationship with Antarctica, suggesting that at least discursively the island is positioned as “part of an Antarctic rim, itself sharing qualities of the polar region” (45). The ARC Linkage Project described above, supported by the Hobart City Council, the State Government and the University of Tasmania, as well as other national and international partners, aims to foster the idea of the Hobart and its counterparts as ‘Antarctic cities’ whose citizens act as custodians for the South Polar region, with a genuine concern for and investment in its future.Near and Far: Local Perspectives A changing climate may once again herald a shift in the identity of the Tasmanian islands. Recognition of the central role of Antarctica in regulating the global climate has generated scientific and political re-evaluation of the region. Antarctica is not only the planet’s largest heat sink but is the engine of global water currents and wind patterns that drive weather patterns and biodiversity across the world (Convey et al. 543). For example, Tas van Ommen’s research into Antarctic glaciology shows the tangible connection between increased snowfall in coastal East Antarctica and patterns of drought southwest Western Australia (van Ommen and Morgan). Hobart has become a global centre of marine and Antarctic science, bringing investment and development to the city. As the global climate heats up, Tasmania—thanks to its low latitude and southerly weather patterns—is one of the few regions in Australia likely to remain temperate. This is already leading to migration from the mainland that is impacting house prices and rental availability (Johnston; Landers 1). The region’s future is therefore closely entangled with its proximity to the far south. Salazar writes that “we cannot continue to think of Antarctica as the end of the Earth” (67). Shifting Antarctica into focus also brings Tasmania in from the margins. As an Antarctic city, Hobart assumes a privileged positioned on the global stage. This allows the city to present itself as central to international research efforts—in contrast to domestic views of the place as a small regional capital. The city inhabits dual identities; it is both on the periphery of Australian concerns and at the centre of Antarctic activity. Tasmania, then, is not in freefall, but rather at the forefront of a push to recognise Antarctica as entangled with its neighbours to the north.AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by the Australian Research Council under LP160100210.ReferencesAntonello, Alessandro. “Finding Place in Antarctica.” Antarctica and the Humanities. Eds. Peder Roberts, Lize-Marie van der Watt, and Adrian Howkins. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. 181–204.Australian Government. 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