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1
Dawes, W. R., M. Gilfedder, M. Stauffacher, J. Coram, S. Hajkowicz, G. R. Walker, and M. Young. "Assessing the viability of recharge reduction fordryland salinity control: Wanilla, Eyre Peninsula." Soil Research 40, no. 8 (2002): 1407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr01044.
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The emerging paradigm to manage the spread of dryland salinity is the manipulation of farming practice to provide both a reduction in recharge and a commercial return to farm enterprises. Recent work has attempted to classify the groundwater systems across Australia into distinct provinces, with the implication that the flow processes, and therefore remediation strategies, of catchments within each province are similar. This paper presents a case study of the Wanilla catchment on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. This catchment is in the groundwater province that includes 60% of the dryland salinity expression in Australia. The results of conceptual and numerical modelling of the catchment suggest that the land management for reduced recharge paradigm may be less effective in this groundwater province than in others. The scale of expression and salinity history of such catchments provides further impediments to management options aimed at controlling or reversing existing dryland salinity.
2
McDonald, G. K., E. Tavakkoli, D. Cozzolino, K. Banas, M. Derrien, and P. Rengasamy. "A survey of total and dissolved organic carbon in alkaline soils of southern Australia." Soil Research 55, no. 7 (2017): 617. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr16237.
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Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is important to microbial activity and nutrient cycling, and its concentration is sensitive to pH. Despite the importance of alkaline soils to agricultural production in southern Australia, few studies have documented the concentrations of soil organic carbon (C) and DOC or described the effects of soil properties and management practices on DOC in these soils. A survey of 33 paddocks from the Eyre Peninsula and mid-North regions of South Australia and north-western Victoria demonstrated significant variation in pH, soil organic C and DOC. Carbon stocks in the surface 30cm were 40–55tC/ha and were lowest in paddocks from Victoria. Soils from South Australia had higher DOC concentrations in the top 20cm than soils from Victoria. Principal component analysis suggested variation in DOC was increased by high pH, electric conductivity and the concentration of exchangeable Na, and was reduced by the concentration of exchangeable Ca and clay content. Mid-infrared Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy identified regional differences in the composition of soil organic C, with high amounts of charcoal in Eyre Peninsula soils. Farm management practices had little effect on soil organic C but influenced DOC. Grain yield and DOC concentration were inversely related across and within regions which appeared to be related to the intensity of cropping having opposite influences on yield and DOC. Compared with international data, DOC concentrations were high relative to the amount of soil organic C and, in contrast to many previous studies, DOC in all regions increased with depth.
3
Poole, WE, JT Wood, and NG Simms. "Distribution of the tammar, Macropus eugenii, and the relationships of populations as determined by cranial morphometrics." Wildlife Research 18, no. 5 (1991): 625. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr9910625.
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Apparently once widespread throughout dense thickets in south-western Australia, the tammar is now much restricted in its distribution. On mainland Australia, isolated populations still persist in Western Australia, but in South Australia, where there is little remaining evidence to confirm that it extended beyond Eyre Peninsula, the wallaby is probably close to extinction. All originally recorded populations on five islands in Western Australia remain, but in South Australia all natural island populations, other than those on Kangaroo I., appear to be extinct. Morphometric analyses of crania representative of most known populations provide a means of assessing their relationships. Canonical variate analysis, the derivation of Mahalanobis distances and subsequent calculation of minimum spanning trees supported the existence of affinities within three major regional groups-a group predominantly from Western Australia, a group from Kangaroo and Greenly Is, South Australia, and a group from New Zealand-all apparently related via a population from Eyre Peninsula, presumably representative of a former widespread mainland population. By cranial criteria, feral tammars established in New Zealand are South Australian in origin although probably not introduced from Kangaroo I.
4
Macdonald, Lynne M., Tim Herrmann, and Jeffrey A. Baldock. "Combining management based indices with environmental parameters to explain regional variation in soil carbon under dryland cropping in South Australia." Soil Research 51, no. 8 (2013): 738. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr13156.
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Identifying drivers of variation in soil organic carbon (OC) at a regional scale is often hampered by a lack of historical management information. Focusing on red-brown-earth soils (Chromosol) under dryland agriculture in the Mid-North and Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, our aims were 2-fold: (i) to provide a baseline of soil OC stocks (0.3 m) and OC fractions (mid-infrared predictions of particulate, humus, and resistant OC in 0.1 m samples) in cropping and crop-pasture systems; and (ii) to evaluate whether the inclusion of management-based indices could assist in explaining regional-level variation in OC stocks and fractions. Soil OC stocks in both regions varied ~20 Mg ha–1, with higher OC stocks in the Mid-North (38 Mg ha–1) than the Eyre Peninsula (29.1 Mg ha–1). The humus OC fraction was the dominant fraction, while the particulate OC was the most variable. Environmental variables only partially explained soil OC variability, with vapour pressure deficit (VPD) offering the greatest potential and likely acting as an integrator of temperature and moisture on plant growth and decomposition processes. Differences between broad-scale cropping and crop–pasture systems were limited. In the Mid-North, variability in soil OC stocks and fractions was high, and could not be explained by environmental or management variables. Higher soil OC concentrations (0.1 m) in the Eyre Peninsula cropping than crop–pasture soils were largely accounted for in the particulate OC fraction and are therefore unlikely to represent a long-term stable OC pool. Use of the management data in index format added some explanatory power to the variability in OC stocks over the main environmental variables (VPD, slope) within the Eyre Peninsula cropping soils only. In the wider context, the management data were useful in interpreting differences between regional findings and highlighted difficulties in using uninformed, broad-scale management categories.
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Paull, D. "The distribution of the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus obesulus) in South Australia." Wildlife Research 22, no. 5 (1995): 585. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr9950585.
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This paper describes the South Australian distribution of the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus obesulus) on the basis of records of its past occurrence and field surveys undertaken to determine its present distribution. Since European settlement I. o. obesulus has been recorded from four separate regions of the state: the Mount Lofty Ranges, the South East, Kangaroo Island and Eyre Peninsula. Subfossil remains show that I. o. obesulus also once occurred on Yorke Peninsula but there is no evidence that it has existed there in modem times. Field surveys conducted between 1986 and 1993 confirmed that I. o. obesulus still exists in the Mount Lofty Ranges, the South East and on Kangaroo Island. Its status on Eyre Peninsula is uncertain. Isoodon o. obesulus is vulnerable in the South East and Mount Lofty Ranges because of habitat fragmentation and predation by feral carnivores. The Kangaroo Island population is less threatened as large areas of habitat have been preserved and the fox (Vulpes vulpes) has not been introduced. The area of potential bandicoot habitat remaining in these three regions totals approximately 190 000 ha, most of which is already managed for nature conservation. This habitat is highly fragmented, occurring as small remnant patches of native vegetation separated by extensive tracts of cleared and modified land cover. The implications of this habitat configuration for the long-term survival of I. o. obesulus are discussed.
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McDowell, Matthew C., and Graham C. Medlin. "Natural Resource Management implications of the pre-European non-volant mammal fauna of the southern tip of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia." Australian Mammalogy 32, no. 2 (2010): 87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/am09020.
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Sinkholes and coastal caves located in, around and between the Coffin Bay and Lincoln National Parks were surveyed for pre-European fossils, which were collected from or just below the sediment surface. Twenty-four pre-European fossil samples, including eight already in the collections of the South Australian Museum, were analysed and 25 native and five introduced species of non-volant mammal were identified. Native and introduced species were often found together, indicating that the sites have accumulated mammal remains in both pre- and post-European times. Only four of the non-volant native mammals recovered are known to be extant in the study area today: Lasiorhinus latifrons, Macropus fuliginosus, Cercartetus concinnus and Rattus fuscipes. In contrast, 20 native species recorded have been extirpated and one (Potorous platyops) is now extinct. C. concinnus was recorded from only one of the fossil assemblages but is known to be widespread in the study area today. This may indicate recent vegetation change related to European land management practices and have implications for natural resource management in the area.
7
Shaughnessy, PD, NJ Gales, TE Dennis, and SD Goldsworthy. "Distribution and abundance of New Zealand fur seals, Arctocephalus forsteri, in South Australia and Western Australia." Wildlife Research 21, no. 6 (1994): 667. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr9940667.
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A survey to determine the distribution and abundance of New Zealand fur seals, Arctocephalus forsteri, in South Australia and Western Australia was conducted in January-March 1990. Minor surveys were conducted in the summers of 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1990-91. Although the surveys were primarily of black pups in breeding colonies, opportunity was taken to count fur seals of all age-classes, including those in non-breeding colonies. Pups were counted and, in more accessible and larger colonies, numbers of pups were estimated by a mark-recapture technique. The latter technique gave higher estimates than counting, and was considered more accurate. In South Australia, the seals extend from The Pages in Backstairs Passage to Nuyts Reef in the Great Australian Bight. In Western Australia, the range comprised islands on the south coast from the Recherche Archipelago to islands near Cape Leeuwin. There are 29 breeding localities; 13 are in South Australia and 16 in Western Australia. Eighteen of these have not been reported previously. The term ''breeding locality'' is used for aggregations of breeding colonies as well as for isolated breeding colonies. Estimates of the number of pups for the 1989-90 breeding season were 5636 in South Australia and 1429 in Western Australia. This leads to a population estimate of approximately 34600 seals in these two states (using a multiplier of 4.9). But such estimates of overall abundance must be treated cautiously as the multiplier incorporates estimates of population parameters not available for A. forsteri. Most of the population (77%) is in central South Australian waters (from Kangaroo Island to the southern end of Eyre Peninsula). With the estimate of 100 for a breeding colony in southern Tasmania, the population of New Zealand fur seals in Australia can be estimated at 34700. Historical aspects of some colonies are outlined and evidence for increases described. The largest breeding localities are at South Neptune Islands (1964 pups) and North Neptune Islands (1472). The combined Neptunes group accounts for 49% of the pup estimate for Australia. One-fifth of the pups are from colonies on Kangaroo Island and the nearby Casuarinas.
8
Field, S. A., A. J. Tyre, K. H. Thorn, P. J. O'Connor, and H. P. Possingham. "Improving the efficiency of wildlife monitoring by estimating detectability: a case study of foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia." Wildlife Research 32, no. 3 (2005): 253. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr05010.
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Demonstrating the existence of trends in monitoring data is of increasing practical importance to conservation managers wishing to preserve threatened species or reduce the impact of pest species. However, the ability to do so can be compromised if the species in question has low detectability and the true occupancy level or abundance of the species is thus obscured. Zero-inflated models that explicitly model detectability improve the ability to make sound ecological inference in such situations. In this paper we apply an occupancy model including detectability to data from the initial stages of a fox-monitoring program on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. We find that detectability is extremely low (<18%) and varies according to season and the presence or absence of roadside vegetation. We show that simple methods of using monitoring data to inform management, such as plotting the raw data or performing logistic regression, fail to accurately diagnose either the status of the fox population or its trajectory over time. We use the results of the detectability model to consider how future monitoring could be redesigned to achieve efficiency gains. A wide range of monitoring programs could benefit from similar analyses, as part of an active adaptive approach to improving monitoring and management.
9
Shaughnessy, P. D., T. E. Dennis, and P. G. Seager. "Status of Australian sea lions, Neophoca cinerea, and New Zealand fur seals, Arctocephalus forsteri, on Eyre Peninsula and the far west coast of South Australia." Wildlife Research 32, no. 1 (2005): 85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr03068.
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Two seal species breed on the west coast of South Australia, the Australian sea lion, Neophoca cinerea, and the New Zealand fur seal, Arctocephalus forsteri. Aerial surveys were conducted at intervals of ~3 months between April 1995 and June 1997 to determine the breeding status of sea lions and timing of pupping seasons. Ground surveys between October 1994 and April 2004 aimed at counting sea lions and fur seals, particularly pups. In all, 27 sites were examined. Six new sea lion breeding colonies were documented, at Four Hummocks, Price, North Rocky, Dorothee, West Waldegrave and Nicolas Baudin Islands. All were found or confirmed by ground survey. Pup numbers were equivalent to 12% of the total number of pups estimated in surveys conducted from 1987 to 1992, but primarily in 1990. The sighting of brown pups on aerial surveys of Ward Island, Middle and Western Nuyts Reef supports earlier indications, based on dead pups, that they are breeding colonies. The timing of pupping seasons is not synchronous; estimates are presented for colonies between 1995 and early in 2004, with predictions to the end of 2005. The abundance estimates of sea lion pups highlight the importance of visiting a colony early in the pupping season to determine when pupping begins and ~5 months later when the maximum number of pups is expected. For the New Zealand fur seal, small numbers of pups were recorded at Dorothee, West Waldegrave and Nicolas Baudin Islands, and at Nuyts Reef. These and the previously unknown sea lion breeding colonies on the west coast of South Australia suggest that further colonies may remain to be documented. Because planning for aquaculture ventures is active in South Australia, it is important that the localities and status of sea lion and fur seal colonies be established unequivocally to ensure that the need for Prohibited Area status for islands with breeding colonies and for Marine Protected Areas around them is noted.
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Moore, Andrew D. "Opportunities and trade-offs in dual-purpose cereals across the southern Australian mixed-farming zone: a modelling study." Animal Production Science 49, no. 10 (2009): 759. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/an09006.
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Dual-purpose cereals are employed in the high-rainfall zone of southern Australia to provide additional winter forage. Recently there has been interest in applying this technology in the drier environments of South and Western Australia. It would therefore be useful to gain an understanding of the trade-offs and risks associated with grazing wheat crops in different locations. In this study the APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator) crop and soil simulation models were linked to the GRAZPLAN pasture and livestock models and used to examine the benefits and costs of grazing cereal crops at 21 locations spanning seven of the regions participating in the Grain & Graze research, development and extension program. A self-contained part of a mixed farm (an annual pasture–wheat rotation plus permanent pastures) supporting a breeding ewe enterprise was simulated. At each location the consequences were examined of: (i) replacing a spring wheat cultivar with a dual-purpose cultivar (cv. Wedgetail or Tennant) in 1 year of the rotation; and (ii) either grazing that crop in winter, or leaving it ungrazed. The frequency of early sowing opportunities enabling the use of a dual-purpose cultivar was high. When left ungrazed the dual-purpose cultivars yielded less grain on average (by 0.1–0.9 t/ha) than spring cultivars in Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula but more (by 0.25–0.8 t/ha) in south-eastern Australia. Stocking rate and hence animal production per ha could be increased proportionately more when a dual-purpose cultivar was used for grazing; because of the adjustments to stocking rates, grazing of the wheat had little effect on lamb sale weights. Across locations, the relative reduction in wheat yield caused by grazing the wheats was proportional to the grazing pressure upon them. Any economic advantage of moving to a dual-purpose system is likely to arise mainly from the benefit to livestock production in Western Australia, but primarily from grain production in south-eastern Australia (including the Mallee region). Between years, the relationship between increased livestock production and decreased grain yield from grazing crops shifts widely; it may therefore be possible to identify flexible grazing rules that optimise this trade-off.
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Taylor, Christine M., Gunnar Keppel, Shaun O'Sullivan, Stefan Peters, Gregory D. Kerr, and Craig R. Williams. "Indiscriminate feeding by an alien population of the spotted-thighed frog (Litoria cyclorhyncha) in southern Australia and potential impacts on native biodiversity." Australian Journal of Zoology 67, no. 2 (2019): 59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo19042.
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Litoria cyclorhyncha (Hylidae) is native to southern Western Australia, but a naturalised population has established on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. We investigated the diet of this exotic population to assess potential impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems. Seventy-six frogs were collected from three different habitats and their diet items assigned to parataxonomic units (PU) within orders. Stomach contents were diverse, containing 467 prey items from 19 orders and 135 PU, with extrapolation suggesting a diet of ~200 PU. Shannon diversity estimates of prey items consumed produced different rankings for the three habitats at the PU and order level. Therefore, estimates at the order level may not be representative of the actual diversity of prey items. L. cyclorhyncha consumed mainly arthropods and low numbers of conspecific young frogs, geckos and a juvenile house mouse. This generalist, indiscriminate predatory diet is similar to that of other hylids and implies that the species poses a risk to native biodiversity and ecosystem processes by predation and competition. Therefore, further spread of this species needs to be prevented. Our findings can inform effective policies and management actions to mitigate future impacts of L. cyclorhyncha.
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Blyth, Colette, Matthew J. Christmas, Doug C. Bickerton, Renate Faast, Jasmin G. Packer, Andrew J. Lowe, and Martin F. Breed. "Increased Genetic Diversity via Gene Flow Provides Hope for Acacia whibleyana, an Endangered Wattle Facing Extinction." Diversity 12, no. 8 (July 30, 2020): 299. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d12080299.
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In this paper we apply a conservation genomics approach to make evidence-based management recommendations for Acacia whibleyana, an endangered shrub endemic to Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. We used population genomic analysis to assess genetic connectivity, diversity, and historical inbreeding across all known stands of the species sampling remnant stands, revegetated stands of unknown origin, and a post-fire seedling cohort. Our results indicate a degree of historical connectivity across the landscape, but habitat loss and/or pollinator community disruption are potential causes of strong genetic structure across the remnant stands. Remnant stands had low genetic diversity and showed evidence of historical inbreeding, but only low levels of intra-stand relatedness indicating that risks of contemporary inbreeding are low. Analysis of a post-fire first generation cohort of seedlings showed they likely resulted from intra-stand matings, resulting in reduced genetic diversity compared to the parents. However, admixed seedlings in this cohort showed an increase in heterozygosity relative to likely sources and the non-admixed seedlings of the same stand. Assisted inter-stand gene flow may prove an effective management strategy to boost heterozygosity and corresponding increases in adapting capacity in this endangered species.
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W. Battersby, Malcolm, Jackie Ah Kit, Colleen Prideaux, Peter W. Harvey, James P. Collins, and Peter D. Mills. "Research Implementing the Flinders Model of Self-management Support with Aboriginal People who have Diabetes: Findings from a Pilot Study." Australian Journal of Primary Health 14, no. 1 (2008): 66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/py08009.
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A pilot program for Aboriginal people with diabetes on Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, aimed to test the acceptability and impact of using the Flinders model of self-management care planing to improve patient self-management. A community development approach was used to conduct a twelve-month demonstration project. Aboriginal health workers (AHWs) conducted patient-centred, self-management assessment and care planning. Impacts were measured by patient-completed diabetes self-management assessment tool, goal achievement, quality of life and clinical measures at baseline and 12 months. Impact and acceptability were also assessed by semi-structured interviews and focus groups of AHWs. Sixty Aboriginal people with type 2 diabetes stated their main problems as family and social dysfunction, access to services, nutrition and exercise. Problems improved by 12% and goals by 26%, while quality of life scores showed no significant change. Self-management scores improved in five of six domains. Mean HbA1c reduced from 8.74-8.09 and mean blood pressure was unchanged. AHWs found the process acceptable and appropriate for them and their patients. It was concluded that a diabetes self-management program provided by AHWs is acceptable, improves self-management and is seen to be useful by Aboriginal communities. Barriers include lack of preventative health services, social problems and time pressure on staff. Enablers include community concern regarding the prevalence and mortality associated with diabetes.
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Kleemann, S. G. L., and G. S. Gill. "Differences in the distribution and seed germination behaviour of populations of Bromus rigidus and Bromus diandrus in South Australia: adaptations to habitat and implications for weed management." Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57, no. 2 (2006): 213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ar05200.
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A field survey was undertaken in South Australia to determine the relative distribution of the brome grass species B. diandrus and B. rigidus. Seeds of brome grass plants were collected from locations across the Yorke (n = 10) and Eyre Peninsulas (n = 25). B. rigidus was found more frequently and at higher densities in South Australian crops than B. diandrus, which showed a distinct preference for undisturbed fence-line margins. Species identity of brome plants in each sample was initially determined by assessing morphology of the callus-scar of the caryopsis as well as the structure of the panicle. Species identity was later confirmed by counting somatic chromosome number. There was consistent agreement between the 2 approaches to identification, indicating that these morphological features can be used with confidence when identifying B. diandrus and B. rigidus in the field. Although B. diandrus and B. rigidus are morphologically very similar, they showed large differences in germination behaviour. B. diandrus seeds collected from fence-line margins were more germinable than B. rigidus from neighbouring cropped areas. Populations of B. rigidus also showed strong inhibition of seed germination when exposed to light. This inhibitory effect of light on seed germination was not seen in the B. diandrus collections. Two populations of B. rigidus from Yorke Peninsula showed little germination (<15% germination in complete darkness) until well after the start of the next growing season. These 2 populations did, however, show a large response to treatment with gibberellic acid (1 mm), indicating high seed viability but presence of deep dormancy. From a practical point of view, the germination behaviour (longer dormancy and light inhibition) exhibited by B. rigidus would allow this species to proliferate under conservation tillage systems such as no-till, where seeds only experience complete darkness after burial following the sowing operation. Germination behaviour of B. rigidus observed in this study is expected to contribute to greater seed carry-over from one season to the next, and favour its colonisation in crops, as seen in the current field survey.
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Giles, Glenn, Merridy Malin, and Peter Harvey. "The Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health: An Operational Rationale and Some Reflections on Progress so far." Australian Journal of Primary Health 12, no. 2 (2006): 97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/py06028.
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The Centre of Clinical Research Excellence (CCRE) in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health was established in late 2003 through a major National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant involving collaboration between the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia (AHCSA), Flinders University, and Aboriginal Health Services. Our foundation research communities are the Aboriginal communities served by these Aboriginal Health Services in the Spencer Gulf / Eyre Peninsula region. In recent years a number of collaborative research programs involving chronic illness management, self-management and coordinated care have been implemented in these communities and this work is the basis of the initial CCRE activities. Key objectives of the CCRE are to improve the health status of Indigenous people through conducting relevant and meaningful Aboriginal controlled health research, providing formal training for Indigenous health researchers and developing innovative approaches to health care that can be readily translated and applied to support communities. The inclusion, empowerment and engagement of Indigenous people in the process of managing community health represent tangible strategies for achieving more equitable health outcomes for Aboriginal people. This paper outlines the CCRE operational rationale and presents early activities and outcomes across the three strategic areas of CCRE operations: research, education and training, and translation. Some critical reflections are offered on the progress and experience of the CCRE thus far. A common obstacle this CCRE has encountered is that the limited (especially staff) resources available to the Aboriginal Health Services with which we are collaborating make it difficult for them to engage with and progress the projects we are pursuing.
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Kit, J. Ah, C. Prideau x, PW Harve y, J. Collin s, M. Battersb y, PD Mill s, and S. Dansi e. "Chronic disease self-management in Aboriginal Communities: Towards a sustainable program of care in rural communities." Australian Journal of Primary Health 9, no. 3 (2003): 168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/py03043.
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The Chronic Disease Self-Management (CDSM) strategy for Aboriginal patients on Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, was designed to develop and trial new program tools and processes for goal setting, behaviour change and self-management for Aboriginal people with diabetes. The project was established as a one-year demonstration project to test and trial a range of CDSM processes and procedures within Aboriginal communities and not as a formal research project. Over a one-year period, 60 Aboriginal people with type-2 diabetes in two remote regional centres participated in the pilot program. This represents around 25% of the known Aboriginal diabetic population in these sites. The project included training for four Aboriginal Health Workers in goal setting and self-management strategies in preparation for them to run the program. Patients completed a Diabetes Assessment Tool, a Quality of Life Questionnaire (SF12), the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WASAS) at 0, 6 and 12 months. The evaluation tools were assessed and revised by consumers and health professionals during the trial to determine the most functional and acceptable processes for Aboriginal patients. Some limited biomedical data were also recorded although this was not the principal purpose of the project. Initial results from the COAG coordinated care trial in Eyre suggest that goal setting and monitoring processes, when modified to be culturally inclusive of Aboriginal people, can be effective strategies for improving self-management skills and health-related behaviours of patients with chronic illness. The CDSM pilot study in Aboriginal communities has led to further refinement of the tools and processes used in chronic illness self-management programs for Aboriginal people and to greater acceptance of these processes in the communities involved. Participation in a diabetes self-management program run by Aboriginal Health Workers assists patients to identify and understand their health problems and develop condition management goals and patient-centred solutions that can lead to improved health and wellbeing for participants. While the development of self-management tools and strategies led to some early indications of improvements in patient participation and resultant health outcomes, the pilot program and the refinement of new assessment tools used to assist this process has been the significant outcome of the project. The CDSM process described here is a valuable strategy for educating and supporting people with chronic conditions and in gaining their participation in programs designed to improve the way they manage their illness. Such work, and the subsequent health outcome research planned for rural regions, will contribute to the development of more comprehensive CDSM programs for Aboriginal communities generally.
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W Harvey, Peter, and Peter J McDonald. "The science of the COAG coordinated care trials." Australian Journal of Primary Health 9, no. 3 (2003): 109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/py03033.
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Objectives: To explicate the organisational change agenda of the COAG coordinated care trials within the Australian health system and to illuminate the role of science in this process. Methods and Results: This article briefly outlines the COAG coordinated care trial aims and the effect of the trial as a change initiative in rural South Australia. It is proposed that although the formal trial outcomes are still not clear, the trial had significant impact upon health service delivery in some sites. The trial involved standard research methods with control and intervention groups and with key hypotheses being tested to compare the costs and service utilization profile of intervention and control groups. Formal results indicate that costs were not significantly different between intervention and control groups across all sites, but that the trial, nonetheless, had a powerful impact on the attitude and behaviours of service providers in the rural trial on Eyre Peninsula in particular. Some of the key structural changes now in place are outlined. Conclusions: The COAG trial has had many and varied impacts upon those organisations and individual providers involved with it. It is argued here that since successive initiatives had been implemented before final evaluation results were published, other agendas were served by the trial apart from those of standard scientific research and hypothesis testing. That is, the main impact of the coordinated care trial in Eyre Region at least has been change by stealth, and not through scientific research and demonstration. Implications: The COAG trials have set in train a series of structural and procedural changes in the methods of delivery and management of primary health care systems; changes that are embodied in the Enhanced Primary Care packages (EPC) and other initiatives recently introduced by the Commonwealth Government. These changes have occurred and are occurring across the system without formal evidence as to their efficacy, suggesting that other financial motives are driving these new approaches apart from the goal of improving health outcomes for consumers. Also, if science is to be used in this way to drive policy and procedural change ahead of actual outcome evidence, it is important that we examine the more subtle agendas of such research projects in future if the integrity of the scientific method is to be maintained. The occurrence of such phenomena questions the very foundation of scientific endeavour and weakens the application of scientific principles in the arena of social and political science.
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Nuttall, J. G., and R. D. Armstrong. "Impact of subsoil physicochemical constraints on crops grown in the Wimmera and Mallee is reduced during dry seasonal conditions." Soil Research 48, no. 2 (2010): 125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sr09075.
Full textAbstract:
Subsoil physicochemical constraints can limit crop production on alkaline soils of south-eastern Australia. Fifteen farmer paddocks sown to a range of crops including canola, lentil, wheat, and barley in the Wimmera and Mallee of Victoria and the mid-north and Eyre Peninsula of South Australia were monitored from 2003 to 2006 to define the relationship between key abiotic/edaphic factors and crop growth. The soils were a combination of Calcarosol and Vertosol profiles, most of which had saline and sodic subsoils. There were significant correlations between ECe and Cl– (r = 0.90), ESP and B (r = 0.82), ESP and ECe (r = 0.79), and ESP and Cl– (r = 0.73). The seasons monitored had dry pre-cropping conditions and large variations in spring rainfall in the period around flowering. At sowing, the available soil water to a depth of 1.2 m (θa) averaged 3 mm for paddocks sown to lentils, 28 mm for barley, 44 mm for wheat, and 92 mm for canola. Subsoil constraints affected canola and lentil crops but not wheat or barley. For lentil crops, yield variation was largely explained by growing season rainfall (GSR) and θa in the shallow subsoil (0.10–0.60 m). Salinity in this soil layer affected lentil crops through reduced water extraction and decreased yields where ECe exceeded 2.2 dS/m. For canola crops, GSR and θa in the shallow (0.10–0.60 m) and deep (0.60–1.20 m) layers were important factors explaining yield variation. Sodicity (measured as ESP) in the deep subsoil (0.80–1.00 m) reduced canola growth where ESP exceeded 16%, corresponding to a 500 kg/ha yield penalty. For cereal crops, rainfall in the month around anthesis was the most important factor explaining grain yield, due to the large variation in rainfall during October combined with the determinant nature of these crops. For wheat, θa in the shallow subsoil (0.10–0.60 m) at sowing was also an important factor explaining yield variation. Subsoil constraints had no impact on cereal yield in this study, which is attributed to the lack of available soil water at depth, and the crops’ tolerance of the physicochemical conditions encountered in the shallow subsoil, where plant-available water was more likely to occur. Continuing dry seasonal conditions may mean that the opportunity to recharge soil water in the deeper subsoil, under continuous cropping systems, is increasingly remote. Constraints in the deep subsoil are therefore likely to have reduced impact on cereals under these conditions, and it is the management of water supply, from GSR and accrued soil water, in the shallow subsoil that will be increasingly critical in determining crop yields in the future.