Academic literature on the topic 'Introduced organisms – Australia'
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Journal articles on the topic "Introduced organisms – Australia"
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EVANS, MEGAN L., SIOBHON EGAN, PETER J. IRWIN, and CHARLOTTE L. OSKAM. "Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery reveals large COI intraspecific divergence in Australian Ixodidae." Zootaxa 4656, no. 2 (August 14, 2019): 393–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4656.2.13.
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Ticks (Ixodida) are haematophagous arthropods that transmit a number of pathogenic organisms, including bacteria, protozoa and viruses, to humans and animals. Globally, there are over 900 species of ticks and Australia has 73 described species, including five introduced and 68 native species. With the exception of only a few Australian tick species, there are still many unanswered questions regarding their taxonomy and systematics, and the phylogeny of Australian ticks is not properly resolved. In recent years, a putative link between tick bites and poorly defined tick-borne illness(es) has been identified (Graves & Stenos 2017) and was the subject of a 2015 Australian Senate Inquiry into Lyme-like illnesses in Australia. There is an urgent need to further categorise Australian ticks, specifically hard ticks (Ixodidae), and accurate identification of Australian ticks is therefore of high importance.
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Seamark, Robert F. "Biotech prospects for the control of introduced mammals in Australia." Reproduction, Fertility and Development 13, no. 8 (2001): 705. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rd01073.
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More than twenty exotic vertebrate species are now listed as pests in Australia. Collectively, these pests have a huge economic and environmental impact and pose a major threat to Australia’s ecosystems and unique biodiversity. Management of such pests on a continental scale is a major challenge. Recent advances in biotechnology suggest alternatives to the lethal diseases normally sought for use as biological control agents. One proposal, being investigated in the Pest Animal Control Cooperative Research Centre, Canberra, is the use of biotechnology to develop a new generation of agents that act through controlling reproduction to prevent the build up of pest populations. The core concept is fertility control through immunocontraceptive vaccines delivered by viruses that specifically infect the target pest population. Proof of this exciting concept has been obtained for the mouse and, very recently, the rabbit, and a candidate vaccine vector identified for the fox, portending better control of a trio of Australia’s most pervasive pests. Other advances in biotechnology suggest ways to negate the build up of both innate and acquired immune resistance in target pest populations that normally act to limit the efficacy and effective life of biocontrol agents in the field. Prospects for extending the use of virally vectored vaccines to the field management of wildlife diseases are also identified. Targets for such vaccines include a growing suite of emerging diseases, hosted by Australia’s wildlife, which pose a threat to human and livestock health. Numerous technical challenges remain to be addressed before any of these new agents are ready for use in the field. However, the major risk to their development is now no longer viewed as being technical, but the failure to gain public acceptance for their use in the field. This already significant risk is exasperated by the present heightened level of public concern about all introductions of genetically modified organisms.
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Aghighi, S., L. Fontanini, P. B. Yeoh, G. E. St J. Hardy, T. I. Burgess, and J. K. Scott. "A Conceptual Model to Describe the Decline of European Blackberry (Rubus anglocandicans), A Weed of National Significance in Australia." Plant Disease 98, no. 5 (May 2014): 580–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/pdis-11-13-1124-fe.
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Human activities have had an adverse impact on ecosystems on a global scale and have caused an unprecedented redispersal of organisms, with both plants and pathogens moving from their regions of origin to other parts of the world. Invasive plants are a potential threat to ecosystems globally, and their management costs tens of billions of dollars per annum. Rubus anglocandicans (European blackberry) is a serious invasive species in Australia. Herbicide and cultural control methods are generally inefficient or require multiple applications. Therefore, a biological control program using stem and leaf rust strains is the main option in Australia. However, biological control using rusts has been patchy, as host factors, climate, and weather can alter the impact of the rust at different locations. In 2007, Yeoh and Fontanini noticed that blackberry plants on the banks of the Donnelly and Warren rivers in the southwest of Western Australia were dying in areas that were being regularly monitored for the impact of rust as a biological control agent. The symptoms on blackberry became known as the disease “blackberry decline”. Continuous and intensive investigations are required to discover the different biotic and abiotic components associated with specific declines in plant populations. The only agent so far introduced to Australia for the biological control of blackberry is the rust Phragmidium violaceum.
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Lee, Timothy, Yohannes Alemseged, and Andrew Mitchell. "Dropping Hints: Estimating the diets of livestock in rangelands using DNA metabarcoding of faeces." Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 2 (March 14, 2018): e22467. http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.2.22467.
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The introduction of domesticated animals into new environments can lead to considerable ecological disruption, and it can be difficult to predict their impact on the new ecosystem. In this study, we use faecal metabarcoding to characterize the diets of three ruminant taxa in the rangelands of south-western New South Wales, Australia. Our study organisms included goats (Capraaegagrushircus) and two breeds of sheep (Ovisaries): Merinos, which have been present in Australia for over two hundred years, and Dorpers, which were introduced in the 1990s. We used High-Throughput Sequencing methods to sequence therbcLand ITS2 genes of plants in the faecal samples, and identified the samples using the GenBank and BOLD online databases, as well as a reference collection of sequences from plants collected in the study area. We found that the diets of all three taxa were dominated by the family Malvaceae, and that the Dorper diet was more diverse than the Merino diet at both the family and the species level. We conclude that Dorpers, like Merinos, are potentially a threat to some vulnerable species in the rangelands of New South Wales.
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Bougher, Neale L., and Teresa Lebel. "Sequestrate (truffle-like) fungi of Australia and New Zealand." Australian Systematic Botany 14, no. 3 (2001): 439. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb00002.
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Sequestrate fungi are a polyphyletic, diverse group of macrofungi with truffle-like, underground (hypogeous) or emergent fruit bodies, which are well represented in Australia and New Zealand. The first species in the region were described in 1844, but sequestrate fungi have been poorly documented until recent times. Regional diversity of sequestrate fungi is high in comparison to other parts of the world: for ascomycetes and basidiomycetes 83 genera and 294 species are currently known in Australia and 32 genera and 58 species in New Zealand. Only an estimated 12–23% of species are known for Australia and 25–30% for New Zealand. On that basis, between 1278–2450 species may occur in Australia and 193–232 in New Zealand. Centres of diversity for some groups of sequestrate fungi occur in the region, e.g. Russulaceae (five known genera, 68 species) and Cortinariaceae (eight genera, 33 species). Some other groups are less diverse than in the northern hemisphere, e.g. sequestrate Boletaceae (seven genera, 25 species). More than 35% of Australian sequestrate genera and 95% of species are endemic; for New Zealand about 45% of sequestrate genera and 80% of species are endemic. Australia and New Zealand share similarities in sequestrate fungi at generic level (11% of total) but do not share many of the same species (4% of total). Knowledge of biogeographical distributions is limited by incomplete taxonomic knowledge and insufficient collections. Some Gondwanan, Australasian and widespread/cosmopolitan patterns are evident. Some exotic sequestrate fungi have been recently introduced and some fungi indigenous to the region occur world-wide as exotics with eucalypt plantings. Within Australia and New Zealand, there is evidence that characteristic suites of fungi co-occur in different climatic and vegetation types. Mycorrhizas of Australian and New Zealand taxa have a range of morphological and physiological attributes relating to their effect on plants and broader roles in ecosystem nutrient cycling and health. Spores of sequestrate fungi are dispersed by a range of fauna. There are tripartite inter-dependent interactions between mycorrhizal plants, sequestrate fungi and native mammals and birds that use the fungi as food. Major environmental influences affecting the distribution, diversity and abundance of sequestrate fungi include climate, topography, soil, vegetation and animals. Imposed upon such influences are a range of natural and human-induced disturbance factors which alter habitat heterogeneity, e.g. fire, fragmentation and replacement of native vegetation and exotic organisms. Rare and endangered sequestrate fungi are likely to occur in Australia and New Zealand, but for most taxa there is insufficient data to determine rarity or commonality. In the face of poor knowledge, assemblage-based and habitat-based approaches are the most appropriate for conservation and management of sequestrate fungi. Habitat heterogeneity may be important for the fungi at scales ranging from different climatic and vegetation types to local topographic-related variations.
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Wilson, Robin S., Simon Heislers, and Gary C. B. Poore. "Changes in benthic communities of Port Phillip Bay, Australia, between 1969 and 1995." Marine and Freshwater Research 49, no. 8 (1998): 847. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf97164.
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Changes in benthic communities in Port Phillip Bay, Australia, were assessed over a 25- year period by comparing an intense bay-wide survey carried out in the early 1970s, a 3-year study in the mid 1970s, a limited survey in the early 1990s, and a resurvey in the mid 1990s. A major division of benthic communities into those on deeper muddy sediments and those on marginal sandy sediments persisted was less well defined (by ordination methods) in the 1990s than in the 1970s. The densities of individuals and species declined significantly, but absolute numbers of taxa did not change noticeably. Nevertheless, temporal variability in all variables over 25 years was within the range reported for the 3- year study. Polychaetes have become relatively more abundant than crustaceans and molluscs, and the proportion of suspension-feeding organisms has increased at the expense of deposit feeders. The introduced Japanese bivalve Theora lubrica was the most abundant invertebrate in the 1970s. In the 1990s, this species, the European bivalve Corbula gibba and the polychaete Euchone limnicola were the most abundant. Decreasing abundances of macrobenthic invertebrates, and a decreasing proportion of deposit feeders, is consistent with a decrease in nutrient load from moderate to low levels—such as occurred with reduced discharge from Melbourne’s sewage treatment plant—but lack of contemporaneous data prevents further explanation.
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Follett, Peter A., and George K. Roderick. "Genetic estimates of dispersal ability in the leucaena psyllid predator Curinus coeruleus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): implications for biological control." Bulletin of Entomological Research 86, no. 4 (August 1996): 355–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0007485300034933.
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AbstractThe leucaena psyllid, Heteropsylla cubana Crawford, can devastate plantings of Leucaena leucocephala (Leguminosae), an economically important tree species in the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, Australia, India, Africa, and elsewhere. The predatory beetle, Curinus coeruleus Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), has been introduced into many of these areas from Hawaii for biological control of the psyllid. In this study, collections of C. coeruleus were made from 11 populations on four islands in the Hawaiian archipelago to determine population structure and estimate levels of gene flow. Over all populations, a measure of population subdivision, θ was 0.095, and the estimate of Nem, the average migration rate, was 2.4. θ values for the individual islands were 0.02, 0.12, 0.24 and 0.05 for Kauai, Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu, respectively. Estimated levels of gene flow between populations were not correlated with geographic distance, therefore isolation by distance does not appear to be an important process structuring C. coeruleus populations. Gene flow estimates can be used to characterize dispersal capabilities in insects or other organisms released for biological control. In this case, the inferior dispersal ability of C. coeruleus likely limits its rapid widespread establishment during release programmes.
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Bengtson, Stefan, Birger Rasmussen, and Bryan Krapež. "The Paleoproterozoic megascopic Stirling biota." Paleobiology 33, no. 3 (2007): 351–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0094837300026348.
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AbstractThe 2.0–1.8-billion-year-old Stirling Range Formation in southwestern Australia preserves the deposits of a siliciclastic shoreline formed under the influence of storms, longshore currents, and tidal currents. Sandstones contain a megascopic fossil biota represented by discoidal fossils similar to the Ediacaran Aspidella Billings, 1872, as well as ridge pairs preserved in positive hyporelief on the soles of channel-fill sandstones bounded by mud drapes. The ridges run parallel or nearly parallel for most of their length, meeting in a closed loop at one end and opening with a slight divergence at the opposite end. The ridges are interpreted as casts of sediment-laden mucus strings formed by the movement of multicellular or syncytial organisms along a muddy surface. The taxa Myxomitodes stirlingensis n. igen., n. isp., are introduced for these traces. The Stirling biota was roughly coeval with other presumed multicellular eukaryotes appearing after a long period of profound environmental changes involving a rise in ambient oxygen levels, similar to that which preceded the Cambrian explosion. The failure of multicellular life to diversify during most of the Proterozoic may be due to environmental constraints related to the comparatively low level of oxidation of the world oceans.
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Bengtson, Stefan, Birger Rasmussen, and Bryan Krapež. "The Paleoproterozoic megascopic Stirling biota." Paleobiology 33, no. 3 (2007): 351–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/04040.1.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractThe 2.0–1.8-billion-year-old Stirling Range Formation in southwestern Australia preserves the deposits of a siliciclastic shoreline formed under the influence of storms, longshore currents, and tidal currents. Sandstones contain a megascopic fossil biota represented by discoidal fossils similar to the Ediacaran Aspidella Billings, 1872, as well as ridge pairs preserved in positive hyporelief on the soles of channel-fill sandstones bounded by mud drapes. The ridges run parallel or nearly parallel for most of their length, meeting in a closed loop at one end and opening with a slight divergence at the opposite end. The ridges are interpreted as casts of sediment-laden mucus strings formed by the movement of multicellular or syncytial organisms along a muddy surface. The taxa Myxomitodes stirlingensis n. igen., n. isp., are introduced for these traces. The Stirling biota was roughly coeval with other presumed multicellular eukaryotes appearing after a long period of profound environmental changes involving a rise in ambient oxygen levels, similar to that which preceded the Cambrian explosion. The failure of multicellular life to diversify during most of the Proterozoic may be due to environmental constraints related to the comparatively low level of oxidation of the world oceans.
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Cowan, P. E., W. N. Grant, and M. Ralston. "Assessing the suitability of the parasitic nematode Parastrongyloides trichosuri as a vector for transmissible fertility control of brushtail possums in New Zealand - ecological and regulatory considerations." Wildlife Research 35, no. 6 (2008): 573. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr07174.
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The suitability of the nematode Parastrongyloides trichosuri (Nematoda: Strongyloididae) as a genetically modified vector for transmissible fertility control of introduced brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) is being explored in New Zealand. This review of progress in assessing the ecological and epidemiological characteristics of P. trichosuri against a set of essential properties for a suitable transmissible vector indicates that the parasite appears to have all the attributes of a highly effective vector, although additional information on persistence at low host density and on the outcome of competition between existing infection and new (recombinant) strains is needed to confirm this. Concerns have been raised about risks to possums and other marsupials in Australia from a genetically modified form of P. trichosuri. An international body with responsibility for managing consultation and debate about issues arising from the proposed use of genetically modified organisms for vertebrate pest management has been suggested as a way of addressing such concerns. A key issue remains as to which agency or group of agencies would take responsibility for such a body. A joint meeting of relevant agencies and researchers is needed urgently to begin the process of moving this issue forward.
Books on the topic "Introduced organisms – Australia"
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Bailey, PT, ed. Pests of Field Crops and Pastures. CSIRO Publishing, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/9780643095328.
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This comprehensive handbook on economic entomology for Australian field crops and pastures is the first of its kind. It encompasses pests and beneficial insects as well as allied forms of importance in Australian agriculture.
Organised by commodities – such as cereals, sugar and tropical pasture legumes – it examines all the pest species for a particular commodity across Australia. Identification, distribution, damage, host range, biology, risk period and monitoring techniques are described for each entry, accompanied by useful illustrations. The book also describes introduced biological control agents that effectively control crop pests.
Pests of Field Crops and Pastures will be a useful tool in crop management for progressive farmers, agronomists, agricultural consultants and academics alike.
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Allen, Jeanne, and Simone White, eds. Learning to Teach in a New Era. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781108985765.
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Entering the teaching profession in the twenty-first century comes with many challenges and even more opportunities to meet the learning needs of Australian students. Learning to Teach in a New Era provides a fundamental introduction to educational practice for early childhood, primary and secondary preservice teachers. Closely aligned with the Australian Curriculum and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, this text builds on foundational knowledge and provides guidance on professional development throughout your career in education. Organised in three sections – professional knowledge, professional practice and professional engagement – and thoroughly updated, this text introduces educational policy and the legal dimensions of education; encourages the development of practical skills in pedagogy, planning, assessment, digital technologies and classroom management; and supports effective communication and ethical practice. This edition features a new chapter exploring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing, enabling teachers to create respectful and culturally responsive classrooms.
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Fraser, Ian, and Peter Marsack. Bush Capital Year. CSIRO Publishing, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/9780643101654.
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The Australian Capital Territory is a treasure trove for naturalists, despite being without a coastline, without rainforest or without deserts. A wealth of biodiversity is found there, due to the close proximity of three major habitat types: the great western woodland grassy plains bump up against the inland edge of the coastal hinterland mountain forests, while the whole south-eastern Australian Alps system reaches its northern limit in the Brindabella Ranges. Each of these habitats has its own rich suite of plants and animals, so a great diversity of life can be found within an hour’s drive of Parliament House.
A Bush Capital Year introduces the fauna, flora, habitats and reserves of the Australian Capital Territory and includes the most recent research available. It also emphasises often unappreciated or even unrecognised urban wildlife.
For each month of the year there are 10 stories which discuss either a species or a group of species, such as mosses and mountain grasshoppers. While never anthropomorphic, many of the stories are written from the organism’s point of view, while others are from that of an observer. Beautiful paintings complement the text and allow better visualisation of the stories and the subjects.
2011 Whitley Award Commendation for Regional Natural History.
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Blanche, Rosalind. Life in a Gall. CSIRO Publishing, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/9780643106444.
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What are plant galls and how are they caused? This book introduces the Australian native insects that induce galls on plants and the plant species that host them. It explores the ways the insects have adapted to living part of their lives in the confined spaces of galls, and describes the strategies employed by different insect groups to find a suitable site to induce a gall, obtain food, mate and escape the gall.
Life in a Gall also looks at the predators, parasitoids, inquilines, kleptoparasites and micro-organisms that prey on gall-inducing insects and the ways the insects defend themselves from these enemies. It covers the problems gall-inducing insects can cause for agriculture, forestry and horticulture, and gives examples of several pest species. On the positive side, the book describes the essential services gall-inducing insects provide by pollinating figs, controlling invasive weeds and contributing to indigenous food.
The final chapter provides tips for people who want to collect and study galls, and shows that answering many of the questions still surrounding gall-inducing insects is not restricted to professional scientists but can be achieved by diligent amateurs too.
Book chapters on the topic "Introduced organisms – Australia"
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Myers, Judith H. "Predicting the Outcome of Biological Control." In Evolutionary Ecology. Oxford University Press, 2001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195131543.003.0035.
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The movement of humans around the earth has been associated with an amazing redistribution of a variety of organisms to new continents and exotic islands. The natural biodiversity of native communities is threatened by new invasive species, and many of the most serious insect and weed pests are exotics. Classical biological control is one approach to dealing with nonindigenous species. If introduced species that lack natural enemies are competitively superior in exotic habitats, introducing some of their predators (herbivores), diseases, or parasitoids may reduce their population densities. Thus, the introduction of more exotic species may be necessary to reduce the competitive superiority of nonindigenous pests. The intentional introduction of insects as biological control agents provides an experimental arena in which adaptations and interactions among species may be tested. We can use biological control programs to explore such evolutionary questions as: What characteristics make a natural enemy a successful biological control agent? Does coevolution of herbivores and hosts or predators (parasitoids) and prey result in few species of natural enemies having the potential to be successful biological control agents? Do introduced natural enemies make unexpected host range shifts in new environments? Do exotic species lose their defense against specialized natural enemies after living for many generations without them? If coevolution is a common force in nature, we expect biological control interactions to demonstrate a dynamic interplay between hosts and their natural enemies. In this chapter, I consider biological control introductions to be experiments that might yield evidence on how adaptation molds the interactions between species and their natural enemies. I argue that the best biological control agents will be those to which the target hosts have not evolved resistance. Classical biological control is the movement of natural enemies from a native habitat to an exotic habitat where their host has become a pest. This approach to exotic pests has been practiced since the late 1800s, when Albert Koebele explored the native habitat of the cottony cushion scale, Icrya purchasi, in Australia and introduced Vadalia cardinalis beetles (see below) to control the cottony cushion scale on citrus in California. This control has continued to be a success.
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Glowczewski, Barbara. "Becoming Land." In Indigenising Anthropology with Guattari and Deleuze, 5–78. Edinburgh University Press, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474450300.003.0002.
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This chapter sets the historical, anthropological and cosmopolitical context for the 13 other chapters assembled here. It is organised around the 5 thematic parts of the book. ‘The Indigenous Australian Experience of the Rhizome’ (Part One) explains Guattari’s interest for the rhizomatic practice of the Aboriginal nomadic territorialisation of myth, ritual and dreams with examples of oneiric revelations and speeches by Warlpiri women and men. ‘Totem, Taboo and the Women’s Law’ deconstructs anthropological and psychoanalytical preconceptions about religion, gender and society. ‘The Aboriginal Practice of Transversality and Dissensus’ (Part 3) analyses various forms of local, national and transnational Indigenous resistance to defend their culture, their land and social justice. ‘Micropolitics of hope and De-essentialisation’ (Part 4) introduces decolonial debates about race and environment with examples from France, Africa and the Pacific. ‘Dancing with the Spirits of the Land’ (Part 5) draws ecosophical lessons from Afro Brazilian and Indigenous forms of spiritual healing.
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Posey, Darrell Addison. "Fragmenting Cosmic Connections: Converting Nature Into Commodity." In Globalization, Globalism, Environments, and Environmentalism. Oxford University Press, 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199264520.003.0013.
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Most contributions to this volume frame emerging ‘consciousness of connections’ through international politics, economics and trade, urban/ rural exchanges, social movements, environmental transformations, and global citizenship and governance. These views reflect a remarkably linear world-view of dialectics such as: past/present, growth/sustainability, internal/external, and production/recycle. Langton (Chapter 9), however, introduces the idea of symbolic environmental space, or spacialization, which is expressed in the Aboriginal concept of totem. Totem defines other dimensions of knowing that emerge from cosmic environments through connections with animal spirits. These non-lineal manifestations might be described as spiritual clusters that, unlike the electron clouds that enshroud an atomic nucleus, are literally grounded through centres that define human landscapes marked by cultural mechanisms such as sacred sites and song lines. Indigenous peoples in other parts of the world share with Aboriginal Australians this view of cosmic connectedness between living things and the Earth (see Posey and Dutfield 1996). Thus, human beings share life with all other living organisms, and, indeed, may be transformed into other transgenic forms through death, ceremony, or shamanistic practice. In this chapter, I want to explore how such world-views function to create and maintain anthropogenic and cultural landscapes that conserve ecological and biological diversity. I also hope to show how global trade and political initiatives are working to sever and fragment these cosmic connections by reducing the vast bio-diversity of nature to mere products for biotechnology and commercial exploitation. I suggest that the commodification of nature—especially through Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)—is one of the biggest threats to global security in the twenty-first century. This is because global consumerism is driven by market prices that ignore or obliterate the local cultural, spiritual and economic values of indigenous and local peoples, who still manage, maintain and conserve much of the biological diversity of the planet. Many of my examples will come from the Kayapó Indians, with whom I have lived and worked since 1977. The Kayapó inhabit a 4 million hectare (approximately 9 million acre) continuum of ecosystems from the grasslands of the Brazilian planalto to the tropical and gallery forests of the Amazon basin.