Journal articles on the topic 'Tourism Northern Territory Kakadu National Park'

Bat species recorded during recent CSlRO fauna surveys of Kakadu National Park (1980-83) are documented, together with information on abundance and distribution of species in five habitats. Twenty-one species were detected comprising 12 genera and six families. More species were recorded in the open forest and woodland areas, probably because of their greater structural complexity, the availability of tree hollows as roost sites and the larger area of such habitat in the region. A further four species are known to occur in the Park, bringing the total to 25 species comprising 14 genera and six families. The richness and composition of this assemblage was compared with that of other areas in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of Australia. The Kakadu bat fauna has its strongest affinities with that of the Kimberley region. Specific similarity declines linearly with (direct) distance from Kakadu, but generic similarity shows no significant linear trend. The Kakadu region supports a rich bat fauna, including several species which are regarded as rare or of limited distribution. This has considerable significance for their conservation.

This study was undertaken to establish the status and distribution of macropods in Kakadu National Park. The study utilised the knowledge of the traditional Aboriginal owners of the park and collected information from field surveys, literature and personal communications. Distribution maps are given and species status is assessed . Macropus agilis, M. antilopinus and M. bernardus are common in Kakadu, although M. bernardus has a restricted distribution. M. robustus is not as common as the other species of Macropus and has a restricted distribution. Petrogale brachyotis is locally abundant while Peradorcas concinna is scarce; both species have restricted distributions. Onychogalea unguifera has been recorded infrequently, and there is only one record of Lagorchestes conspicillatus from Kakadu.

The ectoparasites of northern quolls, Dasyurus hallucatus, are reported from 79 animals live-trapped at Kapalga Research Station, Kakadu National Park, during 1992–95. The ecto- and endoparasites are reported from 62 dead D. hallucatus during the same period; these were mostly road-kills collected from an 88-km section of the Arnhem Highway between Jabiru and the Northern Entry Station of Kakadu National Park. Tissues from 28 of the road-kills were examined histologically. Additionally, 214 scat samples were examined for ecto- and endoparasites. Seven species of ectoparasite, including two species of tick, a larval trombiculid mite, a louse and two (possibly three) species of flea, and 17 species of endoparasite including a trematode, a larval cestode, 13 species of nematode, a larval pentastome and a protozoan were recorded from D. hallucatus. Sarcocystis sp. was found in tissues but neither Toxoplasma gondii nor Trichinella pseudospiralis were detected in histological sections or tissue digests. Ticks, mites and nematodes were found in scats. The tick Haemaphysalis bancrofti, the flea Echidnophaga aranka and possibly E. ambulans, and the nematodes Mackerrastrongylus peramelis and Cylicospirura heydoni represent new host records for D. hallucatus. Although parasitism was common in D. hallucatus, few individuals harboured large burdens. Consequently, it appears unlikely that parasitism is a major factor contributing to the decline of northern quolls in this region.

The diet of the brush-tailed rabbit-rat (Conilurus penicillatus) was assessed by microscopic analysis of faecal samples from 35 individuals collected from three different sites in the Northern Territory (Garig Gunak Barlu National Park (Cobourg Peninsula), Kakadu National Park and Melville Island) at various times of the year during 2000–02. Seed was the most abundant item in the overall diet of C. penicillatus, making up 68% of identifiable particles, with smaller proportions contributed by leaves (21%), plant stems (8%) and insects (2%). ANOSIM tests revealed no difference in diet between the sexes and seasons, but there was a significant difference in the diet between the sites, with seed material present in 74% of the samples from Cobourg and in 62% and 58% of samples from Kakadu and Melville respectively. Leaf matter was present in 19% of samples from Cobourg and in 26% and 24% of samples from Kakadu and Melville respectively. Stem material was present in only 6% of samples from Cobourg and in 8% and 13% of samples from Kakadu and Melville respectively. Insect matter was present in small quantities across all three sites. The high proportion of seed in the diet suggests that C. penicillatus is primarily granivorous.

The Australian species of the water beetle genus Hydraena Kugelann, 1794, are revised, based on the study of 7,654 specimens. The 29 previously named species are redescribed, and 56 new species are described. The species are placed in 24 species groups. High resolution digital images of all primary types are presented (online version in color), and geographic distributions are mapped. Male genitalia, representative female terminal abdominal segments and representative spermathecae are illustrated. Australian Hydraena are typically found in sandy/gravelly stream margins, often in association with streamside litter; some species are primarily pond dwelling, a few species are humicolous, and one species may be subterranean. The areas of endemicity and species richness coincide quite closely with the Bassian, Torresian, and Timorian biogeographic subregions. Eleven species are shared between the Bassian and Torresian subregions, and twelve are shared between the Torresian and Timorian subregions. Only one species, H. impercepta Zwick, is known to be found in both Australia and Papua New Guinea. One Australian species, H. ambiflagellata, is also known from New Zealand. New species of Hydraena are: H. affirmata (Queensland, Palmerston National Park, Learmouth Creek), H. ambiosina (Queensland, 7 km NE of Tolga), H. antaria (New South Wales, Bruxner Flora Reserve), H. appetita (New South Wales, 14 km W Delagate), H. arcta (Western Australia, Synnot Creek), H. ascensa (Queensland, Rocky Creek, Kennedy Hwy.), H. athertonica (Queensland, Davies Creek), H. australula (Western Australia, Synnot Creek), H. bidefensa (New South Wales, Bruxner Flora Reserve), H. biimpressa (Queensland, 19.5 km ESE Mareeba), H. capacis (New South Wales, Unumgar State Forest, near Grevillia), H. capetribensis (Queensland, Cape Tribulation area), H. converga (Northern Territory, Roderick Creek, Gregory National Park), H. cubista (Western Australia, Mining Camp, Mitchell Plateau), H. cultrata (New South Wales, Bruxner Flora Reserve), H. cunninghamensis (Queensland, Main Range National Park, Cunningham's Gap, Gap Creek), H. darwini (Northern Territory, Darwin), H. deliquesca (Queensland, 5 km E Wallaman Falls), H. disparamera (Queensland, Cape Hillsborough), H. dorrigoensis (New South Wales, Dorrigo National Park, Rosewood Creek, upstream from Coachwood Falls), H. ferethula (Northern Territory, Cooper Creek, 19 km E by S of Mt. Borradaile), H. finniganensis (Queensland, Gap Creek, 5 km ESE Mt. Finnigan), H. forticollis (Western Australia, 4 km W of King Cascade), H. fundaequalis (Victoria, Simpson Creek, 12 km SW Orbost), H. fundata (Queensland, Hann Tableland, 13 km WNW Mareeba), H. hypipamee (Queensland, Mt. Hypipamee National Park, 14 km SW Malanda), H. inancala (Queensland, Girraween National Park, Bald Rock Creek at "Under-ground Creek"), H. innuda (Western Australia, Mitchell Plateau, 16 mi. N Amax Camp), H. intraangulata (Queensland, Leo Creek Mine, McIlwrath Range, E of Coen), H. invicta (New South Wales, Sydney), H. kakadu (Northern Territory, Kakadu National Park, Gubara), H. larsoni (Queensland, Windsor Tablelands), H. latisoror (Queensland, Lamington National Park, stream at head of Moran's Falls), H. luminicollis (Queensland, Lamington National Park, stream at head of Moran's Falls), H. metzeni (Queensland, 15 km NE Mareeba), H. millerorum (Victoria, Traralgon Creek, 0.2 km N 'Hogg Bridge', 5.0 km NNW Balook), H. miniretia (Queensland, Mt. Hypipamee National Park, 14 km SW Malanda), H. mitchellensis (Western Australia, 4 km SbyW Mining Camp, Mitchell Plateau), H. monteithi (Queensland, Thornton Peak, 11 km NE Daintree), H. parciplumea (Northern Territory, McArthur River, 80 km SW of Borroloola), H. porchi (Victoria, Kangaroo Creek on Springhill Rd., 5.8 km E Glenlyon), H. pugillista (Queensland, 7 km N Mt. Spurgeon), H. queenslandica (Queensland, Laceys Creek, 10 km SE El Arish), H. reticuloides (Queensland, 3 km ENE of Mt. Tozer), H. reticulositis (Western Australia, Mining Camp, Mitchell Plateau), H. revelovela (Northern Territory, Kakadu National Park, GungurulLookout), H. spinissima (Queensland, Main Range National Park, Cunningham's Gap, Gap Creek), H. storeyi (Queensland, Cow Bay, N of Daintree River), H. tenuisella (Queensland, 3 km W of Batavia Downs), H. tenuisoror (Australian Capital Territory, Wombat Creek, 6 km NE of Piccadilly Circus), H. textila (Queensland, Laceys Creek, 10 km SE El Arish), H. tridisca (Queensland, Mt. Hemmant), H. triloba (Queensland, Mulgrave River, Goldsborough Road Crossing), H. wattsi (Northern Territory, Holmes Jungle, 11 km NE by E of Darwin), H. weiri (Western Australia, 14 km SbyE Kalumburu Mission), H. zwicki (Queensland, Clacherty Road, via Julatten).

Estuaries are recognised globally as areas of high production, diversity and high economic value. Exploitation of the economic potential of estuaries and attendant infrastructural development plus expansion of human populations has resulted in degradation of estuaries worldwide. Many estuaries of northern Australia, in contrast, remain in good ecological condition. The estuarine fish fauna of the South Alligator River, Kakadu region of northern Australia was investigated to determine seasonal and spatial variation in composition. Beam trawls were used at 94 locations over the wet and dry seasons of 2012. In total, 81 taxa were collected, 26 of which had not previously been recorded in the river. Sciaenidae and Engraulidae dominated species richness and abundance. Samples were heterogeneous in terms of composition and abundance in a manner unrelated to any measured aspect of the habitat over which trawls occurred. Species richness was higher in the lower estuary than the upper estuary and more species were detected during the wet season. Turnover in assemblage structure between sampling occasions was associated with seasonal variation in discharge concordant with changes in salinity and potentially productivity. Compositional variation was largely ascribed to differential spawning phenology of adults and tolerance to fluctuating salinity. The Kakadu region supports a rich fish fauna moderately distinct from that observed elsewhere in the Northern Territory. Pronounced temporal turnover in assemblage structure and spatial variation at a variety of scales (i.e. within samples, and within and between rivers) collectively pose a challenge to management in light of ongoing and proposed development of the water resources of northern Australia, including its estuaries.

Mangroves are a major ecosystem within Kakadu National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory, providing coastal protection, high biodiversity and an important resource for Aboriginal people. In the late Holocene (from c. 6000 before present), mangroves occupied much of the estuarine and coastal plains, but their range has subsequently contracted to the main river systems (the West Alligator, South Alligator and East Alligator Rivers, and the Wildman River), tributary creeks and offshore islands (Field and Barrow Islands). On the basis of maps of mangrove extent generated from aerial photography (1950, 1975, 1984 and 1991), compact airborne spectrographic imagery (CASI; 2002), light detection and ranging (LIDAR; 2011) and RapidEye data (2014 onward), changes in net area have been minor but significant redistribution has occurred, with this being attributed to both inland intrusion and seaward colonisation of mangroves. The greatest area changes have been associated with lower-stature mangroves dominated by Avicennia marina and Sonneratia alba, as determined from these datasets. Aerial surveys, conducted using a remote piloted aircraft (RPA) and fixed wing aircraft in September 2016, showed dieback of mangroves, with spaceborne RapidEye observations suggesting this occurred between late 2015 and 2016 and at the same time as the extensive mangrove losses reported in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Given the recent dieback and the associated need to better monitor and protect mangroves and proximal ecosystems in the World Heritage- and Ramsar-listed Kakadu National Park, the study recommends the development and implementation of a robust and long-term monitoring system that better utilises existing and ongoing earth observation and ground data, and is supported by a national approach.

Nymphaea kakaduensis C.B.Hellq., A.Leu & M.L.Moody (Nymphaeaceae) is described from Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. This new species is endemic to the “Top End” of the Northern Territory and was formerly included in N. violacea Lehm. The distinct floral form of N. kakaduensis of having generally smaller flowers with blunt-tipped petals and different coloration than N. violacea instigated a genetic study of taxa from the region. The cpDNA trnL (UAA) - trnF (GAA) intergenic spacer region was sequenced from samples from across northern Australia and a haplotype network analysis was conducted. Plants from populations that had the distinct floral form of N. kakaduensis are found to be genetically distinct from N. violacea in northern Australia sharing 4 SNPs and a notable 23 bp indel in the cpDNA intergenic spacer region to support the morphological attributes and species designation.

Grasshoppers are a diverse and functionally important group of insects, but assemblages of Australian grasshoppers are extremely poorly known. This study of the grasshoppers (Orthoptera : Acrididae, Eumastacidae, Pyrgomorphidae, Tridactylidae, Tetrigidae and Tettigoniidae) of Kakadu National Park in the seasonal tropics of the Northern Territory is the first comprehensive description of any regional grasshopper fauna in Australia. We list all known species, describe their biogeography, habitat associations and abundance, and propose a functional group classification for Australian grasshoppers as a framework for future ecological and biogeographical studies. In all, 161 grasshopper species from 90 genera are known from Kakadu. The dominant family is Acrididae (64% of all genera, 63% of all species), within which the subfamily Catantopinae (44% of all grasshopper genera, 47% species) is particularly important, as is typical for Australia. The Tettigoniidae is also relatively diverse, with 35 species from 16 genera. A large proportion of the fauna – 81 species (50%) and 15 genera (17%) – is undescribed. In total, 86% of Kakadu’s species and 73% of genera are endemic to Australia. Many (42%) of the species are endemic to the northern half of the Northern Territory, and most of the others (36% of total species) have their Australian distributions restricted to the tropics. The major functional groups in terms of species are Grass-eating Acrididae and Pyrgomorphidae (33% total species), Broadleaf-eating Acrididae and Pyrgomorphidae (19%) and Open-ground Acrididae and Pyrgomorphidae (12%). There is a widespread macroecological tendency for locally abundant species to have wide geographic ranges, but there was no consistent trend for locally abundant species in Kakadu to have widespread distributions.

There has been marked recent decline in the terrestrial mammal fauna across much of northern Australia, with most documentation of such decline for lowland areas. Here we report changes in the assemblage of small mammals in a rugged sandstone environment (Nawurlandja, in Kakadu National Park) over intermittent sampling between 1977 and 2002. Four native mammal species were commonly recorded in the original sampling: sandstone antechinus (Pseudantechinus bilarni), northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), Arnhem rock-rat (Zyzomys maini) and common rock-rat (Z. argurus). Trap success rates declined significantly for the northern quoll, Arnhem rock-rat and all species combined, but increased for the common rock-rat. Despite being recorded commonly in the initial (1977–79) study, no Arnhem rock-rats were recorded in the most recent (2002) sampling. Trap success rates for northern quoll declined by ~90% from 1977–79 to 2002. The reasons for change are not clear-cut. Notably, all sampling occurred before the arrival of cane toads (Rhinella marina), a factor that has caused severe decline in northern quoll numbers elsewhere. Fire was more frequent in the sampling area in the period preceding the 2002 sampling than it was in the period preceding the initial (1977–79) sampling, and this may have contributed to change in mammal abundance.

Most records of Sminthopsis sp. and all records of Pseudomys calabyi are from gravelly hills with Eucalyplus dichromophloia and E. tintinnans woodland in Stage III of Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. This habitat is distinct from that used by other small dasyurids and pseudomyine rodents of this region. For P. calabyi it may offer the attraction of prolonged availability of fallen grass seeds. Both taxa have vicariants in the Kimberley, a pattern resembling that for many vertebrate species pairs of the more isolated sandstone massifs of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land area.

A quadrat based survey that sampled across the environmental range of the geologically and topographically diverse Stage III of Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, revealed that the region has a tree flora dominated by the family Myrtaceae, and the genus Eucalyptus in particular. Principal components analysis (PCA) defined three axes of environmental variation: site rockiness, site hydrology and surface soil clay content. The three PCA axes were divided into halves and a 2x2x2 matrix was created to classify eight environments; however, there were quadrats in only seven of the eight possible environments. Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVAs showed that there was significant variation of the following variables between the 7 environments: total basal area, tree species richness, proportion tree richness composed of eucalypt species, and proportion of eucalypt richness composed of the four subgenera Blakella, Corymbia, Eudesmia and Symphyomyrtus. Of the most abundant 25 tree species and other common eucalypts only five species (Allosyncarpia ternata, Eucalyptus bigalerita, E. clavigera, E. foelscheana and E. jacobsiana) did not have significant differences in their mean basal area between the seven environments. The above patterns are interpreted as evidence that the savanna is a highly evolved system rather than the product of geologically recent disturbance to a once widespread monsoon rainforest.

The abundance of birds, reptiles and frogs was recorded at 370 quadrats and the abundance of mammals and the basal area of woody plants was recorded at these and a further 10 quadrats in Stage I11 of Kakadu National Park. Patterns in the distribution of these species were related to two environmental mapping schemes. The more specific and localised of these was a 1 : 100 000 habitat map for Kakadu National Park, established by Schodde et al. (1987), based on environmental attributes considered to be significant for the distribution of wildlife species: floristics, vegetation structure, substrate and landscape position. The more generalised scheme was that of Wilson et a[. (1991), which mapped vegetation communities at a 1:1 000 000 scale across the Northern Territory. The distributions of assemblages of plant, all vertebrate, bird and reptile species were strongly associated with the distributions of both Schodde habitats and Wilson vegetation units. The associations were less good, but still highly significant, for distributions of native mammal and frog assemblages. Patterns in the similarity of species composition between the different habitats or vegetation units varied between different animal and plant groups. Similarity in vertebrate species composition was high between most sandstone habitats. Floristic similarity was high between woodland habitats on different substrates. Melaleuca open forests were distinct from other vegetation units in their composition of bird, frog, reptile and plant species. Mammal species composition divided the vegetation units into an upland rocky group and a lowland group. The distribution and abundance of most individual animal species were significantly related to the habitat or floristic unit divisions. This association was clearer for species recorded from at least 20 quadrats than for those recorded from 6-19 quadrats. For the latter group of species, association was more apparent with the Schodde habitat scheme than with the Wilson vegetation classification. The proportion of native mammals that showed significant associations with either classification was smaller than that for birds and reptites. The generally significant associations between distributions of individual species and the mapping of defined habitats suggests that the Schodde scheme offers a useful template for predicting species distributions within Stage 111 of Kakadu. However, the restriction of this habitat mapping to the Kakadu area renders this scheme inapplicable for the prediction of distributions beyond Kakadu, and therefore handicaps the assessment of the wildlife value of Kakadu National Park in a regional context. The Wilson vegetation map can be used to extrapolate distributions beyond Kakadu, but because that ~lassification scheme includes many vegetation units that were not sampled within the Kakadu area the predicted distribution in this case will be very incomplete.

The Ranger Project Area, located on the lands of the Mirarr clan, is surrounded by Kakadu National Park. After 40 years of uranium production at Ranger Mine, rehabilitation has begun, with a commitment that the land will be restored to a standard such that it could be incorporated into Kakadu National Park. Historically, mine closure has not been done well in the Northern Territory, and little if any consideration has been given to the views of Aboriginal landowners. An Aboriginal perspective of country recognises the interrelationship, via local kinship and moiety systems, of all things – the rocks, plants, animals, people, stories, weather, ceremonies and tradition. There is an opportunity for this worldview to be incorporated into the rehabilitation of Ranger Mine. The mine’s operator ERA (a subsidiary of Rio Tinto) has agreed to Cultural Closure Criteria that reflect a desire of Bininj (Aboriginal people from the region) to again use the land for hunting and gathering, recreation and cultural practice. Allowing Aboriginal people to have input to rehabilitation planning demonstrates a respect for people’s knowledge and connection to country. At Ranger, where the mine was imposed against the wishes of the traditional owners, this is an important step in a return to stewardship of this land and reconnecting people to place.

We present descriptions of 28 new species of Amphisopidae from Arnhem Land and Kakadu National Park of Australia’s Northern Territory. We identified five additional species that are not yet fully characterized and are not provided with formal species recognition. This is the first taxonomic treatment highlighting the high species richness within the Phreatoicidea that occur in Australia and likely elsewhere. We document each species fully with scanning electron and light micrographic images, diagnoses, detailed descriptions, keys to identification and justification of each species using parsimony analysis of their morphological and genetic characters. The distributional data show that all species, except for one, have microendemic distributions, with some sibling species occurring within a few kilometers of each other. Because of the age of this group of species, they appear to have spread throughout the region of the Arnhem sandstone plateau and then back-colonized the same habitats so that as many as three morphologically and genetically distinct species may co-occur syntopically. Our research has uncovered a new genus-level taxon of the family Amphisopidae, Kakadubeh gen. nov. This new genus is unlike Eophreatoicus, not only in its general appearance, but also in having an inferred reproductive strategy different from most of the other members of the family. While Eophreatoicus species have males that are much larger than the females and practice precopula, a form of pre-insemination mate guarding, males of the new species, Kakadubeh rangemyahwurd sp. nov., are much smaller than females. In addition, males of this species have a fourth walking leg that is not specialized for holding females, suggesting that they have a reproductive strategy that does not involve precopula of the form seen in Eophreatoicus and Eremisopus Wilson & Keable, 2002a. Most of our research has been undertaken in Kakadu National Park, although recent collections have been made in Arnhem Land, yielding additional distinctive species. Given the size of unexplored territory around the Arnhem Plateau and the geographic frequency of discovering new species, we predict that the diversity of this group in the Northern Territory may be many more than the ~35 species described here. At this time, these microendemic isopods appear to be unthreatened by human activities, largely owing to the environmental protection afforded by Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land, and their cryptic habits during the dry season. Because they are dependent on small springs of permanent groundwater, future changes in hydrology owing to water use and climate change, as well as invasive introduced species, may present risks to populations and species.

Fossil pollen and spores preserved in drillcore from both the upper South Alligator River (SARV) in the Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory and the North-West Shelf, Western Australia provide the first record of plants and plant communities occupying the coast and adjacent hinterland in north-west Australia during the Paleogene 66 to 23million years ago. The palynologically-dominant woody taxon is Casuarinaceae, a family now comprising four genera of evergreen scleromorphic shrubs and trees native to Australia, New Guinea, South-east Asia and Pacific Islands. Rare taxa include genera now mostly restricted to temperate rainforest in New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and/or Tasmania, e.g. Dacrydium, Phyllocladus and the Nothofagus subgenera Brassospora and Fuscospora. These appear to have existed in moist gorges on the Arnhem Land Plateau, Kakadu National Park. No evidence for Laurasian rainforest elements was found. The few taxa that have modern tropical affinities occur in Eocene or older sediments in Australia, e.g. Lygodium, Anacolosa, Elaeagnus, Malpighiaceae and Strasburgeriaceae. We conclude the wind-pollinated Oligocene to possibly Early Miocene vegetation in the upper SARV was Casuarinaceae sclerophyll forest or woodland growing under seasonally dry conditions and related to modern Allocasuarina/Casuarina formations. There are, however, strong floristic links to coastal communities growing under warm to hot, and seasonally to uniformly wet climates in north-west Australia during the Paleocene-Eocene.

This paper focus on the biodiversity assessment of Australian inland water. Checklists of Australian Spongillida are also provided with biogeographic notes together with the geographic range of all species of freshwater sponges in Australia. New discoveries on freshwater sponges are reported from ephemeral freshwater habitats in Kakadu National Park (Australia Northern Territory). Morphological analyses show that the sponges belong to Radiospongilla and Pectispongilla in the family Spongillidae. Radiospongilla cfr. philippinensis shows a single layer of radial gemmuloscleres and the absence of tangential gemmuloscleres in the gemmular theca. Pectispongilla gagudjuensis n. sp. diverges from the diagnostic traits of the four species currently assigned to the genus i.e. skeletal megascleres are dominant acanthostrongyles and less frequent acanthoxeas shorter than in the other species, microscleres are absent, and gemmules are larger than in the other species of the genus.

The level of mitochondrial differentiation between Thevenard Island and mainland populations of the short-tailed mice Leggadina lakedownensis was determined using DNA sequencing of the Control Region. Using temperature gradient gel electrophoresis, outgroup heteroduplex analysis detected eight haplotypes. These were sequenced for 362 basepairs. Our results show that the Thevenard Island Short-tailed Mouse is indeed L. lakedownensis, and is most closely related to L. lakedownensis in the Pilbara in Western Australia. Together, Thevenard Island and adjacent mainland populations are sufficiently divergent from those in northern Australia as to be recognized as two clearly distinct mitochondrial DNA lineages. Conservation and taxonomic implications arising from a phylogeny of haplotypes suggest that two Management Units exist within L. lakedownensis ? a northern unit that includes individuals from the Kimberley (Western Australia) to Kakadu National Park (Northern Territory), and a western unit comprising individuals from Thevenard Island and the Pilbara (Western Australia). These conservation units should be managed as separate subspecies of L. lakedownensis, and a high conservation priority should be given to the Thevenard Island population because it provides an important refugium for L. lakedownensis not just in the Pilbara, but in Australia.

Absheron National Park was established based on Absheron State Nature Lowland in 783 hectares of the territory of Khazar district of Baku city by the decree of the president of the country on February 08, 2005; the main purpose is to provide the protection of environment, efficient use, protection of endangered rare plant species, the development of ecotourism, organization of the tourism and recreation zones and environmental enlightenment. For this purpose, the geobotanical research of the psammophyte-desert vegetation formed in the ecosystem (biogeocenosis) of Absheron National Park which located in the part of Suiti cape and Shahdili of the Caspian Sea in Absheron peninsular were executed by the method of “route” on May-June of 2018–2019 and the following were identified. As it can be seen from “The classification of the vegetation of Northern and southern Caspian coast” made up by us for the first time, 2 formation classes, 4 formation groups and 7 associations have been determined in the psammophyte-desert vegetation that formed in the territory of Absheron National Park.

The stock, rates of sequestration and allocation of carbon were estimated for trees in 14 0.1-ha plots at Kapalga in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, using new allometric relationships of carbon stock to stem cross-sectional area and measured growth rates of trees. Carbon stocks of trees ranged from 12 to 58 t ha–1, with sequestration representing ~9% of the total stocks. More than half of the sequestered carbon is allocated to leaves and twigs and ~20% to wood. Only ~25% is retained in the live trees with leaf and twig fall accounting for 80%–84% of the total transfers to the environment. An alternative method of calculating sequestration rates from consideration of water use and carbon-isotope discrimination data had a close to 1 : 1 match with estimates from allometric relationships. We developed and applied algorithms to predict the impacts of fire on carbon stocks of live trees. This showed that the reduction in live carbon stocks caused by single fires increased with increasing intensity, but the impact was highly dependent on the tree stand structure.

Caridina biyiga sp. nov. is described from Leichhardt Springs, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, based on morphological and molecular data. The new species is highly distinctive among its congeners in having the dactylus of pereiopod 5 similar to the dactyli of pereiopods 3–4 and lacking the comb-like row of spiniform setae typical of the genus. The branchial formula is also distinctive for the genus in lacking an arthrobranch at the base of pereiopod 1 and in having a vestigial epipod on maxilliped 1. Despite the distinctive morphology of the new species, the molecular data did not provide strong support for the recognition of a new genus. Phylogenetic analyses of Australian Caridina using the mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene fragment placed the new species in a well-supported clade containing at least one typical species of Caridina. Within this clade, referred to as the ‘thermophila’ group, Kimura 2-parameter (K2P) genetic distances of 16S rDNA between the new species and sister taxa ranged from 5.1–6.0%. Analyses using the mitochondrial 3’ COI gene fragment from species of the ‘thermophila’ group yielded K2P genetic distances between the new species and its sister taxa ranging from 10.4–15.1%. A preliminary illustrated key to Northern Territory Caridina is provided. The conservation significance of Leichhardt Springs and its aquatic fauna are also briefly discussed.

Allosyncarpia ternata S.T.Blake, a large, evergreen tree endemic to the northern part of the Northern Territory, Australia, dominates the canopy in a wide variety of habitats, including monsoon rainforest on ravine floors, open forest and woodland on cliffs, screes and sandsheets, and open woodland on ridges and hilltops. This study examines tree physiognomy, leaf characteristics and leaf assimilation rates of A. ternata growing at sites with strongly contrasting micro-climates near Baroalba Springs, Kakadu National Park. By comparison with trees growing on the ravine floor, cliff and hilltop trees are generally shorter, they branch lower, are more frequently multi stemmed and have higher ratios of canopy width to height, while their leaves are generally smaller and thicker and contain less chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b per unit dry weight. They have lower mean specific leaf areas and higher mean stomatal densities. Assimilation measurements on leaves at a cliff site showed significantly higher rates of light-saturated assimilation during the morning than in the afternoon. On the ravine floor, by contrast, assimilation responses to changes in light flux density did not vary significantly through the day. Leaves of trees growing on the ravine floor had lower values oi light-saturated assimilation and light compensation point, and higher values of apparent quantum yield than cliffside leaves.

A total of 56 native mammal species (about one quarter of the species of land mammals known from Australia) was recorded from the Stage III area of Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. A single environmental gradient (of substrate and disturbance) described well the distributions of species other than bats from this area. For most species, there was little shift in gradient position between three trapping periods (spaced over three years). The mammal fauna comprised a rocky upland assemblage, a lowland monsoon rainforest-swamp assemblage, and an open forest-woodland assemblage. Mammal diversity and abundance was greatest in the rocky uplands. The distribution of most bat species was not clearly associated with this gradient. The Stage III mammal fauna is compared with that described from elsewhere in north-western Australia. Across this region, the fauna shows little variation with longitude, but undergoes substantial latitudinal change in conjunction with a steep rainfall gradient. The habitat reSationships of the Stage III mammal fauna are broadly repeated across north-western Australia. The fauna of sandstone ranges is attenuated with decreasing size and increasing isolation of these ranges. The mammal fauna of monsoon rainforests is depauperate, reflecting the small size and patchiness of this habitat. The mammal fauna of open forest/woodland is characterised by extensive distributions of its constituent species and a relative lack of arboreal folivores and small macropods.

Seventeen peptides have been isolated and characterized from specimens of the red tree frog 'Litoria rubella', collected from 15 locations throughout Australia. These can be classified into two families of peptides, viz. ( i ) the tryptophyllins L, of which Phe Pro Trp Leu (NH2), Phe Pro Trp Pro (NH2) and pGlu Phe Pro Trp Pro (NH2) are the major constituents, (ii) two types of rubellidins, the first of which is unique to 'Litoria rubella' [e.g. Val Asp Phe Phe Ala (OH)], and the second [e.g. Gly Leu Gly Asp Ile Leu Gly Leu Leu Gly Leu (NH2)], containing peptides of the caeridin type (like those isolated from Litoria caerulea and Litoria splendida). These peptides show no significant antimicrobial activity. The tryptophyllins are thought to be neuromodulators or neurotransmitters, but the roles of the anionic rubellidin peptides in the amphibian integument are not understood. A comparison of the skin peptide profiles of live specimens of 'Litoria rubella' collected from different locations suggests that there are a number of discrete populations (perhaps different species or subspecies) in ( i ) an area from Kakadu National Park to the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory, (ii) in and around Alice Springs, (iii) in the north of South Australia, and (iv) in several areas of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In addition, there appear to be evolving populations along the eastern seaboard of Queensland.

Objective: On the basis of general geographical analysis to reveal the tourist potential of the Main European watershed on the territory of Ukraine. Method. General scientific methods of analysis, synthesis and generalization as well as cartographic methods by the means of GIS have been used. Results:The peculiarities of the geographical location of the Main European Watershed on a European scale have been analyzed. New facts from the history of its research have been presented. A hypsometric profile along the watershed line has been constructed, its morphometric parameters have been determined. With the help of detailed cartographic analysis, the Ukrainian section of the Main European Watershed line has been identified. Its location in relation to the physical and geographical zoning has been determined. A regional analysis of tourist facilities attractiveness on the watershed line has been conducted. Cross-border and domestic transport opportunities for access to the watershed line have been assessed. The coordinate reference of the most important orohydrographic elements - the points of watersheds intersection of large transboundary rivers basins: Danube, Vistula, Dniester, Dnieper, as well as their tourist significance have been specified. Possibilities of tourist use of nature reserve fund objects which are located on the watershed line have been revealed, in particular of such national natural parks, as Uzhanian National Nature Park, Boikivschyna National Nature Park, Yavorivskyi National Park, Northern Podillia, Shatsk National Natural Park. The importance of the watershed for sustainable (ecologically oriented) tourism development in international biosphere reserves: "The Eastern Carpathians" (Slovak-Ukrainian-Polish), "Roztochia" (Ukrainian-Polish), "Western Polissya" (Polish-Ukrainian-Belarusian) has been demonstrated. Touristic assessment of historical and cultural sites located on the watershed line has been conducted. The importance of the city of Lviv as a separate tourist destination has been emphasized. Environmental problems related to the development of tourist resources have been outlined. Selected tourist clusters of the destination have been identified, the possibilities of their use have been revealed. The Main European Watershed specifics in general tourist resources classification have been emphasized. Scientific novelty: For the first time, the Main European Watershed has been considered as a separate integrated tourist destination, its detailed geographical analysis has been performed, and a cluster approach has been used to assess the tourist resources located on the watershed line. Practical significance. The results of the study will contribute to the integration process of Ukraine into the European tourist area, give impetus to new tourist routes planning, promote the development of tourist resources of national natural and regional landscape parks, support tourist clusters planning and developing.

The diving beetle genus and species, Kakadudessus tomweiri gen.n., sp.n. are described from the Northern Territory (Kakadu National Park, headwaters of Mary River) and north-eastern Queensland (Cape York Peninsula) of Australia. The new species has an elongate, almost flat habitus and elytra with pale yellowish markings. The head has a cervical line between the hindmargin of the eyes and the clypeus is anteriorly bordered. Pronotum and elytra have well developed striae, the latter without sutural lines and accessory striae. The posterior part of the basal cavity of epipleura has no transverse carina, the fairly elongate and narrow prosternal process reaches the metaventrite. The latter is provided with rows of punctures at its midline and the metacoxal lines are longer than the distance between them and strongly diverging anteriorly. The parameres are bi-segmented, very thin, slender and elongate, and slightly bifid apically. The combination of all these characters separates the new species and, thus, also the new genus from all other Bidessini. Morphologically, Kakadudessus resembles species of Leiodytes Guignot, 1936, Limbodessus Guignot, 1939 and Uvarus Guignot, 1939, the parameres resemble those of species of Allodessus Guignot, 1953. DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial genes cytochrome oxidase subunit I (cox1) and the large ribosomal subunit (16S rRNA), however, suggest that Kakadudessus does not belong to any of the known Oriental and Australasian Bidessini genera. Most importantly, recognition of Kakadudessus does not create paraphyly. All specimens were collected in small pools of shaded and intermittent streams and rivers with sandy or gravely bottom and without any vegetation.

Context Since European settlement in 1788, much of the Australian terrestrial mammal fauna has declined or become extinct. The pattern of, and reason for, that decline was little documented, and is now difficult to decipher. Many mammal species are still declining, providing (an unfortunate) opportunity to better document the process, identify the causal factors and attempt to redress the problem. Aim We compare trends in mammal abundance reported in three recent longitudinal studies in conservation reserves in Australia. The studies were not established with the intention of documenting mammal decline, but marked simultaneous decline of co-existing species was the most striking feature of their results. Methods Long-term monitoring in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory (2001–04 and 2007–09), the Upper Warren region of Western Australia (since 1974) and the Great Otway National Park, Victoria (since 1975) principally relied on trapping, but also some spotlighting and sand plots, to document changes and trends in abundance in their respective mammal assemblages. Key results Decline was reported in most mammal species, across taxonomic groups, diets and size classes, but mostly involved species <5500g. The studies differed in their monitoring protocols and varied in the degree to which potential causal factors were monitored, thereby constraining interpretation of the drivers of declines. Inappropriate fire regimes and predation by feral cats are likely contributing factors in at least two study areas, and periods of markedly below-average rainfall are implicated in two areas. Conclusions We conclude the following: (1) conservation reserves in Australia may be failing to maintain at least some elements of the biodiversity that they were established to protect, and substantially enhanced management is required to redress this problem; (2) with current threats, mammal assemblages in Australia may be highly unstable; (3) substantial increase in effective long-term biodiversity monitoring programs in an adaptive management framework is needed; and (4) such monitoring programs will be more insightful if they also monitor factors driving population change. Implications Native mammal species declines and community disassembly may be occurring elsewhere. Long-term monitoring is critical for assessing trends in biodiversity and if done well, it can guide more effective and efficient management to deliver better conservation outcomes.

This article makes a case for the everyday while on tour and argues that the ability to continue with everyday routines and social relationships, while at the same time moving through and staying in liminal or atypical zones of tourist locales, is a key part of some kinds of tourist experience. Based on ethnographic field research with grey nomads (retirees who take extended tours of Australia in caravans and motorhomes) everyday life while on tour is examined, specifically the overlap and intersection between the out-of-the-ordinary “tourist zone” and the ordinariness of the “everyday zone.” The “everyday zone” and “tourist zone” can be readily differentiated by their obvious geospatial boundaries (being at home or being away on holiday). More specifically, the “everyday zone” refers to the routines of quotidian life, or the mundane practices which make up our daily, at-home lives. These practices are closely connected with the domestic realm and include consumption practices (clothing, cooking, mass media) and everyday social interactions. The “tourist zone” is similarly concerned with consumption. In this zone, however, tourists are seen to consume places; the culture, landscape, and peoples of exotic or out-of-the-ordinary tourist locales. Needless to say this consumption of place also includes the consumption of services and objects available in the tourist destinations (Urry, “The Consuming of Place” 220). The notion of tourists being away from home has often been contrasted with constructions of home—with the dull routines of everyday life—by social scientists and tourist marketers alike in an effort to illuminate the difference between being “away” and being at “home.” Scott McCabe and Elizabeth Stokoe suggest that peoples’ notion of “home” takes into account the meaning of being away (602). That is to say that when people are away from home, as tourists for example, they often compare and contrast this with the fundamental aspects of living at home. Others, however, argue that with the widespread use of mobile communication technologies, the distinction between the notion of being at “home” and being “away” becomes less clear (White and White 91). In this sense, the notion of home or the everyday is viewed with an eye towards social relationships, rather than any specific geographical location (Jamal and Hill 77–107; Massey 59–69; Urry, “The Tourist Gaze” 2–14; White and White 88–104). It can be argued, therefore, that tourism entails a fusion of the routines and relationships associated with the everyday, as well as the liminal or atypical world of difference. This article is based on semi-structured interviews with 40 grey nomads, as well as four months of ethnographic fieldwork carried out in rural and remote Australia—in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and South Australia. Grey nomads have been part of Australian senior culture for at least four decades. They are a relatively heterogeneous group of tourists encompassing a range of socio-economic backgrounds, preferred activities, health status, and favoured destinations (Davies et al. 40–1; Economic Development Committee 4; Holloway 117–47), as well age cohorts—including the frugal generation (1910–1932), the silent generation (1931–1946), and the baby boomer generation (1946–65). Grey nomads usually tour as spousal couples (Tourism Research Australia 26; Onyx and Leonard 387). Some of these couples live solely on government pensions while others are obviously well-resourced—touring in luxury motorhomes costing well over half a million dollars. Some prefer to bush camp in national parks and other isolated locations, and some choose to stay long term in caravan parks socialising with other grey nomads and the local community. All grey nomads, nonetheless, maintain a particularly close link with the everyday while touring. Mobile communication technologies anchor grey nomads (and other tourists) to the everyday—allowing for ready contact with existing family and friends while on tour. Grey nomads’ mobile dwellings, their caravans and motorhomes, integrate familiar domestic spaces with a touring life. The interior and exterior spaces of these mobile dwellings allow for easy enactment of everyday, domestic routines and the privatised world of adult spousal relationships. This peripatetic form of dwelling, where the dwelling itself accommodates both travel and an everyday domestic life further blurs the distinctions between the “everyday zone” and the “tourist zone”. In this sense grey nomads carry out a lifestyle that is both anchored and mobile; anchored in the everyday domestic life while at the same time being nomadic or geographically unstable. This blurring of the boundaries between the “everyday zone” and “tourist zone” is attractive to senior tourists, offering them a relatively safe and comfortable incursion into tourist locales, where established routines and patterns of everyday life can be maintained. Other homes-away-from-homes such as serviced apartments, holiday homes and house swaps also offer greater connection to the everyday, but are geographically anchored to specific tourism spaces. The caravan or motorhome allows this at-home connection for the peripatetic tourist offsets the relative rigours of outback touring in remote and rural Australia. Everyday Social Relationships in the “Tourist Zone” When tourists go away from home, they are usually thought of as being away from both place (home) and relationships (family and friends). Nowadays, however, being away from home does not necessarily mean being away from family and friends. This is because the ease and speed of today’s telecommunication technologies allows for instantaneous contact with family and friends back home—or the virtual co-presence of family and friends while being away on tour. In the past, those friends and relations who were geographically isolated from each other still enjoyed social contact via letters and telegrams. Such contacts, however, occurred less frequently and message delivery took time. Long distance telephone calls were also costly and therefore used sparingly. These days, telecommunication technologies such as mobile phones and the Internet, as well as the lower cost of landline phone calls, mean that everyday social contact does not need to be put on hold. Keeping in contact is now a comparatively fast, inexpensive, and effortless activity and socialising with distant friends and relatives is now a routine activity (Larsen 24). All grey nomads travel with a mobile phone device, either a digital mobile, Next G or satellite phone (Obst, Brayley and King 8). These phones are used to routinely keep in contact with family and friends, bringing with them everyday familial relationships while on tour. “We ring the girls. We’ve got two daughters. We ring them once a week, although if something happens Debbie [daughter] will ring us” (Teresa). Grey nomads also take advantage of special deals or free minutes when they scheduled weekly calls to family or friends. “I mainly [use] mobile, then I ring, because I’ve got that hour, free hour” (Helen). E-mail is also a favoured way of keeping in contact with family and friends for some grey nomads. This is because the asynchronicity of e-mail interaction is very convenient as they can choose the times when they pick up and send messages. “Oh, thank goodness for the e-mail” (Pat). Maintaining social contact with family and friends at a distance is not necessarily as straightforward as when grey nomads and other tourists are at home. According to discussants in this study and the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee, mobile phone coverage within Australia is still rather patchy when outside major metropolitan areas. Consequently, the everyday task of kin keeping via the phone can be somewhat intermittent, especially for those grey nomads who spend a great deal of time outside major towns in rural and remote Australia. “You can never get much [reception] but [...] they can just ring the mobile and just leave a message and we will get that message [later]” (Rena). Similarly, using the Internet to e-mail family and friends and catch up with online banking can only be carried out when passing through larger towns. “I do it [using the Internet] like every major town we went through. I’d stop and do a set of e-mails and I used to do my banking” (Maureen). The intermittent phone coverage in remote and rural Australia was not always viewed as an inconvenience by discussants in this study. This is because continuing engagement with family and friends while on tour may leave little respite from the ongoing obligations or any difficulties associated with family and friends back home, and encroach on the leisure and relaxation associated with grey nomad touring. “I don’t want the phone to ring […] That’s one thing I can do without, the phone ringing, especially at 4:00 in the morning” (Rena). In this way, too much co-presence, in the form of mobile phone calls from family and friends, can be just as much a nuisance when away from home as when at home—and impinge on the feeling of “being away from it all.” Naomi White and Peter White also suggest that “being simultaneously home and away is not always experienced in a positive light” (98) and at times, continued contact (via the phone) with friends and family while touring is not satisfying or enjoyable because these calls reiterate the “dynamics evident in those that are [usually] geographically proximate” (100). Thus, while mobile communication technologies are convenient tools for grey nomads and other tourists which blur the boundaries between the “everyday zone” and “tourist zones” in useful and pleasurable ways, their overuse may also encroach on tourists’ away time, thus interfering with their sense of solitude and quiescence when touring in remote or rural Australia. The “Everyday Zone” of the Caravan or Motorhome Being a tourist involves “everyday practices, ordinary places and significant others, such as family members and friends, but co-residing and at-a-distance” (Larsen 26). While tourism involves some sense of liminality, in reality, it is interspersed with the actuality of the everyday routines and sociabilities enacted while touring. Tim Edensor notes that; Rather than transcending the mundane, most forms of tourism are fashioned by culturally coded escape attempts. Moreover, although suffused with notions of escape from normativity, tourists carry quotidian habits and responses with them: they are part of the baggage. (61) Grey nomads go further than this by bringing on tour with them a domestic space in which everyday routines and sociabilities are sustained. Travelling in this manner “makes possible, and probably encourages, greater continuity with everyday routine than many other kinds of holiday making” (Southerton et al. 6). To be able to sleep in your own bed with your own pillow and linen, or perhaps travel with your dogs, makes caravanning and motorhoming an attractive touring option for many people. Thus, the use of caravans or motorhomes when travelling brings with it a great deal of mobile domesticity while on tour. The caravan or motorhome is furnished with most of the essentially-domestic objects and technologies to enable grey nomads to sleep, eat, relax, and be entertained in a manner similar to that which they enjoy in the family home, albeit within smaller dimensions. Lorna: We have shower, toilet. We had microwave, stereo. We have air conditioning and heating.Eric: Yeah, reverse cycle air conditioning.Lorna: Reverse cycle. What else do we have?Eric: Hot water service. Gas or 240 volt. 12 volt converter in that, which is real good, it runs your lights, runs everything like that. You just hook it into the main power and it converts it to 12 volt. Roll out awning plus the full annex.Lorna: Full annex. What else do we have? There’s a good size stove in it. The size of caravans and motorhomes means that many domestic tasks often take less time or are simplified. Cleaning the van takes a lot less time and cooking often becomes simplified, due to lack of bench and storage space. Women in particular like this aspect of grey nomad travel. “It is great. Absolutely. You don’t have toilets to clean, you don’t have bathrooms to clean. Cooking your meals are easier because everything is all […] Yeah. It’s more casual” (Sonya). This touring lifestyle also introduces new domestic routines, such as emptying chemical toilets, filling water tanks, towing and parking the van and refilling gas tanks, for example. Nonetheless grey nomads, spend significantly less time on these domestic tasks when they are touring. In this sense, the caravan or motorhome brings with it the comforts and familiarity of home, while at the same time minimising the routine chores involved in domestic life. With the core accoutrements of everyday life available, everyday activities such as doing the dishes, watching television, preparing and eating a meal—as well as individual hobbies and pastimes—weave themselves into a daily life that is simultaneously home and away. This daily life, at home in the caravan or motorhome, brings with it possibilities of a domestic routinised lifestyle—one that provides welcome comfort and familiarity when travelling and a retreat from the demands of sightseeing. On the farm I used to make jam and cakes, so I do it again [in the caravan]. I make jam, I made marmalade a couple of weeks ago. We’d often stay home [in the caravan], I’d just clean or do a bit of painting. (Jenny) Touring in a caravan or motorhome allows for some sense of predictability: that you own and control the private spaces of your own mobile dwelling, and can readily carry out everyday domestic routines and sociabilities. “We go for a long walk. We come back and we see friends and we stop and have a coffee with them, and then you come home in the caravan at 2.30 and you can still have lunch” (Yvonne). Touring in a caravan or motorhome also frees grey nomads from dependence on prearranged tourist experiences such as organised tours or hotel meal times where much of the tourist experience can be regimented. We always went in hotels and you always had to dress up, and you had to eat before a certain time, and you had your breakfast before a certain time. And after 2.30 you can’t have lunch anymore and sometimes we have lunch at 2 o’clock. I like the caravan park [better]. (Donald) Despite the caravan or motorhome having close links with everyday life and the domestic realm, its ready mobility offers a greater sense of autonomy while touring: that you are unfettered, not bound to any specific place or timetable, and can move on at whim. Grey nomads often cross paths with other tourists dependent on guided bus tours. “They go in [to Kakadu] on a bus trip. All they do is go in on the main road, they’re in there for the day and there’re back. That’s absolutely ridiculous” (Vance). This autonomy, or freedom to structure their own tourist experiences, allows grey nomads the opportunity to travel at a leisurely pace. Even those grey nomads who travel to the same northern destination every year take their time and enjoy other tourist locations along the way. We take our time. This time, last time, we did three weeks before we got in [to] Broome. We spent a lot [of time] in Karratha but also in Geraldton. And when we came back, in Kalbarri, [we had] a week in Kalbarri. But it’s nice going up, you know. You go all through the coast, along the coast. (John) Caravan or motorhome use, therefore, provides for a routinised everyday life while at the same time allowing a level of autonomy not evident in other forms of tourism—which rely more heavily on pre-booking accommodation and transport options. These contradictory aspects of grey nomad travel, an everyday life of living in a caravan or motorhome coupled with freedom to move on in an independent manner, melds the “everyday zone” and the “tourist zone” in a manner appealing to many grey nomads. Conclusion Theories of tourism tend to pay little attention to the aspects of tourism that involve recurrent activities and an ongoing connectedness with everyday life. Tourism is often defined: by contrasting it to home geographies and everydayness: tourism is what they are not. [...] The main focus in such research is on the extraordinary, on places elsewhere. Tourism is an escape from home, a quest for more desirable and fulfilling places. (Larsen 21) Nonetheless, tourism involves everyday routines, everyday spaces and an everyday social life. Grey nomads find that mobile phones and the Internet make possible the virtual co-presence of family and friends allowing everyday relationships to continue while touring. Nonetheless, the pleasure of ongoing contact with distant family and friends while touring may at times encroach on the quietude or solitude grey nomads experienced when touring remote and rural Australia. In addition to this, grey nomads’ caravans and motorhomes are equipped with the many comforts and domestic technologies of home, making for the continuance of everyday domiciliary life while on tour, further obfuscating the boundaries between the “tourist zone” and the “everyday zone.” In this sense grey nomads lead a lifestyle that is both anchored and mobile. This anchoring involves dwelling in everyday spaces, carrying out everyday domestic and social routines, as well as maintaining contact with friends and family via mobile communication technologies. This anchoring allows for some sense of predictability: that you own and control the private spaces of your own mobile dwelling, and can readily carry out everyday domestic routines and sociabilities. Conversely, the ready mobility of the caravan or motorhome offers a sense of autonomy: that you are unfettered, not bound to any specific place and can move on at whim. This peripatetic form of dwelling, where the dwelling itself is the catalyst for both travel and an everyday domestic life, is an under researched area. Mobile dwellings such as caravans, motorhomes, and yachts, constitute dwellings that are anchored in the everyday yet unfixed to any one locale. References Davies, Amanda, Matthew Tonts, and Julie Cammell. Coastal Camping in the Rangelands: Emerging Opportunities for Natural Resource Management. Perth: Rangelands WA, 2009. 24 Sep. 2011 ‹http://www.rangelandswa.com.au/pages/178/publications›. Economic Development Committee. Inquiry into Developing Queensland’s Rural and Regional Communities through Grey Nomad Tourism. Brisbane: Queensland Parliament, 2011. 23 Sep. 2011 ‹http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Documents/TableOffice/TabledPapers/2011/5311T3954.pdf›. Edensor, Tim. “Performing Tourism, Staging Tourism: (Re)Producing Tourist Space and Practice.” Tourist Studies 1 (2001): 59–81. Holloway, Donell. 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