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\"Beginning with Aboriginal occupation and European settlement of the region, Brown covers Canberra's selection as the site of the national capital, the turbulent path of Walter Burley Griffin's plan for the city, and the many phases of its construction. He surveys citizens' diverse experiences of the city and the impact of the Second World War on Canberra's growth, and explores the city's political history with insight and wit\"--Back cover.

There is increasing concern about the world's animal migrations. With many land‐use and climatological changes occurring simultaneously, pinning down the causes of large‐scale conservation problems requires sophisticated and data‐intensive approaches. Declining shorebird numbers along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, in combination with data on habitat loss along the Yellow Sea (where these birds refuel during long‐distance migrations), indicate a flyway under threat. If habitat loss at staging areas indeed leads to flyway‐wide bird losses, we would predict that: (i) decreases in survival only occur during the season that birds use the Yellow Sea, and (ii) decreases in survival occur in migrants that share a reliance on the vanishing intertidal flats along the Yellow Sea, even if ecologically distinct and using different breeding grounds. Monitored from 2006–2013, we analysed seasonal apparent survival patterns of three shorebird species with non‐overlapping Arctic breeding areas and considerable differences in foraging ecology, but a shared use of both north‐west Australian non‐breeding grounds and the Yellow Sea coasts to refuel during northward and southward migrations (red knot Calidris canutus piersmai, great knot Calidris tenuirostris, bar‐tailed godwit Limosa lapponica menzbieri). Distinguishing two three‐month non‐breeding periods and a six‐month migration and breeding period, and analysing survival of the three species and the three seasons in a single model, we statistically evaluated differences at both the species and season levels. Whereas apparent survival remained high in north‐west Australia, during the time away from the non‐breeding grounds survival in all three species began to decline in 2011, having lost 20 percentage points by 2012. By 2012 annual apparent survival had become as low as 0·71 in bar‐tailed godwits, 0·68 in great knots and 0·67 in red knots. In a separate analysis for red knots, no mortality occurred during the migration from Australia to China. In the summers of low summer survival, weather conditions were benign in the Arctic breeding areas. We argue that rapid seashore habitat loss in the Yellow Sea is the most likely explanation of reduced summer survival, with dire (but uncertain) forecasts for the future of these flyway populations. This interpretation is consistent with recent findings of declining shorebird numbers at seemingly intact southern non‐breeding sites. Policy implications. Due to established economic interests, governments are usually reluctant to act for conservation, unless unambiguous evidence for particular cause–effect chains is apparent. This study adds to an increasing body of evidence that habitat loss along the Yellow Sea shores explains the widespread declines in shorebird numbers along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway and threatens the long‐term prospects of several long‐distance migrating species. To halt further losses, the clearance of coastal intertidal habitat must stop now.

Sea-level rise (SLR) will greatly alter littoral ecosystems, causing habitat change and loss for coastal species. Habitat loss is widely used as a measurement of the risk of extinction, but because many coastal species are migratory, the impact of habitat loss will depend not only on its extent, but also on where it occurs. Here, we develop a novel graph-theoretic approach to measure the vulnerability of a migratory network to the impact of habitat loss from SLR based on population flow through the network. We show that reductions in population flow far exceed the proportion of habitat lost for 10 long-distance migrant shorebirds using the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. We estimate that SLR will inundate 23–40% of intertidal habitat area along their migration routes, but cause a reduction in population flow of up to 72 per cent across the taxa. This magnifying effect was particularly strong for taxa whose migration routes contain bottlenecks—sites through which a large fraction of the population travels. We develop the bottleneck index, a new network metric that positively correlates with the predicted impacts of habitat loss on overall population flow. Our results indicate that migratory species are at greater risk than previously realized.

Describes the epic journey undertaken by Douglas Mawson, who suffered starvation, the loss of his team, and a crippling foot injury as he resorted to crawling back to base camp during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1913.

BackgroundThe tobacco industry has a history of using language to downplay the harms associated with cigarettes and mislead consumers and policymakers. Emerging evidence suggests similar tactics are being used in the context of e-cigarettes; however, exploration of the impact of product name on attitudes towards e-cigarettes and susceptibility to use is lacking. This experimental study explored whether attitudes towards e-cigarettes and susceptibility to use are influenced by the names used by the industry to describe and market these products.MethodAn accredited web panel provider recruited a sample of 383 Australians aged 12–29 years who had never smoked to participate in an online survey that featured an embedded experiment. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three conditions, each of which used a different name to describe e-cigarettes (condition 1: ‘e-cigarettes’, condition 2: ‘vapes’; condition 3: either ‘IGETS’, ‘Puff Bars’, ‘HQD Cuvies’ or ‘Gunnpods’). The survey assessed respondents’ overall opinion of the product described; attitudes towards the product; liking of the product; and curiosity, willingness and intentions to use the product.ResultsThose in the ‘brand name’ condition scored higher than those in the ‘e-cigarettes’ condition on all dependent variables. Those in the ‘vapes’ condition scored higher than those in the ‘e-cigarettes’ condition on product attitude.ConclusionFindings indicate that the use of brand names and terms such as ‘vapes’ instead of ‘e-cigarettes’ results in more favourable attitudes towards e-cigarettes and susceptibility to use among young Australians. Results highlight the problematic influence of promotional language use favoured by industry.

Facing lifelong separation, William and Ellen Craft fled north in disguise, risking detection at every turn, all for the sake of freedom from slavery. Douglas Mawson battled a power greater than any human villain when Mother Nature trapped him in her icy Antarctic jaws. In 1943, Nazi guards packed hundreds of Belgian Jews into train cars headed for Auschwitz. Simon Gronowski, 11 years old, was determined to escape. Three inmates vanished from Alcatraz in 1962, never to be seen again. During the Cold War, 29 Germans from communist-controlled East Germany escaped through a tunnel under the Berlin Wall.

Every year, millions of migratory shorebirds fly through the East Asian-Australasian Flyway between their arctic breeding grounds and Australasia. This flyway includes numerous coastal wetlands in Asia and the Pacific that are used as stopover sites where birds rest and feed. Loss of a few important stopover sites through sea-level rise (SLR) could cause sudden population declines. We formulated and solved mathematically the problem of how to identify the most important stopover sites to minimize losses of bird populations across flyways by conserving land that facilitates upshore shifts of tidal flats in response to SLR. To guide conservation investment that minimizes losses of migratory bird populations during migration, we developed a spatially explicit flyway model coupled with a maximum flow algorithm. Migratory routes of 10 shorebird taxa were modeled in a graph theoretic framework by representing clusters of important wetlands as nodes and the number of birds flying between 2 nodes as edges. We also evaluated several resource allocation algorithms that required only partial information on flyway connectivity (node strategy, based on the impacts of SLR at nodes; habitat strategy, based on habitat change at sites; population strategy, based on population change at sites; and random investment). The resource allocation algorithms based on flyway information performed on average 15% better than simpler allocations based on patterns of habitat loss or local bird counts. The Yellow Sea region stood out as the most important priority for effective conservation of migratory shorebirds, but investment in this area alone will not ensure the persistence of species across the flyway. The spatial distribution of conservation investments differed enormously according to the severity of SLR and whether information about flyway connectivity was used to guide the prioritizations. With the rapid ongoing loss of coastal wetlands globally, our method provides insight into efficient conservation planning for migratory species. Cada año, millones de aves costeras migratorias vuelan por la ruta migratoria Asia-Australasia de Oriente entre sus sitios árticos de reproducción y Australasia. Esta ruta incluye numerosos humedales costeros en Asia y el Pacífico que se usan como sitios de parada temporal donde las aves descansan y se alimentan. La pérdida de unos cuántos sitios de parada temporal por medio del incremento en el nivel del mar (SLR, en inglés) podría causar declinaciones poblacionales repentinas. Formulamos y resolvimos matemáticamente el problema de cómo identificar los sitios de paradas temporales más importantes para minimizar las pérdidas de poblaciones de aves a lo largo de rutas migratorias al conservar suelos que faciliten cambios orilla arriba de llanuras de marea en respuesta al SLR. Para guiar una inversión en la conservación que minimice la pérdida de poblaciones de aves migratorias durante la migración, desarrollamos un modelo de ruta migratoria espacialmente explícito acoplado con un algoritmo de flujo máximo. Las rutas migratorias de 10 taxones de aves costeras fueron modeladas en el marco de la teoría de gráficos al representar agrupaciones de humedales importantes como nodos y los números de aves volando entre 2 nodos como bordes. También evaluamos varios algoritmos de asignación de recursos que requirieron sólo información parcial sobre la conectividad de rutas migratorias (estrategia de nodo, basada en los impactos del SLR en los nodos; estrategia de hábitat, basada en cambios de hábitat en los sitios; estrategia de población, basada en cambios de población en los sitios; e inversión al azar). El algoritmo de asociación de recursos basado en la información de rutas migratorias se desempeñó en promedio 15% mejor que las asignaciones simples basadas en patrones de pérdida de hábitat o conteos locales de aves. La región del Mar Amarillo sobresalió como la prioridad más importante para la conservación efectiva de aves costeras migratorias, pero sólo la inversión en el área no puede asegurar la persistencia de especies a lo largo de la ruta migratoria. La distribución espacial de las inversiones de conservación difiere enormemente de acuerdo a la severidad del SLR y dependiendo de si la información sobre la conectividad de las rutas migratorias se usó para guiar las priorizaciones. Con la continua y rápida pérdida de humedales costeros a nivel global, nuestro método proporciona conocimiento sobre la planeación eficiente de la conservación para especies migratorias.

Acanthaceae are among the most taxonomically diverse, geographically widespread, and morphologically and ecologically variable lineages of flowering plants. Most modern workers have estimated more than 4000 species and potentially more than 5000 species worldwide, thus placing Acanthaceae among the 12 or so most diverse families of angiosperms. This diversity is marked by exceptional morphological variation, particularly with respect to floral forms, growth forms, and pollen types. The present work represents a synthesis of knowledge generated over the past two decades on the taxonomy and systematics of this complex plant family. We place all 191 accepted genera within a revised classification of the family. Dichotomous keys (nine in total) to recognize the major lineages of Acanthaceae are presented together with geographically partitioned keys to all genera, covering (a) Africa, Madagascar, the Mediterranean region, and Arabia; (b) Asia and Australasia; and (c) the Americas. Finally, we validate several new tribes, subtribes, and genera, and provide new combinations for species where generic delimitation has changed. Our hope is that the present contribution serves to benefit future research on the systematics of Acanthaceae and provides a foundation upon which future classification efforts can be built.

How do we know which snakes are dangerous? This seemingly simple question caused constant concern for the white settlers who colonised Australia after 1788. Facing a multitude of serpents in the bush, their fields and their homes, colonists wanted to know which were the harmful species and what to do when bitten. But who could provide this expertise? Liberally illustrated with period images, Venomous Encounters argues that much of the knowledge about which snakes were deadly was created by observing snakebite in domesticated creatures, from dogs to cattle. Originally accidental, by the middle of the nineteenth century this process became deliberate. Doctors, naturalists and amateur antidote sellers all caused snakes to bite familiar creatures in order to demonstrate the effects of venom - and the often erratic impact of 'cures'. In exploring this culture of colonial vivisection, Venomous Encounters asks fundamental questions about human-animal relationships and the nature of modern medicine.