http://hdl.handle.net/2440/12037 2013-05-24T09:17:34Z 2013-05-24T09:17:34Z Saniotis, Arthur http://hdl.handle.net/2440/72880 2012-08-30T02:30:32Z 2011-12-31T13:30:00Z

Title: Muslims and ecology: fostering Islamic environmental ethics Author: Saniotis, Arthur Abstract: Recent scholarly interest in religions and ecology reaffirm the importanceof religious models in understanding humanity’s place in nature. While Islam provides detailed ethical principles on the environment, the majority of Muslim majority countries show an apparent indifference to environmental issues. Due to the complexities in Muslim majority countries in relation to environmental issues, this paper contends that there is a need for an examination of the different aspects of Muslim environmentalism, and to what extent environmental practices are influenced by Islamic environmental ethics. Therefore, this paper develops a multipronged approach whereby both environmental and non-environmental practices by Muslims are discussed, giving an overview of Islamic attitudes towards ecology and environmental practices and suggesting reasons for Muslim non-concern for the environment. Moreover, the paper illustrates how Muslims in western and Muslim majority countries implement Islamic environmental ethics. Finally, western and eastern Muslim thinkers who have written on Islam and the environment are explored.

2011-12-31T13:30:00Z Williams, Martin Anthony Joseph http://hdl.handle.net/2440/71615 2012-06-18T05:30:20Z 2010-12-31T13:30:00Z

Title: Environmental Change Author: Williams, Martin Anthony Joseph

2010-12-31T13:30:00Z Emmerson, Louise Margaret Facelli, José Maria Chesson, Peter L. Possingham, Hugh Philip http://hdl.handle.net/2440/63002 2011-04-07T09:32:10Z 2009-12-31T13:30:00Z

Title: Secondary seed dispersal of Erodiophyllum elderi, a patchily distributed short-lived perennial in the arid lands of Australia Author: Emmerson, Louise Margaret; Facelli, José Maria; Chesson, Peter L.; Possingham, Hugh Philip Abstract: We investigated secondary dispersal of propagules of Erodiophyllum elderi (Asteraceae), a short-lived perennial plant growing in small patches in the arid lands of southern Australia. In spite of its importance for population dynamics, secondary dispersal is a little understood process. We monitored the dispersal of 2280 large woody capitula (seed heads) released in six E. elderi patches for 9 months. Colour-coded seed heads were located at night using UV light and their distance and direction from the release point were measured. Over the 9-month period, more seed heads moved, and those that did, moved further in areas with high herbivore activity. Overall dispersal distance across the ground was limited to less than 30 m. Dispersal patterns were related to the topographical slope at the release site: seed heads moved further, and more dispersed on steeper slopes unless the steep slopes had sandy soil in which case seed heads were buried, caught or there was reduced sheet water flow limiting their dispersal potential. After several months, seed head dispersal virtually ceased as seed heads became stuck in the debris and soil after heavy rains or further dispersal became unlikely when seed heads reached locally low-lying areas. Secondary dispersal patterns suggest two distinctly different influences associated with the presence of herbivores: the direct movement of seed heads by trampling from sheep (an introduced herbivore) and the indirect effect of a reduced standing biomass from grazing. Reduced vegetation cover allows seed head redistribution via sheet water flow during large rainfall events.

2009-12-31T13:30:00Z Burge, Dylan O. Barker, William R. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/62709 2011-03-21T08:32:12Z 2009-12-31T13:30:00Z

Title: Evolution of nickel hyperaccumulation by Stackhousia tryonii (Celastraceae), a serpentinite-endemic plant from Queensland, Australia Author: Burge, Dylan O.; Barker, William R. Abstract: To elucidate the evolutionary origin of nickel (Ni) hyperaccumulation by the Australian serpentinite-endemic plant Stackhousia tryonii Bailey, phylogenetic analyses of chloroplast and nuclear DNA for Stackhousia and its close relatives were combined with assays of plant-tissue Ni concentrations. Thirty-five plants from 20 taxa were analysed by sequencing nuclear rDNA (ITS) and the plastid trnL–F region. Phylogenetic analysis of sequence data was conducted under maximum parsimony and Bayesian search criteria. In all, 100 plants from 39 taxa, including all 33 Stackhousia species, were analysed for Ni concentration by radial inductively coupled plasma atomic-emission spectrometry (ICP–AES). In phylogenetic analyses, S. tryonii was monophyletic, nested within a monophyletic Stackhousia. Only S. tryonii contained concentrations of Ni above the hyperaccumulation threshold (0.1%; 1000 ppm), containing between 0.25% (2500 ppm) and 4.1% (41 000 ppm) Ni by dry weight. Nickel-hyperaccumulation ability appears to have been acquired once during diversification of Stackhousia, by S. tryonii.

2009-12-31T13:30:00Z