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AW Howard Memorial Trust Inc

Summaries of Overseas Travel

2003-2004

 
Report on the Third International Symposium for the Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf, and study tour, U.S.A.  12-30 May, 2003
By Nathaniel Bannan

In attending the study tour and conference in the U.S.A., it appears that the implementation of marker-assisted selection (MAS) into the breeding programs of forage species is still some time into the future.  A large amount of research has been undertaken in laboratories throughout the world in identifying genetic markers for agronomically important traits of major forage species.  However, from the presentations and researchers comments given while at the conference, and on the tour, it seems that little research is being conducted into the implementation of MAS into forage breeding programs.

Riday and Brummer presented at the conference on the ability to use geography and biomass yield as predictors of hybrid performance in Medicago sativa, subsp. sativa and falcata, allowing accessions to be allocated into heterotic groups. Combined with the ability to control self-incompatibility (Rosellini) breeders may improve the breeding practices that are used and allow for the exploitation of heterosis.  My research is focussed on perennial ryegrass, a self-incompatible, wind pollinated species.  This self-incompatibility is controlled by a two locus (known as S and Z) multiallelic system, under the gametophytic control of the pollen.  The potential use of hybrid vigour, through the development of heterotic groups and the maintenance of S and Z heterogeneity in the breeding populations, presents an excellent opportunity for the ability to implement MAS.

Currently forage breeders use between 7-15+ parents in developing cultivars to avoid the effects of inbreeding depression.  This use of large parent numbers has restricted the implementation of MAS into our breeding programs.  However, the ability to allocate accessions into heterotic groups and a more detailed understanding of self-incompatibility potentially enables a reduction in the number of parents.  This reduction is achieved through the selection of parents from different heterotic groups whilst maintaining S and Z heterogeneity.  My research is focussed on reducing the number of parents used for cultivar development through a better understanding of genetic populations whereby parents will be selected that are phenotypically similar but genotypically diverse.   Therefore, maximising S and Z heterogeneity and avoiding the effects of inbreeding depression.

Vth ICUN World Parks Congress, Durban, South Africa, 8-17 September 2003.
By Emily Nicholson

The AW Howard Memorial Trust Travel Grant allowed me to attend the World Parks Congress, in Durban South Africa. The World Park Congress only occurs every 10 years and is the largest forum for conservation biologists, national park planners, park managers and other park-related people.  The Congress brought together over 2500 academics, non-government organisations, governments, field managers and policy makers, thus providing the best example of the interface between academic scholarship and on-the-ground management.

Two key areas were emphasised at the Congress that relate directly to my research. The first is the importance of  the linkages in the landscape: between conservation areas (such as national parks) and private lands; between landscapes and people; and between conservation and production. Second was the value of systematic planning tools in the planning of conservation and identification of conservation priorities, both for reserves and for off-reserve land management, such as within agricultural, pastoral and forestry areas.

I presented my research in a session on decision-support tools for conservation planning, part of workshop stream 7: Building Comprehensive Protected Area Systems. In addition, I assisted in teaching a short course on conservation planning with software and expert judgement: targets, gaps and priorities, headed by Bob Pressey, NSW NPWS. The majority of people who attended the course worked for government or non-government organisations in developing countries, practitioners who will be able to use planning tools in real world decision-making situations.

As a result of attending, participating in discussions, presenting my research in the workshop, and teaching the short course, I was able to meet and exchange ideas with many leading researchers, managers and practitioners from such diverse fields as conservation, economics, primary industries and anthropology. Consequently, the direction of my research will be informed by a broader world view, and a more profound understanding of the different issues involved in conservation.

The VIIth International Rangelands Congress. Durban, South Africa, 26 July - 1 August 2003
By Peter O'Reagain

Attended the International Rangelands Congress in Durban, South Africa, courtesy of the AW Howard Memorial Trust, the CRC for Tropical Savanna Management and the IRC Congress Secretariat. Prior to the IRC I also attended a workshop on 'Rangelands in equilibrium and disequilibrium' which was one of a number offered before the congress.

In conclusion some general points:

•  Better integration is required between ecology and social science.
  
• The non-equilibrial and equilibrial paradigms are not necessarily mutually exclusive and may apply under different conditions, at different times and different scales.
   
• The same applies to the state and transition and neo-Clementsian approaches to vegetation change.
     
• However, research is urgently needed to determine when these conditions apply and when change may be irreversible or otherwise.
    
• In terms of sustainable management practices there is no-size-fits-all policy for either commercial or communal pastoralists. Recommended practices need to be tailored to the individual circumstances, abilities and cultural values of individual situations.
    
• Institutions, policies and social systems etc play a crucial role in rangeland management - these issues need to be addressed to encourage the adoption or continued application of sustainable practices.
    
• The effects of scale and fragmentation on secondary productivity require further work.
    
• Unfashionable as it may be, long term research is still required to answer many of the basic questions in rangeland ecology and sociology e.g. what is the effect of degradation on secondary productivity?
   
• Multidimensional fluorescence shows great promise for the real time assessment of herbivore diets
     
• Community monitoring of natural resources in Australian rangelands possibly needs to be reassessed in terms of methodology and the variables considered.