Alan Lymbery

Echinococcus and Echinococcosis Part A and B present a complete synthesis on what is known about the parasitic cestode echinococcus and the disease it causes, echinococcosis (Hydatid Disease), also demonstrating that in addition to its medical, veterinary, and economic significance, it is an intriguing biological phenomenon. Both parts build on the success of a previous volume, Echinococcus and Hydatid Disease, edited by R.C.A. Thompson and A.J. Lymbery, and published by CAB International, that details the major advances that have taken place since its release. As such, it remains the only comprehensive account that embraces virtually all aspects of echinococcus and the disease it causes. The links between laboratory knowledge and field applications are emphasized throughout the volumes. Consequently, research workers, teachers, students of parasitology, clinicians, and field workers will find this work an indispensable source of information.Presents the expertise of contributors who are renowned in the fieldCovers all aspects of cchinococcus and echinococcosis, from basic and applied biology, through diagnosis and control, to clinical aspects

Severe surface flow reduction is exacerbating the impacts of the existing stressors on aquatic ecosystems in southern Australia. River regulation via the creation of instream barriers such as dams and weirs is known to have wide ranging impacts on aquatic ecosystems and mitigating these barriers can greatly benefit aquatic fauna, particularly freshwater fishes. Given the continued reduction in surface flows and aging of barrier infrastructure, there will be an increasing need to assess, prioritise and decommission such structures particularly in southern Australia. Whilst considerable attention has been given to barrier mitigation and prioritisation in eastern Australia, there is less information on how barriers impact the ecosystems in the often intermittent rivers across southern Australia; particularly with regard to the relationship between barriers and refuge pools. There is also limited information on the impacts of complete barrier removal as opposed to barrier retrofitting and there is no consistent process for identifying and prioritising barriers for mitigation or removal across southern Australia. The current project aimed to review the global literature on the impacts of barriers and the processes that exist for prioritising their removal. It then aimed to develop and trial a process for instream barrier prioritisation tailored specifically for systems in southern Australian. Mitigation of instream barriers through the construction of fishways has been increasingly undertaken in Australia and internationally to reconnect fish communities however, whilst often partially effective, they are limited in terms of fully reconnecting fish communities and are also costly. Complete removal of barriers has therefore increasingly been undertaken particularly in the United States and Europe to completely reconnect river reaches. Both strong advocacy and opposition can exist to instream barrier removal projects and it is vital to have broad stakeholder involvement; particularly at a local level. Artificial instream barriers can also actually create important refuge habitats that may increase in significance particularly as surface flow reductions continue in southern Australia. However, spatial information on refuge pools across southern Australia is limited as are their relative ecological significance. Barrier prioritisation processes in Australia have usually utilised score and ranking systems but little regard has been given to optimising multiple barrier mitigations. The barrier identification and prioritisation process we developed is a stepwise protocol that is underpinned by broad stakeholder involvement and can be applied on multiple scales from single rivers to multiple catchments. It identifies existing information on barriers and aquatic fauna and also confirms barrier and refuge information using a cost-effective surveying protocol. It includes a score and ranking system that weights both the positive and potential negative impacts of removing instream barriers and incorporates information on species diversity, habitat availability, and spatial information on barriers and refuges. The process was trialled in three catchments in south-western Australia. Information on potential barrier locations and fish distributions was obtained by accessing GIS and distributional databases and undertaking local landholder surveys. The rapid aerial survey technique was found to be highly effective at confirming GIS information and identifying new barriers. The score and ranking system revealed that the least modified catchment had the highest scoring barriers. The information contained in this review will be of considerable interest to managers of fluvial ecosystems in temperate Australia and the prioritisation process will be a valuable and easily implemented tool in identifying and mitigating the impacts of in-stream barriers in southern Australia in a drying climate.

Freshwater fishes have been used as indicators of aquatic ecosystem health as many teleosts are sensitive to water quality and habitat decline. Developing field derived thresholds, or tolerance indicator values (TIVs), based on matching distributions with prevailing water quality and habitat variables is a common approach that allows modelling of population viabilities under changing environmental conditions such as declines in water quality or hydrology. The freshwater fish fauna of south-western Australian is depauperate but has the highest rate of endemism of any Australian Drainage Division (82%). It is highly imperilled due to existing anthropogenic stressors such as secondary salinisation and riparian degradation. Secondary salinisation in particular has caused considerable inland range reductions of stenohaline species and the distributions of most are now limited to the western and southern parts of the region. The importance of fresh groundwater in maintaining lentic and lotic refuge habitats during the naturally dry summer and autumn in the region has also recently been recognised. For example, groundwater discharge during baseflow in the NCCARF project study area in the Blackwood River maintains habitat connectivity for the largest freshwater fish of the region, Tandanus bostocki and provides refuge habitat for the nationally endangered Nannatherina balstoni. However, modelling future population viabilities under projected surface and groundwater level reduction scenarios has been limited by the lack of TIVs for most species. Therefore, the current study aimed to analyse an extensive database of fish distributions and water quality variables across south-western Australia (1098 sampling points) to develop TIVs for species that could then be used in a risk assessment and decision making framework for managing groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) subjected to declining water levels in the Blackwood River. There were significant differences between species in TIVs relating to water temperature and conductivity. For example, some of the species that occupied narrow ranges and are considered to be threatened, such as Galaxiella munda and N.balstoni, occupied the coolest environments, whereas the common and widespread introduced Gambusia holbrooki and native Galaxias occidentalis occupied warmer and more saline environments. The findings from the current supporting document were subsequently incorporated into the Bayesian Belief Networks (Supporting Document 6) that modelled the likelihood of population declines for species following groundwater level reductions in the Blackwood River during baseflow. The BBNs were then mapped (Supporting Document 7) to spatially represent likelihood of population declines in the Blackwood River study area. The TIVs developed here will also be extremely useful for modelling population declines in response to other projected environmental changes in south-western Australia, such as increasing temperature and salinity.

Southern Australia is becoming warmer and drier as climate change progresses, creating serious threats to freshwater ecosystems that are dependent on the presence of water for their existence. The overall aim of this research project was to develop and evaluate four potential methods for enhancing the role, function and resilience of refuges for freshwater biodiversity in southern Australia. It focussed on means to maintain the physical conditions in refuges within ranges tolerable for species and to maintain connectivity that allows species to retreat to, and expand from, refuges. The four approaches studied were: • the feasibility of using cool-water releases (CWR) from reservoirs and shandying to control water temperature in rivers; • a method for deciding where streamside re-vegetation should occur in catchments to ensure maximum long-term negative effects on stream temperature; • the potential for artificial urban wetlands (i.e. anthropogenic habitat) to act as refuges for freshwater biodiversity against climate change; • a method for identifying redundant river regulation infrastructure and prioritizing artificial structures for removal during river restoration to improve connectivity along river channels for fauna movement. These four approaches were found to have the potential to address a range of objectives for refuge management, such as: reduce temperatures in refuges (1 & 2), increase number of refuges that act as colonization sources (all), assist dispersal into and out of refuges (all), increase biodiversity within refuges (all), increase permanence or resilience of refuges (all) and increase resistance or resilience of refuges during extreme events (1, 2 & 3). In particular, CWR could potentially be used to mimic natural thermal regimes, reduce the frequency and duration of extreme high temperature events and to assist movement of fish between thermal refuges, but further information and trials are required (1). Riparian planting can be used to reduce in-stream temperatures over the long-term and the tool developed here permits users to determine the optimal planting locations within catchments to maximise cooling effects for a given replanting investment (2). Perennial artificial wetlands can be used to provide refuges for biodiversity from wetland drying, and artificial wetlands can be modified to support higher biodiversity (3). The removal or modification of in-stream barriers can be used to create, protect or link refuges for freshwater species, especially fish, and the method developed here allows users to determine which artificial barriers have priority for removal within catchments (4). There are synergies with catchment restoration, such as environmental flows (CWR, barrier removal and modification), and revegetation (riparian replanting, anthropogenic refuges).Therefore, the four refuge management approaches described in this project should be integrated into existing river and wetland restoration practices within catchments. Refuges across all types of waterbodies in catchments should be managed in an integrated way, comprising multiple waterbodies of each type to provide the diversity of habitat types required by freshwater species.

Summary Hydatid disease (echinococcosis), caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus, is a public health and economic problem of global proportions. Treatment of this zoonotic infection usually requires major surgery and the prognosis for some forms of the disease is poor. Control efforts have had little impact globally and new foci of infection and regions of endemicity have recently been recognized. However, in addition to its medical, veterinary and economic significance, Echinococcus is an intriguing biological phenomenon. This book presents a complete synthesis of all aspects of Echinococcus and Hydatid Disease. It builds on the success of a previous volume The Biology of Echinococcus and Hydatid Diseaseby Allen & Unwin, 1986, and details the major advances that have taken place since. In addition, the scope of the book has been broadened to include genetics, evolutionary biology, epidemiology and clinical features. The overriding theme of the book is that a comprehensive understanding of the biology of Echinococcus is essential for the effective treatment and control of Hydatid Disease. The links between laboratory knowledge and field applications are emphasised throughout the book. Consequently, research workers, teachers and students of parasitology, clinicians and field workers, will find this work an indispensable source of information, but it will also provide a model for the integration of basic and applied research in parasitology.

Giardia is a parasitic protozoan which is attracting considerable interest worldwide. It can cause severe gastrointestinal problems in humans and has also been reported in a number of domestic and wild mammals. This book is based on a conference held in Western Australia in December 1992 and addresses major issues and new developments concerning Giardia and giardiasis. Many of these have attracted some controversy recently among parasitologists, for whom this book will represent a comprehensive review of current advances.