Translocation efforts breathe life into rare acacias

A translocated A. awestoniana seed in 2012. Credit: Christine Allen

Infrared cameras have been used to monitor crop stress for years, but a WA plant biologist recently used the technology to ensure the successful translocation of a critically endangered plant species near Albany.

The Stirling Range Wattle, Acacia awestoniana, is restricted to two small populations in the Great Southern's Stirling Range National Park—an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot.

In 1996 the endemic species was declared as rare flora in recognition of its threat of extinction.

UWA plant conservation PhD student Christine Allen translocated the species between 2010 to 2012 as part of the Department of Parks and Wildlife's recovery plan for the species.

Dr Allen, colleagues, volunteers and DPaW Albany flora conservation officer Sarah Barrett and scientist Rebecca Dillon established a population using seedlings germinated at the department's Threatened Flora Seed Centre in Perth.

They planted 864 seedlings in 24 fenced plots under white gum (Eucalyptus wandoo) canopies and out in the open.

Some plots were watered weekly or monthly over summer, while others only received rainfall.

Dr Allen says using infrared photography to compare leaf and air temperatures was a new use of the technology for plant conservationists.

If a leaf is hotter than the surrounding air, the plant may be drought affected and unable to carry out vital functions, such as photosynthesis.

A translocated wattle flowering. Credit: Christine Allen

Dr Allen found leaf temperatures correlated to watering treatments.

"We found leaves that were not watered were at least two degrees hotter than the surrounding air," she says.

"There was close to no difference between the air and leaves of weekly watered plants—they stayed similar to their surroundings."

Dr Allen also measured survival, height and leaf herbivory, or grazing by insects and animals.

Height ranged from 100mm for plants under the wandoo to 500mm in the open, with seedlings under the canopy showing more evidence of grazing.

She says the survival rate—which in July 2012 was 81 per cent—is encouraging, especially because it was the first attempt to translocate A. awestoniana.

Dr Allen says results indicate the species is well adapted to survive at seedling stage without supplementary watering regimes, which is promising for the wattle's survival prospects.

"DPaW continues to monitor the population, which produced flowers for the first time in September 2012 and are now producing seed," Dr Allen says.

"Because they are not reproducing on their own it is not a self-sustainable population so they are not out of the danger zone yet.

Explore further: Young plant rescuer on a mission

This article first appeared on ScienceNetwork Western Australia a science news website based at Scitech.

Source: Translocation efforts breathe life into rare acacias

Hernando's Jay and Diane Rowden have new drone photography business

WEEKI WACHEE

A career set aside decades ago has paired with a longtime hobby to produce a new and timely business for a well-known, 71-year-old Hernando County resident.

As technology caught up with his pursuits, Jay Rowden has launched Drone Aerial Productions in which he, with assistance from his wife, County Commissioner Diane Rowden, produces aerial films with a camera-carrying drone.

"(It has) a whole variety of different applications, from real estate to agriculture and everything in between," he said.

Jay Rowden started piloting planes at age 13 — when he had to sit on a pillow to see out of the cockpit. He flew helicopters in the Army during the early 1960s over Korea and Vietnam.

"That's when I took up photography as a hobby and, lo and behold, it all fell together," he said.

The duo completed an intense three-day safety course in Atlanta before purchasing a drone. Jay Rowden, a former chairman of the Hernando County Democratic Executive Committee, recently was certified as a drone operator by the Federal Aviation Administration, one of the first in Hernando County. Diane Rowden serves as an official visual observer during drone aerial pursuits, as FAA law requires.

The law's strictures are many and primarily for safety, he said. For instance, the observer must keep the craft within sight at all times "to keep me from running into utility poles," Rowden said. With his eye focused on the camera's viewing screen, "sometimes, you get so involved in the shot, you don't see the telephone pole."

Basic rules allow flying along an active road's perimeter but not over it. It is also forbidden to fly over crowds of people. "It's a machine, and a machine is subject to failure," he pointed out.

"If you're a responsible pilot, you don't do that. Rules are for a reason," including a no-fly restriction within five miles of an airport, he said. The craft also must be registered with the FAA and prominently carry its registration identification number.

In no way could the Rowdens' "his and her" drones be confused with general aviation aircraft. These drones are four-motor quadcopters, essentially aeromodelers' miniature helicopters with four whisper-soft, battery-driven propellers arranged at the corners of about an 18-inch square. Their cameras are gyroscope-stabilized via satellite.

At $1,500 each, these drones have two special features: a built-in switch so that if visual contact is lost, the copter will fly back home, and a setting that commands the copter to follow an operator on the move.

The copters weigh less than 5 pounds each and measure less than 3 feet across. "We actually have a drone hanger in the house; it's also called a guest bedroom," Rowden said.

Until receipt of his FAA license earlier this month allowing commercial application of the drones, the Rowdens have been experimenting, practicing and playing in Hernando County's airspace, resulting primarily in a video story they've titled "Awesome Hernando County."

"We actually go out and interview groups and do aerial shots of businesses," Rowden said.

In the video playing on awesomehernandocounty.com, profiles have included Spring Hill Central and Brooksville rotarians cleaning Weeki Wachee Springs, Marine Corps League's Toys for Tots program, homes by Habitat for Humanity of Hernando County and a number of businesses.

Rowden pointed out a particular clip that proved an agricultural use at a small fruit farm outside Brooksville. "We flew the drone over blackberry bushes and picked up an irregularity in the color of plants. ... The owner said they get low production there. ... I was able to draw a line on the picture, and he determined it was a very sandy patch. As a result, he was able to replant in a better area and get better production."

Rowden foresees a similar benefit to golf courses with the introduction of infrared and near-infrared photography that can reveal early stress on turf due to disease or too little or too much water. "This gives as much as a month heads-up on such needs," he said.

Drone aerial photography also is in demand by owners of cell towers. Each time a tower adds a customer, rules require the connection be verified by photograph and shared with all other tower users. Similarly, when birds build a nest on a tower, whether the nest is active must be determined. "A single tower inspection (by humans) can cost $5,000," Rowden said. "But you can fly a drone over, and those guys are being saved literally thousands of dollars."

The Rowdens have yet to finalize a fee scale for their aerial productions. They've given their practice videos free to the parties concerned. He estimates charges for raw footage will range from $150 to $200. Considerably more time and skill are involved in editing and putting together an advertisement, so that will be more costly, he said.

"It's not schlock," Rowden said of the output to date. "But I have to say, I'm a better photographer than a pilot, and I'm a pretty good pilot."

Diane Rowden, 61, retired as a flight attendant with Delta Airlines, is in the process of earning her own FAA certificate of operation. "A lot of hobbies cost a lot of (ongoing) money," such as golf, she pointed out. "Our cost is up-front. Now, it's our time. We're doing what we like."

Contact Beth Gray at graybethn@earthlink.net.

Source: Hernando's Jay and Diane Rowden have new drone photography business

Astronomers Unveil a 46-Gigapixel Photo of the Milky Way That Took 5 Years to Make

Last year, NASA released a 20-gigapixel photo of the Milky Way that was made up of over 2 million infrared photos. Back in January, NASA published a 1.5-gigapixel photo of the Andromeda Galaxy. If you thought those were big photos, get this: German astronomers have created the largest astronomical photo ever made: a ridiculously big 46-gigapixel photo of the Milky Way that took 5 years to make.Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum started the project half a decade ago to search for objects in space that change in their brightness over time. After dividing a section of the southern sky into 268 different sections, the scientists spent days creating ultra-high-resolution photos of each one with telescopes at the Cerro Armazones Observatory in Chile.

Once all of the sections had been photographed, the team stitched together those 268 giant photos into an ultra-giant, 46-gigapixel photo that weighs a monstrous 194 gigabytes.

The photo is so big that you'll need to use the interactive online viewer in order to experience it properly. It looks like a narrow and jagged panorama when you're zoomed all the way out.

A small segment of the wide panoramic photo.

Zoom in, however, and you'll see that the image contains a ridiculous amount of detail (and number of stars):

A tiny crop of the segment above.

Zooming in further to the tiny crop of the small segment.

The researchers say they have discovered over 50,000 of the variable stars they set out to find using this giant photo. Head on over to the online viewer if you'd like to experience this photo for yourself.

Image credits: Photographs by Lehrstuhl für Astrophysik, RUB

Source: Astronomers Unveil a 46-Gigapixel Photo of the Milky Way That Took 5 Years to Make

Citizen scientists use hidden cameras to track urban wildlife

Wildlife gardeners often spend their energy focused on the three B's: birds, bees and butterflies. But most also encounter a variety of other animals in the neighborhoods where we work and play.

Squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks and voles are present in almost any Piedmont green space, while deer are spotted – and sometimes battled – in many places, as well.

But what other types of wildlife may be hiding in our backyards?

That's a question Ed Barrows asked after noticing raccoon tracks near a pond behind his home in Holly Springs.

"I could see footprints along the edge of the pond," Barrows said. "So I wondered what else might be coming into the area."

To find out, Barrows signed up to become a citizen scientist with the eMammals program sponsored by the N.C. Museum of Sciences and the Smithsonian. The program engages volunteers to monitor wildlife activity using camera traps – hidden cameras that capture animal images. The weather-proof cameras take pictures when triggered by motion or heat, using infrared photography at night. The goal is to get a better picture of animal behavior in areas where human activity is also present, said Roland Kays, coordinator of the program and a research associate at N.C. State University.

"Basically, we're interested in knowing about everything that is out there," Kays said.

Until recently, information about the movements and habits of urban wildlife has been scarce due to a lack of widespread monitoring data. That data is becoming available with the help of more than 400 volunteers who have participated in the program in North Carolina and five other Southeastern states.

"We generally ask people to set up the camera in their backyards or a nearby woods, or beside their house along the edge of the yard," said Kays.

Unlike typical wildlife gardening, there is no attempt made to lure animals into the area, at least not while the camera is on duty.

"We don't want them to put food or anything out. We want to see what animals are there naturally, on a regular day or night," Kays added.

Barrows took an online training course to learn how to use the camera supplied by the Museum of Sciences. Then he set the trap in his backyard. The first shots captured images of opossums, deer, squirrels, mice, birds, cats and even some curious neighborhood children.

After a while, with permission of the museum staff, he moved the camera to the yards of friends, a spot in Yates Mill Park and then to a more remote area near Harris Lake where he saw "a lot of deer, some that didn't look real healthy; you could see their ribs." He also saw several coyotes, foxes, rabbits and a bobcat.

"The coolest picture was the bobcat because they are so reclusive," Barrows added.

Danielle Losos, another volunteer, has deployed cameras near her home in Chapel Hill, as well as at Duke Forest.

"I'm definitely seeing that neighborhoods are concentrated with deer and the occasional raccoon or squirrel; in the forest, you have a higher chance of seeing foxes, skunks, coyotes – a greater diversity."

Kays said scientists are learning from these photos about the diversity of mammals in the region and how their movements, diet, reproduction and health habits are changing.

In the past, such modifications have taken generations to notice. For example, coyotes were relatively small and fed on mice, rabbits and insects before settlers on the Great Plains eliminated their fiercest competitor, wolves. Now coyotes are the top canines, dining on prey as large as deer. Meanwhile, populations of gray and red foxes – as well as free-roaming domestic cats – tend to diminish in spaces where coyotes flourish.

As more data is gathered, Kays and other scientists hope to gain greater knowledge of the impact that human behavior is having on the habits of wild animals.

Elder: wildlifechatter@gmail.com

Source: Citizen scientists use hidden cameras to track urban wildlife

Translocation efforts breathe life into rare acacias

Biodiversity hotspot species pulled back from the brink by translocation efforts

Infrared technology used to examine leaf and air temperatures

Translocated species survives independently at seedling stage but not yet self-sustaining

INFRARED cameras have been used to monitor crop stress for years, but a WA plant biologist recently used the technology to ensure the successful translocation of a critically endangered plant species near Albany.

The Stirling Range Wattle, Acacia awestoniana, is restricted to two small populations in the Great Southern's Stirling Range National Park—an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot.

In 1996 the endemic species was declared as rare flora in recognition of its threat of extinction.

UWA plant conservation PhD student Christine Allen translocated the species between 2010 to 2012 as part of the Department of Parks and Wildlife's recovery plan for the species.

Dr Allen, colleagues, volunteers and DPaW Albany flora conservation officer Sarah Barrett and scientist Rebecca Dillon established a population using seedlings germinated at the department's Threatened Flora Seed Centre in Perth.

They planted 864 seedlings in 24 fenced plots under white gum (Eucalyptus wandoo) canopies and out in the open.

Some plots were watered weekly or monthly over summer, while others only received rainfall.

Dr Allen says using infrared photography to compare leaf and air temperatures was a new use of the technology for plant conservationists.

If a leaf is hotter than the surrounding air, the plant may be drought affected and unable to carry out vital functions, such as photosynthesis.

A translocated wattle flowering. Credit: Christine Allen

Dr Allen found leaf temperatures correlated to watering treatments.

"We found leaves that were not watered were at least two degrees hotter than the surrounding air," she says.

"There was close to no difference between the air and leaves of weekly watered plants—they stayed similar to their surroundings."

Dr Allen also measured survival, height and leaf herbivory, or grazing by insects and animals.

Height ranged from 100mm for plants under the wandoo to 500mm in the open, with seedlings under the canopy showing more evidence of grazing.

She says the survival rate—which in July 2012 was 81 per cent—is encouraging, especially because it was the first attempt to translocate A. awestoniana.

Dr Allen says results indicate the species is well adapted to survive at seedling stage without supplementary watering regimes, which is promising for the wattle's survival prospects.

"DPaW continues to monitor the population, which produced flowers for the first time in September 2012 and are now producing seed," Dr Allen says.

"Because they are not reproducing on their own it is not a self-sustainable population so they are not out of the danger zone yet.

You may also like:

Stirling Range flora nears extinction

Source: Translocation efforts breathe life into rare acacias

Mouser – Infrared photo-interrupters in compact housings (Omron EE-SX4009-P1)

Omron's Photomicrosensors are now stocked by Mouser. Non-amplified photo-microsensors, more commonly known as photo-interrupters or optical switches, are infrared emitter/detector pairs contained in a compact single housing designed to detect the presence or absence of objects. Hundreds of variations on the basic photo-interrupter are available so designers can focus on the type, body shape and connection style best suited for their individual application.

The transmissive photo-microsensor incorporates an emitter and detector that face each other. When an object is positioned between the emitter and detector, the optical beam is interrupted, causing the detector to react to this change in optical energy.

The reflective photo-microsensor incorporates an emitter and detector that face outward. When an object comes into range, the optical beam sent out by the emitter will reflect off the object and back towards the detector, causing the detector to react to this change in optical energy.

Omron uses a silicon potting structure on the LEDs inside its photo-microsensors. This reduces any mechanical stress applied to the LED and thus strengthens the physical integrity of the LED chip. The end result is an LED that maintains higher brightness for a longer period of time, says the company.

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Source: Mouser – Infrared photo-interrupters in compact housings (Omron EE-SX4009-P1)

Use that celebrity hex to get over your ex

By Dean Williams

Anyone who's ever been 'in love' can testify to one absolute truth: More often than not the roses end up in the dumpster behind the bar where you sit trying to slurringly erase the memories of dashed dreams and annoyingly resilient memories.

And then there are those damn photographs...pesky reminders that the heart is as fallible as the mind, and smiles transfixed in time often belie a sense of unease and an overwhelming desire to make like Usain and bolt. That's where Kaitlin Kelly (kaitlinkellyphotography.com)comes in. And while the girl from Washington state may not promise an eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, she can help you remember that Ex doesn't always mark the spot.

The now LA-based photographer has a penchant for erasing exes from photographs and replacing them with a celebrity of your choice, and boy is she in demand. As the Drive-by Truckers sang, "good ideas always start with a full glass", so did this one.

"It came from a night of drinking with friends. A close friend of mine was visiting and I was cleaning out my external hard drive that was filled with old pictures," Kaitlin told Mirror."I was complaining about the fact that I have so many great pictures from high school or early college, but given that my exes are present in most of them, I had no desire to look at them."And then her friend stated the blindingly obvious: "You're a photo editor. Just Photoshop over them with celebrities!" And thus began Kaitlin's early romance with Loki, or Tom Hiddleston to those of you who have been living under a rock for the last five years. "The first one I did was of Tom Hiddleston."

But it ain't always easy. The Virgin Knight Richard Branson has proved to be the most challenging celebrity to drop into photographs, says Kaitlin.

"I met a wonderful woman, Aimee May, on Facebook and she wanted her ex replaced with Bran son. It was also the hardest, because he really has only photos from one direction which made matching it that much harder [we checked, for heaven's sake occasionally look right Richard]."

Kaitlin was surprised at the popularity of Henry Cavill (better known as the third worst Superman ever): "He's quite handsome but I didn't realize he was so widely loved!"

Removing someone from a picture, however, also erases them from a tapestry that carries a memory. Like a tattoo artist being asked if they could ink Justin Bieber onto someone's butt, has she ever paused and asked her client if that's what they really wanted?

"There's certainly a degree of that, but I think the thing that makes it different is humor. That's a common thread in every story I get told by a prospective client; a story of pain or being done wrong or simply losing somebody, and then wanting to cover it up with humor," says Kaitlin.

She believes that while we all try to escape our pasts it's bet ter to look on the erasure as a way of reclaiming it rather than deleting it: "There's a security that comes from being able to look at a photo and going 'Ugh, this person was sort of a mistake', and then wanting to jokingly cover them up. It's fun to explain 'Oh, well, no, Jamie Dornan didn't take me to homecoming, but I didn't like my ex so I covered him up!' It's sort of rewriting the narrative of a bad relationship. And truly most of the requests I get say, 'I want to be able to look at this photo and chuckle, instead of feeling sad'."

But there's so much more to Kaitlin's photography than a masterful skill at Photoshop. She's always been in love with the pristine landscapes in nature, and the man-made concrete mazes that form our burgeoning urban spaces.

She loves both, and cherishes one's yin to the other's yang: "Just like there are specific landscapes you can only find in certain places, it's also true for cities. Each has a different feel. Cities are the landsca pes we build for ourselves. I shoot a lot of infrared photography both of landscapes and cities, and shooting them in this sort of otherworldly way shows how similar they are."

Kaitlin grew up just outside Seattle in the US and contrary to what Grey's Anatomy and The Killing leads you to believe, it isn't always as wet as dipsomaniac fish. "My house is 15 minutes from a remote forest and from one of the most beautiful cities in the world. However, when I lived in New York, it was really difficult for me. I found Manhattan very difficult to live in, and nature helps me relax like nothing else. I live in Los Angeles now which is somewhat similar, and I really love it. My favorite places are the ones where cities are surrounded by beautiful nature. Purely one or the other doesn't work for me," she says.

While photography has been Kaitlin's passion since she was 14 years old, her job as a TV writer pays the bills. She's currently working on the pilot for a sci-fi show and as much as we tried, we will not be seeing Tyrion Lannister mooning Uranus any time soon.

But while she loves writing TV shows, it's photography that nurtures her independent sprite: "It's an art that nobody has control over but me. Whenever I look at one of the many thousands of pictures I've taken, I remember exactly where I was, what I felt, the time in my life; there's this refrain of 'put down your camera and enjoy your life' but for me, I really do enjoy my life through my camera."

The proliferation of digital megapixels into everyone's life these days means that photography is common place, even though the art is still rare. Kaitlin believes the ubiquitous smartphone camera and the legions of social media critics has made life difficult for aspiring photographers: "The sheer amount of images on the web mean that even if you're the best photographer out there, you might not get not iced. You'll post a picture that you think is the best you've ever done, and it'll get like, two likes. Sometimes it feels like shouting into the void, and it can be really demoralizing." More than anything else, Kaitlin believes that you have to be a photographer for you, first and foremost.

Kaitlin is a self-confessed science fiction buff and we finally get down to brass tacks: Battlestar Galactica or Star Trek? "This is the hardest question I've ever been asked. It's like having to pick between children. Battlestar Galactica is my favorite show of all time—but Star Trek is the world I want to live in. Battlestar teaches us about the world in which we live, and Star Trek gives us an example of the world we should want to create. Science fiction wouldn't be as good without either of them."

OK so she copped out a bit there, but the underlying message is clear. We live in a reality th at is often distorted by necessity and routine, but that should never take away from the fact that beauty is all around us: in the concrete pillars of a human monolith or the knots in the bark of nature's masterpiece. Pick up a camera and capture your life as you go through it, and don't worry if you make mistakes along the way. There's always Henry Cavill to sort it out.

Source: Use that celebrity hex to get over your ex