Biodiversity offsetting is a globally influential policy mechanism for reconciling trade‐offs between development and biodiversity loss. However, there is little robust evidence of its effectiveness. We evaluated the outcomes of a jurisdictional offsetting policy (Victoria, Australia). Offsets under Victoria's Native Vegetation Framework (2002–2013) aimed to prevent loss and degradation of remnant vegetation, and generate gain...

Offshore platforms, subsea pipelines, wells and related fixed structures supporting the oil and gas (O&G) industry are prevalent in oceans across the globe, with many approaching the end of their operational life and requiring decommissioning. Although structures can possess high ecological diversity and productivity, information on how they interact with broader ecological processes remains unclear. Here, we review the curren...

Key message Historical malting quality data was collated from UK national and recommended list trial data and used in a GWAS. 25 QTL were identified, with the majority from spring barley cultivar sets. Abstract In Europe, the most economically significant use of barley is the production of malt for use in the brewing and distilling industries. As such, selection for traits related to malting quality is of great commercial inte...

There is an urgent need to improve the evaluation of conservation interventions. This requires specifying an objective and a frame of reference from which to measure performance. Reference frames can be baselines (i.e., known biodiversity at a fixed point in history) or counterfactuals (i.e., a scenario that would have occurred without the intervention). Biodiversity offsets are interventions with the objective of no net loss...

Datasets from deep‐water fisheries abundance surveys on the commercially important species—orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) , smooth oreo (Pseudocyttus maculatus) , and black oreo (Allocyttus niger) —were used to compare fish fauna between seamounts in 10 different parts of the New Zealand region. For five of these areas, fauna was also compared between the seamounts and nearby areas of the relatively flat slope. Domina...

Meristic and genetic methods were used to determine the stock relationships of black Allocytus niger (James, Inada & Nakamura, 1988) and smooth oreo Pseudocyttus maculatus (Gilchrist, 1906) in the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Samples were collected from four management areas—OEO 1 (south‐west), OEO 3A (Chatham Rise west), OEO 4 (Chatham Rise east), and OEO 6 (subantarctic) during the 1998 October‐December spawnin...

The Australian lizard Egernia stokesii lives in spatially and temporally stable groups of up to 17 individuals. We have recently shown that these groups are comprised of breeding partners, their offspring and, in some cases, highly related adults, providing the first genetic evidence of a family structure in any lizard species. Here we investigated the mating system of E. stokesii using data from up to eight polymorphic micros...

Oysters, Ostrea chilensis , infected with Bonamia exitiosus were held under stressful conditions for 14 days, and then under normal conditions for 3.5 months, to determine the affects of stress on B.exitiosus infection levels. The stressors used were (1) air exposure for 8 h daily; (2) hot water (25–26 °C), or (3) cold water (7 °C) for 1 h daily; (4) hyposaline (15‰), or (5) hypersaline (39–40‰) water; (6) starvation in filter...

Summary Mycolic acid‐containing actinomycetes capable of metabolizing nitriles were recovered from deepsea sediments and terrestrial soils by enrichment culture on acetonitrile, benzonitrile, succinonitrile or bromoxynil. A total of 43 nitrile‐degrading strains were isolated and, together with previously reco‐vered nitrile‐degrading rhodococci, were identified by a polyphasic taxonomic approach, which included mycolic acid pro...

Catch rate data for fish species caught in 200–800 m depths during summer trawl surveys of the Chatham Rise to the east of New Zealand in 1992–99 were explored to assess community structure and species associations and to identify changes that occurred within the time series of surveys. The community was dominated by hoki ( Macruronus novaezelandiae Hector), a Southern Hemisphere merlucciid hake, which was more abundant than a...

Hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae Hector) year class strength (YCS) varies substantially from year to year. We examined associations between YCS and climate variables including the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), satellite sea surface temperatures (SSTs), synoptic weather patterns, wind speeds, and the depth of the west coast, South Island, New Zealand, mixed layer. We evaluated the predictions of a model developed 2 years ago...

The diel variation in abundance of an orange roughy ( Hoplostethus atlanticus Collett) spawning aggregation on a deepsea seamount on the Chatham Rise known as “Graveyard” was studied using acoustics. A 4‐day survey was carried out using a Latin cube statistical design. The acoustic data was echo‐integrated and analysis of variance was carried out to estimate the effects of day, time of day, and transect path. The estimated bio...

In this study we used data from six unlinked microsatellite loci to examine stable aggregations of Egernia stokesii , from a population in the southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia. We show that these aggregations are comprised of breeding partners, their offspring from two or more cohorts, and related adults, providing the first genetic evidence of a family structure in any lizard species. Despite this high level of rel...