Pittwater's Environment This week:
Barrenjoey Headland Slated To Be Changed for Accommodation and Conferences Again(March2016):Public to Be Excluded From Keepers, Boatmans and Fishers Cottages and Areas Around These
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Department approves application to expand operations at Ulan Coal Mine
21.03.2016: Departmental Media Release Author: Department of Planning and Environment
The Department of Planning and Environment has approved a modification application to expand underground mining operations at Ulan Coal Mine northeast of Mudgee.
The Department publicly exhibited the application between April and May 2015 and closely consulted with key Government agencies.
There were seven submissions received by the Department including one public objection, five submissions from Government agencies and one submission from the Wellington Valley Wiradjuri Aboriginal Corporation.
There were no objections received from Government agencies on this proposal.
The key assessment issues included potential subsidence impacts, groundwater and surface water impacts, and effects on Aboriginal heritage sites and biodiversity values.
The Department has closely assessed all issues raised during consultation and addressed these concerns in its assessment and conditions of approval.
The Department’s assessment has found potential subsidence levels would not substantially increase at the mine.
The company is required to meet strict subsidence performance measures and update all approved management plans to reflect the changes to the mine, including the Water, Biodiversity, and Heritage Management Plans.
In addition to the strict protection for Aboriginal heritage sites in the mine’s Heritage Management Plan, the Department has imposed conditions requiring the company to prepare a Salvage Research and Impact Mitigation Strategy in consultation with the local Aboriginal community for a number of cultural heritage sites.
The mine’s approved Biodiversity Offset strategy has also been strengthened through increasing the size of the offset areas.
The proposal would also reduce expected impacts to native vegetation by changing the location of some of the mine’s infrastructure. The amount of White Box Woodland trees affected by mine infrastructure would decrease from 22 hectares to 8.5 hectares.
The proposal is unlikely to increase the noise impacts of the mine and strict noise levels would continue to apply to the project. All other impacts of the mine would not materially change under the modification.
The approved modification application to expand Ulan Coal Mine will allow:
changes to the layout of Ulan Main West area to extract a further 13 million tonnes of coal
increasing the project area by 275 hectares
the addition of two years to the operation of the project, up until 2033
changes to some mine infrastructure to allow the expansion to occur.
More information can be found at www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au
Extinct mouse resurfaces in state’s west
March 24, 2016: UNSW
A plains mouse found at the UNSW Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station
A big-eared native mouse declared extinct in NSW after not being seen for more than 80 years has been found at the UNSW Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station near Broken Hill.
A young female of the species Pseudomys australis – commonly known as the plains mouse – was caught by UNSW scientists surveying for small mammals on the property, which is the only research station in the arid zone of NSW.
“It was very exciting to come across an animal we thought had gone for good in this state,” says UNSW biologist Dr Keith Leggett, who found the mouse with his UNSW Science honours student, Thanuri Welaratne.
“NSW has a dreadful record of extinctions of native mammals, and the reappearance of the plains mouse shows the benefit of carefully maintaining the conservation areas we have at Fowlers Gap,” says Dr Leggett, who is director of the research station.
The identity of the native mammal was confirmed by scientists including UNSW biologist Associate Professor Mike Letnic, who has caught them in the South Australian desert where they still occur in small numbers.
“The plains mouse is quite distinctive looking. It is one of the largest rodents in the arid zone and has relatively big ears and big feet,” says Associate Professor Letnic.
Native rodents play an important role in the Australian ecosystem, but since European settlement many species have declined dramatically in numbers and range, or become extinct.
“The decline is thought to be largely due to introduced predators such as red foxes and feral cats – particularly in areas where foxes flourished because they had lots of rabbits to feed on,” says Associate Professor Letnic.
“Overgrazing by sheep, cattle, kangaroos and goats has also probably contributed to the reduction in native rodents by degrading their habitats.
“The plains mouse in particular has disappeared from huge areas of the continent, so the find at Fowlers Gap is very unusual and great news.
“It may suggest they are recovering due to a decrease in the number of rabbits following the introduction of the calicivirus in the late 1990s. Fowlers Gap also has very few foxes, due to intensive controls on their numbers there,” says Associate Professor Letnic.
Dr Leggett and his colleagues have been surveying for small mammals at the research station for the past six years. Captures are recorded and then the animals are quickly released back into the wild.
Last year, a suspected male plains mouse was found in the same ungrazed conservation area of the property by UNSW Emeritus Professor Terry Dawson and Dr Steve McLeod of the NSW Department of Primary Industry, but it was not formally identified.
“This second capture and positive identification confirms their existence at Fowlers Gap, which is a pretty big deal,” says Dr Leggett.
The last recorded sighting of the plains mouse in NSW listed in the Atlas of Living Australia was in 1932, from the Liverpool Plains.
Fowlers Gap is used by scientists from UNSW and other local and international institutions for a wide range of studies on birds, kangaroos, reptiles, other flora and fauna, soil conservation and groundwater management.
Some areas of the 39,000-hectare property have been continuously monitored for 50 years, providing a unique ecological record that earned the station a place on the Register of the National Estate in 1996.
Artists are also attracted to the dramatic landscape at the station, which has several artists’ retreats.
Pittwater Councils Environment Newsletter - Cooee March/April 2016
A Compilation of current local Environment News and upcoming Events issued bi-monthly
HERE (PDF - 2.65 MB) - Subscribe to receive HERE
A few Important Extracts from the Current - March/April edition:
WEED ALERT: SINGAPORE DAISY
Native to tropical America and member of the Asteraceae family, Singapore Daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata) is a vigorous ground cover with lush glossy green leaves in pairs up the stem, usually three lobed (hence the species name) but mostly with irregular toothed margins. Yellow to orange-yellow single daisy flowers about two centimetres across are produced from spring to summer and although variable amounts of seeds are produced, it is mainly spread vegetatively by cuttings via slashing and pruning.
Singapore Daisy colonises rapidly with stems rooting at the nodes, forming thick spreading mats up to two metres in length and 70 centimetres high that smother native groundcover, shrubs and seedlings.
Sphagneticola trilobata - photo by Wedelia
This garden escapee is already a declared Class 3 noxious weed in Queensland and well established in a variety of different environments including riparian areas, drains, roadside, wetlands and rainforest edges. However, in NSW Singapore Daisy has only recently been documented in a drainage area in Wyong Council and most recently in Pittwater, colonising a section of native groundcover in the Bush to Bay reserve, Careel Bay. This first known local incursion is highlighted for control as soon as funding is available to halt spreading.
If you think you have seen Singapore Daisy and certainly before commencing weed control, please contact Council’s Noxious Weed Officer on 9970 1111 to ensure that you have correctly identified this new weed as there are a few similar native daisy plants includingEnhydra fluctuans and Melanthera biflora that may be mistaken for this aggressive weed species.
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BILGOLA BEACH COMMUNITY PLANTING MORNING
Come along and give the local community volunteers a hand to restore the coastal heath at the northern area of Bilgola Beach. This project is part of a Federal Government funded Salty Communities Grant for the ‘Biodiversity Protection of Bilgola Creek Catchment’.
The aim is working to restore and repair weed infested coastal bushland to a healthy viable state. Bush regeneration and weed control works are being undertaken along the walkway from Allen Avenue up to the Serpentine.
The morning event will help to replace weed infestation with local native coastal heath species. Can you give an hour or two on this morning? Want some more information about the project? Please contact the Bushland Management Officer on 9970 1390.
When: Monday 21 March, 8 – 11am
Where: Meet at the end of Allen Avenue, Bilgola Beach (northern end).
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INGLESIDE ESCARPMENT WALK
Sunday 3 April, 9 – 11:30am
Come and join us for a walk through Ingleside Chase Reserve, Pittwater’s largest continuous piece of bushland that contains many beautiful plant communities and threatened fauna.
The walk will commence at Irrawong-Epworth Reserve and climb to Ingleside Park. At the park we will have a morning tea break and then head back down.
The track is 1.5km one-way and is a little steep in parts so although we will be taking it at a gentle pace, a reasonable level of fitness is required.
BIRDING MORNING
Sunday 10 April, 7 – 9am
Come for a morning with the birds. We will take you for a fantastic guided walk to learn more about our feathered friends. Our birding mornings are guided by local experts and are a great opportunity to get a better look at our local bird life. A great activity for those people interested to learn more as well as passionate birdwatchers. It’s a great morning out for everyone!
HEADLANDS WALK
Saturday 23 April, 9 – 11am
Come and join us for a tour of the headlands of Narrabeen and Warriewood. This is a spectacular walk suitable for the whole family. Discover new places and secret beaches.
BANGALLEY HEAD WALK
Saturday 14 May, 9 – 11am
Avalon. Meeting point provided on booking.
Join us for a relaxing morning walk taking in the beautiful views and coastal bushland of Bangalley Head.
Bangalley Head stands as the highest point and one of Pittwater’s largest bushland reserves on its clifftop coastline. This – together with the great variety of native plants and beautiful ocean views – makes Bangalley Head a haven for bushwalkers and wildlife alike. Native birds and marsupials – such as ringtail possums, honeyeaters, spinebills, finches and wrens – feed, breed and shelter among the dense thickets of coastal scrub and pockets of rainforest plants.
This is a fun walk for all the family and a great opportunity to learn more about our amazing flora and fauna!
Bookings essential for all events!
Online - www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/cecbookings
In person: Coastal Environment Centre, Lake Park Road, North Narrabeen Phone: 1300 000 232
SUNDAY MORNING BIRDWATCHING with PNHA
Would you like to know more about our local birds and explore our bushland reserves? Then join us on one of our bird walks:
17 April, Deep Creek Reserve, near Narrabeen Lagoon
21 August, Chiltern Track, Ingleside (birds and wildflowers)
25 September, Irrawong Reserve, North Narrabeen
27 November, Warriewood Wetlands
Most walks start at 7.30 or 8am and last a couple of hours. Bring binoculars and morning tea for afterwards if you like. Contactpnhabirdwatching@gmail.com for details of each walk.
Wild Things Talk At Warriewood: Get Native Bee Hives, Nest Boxes For your Own Backyard
Thursday 21 April, 7:15pm
Nelson Heather Centre, Banksia Room, 5 Jacksons Road, Warriewood
If you are passionate about our wildlife and their presence in our local areas – why not get help in your own backyard?
The Wild Things program, based at Ku-ring-gai Council, aims to protect urban wildlife and create suitable habitat in our backyards to encourage the return of wildlife. Wild Things work with Permaculture Northern Beaches and supply native bee hives. They also supply native fish, nest boxes as well as promote swimming pool conversions to aquaponics.
For more information please contact elle232@gmail.com
Hollows as Homes Citizen Scientist Project: Sydney and NSW
Launched March 3rd, 2016: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and University of Sydney
With the help of the community this project aims to assess the availability of tree hollows and their use by wildlife across the Sydney region. The Hollows as Homes team wants you to report tree hollow(s) in your backyard, street, park and/or paddock through
Find out more and Register at: www.hollowsashomes.com
Participants will take measurements of the hollow-bearing tree and periodically conduct monitoring and report wildlife using the hollow(s). Training is available through workshops and the website.
Background
Around 300 animal species rely on tree hollows in Australia, including birds, possums, gliders, microbats, frogs, lizards, snakes, insects and spiders. Changes to the landscape from urbanisation and agriculture not only reduce the amount of trees and homes for animals, but also create big gaps between the remaining trees and bushland. In New South Wales, of terrestrial vertebrate species that are reliant on tree hollows for shelter 40 species are listed as threatened with extinction.
Why does tree hollow loss matter?
Tree hollows are so important to our native wildlife, that their loss has been classed as a Key Threatening Process to biodiversity in New South Wales. It can take decades for a tree hollow to form. In Australia, there are no animals that are able to create tree hollows (e.g. wood pecker), thus hollow creation is a slow process that relies on fungus to eat away at the tree. What can we do to help?Cities and agricultural areas provide habitat for endangered animals and plants. We can encourage animals to share our cities, suburbs and farms by retaining:
Large, hollow bearing trees
Remnant patches of bushland that surround these trees which make it easier for them to move through the environment
Dead trees which provide important habitat whether they are standing or on the ground.
Top: Lorikeet in Angophora, McKay Reserve, Palm Beach
Microneedle patch delivers localized cancer immunotherapy to melanoma
March 24, 2016
Fluorescence imaging of a microneedle patch. Biomedical researchers have developed a technique that uses a patch embedded with microneedles -- like the patch pictured here -- to deliver cancer immunotherapy treatment directly to the site of melanoma skin cancer. In animal studies, the technique more effectively targeted melanoma than other immunotherapy treatments. Credit: Yanqi Ye
Biomedical engineering researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a technique that uses a patch embedded with microneedles to deliver cancer immunotherapy treatment directly to the site of melanoma skin cancer. In animal studies, the technique more effectively targeted melanoma than other immunotherapy treatments.
According to the CDC, more than 67,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with melanoma in 2012 alone -- the most recent year for which data are available. If caught early, melanoma patients have a 5-year survival rate of more than 98 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute. That number dips to 16.6 percent if the cancer has metastasized before diagnosis and treatment. Melanoma treatments range from surgery to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. A promising new field of cancer treatment is cancer immunotherapy, which helps the body's own immune system fight off cancer.
In the immune system, T cells are supposed to identify and kill cancer cells. To do their job, T cells use specialized receptors to differentiate healthy cells from cancer cells. But cancer cells can trick T cells. One way cancer cells do this is by expressing a protein ligand that binds to a receptor on the T cells to prevent the T cell from recognizing and attacking the cancer cell.
Recently, cancer immunotherapy research has focused on using "anti-PD-1" (or programmed cell death) antibodies to prevent cancer cells from tricking T cells.
"However, this poses several challenges," says Chao Wang, co-lead author of a paper on the microneedle research and a postdoctoral researcher in the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill. "First, the anti-PD-1 antibodies are usually injected into the bloodstream, so they cannot target the tumor site effectively. Second, the overdose of antibodies can cause side effects such as an autoimmune disorder."
To address these challenges, the researchers developed a patch that uses microneedles to deliver anti-PD-1 antibodies locally to the skin tumor. The microneedles are made from hyaluronic acid, a biocompatible material.
The anti-PD-1 antibodies are embedded in nanoparticles, along with glucose oxidase -- an enzyme that produces acid when it comes into contact with glucose. These nanoparticles are then loaded into microneedles, which are arrayed on the surface of a patch.
When the patch is applied to a melanoma, blood enters the microneedles. The glucose in the blood makes the glucose oxidase produce acid, which slowly breaks down the nanoparticles. As the nanoparticles degrade, the anti-PD-1 antibodies are released into the tumor.
"This technique creates a steady, sustained release of antibodies directly into the tumor site; it is an efficient approach with enhanced retention of anti-PD-1 antibodies in the tumor microenvironment," says Zhen Gu, an assistant professor in the biomedical engineering program and senior author of the paper.
The researchers tested the technique against melanoma in a mouse model. The microneedle patch loaded with anti-PD-1 nanoparticles was compared to treatment by injecting anti-PD-1 antibodies directly into the bloodstream and to injecting anti-PD-1 nanoparticles directly into the tumor.
"After 40 days, 40 percent of the mice who were treated using the microneedle patch survived and had no detectable remaining melanoma -- compared to a zero percent survival rate for the control groups," says Yanqi Ye, a Ph.D. student in Gu's lab and co-lead author of the paper.
The researchers also created a drug cocktail, consisting of anti-PD-1 antibodies and another antibody called anti-CTLA-4 -- which also helps T cells attack the cancer cells.
"Using a combination of anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 in the microneedle patch, 70 percent of the mice survived and had no detectable melanoma after 40 days," Wang says.
"Because of the sustained and localized release manner, mediated by microneedles, we are able to achieve desirable therapeutic effects with a relatively low dosage, which reduces the risk of auto-immune disorders," Gu says.
"We're excited about this technique, and are seeking funding to pursue further studies and potential clinical translation," Gu adds
Chao Wang, Yanqi Ye, Gabrielle M. Hochu, Hasan Sadeghifar, Zhen Gu. Enhanced Cancer Immunotherapy by Microneedle Patch-Assisted Delivery of Anti-PD1 Antibody. Nano Letters, 2016; DOI:10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b05030
No more washing: Nano-enhanced textiles clean themselves with light
March 22, 2016
Close-up of the nanostructures grown on cotton textiles by RMIT University researchers. Image magnified 150,000 times. Credit: RMIT University
A spot of sunshine is all it could take to get your washing done, thanks to pioneering nano research into self-cleaning textiles.
Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a cheap and efficient new way to grow special nanostructures -- which can degrade organic matter when exposed to light -- directly onto textiles.
The work paves the way towards nano-enhanced textiles that can spontaneously clean themselves of stains and grime simply by being put under a light bulb or worn out in the sun.
Dr Rajesh Ramanathan said the process developed by the team had a variety of applications for catalysis-based industries such as agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and natural products, and could be easily scaled up to industrial levels.
"The advantage of textiles is they already have a 3D structure so they are great at absorbing light, which in turn speeds up the process of degrading organic matter," he said.
"There's more work to do to before we can start throwing out our washing machines, but this advance lays a strong foundation for the future development of fully self-cleaning textiles."
The researchers from the Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility and NanoBiotechnology Research Lab at RMIT worked with copper and silver-based nanostructures, which are known for their ability to absorb visible light.
When the nanostructures are exposed to light, they receive an energy boost that creates "hot electrons." These "hot electrons" release a burst of energy that enables the nanostructures to degrade organic matter.
The challenge for researchers has been to bring the concept out of the lab by working out how to build these nanostructures on an industrial scale and permanently attach them to textiles.
The RMIT team's novel approach was to grow the nanostructures directly onto the textiles by dipping them into a few solutions, resulting in the development of stable nanostructures within 30 minutes.
When exposed to light, it took less than six minutes for some of the nano-enhanced textiles to spontaneously clean themselves.
"Our next step will be to test our nano-enhanced textiles with organic compounds that could be more relevant to consumers, to see how quickly they can handle common stains like tomato sauce or wine," Ramanathan said.
The research is published on March 23, 2016 in the high-impact journalAdvanced Materials Interfaces.
Samuel R. Anderson, Mahsa Mohammadtaheri, Dipesh Kumar, Anthony P. O'Mullane, Matthew R. Field, Rajesh Ramanathan, Vipul Bansal.Robust Nanostructured Silver and Copper Fabrics with Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Property for Effective Visible Light Induced Reductive Catalysis. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2016; DOI: 10.1002/admi.201500632