December 2006 issue - Science and Research Updates

FISHERIES SCIENCE | Sonar reveals the secret fears of fish
First Australian trials of a specialist underwater acoustic camera have overcome a major difficulty in fisheries research.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/updates/issues/december-2006/sonar-reveals-secret-fears-of-fish

CROP PRODUCTION | Decline in canola yields due to 'soil constraints'
Canola yields in southern Australia decreased by ten per cent during the 1990s, and grain growers fear that acid and saline soils could be partly to blame.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/updates/issues/december-2006/decline-in-canola-yields

LIVESTOCK | Sheep happy to draft themselves
Remote drafting of sheep, where they are divided into groups without the need to be taken to yards or to involve human labour, is now a reality.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/updates/issues/december-2006/sheep-draft-themselves

SCIENCE QUALITY | Science quality: Excellence recognised in latest gradings
Excellence in science and research in the public sector is measured in part by how we are judged by outsiders.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/updates/issues/december-2006/science-quality-excellence-recognised

CONSERVATION | United effort to restore endangered ecology community
An ambitious project by staff at the Australian Cotton Research Institute will see an area of the research station returned to its former status as Native Carbeen Open Forest - an open forest environment of plants and wildlife.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/updates/issues/december-2006/restore-endangered-ecology-community

PLANT BREEDING | Seven international scientists attend cold tolerance rice workshop
Four scientists from China, two from Japan and one from South Korea are attending an ‘International Cold Tolerance Rice Workshop’ being held by NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) at Yanco Agricultural College this week (4 to 8 December).
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/updates/issues/december-2006/international-scientists-attend-workshop