梦幻大堡礁

大堡礁是世界上景色最美、规模最大、最为迷人的珊瑚礁群,是令澳大利亚人最值得骄傲的世界七大自然景观之一,1981年列入世界遗产名录。今年金秋时节,我有机会亲历梦幻大堡礁。     

纵贯澳大利亚——大堡礁专业潜水船

<正>在我粗浅的意识中,澳大利亚有两个地方是此生一定要去看看的,在我已经去过乌卢鲁之后,大堡礁是另一个目标。这条2000多公里的珊瑚礁链几乎包裹了整个昆士兰东海岸,如今它正经受着前所未有的生存危机,再不去看看或许就看不到了。尽管昆士兰北部同时拥有热带雨林和大堡礁两处世界遗产,但更为游人喜闻乐见的旅游活动几乎都是围绕着大堡礁进行的,凯恩斯以及道格拉斯港这样的城市好像就是为了人们参观大堡礁而生,这里的各种游船生意已经做了     

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: Dimensions and Regional Patterns

A mapping programme of all reefs of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park area and compilation of a computer-based gazetteer containing locational and morphological data have permitted the first comprehensive spatial and morphometric analysis of the Great Barrier Reef. As previously suspected the analysis shows that a degree of organisation exists in the complexity of the Reef and clear regional and latitudinal patterns are recognised Reasons for this, particularly in relation to regional structure and the influence of the pre-Holocene foundations of the modem reef, are discussed The usefulness of a morphometric approach is suggested and an example related to Acanthaster planci outbreaks presented     

Nearest Neighbour Analysis and Wedge-Tailed Shearwater Burrow Patterns on Heron and Masthead Islands,Great Barrier Reef

Heron and Masthead Islands in the Capricorn Group of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park support major nesting colonies of the wedge-tailed shearwater. The distribution pattern of shearwater nesting burrows was established for particular habitats on both islands by means of a nearest neighbour analysis. Areas of Pisonia grandis forest had the highest burrow density and near-random distribution patterns for burrows while the island fringes had the lowest densities and higher degrees of aggregation. These results may reflect the importance of social communication within a wedge-tailed shearwater colony. Burrows are distributed in patches around the margins of the colony where clear and fringe habitats are represented, but randomly near the centre in Pisonia areas, where sheer numbers may negate the need for further aggregation.     

Unlocking Australia's Relationship with the Middle East

Historically, Australia's interests in the Middle East related primarily to its role in the Commonwealth imperial defence system which resulted in the deployment of Australian forces in the Middle East during both the First and Second World Wars. Similarly, the current involvement of Australian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is driven by the country's strategic alliance with the United States. However, Australia's current involvement reflects a multifaceted relationship that spans economic, political and strategic spheres. Yet it is at the level of cultural and civilisational contacts that this relationship appears at its most vulnerable. This paper argues that a deeper understanding of this cultural dimension combined with a broader emphasis on good governance and human rights would be conducive to more robust ties in the longer term.     

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the challenges of globalisation

This article critically examines the argument that the forces of globalisation will see the end of the foreign ministry in the context of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). It suggests that globalisation is affecting the subject matter of foreign policy-making through four processes: diffusion, enmeshment, contradiction, and transformation. It then looks at three prominent challenges these processes have made to the work of DFAT: politicisation; the volume and contestation of information; and resource-cutting. It concludes that rather than being eroded by globalisation, DFAT has been forced to play a more assertive and diversified role, and that it has responded to these challenges in a highly creative way.     

Land of Grass: the Loss of Australia's Grasslands

To a large extent, the Australia of 1788 was characterised not by forests but by open woodlands and grasslands. Yet many of these areas now contain dense forest. Possible explanations for this dramatic vegetational shift include the cessation of Aboriginal burning regimes and the displacement by domestic stock of mammals that ate tree seedlings. While Australia's grasslands were being overrun, elsewhere destructive and wasteful felling of timber continued apace. The problems resulting from such clearance began to be widely articulated in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, but general attitudes to ringbarking and felling have changed only slowly. The result of all this is that Australia's vegetation is now thoroughly disorganised. The grassy woodlands have gone and with them birds, animals and numerous varieties of grass. Any attempt to provide an environment suitable for the majority of native plants and animals in temperate Australia must depend on the restoration of a pre-European-type mosaic of interconnected grassy woodlands.     

论澳大利亚参与朝鲜战争的原因

从外交演进的轨迹来看,澳大利亚参与朝鲜战争是谋求在地区乃至国际性事务中发挥积极建设性作用,并树立英联邦国家的自主外交形象。广义地分析,澳大利亚参加朝鲜战争是西方资本主义阵营对社会主义阵营采取的敌对行动。从狭义的角度来理解,澳大利亚参与朝鲜战争是为了消弥澳大利亚与美国之间的分歧,密切与美关系,其最终目的就是为建立澳美同盟创造条件。