In the discussion of the inclusion of generic skills in courses, the voices of employers, universities and government have been clearly heard. However, the undergraduate student voice has been largely missing. This paper outlines the results of a survey of staff and undergraduate students. Part A of the survey asked participants to rate a set of skills in terms of their importance. Part B of the survey asked participants to add other skills that they considered important. The student results demonstrate signi®cant year effects. For example higher-order skills such as critical thinking are rated more important at third year than at ®rst year. Comparisons of the staff data and student data show that student perceptions match staff perceptions more closely at third-year level than at ®rst year. When all the results are considered in the broader context of our courses, there appears to be a strong link between students' perception of the importance of skills and the degree to which the skills are assessed.
Detritivores are small- to medium-sized invertebrates that comminute and break down organic materials such as leaves, twigs and roots, especially within or upon the soil surface, or nearby. Detritivores constitute the majority of the invertebrate biomass pyramid in most environments and provide a key role in organic matter turnover; they also provide alternative food for polyphagous predators that can be active in pest control on crops. Many arthropod taxa are detritivores in soil and litter layers. Here, we focus on the bioindicator potential of three key detritivore groups: slaters, millipedes and oribatid mites. There are possibly 300 species of slaters (terrestrial isopods or Oniscidea) in Australia with 13 of these being introduced, mostly from north-western Europe. These non-native species are the dominant species in disturbed environments such as intensively managed forests and agricultural fields. Slaters are promising indicators of landscape disturbance, soil contamination and tillage. Millipedes are potentially important indicators of stress in agricultural landscapes, given their sensitivity to litter and soil moisture gradients and to physical and chemical perturbations. However, because there is a close association between the millipede fauna and moist plant communities in Australia, they are generally absent from drier landscapes and, therefore, their use as bioindicators in agricultural environments here is problematic. An exception to this association is the increasingly ubiquitous introduced Black Portuguese millipede. This species is tolerant of much drier conditions than most natives, and is likely to change the nature of nutrient cycling processes in pastures and native grasslands in much of southern Australia. Oribatid mites are present in all Australian terrestrial ecosystems. The few studies that have examined their response to disturbance and land use in Australia are consistent with the body of work conducted outside Australia. This consistent response means that the oribatids may be developed as indicators in agricultural, pasture and forested environments. However, the paucity of information on oribatids over appropriate spatial scales in Australia makes the use of this group extremely difficult at this time
This study investigated the abundance and diversity of acarine (mite) communities in the soil of rehabilitated bauxite mine pits of the Northern Jarrah Eucalyptus marginata forest in southwest Australia. The areas selected had been subject to various revegetation techniques and ranged in age from 2 to 20 years. The study found that more than ten years is required for rehabilitated areas to generate mite abundance and diversity comparable to adjacent unmined forest. The use of mites as indicators of ecosystem recovery following disturbance is discussed. Families of oribatid mites (Oppiidae and Orlbatulidae) are identified as warranting further study for this purpose.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.