This study investigated the monthly variation of water quality in the Amman-Zarqa and Balqa regions in Jordan in terms of pH, ammonium, nitrate and conductivity. During 2004 there was no monthly variation in water quality for most of the tested parameters. All readings were above the accepted range except for pH, indicating that land use does have an impact on water quality irrespective of urban, industrial or agricultural usage. The water quality remained for the most part below the maximum levels for drinking standards in Jordan, but these standards are often below the WHO recommendations. The pH was found to fluctuate through the year. Nitrate levels were highly seasonal in irrigated lands but remained stable over basin covered by other land uses. Ammonium levels were high in areas of urbanisation and intensive animal husbandry as a consequence of effluent infiltration, peaking during the wet season due to increased infiltration. These results indicate that, over an annual cycle, the variation in water quality remains constant; however the continued drawdown of the aquifer system will inevitably lead to deterioration in the parameters investigated.

Current water use in Jordan is unsustainable in terms of both supply and quality. The growth in population, primarily as a consequence of pulse immigration stemming from regional conflicts, has led to serious water shortages in urban centers, which is expected to worsen in the future. The agricultural sector is moving towards intensification and a high reliance on irrigation, which is unsustainable in the face of dwindling supplies and rising contamination, principally due to salinity. The decline in field crops is a consequence of climatic fluctuations such as rainfall, while the nature of the plots, often small and isolated, make economies of scale problematic. Unless there is a significant shift in the trend of population growth, and controls on the use of irrigation, Jordan faces inevitable social conflict and irrevocable loss of agricultural land.

Measurement of changes in amounts of muscle (lean), fat and bone of animals during feeding experiments is essential for the estimation of changes in body and carcass composition, and for prediction of carcass meat yield. Compositional changes can be determined by real-time ultrasound although the method is limited to the measurement of specific parts of the animal. Computer-aided tomography (CT) measurements of live animals can accurately quantify lean, fat and bone. In sheep, live animal lean, fat and bone compositional measurements are difficult to perform because of the large size of digestive tract, its contents, and difficulties in distinguishing these components from lean and fat tissue in CT images. However, techniques for CT image analysis are improving and newer software programs, such as Osirix (Rosset et al. 2004), have improved analytical capabilities that should increase the accuracy of measuring body composition of live animals. Eighty second-cross wether lambs (initial average liveweight 40.1 kg) were scanned live, without sedation using a Picker UltraZ 2000 CT scanner (Philips Medical Imaging Australia, Sydney NSW), at the beginning and end of a 49 day feeding experiment. Liveweights were recorded immediately prior to scanning then each animal had approximately 66 CT 5 mm cross-sectional images taken, starting at the cervical neck region and continuing through the torso and finishing approximately half way between the patella and tarsal region of the hind-leg. To determine live animal lean, fat and bone content, the virtual removal of internal organs and digestive tract was performed by manual editing of each CT image using Osirix. Once the images were modified, the weight of lean, fat and bone was calculated using Autocat, a software program developed by Thompson and Kinghorn (1998). The lambs were slaughtered at completion of the experiment and hot carcass weight was determined. To determine the accuracy of Osirix, aided by Autocat, the correlation between hot carcass weight and total CT-derived carcass weight was calculated. There was a strong relationship between hot carcass weight and CTderived carcass weight (r² = 0.98, Figure 1). The final CT-derived carcass weight included skin (wool was not computed as it is not a reflective x-ray object) which averaged 4.6 kg (s.e.m. 0.08 kg). The relationship between liveweight and CT estimates of liveweight determined from compositional data was assessed at the beginning and end of the experiment and had r² = 0.95 and 0.96, respectively. For this purpose, the weight of head and feet was estimated as 8 % of liveweight, and wool weight was not included. ... The results of this study show that the use of CT scanning to measure lean, fat and bone should be enhanced by a combination of Osirix image editing and Autocat calculations. However, this technique requires greater automation for more routine use in assessment of body composition.

The aim of this study was to describe the association between meteorological factors and the abundance of adult 'Aedes aegypti' mosquitoes, over 5 year period, from 2006 to 2010 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Daily meteorological data and the adult 'Aedes' mosquito counts and identification were collected and retrieved from the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) and the laboratory of mosquitoes, which belongs to Jeddah Municipality. Different methods were used to verify the associations. Descriptive analysis provided a comparative view of adult 'Aedes' mosquitoes and meteorological variables. Spearman correlation analysis was used to examine the association. The meteorological data were related to adult 'Aedes' mosquito numbers on a weekly basis. The number of adult 'Aedes' mosquitoes increased rapidly about two weeks after the week of rainfall, and sometimes after one week. Most of the meteorological variables associated negatively with the number of mosquitoes in most of the years of epidemic except 2007. In 2007, all meteorological variables considered in this study were positively correlated with the number of mosquitoes, and the most significant correlation was between the weekly averages of maximum relative humidity and the number of mosquitoes (P = 0.49). It was found that average weekly maximum temperature, average weekly minimum relative humidity and average weekly maximum relative humidity were not the main determinant factors in the abundance of adult 'Aedes' mosquitoes, while rainfall and average weekly minimum temperature played determining roles in the abundance of adult 'Aedes' mosquitoes. The study findings can help to improve current dengue fever surveillance system in Jeddah for more accurate forecasting. Every trap that is used to capture adult mosquitoes must have devices for measuring temperature and relative humidity to give a better understanding of the impact of climatic conditions on the adult mosquito abundance.

Background: The incidence and severity of leg problems in broiler chickens are of great concern, both from product quality and animal welfare points of view. The increased exclusion of animal protein from diets will aggravate this problem. The formulation of all-vegetable diets is also rather difficult. Objective: To assess the incidence and severity of leg problems of broilers fed on all-vegetable diets.

This study was undertaken to investigate the gross response and energy utilization of broiler chicks fed on vegetable protein or conventional diets. Two hundred and fifty-two day-old Cobb-500 male broiler chicks were randomly assigned to five experimental groups and raised on a control diet (containing tallow) or diets containing fish meal (SBM50 and Can50) or diets with no animal products (SBM75; Can75) (predominantly soybean or canola meal). Birds were reared mainly on litter under similar environmental and management conditions from 1 to 21 days on starter diets. Feed intake was highest (P<0.001) on the SBM50 and Can50 diets, and lowest on the SBM75 diet. Birds in the SBM50 and Can50 diet groups were heavier (P<0.001) than those in other groups, with SBM75 and Can75 diet groups being the lightest. Birds on SBM75 and Can50 achieved superior feed conversion ratio (FCR), while birds on Can75 diet were the poorest. The dietary apparent metabolisable energy (AME) contents were similar, but ME intake on the SBM50 and Can50 diets was higher (P<0.001) than in other groups. Heat production (HP) was similar, but net energy of production (NEp) was improved (P<0.05) in the birds on SBM50 and Can50. Birds on SBM50, Can50 and Control diet groups retained higher (P<0.05) energy as fat (REf), while energy retention as protein (REp) was highest (P<0.05) in the SBM50 and Can50 diet groups. The efficiencies of utilization of ME for energy (KRE), protein (KREp) and fat (KREf) retentions were unaffected. The results demonstrated that birds on the conventional diets (SBM50; Can50) utilized energy better, and grew faster than the birds on vegetable protein (SBM75; Can75) and Control diets.

This study was undertaken to investigate the growth performance and energy utilization of broiler chickens fed on conventional diets, based on soybean or canola, with fish meal (SBM50 and Can50, respectively) or on Vegetable Protein (VP) diets without fish meal (SBM75 and Can75). Feed intake was highest (p˂0.001) on the SBM50 and Can50 diets and lowest on SBM75 diet. Birds in the SBM50 and Can50 diet groups were heavier (p<0.001) than the SBM75 and Can75 diet groups. Birds on SBM50 and Can50 diets achieved superior Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), while birds on Can75 diet were the poorest. Mortality of birds was unaffected (p>0.05) between dietary groups. The Apparent Metabolizable Energy (AME) intake on the SBM50 and Can50 diets was higher (p˂0.001) than in the VP. Fat intake was highest (p˂0.001) on Can50 diet group while protein intake was unaffected by treatment. Heat Production (HP) was identical, but net energy of production (NEp) was improved (p˂0.05) in the birds on SBM50 and Can 50. Whole body energy as well as fat (p˂0.05) and protein contents were also increased (p˂0.01) in the SBM50 and Can50 dietary groups. Birds on SBM50 and Can50 diet groups retained higher energy as fat (REf) (p˂0.05) and as protein (REp) (p˂O.01). The efficiencies of utilization of ME for energy (kRE), protein (kRE) and fat (kRE) retentions were unaffected. The results demonstrated that birds on the conventional diets (SBM50; Can 50) utilized energy better and as such grew faster than the birds on VP (SBM75; Can 75) diets.

Habitat mapping is a useful tool for ecologists to analyze spatial data. Rocky shore ecosystems comprise a mosaic of habitat types and therefore require good technology to extract fine-scale spatial data on habitat extent and quality. Airborne topographic light detection and ranging data and 0.1-m resolution digital aerial photography were used to map and quantify distinct habitats that influence the distribution of biodiversity on rocky shores. The objectives of this study were to create and test the accuracy of a classification system for the rocky shore habitat, to develop remote sensing techniques useful for the conservation of intertidal rocky shores, and to create detailed digital terrain models for five headlands in the Solitary Island Marine Park, mid-north coast, New South Wales, Australia. The intertidal rocky shore habitats were classified according to tidal heights and substrate type. Ground-truthing of remote sensing data was carried out by visual surveys during low tide. Error assessments using precision analysis and classification accuracy tests confirmed the reliability of the technique with ,5% error. The data generated from this research can be used as a platform for spatial analysis of this environment, including modelling changes in biodiversity under different climate change scenarios.

This study was carried out to compare the performance of broilers fed diets containing only vegetable protein (VP) with birds that received an animal protein (AP) in their diets. Cobb 500 day-old male broiler chicks (n = 256) were randomly divided into four experimental groups. The two AP diets contained fish meal and soybean (SBF) and fish meal with canola (CMF); while the two VP diets contained predominantly soybean (SBM) or canola (CAN) meals. All diets were isoenergetic and isonitrogenous, and were pelleted, but amino acid levels were formulated on a total and not digestible basis. Feed intake up to 21 days was highest on the AP diets, and the lowest in the SBM treatment. Birds in the AP diet groups were significantly heavier at 21 days and 35 days than those on the VP diets. Up to 35 days, birds on AP diets had superior feed conversion ratio, while the CAN treatment was the poorest. Excreta moisture level was significantly higher in birds fed the VP diets than those on AP diets. Excreta pH and ammonia concentration were similar between treatments. Protein digestibility was higher in the AP than in the VP diets. Birds raised on VP diets had a significantly lower abdominal fat content than birds on the AP diets. Other meat characteristics measured in this experiment did not differ significantly. Bone development, in terms of breaking strength and latency-to-sit time, was significantly better on the AP diets than that of birds on the VP diets. The birds on the CMF diet had the longest tibia bone, while birds on SBM diet, the shortest. Total tibia ash content on the CMF diet was significantly increased, along with its iron and copper concentration, which were also significantly higher in birds on the same diet than the others. The responses of birds generally indicated that the AP diets were superior to the VP diets.

Knowledge of the spatial distribution and clustering of productive areas of research can be used by prospective postgraduate students and early career researchers to target locations with high potential for professional development, as well as encourage strategic networking and sharing of knowledge. In the present study, the research output of the Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Science (RS/GIS) discipline in Australia was examined and hotspots of research activity were identified. Publication data from 10 peer-reviewed journals for the 1991 to 2010 period were used to look at research productivity and the levels of research collaboration between research institutions, based on authorship data. Results identified a number of hotspot areas, signifying a clustering of RS/GIS research. The productivity of these hotspot clusters changed over time, with some clusters that were very productive in the early 1990s giving way to other clusters that had developed significantly over time. Some clusters declined in productivity over time, while others were superseded by the development of more productive clusters. The study also found a substantial increase in cross-institutional collaboration in RS/GIS research in Australia over the last 20 years.

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of diets, amino acid and mineral digestibility, tissue protein contents, and endogenous enzyme activities of broilers fed diets based on all-vegetable ingredients with or without supplementation of microbial enzymes. Ross 308 one-day old male broiler chicks (n=160) were assigned to four dietary treatments, each replicated five times, eight chicks per replicate, in a (2 x 2) factorial design. Two basal diets were formulated with soybean (SBM) and canola (CM) meals at a ratio of 75:25, respectively along with basal grains, and fed the birds 'ad libitum' as such or supplemented with enzymes from day 1-35 days. Results showed that tissue protein contents and endogenous enzyme activities (except for maltase) were unaffected by dietary sources and microbial enzyme supplementation. Only the activities of maltase increased (P<0.05) on CM diet compared to SBM diets, but this effect was not shown when enzyme supplementation to diets was mae. The digestibility of threonine, lysine, valine, isoleucine, and leucine was increased (P<0.05; P<0.01) on SBM diet compared to CM diet. The addition of enzymes to diets improved (P,0.05) the digestibility of histidine, threonine, lysine, and isoleucine on day 35. Enzymes had no (P.0.05) effect on mineral digestibility of broilers during this period. The digestibility of Cu, Zn, and Mg was increased (P<0.05) on CM diet, whereas Ca digestibility was higher on SBM diet at 35 days.

Intertidal rocky reefs are complex and rich ecosystems that are vulnerable to even the smallest fluctuations in sea level. We modelled habitat loss associated with sea level rise for intertidal rocky reefs using GIS, high-resolution digital imagery, and LIDAR technology at fine-scale resolution (0.1 m per pixel). We used projected sea levels of +0.3 m, +0.5 m and +1.0 m above current Mean Low Tide Level (0.4 m). Habitat loss and changes were analysed for each scenario for five headlands in the Solitary Islands Marine Park (SIMP), Australia. The results indicate that changes to habitat extent will be variable across different shores and will not necessarily result in net loss of area for some habitats. In addition, habitat modification will not follow a regular pattern over the projected sea levels. Two of the headlands included in the study currently have the maximum level of protection within the SIMP. However, these headlands are likely to lose much of the habitat known to support biodiverse assemblages and may not continue to be suitable sanctuaries into the future. The fine-scale approach taken in this study thus provides a protocol not only for modelling habitat modification but also for future proofing conservation measures under a scenario of changing sea levels.

Land use/land cover (LULC) changes have become a central issue in current global change and sustainability research. Saudi Arabia has undergone significant change in land use and land cover since the government embarked on a course of intense national development 30 years ago, as a result of huge national oil revenues. This study evaluates LULC change in Makkah and Al-Taif, Saudi Arabia from 1986 to 2013 using Landsat images. Maximum likelihood and object-oriented classification were used to develop LULC maps. The change detection was executed using post-classification comparison and GIS. The results indicated that urban areas have increased over the period by approximately 174% in Makkah and 113% in Al-Taif. Analysis of vegetation cover over the study area showed a variable distribution from year to year due to changing average precipitation in this environment. Object-based classification provided slightly greater accuracy than maximum likelihood classification. Information provided by satellite remote sensing can play an important role in quantifying and understanding the relationship between population growth and LULC changes, which can assist future planning and potential environmental impacts of expanding urban areas.

This study uses geographic information systems to map the hotspots level changes in underground water quality based on pH, nitrate and conductivity in Amman, Zarqa and Balqa regions, Jordan using data from 57 wells. The chemical concentration for each parameter was obtained from the Water Authority of Jordan. The data were tested according to ISO/IEC 17025 standards by the Jordan Inorganic Laboratory of the Laboratories and Quality Department of Water Authority for 2004 and 2010 and were processed using Getis-Ord Gi statistics. The study indicated that there are periodic fluctuations for the values of selected chemical elements of groundwater that are localized, creating contamination hotspots within the study regions. The pH, nitrate and conductivity all indicated specific hotspots of higher than average values in 2004 and 2010 in the Zarqa region. The evidence indicates that there are two major localized areas of high value for all parameters centered in the western Zarqa region, an area dominated by urban infrastructure and irrigated lands. These findings have implications for the management of aquifer water quality through the identification of high-value hotspots. Because the aquifers in the regions are connected, understanding the hotspots with high pH, nitrate and conductivity values may enable improvements in the water quality across the aquifer systems in the regions.

The aim of this study was to use geographical information systems to demonstrate the Dengue fever (DF) risk on a monthly basis in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with the purpose to provide documentation serving to improve surveillance and monitor the 'Aedes aegypti' mosquito vector. Getis-Ord Gi statistics and a frequency index covering a five-year period (2006-2010) were used to map DF and model the risk spatio-temporally. The results show that monthly hotspots were mainly concentrated in central Jeddah districts and that the pattern changes considerably with time. For example, on a yearly basis, for the month of January, the Burman district was identified as a low risk area in 2006, a high-risk area in 2007, medium risk in 2008, very low risk in 2009 and low risk in 2010. The results demonstrate that it would be useful to follow the monthly DF pattern, based on the average weekly frequency, as this can facilitate the allocation of resources for the treatment of the disease, preventing its prevalence and monitoring its vector.

Animal by-products are excluded from most commercially manufactured poultry diets in Australia as a precaution against contamination of feed mills with zoonotic agents that could infect ruminants. Excluding animal by-products from formulations not only reduces the nutritive value of the diets but also creates a constraint in feed formulation. This study was undertaken to compare responses of broiler chickens fed all-vegetable diets with those of chickens fed conventional diets.

Bats are most diverse in the tropics, but there are no quantitative data on torpor use for energy conservation by any tropical bat in the wild. We examined the thermal biology, activity patterns and torpor use of two tree-roosting long-eared bats ('Nyctophilus geoffroyi', 7.8 g) in tropical northern Australia in winter using temperature telemetry. Bats commenced activity about 20 min after sunset, ended activity about 2.5 h before sunrise and entered torpor everyday in the early morning even when minimum ambient temperatures (T a) were as high as 23°C. On average, bats remained torpid for almost 5 h, mean minimum skin temperature (T skin) measured was 22.8 ±0.1°C and daily T skin minima were correlated with T a. Our study shows that even in the tropics, torpor is frequently employed by bats, suggesting that worldwide most bat species are heterothermic and use torpor for energy conservation. We propose that the ability of employing torpor and the resulting highly plastic energy requirements may partially explain why these small insectivorous bats can inhabit almost the entire Australian continent despite vastly different climatic and likely trophic conditions. Reduced energy requirements also may permit survival in degraded or modified habitats, reduce the need for foraging and reduce exposure to predators. Thus, the ability to employ torpor may be one important reason for why most Australian bats and other heterothermic mammals have not gone extinct whereas many obligatory homeothermic mammals that cannot employ torpor and have high energy and foraging requirements have suffered high rates of extinctions.

This paper examines the problems of water shortage and quality issues in the Kingdom of Jordan. Demand for water has led to a decimation of ground water supplies and a significant rise in salinity. This rise in salinity can be traced to increasing saline base flows, the reduction in natural flows, changing extent of agriculture, agricultural practices, contamination of irrigation systems with saline inflow and poor infrastructural planning. Water security in Jordan is a very serious issue due to the rapid increase in population growth. Jordan is faced with the need to tighten regulations in water treatment, address the issue of domestic supply losses and illegal drawdown of ground water in the short term to gain significant inroads into the water problem. However, in the longer term, there is a need for a review of current infrastructure and its functionality, changing agricultural practice and finding sustainable sources of water.

The primary problems in water quality and availability in Jordan stem from poor long-term planning. This paper looks at past and current policies related to water management, considers their weaknesses, and suggests means of improving the management and planning aspects and the need for desalination infrastructure. The major water issues in Jordan can be attributed to both policy implementation failure and a lack of on-the-ground application of regulations. This study indicates that desalination of Red Sea water can be a long-term viable option to meet the growing domestic water needs within Jordan.