Papers by Jane O'Sullivan
Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Nov 1, 2018
TREE 2432 No. of Pages 12
Population and Climate Change
... Page 17. Authors and Contributors Authors Brian O'Neill, who was principally responsible... more ... Page 17. Authors and Contributors Authors Brian O'Neill, who was principally responsible for Chapters 1 and 4, is at the Watson Institute for International Studies and the Center for Environmental Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Nov 13, 2018

Sustainable Development Goals: Their Impacts on Forests and People, 2019
The achievement of SDG 3 depends on many other SDGs; some SDGs are logically inconsistent, especi... more The achievement of SDG 3 depends on many other SDGs; some SDGs are logically inconsistent, especially in the attempt to increase conventionally defined GDP while preserving natural capital. • Any short-term gains for human health from further forest conversion (e.g. food production) creates short-and long-term, direct and indirect health risks for humans, as well as for other biota. • Failure to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services (including family planning) will increase pressure on forests at local, regional and global scales. • The burning and clearing of forests cause significant harm to health via impaired quality of water, soil and air; increased exposure to infectious diseases and impacts climate regulation. • Many infectious diseases are associated with forest disturbances and intrusions; some important infectious diseases have emerged from forests (notably HIV/AIDS). • Greater exposure to green space, including forests, provides mental and physical health benefits for the growing global urban population.

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) was established in June 198... more The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) was established in June 1982 by an Act of the Australian Parliament. ACIAR operates as part of Australia's international development cooperation program, with a mission to achieve more productive and sustainable agricultural systems, for the benefit of developing countries and Australia. It commissions collaborative research between Australian and developing-country researchers in areas where Australia has special research competence. It also administers Australia's contribution to the International Agricultural Research Centres. Where trade names are used this constitutes neither endorsement of nor discrimination against any product by ACIAR. ACIAR MONOGRAPH SERIES This series contains the results of original research supported by ACIAR, or material deemed relevant to ACIAR's research and development objectives. The series is distributed internationally, with an emphasis on developing countries.
Sustainable Population Australia, Oct 28, 2020
With people living longer than ever and the baby-boomer generation reaching retirement age, some ... more With people living longer than ever and the baby-boomer generation reaching retirement age, some people worry that we will run short of workers and taxpayers. But demographic ageing will stop well before that occurs. Retirees will never outnumber younger adults.

This study takes a retrospective look at the time c ourse of total fertility rate (TFR) and the m... more This study takes a retrospective look at the time c ourse of total fertility rate (TFR) and the main factors purported to influence fertility rate, per capita wealth, female education and population-focused voluntary family planning programs. It was found that countries that implemented strong family planning programs achieved fertility reduction much faster and earlier than comparable countries that did not. Fer tility decline typically preceded marked increases in wealth, but per capita wealth growth u sually accelerated when fertility fell to between two and three births per woman. Thus the negative relationship between TFR and GDP per capita tends to be deeply concave for those countries that have achieved relatively low fertility. Higher fertility countries in the sa me region tend to follow a parallel course, but at a slower pace, and most with current fertility a bove three are yet to see sustained wealth increase. Girls’ educational attainment was found t o be neither a pre-...

Better nutrition for the improvement of sweetpotato and taro yields in the South Pacific 06
Tropical Agriculture, 1998
Poor crop nutrition contributes to the low yields of root crops in the South Pacific region where... more Poor crop nutrition contributes to the low yields of root crops in the South Pacific region where symptoms of nutritional disorders are frequently observed. This study was therefore undertaken to assess the effect of inorganic fertilizers on sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.)] and taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] yields. It indicates the importance of the correct diagnosis of the nutritional problems at each site for improved nutrition management and describes procedures used to identify and correct nutritional limitations to growth. Nutrient deficiencies were detected using nutrient omission pot trials and the amounts of fertilizer nutrients required to correct deficiencies were determined in a series of pot and field trials. Placement of P fertilizers and number and timing of N applications were found to increase fertilizer efficiencies. Critical leaf concentrations of N and P were determined. Leaf concentrations sampled during early vegetative growth were found to be good in...

Over the past decade, demographic ageing has become a preoccupation of governments and social sci... more Over the past decade, demographic ageing has become a preoccupation of governments and social scientists globally. It is presented as a threat to prosperity, requiring bold policy measures to moderate and mitigate its impacts. A common response is to boost population growth, through encouragement of larger families and increased immigration quotas. Even among nations whose populations are still growing strongly, and who currently have a small proportion of people over 65 years of age, the fear of ageing has discouraged action to reduce population growth. At the same time, concerns relating to planetary limits, including food security, water scarcity, loss of natural environments and biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel dependence, are becoming ever more acute. Population pressure is the acknowledged driver of all these challenges, but the future projected growth is taken as a fact over which we have no influence. Equally accepted is that this growth will be limited. Most reports refer to nine billion as the maximum number to be accommodated, although this estimate is long out of date. These contrasting agenda reveal a glaring inconsistency. Population growth is readily accepted as a policy choice, when arguments are made for stimulating it. It is presented as inescapable fate when dealing with problems that would be lessened by reducing it. The importance of our population choice It is evident is that global population will not stabilise, unless individual nations choose to embrace population stabilisation or decline. Their recent actions to prevent demographic 'stagnation' have had global effect. Funding and political support for family planning programs has dwindled, while birth rates in many developed countries and some developing countries have risen, with government encouragement. The combined effect has seen global fertility reduction stall, the annual increase in global population creep upward since 2000, and the United Nations' projections repeatedly revised upward. The current medium projection would climb beyond 11 billion early next century. Yet the conditions required for the medium projection are still not met. Announcing the new UN projections, a refreshingly direct John Wilmoth, head of the UN Population Division, stressed that the medium fertility projection assumed steady fertility decline, and 'is thus an expression of what should be possible….[It] could require additional substantial efforts to make it possible.' (Wilmoth 2013, emphasis in the original). Suffice to say that, without 'additional substantial efforts', the global population is on course for well over 11 billion. Few analysts of food security consider that we are likely to be able to feed such a number. The more likely outcome is that planetary limits will cause the death rate to climb.

Outlook on Agriculture, 2003
This paper summarizes a series of field experiments that investigated the effects of organic and ... more This paper summarizes a series of field experiments that investigated the effects of organic and inorganic nutrients on sweet potato tuber yield in the humid lowlands of Papua New Guinea. In the first experiment, plots were planted with Piper aduncum, Gliricidia sepium and Imperata cylindrica, which were slashed after one year, whereafter sweet potato was planted. Sweet potato yield was lowest after Gliricidia fallow, but no yield differences were found after piper and imperata fallow. In the second season, there was no significant difference in sweet potato yields. The second experiment consisted of a factorial fertilizer trial with four levels of N (0, 50, 100, 150 kg ha–1) and two levels of K (0, 50 kg ha–1). Nitrogen fertilizers increased yield in the first season, but depressed tuber yields in the second and third seasons. Potassium fertilizer had no effect on marketable tuber yield. The third experiment consisted of a comparison between N from inorganic fertilizer and poultry ...

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2000
Root crops are an important staple food in the Pacific region. Yields are generally low and inorg... more Root crops are an important staple food in the Pacific region. Yields are generally low and inorganic fertilizers are deemed an option to increase root crop production. The effects of inorganic N fertilizers on upland taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) were quantified with the aim to investigate relationships between inherent soil fertility, N uptake, N application rates and crop yield. The research took place on a sandy, Typic Tropofluvents in the humid lowlands of Papua New Guinea. Five levels of fertilizer N (0,100, 200, 300 and 400 kg ha −1) were given in split applications. The yield of marketable taro corms was not affected by N fertilizer but non-marketable corm yield doubled at high N fertilizer rates. High N applications yielded 8-11 Mg ha −1 more taro tops. Marketable and non-marketable sweet potato yield was negatively affected by N fertilizers. High N applications yielded 26 Mg ha −1 more vines than the control treatment. Nitrogen fertilizer significantly reduced the harvest index in both crops. When no fertilizer was applied, the total N uptake of taro was 32.0 kg ha −1 of which 9.7 kg was taken up in the marketable corms. At 400 kg N ha −1 the total N uptake was 67.5 kg ha −1 of which 23% was taken up by the marketable corms. Uptake of N in the marketable sweet potato tubers was less than 11 kg ha −1 and for most treatments more N was taken up in the non-marketable tubers than in the marketable yield. Up to 156 kg N ha −1 was taken up with the sweet potato vines. Despite the negative effect of N on sweet potato yield, sweet potato had a higher N use efficiency than taro due to a higher above-ground biomass production. The N fertilizer recovery was 25% for the sweet potato but only 9% for the taro indicating considerable N losses, likely caused by leaching.
A field guide to sweetpotato problems in the Philippines

World
Driven by increasing consumption and population numbers, human demands are depleting natural reso... more Driven by increasing consumption and population numbers, human demands are depleting natural resources essential to support human life, causing damage to crop lands, fresh water supplies, fisheries, and forests, and driving climate change. Within this century, world population could increase by as little as 15% or by more than 50%, depending largely on how we respond. We must face the challenge of accommodating these additional people at the same time as virtually eliminating the use of fossil fuels and other activities that generate greenhouse gases, reversing environmental degradation and supporting improved living standards for billions of impoverished people. The response to this challenge is handicapped by a lack of common understanding and an integrated agenda among those contributing to the response. This report offers a strategy to protect natural systems and improve welfare through expansion of reproductive justice, a concept that includes family planning, reproductive heal...

World, 2023
Driven by increasing consumption and population numbers, human demands are depleting natural reso... more Driven by increasing consumption and population numbers, human demands are depleting natural resources essential to support human life, causing damage to crop lands, fresh water supplies, fisheries, and forests, and driving climate change. Within this century, world population could increase by as little as 15% or by more than 50%, depending largely on how we respond. We must face the challenge of accommodating these additional people at the same time as virtually eliminating the use of fossil fuels and other activities that generate greenhouse gases, reversing environmental degradation and supporting improved living standards for billions of impoverished people. The response to this challenge is handicapped by a lack of common understanding and an integrated agenda among those contributing to the response. This report offers a strategy to protect natural systems and improve welfare through expansion of reproductive justice, a concept that includes family planning, reproductive health, and gender equity, and preservation of the environment and climate.

World, 2023
Driven by increasing consumption and population numbers, human demands are depleting natural reso... more Driven by increasing consumption and population numbers, human demands are depleting natural resources essential to support human life, causing damage to crop lands, fresh water supplies, fisheries, and forests, and driving climate change. Within this century, world popula-tion could increase by as little as 15% or by more than 50%, depending largely on how we re-spond. We must face the challenge of accommodating these additional people at the same time as virtually eliminating the use of fossil fuels and other activities that generate greenhouse gas-es, reversing environmental degradation and supporting improved living standards for billions of impoverished people. The response to this challenge is handicapped by a lack of common understanding and an integrated agenda among those contributing to the response. This report offers a strategy to protect natural systems and improve welfare through expansion of reproduc-tive justice, a concept that includes family planning, reproductive health, and gender equity, and preservation of the environment and climate.
The Journal of Population and Sustainability, 2016
Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 2017
Your recent editorial 'Children, poverty and health promotion in Australia' highlighted opportuni... more Your recent editorial 'Children, poverty and health promotion in Australia' highlighted opportunities for Australia to promote the health of future generations by ensuring the needs of children and families are prioritised. 1 Missing in the case studies, even when the case was a woman with four children under six and another in utero, was mention of the key preventive intervention to improve childwellbeing: contraception. 2
Plant and Soil, 2001
No information is available on the decomposition and nutrient release pattern of Piper aduncum an... more No information is available on the decomposition and nutrient release pattern of Piper aduncum and Imperata cylindrica despite their importance in shifting cultivation systems of Papua New Guinea and other tropical regions. We conducted a litter bag study (24 weeks) on a Typic Eutropepts in the humid lowlands to assess the rate of decomposition of Piper aduncum, Imperata cylindrica and
Development of a matrix-based, multi-media diagnostic key to sweetpotato problems
4th International Crop …, 2011
An interactive key for diagnosing problems in sweetpotato has been developed through collaboratio... more An interactive key for diagnosing problems in sweetpotato has been developed through collaboration between The University of Queensland (UQ), the International Potato Center (CIP) and the Philippines Rootcrops Research Institute (Philrootcrops), with funding from the Australian Centre for ...
Uploads
Papers by Jane O'Sullivan