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In this chapter, we synthesise the main findings from the previous chapters in the book to highlight the key issues related to demographic change in rural Australia. We focus on the two major patterns of population growth and population decline in rural landscapes, but also explore the complexities underlying these general patterns. Demographic change, in all its forms, poses major challenges for rural land management requiring innovative and far-sighted planning strategies that aim to promote socially, economically and ecologically sustainable rural communities. The national and international policy arena is punctuated by various strategies designed to encourage desirable land-holder actions (e.g., environmental stewardship payments), but it is unclear how widely applicable or effective these strategies are likely to be. At the end of the chapter, we list ten key areas where we believe future attention should be focussed to ensure we have the most crucial information needed to guide the development of healthy, vibrant and sustainable rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The movement of people to reside in new locations – a key aspect of demographic change – is a phenomenon Australia shares with the rest of the world. While most of Australia΄s population lives in an urban environment, the dimensions of demographic change are more complex than a steady leakage of rural people to the cities. There is a simultaneous migrationmigration of rural people to other rural and regional areas, and urban people to new coastal, rural and regional areas to fulfil the apparent opportunities of a better life. In many respects, the appeal and limitation of rural areas is temporally, socially and spatially specific. This chapter provides an overview of the principal patterns, drivers and implications of demographic change for rural communities and landscapes. While drawing on international experiences, this chapter is framed by the Australian context and outlines the more substantive discussion that follows in subsequent chapters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The prehistory and history of health and nutrition in Ecuador are examined from 22 samples of human remains drawn from sites that date from about 6000 bc to ad 1940 and come from diverse ecological environments. The study suggests a deterioration of health and nutrition with the beginnings of agriculture and increased sedentism. It also reveals less evidence of morbidity in prehistoric samples from the highlands compared to the coastal regions. However, within the coastal samples there were variations between the tropical humid north coast and the more arid south coast that related to differences in the natural environment and in the character of societies living there. Apart from the higher frequencies of periosteal lesions and evidence of trauma, generally the north coast samples revealed less evidence of morbidity than those from the south coast. The skeletal evidence reveals little change in health and nutrition following the Spanish Conquest. This may reflect in part the samples available, but also the fact that traumatic events, such as epidemics that are noted in the documentary sources, left no mark on the skeleton. The study suggests that health and nutrition in Ecuador were generally better than in other regions of Latin America, notably Mexico. Scholars generally agree that when European explorers penetrated the New World it was already occupied by diverse peoples. Scholars also agree that their populations declined as a result of the introduction of new pathogens and the cultural changes brought by colonial rule. However, there is less agreement on the magnitude of the decline and on exactly what new pathogens were introduced, the extent of their impact, and their significance relative to others factors implicated in the decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These strangers, where are they going? Where are they trying to steer? They must be in that place Thoorvour, it is true. See the smoke coming in from the sea. These men must be burying themselves like the sand crabs They disappeared like the smoke. According to Aboriginal traditions this song records the Badjala response to seeing HMS Endeavour passing Australia's coast. The date would have been Sunday May 20, 1770. Such a claim would be disconcerting to those who maintain that Aborigines were initially incapable of cognitively grasping Western cultural phenomena. This, however, is not an exceptional case. The Badjala had another public ceremony concerning the sighting of Flinders’ vessel in 1802, which closely parallels the well authenticated Koorannup ceremony based on encounters with Flinders and his crew in die previous year on Australia's opposite coast. Other ship ceremonies have also been recorded. The symbolism of the Endeavour ceremonial song is rich. For a people who buried their dead in the sand the self-inhuming crew must have constituted a powerful image. Indeed the suggestion that the sighting may have been interpreted as a portent is intriguingly appropriate. Less than two decades later death had landed. The year after the arrival of the First Fleet the initial lethal epidemic erupted. Collins gave an eyewitness account of the horror of the event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]