74 research outputs found
Phytolith analysis reveals the intensity of past land use change in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot
No full textThis paper presents a study of phytoliths (opal silica bodies from plants) from sediment sequences obtained from two tropical forest patches in the Western Ghats of India: a sacred grove (sequence covers last 550 cal BP) and a forest patch in a plantation (sequence covers last 7500 cal BP). The sites are located at mid-elevation (c. 650–1400 m above sea level) in a mosaic landscape showing anthropogenic open habitats and plantations as well as some evergreen forests. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the landscape composition of grassland and forest over time in the region, grassland being invariably shaped by anthropogenic activities, particularly fire for cultivation. We identified and classified phytoliths into 34 morphotypes from five taxonomic groups: Poaceae (grasses), Cyperaceae (sedges), Arecaceae (palms), Pteridopsida (ferns) and woody dicotyledons (broad-leaved trees and shrubs). We also calculated the humidity–aridity index (Iph). First, our results show that grasses are the most represented phytolith types in both sites, followed by broad-leaved trees and shrubs, palms, sedges, and ferns. Second, the highly variable climatic index Iph over the last 1000 years suggest that changes in phytolith percentage (e.g. broad-leaved trees) might be caused by human agro-pastoral activities, such as clearing through fires and irrigation. Prior to these human activities, the phytolith signal for early Holocene climate is congruent with the existing literature. Finally, this study compares new phytolith results with previous pollen data from the same sites. We find good agreement between these two botanical proxies throughout, thus validating our findings. We provide important evidence regarding the history of environmental change due to anthropogenic activities in the Western Ghats. This has important implications because it provides insights into how tropical forest will respond to increased intensity of human activities
Ambroise paré (1510-1590) and his innovative work on the treatment of war injuries
No full textThe purpose of this study is to summarize the innovations of Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) on the treatment of war wounds and improving amputation technique through ligature in arteries and veins. Ambroise Paré debunked the widely accepted idea that gun powder was poisonous for wounds. He also minimized the use of cautery of wounds by his dressing methods and the application of ligature during amputations. All these innovative rationales revolutionized the practice of war surgery during the Renaissance and paved the way for the introduction of modern surgery. Nevertheless, although his wound dressing innovations became widely accepted, the same did not happen with ligature and amputation; those techniques could become widely applicable if one could somehow control bleeding until the blood vessels had been tied. This became possible much later in the 18th century when Jean Louis Petit invented the first useful and efficient tourniquet. © The Author(s) 2017
Tracking late-Quaternary extinctions in interior Alaska using megaherbivore bone remains and dung fungal spores
Get PDFOne major challenge in the study of late-Quaternary extinctions (LQEs) is providing better estimates of past megafauna abundance. To show how megaherbivore population size varied before and after the last extinctions in interior Alaska, we use both a database of radiocarbon-dated bone remains (spanning 25–0 ka) and spores of the obligate dung fungus, Sporormiella, recovered from radiocarbon-dated lake-sediment cores (spanning 17–0 ka). Bone fossils show that the last stage of LQEs in the region occurred at about 13 ka ago, but the number of megaherbivore bones remains high into the Holocene. Sporormiella abundance also remains high into the Holocene and does not decrease with major vegetation changes recorded by arboreal pollen percentages. At two sites, the interpretation of Sporormiella was enhanced by additional dung fungal spore types (e.g., Sordaria). In contrast to many sites where the last stage of LQEs is marked by a sharp decline in Sporormiella abundance, in interior Alaska our results indicate the continuance of megaherbivore abundance, albeit with a major taxonomic turnover (including Mammuthus and Equus extinction) from predominantly grazing to browsing dietary guilds. This new and robust evidence implies that regional LQEs were not systematically associated with crashes of overall megaherbivore abundance
Stroke research priorities for the next decade - A supplement statement on intracranial haemorrhage
Get PDFTree cover in the early Holocene in temperate Europe and implications for the practice of re-wilding in nature conservation
Get PDFThis thesis addresses the methodological challenges of determining the variability of large herbivore populations through time and their impact on European vegetation. Large herbivores are at the heart of conservation policy. However, opinions widely diverge on whether we should aim for fewer herbivores and managed populations or, on the contrary as advocated by the rewilding movement, more herbivores and self-regulating populations acting as ecosystem engineers. This controversy has roots in a debate regarding the nature of ecosystems before the prevalence of human activities. Baseline ecosystems are either described as continuous forest cover with passive large herbivores, or, in contrast, as mosaics with patchy forest cover driven inter alia by bison, aurochs and horses, now rare or extinct in Europe. The main obstacle in moving this debate forward is a poor understanding of large-herbivore densities in the past. I analysed modern pollen and spore assemblages from known environmental settings to improve palaeoecological interpretation of fossil assemblages dating from the pre-human (baseline) period. The sites investigated are the rewilded grasslands of the Oostvaardersplassen (The Netherlands), the mosaic habitats of The New Forest (UK) and the old-growth closedcanopy forest of Białowieża (Poland). I demonstrate that the common practice of interpreting pollen percentages fails to estimate past forest cover in situations with natural grazing. As an explanation, I suggest that pollen productivity fluctuates with biotic factors such as herbivory and canopy shading. As a result, new insights into the baseline debate require additional lines of evidence. In this thesis, I develop an existing methodology to reconstruct past herbivore presence using fossil dung fungal spores. I synthesise current knowledge of this method with an emphasis on spore identification and, finally, I demonstrate that dung fungal spore abundance in lake sediments can be translated into large herbivore numbers. The evidence presented in this thesis contributes to the debate on re-wilding and addresses a fundamental challenge of nature conservation in the human-dominated landscapes of Europe
L’art d’enseigner à parler aux sourds-muets de naissance
No full textParis : J. G. Dentu, 1820. x, 113 p. : port. ; 21 cm. Baker collection no. 118.Submitted by Jamie Smith ([email protected]) on 2012-05-21T14:01:33Z
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Previous issue date: 1820The Andrew W. Mellon Foundatio
Pierre Franco (1505-1578): An Innovative Surgeon of the 16th Century in the Treatment of Hernia and Lithotomy
No full textPierre Franco (1505-1578) was a brilliant surgeon of the Renaissance, a contemporary of Ambroise Paré. He made an impact on the history of surgery with his innovative approaches in the treatment of hernia, lithotomy, and the use of the suprapubic incision. The purpose of this study is to present a detailed account of his work, innovations, and achievements as well as the impact he made on the surgery of the Renaissance. © The Author(s) 2018
Repeatable patterns in the distribution of freshwater biodiversity indicators across contrasting landscapes
Get PDFContext Freshwater biodiversity is declining at unparalleled rates, but fundamental questions remain over how it is distributed at the spatial scales most relevant for conservation management. Objectives Here, we test the hypothesis that freshwater biodiversity is distributed across standing waterbody types in a pattern that is reproducible across disparate biota and contrasting landscapes, such that conservation efforts can be aligned across landscapes and taxa. Methods We analysed the richness, composition and distribution of macrophytes, molluscs, beetles and odonates from 199 standing waterbodies (lakes, ponds, ditches and canals) nested within UK landscapes with contrasting dominant land use (agricultural, upland and suburban). Results We found a common pattern in the distribution of our biodiversity indicators across waterbody types in all landscapes that was largely repeated across biota; lakes consistently had the highest or equal alpha diversity and supported a greater proportion of the sampled species pool in each landscape (mean=86%) in comparison to ponds (74%). Landscape-specific waterbody types (ditches and canals) also contributed significantly to the regional species pool (69 and 33% respectively). Each waterbody type contributed uniquely to landscape biodiversity and usually species of conservation concern, rather than simply supporting a subset of ubiquitous species found in lakes. Conclusions Landscape-wide management strategies that encompass multiple habitats and biota should prove advantageous and generalisable
Do dung fungal spores make a good proxy for past distribution of large herbivores?
No full textThe importance of herbivory as a long-term driver of ecosystem change is a topic that has been hotly debated over the past few years. An understanding of the interaction between herbivores and ecosystems is particularly important for conservation policies aimed at re-wilding. Dung fungal spores have been highlighted as an important potential proxy to reconstruct large herbivore densities across past landscapes. However, this proxy appears to have been used and interpreted in a variety of ways in addition to highly variable taxonomic identification of dung fungal spores. Here we review studies that have utilised fungal spore assemblages to assess past herbivore presence and test the validity of this method. We aim to determine whether there is a set of identifiable dung fungal spores that can unequivocally track variation of large herbivore activity through time and across regions. Our meta-analysis identifies: (1) spore types that are commonly found to be indicative of large herbivores and their geographical ranges, (2) linkages between these spores and their biological origin, and (3) the most appropriate quantitative method to express their abundance for comparisons through time and across sites. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd
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