1,831 research outputs found
Heathland plant species composition and vegetation structures reflect soil‐related paths of development and site history
No full textAbstract Questions To improve our knowledge on how environmental conditions determine the development of high‐value Calluna vulgaris heathland habitats, we studied the floristic and structural characteristics of heathland plant communities across North Germany and how they are influenced by edaphic, climatic and management factors. We ask how heathland development is related to these factors and what are the implications for conservation management and restoration. Location North German Plain. Methods We collected 350 relevés in 18 dry Calluna heathland areas. Plant communities were classified using Isopam, and Redundancy Analysis (RDA) determined effects of environmental conditions. Potential pathways of development and the nature conservation status of the communities were identified on a multifactorial basis. Results We found nine floristically and structurally distinct heathland plant communities. Heathland vegetation showed distinct patterns along Calluna age development stages and environmental conditions. Soil conditions and related effects of long‐term site history and recent management turned out to be the predominant factors influencing species composition and diversity, resulting in three potential heathland succession pathways. Mosaic‐like communities with particularly high taxonomic diversity and conservation value occurred on early‐successional inland dunes or as regeneration stage growing on nutrient‐poor sandy soils without humus accumulation. Conclusions The study reveals fundamental differences between historically farmed heathland in the oceanic Northwest and former military training areas mainly in northeastern Germany with consequences for restoration ecology. Present nature conservation criteria turned out to be insufficient in predicting habitat quality, as lichens are frequently disregarded. Our findings highlight the need for intense soil disturbance to maintain early‐stage soil conditions and a diverse Calluna growth‐phase composition, as these factors essentially determine species richness in lowland heaths.We studied the factors characteristic of Calluna vulgaris dry lowland heathlands in North Germany. Land use, both past and present, as well as management effects on soil conditions strongly influence heathland structures and diversity. We identified two pathways, psammophilous and consolidated sand heath trajectories, each with stages different in species composition, lichen richness, age structure composition and nature conservation value. imageGerman Federal Environmental Foundation http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/10000763
Jenny Watson Declares
No full textFor more than four decades, Jenny Watson has deliberately placed the figure of the artist at the centre of her work. We might think of this figure - a girl-woman with long red hair, big eyes and thin legs, wearing a frock - as a generic female, or perhaps as an Alice? But it is Jenny, surely? These highly narrativised paintings present such a personal, subjective and often confessional voice that it is impossible to distance their subject from the artist This is made all the more difficult by the apparently interior dialogue of the girl-woman, writ large and loud within the bounds of the figurative painting and on accompanying text panels, and the first-person narrative it tells, This may seem to simply be a case of the artist-author representing her lived experience for an audience. But, as much as this works with a candid spontaneity of address, the autobiographical positioning of Watson's works is anything but straightforward We cannot identify these issues of autobiography in Watson's painting without also remembering that her work has always been positioned as conceptual art and that she has a troubled faith in the immediacy of representation, In many ways, the relationship between the subject of Watson's paintings and their artist-maker is the point where the complexity of the works is emphatically underscored.Arts, Education & Law Group, Queensland College of ArtNo Full Tex
Jenny Boully, 38th Annual ODU Literary Festival
No full textJenny Boully is the author of The Book of Beginnings and Endings (Sarabande), not merely because of the unknown that was stalking towards them (Tarpaulin Sky Press), The Body: An Essay (Essay Press). Born in Thailand and raised in Texas, she holds a Ph.D. in English from the CUNY-Graduate Center. She lives in Chicago with her family and teaches creative writing at Columbia College Chicago
Close to the edge: Spatial variation in plant diversity, biomass and floral resources in conventional and agri‐environment cereal fields
No full textAbstract Non‐crop (segetal) plants in arable systems are commonly perceived simply as ‘weeds’, that is, harmful at worst and undesirable at best. The increase in management intensity in European arable systems has vastly reduced the populations of all but the most disturbance‐tolerant plant species, negatively impacting the whole agricultural food web. In recent years, efforts have been made to promote agricultural biodiversity through measures such as flower strips and unsprayed field margins. However, studies of their impacts on the arable flora have rarely considered their spatial variation within the crop field. We investigated the spatial distribution of vascular plant species richness and their contribution to the food web via biomass and flower units in conventional and agri‐environment cereal fields in six regions of Germany. We studied two types of in‐crop measures (extensive cereals without pesticides or fertiliser, and with or without intercropping with flowering species) and one adjacent measure (neighbouring flower strip), recording at 1‐m intervals from the field edge to the interior. These results were then extrapolated to illustrate the effects of these measures on resource provision at the field scale. Species richness and plant biomass dropped off sharply after the first metre in the conventional treatments, regardless of the adjacent habitat. The ‘extensive’ treatments maintained a much higher level of diversity and resource provision in the field interior. At the field level, this can mean more than a 60‐fold difference in the provision of flowering resources between conventional management (1900 flower units/ha) and agri‐environment measures (AEMs) (127,000 units/ha for extensive cereals). Synthesis and applications . The strong edge effects we found in conventional cultivation support the premise that reducing field sizes could play a role in promoting in‐crop biodiversity. However, incorporating extensive field margins as an AEM would be more efficient at maximising the diversity of generalists whilst maintaining high yields.Zusammenfassung Ackerwildkräuter (sogenannte Segetalpflanzen) werden häufig einfach als ‘Unkraut’ wahrgenommen, d. h. schlimmstenfalls als schädlich und bestenfalls als unerwünscht. Die zunehmende Bewirtschaftungsintensität in europäischen Ackerbausystemen hat die Populationen aller Ackerwildkräuter mit Ausnahme der störungsresistentesten stark reduziert, was sich negativ auf das gesamte landwirtschaftliche Nahrungsnetz auswirkt. In den letzten Jahren wurden Anstrengungen unternommen, die biologische Vielfalt in der Landwirtschaft durch Maßnahmen wie Blühstreifen und ungespritzte Feldränder zu fördern. Bei der Untersuchung ihrer Auswirkungen auf die Ackerflora wurde jedoch nur selten ihre räumliche Variation innerhalb des Ackers berücksichtigt. Wir haben die räumliche Verteilung der Ackerwildkrautdiversität sowie deren Biomasse und die Anzahl von Blüteneinheiten in konventionellen und agrarumweltgerechten Getreidefeldern in sechs Regionen Deutschlands studiert. Wir untersuchten zwei Maßnahmen in der Kultur (Extensivgetreide mit oder ohne blühende Untersaat) und eine angrenzende Maßnahme (benachbarter Blühstreifen) und platzierten Aufnahmen in Abständen von 1 m vom Feldrand bis ins Feldinneren. Diese Ergebnisse wurden dann extrapoliert, um die Auswirkungen dieser Maßnahmen auf die Ressourcenbereitstellung auf der Feldskala zu veranschaulichen. Der Artenreichtum und die Pflanzenbiomasse nahmen im konventionellen Getreide nach dem ersten Meter stark ab, unabhängig vom angrenzenden Vegetationstyp. Diese Abnahme war im Extensivgetreide viel schwächer ausgeprägt. Auf der Feldebene kann dies einen mehr als sechzigfachen Unterschied in der Bereitstellung von Blütenressourcen zwischen der konventionellen Bewirtschaftung (1900 Blüteneinheiten/ha) und dem Extensivgetreide (127.000 Einheiten/ha) bedeuten. Synthese und Anwendung in der Praxis . Die starken Randeffekte, die wir bei der konventionellen Bewirtschaftung feststellten, unterstützen die Annahme, dass die Verringerung der Feldgröße eine Rolle bei der Förderung der biologischen Vielfalt spielen dürfte. Die Anlage von Extensivgetreidestreifen am Feldrand als Agrarumweltmaßnahme wäre jedoch ein effizienterer Weg, um die Vielfalt der Generalisten zu erhöhen und gleichzeitig hohe Erträge zu erhalten.Abstract Non‐crop (segetal) plants in arable systems are commonly perceived simply as ‘weeds’, that is, harmful at worst and undesirable at best. The increase in management intensity in European arable systems has vastly reduced the populations of all but the most disturbance‐tolerant plant species, negatively impacting the whole agricultural food web. In recent years, efforts have been made to promote agricultural biodiversity through measures such as flower strips and unsprayed field margins. However, studies of their impacts on the arable flora have rarely considered their spatial variation within the crop field. We investigated the spatial distribution of vascular plant species richness and their contribution to the food web via biomass and flower units in conventional and agri‐environment cereal fields in six regions of Germany. We studied two types of in‐crop measures (extensive cereals without pesticides or fertiliser, and with or without intercropping with flowering species) and one adjacent measure (neighbouring flower strip), recording at 1‐m intervals from the field edge to the interior. These results were then extrapolated to illustrate the effects of these measures on resource provision at the field scale. Species richness and plant biomass dropped off sharply after the first metre in the conventional treatments, regardless of the adjacent habitat. The ‘extensive’ treatments maintained a much higher level of diversity and resource provision in the field interior. At the field level, this can mean more than a 60‐fold difference in the provision of flowering resources between conventional management (1900 flower units/ha) and agri‐environment measures (AEMs) (127,000 units/ha for extensive cereals). Synthesis and applications . The strong edge effects we found in conventional cultivation support the premise that reducing field sizes could play a role in promoting in‐crop biodiversity. However, incorporating extensive field margins as an AEM would be more efficient at maximising the diversity of generalists whilst maintaining high yields.Zusammenfassung Ackerwildkräuter (sogenannte Segetalpflanzen) werden häufig einfach als ‘Unkraut’ wahrgenommen, d. h. schlimmstenfalls als schädlich und bestenfalls als unerwünscht. Die zunehmende Bewirtschaftungsintensität in europäischen Ackerbausystemen hat die Populationen aller Ackerwildkräuter mit Ausnahme der störungsresistentesten stark reduziert, was sich negativ auf das gesamte landwirtschaftliche Nahrungsnetz auswirkt. In den letzten Jahren wurden Anstrengungen unternommen, die biologische Vielfalt in der Landwirtschaft durch Maßnahmen wie Blühstreifen und ungespritzte Feldränder zu fördern. Bei der Untersuchung ihrer Auswirkungen auf die Ackerflora wurde jedoch nur selten ihre räumliche Variation innerhalb des Ackers berücksichtigt. Wir haben die räumliche Verteilung der Ackerwildkrautdiversität sowie deren Biomasse und die Anzahl von Blüteneinheiten in konventionellen und agrarumweltgerechten Getreidefeldern in sechs Regionen Deutschlands studiert. Wir untersuchten zwei Maßnahmen in der Kultur (Extensivgetreide mit oder ohne blühende Untersaat) und eine angrenzende Maßnahme (benachbarter Blühstreifen) und platzierten Aufnahmen in Abständen von 1 m vom Feldrand bis ins Feldinneren. Diese Ergebnisse wurden dann extrapoliert, um die Auswirkungen dieser Maßnahmen auf die Ressourcenbereitstellung auf der Feldskala zu veranschaulichen. Der Artenreichtum und die Pflanzenbiomasse nahmen im konventionellen Getreide nach dem ersten Meter stark ab, unabhängig vom angrenzenden Vegetationstyp. Diese Abnahme war im Extensivgetreide viel schwächer ausgeprägt. Auf der Feldebene kann dies einen mehr als sechzigfachen Unterschied in der Bereitstellung von Blütenressourcen zwischen der konventionellen Bewirtschaftung (1900 Blüteneinheiten/ha) und dem Extensivgetreide (127.000 Einheiten/ha) bedeuten. Synthese und Anwendung in der Praxis . Die starken Randeffekte, die wir bei der konventionellen Bewirtschaftung feststellten, unterstützen die Annahme, dass die Verringerung der Feldgröße eine Rolle bei der Förderung der biologischen Vielfalt spielen dürfte. Die Anlage von Extensivgetreidestreifen am Feldrand als Agrarumweltmaßnahme wäre jedoch ein effizienterer Weg, um die Vielfalt der Generalisten zu erhöhen und gleichzeitig hohe Erträge zu erhalten.Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz https://doi.org/10.13039/50110001354
Elytrigia repens co-occurs with glycophytes rather than characteristic halophytes in low-growing salt meadows on the southern Baltic Sea coast
No full textPesticide Safety Refresher
No full textThis is a scripted Power Point Presentation aproved for pesticide applicator recertification credits by the Department of Environmental Protection for use in educating certified pesticide applicators on basic pesticide safety
Patterns and drivers of deadwood quantity and variation in mid-latitude deciduous forests
No full textJersey Girls: Women in Agriculture
No full textA 32 slide slide-set including a description of the statistics, traits and attitudes on feminism of women in agriculture in the United States and New Jersey
Australia's costly investment in Solomon Islands: the lessons of RAMSI
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In this Analysis Lowy Institute Melanesia Program Director, Jenny Hayward-Jones, argues that Australia’s massive expenditure of 2.6 billion on the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands over ten years was a high price to pay for stability in a country of 500,000 people.
The RAMSI experience showed the value of integrating Australia’s foreign, economic, aid and security policies and just as importantly of working with Pacific island partners in the region.
Large-scale missions like RAMSI would benefit from clearly defined exit strategies and rigorous assessment of performance in order to control costs and maximise impact
The Calluna life cycle concept revisited: implications for heathland management
No full textAbstract
Heather, Calluna vulgaris, is a key species of European dry heath and central determinant of its conservation status. The established Calluna life cycle concept describes four phases—pioneer, building, mature, and degeneration—distinguishable by growth and vitality characteristics of undisturbed plants grown from seeds. However, little is known about the life cycle and ageing of plants subjected to severe disturbance, although measures to this effect (burning, mowing) are common in heathland management. We studied the vitality of over 400 heather plants by examining multiple morphological (plant height, long shoot and inflorescence lengths, flowering activity), anatomical (growth rings) and environmental (management, nitrogen deposition, climate) attributes. We found Calluna vitality to be mainly determined by the aboveground stem age, and that severe disturbances promote vigorous vegetative regeneration. Ageing-related shifts in the habit and vitality of plants resprouting from stem-base buds is similar to that of seed-based plants, but the former revealed higher vitality when young, at the cost of a shorter life span. In contrast, plants originating from decumbent stems resemble building-stage plants but apparently lack the capacity to re-enter a cycle including stages other than degeneration-type. As a consequence, we supplemented the established heather life cycle concept with a post-disturbance regeneration cycle of plants derived from resprouting. We conclude that management of dry lowland heathlands should include rotational small-scale severe disturbance to support both seed germination and seedling establishment as well as vegetative regeneration chiefly of young heather plants capable of resprouting from buds near rootstock.Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007636Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (1018
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