Winter in the Ouchitas—A severe winter storm signature in Pinus echinata in the Ouachita Mountains of Oklahoma and Arkansas,USA

Each year severe winter storms (≈ice storms) damage trees throughout the southern USA. Arkansas and Oklahoma have a history of severe winter storms. To extend that history back beyond the reach of written records, a distinctive tree ring pattern or signature is needed. Storm-caused breakage, branch loss and bending stress provide that signature. We found a severe storm signature in shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata). We used three published site chronologies, a set of five new site chronologies from a growth-and-yield study conducted by Oklahoma State University and the unpublished Shortleaf Canyon chronology from a master’s thesis at the University of Arkansas. Our method is based on two ring width values for the first and second growing seasons after the storm standardized to the ring widths of the seven growing seasons after the storm. Concordance between storm years predicted by tree ring patterns and actual storm years was tested using Cohen’s Kappa. Concern about confounding of ice storm signals by droughts led us to test concordance between severe storms and drought in July, August and September; results were inconclusive but stand as a warning that these two phenomena cannot be distinguished with certainty in the tree ring record. Damaging severe storms occurred in about 2.8% of all years. Two out of three storms identified as “severe” produced glaze icing.     

Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Nitrate Leaching, and Biomass Yields from Production of Miscanthus × giganteus in Illinois, USA

Understanding the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization on Miscanthus × giganteus greenhouse gas emissions, nitrate leaching, and biomass production is an important consideration when using this grass as a biomass feedstock. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of three N fertilization rates (0, 60, and 120?kg?N?ha^?1 using urea as the N source) on nitrous oxide (N₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, nitrogen leaching, and the biomass yields and N content of M. × giganteus planted in July 2008, and evaluated from 2009 through early 2011 in Urbana, Illinois, USA. While there was no biomass yield response to N fertilization rates in 2009 and 2010, the amount of N in the harvested biomass in 2010 was significantly greater at the 60 and 120?kg?N?ha^?1?N rates. There was no significant CO₂ emission response to N rates in 2009 or 2010. Similarly, N fertilization did not increase cumulative N₂O emissions in 2009, but cumulative N₂O emissions did increase in 2010 with N fertilization. During 2009, nitrate (NO ₃ ^? ) leaching at the 50-cm soil depth was not related to fertilization rate, but there was a significant increase in NO ₃ ^? leaching between the 0 and 120?kg?N?ha^?1 treatments in 2010 (8.9 and 28.9?kg?NO₃?CN?ha^?1?year^?1, respectively). Overall, N fertilization of M. × giganteus led to N₂O releases, increased fluxes of inorganic N (primarily NO ₃ ^? ) through the soil profile; and increased harvested N without a significant increase in biomass production.     

Between-year variations in the development of crustacean zooplankton in the Norwegian subalpine lake, Øvre Heimdalsvatn

Data from the International Biological Programme (IBP) and subsequent studies have been re-analysed to test the two hypotheses which previously have been suggested concerning the zooplankton in the mountain lake, Øvre Heimdalsvatn: (1) the average temperature in June, more than other summer months, is affecting the growth rate and population densities of zooplankton in the lake, (2) the invasion of the European minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus) has caused changes in the zooplankton community. The analyses have demonstrated that the June temperature strongly affects the growth rate of all the zooplankton species, but that there is no relationship with the population maxima. The species composition in the crustacean zooplankton has not changed between 1969 and 1999, and any direct impact of the minnows on the zooplankton community could not be detected. Indirectly, the minnows may have reduced the density of invertebrate predators, and thus caused an increase in juvenile survival and increased summer maximum density of Bosmina longispina. The variation in density of the copepod, Cyclops scutifer, was correlated with the density of Heterocope saliens, most likely the result of predator–prey interactions.     

Vegetation–environment relationships and ecological species groups of an Arizona Pinus ponderosa landscape, USA

Pinus ponderosa forests occupy numerous topographic and soil complexes across vast areas of the southwestern United States, yet few data exist on species distributions and vegetation–environment relationships for these environmentally diverse landscapes. We measured topography, soils, and vegetation on 66, 0.05-ha plots within a 110,000-ha P. ponderosa landscape in northern Arizona, USA, to discern vegetation–environment relationships on this landscape. We analyzed associations of environmental variables with plant communities and with single-species distributions, and we classified ecological species groups (co-occurring plant species exhibiting similar environmental affinities). Gradients in community composition paralleled gradients in soil texture, available water, organic C, total N, and geographic precipitation patterns. Soil parent material, affected by the presence or absence of volcanic activity, is a primary factor constraining vegetation patterns on this landscape. Using discriminant analysis, we built a model that correctly classified the most important of four grasses (Bouteloua gracilis, Muhlenbergia montana, Sporobolus interruptus, or Festuca arizonica) on 70–80% of plots based on five environmental variables related to soil moisture and resource levels. We also classified 52 of the 271 detected plant species into 18 ecological species groups. Species groups ranged from Phacelia and Bahia groups occupying xeric, volcanic cinder soils low in organic C and total N, to Festuca and Lathyrus groups characterizing moist, loam and silt loam soils. We applied the species groups by estimating P. ponderosa diameter increment in a regression tree using abundances of species groups. The most rapid P. ponderosa diameter growth of 5 mm/year occurred on plots with high importance of the Festuca and Lathyrus groups. Our results on this semi-arid landscape support several general ecological species group principles chiefly developed in temperate regions, and suggest that vegetation–environment research has great potential for enhancing our understanding of P. ponderosa forests occupying vast areas of the southwestern United States.     

Ethnicizatlon and racialization of welfare‐state politics in Germany and the USA

Welfare‐state retrenchment, transnational migration and the integration of immigrants have been accompanied by a growing ethnicization and racialization of welfare‐state politics in the United States and Germany. Although ethnicization and racialization may have other, deeper causes, immigration and its effects on social policies and provisions has become one of the main targets of dissent in the politics of West European and North American welfare states. While in the United States these developments have reinforced race‐class cleavages that have existed since the emergence of her welfare state, German welfare‐state politics has evolved from being primarily class‐based to class‐ethnicity divides in recent years. These cleavages have disadvan‐taged social democratic positions that tried to bridge protection of native workers and humanitarian obligations towards refugees but have supported nationalist‐populist trends. Cosmopolitan‐liberal positions face the formidable task of developing institutional mechanisms for handling conflicts in ethnically pluralist'welfare states.     

Biomass storage and stand structure in a conservation unit in the Atlantic Rainforest—The role of big trees

This study represents a small-scale approach to forest structure and biomass in the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil and provides information on an ecosystem in which there still is a lack of data in this regard.The project was carried out in the National Park “Serra dos Orgãos” in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which is one of the largest remnants of continuous forest in this area. This forest is marked by a mosaic of forest types differing in tree composition and structure. Within this heterogeneous habitat the stand structure in three investigation plots was assessed to estimate the above-ground dry biomass (AGB) for all trees with a dbh ≥ 5 cm.This study indicates the structural diversity of the Atlantic Rainforest. Trees with a dbh > 30 cm were represented by 6% of all sampled individuals (18 out of 318 trees), but contributed 72% of total estimated AGB. The results suggest that big trees in the Atlantic Rainforest may contribute more into total AGB as reported for other tropical rainforests. Small-scale structural approaches like this study are able to form an initiating framework of more detailed results and help to improve estimates on biomass amounts and therefore on carbon storage capacity.     

Biomass and abundance of macrofauna in intertidal sediments of Königshafen in the northern Wadden Sea

Intertidal sediments of Königshafen (Island of Sylt, North Sea) were sieved for mesofauna (>0.25 mm) and macrofauna (>1 mm) in spring and autumn 1990. Although sediments are coarser than in other parts of the Wadden Sea, the macrobenthic fauna was very similar but with a tendency towards higher species density, abundance and biomass. Taking into account the areal size of sandy flats, seagrass beds, mud flats and mussel beds, the average biomass is calculated to be 65 g ash-free dry weight m^?2 The lugwormArenicola marina dominates the biomass (28%), followed by the bivalvesMytilus edulis (21%),Mya areanaria (16%),Cerastoderma edule (10%) and the mudsnailHydrobia ulvae (9%). While spring and autumn biomass are almost alike, abundance is highly variable and entirely dominated byH. ulvae. Mesofauna is mainly composed of oligochaetes, small and juvenile polychaetes. Abundance is similar to that of macrofauna, while biomass is only about 1 g m^?2. Macrophyte biomass amounted to 9% of that macrofauna. In the course of the centurym mussel beds expanded while muddy areas declined. The concomitant effects on biomass presumably compensated each other.     

Long-term trends in water temperature and ice cover in the subalpine lake, Øvre Heimdalsvatn,and nearby lakes and rivers

Long-term data series of ice cover on lakes and river temperatures from the mountain areas of Norway are lacking. The present study analyses the last four decades of ice data from the subalpine lake, Øvre Heimdalsvatn, and water temperature data from its outlet river, Hinøgla. These data are compared to water temperature data from three neighbouring, quite different locations, the glacier-fed rivers Leirungsåi and Sjoa, and the alpine lake, Bessvatn. The study also examines the air temperature/river temperature relationships, and the air temperature/ice freeze-up and break-up dates. During the months of July, August and September, the water temperature in Hinøgla was well correlated to the air temperature, but the correlation was poor in the remaining months due to the ice cover and snow conditions. A significant temperature increase of 2–3°C has been observed in Hinøgla in the months August–October since 1984. There were only minor changes in the duration of the ice cover season during the last 40 years, but a delay of 9 days was found in the freeze-up date and a delay of 6 days in the break-up date, although the latter was not significant.     

Modifiers of the temperature–mortality association in Shanghai, China

Various factors can modify the health effects of temperature. Prior findings about modifiers are inconsistent, and such studies have been conducted mostly in developed countries. We conducted a time-series analysis to examine the modifying effect of gender, age and education on the association between temperature and daily mortality in Shanghai, China, using 4 years (2001–2004) of daily data. A natural spline model was used to analyze the data. Elderly subjects were found to be more vulnerable to temperature health effects compared with younger people. We observed no significant modifying effect of gender or education level. These findings may provide useful information for local governments seeking to take steps to protect vulnerable sub-populations.     

Plant Biomass,Nutrient Concentration and Nutrient Storage in a Tropical Dry Forest in the South–west of Madagascar

Plant biomass, mineral composition and the amounts of nutrients in the different fractions of the vegetation were determined for a dense dry deciduous forest growing on light red sands in south-western Madagascar. Complete harvesting and soil coring were used to determine the above- and below-ground biomass respectively. The above-ground biomass, weighing 118 t ha⁻¹ (dry matter), was mostly (96%) made up of phanerophytes (woody trees and shrubs >25 cm tall). Dead material (litter and dead wood on the soil surface) represented 13.8 t ha⁻¹. These results fit well into the range of values reported for other tropical ecosystems. The below-ground biomass was 17.8 t ha⁻¹ giving a root/shoot ratio of 0.15. Rooting is superficial. The nutrient concentration in this dry forest on light reddish-brown sands is, as in other dry forests, considerably higher than that usually found for humid forests. Calcium is the most abundant element. The plant biomass Ca/K ratio is much higher than that of humid tropical forests. In spite of its high originality, this Madagascan dry forest has the same behaviour as other dry forests of the world.     

Biomass and element pools of understory vegetation in the catchments of Čertovo Lake and Plešné Lake in the Bohemian Forest

This paper presents data on species composition, biomass, and element pools (C, N, P, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Al, Fe, Mn) of the understory vegetation of spruce forests in the catchments of lakes ?ertovo jezero (CT) and Ple?né jezero (PL) in the Bohemian Forest (?umava, Czech Republic). Calamagrostis villosa was the most abundant species in the CT catchment, while Vaccinium myrtillus was the most abundant species in the PL catchment. The catchments weighted mean (CWM) of above-ground biomass of the understory vegetation was 288 and 723 g m^?2 in the CT and PL catchments, respectively. The significant difference in the biomass between the catchments was caused by the much higher abundance of V. myrtillus in the PL catchment. The CWM of below-ground biomass of the fine roots was 491 and 483 g m^?2 in the CT and PL catchments, respectively. The respective CWM element pools of biomass in the CT and PL catchments were: C (33 and 51 mol m^?2), N (0.8 and 1.0 mol m^?2), P (24 and 34 mmol m^?2), Ca (53 and 113 mmol m^?2), Mg (24 and 41mmol m^?2), Na (3.7 and 6.5 mmol m^?2), K (83 and 109 mmol m^?2), Al (50 and 42 mmol m^?2), Fe (13.3 and 7.3 mmol m^?2), and Mn (4.2 and 8.8 mmol m^?2).     

Effect of the association of IGF-I, IGF-II, bFGF, TGF-β1, GM-CSF, and LIF on the development of bovine embryos produced in vitro

This study examined the influence of the following growth factors and cytokines on early embryonic development: insulin-like growth factors I and II (IGF-I, IGF-II), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), transforming growth factor (TGF-β), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). Synthetic oviduct fluid (SOF) was used as the culture medium. We studied the development of bovine embryos produced in vitro and cultured until Day 9 after fertilization. TGF-β1, bFGF, GM-CSF, and LIF used on their own significantly improved the yield of hatched blastocysts. IGF-I, bFGF, TGF-β1, GM-CSF, and LIF significantly accelerated embryonic development, especially the change from the expanded blastocyst to hatched blastocyst stages. Use of a combination of these growth factors and cytokines (GF-CYK) in SOF medium produced higher percentages of blastocysts and hatched blastocysts than did use of SOF alone (45% and 22% vs. 24% and 12%; P < 0.05) on Day 8 after in vitro fertilization and similar results to use of SOF + 10% fetal calf serum (38% and 16%, at the same stages, respectively). The averages of total cells, inner cell mass cells, and trophectoderm cells of exclusively in vitro Day-8 blastocysts for pooled GF-CYK treatments were higher than those for SOF and similar to those for fetal calf serum. The presence of these growth factors and cytokines in the embryo culture medium therefore has a combined stimulatory action on embryonic development; in particular through an increase in hatching rate and in the number of cells of both the inner cell mass and trophoblast. These results are the first to demonstrate that use of a combination of recombinant growth factors and cytokine, as IGF-I, IGF-II, bFGF, TGF-β1, LIF, and GM-CSF, produces similar results to 10% fetal calf serum for the development of in vitro-produced bovine embryos. This entirely synthetic method of embryo culture has undeniable advantages for the biosecurity of embryo transfer.     

Conservative populist politics and the remaking of the “white working class” in the USA

For decades, scholars and journalists have intricately tied presidential elections to the idea of a struggling “white working class.” They explained the 2016 presidential election by investigating the politics of low- or middle-income white conservative voters. This article instead focuses on the way in which white low-wage and unemployed small town residents question, distrust, and embrace conservative populist politics. The paper first explores how conservative populism and the media response are remaking the white working class along cultural and racial lines. Drawing from research conducted in a predominantly white former manufacturing town in central Maine, I then document that some poor and low-wage white workers distrust conservative populist politicians and are angry about being pushed aside by business-first politics. While populist and neoliberal politics have contributed to a remaking of the white working class around a white worker ideal, the concomitant decline in the social safety net and good jobs has been generating a sense of betrayal among those who are struggling the most. The article thus offers an alternative to the white working class caricature and argues that a contradictory consciousness results from workers living within and reacting against economic precarity and conservative populism.     

Diversity of subalpine and alpine vegetation of the eastern part of the Nízke Tatry Mts in Slovakia: major types and environmental gradients

Changes in composition and structure of alpine and subalpine plant communities in relation to ecological factors were analysed in the Nízke Tatry Mts, Slovakia. Species cover values of vascular and non-vascular plants in each vegetation plot were recorded on the nine-degree scale. A data set of 156 relevés of alpine and subalpine vegetation was sampled recently during one year in the eastern part of the Nízke Tatry National Park. The data set was analysed by cluster analysis and Detrended Correspondence Analysis. analyses were carried out on the entire data set, including the subset of short grassland and dwarf-shrub vegetation. Major gradients and clusters were ecologically interpreted using Ellenberg indicator values. In the entire data set, the major gradient in species composition was associated with nutrient availability and the second most important gradient with light. In the case of short grassland and dwarf-shrub vegetation, the gradients were different. The first one was associated with soil reaction and the second gradient was associated with moisture. Clusters proposed by numerical classification reproduced many traditional phytosociological associations, namely Seslerietum distichae, Sphagno capillifolii-Empetretum nigri, Junco trifidi-Callunetum vulgaris, Juncetum trifidi, Dryopterido dilatatae-Pinetum mugo, Luzuletum obscurae, Agrostio pyrenaiceae-Nardetum strictae, while some other associations were less clearly differentiated (communities of the alliances Calamagrostion villosae, Adenostylion alliariae, Trisetion fusci, Cratoneuro filicini-Calthion laetae or Salicion herbaceae). The next clusters included Vaccinium and Festuca supina dominated communities and artificial roadside grasslands sown 50 years ago. Bryophytes and lichens were highly represented among diagnostic species of particular associations. Distribution pattern of particular plant communities was strongly influenced by site position either on northern or southern slope of the mountains.     

Biomass and Genotype × Environment Interactions of Populus Energy Crops in the Midwestern United States

Using Populus feedstocks for biofuels, bioenergy, and bioproducts is becoming economically feasible as global fossil fuel prices increase. Maximizing Populus biomass production across regional landscapes largely depends on understanding genotype × environment interactions, given broad genetic variation at strategic (genomic group) and operational (clone) levels. A regional network of Populus field tests was established in the Midwest USA in 1995, 1997, and 2000 to assess relative productivity of 187 clones grown at Westport, Minnesota (45.7° N, 95.2° W); Waseca, Minnesota (only 2000; 44.1° N, 93.5° W); Arlington, Wisconsin (43.3° N, 89.4° W); and Ames, Iowa (42.0° N, 93.6° W). We evaluated biomass potential throughout plantation development and identified clones with yield substantially greater than commercial controls (Eugenei, NM6). For each site, biomass ranges (Mg ha^?1 year^?1) of the best six clones were: Westport: 2.3 to 3.9 (5 years), 8.0 to 10.1 (8 years), and 8.9 to 11.3 (10 years); Waseca: 10.4 to 13.4 (7 years); Arlington: 5.1 to 7.1 (3 years), 14.8 to 20.9 (6 years), and 16.1 to 21.1 (8 years); and Ames: 4.3 to 5.3 (4 years), 11.1 to 20.9 (7 years), and 14.3 to 24.5 (9 years). Mean biomass of the best three clones was 1.4 to 2.7 times greater than controls as trees developed at Westport (1995, 1997) and Waseca 2000. Genotype × environment interactions governed biomass production, with clone–mean rank correlations across sites ranging from 0.29 to 0.81. We identified generalist genotypes (e.g. Crandon, NC14105, NM2) with elevated biomass across the region and specialists (e.g. 7300501, 80X01015, and NC14103) with exceptional biomass at specific locations.     

Taphonomy and taxonomy of a vertebrate microsite in the mid-Cretaceous (Albian–Cenomanian) Blackleaf Formation,southwest Montana

The vertebrate fauna of the Cretaceous Blackleaf Formation of southwest Montana remains largely undocumented. A microsite (BL1) discovered in the Flood Member in the Lima Peaks area, Montana, consists of a green siltstone and yields taxa previously unreported from the formation, including several dinosaurs: a hypsilophodont, dromaeosaurid, tyrannosauroid, hadrosaurid and an ankylosaurian. Non-dinosaurian taxa include goniopholidid and Bernissartia crocodilians; Glyptops, cf. chelydrid and other turtles and at least two neopterygiian fish. This diversity corresponds well with the fluvial–deltaic–estuarine environment interpreted for the uppermost unit of the Flood Member. Taphonomic data and sedimentologic relationships suggest that this assemblage represents a floodplain depression accumulation. Comparisons with contemporaneous faunas from around the Western Interior of the USA suggest a remarkably consistent faunal makeup, at least at the family level, existed across western North America in the mid-Cretaceous.     

Evolution,diversity, distribution and the endangered future of the giant clam–Symbiodiniaceae association

Coral Reefs - Giant clams are found in a mutualistic association with Symbiodiniaceae dinoflagellates. While clams are economically important for fisheries, Symbiodiniaceae are responsible for most...