Photosynthetic limitation of several representative subalpine species in the Catalan Pyrenees in summer

Information on the photosynthetic process and its limitations is essential in order to predict both the capacity of species to adapt to conditions associated with climate change and the likely changes in plant communities. Considering that high‐mountain species are especially sensitive, three species representative of subalpine forests of the Central Catalan Pyrenees: mountain pine (Pinus uncinata Mill.), birch (Betula pendula Roth) and rhododendron (Rhododendron ferrugineum L.) were studied under conditions associated with climate change, such as low precipitation, elevated atmospheric [CO₂] and high solar irradiation incident at Earth's surface, in order to detect any photosynthetic limitations. Short‐term high [CO₂] increased photosynthesis rates (A) and water use efficiency (WUE), especially in birch and mountain pine, whereas stomatal conductance (g_s) was not altered in either species. Birch showed photosynthesis limitation through stomatal closure related to low rainfall, which induced photoinhibition and early foliar senescence. Rhododendron was especially affected by high irradiance, showing early photosynthetic saturation in low light, highest chlorophyll content, lowest gas exchange rates and least photoprotection. Mountain pine had the highest A, photosynthetic capacity (A_max) and light‐saturated rates of net CO₂ assimilation (A_sat), which were maintained under reduced precipitation. Furthermore, maximum quantum yield (F_v/F_m), thermal energy dissipation, PRI and SIPI radiometric index, and ascorbate content indicated improved photoprotection with respect to the other two species. However, maximum velocity of carboxylation of RuBisco (V_cmax) indicated that N availability would be the main photosynthetic limitation in this species.     

Abandonment and accumulation: embryonic futures in the United States and Ecuador

When frozen embryos are publically debated in the United States, they are most often positioned as having two possible future trajectories: (1) as individual humans and (2) as contributors to stem cell research. Long-term embryo accumulation threatens both of these futures. An accumulated embryo is stuck in a clinic, held back from having an individual future or from contributing to science. There are other kinds of futures, though. For some patients in the United States and Ecuador, where I conducted ethnographic research, future reckoning involves a vision of responsibility toward embryos embedded within a specific family. For these patients, frozen embryo donation to another family or to science constitutes abandonment. The future at stake is not that of an individual embryo's life, but a group's future who would abandon one of its own. These patients would rather destroy embryos than freeze them for a future away from their relations. [Ecuador, United States, in     

Changing Views of the Interconnections Between the Oceans and Human Health in Europe

Early steps in the emergence of the discipline of “Oceans and Human Health” are charted in the USA and discussed in relation to past and present marine environment and human health research activities in Europe. Differences in terminology are considered, as well as differences in circumstances related to the various seas of Europe and the intensity of human coastal activity and impact. Opportunities to progress interdisciplinary research are described, and the value of horizon scanning for the early identification of emerging issues is highlighted. The challenges facing researchers and policymakers addressing oceans and human health issues are outlined and some suggestions offered regarding how further progress in research and training into both the risks and benefits of Oceans and Human Health might be made on both sides of the Atlantic.     

Changing Community States in the Gulf of Maine: Synergism Between Invaders, Overfishing and Climate Change

Human activities, including overfishing and species introductions, have had a dramatic impact on benthic communities in the Gulf of Maine within the past two decades. Prior to the 1970s, the climax community in the shallow subtidal was composed of Laminaria spp. kelp beds with an understory of arborescent red algae. In the 1980s, a population explosion of the green sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, created an alternate community state, urchin barrens. Recently, a new community has been observed in former urchin barrens and kelp beds. This assemblage is principally composed of the introduced species: Codium fragile subsp. tomentosoides (green alga), Membranipora membranacea (bryozoan), Diplosoma listerianum (tunicate), Bonnemaisonia hamifera (red alga) and the opportunistic species Mytilus edulis (mussel) and Desmarestia aculeata (brown alga). In addition to changes in relative abundance, many of these species have greatly expanded their distribution and habitat selection. A model detailing mechanisms for the transition of the traditional kelp bed and urchin barren communities to others is presented and implications for this new community are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Decomposition of Emission Multipliers in a National Accounting Matrix Including Environmental Accounts

This study defines a linear model of emission multipliers through the use of a national accounting matrix including environmental accounts (NAMEA) for the Catalan economy that integrates the regional economic information with the greenhouse gas emissions. As in the model of income multipliers, emission multipliers can be divided into own effects, open effects, and circular effects. This decomposition shows the channels of income generation and their effects on regional greenhouse gas emissions. Our results reveal significant differences among the three gases analyzed as well as important asymmetries at a sectorial level.     

Redefinition and phylogenetic relationships of the family Pinguipedidae (Teleostei: Perciformes)

The phylogenetic relationships of the family Pinguipedidae plus the genus Cheimarrichthys von Haast, 1874, were studied to redefine the family. Based on a phylogenetic analysis using derived characters belonging to 21 transformation series, accepting the monophyly of Pinguipedidae plus Cheimarrichthys provisionally for the operational procedure of the analysis, it was hypothesized that Cheimarrichthys is not closely related to Parapercis Bleeker, 1863, although these genera had been considered as having a close affinity. Although the Pinguipedidae and Cheimarrichthys share nine derived characters, it was determined that these characters are also found in other trachinoid families. In addition, several families, such as the Leptoscopidae, Uranoscopidae, and Trichodontidae, have many more derived characters in common with Cheimarrichthys than the pinguipedids have with that genus. The conclusion drawn here is that it is not parsimonious to recognize the monophyly of the Pinguipedidae and Cheimarrichthys based on these nine derived characters, and that these characters are not compelling enough to link these groups. The redefined Pinguipedidae is proposed to include the following five genera: Parapercis, Prolatilus Gill, 1865, Pinguipes Cuvier, 1829, Pseudopercis de Miranda-Ribeiro, 1903, and Kochichthys Kamohara, 1960. Cheimarrichthys, excluded from the Pinguipedidae, is put into its own family, Cheimarrichthyidae.     

真实评估 整体保护 世界文化遗产“天地之中”历史建筑群的价值评估与保护规划概述

＂天地之中＂历史建筑群的价值评估工作,是一次抽丝剥茧、去伪存真、整体定位的历史文化综合研究与评价的工作,它破除人云亦云、众口相传的一些不准确、不专业的内容,深入到历史建筑背后深层次的动因之中,水到渠成地提炼出＂天地之中＂这一人文理念;并将国内＂三大价值＂评估模式与世界文化遗产的＂突出普遍价值＂模式进行了对接。其总体保护规划在价值评估成果的基础上,同时解决整体保护与单体保护的问题,既为申遗保驾护航,又利用这一难得的机会大力推动了当地文物保护工作,取得了良好效果。     

Bumblebees moving up: shifts in elevation ranges in the Pyrenees over 115 years

In a warming climate, species are expected to shift their geographical ranges to higher elevations and latitudes, and if interacting species shift at different rates, networks may be disrupted. To quantify the effects of ongoing climate change, repeating historical biodiversity surveys is necessary. In this study, we compare the distribution of a plant–pollinator community between two surveys 115 years apart (1889 and 2005–06), reporting distribution patterns and changes observed for bumblebee species and bumblebee-visited plants in the Gavarnie-Gèdre commune in the Pyrenees, located in southwest Europe at the French–Spanish border. The region has warmed significantly over this period, alongside shifts in agricultural land use and forest. The composition of the bumblebee community shows relative stability, but we observed clear shifts to higher elevations for bumblebees (averaging 129 m) and plants (229 m) and provide preliminary evidence that some bumblebee species shift with the plants they visit. We also observe that some species have been able to occupy the same climate range in both periods by shifting elevation range. The results suggest the need for long-term monitoring to determine the role and impact of the different drivers of global change, especially in montane habitats where the impacts of climate changes are anticipated to be more extreme.     

Conceiving Reproduction: New Reproductive Technologies and the Redefinition of the Kinship Narrative in New Zealand Society

This paper focuses on technologies for assisting conception and considers how normative notions of conception and family formation have informed the rejection, incorporation and adaptation of technologies and their regulation in New Zealand. Drawing on a textual analysis of primary written materials and secondary sources generated between 1965 and 2004, the paper reveals how these technologies help various groups in New Zealand society make explicit their understandings of relatedness, identity and social and cultural belonging. Whilst biological/genetic connection and social connections inform understandings of kinship, reproduction, parenthood and social structure for many New Zealanders, the boundaries between the biological and social are often blurred and precedence of one over the other is very much context dependent. The incorporation of the new reproductive technologies has been an inherently politicised process, with barriers to access to these technologies emerging in relation to ethnic identity and race, sexuality, socioeconomic status, gender, and marital status.     

Grazing as a factor structuring grasslands in the Pyrenees

Questions: What are the relative roles of abiotic and grazing management factors on plant community distribution in landscapes? How are livestock type and stocking rate related to changes in vegetation structure and composition? Location: Sub‐alpine grasslands in the central and eastern Pyrenees. Methods: Multivariate analysis and variance partitioning methods were used to evaluate the relative roles of environmental factors in structuring vegetation composition and diversity patterns in three surveys on differently managed grasslands. Results: Vegetation composition within a region was affected by environmental factors hierarchically, changing first according to abiotic factors and then to grazing management. At landscape scales, abiotic factors explained two‐fold more variation in vegetation composition than grazing factors. Within landscape units, cattle grazing increased vegetation heterogeneity at landscape and patch scales, while sheep grazing favoured the presence of a specific set of species with high conservation value. Species composition was highly responsive to management variables compared to diversity components. Conclusions: The combination of sheep and cattle grazing at various stocking rates is an effective tool to preserve the diversity of plant species and communities within a region with a long tradition of livestock management, through the scaling up of effects by local processes occurring in patches at smaller scales.     

Barossa Dreaming: Imagining Place and Constituting Cuisine in Contemporary Australia

Regional cuisines have become a prominent feature in the consumer landscape of modernised societies. This article describes how a regional cuisine is being socially constituted in the Barossa Valley, one of the most important wine-growing areas in Australia. Initially, I detail how small farmers, winegrowers and other entrepreneurs idealise the Barossa landscape and fabricate the heritage that is integral to the idea of a distinctive cuisine. This is followed by examination of how the notion of Barossa food as having distinctive qualities because of the artisanal ways it is produced is constantly being elaborated by the valley's small-scale enterprises. Lastly, I explore the contribution of wider influences to this cultural process, from the role played by an internationally recognised celebrity chef through to the recent arrival of the Slow Food movement. Local factors and global influences contribute to the social manufacture of the Barossa's regional cuisine, the overall appeal of which to middle class consumers is as much cultural as it is culinary.     

Natural hybridization in Cardamine (Brassicaceae) in the Pyrenees: evidence from morphological and molecular data

While researching Cardamine (Brassicaceae) in the Pyrenees, putative hybrid plants were found at two natural sites. Pollen grain viability, AFLP, and multivariate morphometric analyses were performed in order to assess the plants' presumed hybrid origin, establishing that natural hybridization between the diploids C. crassifolia and C. amara ssp. pyrenaea had occurred. A new diploid nothospecies, C. × enriquei (2 n = 2x = 16), is described. Examination of 18 morphological characters showed the intermediacy of the hybrid between the parental taxa in most characters. AFLP analyses of C. amara ssp. amara , ssp. austriaca , ssp. olotensis and C. raphanifolia , demonstrated the close position of the hybrid to C. crassifolia , and revealed that the highest number of markers were shared with the parents. Polymorphism found in the AFLP pattern of the hybrid suggested recurrent origin, segregation and/or backcrosses, although assessment of pollen viability indicated high male sterility. The hybridization event reported here represents the second documented case between the C. pratensis group and C. amara . An account of the nomenclature of C. crassifolia is also presented, including lectotypification of relevant names.  © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 139 , 275–294.     

Redefinition and Elaboration of River Ecosystem Health: Perspective for River Management

This paper critically reviews developments in the conceptualization and elaboration of the River Ecosystem Health (REH) concept. Analysis of literature shows there is still no consistent meaning of the central concept Ecosystem Health, resulting in models (i.e. elaborations) that have unclear and insufficient conceptual grounds. Furthermore, a diverse terminology is associated with describing REH, resulting in confusion with other concepts. However, if the concept is to have merit and longevity in the field of river research and management, unambiguous definition of the conceptual meaning and operational domain are required. Therefore a redefinition is proposed, based on identified characteristics of health and derived from considering semantic and conceptual definitions. Based on this definition, REH has merit in a broader context of river system health that considers societal functioning next to ecological functioning. Assessment of health needs integration of measures of multiple, complementary attributes and analysis in a synthesized way. An assessment framework is proposed that assesses REH top-down as well as bottom up by combining indicators of system stress responses (i.e. condition) with indicators identifying the causative stress (i.e. stressor). The scope of REH is covered by using indicators of system activity, metabolism (vigour), resilience, structure and interactions between system components (organization). The variety of stress effects that the system may endure are covered by using biotic, chemical as well as physical stressors. Besides having a unique meaning, the REH metaphor has added value to river management by being able to mobilize scientists, practitioners and publics and seeing relationships at the level of values. It places humans at the centre of the river ecosystem, while seeking to ensure the durability of the ecosystem of which they are an integral part. Optimization of the indicator set, development of aggregation and classification methodologies, and implementation of the concept within differing international frames are considered main aims for future research.     

The Impact of Land Abandonment on Species Richness and Abundance in the Mediterranean Basin: A Meta-Analysis

Land abandonment is common in the Mediterranean Basin, a global biodiversity hotspot, but little is known about its impacts on biodiversity. To upscale existing case-study insights to the Pan-Mediterranean level, we conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of land abandonment on plant and animal species richness and abundance in agroforestry, arable land, pastures, and permanent crops of the Mediterranean Basin. In particular, we investigated (1) which taxonomic groups (arthropods, birds, lichen, vascular plants) are more affected by land abandonment; (2) at which spatial and temporal scales the effect of land abandonment on species richness and abundance is pronounced; (3) whether previous land use and current protected area status affect the magnitude of changes in the number and abundance of species; and (4) how prevailing landforms and climate modify the impacts of land abandonment. After identifying 1240 potential studies, 154 cases from 51 studies that offered comparisons of species richness and abundance and had results relevant to our four areas of investigation were selected for meta-analysis. Results are that land abandonment showed slightly increased (effect size  = 0.2109, P<0.0001) plant and animal species richness and abundance overall, though results were heterogeneous, with differences in effect size between taxa, spatial-temporal scales, land uses, landforms, and climate. In conclusion, there is no “one-size-fits-all” conservation approach that applies to the diverse contexts of land abandonment in the Mediterranean Basin. Instead, conservation policies should strive to increase awareness of this heterogeneity and the potential trade-offs after abandonment. The strong role of factors at the farm and landscape scales that was revealed by the analysis indicates that purposeful management at these scales can have a powerful impact on biodiversity.     

Site-specific factors influence the richness and phenology of snowbed plants in the Pyrenees

Although the timing of snowmelt and growth temperatures appear to be the main factors that influence the species richness and phenology of snowbed plants, site-specific characteristics may also play a role in modifying the effects of the timing of snowmelt and temperature. In this study, the effects of site-specific factors (microtopography and snow origin) on species richness and plant phenology were evaluated in 72 plots in two snowbeds in the Andorran Pyrenees. Snowmelt patterns influenced the spatial distribution of species richness and abundance. Site-specific factors had significant effects on the responses of species (shortening or lengthening the duration of the phenophase) and on the extent to which the timing of snowmelt influenced leaf expansion and flowering. Notably, the highest rates of leaf expansion occurred on late snowmelt isoclines, where, nevertheless, the time taken to reach peak flowering was significantly longer than on the early snowmelt isoclines. The results of this study highlight the fact that, in addition to the effects of interannual variability in climate, site-specific factors have a significant effect on the phenology and reproductive success of the commonest plants in the snowbed communities of the Pyrenees.