The Promise of Particularism and the Theology of Culture: Limits and Lessons of "Neo-Boasianism"

This article compares the status of "culture" as a politically engaged concept in Franz Boas's time and in our own time. Taking a Boasian approach to "neo-Boasianism," I examine the limits of this comparability in order to shed light on the nature of public culture-talk today and to identify dimensions of the Boasian concept of "culture" particularly relevant to a contemporary anthropology.     

The Quaternary origins of the modern British mammal fauna

The origins of the modern British mammal fauna as a recognizable assemblage are traceable through preceding temperate woodland phases at least as far back as the early part of the Middle Pleistocene. Earlier Quaternary mammal assemblages have more in common with those of the Pliocene than those of the Middle Pleistocene, but evidence for gaps in the British Early Pleistocene sequence precludes inferences concerning the nature of this change in faunal composition.
A major difficulty in reconstructing Quaternary faunal histories is in establishing stable correlations between the fragmentary terrestrial sequences from which the fossil record has been recovered and in assembling those sequences into chronological order. Existing reconstructions of Quaternary events in Britain are of hybrid origin, a mix of palynological biostratigraphy based on assumed monocyclic floral successions for a small number of major interglacial stages, with intervening cold stages identified by characteristic glacial or periglacial lithologies and structures. While this framework has served as a useful basis for some Quaternary disciplines, some interpretations of the mammalian evidence do not fit it well.
Attention is given here to information derived from fossil mammal assemblages which may be used to help determine the number and sequence of Middle and Late Pleistocene temperate woodland phases with faunas showing close links with that of the Flandrian. While much of this information is not new, it has been largely ignored in the construction of some of the more widely known schemes for Quaternary subdivision. At present five such episodes can be identified and characterized prior to the present interglacial, though further refinement may br possible as work on a more detailed account of key sites arid their palaeontology progresses.     

The effects of potential larval supply, settlement and post-settlement processes on the distribution of two species of filter-feeding caddisflies

1. Hydropsychid caddisfly larvae are often abundant in fast flow habitats and on highly textured substrata. Such patterns are usually inferred to result from habitat preference, but the roles of larval supply to the benthos and post‐settlement events are rarely examined for stream populations. We describe a manipulative field experiment that examined larval supply, habitat preference and post‐settlement events simultaneously for two co‐occurring species of hydropsychids. 2. Ten artificial channels were constructed in a natural riffle to create fast and slow flow habitats and within each channel we placed six artificial substrata whose surfaces had been modified to create three different texture treatments. We measured discharge through channels and monitored hydropsychid colonisation of substrata every 3–4 days. Half of the substrata had all hydropsychids and nets removed every 3–4 days (short‐term colonisation) whereas the remaining half were counted but nets and hydropsychids left attached (long‐term colonisation). Short‐term counts of nets and individuals were summed to allow comparison with long‐term colonisation substrata. 3. Smicrophylax sp. AV2 larvae were more abundant in fast flow channels than slow flow channels, but these differences were proportional to discharge through each of the channels, suggesting that supply of settlers can explain this pattern. Smicrophylax larvae were least abundant on smooth substrata, which suggests that this species selects habitats based on surface texture. Alternatively, Asmicridea sp. AV1 larvae were only found in fast flow channels and this most likely reflects an active habitat choice by this species, but there was no significant difference between different texture treatments. 4. There were no differences between summed, short‐ and long‐term counts of recruits for either species, but there were more nets than larvae, especially in slow flow channels, by the end of the experiment, suggesting that larval mortality or re‐dispersal after settlement could be considerable. 5. Our results indicate that supply, habitat selection at settlement and post‐settlement processes all contributed variously to the distribution of hydropsychid caddisfly larvae, but that each species was affected differentially by these factors. Larval supply and post‐settlement processes are rarely examined by stream researchers and our results demonstrate these factors deserve much more consideration. Calculating accurate larval supply rates to sites is challenging, but we suggest that such detailed information is necessary if we are to sort out what sets limits to distributions and the underlying population structure of stream invertebrate populations.     

C/C++ Coding for Matrix Pseudo Inverses in Clinical Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Near infrared spectroscopy is used clinically to investigate patterns of change in cerebral oxygenation. We have shown that differences reported between authors are likely the result of computer encoding errors in the manipulation of matrices. Current methods compute the inverse of a non-square matrix to derive chromophore concentration values, and solution of another non-square matrix to derive polynomial coefficients of a least squares best fit curve from which the first derivative can be used to estimate blood flow values. Encoding of these pseudo inverses involves too many nested looping steps to easily identify encoding errors. We have given C/C++ source code along with sample numerical values at the termination of each loop within the algorithm. This provides counter checking for future software development by other programmers, and also permits other investigators to report whether the software used for their experiments agrees with previously published material.     

Chloroplast DNA phylogeography of Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.

Traditionally, information on the postglacial history of plant species has been gained from the analysis of fossil pollen data. More recently, surveys of present patterns of genetic variation have given valuable insights into species phylogeography. The genus Alnus , based on fossil data, is known to have had at least four glacial refugia. A survey of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) diversity in populations of black alder ( A. glutinosa ) was undertaken in order to gain more insight into its postglacial history. This revealed a high degree of structuring of 13 cpDNA haplotypes on a European scale which indicated that most of northern and central Europe was colonized from a refuge in the Carpathian Mountains. Based on the distribution of two common cpDNA haplotypes, colonization routes from this refuge can be determined. The locations of other previously identified refugia are confirmed and two formerly unconfirmed refugial areas for alder (southern Spain and Turkey) are proposed.     

Role of interaction zones between surface and ground waters in DOC transport and processing: considerations for river restoration

• 1 A study of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrates and total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) concentrations, conductivity and bacterial numbers was undertaken in subsurface water of the Garonne River (France) under low-flow conditions. The velocity of subsurface flow through a 300-m gravel bar, during this study, was less than 43 m day^?1. DOC, nitrates and TDP concentrations, conductivity and bacterial numbers fluctuated within the gravel bar with no discernible spatial pattern. Bacterial abundance was correlated with DOC concentration. Results were compared to a previous study of the Stillaguamish River (U.S.A.) (Vervier & Naiman, 1992).
• 2 These studies provide evidence that gravel bars are important in the processing of DOC by bacteria in the subsurface water. Bacterial activity is, in turn, determined by sources of DOC from upstream at high discharge, and by patchy local microhabitats at low discharge.
• 3 Restoration of rivers should incorporate, wherever possible, meanders with associated gravel bars and riffles. These will improve DOC-processing capacity, in addition to other benefits predicted by the Building Block Model (Petersen, Petersen & Lacoursière, 1992).

     

Root disturbance of common ash, Fraxinus excelsior (Oleaceae), leads to reduced foliar toughness and increased feeding by a folivorous weevil, Stereonychus fraxini (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)

Abstract.

• 1 Bioassays were carried out to examine differences in the feeding of a folivorous weevil, Stereonychus fraxini De Geer, on leaves from ash saplings with undamaged roots, and those with damaged roots. Beetles ate significantly more of the leaves of root-damaged saplings in a choice experiment.
• 2 A separate study of the effect of root damage on leaf toughness was carried out on a second group of ash saplings. Saplings with damaged roots had less tough leaves than control saplings. Decreased leaf toughness in hypothesized as a mechanism to explain the preference of weevils for leaves from damaged trees.
• 3 Both chemical and physical changes may occur in the tissues of ash trees in response to environmental stress such as drought and root damage.
• 4 Root damage caused by agricultural disturbance is hypothesized as a mechanism making mature ash trees in hedgerow ecosystems more susceptible to insect herbivores.