Does re-creation of extensive pasture-forest mosaics provide an economically sustainable way of nature conservation in Sweden''s forest dominated regions?

There is a major risk that many of the remaining semi-natural pastures in Swedish forest dominated regions will lose their grazing in the near future with lost biodiversity as a result. The reason is the high costs of grazing small pastures with cattle from generally small herds. The approaching decoupling of the present EU income support per head of cattle will increase the risk. Calculations based on economies of scale in beef production and opportunity cost of forest and arable land suggest that re-creating extensive pasture-forest mosaics consisting of existing semi-natural pastures and adjacent arable fields and forests can secure economically sustainable grazing. The risk of local extinction of grassland species due to habitat isolation is also lower in large mosaics than in small, scattered pastures.     

Temporal and spatial trends in heavy metal concentrations in the marine mussel Mytilus edulis from the Western Scheldt estuary (The Netherlands)

Since the first North Sea Conference (1984, Bremen), all countries bordering the North Sea made commitments to reduce discharge of hazardous substances into the North Sea. From Belgium and The Netherlands, large reductions (upto 90) in heavy metal emissions from land-based sources have been reported between 1985 and 2000. Recently, some studies in the Western Scheldt estuary (WS) have shown that total metal concentration in the water, sediments and suspended particles have decreased compared to levels in the 70s. However, data on aquatic organisms is still very limited and it is therefore difficult to confirm whether the reductions in pollution input and generally improving water quality in the WS have a corresponding impact on the levels of heavy metals in aquatic organisms. The current study measured metal concentrations in the soft tissues of mussels, Mytilus edulis (known to be good indicators of environmental metal pollution) during the period 1996–2002. Spatial (salinity and pollution gradients), temporal and seasonal variations were also studied. Results showed a down-stream decreasing trend for the metals studied (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) during all sampling campaigns. There was also a significant seasonal effect on tissue metal concentrations, with a peak observed around spring in both WS and the nearby less polluted Eastern Scheldt (ES). On temporal trends, a clear drop of metals in mussels was observed in the early 80s coinciding with the start of the efforts to reduce chemical pollution input into the North Sea. Since those early reductions, metal concentrations in mussels generally remained unchanged upto mid 90s. However, in recent times metal concentration in mussels have increased significantly, for example Cd in 2002 was almost 10 times the values in 1983 and similar to levels seen during the peak in the 70s. Other metals also increased in the 90s also reaching levels seen in the 70s. As there is no indication of recent increase in metal input into the estuary, we suggest that increased metal concentrations observed in mussels in recent years especially in the upper estuary are most likely a result of changes in physical and chemical speciation and metal bioavailability. Such changes may be caused by changes in some water quality parameters in the estuary (i.e. increased dissolved oxygen, concentration of organic matter), resulting in conditions that favour releases of sediment-bound metals into the water column. The relationship between metal content and season showed very similar annual profiles in the polluted WS and less polluted ES. Thus, seasonal variations in metal concentrations appear to be largely controlled by biological processes, while total body burdens are dependent on environmental levels and bioavailability.     

Aging-related changes in the sensitivity of the system of respiratory control and the intensity of free-radical processes in humans

Results of a comparative study of the sensitivity of the system of respiratory control to increases in the CO₂ concentration and the intensity of free-radical processes in young and elderly subjects are described. It is shown that normal (natural) aging is accompanied by a decrease in the sensitivity of the respiratory system to hypercapnic stimulation and a parallel significant decrease in the activity of catalase in the blood of examined subjects. Mechanisms responsible for the modifications of the sensitivity of the system of respiratory control to hypercapnia are discussed; these shifts can be at least partly related to changes in the intensity of production of free radicals observed in elderly subjects. Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 53–57, January–February, 2008.     

Epilogue — Demography and anthropology

As a conclusion, this paper reviews briefly the content of the volume. The wealth of demographic data has not been adequately exploited in anthropology; this is why this publication is valuable in showing attempts to apply demographic data in a variety of anthropological problems. This symposium has explored many interesting points which we recall here. Yet it has also opened up a whole range of further questions on the material presented as well as in this broad field. Several directions of research could be developed, for instance, testing among human populations, over long periods, the ecological thoughts of ecosystems evolving as a cascade of instabilities, rather than a succession of equilibrium states. Let us also recall the pervasive nature of demographic facts in topics such as the energy cycle or the genetic structure and evolution of human populations.     

Competitive and facilitative relationships among three shrub species,and the role of browsing intensity and rooting depth in the Succulent Karoo,South Africa

Abstract. The nearest‐neighbour technique is used to infer competition and facilitation between the three most abundant species in a semi‐arid region of western South Africa. Relationships among the shrubs Leipoldtia schultzei and Ruschia robusta, which are leaf‐succulent members of the Mesembryanthemaceae (‘mesembs’) and Hirpicium alienatum a non‐succulent Asteraceae, were compared on two adjacent sites with different histories of browsing intensity. Competition was more prevalent and more important than facilitation. The only evidence for facilitation was found at the heavily‐browsed site where the palatable Hirpicium was larger under the unpalatable Leipoldtia. Generally the prevalence and importance of competition was reduced at the heavily‐browsed site. Strong evidence was obtained for intraspecific competition in each of the three species; also, competition was evident between the two mesembs, where Leipoldtia was competitively dominant over Ruschia, although neither species inhibited Hirpicium. Minimal competition between the mesembs and the asteraceous shrub was interpreted in terms of differentiation in rooting depth, and competition within the mesembs, in terms of overlap in rooting depth. The mesembs had the bulk of their roots in the top 5 cm of soil, while the asteraceous shrub had the bulk of its roots, and all its fine roots, at greater depths. The shallow‐rooted morphology of the mesembs is well adapted to utilize small rainfall events, which occur frequently in the Succulent Karoo, and do not penetrate the soil deeply. Modifications of existing methods are applied for analysing nearest‐neighbour interactions.     

Paired pleural disks in Dicaulograptus cumdiscus n. sp.

A diplograptid graptolite with strongly introverted thecae and unusual thecal processes was isolated from limestones of the Ordovician Pratt Ferry Formation of Alabama and is described as a new species Dicaulograptus cumdiscus. The thecal processes are referred to as pleural disks. They occur in pairs above every thecal aperture and are inferred to have functioned as suspension processes receiving uplift from small-scale turbulent water motion. Such a function is compatible with a passively buoyant mode of life and is difficult to reconcile with an automobile mode of life.     

Cartography and Clandestinité in Leïla Sebbar’s Shérazade: 17 ans, brune, frisée, les yeux verts

In this paper, I read Leïla Sebbar’s staging in her novel Shérazade: 17 ans, brune, frisée, les yeux verts of the resistance by children of North African and other immigrants in the early 1980s to the French state’s cartographic modes and documents of control. The paper will consider the many uses to which the map was put by the French state in its colonization of North Africa and particularly Algeria, and later in its attempts to control the banlieues its policies of citizenship and cartographic control yielded on the margins of Paris. In this context, I will explore the ways in which the novel’s characters, living clandestinely in a squatt, simultaneously resist, put to use, and even supercede state documents of control as they disrupt everyday life and conduct heists across the city of Paris. The paper will explore unofficial cartographies of Paris, from those afforded by the radios libres and alternative publications such as Libération and Sans Frontièrez, to oral and almost proverbial networks of knowledge criss-crossing the city of Paris, while also tracing the uses to which supplemental cartographic sketches and counterfeit identity cards are put in the pages of the novel. The paper will be in dialogue with theoretical and critical formulations of space, cartography, and state control put forward by Michel de Certeau, Henri Lefebvre, Michel Foucault, and Tom Conley. The paper will conclude with a consideration of the means and limits of resistance by the novel’s characters in the context of this body of theory and criticism.     

Deanol Affects Choline Metabolism in Peripheral Tissues of Mice

Abstract: The enzymatic hydrolysis of UDP-galactose in rat and calf brain was studied. The hydrolysis occurs in two steps: The first is the conversion of UDP-galactose to galactose-1-phosphate catalyzed by nucleotide pyrophosphatase (EC 3.6.1.9), and the second is the conversion of the latter to free galactose by alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1). The overall conversion has a pH optimum of 9.0, but there is considerable activity at pH 7.4, which is the optimum for UDP-galactose:ceramide galactosyltransferase in the synthesis of cerebrosides. Preparations from cytosol from calf brain cerebellum or stem that were enriched in UDP-galactose hydrolytic activity inhibit cerebroside synthesis under conditions optimal for the synthesis. Microsome-rich and nuclear debris fractions contain the highest apparent specific activity among the subcellular fractions studied. Hydrolysis of UDP-galactose occurs in all areas of brain, brainstem having the highest activity. The apparent specific activity in jimpy mouse brain homogenate is nearly twice as high as in the control brain homogenate.