Urban biodiversity in local newspapers: a historical perspective

Due to rapid urbanization the conservation and values of urban wildlife are becoming increasingly important study objects. Unfortunately, the lack of historical data makes it difficult to assess the effects of long-term urban land-use changes and human attitudes on local biodiversity. In this paper we show that old newspapers may in some cases provide useful historical data on both urban wildlife and local attitudes towards it. In the city of Turku, southwest Finland, the leading newspaper published 316 observations or reports on local urban mammals, birds and reptiles in 1890–1920, and in addition to these a lot of information on contemporary attitudes towards urban wildlife. At least 12 species of noncaptive mammals, 32 species of birds, and three reptile species were documented in newspapers. The newspaper data seem fairly reliable, and provide valuable information on the development of urban biodiversity. In the study period animals visiting urban areas were often persecuted, in which both adults and children (mainly schoolboys) participated actively. Birds were persecuted less frequently than mammals or reptiles. Some bird species, especially 'song-birds', were actively supported by winter-feeding and by constructing nest-boxes. According to newspapers local people were interested in local biodiversity, especially on phenological events, and benefited from it by getting esthetic pleasure, pet animals, and information on seasonal changes.     

晚清报刊所载真菌类专篇汇录

晚清时期传入中国的西方真菌学知识对于近代中国真菌学的建立和发展具有启蒙作用.在全面分析其影响之前,有必要先对相关文献进行全面的整理,而这些文献中大部分都分布于多种晚清报刊.经过整理和统计,本文共辑得89份真菌类专篇文章,其中大型真菌类44篇、霉菌类27篇、酵母菌类18篇,分布于26种报刊.这些文章中注明是译作的只有28篇,但其余的文章中涉及西方真菌科学知识的实际上都属于介译性质.这些真菌学知识部分是通过日文图书或期刊文献间接引入,部分是直接译自西方的科学文献.     

Companion Animals in Obituaries: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

The benefits of human–animal interaction have been discussed extensively in the literature. In this paper we take a slightly different strategy in documenting that some humans acknowledge the importance of pets by actually referring to them in human obituaries. We begin with a brief overview of the human obituary, followed by the potential for pets as fictive kin to be named as survivors in obituaries. A bi-national, exploratory, content analysis of companion animal (CA)-related content in published newspaper obituaries is reported. The two criteria for inclusion were that a pet or pet survivors be named in the obituary or that donations be made to a pet-related charity. Of the 11,818 obituaries in three newspapers over a three-month period, 260 (2.2%) met one or both of these criteria. Five themes emerged within obituaries containing CA data. First, the word “pet” was rarely used. CAs were typically listed as survivors along with human family members. Second, terms of endearment were consistently used to describe animal companions left behind. Third, some family members, who likely crafted these last statements about their loved ones, engaged in a personification of (and projections onto) the animals left behind. Fourth, there was variation in the roles played by each person with their animal companion. And fifth, donations were made to a wide variety of animal charities. The possibility of CAs as fictive kin is explored, in addition to a call for further study.