Design and validation of a spatially explicit simulation model for bottomland hardwood forests

Species composition in forests depends on the interaction of species traits and species availability. Yet many forest simulation models focus only on interactions of adult trees and saplings, ignoring how species become members of the community. We modify a published forest model for bottomland hardwood forests (program SWAMP [Phipps, R.L., 1979. Simulation of wetlands forest vegetation dynamics. Ecol. Modell. 7, 257–288]) to make it spatially explicit and incorporate explicit seed production and dispersal algorithms. The resulting individual-based, spatially explicit forest simulator (YAFSIM) combines mechanistic seed dispersal with growth and mortality of trees to track forest dynamics over time. We describe the structure of the model and test its validity for dynamics in small bottomland hardwood patches in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Dynamics of species composition and basal areas of trees predicted by Yazoo Forest Simulator (YAFSIM) were similar to those of natural second- and old-growth bottomland forests. However, diversity of simulated forest patches declined over time largely because of random dynamics acting on small, isolated populations.     

Low back pain among residential carpenters: ergonomic evaluation using OWAS and 2D compression estimation.

Occupational low back pain (LBP) remains a leading safety and health challenge. This cross-sectional investigation measured the prevalence of LBP in residential carpenters and investigated ergonomic risk factors. Ninety-four carpenters were investigated for LBP presence and associated risk factors. Ten representative job-tasks were evaluated using the Ovako Working Posture Analysis System (OWAS) and ErgoMaster 2D software to measure elements of posture, stress, and risk. Job-tasks were found to differ significantly for total lumbar compression and shear at peak loading (p < .001), ranging from 2 956 to 8 606 N and 802 to 1 974 N respectively. OWAS indicated that slight risk for injury was found in 10 job-tasks while distinct risk was found in 7 of the 10 job-tasks. Seven of the 10 job-tasks exceeded the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) action limit of 3 400 N for low back loading. The point prevalence for LBP was 14% while the annual prevalence was 38%.     

National-scale estimation of changes in soil carbon stocks on agricultural lands

Average annual net change in soil carbon stocks under past and current management is needed as part of national reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and to evaluate the potential for soils as sinks to mitigate increasing atmospheric CO2. We estimated net soil C stock changes for US agricultural soils during the period from 1982 to 1997 using the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) method for greenhouse gas inventories. Land use data from the NRI (National Resources Inventory; USDA-NRCS) were used as input along with ancillary data sets on climate, soils, and agricultural management. Our results show that, overall, changes in land use and agricultural management have resulted in a net gain of 21.2 MMT C year(-1) in US agricultural soils during this period. Cropped lands account for 15.1 MMT C year(-1), while grazing land soil C increased 6.1 MMT C year(-1). The land use and management changes that have contributed the most to increasing soil C during this period are (1) adoption of conservation tillage practices on cropland, (2) enrollment of cropland in the Conservation Reserve Program, and (3) cropping intensification that has resulted in reduced use of bare fallow.     

Aerosol light scattering measurements as a function of relative humidity: a comparison between measurements made at three different sites

The water uptake by fine aerosol particles in the atmosphere has been investigated at three rural National Parks in the United States (Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon and Big Bend National Parks). The relative humidity (RH) of sample aerosols was varied from less than 20% to greater than 90% using Perma Pure drying tubes as the scattering coefficient of the aerosol was measured with a Radiance Research M903 nephelometer. Data from these studies show that growth curves at all the three sites are similar in shape but the magnitude of growth can vary considerably from day to day. The growth curves from Great Smoky Mountains show smooth continuous growth over the entire range of RH, while the growth curves from the Grand Canyon and Big Bend show smooth and continuous growth on some days and deliquescence on other days. Comparing 12-h filter samples of chemical composition data with the aerosol growth curves, we find that higher fractions of soluble inorganic compounds (sulfate and nitrate) produce growth curves of greater magnitude than do higher concentrations of either organic carbon or soil material.     

Density of foliage mass and area in the boreal forest cover in Finland,with applications to the estimation of monoterpene and isoprene emissions

The distribution of the density of foliage mass and area in forest canopies throughout Finland (60–70°N) were determined on the basis of the permanent sample plots used in the Finnish National Forest Inventory. These parameters were linked to the long-term monthly mean air temperatures for 1961–1990, which had been converted to hourly temperature and radiation values with the help of a weather simulator in order to calculate the spatial distribution of mean yearly emissions of monoterpene and isoprene over Finland. The mean total density of foliage mass in southern Finland (60°⩽latitude<65°N) was around 500 g m⁻², equivalent to 4–5 m² of total foliage area per m² of land area. In northern Finland (65°⩽latitude<70°N), the maximum values remained below 200–300 g m⁻², or 2–3 m² m⁻². The highest values were achieved in forests dominated by mature Norway spruces. The higher temperatures and longer growing season in southern Finland led to greater emissions than in the rest of the country. Total annual emissions of monoterpene were 1070 kg km⁻² yr⁻¹ in southern Finland and 460 kg km⁻² yr⁻¹ in the north, and those of isoprene from Norway spruce canopies 150 and 40 kg km⁻² yr⁻¹, respectively.     

Feedbacks in Human–Landscape Systems

This article identifies key questions and challenges for geomorphologists in investigating coupled feedbacks in human–landscape systems. While feedbacks occur in the absence of human influences, they are also altered by human activity. Feedbacks are a key element to understanding human-influenced geomorphic systems in ways that extend our traditional approach of considering humans as unidirectional drivers of change. Feedbacks have been increasingly identified in Earth-environmental systems, with studies of coupled human–natural systems emphasizing ecological phenomena in producing emerging concepts for social–ecological systems. Enormous gaps or uncertainties in knowledge remain with respect to understanding impact-feedback loops within geomorphic systems with significant human alterations, where the impacted geomorphic systems in turn affect humans. Geomorphology should play an important role in public policy by identifying the many diffuse and subtle feedbacks of both local- and global-scale processes. This role is urgent, while time may still be available to mitigate the impacts that limit the sustainability of human societies. Challenges for geomorphology include identification of the often weak feedbacks that occur over varied time and space scales ranging from geologic time to single isolated events and very short time periods, the lack of available data linking impact with response, the identification of multiple thresholds that trigger feedback mechanisms, the varied tools and metrics needed to represent both physical and human processes, and the need to collaborate with social scientists with expertise in the human causes of geomorphic change, as well as the human responses to such change.     

Sorption of nonpolar neutral organic compounds to humic acid-coated sands: contributions of organic and mineral components

The contributions of organic matter and the mineral surface to the overall sorption of six nonpolar neutral organic compounds (1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, chlorobenzene, m-xylene, toluene, benzene) by five humic acid (HA)-coated sands with different fractions of organic carbon (f(oc)) ranging from 0.024% to 0.154% were evaluated on the basis of measured data and four different sorption models. Sorption of all six sorbates to both uncoated and heated sands was nearly linear due to the coverage of hydrophilic mineral surface with the ordered vicinal water region. Sorption of all six sorbates to the HA-coated sands was also essentially linear, and resulted from a combination of sorption to both organic matter and the mineral surface, with the dominance of either contribution depending on the properties of the sorbents (e.g., f(oc)) and the sorbates (e.g., K(ow)). A proposed two-component model for sorption including blocking effect was appropriate for quantifying the contributions of organic matter and the mineral surface to the overall sorption. However, conventional sorption models considering the contributions of both organic matter and the mineral surface provided essentially as good agreement between predicted and measured distribution coefficients as the more complicated, two-component model for sorption that takes into account mineral surface blocking by HA.     

Multi-level governance for large marine commons: Politics and polycentricity in Palau's protected area network

This paper brings together institutional theories of polycentricity and critical human geography theory on scalar politics to advance understanding of the form and function of nested, polycentric regimes for the governance of large-scale common pool resources. We focus on institutional changes associated with a national marine protected area network in Palau through which national government and NGOs gain influence in local decision-making processes. Influence is gained through an attempt to scale up common-pool resource governance to an ecologically-relevant spatial scale in an effort to protect coral reef resilience and biodiversity across Palau. An institutional approach informed by scalar politics brings into focus potential tradeoffs between organizing governance reform around ecologically versus institutionally relevant scales. Our analysis suggests that prioritization of ecologically-relevant scales in institutional reform resulted in more nested but less polycentric institutional arrangements governing the network. We conclude that less distributed decision-making in the overall nested governance system could threaten the sustainability and resilience of coral reefs in the long-term by constraining institutional innovation and diversity. Results demonstrate the potential for interdisciplinary dialog to advance the research frontier on multi-level governance for large common pool resources.     

Spatial cross-correlation of undisturbed,natural shortleaf pine stands in northern Georgia

In this study a cross-correlation statistic is used to analyse the spatial relationship among stand characteristics of natural, undisturbed shortleaf pine stands sampled during 1961–72 and 1972–82 in northern Georgia. Stand characteristics included stand age, site index, tree density, hardwood competition, and mortality. In each time period, the spatial cross-correlation statistic was used to construct cross-correlograms and cumulative cross-correlograms for all significant pairwise combination of stand characteristics. Both the cross-correlograms and cumulative cross-correlograms identified small-scale clustering and weak directional gradients for different stand characteristics in each time period. The cumulative cross-correlograms, which are based on inverse distance weighting were more sensitive in detecting small-scale clustering than the cross-correlograms based on a 0–1 weighting. Further analysis suggested that the significant cross-correlation observed among basal area growth and other stand characteristics were due, in a large part, on a subset of sample plots located in the northern part of the state, rather than regional or broad-scale variation as first thought. The ability to analyse the spatial relationship between two or more response surfaces should provide valuable insight in the development of ecosystem level models and assist decision makers in formulating pertinent policy on intelligent multiresource management.