Landscape planning and the estate landscape

The country estate has a particular place in the English countryside and its contribution to the landscape scene is distinct and valuable. The paper describes an approach to planning a large country estate of parkland, woodland and estate villages in Cheshire. A Reconnaissance Survey led to the Outline Strategy for six ‘landscape types’ discovered on the estate. The Landscape Conservation Plan is described and the crucial importance of conservation measures is emphasised.     

DETECTING UNKNOWN INTERVENTIONS WITH APPLICATION TO FORECASTING HYDROLOGICAL DATA1

To accommodate possible parameter changes in time series at times which are not specified in advance, we propose an adaptive procedure for estimating parameters and for forecasting. The mechanism for activating the adaptive procedure is a successively updated change-detection statistic. The statistic has small expected value when no change is present and has large value when change takes place - the larger the change, the larger the statistic. The statistic defines discounting factors which determine how much of the past will be used both for estimating parameters and for forecasting. The change-detection statistic is designed to effect major changes to parameter estimates and to forecasts in a discrete fashion only, as opposed to certain other adaptive procedures that react continuously to perceived fluctuations in data, and so indicate change even when parameters remain fixed. The procedure is illustrated using exponential smoothing and Holt's linear exponential smoothing and is applied to a hydrological series.     

Inward investment in North‐East England: impact on the market for skills and training

Against a background of inward investment into the region, the paper examines crucial issues relating to labour. It examines approaches to recruitment and the selection process. Skill shortages and strategies for overcoming the problem are analysed together with a consideration about management and managers. The paper concludes with a detailed assessment of policies relating to training.     

A CASE STUDY OF SHALLOW FLOW PATHS IN A STEEP ZERO-ORDER BASIN1

ABSTRACT: Soil water potentials, slope throughflow, runoff chemistry, and isotopic composition were monitored in a 97 m² zero-order basin within the Maimai 8 watershed on the South Island of New Zealand, for a natural rain storm and two artificial water applications. Contrary to results previously reported for other portions of the Maimai catchment, much of the runoff occurred as a shallow subsurface organic layer flow. For the 47 mm natural rain event, pre-storm soil matric potential ranged from ?60 to ?150 cm H₂O. No saturation was produced within the profile, and the majority of storm runoff emanated from flow within the organic horizon perched on the mineral soil surface. Hillslope applications corroborated this interpretation by showing >90 percent new water flushing with negligible mineral soil moisture response. Although the mechanisms cited in the text are not representative of the entire catchment, the study demonstrates: (1) the value of a combined physical-chemical-isotopic approach in quantifying slope processes, and (2) the heterogeneous nature and diversity of slope runoff pathways in a relatively homogeneous catchment.     

THE RANDOM COMPONENT IN STREAM MEANDERING1

ABSTRACT: An experimental investigation of the random component in stream meandering is described. The results of sixty replicate experiments of meander initiation and development made using the same discharge, bed material and bed slope are described and analyzed. It is demonstrated that the commencement of meandering is a random process. The random component in meander behavior is indicated by the size of the coefficients of variation of meander amplitude and wavelength of 0.45 and 0.22, respectively. A simple model is put forward to explain the observed deterministic and random components of meander behavior.     

Effects of temperature on mineralisation of petroleum in contaminated Antarctic terrestrial sediments

Although petroleum contamination has been identified at many Antarctic research stations, and is recognized as posing a significant threat to the Antarctic environment, full-scale in situ remediation has not yet been used in Antarctica. This is partly because it has been assumed that temperatures are too low for effective biodegradation. To test this, the effects of temperature on the hydrocarbon mineralisation rate in Antarctic terrestrial sediments were quantified. 14C-labelled octadecane was added to nutrient amended microcosms that were incubated over a range of temperatures between -2 and 42 degrees C. We found a positive correlation between temperature and mineralisation rate, with the fastest rates occurring in samples incubated at the highest temperatures. At temperatures below or near the freezing point of water there was a virtual absence of mineralisation. High temperatures (37 and 42 degrees C) and the temperatures just above the freezing point of water (4 degrees C) showed an initial mineralisation lag period, then a sharp increase in the mineralisation rate before a protracted plateau phase. Mineralisation at temperatures between 10 and 28 degrees C had no initial lag phase. The high rate of mineralisation at 37 and 42 degrees C was surprising, as most continental Antarctic microorganisms described thus far have an optimal temperature for growth of between 20 and 30 degrees C and a maximal growth temperature <37 degrees C. The main implications for bioremediation in Antarctica from this study are that a high-temperature treatment would yield the most rapid biodegradation of the contaminant. However, in situ biodegradation using nutrients and other amendments is still possible at soil temperatures that occur naturally in summer at the Antarctic site we studies (Casey Station 66 degrees 17(') S, 110 degrees 32(') E), although treatment times could be excessively long.     

Klima?nderung — Was hei?t das?

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Comparison of solubility databases used for HLW performance assessment

Elemental solubility limits are employed in many performance assessment studies of the disposal of high-level radioactive waste. A comparison of solubility databases used in a number of recent assessments from Canada, Finland, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S.A. is presented. Despite similarities in the chemical conditions under which such solubilities are defined, there are very large ranges in the values selected for most elements (several orders of magnitude). In some cases, differences in solubilities can be attributed to differences in the thermodynamic databases used but, due to generally incomplete documentation, both of such databases and the criteria for data selection, detailed analysis of the reason for such discrepancies is precluded. A key factor, however, is the fairly subjective choice of the solid phase considered to be “solubility-limiting”. Procedures are recommended which would increase the transparency of solubility database compilation in future analyses.     

The effects of feeding by the black bean aphidAphis fabae Scop. (Homoptera: Aphididae) on copper and cadmium accumulation in broad bean (Vicia faba L.)

Broad beans (Vicia faba L.), cultured hydroponically were supplied with 100 g mL^–1 copper or 50 g mL^–1 cadmium in nutrient solution. Samples of plant material from both nutrient regimes were analysed before and after infestation by the black bean aphid (Aphis fabae Scop.). Heavy aphid infestation resulted in a significant reduction in copper content of shoots in comparison with uninfested plants. A similar, but less well- defined, situation occurred in the case of cadmium.Further investigations examined the effects of different levels of aphid infestation on the above phenomena. In all cases the presence of feeding aphids reduced elemental accumulation in plant shoots. Long term infestation with population densities as low as three adult aphids showed a reduction in shoot copper and cadmium content.     

Least auklet ornaments: do they function as quality indicators?

Summary In the monogamous least auklet (Aethia pusilla, Alcidae) both males and females have three highly variable ornamental traits (facial plumes, a colourful bill and a knob-like bill ornament) and both sexes perform courtship displays. To assess whether mating preferences could be related to the expression of these ornaments, we performed model presentation experiments in which we varied the bill colour and the size of both the bill ornament and the facial plumes. Auklets reacted to models that had brighter red bills and accentuated facial plumes with more frequent sexual displays than to models with average bills and plumes. We conclude that these two ornamental traits are likely to be favoured by sexual selection through mating preferences. In general, however, ornaments were weak predictors of individual quality. Multiple regression indicated that all ornaments taken together explained a small (R ² = 0.07) but significant proportion of the variability in adult body condition but only in a poor year for reproduction when the birds were in relatively poor body condition and a small proportion of the population bred successfully. The degree of ornamentation was also not related to timing of breeding, chick feeding rate or reproductive success and there was no relationship between adult survival and ornaments. We conclude, therefore, that least auklet ornaments are, at best, weak indicators of quality that may be the result of sexual selection operating only in years when breeding conditions are poor. Offprint requests to: R. Montgomerie