Response of surface horizons in an oak forest to prescribed burning

The reduction of forest floor ground cover and litter layers by prescribed fires may alter the morphology (field and micro) and physical properties of surface horizons. This study determined long-term (35 yr) changes in surface horizon bulk density, organic matter concentration and content, and morphology in response to periodic (5 yr) and annual (1 yr) prescribed fires. Soils were fine-silty, siliceous, thermic Glossic Fragiuldults, supporting mixed oak vegetation in middle Tennessee. Upper mineral soils (0- to 2-cm and 0- to 7.6-cm depths) were sampled and detailed field descriptions made. Periodic and control plots had a thin layer of Oi, Oe, and Oa horizons 5 yr after the 1993 burn, whereas on annual burn plots a 1- to 2-cm charred layer was present. Significant reductions in organic matter concentration and mean thickness of the A horizon were found from burning (A horizons thicknesses were 6.4, 4.6, and 2.9 cm in control, periodic, and annual plots, respectively). Periodic burns did not significantly alter the organic matter and bulk density of the upper 7.6 cm of mineral soil; however, annual burns did result in significantly higher bulk densities (1.01, 1.07, and 1.29 Mg m-3 in control, periodic, and annual plots, respectively) and lower organic matter concentrations and contents. Microscopic investigations confirmed that compaction was increased from annual burning. Thin sections also revealed that the granular structure of the A horizons in control and periodic plots resulted from bioterbation of macro and mesofauna, fungi, and roots. Long-term annual burning greatly affected surface soil properties, whereas periodic burning on a 5-yr cycle had only limited effects.

Forest fires and insects: palaeoentomological research from a sub-fossil burnt forest.

The role of fire within Pinus-mire ecosystems is explored by focusing on a palaeoentomological investigation of the extensive burnt fossil forest preserved within the basal deposits of the raised mires of Thorne and Hatfield Moors, Humberhead Levels, eastern England. Remains of charred tree macrofossils (roots, stumps and trunks) are widely distributed across both sites, mainly comprising Pinus and Betula. Evidence from this research and elsewhere suggest fires were a common event on Pinus mires, and may indicate that such episodes played an important role in the development of raised bogs. A fire-loving (pyrophilous) insect fauna appears to have been attracted to the burnt areas and the decline and extirpation in Britain of a number of pyrophilous species (e.g. Stagetus borealis Isrealsson) suggests the former importance of this type of habitat within British Pinus-mire systems. The lack of consideration given to the role of natural fires within the British landscape is questioned and the interpretation of charcoal within mire deposits as a possible anthropogenic indicator is highlighted as an area that would benefit some reconsideration.

The impact of the summer 2007 forest fires in Greece: Recent environmental mobilizations, cyber-activism and electoral performance

This report circumambulates around the environmental issue, examining mobilizations in favour of public access to the seafront and protest events against the recent devastating forest fires. By framing this discussion within existing scholarly contributions on related dimensions of the environmental issue (environmental consciousness, grassroots environmental contestation) in Southern Europe in general and Greece in particular, it suggests that the environmental mobilization dynamic in Greece has been infused with a new, global, mobilizing resource that offers new avenues to evaluate the potency of Greek civil society. Finally, the article discusses the results of the 2007 national elections and ponders the chances of political ecology becoming a permanent feature of Greek parliamentary politics.

Molecular cloning and deduced organization of the pHpG/CNP precursor from the venom of the African forest viper, Atheris squamigera

The discovery that the hypotensive sequela of envenomation by the South American viper, Bothrops jararaca, was mediated by peptides, represented a milestone in drug discovery research that led to the introduction of ACE inhibitors. These bradykinin-potentiating peptides (BPPs) have been found in the venoms of many species of viper and molecular cloning of biosynthetic precursors has revealed that each encodes several different BPPs in tandem with a single copy of a C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) located at the C-terminus. Venoms of the African forest vipers (Atheris) have been poorly studied possibly because they do not represent a major danger to humans. However, initial studies have indicated that they contain some of the “classical” protein toxins of viper venoms and a novel class of peptide, the polyglycine/polyhistidine (pGpH) peptides. These peptides occur in several molecular forms with different numbers of repetitive glycine and histidine repeats. We have cloned the biosynthetic precursor of A. squamigera pGpH peptides from a venom-derived cDNA library and have confirmed that a single copy of CNP is located at the C-terminus and additionally that, like BPPs in other vipers, pGpH peptides are encoded in tandem within this single precursor. Solid phase peptide synthesis of pGpH peptides has proven to be extremely difficult but is progressing and acquisition of synthetic replicates of each peptide is a necessary prerequisite for systematic pharmacological characterisation as establishment of a biological function for these peptides remains elusive. pGpH peptides may prove to play a role as fundamental as that of the BPPs.

Deforestation and apparent extinctions of endemic forest beetles in Madagascar

Madagascar has lost about half of its forest cover since 1953 with much regional variation, for instance most of the coastal lowland forests have been cleared. We sampled the endemic forest dwelling Helictopleurini dung beetles across Madagascar during 2002–2006. Our samples include 29 of the 51 previously known species for which locality information is available. The most significant factor explaining apparent extinctions (species not collected by us) is forest loss within the historical range of the focal species, suggesting that deforestation has already caused the extinction, or effective extinction, of a large number of insect species with small geographical ranges, typical for many endemic taxa in Madagascar. Currently, roughly 10% of the original forest cover remains. Species–area considerations suggest that this will allow roughly half of the species to persist. Our results are consistent with this prediction.

More-than-human histories and the failure of grand state schemes: sylviculture in the New Forest, England

As James Scott’s Seeing Like a State attests, forests played a central role in the rise of the modern state, specifically as test spaces for evolving methods of managing state resources at a distance, and as the location for grand state schemes. Together, such ambitions necessitated both the elimination of local understandings of forest management – to be replaced by centrally controlled scientific precision – and a narrowing of state vision. Forests thus began to be conflated with trees (and their timber) alone. All other aspects of the forest, both human and non-human, were ignored. Through the lens of the 18th and early 19th century New Forest in southern England, this paper examines the impact of government attempts to shift the focus of state forests from being remnant medieval hunting spaces to spaces of income generation through the creation of vast sylvicultural plantations. This state scheme not only reworked the relationship between the metropole and the provinces – something effected through systematic surveys and novel bureaucratic procedures – but also dramatically impacted upon the biophysical and cultural geographies of the forest. By equating forest space with trees alone, the British state failed to legislate for the actions of both local commoners and non-human others in resisting their schemes. Indeed, subsequent oppositions proved not only the tenacity of commoners in protecting their livelihoods but also the destructive power of non-human actants, specifically rabbits and mice. The paper concludes that grand state schemes necessarily fail due to their own internal illogic: the narrowing of state vision creates blind spots in which human and non-human lives assert their own visions.

Parametric and non-parametric estimates of willingness to pay for forest recreation in Northern Ireland: A discrete choice contingent valuation study with follow-ups

In this study we show that forest areas contribute significantly to the estimated benefits from om outdoor recreation in Northern Ireland. Secondly we provide empirical evidence of the gains in the statistical efficiency of both benefit and parameter estimates obtained by analysing follow-up responses with Double Bounded interval data analysis. As these gains are considerable, it is clearly worth considering this method in CVM survey design even when moderately large sample sizes are used. Finally we demonstrate that estimates of means and medians of WTP distributions for access to forest recreation show plausible magnitude, are consistent with previous UK studies, and converge across parametric and non-parametic methods of estimation.

Decadence in the Forest: Smyth's Der Wald in its Critical Context

Ethel Smyth’s opera, Der Wald, met with mixed reactions at its premiere in Berlin in 1902. Many factors contributed to this, not least, as Smyth herself observed, anti-British sentiment in Germany following the second Boer War. One might have expected that the reception of the opera at its British premiere on 18 July at Covent Garden might have been more positive, but even here critical opinion was divided. Even positive reviews were not free from gender discrimination, and other reviews condemned the opera for being too German or Wagnerian. What was meant by ‘Wagnerian’? This article answers the question in three ways. Firstly, I argue that ‘Wagnerian’ meant not a leitmotif-filled, through-composed work (as distinct from a number opera), but simply a lyrical drama; for British audiences the model for this was Tannhäuser or Lohengrin, not the Ring or Tristan. Secondly, taking this definition on board, I analyse the musical language of the opera, in particular the key structure. The central duet sung by the doomed lovers, Heinrich and Röschen, is in F major, almost the furthest possible distance from the home key of the opera (E major), which characterizes the forest and ‘nature’ in general; by contrast, the next scene, where the Kundry-like Iolanthe attempts to seduce Heinrich (a crucial reversal of the more conventional power relations of the love duet), sees a return to the home key. Thirdly, I set the hermeneutical implications of this reversal in the context of the decadent movement, with which late nineteenth-century Wagnerism was associated, and which, following the conviction of Oscar Wilde in 1895, was discredited. Der Wald thus failed because of its ‘guilt by association’ with an aesthetic that had fallen into disrepute.

Light Rain, Laganside

This journal contribution consists of an electroacoustic composition requested for the Belfast Imagined project. It is published on an audio CD distributed with the journal.