Comparative seasonal acclimatization of food and energy consumption in adjacent populations of common spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus)

Animals inhabiting environments with low productivity and food availability commonly have reduced energy demands and increased digestive efficiencies. The dry matter intake (DMI), apparent digestible dry matter (ADDM), digestible efficiency (DE) and digestible energy intake (DEI) of two populations of common spiny mouse Acomys cahirinus were compared during both winter and summer under conditions of simulated water stress. Mice were captured from the north- and south-facing slopes (NFS and SFS) of the same canyon that represent mesic and xeric habitats, respectively. Measured variables were also compared between F-1 mice that had been born to either NFS or SFS mice, and raised in the laboratory. SFS mice were able to assimilate energy more efficiently than NFS mice during the summer. By comparison, NFS mice were able to assimilate more energy during the winter. During winter, NFS mice assimilated more energy at low levels of water stress, whereas SFS mice assimilated more energy at higher levels. Differences were also apparent in F-1 mice. It is therefore suggested that local climatic conditions can impose physiological adaptations that are retained in succeeding generations, creating unique meta-populations.

‘Glimpses into the unmentionable: Montserrat, tourism and anthropological readings of “subordinate exotic” and “comic exotic” travel writing’

This article explores the relationship between anthropology and identity through the process of travel writing and reading. Specifically, the article examines a range of travel writing about the British Caribbean colony Montserrat to read into the culture of the writer. These deconstructive ‘glimpses into the unmentionable’ reveal an implicit racism. The travel writing texts are also found to divide into two types of representation – the ‘subordinate exotic’ and the ‘comic exotic’.

The Triumph of Epicure: A History of New Orleans Culinary Tourism

An examination of New Orleans's long history of culinary tourism dating back to the early 1800s.

A framework for assessing the vulnerability of food systems to future shocks

Modem society depends on complex agro-ecological and trading systems to provide food for urban residents, yet there are few tools available to assess whether these systems are vulnerable to future disturbances. We propose a preliminary framework to assess the vulnerability of food systems to future shocks based on landscape ecology's 'Panarchy Framework'. According to Panarchy, ecosystem vulnerability is determined by three generic characteristics: (1) the wealth available in the system, (2) how connected the system is, and (3) how much diversity exists in the system. In this framework, wealthy, non-diverse, tightly connected systems are highly vulnerable. The wealth of food systems can be measured using the approach pioneered by development economists to assess how poverty affects food security. Diversity can be measured using the tools investors use to measure the diversity of investment portfolios to assess financial risk. The connectivity of a system can be evaluated with the tools chemists use to assess the pathways chemicals use to flow through the environment. This approach can lead to better tools for creating policy designed to reduce vulnerability, and can help urban or regional planners identify where food systems are vulnerable to shocks and disturbances that may occur in the future. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tourism changes on a Mediterranean island: experiences from Mallorca

Mediterranean islands exemplify well the interactions between tourism, heritage and culture on islands. After an introduction that considers their heritage and the pressures which might be applied by tourism because of insular characteristics such as scale, the paper considers the Spanish island of Mallorca as a case study. First its history and consequent heritage is identified and then various stages in its tourism development, which might be recognized in Butler’s model, are treated with particular reference to two very different foreigner commentators on the island, George Sand and Robert Trimnell. The mass market tourism exemplified by Trimnell has brought a reaction and in recent decades Mallorca has given much more consideration to its environment and heritage, illustrated here through the example of the district of Calvià and its Local Agenda 21 policies. This has seen a considerable impact on the island’s tourism and marketing initiatives, as well as upon its natural environment.

Localization in Sardinia and Its Obstacles: A Reply to Hospers’ “Localization in Europe’s Periphery: Tourism Development in Sardinia”

In this reply to Hospers' “Localization in Europe's Periphery: Tourism Development in Sardinia” by Gert-Jan Hospers (2003), we argue that the author's advocacy of localized economic policies as a viable means to the economic development of Sardinia does not take into account current institutional assets that prevent Sardinia from pursuing localized interests effectively. We first discuss the historical background of these institutional assets, highlighting that a top-down approach to decision-making has characterized relations between Sardinia and the central state for most of the modern era. We then discuss the institutional and economic impediments to Sardinian attempts to pursue localized policies in light of recent institutional conflicts between region and central state. Our conclusion is that the localization of economic strategies necessitates entwined localization of decision-making powers in order to be effective.