Report on the Status of Findings and Recommendations from the City of Low Moor’s Periodic Examination Report dated November 13, 2014 for the period November 1, 2015 through July 31, 2016

Report on the Status of Findings and Recommendations from the City of Low Moor’s Periodic Examination Report dated November 13, 2014 for the period November 1, 2015 through July 31, 2016

South Pennine Moors cSAC-SPA. North West Region-South Area

This is the report on Habitats Directive, the Review of Consents Stage 1 and 2 by the Environment Agency of the South Pennine Moors cSAC/SPA. The Habitats Directive has the main aim to promote the maintenance of biodiversity by defining a common framework for the conservation of wild plants and animals and habitats of community interest. The Directive establishes a European ecological network known as "Natura 2000". The network comprises Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Areas (SPA). In the section on Stage 1 or Screening Process of the Habitat Directive, it is identified the likely impacts upon the Rixton Clay Pits cSAC of a project, plan or activities, either alone or in combination with other projects, plans or activities, and considers whether these impacts are likely to be significant. In the section on Stage 2 or Appropiate Assessment of the Habitat Directive, it is considered the impact on the integrity of the Rixton Clay Pits cSAC of the projects, plans or activities, either alone or in combination with other projects, plans or activities, with respect to the site’s structure and function and its conservation objectives. Additionally, where these are adverse impacts, an assessment of the potential mitigation of those impacts. The criteria used in this report to identify relevant projects, plans or activities and their impacts are water quality discharge consents, waste management licences, abstraction licences, Integration Pollution Control (IPC) and Integrated Pollution Prevention Control (IPPC) permits. Proformas, hydrogeological and GIS maps are included in the review.

Pinus and Prostomis: a dendrochronological and palaeoentomological study of a study of a mid-Holocene woodland in Eastern England

Tree-ring analysis of sub-fossil Pinus sylvestris L. and Quercus sp. and their associated sub-fossil insect assemblages from tree rot holes have been used to study a prehistoric forest buried in the basal peats at Tyrham Hall Quarry, Hatfield Moors SSSI, in the Humberhead Levels, eastern England. The site provided a rare opportunity to examine the date, composition, age structure and entomological biodiversity of a mid-Holocene Pinus-dominated forest. The combined approaches of dendrochronology and palaeoentomology have enabled a detailed picture of the forest to be reconstructed, within a precise time frame. The Pinus chronology has been precisely dated to 2921- 2445 BC against the English Quercus master curve and represents the first English Pinus chronology to be dendrochronologically dated. A suite of important xylophilous (wood-loving) beetles that are today very rare and four species that no longer live within the British Isles were also recovered, their disappearance associated with the decline in woodland habitats as well as possible climate change. The sub-fossil insects indicate that the characteristic species of the site's modern-day fauna were already in place 4000 years ago. These findings have important implications in terms of maintaining long-term invertebrate biodiversity of mire sites.

Sub-fossil Insects and ecosystem dynamics in wetlands; implications for biodiversity and conservation.

We review the uses of fossil insects, particularly Coleoptera (beetles) and Chironomidae (non-biting midges) from ancient deposits to inform the study of wetland ecosystems and their ecological and restoration processes. In particular, we focus on two contrasting ecosystems, drawing upon research undertaken by us on British raised mire peats and shallow lake systems, one an essentially terrestrial ecosystem, the other aquatic, but in which wetland insects play an important and integral part. The study of raised mire peats suggests that faunal stability is a characteristic of these wetland systems, over what appear to be extensive periods of time (up to several millennia), whilst studies of shallow lake ecosystems over recent timescales indicates that faunal instability appears to be more common, usually driven by increasing eutrophication. Drawing upon a series of fossil Coleoptera records spanning several thousand years from Hatfield Moors, south Yorkshire, we reconstruct in some detail the mire’s ontogeny and fluctuations in site hydrology and vegetation cover, illustrating the intimate association between substrate, topography and peat development. A comparison between fossil and modern beetle populations indicates that the faunal characteristics of this mire and its adjacent neighbour, Thorne Moors, become established during the early phases of peat development, including its rare endemics, and that the faunal biodiversity on the sites today is dictated by complex site histories. The over-riding characteristic of these faunas is of stability over several thousand years, which has important implications for the restoration of degraded sites, especially those where refugial areas are limited. In contrast, analyses of fossil Chironomidae from shallow lakes allow researchers to track changes in limnological status and while attempts have been made to reconstruct changes in nutrient levels quantitatively, the chironomids respond indirectly to such changes, typically mediated through complex ecosystem dynamics such as changes in fish and/or macrophyte communities. These changes are illustrated via historic chironomid stratigraphies and diversity indices from a range of shallow lakes located across Britain: Slapton Ley, Frensham Great Pond, Fleet Pond, Kyre Pool and Barnes Loch. These sites have shown varying degrees of eutrophication over recent timescales which tends to be associated with a decline in chironomid diversity. While complex functional processes exist within these ecosystems, our evidence suggests that one of the key drivers in the loss of shallow lake chironomid diversity appears to be the loss of aquatic macrophytes. Overall, while chironomids do show a clear response to altered nutrient regimes, multi-proxy reconstructions are recommended for a clear interpretation of past change. We conclude that if we are to have a better understanding of biota at the ecosystem level we need to know more of the complex interactions between different insect groups as well as with other animal and plant communities. A palaeoecological approach is thus crucial in order to assess the role of insect groups in ecosystem processes, both in the recent past and over long time scales, and is essential for wetland managers and conservation organisations involved in long term management and restoration of wetland systems.

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.

Vision and Virtuality:The Construction of Narrative Space in Film and Computer Games

This paper seeks to explore the construction of narrative space in 3D PC computer games. With reference to Stephen Heath’s theory of filmic narrative space, the paper will examine how computer games, based on the rendition of a continuous 3D, real-time interactive environment, construct a distinct mode of narrativisation. The dynamic imbrication of the manipulation of 3D objects in a virtual world and the (re)presentation of this virtual mise-en-scene constitute an interaction that affects the concept of narrative in computer games. This leads to several questions that the paper seeks to investigate: How does the construction of space in PC games contribute to the meaning-making process or the gamer’s experience of narrative? How then is this experience of narrative game-space different from that of film?

Orientalism and Imperialism in French West Africa. Considerations on travel literature, colonial tourism, and the desert as a “commodity” in Mauritania

In this article we intend to make a summary overview of the influence that literary production, originated under colonial mapping missions or later in travel writing, had in the construction and establishment of a discourse to advertise and promote tourism in Mauritania. To this end we will draw on travel narratives that are illustrative of different periods and that correspond in some way to discourses of otherness. In this specific case, such discourses relate to the “Moors” of the West African coast and were produced in various historical contexts. We will also consider the discourse present in the tourism promotion materials of the colonial period and we will demonstrate to what extent it can be engaged in a dialogue with 19th and 20th centuries’ Western colonial literature.

Effect of cattle urine addition on the surface emissions and subsurface concentrations of greenhouse gases in a UK peat grassland

Grazing systems represent a substantial percentage of the global anthropogenic flux of nitrous oxide (N2O) as a result of nitrogen addition to the soil. The pool of available carbon that is added to the soil from livestock excreta also provides substrate for the production of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) by soil microorganisms. A study into the production and emission of CO2, CH4 and N2O from cattle urine amended pasture was carried out on the Somerset Levels and Moors, UK over a three-month period. Urine-amended plots (50 g N m−2) were compared to control plots to which only water (12 mg N m−2) was applied. CO2 emission peaked at 5200 mg CO2 m−2 d−1 directly after application. CH4 flux decreased to −2000 μg CH4 m−2 d−1 two days after application; however, net CH4 flux was positive from urine treated plots and negative from control plots. N2O emission peaked at 88 mg N2O m−2 d−1 12 days after application. Subsurface CH4 and N2O concentrations were higher in the urine treated plots than the controls. There was no effect of treatment on subsurface CO2 concentrations. Subsurface N2O peaked at 500 ppm 12 days after and 1200 ppm 56 days after application. Subsurface NO3− concentration peaked at approximately 300 mg N kg dry soil−1 12 days after application. Results indicate that denitrification is the key driver for N2O release in peatlands and that this production is strongly related to rainfall events and water-table movement. N2O production at depth continued long after emissions were detected at the surface. Further understanding of the interaction between subsurface gas concentrations, surface emissions and soil hydrological conditions is required to successfully predict greenhouse gas production and emission.

Thorne Moors: a contested wetland in north-eastern England

This paper explores the past, present and future of Thorne Moors. First, the paper addresses the landscape context of the Moors within the Humberhead Levels, and the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental resource. It also explores the management and protection of the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental resource of the Moors. Finally, it looks at the future with reference to the opportunity provided by its possible designation as a Ramsar site.

Re-creation of heathland on improved pasture using topsoil removal and sulphur amendments: edaphic drivers and impacts on ericoid mycorrhizas

Understanding the factors that drive successful re-creation and restoration of lowland heaths is crucially important for achieving the long-term conservation of this threatened habitat type. In this study we investigated the changes in soil chemistry, plant community and interactions between Calluna vulgaris and symbiotic ericoid mycorrhizas (ERM) that occurred when improved pasture was subjected to one of three treatments (i) acidification with elemental sulphur (ii) acidification with ferrous sulphur (iii) removal of the topsoil. We found that the soil stripping treatment produced the greatest reduction in available phosphate but did not decrease soil pH. Conversely, acidification with elemental sulphur decreased pH but increased availability of phosphate and potentially toxic cations. The elemental sulphur treatment produced plant communities that most closely resembled those on surrounding heaths and acid grasslands. The most important driver was low pH and concomitant increased availability of potentially toxic cations. Plant community development was found to be little related to levels of available soil phosphate, particularly at low pH. The elemental sulphur treatment also produced the best germination and growth of C. vulgaris over 4–5 years. However, this treatment was found to inhibit the development of symbiotic relationships between C. vulgaris and ERM. This may affect the long-term persistence of re-created vegetation and its interactions with other components of heathland communities.