The extent of grazing release from epiphytism for Sargassum muticum (Phaeophyceae) within the invaded range

The overall biotic pressure on a newly introduced species may be less than that experienced within its native range, facilitating invasion. The brown alga Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt is a conspicuous and successful invasive species originally from Japan and China. We compared S. muticum and native macroalgae with respect to the biotic pressures of mesoherbivore grazing and ectocarpoid fouling. In Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, S. muticum thalli were as heavily overgrown with seasonal blooms of epiphytic algae as native macroalgal species were. The herbivorous amphipod Dexamine spinosa was much more abundant on S. muticum than on any native macroalga. When cultured with this amphipod, S. muticum lost more tissue than three native macroalgae, Saccharina latissima (Linnaeus) Lane et al., Halidrys siliquosa (Linnaeus) Lyngbye and Fucus serratus Linnaeus. Sargassum muticum cultured with both ectocarpoid fouling and amphipods showed a severe impact, consistent with our previous findings of large declines in the density of S. muticum observed in the field during the peak of fouling. Despite being a recent introduction into the macroalgal community in Strangford Lough, S. muticum appears to be under biotic pressure at least equal to that on native species, suggesting that release from grazing and epiphytism does not contribute to the invasiveness of this species in Strangford Lough.

Folklore’s Timeless Past, Ireland’s Present Past, and the Perception of Rural Houses in Early Historic Ireland

This study examines how the archaeology of historic Ireland has been interpreted. Two approaches to the history and archaeology of Ireland are identified. The first, the timeless past, has its roots in a neo-Lamarckian view of the past. This perspective was particularly developed in the work of geographer and ethnographer, Estyn Evans. The second view, associated in particular with a nationalist approach to Ireland’s past, looked to the west of the country where it was believed the culture had been preserved largely unchanged and in its purest form. The continuing impact of these frameworks upon the interpretation of rural settlement in the period 1200– 1700 is examined. It is argued that historians and archaeologists alike have underestimated the quality of buildings.

Theoretical and spatial limits to the value of rural environmental benefits: Evidence from the forestry sector

The valuation of environmental benefits has been well researched in the forestry sector. This is not generally the case in the agriculture sector although schemes to compensate farmers for provision of officially defined environmental benefits are already in place throughout the European Union. This paper draws on empirical findings from forestry and deductions from economic theory to challenge the notion of the universality of such benefits. Empirical findings from forestry suggest recreational use value is location specific rather than widely spread. Household utility theory predicts zero willingness to pay to maintain the status quo level of a previously unpaid for environmental benefit (when provision is not perceived as under risk) but a positive willingness to pay for an increase. Thus, non use values cannot be attributed to the major part of existing commercial forestry area but to spatially restricted schemes such as additional afforestation or preservation of ancient natural woodlands.

The Emergence of Rural Support Organisations in the UK and Canada: Providing Support for Patrilineal Family Farming

A certain type of rural support has emerged since agricultural restructuring of the 1980s. The article draws on research from the UK and Canada to suggest that support in both countries is derived from a patrilineal culture that still dominates family farming in both countries. Such a way of life, it is argued, involves the majority of farming men and women across generations working increasingly hard to ensure farm survival in order to facilitate an overall pattern of farm succession via the male or ‘patrilineal’ line. The article begins by providing a conceptualisation of patrilineal family farming drawing on insights from gender-informed work on farming identities, political-economy approaches from agricultural geography and the cultural turn in rural studies. This section will provide theoretical direction for discussion of the research findings. Here the article presents a discussion of the context to and typologies of organisations that emerged and five key findings derived from research conducted with members of the organisations in the UK and Canada. This assists in developing the argument that the emergent organisations are responding to and supporting this way of life and highlights some of the potential implications of doing so. The article has two aims. Firstly, it suggests that family farming in the UK and Canada continues to be predominantly structured by a way of life transmitted across generations which has the overall prerequisite of maintaining farm survival to enable patrilineal succession. Secondly, it suggests that a particular type of support for farming families emerged as a response to perceived threats to this way of life and provides evidence of its enduring nature.

Visual target separation determines the extent of generalisation between opposing visuomotor rotations

Here we investigated the influence of angular separation between visual and motor targets on concurrent adaptation to two opposing visuomotor rotations. We inferred the extent of generalisation between opposing visuomotor rotations at individual target locations based on whether interference (negative transfer) was present. Our main finding was that dual adaptation occurred to opposing visuomotor rotations when each was associated with different visual targets but shared a common motor target. Dual adaptation could have been achieved either within a single sensorimotor map (i.e. with different mappings associated with different ranges of visual input), or by forming two different internal models (the selection of which would be based on contextual information provided by target location). In the present case, the pattern of generalisation was dependent on the relative position of the visual targets associated with each rotation. Visual targets nearest the workspace of the opposing visuomotor rotation exhibited the most interference (i.e. generalisation). When the minimum angular separation between visual targets was increased, the extent of interference was reduced. These results suggest that the separation in the range of sensory inputs is the critical requirement to support dual adaptation within a single sensorimotor mapping.