Characterization of a highly biodiverse floodplain meadow using hyperspectral remote sensing within a plant functional trait framework

We assessed the potential for using optical functional types as effective markers to monitor changes in vegetation in floodplain meadows associated with changes in their local environment. Floodplain meadows are challenging ecosystems for monitoring and conservation because of their highly biodiverse nature. Our aim was to understand and explain spectral differences among key members of floodplain meadows and also characterize differences with respect to functional traits. The study was conducted on a typical floodplain meadow in UK (MG4-type, mesotrophic grassland type 4, according to British National Vegetation Classification). We compared two approaches to characterize floodplain communities using field spectroscopy. The first approach was sub-community based, in which we collected spectral signatures for species groupings indicating two distinct eco-hydrological conditions (dry and wet soil indicator species). The other approach was “species-specific”, in which we focused on the spectral reflectance of three key species found on the meadow. One herb species is a typical member of the MG4 floodplain meadow community, while the other two species, sedge and rush, represent wetland vegetation. We also monitored vegetation biophysical and functional properties as well as soil nutrients and ground water levels. We found that the vegetation classes representing meadow sub-communities could not be spectrally distinguished from each other, whereas the individual herb species was found to have a distinctly different spectral signature from the sedge and rush species. The spectral differences between these three species could be explained by their observed differences in plant biophysical parameters, as corroborated through radiative transfer model simulations. These parameters, such as leaf area index, leaf dry matter content, leaf water content, and specific leaf area, along with other functional parameters, such as maximum carboxylation capacity and leaf nitrogen content, also helped explain the species’ differences in functional dynamics. Groundwater level and soil nitrogen availability, which are important factors governing plant nutrient status, were also found to be significantly different for the herb/wetland species’ locations. The study concludes that spectrally distinguishable species, typical for a highly biodiverse site such as a floodplain meadow, could potentially be used as target species to monitor vegetation dynamics under changing environmental conditions.

Judah Benjamin: marginalized outsider or admitted insider?

Judah Benjamin (1811-1884) was one of the greatest of nineteenth century lawyers. This article analyses how a young man who might have been marginalized in society because of the circumstances of his birth, ethnic origin and religious identity rose to prominence in law, politics and business in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Shifting sand, shifting livelihoods? Reflections on a coastal gold rush in Ghana

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is often characterised as rush-type activity undertaken by people looking to ‘get-rich quick’. An alternative view posits ASM as poverty-driven activity which provides a valuable source of employment to a rural population where agriculture has failed to provide an adequate income. Against this dichotomy, this article critically reviews the short-lived, but high profile, gold rush which occurred on the beaches of Elmina, a fishing town in Ghana’s Central Region. At its peak, more than 1000 people, including local fishermen and career miners from the Western Region and Eastern Region of the country, were mining on the beaches. Drawing on interviews with miners and local business owners, the analysis explores the dynamics of the rush and its implications for understanding the ASM sector in Ghana. The discussion highlights the challenges associated with managing resources in dynamic and heterogeneous contexts, reconciling separate and conflicting sectoral priorities and the need to go beyond simplified and dualistic representations of the sector.

Le Statut comparé de l'autofiction chez Benjamin Constant et Amélie Nothomb : une histoire de genre?

Le genre autobiographique, malgré une popularité qui ne se dément pas depuis deux siècles, ne bénéficie pas d’une définition claire. Cet article se propose de montrer que cela est sans doute dû à l’hybridité intrinsèque de ce genre qui se traduit aussi par un pacte autobiographique complexe. Plus précisément, en s’appuyant sur les cas de Constant et de Nothomb, sera démontré que la lecture qui est faite des écrits intimes détermine bien souvent le genre. En ce qui concerne en particulier ces deux auteurs, leur personnalité changeante, contradictoire voire affabulatoire repousse le genre autobiographique dans ses limites, illustrent l’adage selon lequel le roman est plus vrai que la réalité vécue.  

Otto Klitgord and Major Benjamin Namm

Otto Klitgord is depicted giving Benjamin H. Namm, chairman of the college's Board of Trustees a degree. Otto Klitgord was the first president of the New York City College of Technology. He was named director of the New York State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences when it was formed in the 1946 and became president in the 1950s when the administration was reorganized. Klitgord served until 1960, making his tenure as president the longest in City Tech's history.

In Their Footsteps, In Their Words: Special Section, 1813-1863

In Their Footsteps and In Their Words: Colby explores the first 50 years, from Jeremiah Chaplin to the Civil War.

O lugar do tempo : experiência e tradição em Walter Benjamin

A presente dissertação versa sobre o conceito de experiência em Walter Benjamin. Discute, por conseguinte, a relação que esse conceito mantém com a tradição, a memória, a arte, o tempo, a história e a linguagem no corpus filosófico do autor em questão. Essa constelação de conceitos mantém estreita relação com a religião e a antropologia. Nesse sentido, o texto procura investigar, para além do conhecimento filosófico do autor, as referências antropológicas que constituiriam o substrato místico e político do pensamento benjaminiano sobre a experiência. Walter Benjamin é um pensador da modernidade, escreve a partir dela e para ela. A literatura, como forma de expressão histórica, é basicamente a modalidade artística por intermédio da qual o “filósofo da aura” lê o tempo, a história. A experiência estética, por seu turno, representa o termo em que se sintetiza no autor a modificação da experiência enquanto tal na era moderna. Como crítico cuidadoso da cultura, Benjamin é também seu maior protetor.