Investigation of knot nests on Ellesmere Island

Knots arrive on Ellesmere Island in late May or early June. At Hazen Camp small flocks were present on 3 June 1966, but the main influx occurred 5 June when many flocks were seen ranging in size from 6 to 60 individuals. The sexes appeared to arrive together, but the manner of pair-formation was not determined. By 7 June pairs were distributed over the tundra with large feeding flocks forming at snowfree wet marshy areas. Most nests were on Dryas-hummocked slopes and tundra, either dry or moist, with some on clay plains and summits in a mixed Dryas and Salix vegetation. A census area of 240 ha supported at least 3 breeding pairs, and possibly 5; the total number of pairs breeding in the Hazen Camp study area was estimated to be about 25 (1.09 pairs/km**2). Egg-laying (4 nests) extended from 15 to 28 June, with 3 of the 4 sets completed between 20 and 23 June. Both sexes incubated, one of the pair more regularly than the other. The song-flight display of the male was performed most frequently during egglaying and incubation. The incubation period of the last egg in one clutch was established as being between 21.5 and 22.4 days. Four nests hatched between 12 and 20 July, and the hatching period of the entire clutch was less than 24 hours. Four of 7 nests (57 %) survived and egg survival (53 %) was low. Families left the nesting area so on after hatching, concentrating at ponds where food was readily available for the young. Both adults attended the young during the pre-fledging period, but the females apparently departed before the young had hedged. Males left once the young could fly and the adult fall migration was complete by early August. Most 01 the young departed belore mid-August. Fall migration is complete by late August or early September. The breeding season appears to be timed to peak load supply for the young. Adult Chironomidae emergence was highest between 3 and 17 July, the period during which most successful nests hatched. The increasing scarcity of adult insects for the young after mid-July was offset by family movements over the tundra and the early departure of half the adult population. Food also seemed to influence the distribution of breeding pairs aver the tundra, restricting them to the general vicinity of marshes, streams, and ponds where food is most available when the young hatch. Territoriality in the Knot appears to be closely associated with the protection of the nest against predators and has at least a local effect in regulating the number of breeding pairs. Plant material was important in the diet of adult Knots throughout the summer and the primary food from the time of arrival until mid-June. After mid-June the percentage of animal matter increased as dipterous insects became available (especially adult Chironomidae), but plant materials continued to constitute a large part of the diet, usually more than 50 %. The food of the young before fledging consisted principally of adult chironomids.

Territorial assemblages and Governance : The example of the Taonaba project [Town of Abymes, Guadeloupe]

This article reports on an action research to support the urban community of Cap Excellence in Guadaloupe in its local sustainable development project. After summarizing the terms of the debate around sustainable development, and presenting the region, the search will be put back into the context of a more general approach of territorial* intelligence (TI). The limits of a local Agenda 21 in the form of a 'programmed action plan' is the chance to enhance the concept of TI with that of territorial assemblage. Our study area is the natural reserve of the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin of Guadeloupe, the second largest biosphere reserve designated by UNESCO in the archipelago of the Petites Antilles, more specifically the implementation of the Taonaba project, whose goal is to launch an ecotourism visitors' centre, operational at the end of 2012. Based on the analysis of a large amount of data, the article describes an evaluation tool for territorial assemblages for participative territorial governance. Our results were presented to local government officials in the Urban Sustainable Development Forum, which our group organised from 2 to 4 April 2012, in the district of Abymes/Pointe-à-Pitre

"Sin falcones e sin adtores mudados" : La cetrería en el Cantar de Mio Cid

La referencia a las aves de caza presente en el comienzo del CMC opera a modo de "anclaje" que nos anticipa que los eventos y sucesos del poema se desarrollarán en un entorno exclusivamente nobiliario. Asimismo la ausencia de halcones y azores nos habla de una situación de privación que afecta no sólo al Cid en cuanto a sus bienes, sino también, teniendo en cuenta el valor simbólico de las aves, a su honor en todos sus aspectos. En cuanto al por qué de la ausencia de escenas de caza en el Cantar, podemos aventurar tres razones concomitantes: a) funciona como una tácita crítica dirigida contra los usos de la nobleza cortesana y asimismo indica el alejamiento del Cid respecto de dicho entorno; b) señala la clausura del ocio estamental del Cid y los suyos; c) es un índice de la paulatina incorporación de prácticas y restricciones monásticas por parte del estamento nobiliario, en el marco de la "monaquización" de los bellatores.

Baseline surface radiation during the International Polar Year 2007-2009

Downwelling and upwelling shortwave and longwave radiation components from six active polar sites, taking part of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN), were selected for the period of the last International Polar Year (March 2007 to March 2009), and included in the BSRN-IPY dataset, along with metadata and supplementary data for some of the stations. Two sites, located at Svalbard archipelago (Ny Ålesund) and Alaska (Barrow), represent Arctic sea-level conditions. Four Antarctic stations represent both sea-level (Dronning Maud Land and Cosmonaut Sea) and high-elevation conditions (South Pole and East Antarctic Plateau). The BSRN-IPY dataset content and quality are discussed.