Patterned fen formation and development from the Great Sandy Region, south-east Queensland, Australia

The Great Sandy Region (incorporating Fraser Island and the Cooloola sand-mass), south-east Queensland, contains a significant area of Ramsar-listed coastal wetlands, including the globally important patterned fen complexes. These mires form an elaborate network of pools surrounded by vegetated peat ridges and are the only known subtropical, Southern Hemisphere examples, with wetlands of this type typically located in high northern latitudes. Sedimentological, palynological and charcoal analysis from the Wathumba and Moon Point complexes on Fraser Island indicate two periods of swamp formation (that may contain patterned fens), one commencing at 12 000 years ago (Moon Point) and the other ~4300 years ago (Wathumba). Wetland formation and development is thought to be related to a combination of biological and hydrological processes with the dominant peat-forming rush, Empodisma minus, being an important component of both patterned and non-patterned mires within the region. In contrast to Northern Hemisphere paludifying systems, the patterning appears to initiate at the start of wetland development or as part of an infilling process. The wetlands dominated by E. minus are highly resilient to disturbance, particularly burning and sea level alterations, and appear to form important refuge areas for amphibians, fish and birds (both non-migratory and migratory) over thousands of years.

Fen ecosystem carbon gas dynamics in changing hydrological conditions

Northern peatlands are thought to store one third of all soil carbon (C). Besides the C sink function, peatlands are one of the largest natural sources of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. Climate change may affect the C gas dynamics as well as the labile C pool. Because the peatland C sequestration and CH4 emissions are governed by high water levels, changes in hydrology are seen as the driving factor in peatland ecosystem change. This study aimed to quantify the carbon dioxide (CO2) and CH4 dynamics of a fen ecosystem at different spatial scales: plant community components scale, plant community scale and ecosystem scale, under hydrologically normal and water level drawdown conditions. C gas exchange was measured in two fens in southern Finland applying static chamber and eddy covariance techniques. During hydrologically normal conditions, the ecosystem was a CO2 sink and CH4 source to the atmosphere. Sphagnum mosses and sedges were the most important contributors to the community photosynthesis. The presence of sedges had a major positive impact on CH4 emissions while dwarf shrubs had a slightly attenuating impact. C fluxes varied considerably between the plant communities. Therefore, their proportions determined the ecosystem scale fluxes. An experimental water level drawdown markedly reduced the photosynthesis and respiration of sedges and Sphagnum mosses and benefited shrubs. Consequently, changes were smaller at the ecosystem scale than at the plant group scale. The decrease in photosynthesis and the increase in respiration, mostly peat respiration, made the fen a smaller CO2 sink. CH4 fluxes were significantly lowered, close to zero. The impact of natural droughts was similar to, although more modest than, the impact of the experimental water level drawdown. The results are applicable to the short term impacts of the water level drawdown and to climatic conditions in which droughts become more frequent.

Efficacy of sod removal in regenerating fen vegetation for the conservation of the marsh fritillary butterfly Euphydryas aurinia, Montiaghs Moss Nature Reserve, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The efficacy of ‘sod removal’ as a fenland restoration technique was tested using an experimental approach at Montiaghs Moss Nature Reserve, Northern Ireland, from 2006 to 2008. The site suffered from rank growth of purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea which was out-competing herbaceous species. Soil was removed up to a depth of 15 cm completely denuding vegetation in the experimental plot exposing bare peat. By July 2007, 15.2% of sod-removal areas were revegetated; by October 2008 cover had risen to 64.6%. Of this cover, purple moor-grass accounted for only 9-11% compared to 78- 79% on control plots. Cover of other rank-forming grass species was also significantly reduced. Sod removal significantly increased the cover of species characteristic of fenlands including sedges Carex spp., rushes Juncus spp., marsh pennywort Hydrocotyle vulgaris and lesser spearwort Ranunculus flammula. It seems likely that sod removal, which lowered the surface of the peat, restored minerotrophic conditions and exposed the historical seed bank stimulating regeneration of some fenland specialists and pioneer species; this resulted in significantly higher species richness on sod removal plots than control plots two years after treatment. There was no demonstrable effect of sod removal on abundance of devil’s-bit scabious Succisa pratensis, the larval food plant of the Annex II listed marsh fritillary butterfly Euphydryas aurinia. We recommend that consideration should be given to artificially seeding devil’s-bit scabious soon after sod removal treatment to promote early recolonisation and to increase plant abundance on the site.

A 1300-year multi-proxy, high-resolution record from a rich fen in northern Poland:Reconstructing hydrology, land use and climate change

Here we present the first high-resolution multi-proxy analysis of a rich fen in the central-eastern European lowlands. The fen is located in the young glacial landscape of the Sta{ogonek}zki river valley. We investigated the fen's development pathways, asking three main questions: (i) what was the pattern and timing of the peatland's vegetation succession, (ii) how did land use and climate affect the succession in the fen ecosystem, and (iii) to what degree does the reconstructed hydrology for this site correlate with those of other sites in the region in terms of past climate change? Several stages of fen history were determined, beginning with the lake-to-fen transition ca. AD 700. Brown mosses dominated the sampling site from this period to the present. No human impact was found to have occurred until ca. AD 1700, when the first forest cutting began. Around AD 1890 a more significant disturbance took place-this date marks the clear cutting of forests and dramatic landscape openness. Deforestation changed the hydrology and chemistry of the mire, which was revealed by a shift in local plant and testate amoebae communities. We also compared a potential climatic signal recorded in the peat profile before AD 1700 with other sites from the region. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

1.° Secreta Galeni ad Moteum, sive Monteum, Regem Assyriorum : libellus supposititius. — 2.° Compendium regimenti acutorum, editum à Magistro Arnaldo de Villanova. — 3.° Alberti tractatus de febre pestilentiali, super primam fen quarti canonis Avicennae. — 4.° Secretum secretorum, sive Aristotelis ad Alexandum Magnum epistola : interprete Philippo, Clerico Tripolitano.

Baluzianus

靖海氛紀Jing hai fen ji.Pacification des pirates.

Par Yuan Yong lun, avec préfaces de 1830 par Su Ying heng et He Jing zhong. Ouvrage relatif aux pirateries exercées sur les côtes du Guang dong (1808-1809) consécutivement aux affaires d'Annam ; gravé à Canton en 1830. Suivi d'une annexe de 1835 par Zhou Shui sheng.2 livres.

Obst??culos y dificultades en la evoluci??n de las estructuras conceptuales y espitemol??gicas de los futuros maestros : un estudio de casos sobre el fen??meno de las estaciones

Investigar los obst??culos y dificultades que surgen en la evoluci??n de las estructuras conceptuales y epistemol??gicas de los futuros maestros de la Especialidad de Educaci??n Primaria, dentro de la asignatura de Did??ctica de las Ciencias de la Naturaleza, sobre los movimientos relativos de la Tierra y el Sol con el objeto de cuestionarse, indagar y buscar respuesta a los motivos que justifican que se produzcan las estaciones terrestres. Opta por un enfoque metodol??gico de corte cualitativo e interpretativo. Se realiza sobre un grupo del curso 2001-2002, compuesto por 54 alumnos futuros maestros, 45 chicas y 9 chicos, de edades mayoritariamente comprendidas entre los 20 y 23 a??os. La constituci??n de los grupos se hace de tal manera que el n??mero m??ximo de sujetos no es superior a cinco por grupo. Inicialmente se forman 12 grupos (6 de cuatro y 6 de cinco), posteriormente se segrega un nuevo grupo de 3 sujetos, finalmente se selecciona la mitad de ellos. El criterio seguido para la agrupaci??n es reunir en un mismo grupo a individuos con ideas diferentes para as?? favorecer el contraste. La recogida de informaci??n se lleva a cabo a trav??s de tres tipos de instrumentos, cuestionarios, portafolios e informes escritos de reconstrucci??n y an??lisis. El an??lisis de los resultados finales hace posible la detecci??n de tres modelos de explicaci??n inicial y los obst??culos que se encuentran obstruyen la evoluci??n de los m??todos. Ellos est??n relacionados con las creencias y con los principios ontol??gicos impl??citos de los sujetos estudiados. Algunas dificultades se detectan tambi??n con el uso de im??genes mentales en el espacio y la proyecci??n de la vista en un plano. Otro inconveniente est?? asociado a la tendencia tradicional y con los hechos reconoce que tiene que ser explicado. En t??rminos generales, el dise??o metodol??gico utilizado es un nuevo enfoque en el estudio del sistema de STL (Sol-Tierra-Luna) y del fen??meno de la estacionalidad en particular. Por lo tanto, abre nuevas posibilidades que permitan la realizaci??n de nuevos proyectos en las aulas, asumiendo las dimensiones sociales del aprendizaje y la contemplaci??n de ??ste desde la epistemolog??a escolar.

Ausencia de efecto del cambio de contexto de comida en el fen??meno de anorexia por actividad en ratas

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

En los m??rgenes del sistema escolar : an??lisis del fen??meno de las clases particulares

Se pretende ofrecer a todos los responsables e implicados en el sistema educativo, un material que favorezca el an??lisis sobre el papel que cada uno juega en el proceso educativo. La poblaci??n objeto de estudio en la primera parte del trabajo, estuvo formada por los escolares (que se encontraban en los centros los d??as que se recogieron los datos) de los siguientes Centros de Camargo: Instituto de Bachillerato, Instituto de Formaci??n Profesional y Aula Ocupacional. En la segunda parte se realizaron 7 entrevistas a profesores del instituto de cursos y materias diferentes, 6 entrevistas a padres, 5 a profesores particulares y 5 a un grupo de estudiantes. En un primer lugar se recogen los resultados de dos encuestas realizadas en momentos distintos y a colectivos diferentes con el prop??sito de conseguir algunos datos sociol??gicos de los escolares. Los resultados de ambos trabajos sirven para establecer el marco general de la problem??tica de los escolares de BUP. La segunda parte, n??cleo central del trabajo, se dedica exclusivamente al an??lisis del fen??meno de las clases particulares, visto desde la perspectiva del profesor, la de los padres y la de los estudiantes. Dos tipos distintos de encuesta. Para la obtenci??n de resultados se calcula: la media de cada ??tem y los porcentajes de satisfacci??n, de estancia en el centro'grata' o no, de inter??s por los estudios y de participaci??n o no en actividades extracad??micas. Los varones y los de m??s edad son los grupos que m??s critican el sistema; la mayor??a de los estudiantes se sienten poco interesados por su actividad acad??mica y m??s del cincuenta por ciento de los estudiantes opina que la asistencia a una clase particular les ayuda 'mucho o 'bastante' a mejorar su rendimiento acad??mico. Existe una gran variedad de clases particulares y su generalizaci??n es una consecuencia de las insuficiencias del sistema escolar. Los profesores de instituto afirman que estas clases son negativas porque no potencian los h??bitos de trabajo personal, al contrario que los padres, que las ven como un medio para aprobar y pasar de curso.

La violencia en los centros educativos de Italia : el fen??meno del bullying

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Los fen??menos f??sicos como contenido organizador : los mapas de experto tridimensionales

Este art??culo es un resumen de una parte del trabajo realizado por los firmantes del mismo y que ha sido distinguido con el segundo Premio Nacional de Investigaci??n Educativa 1998 en la modalidad de Investigaci??n Educativa. Este art??culo pertenece al Monogr??fico: La Ciencia a las puertas del Tercer Milenio (II)

Observaci??n visual y auditiva de los fen??menos radiactivos

Se presenta, como experiencia de c??tedra, el experimento de Becquerel, con el fin de explicar a los alumnos la radiactividad natural y que, adem??s, les sirve como pr??ctica fotogr??fica. Esta experiencia se complementa con la utilizaci??n de un contador escolar Geiger-M??ller.