From a Cut to a Tag

<p>Rain-on-snow modifies snow properties and can lead to the formation of ice crusts which impact wildlife and also vegetation. Events in the Arctic have been recently linked to specific sea ice conditions (longer open water season) for Siberia. Specifically microwave satellite data have been shown applicable for identification of such events across the Arctic. Related snow structure changes can be observed specifically over Scandinavia, northern European Russia and Western Siberia as well as Alaska (Bartsch, 2010). Events which had severe impacts for reindeer herder herding have occurred several times in the last two decades.</p><p>Challenges further include the categorization of severity of events and attribution of observations to rain-on-snow events.</p><p>Calibration and validation of detection schemes have been largely based on indirect measures. Usually a combination of air temperature and snow height measurements, supported by reports of such events are analysed.</p><p>In this presentation, the utility of current calibration and validation approaches are discussed. Requirements towards in situ data from the viewpoint of satellite based retrievals are outlined.</p><p>Bartsch, A. Ten Years of SeaWinds on QuikSCAT for Snow Applications. Remote Sens. 2010, 2, 1142-1156.</p>

In patchy habitats, the relationship between animal abundance and cover of a preferred habitat may change with the availability of that habitat, resulting in a functional response in habitat use. Here, we investigate the relationship of two specialized herbivores, willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) and mountain hare (Lepus timidus), to willows (Salix spp.) in three regions of the shrub tundra zone-northern Norway, northern European Russia and western Siberia. Shrub tundra is a naturally patchy habitat where willow thickets represent a major structural element and are important for herbivores both as food and shelter. Habitat use was quantified using feces counts in a hierarchical spatial design and related to several measures of willow thicket configuration. We document a functional response in the use of willow thickets by ptarmigan, but not by hares. For hares, whose range extends into forested regions, occurrence increased overall with willow cover. The occurrence of willow ptarmigan showed a strong positive relationship to willow cover and a negative relationship to thicket fragmentation in the region with lowest willow cover at landscape scale, where willow growth may be limited by reindeer browsing. In regions with higher cover, in contrast, such relationships were not observed. Differences in predator communities among the regions may contribute to the observed pattern, enhancing the need for cover where willow thickets are scarce. Such region-specific relationships reflecting regional characteristics of the ecosystem highlight the importance of large-scale investigations to understand the relationships of habitat availability and use, which is a critical issue considering that habitat availability changes quickly with climate change and human impact.

Kozlovsky A ., Orlov V ., Okulova N., Kovalskaya J. and Searle J. B. 2000. Chromosome studies on common shrews from northern and central parts of European Russia. [In: Evolution in the Sorex araneus group: Cytogenetic and molecular aspects. J. B. Searle and J. M. Wojcik, eds], Acta Theriologica 45, Suppl. 1: 2 7 -3 1 . W e report here on the karyotypes of 29 common shrews from 8 sites in northern and central European Russia. A new chromosome race for the species was found in the northernmost locality sampled and is named the Petchora race (gi, h n ,jl, kq, mo, pr). It is only known from the type site. Shrews from other localities belonged to races that have already been described, but the new data help to define their ranges. In particular, our new samples demonstrate that the Manturovo race is a widespread form within northern European Russia. Two shrews from Zvenigorod belonged to the ‘ Moscow race’ as listed in Zima et al. (1996), casting doubt on the existence of the ‘ Zvenigorod race’ as a separate entity.

Middle Pleistocene glaciations of the Russian North

Interactions between formal and informal institutions in community, private and state forest contexts in Ghana

Bottom-up and bottom-top institutional changes in environmental management in the Niger Delta

Process of male aging involves structural and functional changes in many organs and systems, including the reproductive system. The aim of this study was to investigate semen parameters and reproductive hormone and metabolite levels in men of different age groups living in the northern European Russia (the city of Arkhangelsk). The study included 99 men aged from 21 to 63 years. Retrospectively, the participants were divided into four groups according to their age: 21–30, 31–40, 41–50, and 51–63 years. It was found that the semen parameters did not differ among different age groups. Distinct age-related changes were observed in the inhibin B and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels. Linear regression analysis showed that the FSH level increased by 2.0% and the inhibin B level decreased by 1.0% every year. An increase in the waist circumference by 0.2% a year was shown, which was accompanied by an increase in the total cholesterol level by 0.4% every year. Our findings illustrate the functional weakening of the hypothalamic–pituitary axis as a first predictor of reproductive aging in men from the northern European Russia after the age of 50 years.

Occurrence and genetic variability of Kemerovo virus in Ixodes ticks from different regions of Western Siberia, Russia and Kazakhstan

Capsule Apparent survival rates of Yellow Wagtails breeding in abandoned fields in Russia are determined by previous breeding success.Aims To examine apparent survival and its link to previous breeding success in Yellow Wagtails breeding in abandoned fields in the Vologda region, northern European Russia.Methods We ringed and measured apparent survival of Yellow Wagtails at two abandoned agricultural sites over eight years (2005–2012). We modelled the impact of age, nest stage, and time of season on daily nest survival rates.Results Predation was the main cause of nest failure. Nest daily survival rate was highest at the beginning of the breeding season. Overall nest survival probability was 0.40 ± 0.02. Adult apparent survival after successful breeding was 0.42 ± 0.06 and after unsuccessful breeding this was 0.13 ± 0.06.Conclusion Reproductive success can be regarded as the crucial demographic parameter of the local Yellow Wagtail population in northern European Russia. Apparent survival after successful breeding is significantly higher than after unsuccessful breeding, because unsuccessful breeders probably move to new breeding sites the following year. High adult survival may be particularly important to Yellow Wagtail population dynamics in the study region, because second breeding attempts are apparently unusual.

The first author, an independent geological consultant with extensive experience in the energy industry, assesses the oil, gas, and gas condensate resources of the two major petroleum systems of far northern European Russia—the Timan‐Pechora Basin (Domanik‐Paleozoic) system and the offshore South and North Barents (Triassic‐Jurassic) systems. Coverage of each system includes analyses of geographical and geological setting; reserves; character of source rocks, overburden, traps, seals, and reservoir rock; and exploration history. The second author, a geographer specializing in Russia's petroleum industry, reviews currently available information on petroleum production from each system.

The spatial distributions of northern North Atlantic sea surface temperature and the high-latitude Northern Hemisphere sea level pressure anomalies averaged over six consecutive warm SST winters (1951–1956) and six consecutive cold SST winters (1971–1976) are examined. Three SLP anomaly difference (i.e., warm - cold winters) centers, significant at the 5% level, are observed over the northern North Atlantic, Europe, and western Siberia. This anomaly pattern is consistent in principle with what was identified in a related analyses by Palmer and Sun, who used composite data from selected winter months. The SLP difference centers over the northern North Atlantic and western Siberia are in phase. The impact of the latter center upon the runoff from the underlying Oh and Yenisey rivers and especially the teleconnection between SST anomalies in the northern North Atlantic and runoff of those two rivers via the atmosphere are investigated. The temporal cross-correlation analyses of 50 years (1930–1979) ...

This dissertation seeks to understand the tactical differences between two groups of anti-racist activists who confront white supremacists. I dub these activists non-militant and militant anti-racists based on their tactical preferences. Non-militant anti-racists engage in what are understood to be conventional and demonstrative tactics. While militants are also likely to engage in similar tactics, their tactical repertoire also includes confrontational and violent approaches. I am particularly interested in how the two groups of activists explain the differences in their tactical choices, and therefore, posit that each group will use ideological explanations and perceptions of threat to explain their tactical choices. Using a snowball sampling methodology, I developed a sample of 24 anti-racist activists. These activists were given a quantitative survey in order to establish their tactical preference. The survey consisted of an original index developed to establish the militancy of the respondent. Survey results yielded a bi-modal distribution of scores that suggests a distinct difference in tactical preferences among anti-racist activists and confirms the categorization of activists into non-militant and militant categories. Additionally, interviews were conducted with all of the participants in order to 1) validate the results of the quantitative measure of militancy, 2) establish ideological orientation and test whether it had an influence of discussion of tactical preference, and 3) gauge the level of threat perceived and its influence on tactical preference. The results of the survey and interview data indicate distinct differences in tactical preferences between non-militants and militants. Non-militants worked with existing community and state institutions, developed educational campaigns, used symbols to demonstrate opposition to white supremacists in their community, and held explicitly non-violent and non-confrontational rallies away from the site of white supremacist events. Militants are also willing to engage in such tactics, but their tactical repertoire also includes disruption of white supremacist activity, confrontational rallies at the sites of white supremacist events, acts of violence, and activity in subcultures where white supremacists operate and organize. The interview data demonstrate a clear difference in how non-militants and militants explain their tactical preferences. Non-militants adhered to a liberal ideology, but did not make explicit reference to their ideological position to explain their tactical preferences. I posit that this is a result of hegemonic dominance of liberalism. Non-militants need not use ideological language to explain their tactical choices because they are considered normative in contemporary, American society. Conversely, militants, who self-identified ideologically as anarchists, were more likely to explain their tactics in ideological terms. They were more likely to explain their militancy in terms of direct action and a hostility toward the state and formal institutions. I conceptualize threat as taking three unique forms: 1) physical threat based on the anti-racists membership in a group targeted by white supremacists, 2) political threat based on the ideological difference between supremacists and anti-racists, and 3) spatial threat based on the contestation of physical and metaphorical subcultural spaces. Non-militants perceived little to no threat, and therefore, their tactical preferences reflect the lack of threat that they perceived. Militants, on the other hand, had a much stronger sense of threat. The respondents in this study reported that they had been targeted for violence as a result of their sexual orientation or their categorization by white supremacists as ""race traitors."" Additionally, militants perceive white supremacists as a political threat because supremacists stand in direct ideological opposition to the militants and attempt to subvert their political activity. White supremacists were also seen as posing a spatial threat because their presence in certain subcultures signals an ideological shift within the subculture which is also accompanied by increased levels of violence.

State institutions are products of history and social contexts and have a layered character that defines their overall nature. Their position within power structures and entrenched hierarchies need to be accounted for in their biographical sketches for a better understanding of their nature and practices. However, as this book argues, the embeddedness of state or formal institutions does not take away from them their agency which influences politics and marks the boundaries of permissible conduct. They are hardly, as is sometimes assumed, mute and passive spectators of political currents and counter-currents. On the contrary, they are agents of changes themselves and embody operative procedures that structure behaviour and stabilise democratic functioning. Through their pursuits and actions, they shape political histories over the long term. Institutionalised pathways are compendium of standardised procedures and coherent rules that sculpt political acts. This operationalisation is repeated from case to case to follow a path-dependent course that is marked by its predictiveness.

How is the helping relationship between social workers and their clients mediated by institutional practices and forms? This article explores the roles that institutional practices and documents play at the very inception of the helping relationship between social workers and voluntary clients who are mothers. Based on an institutional ethnography in a social services department in Israel, we make visible the ways in which taken-for-granted institutional practices and forms—from the outset—can inhibit the helping relationship between social workers and clients. The insights of fourteen social workers, twenty mother-clients and textual analysis of institutional forms that frame the beginning of the helping relationship are utilised as a starting point from which to explicate how institutional practices and forms shape and govern the helping relationship in social work. We conclude with a call for a more transparent and creative approach to first encounters such that institutional practices and forms are reconsidered as gateways to supportive helping relationships.

Accurate information on snowpack conditions is crucial for understanding changes in the hydrological cycle and its impacts on the climate system, especially at the middle and high latitudes. Two satellite-derived products that cover Eurasia from 1979 to 2006, i.e., the snow water equivalent (SWE) data provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC; SWENSIDC) and the GlobSnow dataset provided by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) (SWEGS) are selected for examination in the present study. The performances of these datasets in representing snowpack conditions are evaluated by comparing the datasets with the observations of snow depth (SD) recorded in the Historical Soviet Daily Snow Depth (HSDSD; SDHSDSD) dataset. The results indicate that the SWEGS dataset is more consistent with the SDHSDSD dataset over northern Eurasia than the SWENSIDC dataset. In particular, the SWENSIDC dataset exhibits large discrepancies in northern Europe and western Siberia (NE-WS), indicating problems or even errors in the SWENSIDC dataset. Based on snow formation criteria (e.g., temperature and precipitation), we further explore and confirm the existence of problems in the SWENSIDC dataset. These problems may be associated with the retrieval method used to generate this dataset; this method is based on a static algorithm. Our findings suggest that satellite-derived SWE datasets (e.g., SWENSIDC) should be used with caution when investigating the impacts of snow in different research fields (e.g., climatology, hydrology, and ecology).