Island Interior Research Articles

Colonization, Spread, and Growth of Lygodium microphyllum on Tree Islands in a Wetland in Florida

AbstractWe monitored colonization, spread, and growth of an exotic Old World climbing fern on tree islands in the interior marsh of Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Florida to investigate linkages between its colonization and growth and environmental factors. Number of the patches continuously increased over a 2-yr monitoring period, but mean patch area and height did not increase. Lower water depth was associated with larger number of patches whereas higher water depth was associated with higher mean patch height. Patch occurrence probability at each 3 m (9.8 ft) grid within tree islands also increased and indicated that patches spread from outer areas to interiors of tree islands over time. Patch occurrence probability was lower in sawgrass-dominated locations, which typically occur at the margin of tree islands, compared to locations dominated by woody plants. Patch occurrence probability was higher on west sides of tree islands corresponding to the side of the islands most impacted by a recent major hurricane. This study revealed that colonization and growth of Old World climbing fern are characterized by several spatial and temporal factors. A detection protocol using ground surveys that focus on the edges of tree islands could be an efficient way to identify early infestations on tree islands in the Refuge. Such a protocol also might be useful to identify new infestations on tree islands in other areas of the Everglades.

Characteristics of Coral Cay Soils at Coringa-Herald Coral Sea Islands, Australia

Coral cay soil chemical and physical properties were described from Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve, Australia. Soil A horizons under littoral herblands and Argusia argentea shrubs were shallow and coarse textured. Interior soil A horizons, particularly under Pisonia grandis closed forest, were deeper (1.2 m) with finer textures. Average surface soil pH values ranged from pH 8.76 at the seashores to pH 8.09 in the interior. Average surface soil organic carbon ranged from 2.4% to 4.8%; and phosphorus (Colwell-P) concentrations ranged from 467 mg/kg to 882 mg/kg within the interior areas. Chemical fertility of all A horizons increased from the seashore to the island interior. The higher fertility levels are attributed to high organic matter contributed by vegetation, combined with activities of seabirds, particularly the burrowing wedgetailed shearwater, Puffinis pacificus. Leaching of nutrients from surface soils is reflected in the rapid decline in soil fertility with depth. Deeper interior A horizons are interrupted by formation of an abrupt white C profile. It is speculated that the formation of this layer is the product of periodic “washing” by a seasonally high fresh/brackish water table.

The wise man is never merely a private citizen: The Roman Stoa in Hugo Grotius’ De Jure Praedae (1604–1608)

The possible Stoic origins of the natural rights and natural law theories of the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) has been a subject of scholarly debate in recent years. Yet discussions about Grotian sociability tend to focus exclusively on the meaning of appetitus societatis in De Jure Praedae (written in 1604–1608) and De Jure Belli ac Pacis (1625), with little reference to the historical context. Insufficient consideration has been given to the intended audience(s) of these works, Grotius’ purpose in writing them, and the possible correlation between his overarching argument and his working methods. This article examines Grotius’ use and abuse of Seneca's philosophical works in De Jure Praedae, commissioned by the directors of the Dutch East India Company (or VOC) in autumn 1604. The brutal murder of Sebald de Weert on the island of Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) in June 1603 is analyzed from a Stoic perspective in Chapter 15 of De Jure Praedae. Following his refusal to hand over Portuguese prisoners, De Weert and his crew were butchered on the beach of Batticaloa by Wilama Dharma Suriya, the ruler of the island's interior. Grotius blamed the victim. VOC commanders in monsoon Asia should suppress any residual loyalty which they might feel towards Christendom. It was imperative to conclude alliances with native rulers against the Iberian colonial powers, regardless of the rulers’ (lack of) faith or their horrific treatment of prisoners. As Grotius noted in Chapter 8 of De Jure Praedae, Seneca distinguished between “two kinds of commonwealth, the world state and the city state.” Spanish and Portuguese violations of the natural law – freedom of trade and navigation in particular – deserved condign punishment for the sake of both the fellowship of mankind and, naturally, the VOC and Dutch Republic. In assessing the uses of Stoicism in De Jure Praedae, much can be learned from the physical characteristics of Ms. BPL 917 in Leiden University Library, its sole surviving manuscript copy. Seneca's philosophical works are not cited at all in the original text of Ms. BPL 917, which Grotius copied out in 1604–1605. Instead, quotations from De Ira, De Clementia and De Beneficiis appear in the top and bottom margins of folio-pages or on inserted sheets of paper, which can be dated to 1607–1608. These quotations serve to flesh out an existing argument about the VOC's just war(s) in the East Indies. A case in point is the heavily rewritten Chapter 2. Grotius added quotations from De Clementia at the same time as he reformulated two natural laws on f. 8–9, a folio sheet inserted in or after January 1607. This was no coincidence. Revenging the past misdeeds of the Portuguese, which Grotius had described in great detail in Chapter 11, could no longer be considered the main or only priority of the VOC. Instead, Grotius contended on f. 8–9 that “evil deeds must be corrected” so as to achieve, in Seneca's words, “universal security.” Acting as a kind of global police force, the VOC should punish transgressors of the natural law on account of “that world community” envisioned by the Stoics. The practical consequences were felt during the Twelve Years Truce (1609–1621). Despite a cessation of arms in Europe, the VOC continued to engage in hostilities in the East Indies. The author of De Jure Praedae supported the Company on this. Like Cicero before him, he had successfully harnessed the Stoa to the cause of empire.

Revision of the NW Laurentide Ice Sheet: implications for paleoclimate, the northeast extremity of Beringia, and Arctic Ocean sedimentation

For the past half-century, reconstructions of North American ice cover during the Last Glacial Maximum have shown ice-free land distal to the Laurentide Ice Sheet, primarily on Melville and Banks islands in the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Both islands reputedly preserve at the surface multiple Laurentide till sheets, together with associated marine and lacustrine deposits, recording as many as three pre-Late Wisconsinan glaciations. The northwest corner of Banks Island was purportedly never glaciated and is trimmed by the oldest and most extensive glaciation (Banks Glaciation) considered to be of Matuyama age (>780 ka BP). Inside the limit of Banks Glaciation, younger till sheets are ascribed to the Thomsen Glaciation (pre-Sangamonian) and the Amundsen Glaciation (Early Wisconsinan Stade). The view that the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago remained largely ice-free during the Late Wisconsinan is reinforced by a recent report of two woolly mammoth fragments collected on Banks and Melville islands, both dated to ∼22 ka BP. These dates imply that these islands constitute the northeast extremity of Beringia. A fundamental revision of this model is now warranted based on widespread fieldwork across the adjacent coastlines of Banks and Melville islands, including new dating of glacial and marine landforms and sediments. On Dundas Peninsula, southern Melville Island, AMS 14C dates on ice-transported marine molluscs within the most extensive Laurentide till yield ages of 25–49 ka BP. These dates require that Late Wisconsinan ice advanced northwestward from Visount Melville Sound, excavating fauna spanning Marine Isotope Stage 3. Laurentide ice that crossed Dundas Peninsula (300 m asl) coalesced with Melville Island ice occupying Liddon Gulf. Coalescent Laurentide and Melville ice continued to advance westward through M'Clure Strait depositing granite erratics at ≥235 m asl that require grounded ice in M'Clure Strait, as do streamlined bedforms on the channel floor. Deglaciation is recorded by widespread meltwater channels that show both the initial separation of Laurentide and Melvile ice, and the successive retreat of Laurentide ice southward across Dundas Peninsula into Viscount Melville Sound. Sedimentation from these channels deposited deltas marking deglacial marine limit. Forty dates on shells collected from associated glaciomarine rhythmites record near-synchronous ice retreat from M'Clure Strait and Dundas Peninsula to north-central Victoria Island ∼11.5 ka BP. Along the adjacent coast of Banks Island, deglacial shorelines also record the retreat of Laurentide ice both eastward through M'Clure Strait and southward into the island's interior. The elevation and age (∼11.5 ka BP) of deglacial marine limit there is fully compatible with the record of ice retreat on Melville Island. The last retreat of ice from Mercy Bay (northern Banks Island), previously assigned to northward retreat into M'Clure Strait during the Early Wisconsinan, is contradicted by geomorphic evidence for southward retreat into the island's interior during the Late Wisconsinan. This revision of the pattern and age of ice retreat across northern Banks Island results in a significant simplification of the previous Quaternary model. Our observations support the amalgamation of multiple till sheets – previously assigned to at least three pre-Late Wisconsinan glaciations – into the Late Wisconsinan. This revision also removes their formally named marine transgressions and proglacial lakes for which evidence is lacking. Erratics were also widely observed armouring meltwater channels originating on the previously proposed never-glaciated landscape. An extensive Late Wisconsinan Laurentide Ice Sheet across the western Canadian Arctic is compatible with similar evidence for extensive Laurentide ice entering the Richardson Mountains (Yukon) farther south and with the Innuitian Ice Sheet to the north. Widespread Late Wisconsinan ice, in a region previously thought to be too arid to sustain it, has important implications for paleoclimate, ice sheet modelling, Arctic Ocean ice and sediment delivery, and clarifying the northeast limit of Beringia.

Late-Holocene paleoenvironmental change at mid-elevation on the Caribbean slope of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic: a multi-site, multi-proxy analysis

High-resolution proxy records from the circum-Caribbean region indicate significant variation in Late Holocene climate, especially precipitation, attributed primarily to shifts in the mean annual position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The paleoenvironmental and cultural impacts of this Late-Holocene climate variability have been analyzed intensively in the western Caribbean, and to a lesser extent in the southern Caribbean. However, the occurrence and impacts of Late Holocene climate shifts in the eastern Caribbean, especially in island interiors, has not been well documented. Here we present sediment records of Late-Holocene paleoenvironmental change from two lakes located on the Caribbean slope of the Cordillera Central in the Dominican Republic that span the last ∼3000years. Sediment characteristics, pollen, charcoal, biogenic carbonate assemblages and isotopic composition, and bulk sedimentary carbon isotope values in Laguna Castilla and Laguna de Salvador indicate extreme shifts in hydrology, vegetation, and disturbance regimes in response to climate change and human activity in the lake watersheds. Close correspondence between the hydrological histories of the lakes and trace metal concentrations in sediments of the Cariaco Basin indicate that precipitation variability here responds to the same controls, and may similarly reflect shifts in the mean annual position of the ITCZ. Human occupation of the watersheds appears to be closely linked to severe dry periods and may indicate larger scale cultural responses to precipitation variability on the island of Hispaniola. Prehistoric human populations strongly affected vegetation and disturbance regimes in the lake watersheds. Impacts may have lasted several centuries and may have been more severe than impacts of modern populations.

Social Aspects and Implications of “Running to the Hills”: The Case of the Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland

ABSTRACT When faced with the presence of hostile others on the landscape, hunter-gatherers may choose or be obliged to retreat to areas beyond the reach of their enemies—to run to the hills. Although sometimes successful, “running to the hills” often incurs additional risks and/or requires fundamental transformations of land-use patterns, subsistence strategies, and dimensions of social life. This article explores this strategy as it unfolded among the Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland. Forced to seek refuge in the island's interior in the wake of European encroachment on the coast, the formerly maritime-adapted Beothuk were compelled to adopt a new—terrestrially focused—adaptation in a short period of time. Their failure to succeed at this venture underscores the value that coastal resources had in the Beothuk's “traditional” subsistence economy. But perhaps more importantly, their demise illustrates the critical role that social relations play in informing hunter-gatherer adaptations.

A Survey of Lichens and Bryophytes in White Spruce, <em>Picea glauca</em>, Tree Islands on a Calcareous Beach Ridge in Northeastern Manitoba

Studies on the diversity of lichens and bryophytes in northern ecosystems have focused on open tundra and boreal forests. Krummholz tree islands have received little attention. This study examined species’ diversity of lichens and bryophytes among islands of White Spruce trees in northern Manitoba. Thirty-three species were found in the tree islands with 11 additional species forming the understorey layer. The trees were dominated by epiphytic lichens and the understorey was dominated by pleurocarpous mosses. The most common lichens were widespread species. Rare lichens in the study area included Protopannaria pezizoides and Alectoria nigricans growing in the shaded interior of the tree islands. The age and density of the tree islands may produce habitat conditions different from those in mature White Spruce boreal forests. Comparative studies between White Spruce krummholz and other White Spruce stands are needed.

Nonlinear current filamentation via magnetically trapped particles

The nonlinear kinetic theory of the saturated state of collisionless reconnection with a guide magnetic field is presented, associated with kinetic Alfvén waves. Using the drift-kinetic description of electrons, the effects of particle resonances are studied in details, in the presence of self-consistent nonlinear perturbations in the form of moving magnetic islands. The new type of magnetic resonance in velocity space is found. The corresponding magnetically trapped electrons are confined in the real space to the interior of the magnetic islands and at their edge, giving rise to a surface current in the vicinity of the magnetic separatrix. It is shown that the fast reconnection, associated with the near-singularities of the current, can be stabilized by this new nonlinear current.

Foe, Friend and Fragility: Evolving Settler Interactions with the Newfoundland Wilderness

European fishermen settling in Newfoundland considered the island's interior dauntingly inimical. In time they discovered resources to supply the rough necessities of life; their relatively sustainable 'folk development' facilitated outport survival. Subsequent colonial governments, challenged by declining fisheries, gambled on industrial development of the colony's natural resources, including timber. This yielded substantial economic, social and political benefits. Indeed, its infrastructure legacy has resulted in the forests and barrens now seeming benign to contemporary Newfoundlanders: nature, tamed to a degree, allows recreation and adventure. Yet the limits to forest exploitation are becoming increasingly evident. This paper poses the question: Might it be possible for community democracy and ecological activism in the island of Newfoundland, with sympathetic industrial and government responses, to bring about a lasting balance, turning foes into friends, and providing for people's needs whilst pro...

The Genetic Structure of Pacific Islanders

Human genetic diversity in the Pacific has not been adequately sampled, particularly in Melanesia. As a result, population relationships there have been open to debate. A genome scan of autosomal markers (687 microsatellites and 203 insertions/deletions) on 952 individuals from 41 Pacific populations now provides the basis for understanding the remarkable nature of Melanesian variation, and for a more accurate comparison of these Pacific populations with previously studied groups from other regions. It also shows how textured human population variation can be in particular circumstances. Genetic diversity within individual Pacific populations is shown to be very low, while differentiation among Melanesian groups is high. Melanesian differentiation varies not only between islands, but also by island size and topographical complexity. The greatest distinctions are among the isolated groups in large island interiors, which are also the most internally homogeneous. The pattern loosely tracks language distinctions. Papuan-speaking groups are the most differentiated, and Austronesian or Oceanic-speaking groups, which tend to live along the coastlines, are more intermixed. A small “Austronesian” genetic signature (always <20%) was detected in less than half the Melanesian groups that speak Austronesian languages, and is entirely lacking in Papuan-speaking groups. Although the Polynesians are also distinctive, they tend to cluster with Micronesians, Taiwan Aborigines, and East Asians, and not Melanesians. These findings contribute to a resolution to the debates over Polynesian origins and their past interactions with Melanesians. With regard to genetics, the earlier studies had heavily relied on the evidence from single locus mitochondrial DNA or Y chromosome variation. Neither of these provided an unequivocal signal of phylogenetic relations or population intermixture proportions in the Pacific. Our analysis indicates the ancestors of Polynesians moved through Melanesia relatively rapidly and only intermixed to a very modest degree with the indigenous populations there.

Hydrochory and Successional Changes in Abandoned Rice Fields, Georgetown County, South Carolina

Field methods, a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a geographic information system (GIS) were used to analyze the recovery of wetland plant communities altered by historic agricultural disturbance. Rice fields abandoned at 3, 30, 75, and 132 yr prior to fieldwork were compared to an uncultivated control site for this study. Site physical characteristics and treatments were used to postulate mechanisms that facilitate changes in wetland plant communities. Abundance and dominance data for each species were recorded. Results show that disturbed communities did not return to the referenced control community composition. Areas disturbed by past agriculture are dominated by a mixture of Zizania aquatica, Zizaniopsis miliacea, and Juncus roemerianus. Dispersal trends of woody species in disturbed areas occurred methodically from riverside embankments to the island interiors. While woody patch distributions are greatest near riverside embankments, there is also evidence of an increase in woody patch distribution dispersing into island interiors.

‘Marks of extreme violence': Charles Darwin's geological observations at St Jago (São Tiago), Cape Verde islands

Abstract The first stop on Charles Darwin's famous voyage around the world in HMS Beagle was at Porto Praya (Praia), the principal town on the island of St Jago (São Tiago) in the Cape Verde archipelago. From 16 January to 8 February 1832, Darwin enjoyed his first substantive opportunity to study the natural history of an exotic place. Darwin himself regarded this occasion as a significant turning point in his life because, according to his autobiography, it was here that he decided to research and publish a book on the geology of the places visited on the voyage. He also recalled that it was here, the very first port call, that convinced him of the ‘wonderful superiority’ of Charles Lyell's uniformitarian geology over the doctrine of successive cataclysms that he had been taught in England. Later commentators have generally accepted this account, which is significant for understanding the intellectual background to the Origin of Species , at face value. In this paper we reconstruct some of Darwin's observations at St Jago based on his contemporaneous notes and diary, and in the light of our own visit made in January 2002. We find little evidence to substantiate the claim that he interpreted the geology in Lyellian terms at the time. Instead, he formulated a theory involving a great cataclysm to explain the dramatic scenery in the island's interior. He speculated that a torrent of water had carved the main valleys of the island, leaving deposits of diluvium in their beds. It is indisputable that Darwin came to embrace gradualist thinking enthusiastically during the voyage. Some of his observations made on St Jago, especially relating to uplift of the coast, were instrumental in this change of view, but the conversion was gradual, not sudden. His later published works make no mention of his original catastrophist interpretations.

Effect of strain on the frequency-independent parameters of the equivalent circuit of island gold films

This paper deals with the outcome of a follow-up of our earlier work on the effect of strain on the frequency-dependent resistance (rp) of island gold films whose mass thicknesses in nm were 0.5, 1.2, 2.4, 3.5, 5 and 10. The frequency-independent parameters of the equivalent circuit of island metal films are Rb, Rg and Cg where Rb is the macroscopic resistance that associates the conduction within the interior (bulk) of islands, Rg is the macroscopic resistance that accompanies the conduction across the gaps among islands and Cg is the macroscopic capacitance of the film that results from the islands and gaps. We deduced the least-square values of Rb,Rg and Cg for our films by inserting the experimental values of rp and the corresponding angular frequencies (ω) into the known equation that relates rp to both of ω and the frequency independent parameters; this deduction was done via a computerized analysis. We found that: (1) For the tensional longitudinal strain, an increase in its magnitude is associated with an increase in Rg and a decrease in Cg. (2) For the compressional longitudinal strain, an increase in its value is accompanied by a decrease in Rg and an increase in Cg. (3) Rb is nearly invariant with strain. (4) The increase in the mass thickness of the island gold films is associated with: (i) a decrease in Rb,Rg and an increase in Cg. (ii) a decrease in the gauge factor of the studied films.

Colonization of Sphagnum on land uplift islands in the Baltic Sea: time, area, distance and life history

AbstractAim To test whether species richness of Sphagnum mosses on islands in a land uplift archipelago is related to island age, area or connectivity, and whether the frequency of different species can be predicted by their life history and autecology.Location The northern Stockholm archipelago in the Baltic Sea, east‐central Sweden, with a current land uplift rate of 4.4 mm year−1.Methods We sampled 17 islands differing in area (0.55–55 ha), height (3.6–18 m, representing c. 800–4000 years of age) and distance from mainland (1.6–41 km). For each Sphagnum patch we measured area, height above sea level, horizontal distance from the shore and shading from vascular plants. Factors affecting island species richness, species frequency and habitats on the islands were tested by stepwise regressions. Species frequency was tested on nine life history and autecological variables, including estimated abundance and spore output on the mainland, habitat preference and distribution.Results We recorded 500 patches of 19 Sphagnum species, distributed in 83 rock pools on 14 islands. Island species richness correlated positively with island area and with degree of shelter by surrounding islands, while distance from the mainland, connectivity, height or age did not add to the model. Species frequency (number of colonized islands and rock pools) was mainly predicted by spore output on the mainland and by habitat preference (swamp forest species were more frequent than others), while spore size, for example, did not add to the model. Species differed in mean height above and horizontal distance from the shore, area of occupied rock pools and in the degree of shading of patches. The mean horizontal distance from the shore and the area of occupied rock pools correlated positively with the normal growth position above the water table among species. Spore capsules were found in only 2% of patches, mostly in the bisexual Sphagnum fimbriatum.Main conclusions The presence of Sphagnum in the Stockholm archipelago seems to be governed by regional spore production and habitat demands. Sphagnum does not appear to be dispersal limited at distances up to 40 km and time spans of centuries. Species with a high regional spore output have had a higher colonization rate, which, together with the rarity of spore capsules on the islands, indicate the mainland as a source for colonization rather than dispersal among islands. Swamp forest species seem more tolerant to the island conditions (summer droughts and some salt spray) than open mire species. The different distances from the sea occupied by the species indicate a slow, continuous succession and species replacement towards the island interior as islands are being uplifted and thus expand in area. This partly explains why larger islands harbour more species. Our results thus support some of the island biogeographical theories related to the species–area relationship.

Groundwater in the wetlands of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, and its contribution to the structure and function of the ecosystem

The Okavango Delta of northern Botswana is a large (40,000 km 2) alluvial fan located at the terminus of the Okavango River. The river discharges about 10 km 3 of water onto the fan each year, augmented by about 6 km 3 of rainfall, which sustains about 2500 km 2 of permanent wetland and up to 8000 km 2 of seasonal wetland. Interaction between this surface water and the groundwater strongly influences the structure and function of the wetland ecosystem. The climate is semi-arid, and only 2% of the water leaves as surface flow and probably very little as groundwater flow. The bulk of the water is lost to the atmosphere. The Okavango River also delivers about 170,000 tonnes of bedload sediment and about 360,000 tonnes of solutes to the Delta each year, most of which are deposited on the fan. Bedload is deposited in the proximal, permanent wetland, whilst much of the solute load is deposited in the seasonal wetland. Notwithstanding the high evapotranspirational loss, saline surface water is rare. Between 80 and 90% of the seasonal flood water infiltrates the ground, recharging the groundwater beneath the flood plains and the many islands on the flood plains. The remainder is lost by evaporation. This groundwater reservoir is transpired into the atmosphere by both aquatic vegetation on the flood plains and terrestrial vegetation on the islands, and the water table is steadily lowered following passage of the seasonal flood. Trees, which are almost exclusively confined to islands, are particularly important, as they lower the water table beneath islands relative to the surrounding wetlands. There is therefore a net flow of groundwater towards islands. Accumulation of dissolved salts in this groundwater leads to precipitation of solutes (mainly of silica and calcite) in the soils beneath island fringes and the islands grow by vertical expansion. Islands are thus an expression of the chemical sedimentation taking place on the fan. Sodium bicarbonate accumulates in the groundwater beneath island centres, and this impacts on the vegetation, leading ultimately to barren island interiors. Dense saline brine thus produced subsides under density-driven flow. This cycling of seasonal flood water through the groundwater reservoir thus plays a key role in creating and maintaining the biological and habitat diversity of the wetland, and inhibits the formation of saline surface water.

How the pharyngeal resonator is controlled articulatorily

Indigenous languages of North America, especially west coast Vancouver Island Nuuchahnulth and Interior BC Salish, illustrate an extensive range of use of the pharyngeal resonator. The pharynx is classified as part of the laryngeal articulator (rather than lingual) because the laryngeal constrictor mechanism (controlling changes from the glottis to the aryepiglottic folds) is the principal articulator whose movements determine the shape of the pharynx. The Nuuchahnulth (Nootka) dialects (e.g., Ahousaht) and Thompson, Moses-Columbia, and Spokane/Kalispel Salish varieties all close the larynx completely for the speech sound epiglottal stop. With the airway optimally shut, the pharynx is small; the aryepiglottic folds are pressed against the epiglottic tubercle, the tongue is retracted, and the larynx is raised. There are good indications that the thyroarytenoid, aryepiglottic, thyroepiglottic, hyoglossus and hyothyroid muscles participate in this buckling maneuvre. These languages also contain either a pharyngeal fricative or approximant (at the same place of articulation but with less stricture) and, in Thompson, also pharyngealized uvulars (with even less stricture). Pharyngeal resonance in all of these cases is dependent initially on the shortening of the supraglottic tube and subsequently on the combined effect of tongue retraction and larynx raising reducing the volume immediately above the supraglottic tube.

The effects of snow packing on tree growth forms on an island in a recently created reservoir in northern Québec, Canada

:This study aims at determining the dendrochronological indicators of a changing snow accumulation regime on an island of a recently created reservoir in northern Québec. Reservoir Robert-Bourassa (LG-2) is a vast lake (2,835 km2) covered by ice from mid-December to mid-May. Snow drifts across the frozen lake until it is trapped by obstacles on islands and at reservoir margins. Pre-established trees on the islands are negatively affected by the local augmentation of snow accumulation. Changes in tree growth forms of a severely exposed forested island indicate that damage occurred soon after reservoir filling. At the island edges, the decay of trees increases the wind exposure of border trees, causing massive foliage loss, thus reducing tree growth. Beyond the edge, in the island interior, drifted snow accumulates due to the wind breaking effect of the shoreline trees. Since reservoir filling, incidents of stem breakage, shoot bending and tilting, and branch tearing have increased due to snow packing. Such anomalous growth features appeared during the first 3 y after reservoir filling. Tree rings also indicate the trauma of wind and cold exposure stress. Such stress results in the incomplete formation of annual rings and the development of a series of resin ducts. The amount of snow packing damage to trees depends on the abundance of snowfall and on winter levels of the reservoir. The combination of these two factors controls the amount of snow reaching the island forests when drifted by the wind.

A Voice Like Thunder: Corsican Women’s Lament as Cultural Work

Funeral rites are commonly understood as a means by which communities reestablish normal or ideal social relationships following death. Lament, which has played a prominent role in such rites, has been studied in numer­ ous cultural and historical contexts as a practice that is effective on both a personal and collective level. An individual lam enter facilitates the collec­ tive confrontation with death through a performance that combines musi­ cal and verbal signification (in the forms of homage, praise, etc.) with non­ linguistic utterances such as stylized crying or weeping, the meanings of which are culturally constructed (Urban 1988).As a predominantly (in many contexts exclusively) feminine mode of expression, lament has more recently been examined in its relationship to gender identity (Tolbert 1990a, 1990b, 1994; Briggs 1992, 1993). In the Greek context especially, it has been dem­ onstrated that lament can serve as a privileged arena within male-domi­ nated society in which women express gender-specific concerns (Auerbach 1987; Seremetakis 1990, 1991; Caraveli 1986; Caraveli-Chaves 1980; Danforth and Tsiaras 1982). The funeral laments improvised by women on the Mediterranean is­ land of Corsica constitute one of the oldest and perhaps most significant oral traditions on the island. Called voceri (sing. voceru), these laments were traditionally performed over the body of the deceased and accompanied by wailing and other demonstrations of grief. The practice presumably pre­ dates the introduction of Christianity, and written references appear in sources dating back to 1506 (Ettori 1978:248). By the late-nineteenth cen­ tury the voceru was in decline and its practitioners gradually disappearing, though the practice endured in villages of the island's interior. Today, though the voceru is considered by many Corsican poets and singers to be founda­ tional to Corsican expressive culture, funeral laments are no longer per­ formed as a living tradition anywhere on the island. Though it was not customary in Corsica to sing laments for the long dead or to improvise voceri outside of the funeral context, some laments, because of their connection to significant events or their exceptional beauty, circulated orally or were transcribed. Many of these laments appeared in collections of Corsican popular song published during the second half of the nineteenth century.l Though these consist mainly of texts without melo

Vegetation patterns and change analysis in the lower delta islands of the Parana River (Argentina)

The delta of the Parana River in Argentina forms islands as it progrades into the Rio de la Plata estuary. In order to understand plant succession patterns, we analyzed cover-abundance and soil data along transects across topographic gradients of three islands. Using multivariate classification (TWINSPAN) and ordination (DCA and CCA), we developed a conceptual model of plant succession for these islands. The general pattern is that the bulrush, Schoenoplectus californicus, first colonizes bars and incipient islands that eventually accumulate sediments to become mature islands with levees dominated by the tree, Erythrina crista-galli, and interior emergent marshes at lower elevations also dominated by a bulrush, Scirpus giganteus. In contrast to earlier descriptions of a unique pathway of primary succession, we used elevation gradients, sediment composition, and inferred hydrologic regime to differentiate two major pathways of species colonization and persistence. During levee formation, colonization of high-energy environments by the bulrush leads to replacement by a mixture of forbs, and finally by a E. crista-galli forest. It is possible that further enrichment of the forest with other tree species is now obscured by Salicaceae plantations (Salix spp. and Populus spp.). Levee formation isolates the interior of islands hydrologically. There, nearly permanent flooding and lack of flushing allow dominance by S. giganteus. The persistence of this species is evidenced by its recovery after fire and its reestablishment after Salicaceae plantations are abandoned. It is noteworthy that two bulrush, S. californicus and S. giganteus, form the simplest stands in terms of richness and structure at highest and lowest energy environments, respectively. At any given site, species composition appears to respond to changes in topographic position, hydrologic regime, and sediment composition.

Thermal Diffusion of C60 Molecules and Clusters on Au(111)

The structure and dynamics of partial monolayers of C60 on the Au(111) surface were observed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) under ambient conditions. At submonolayer coverages, C60 molecules group into islands, and while the molecules in the interior of islands are quite stable, the C60s at island edges are less so, and their motions can be observed in real time using STM. The motion of surface-adsorbed C60 is predominantly the result of thermal diffusion; the extent of perturbation by the STM tip is determined to be minimal, using a quantitative analysis of a time series of STM images. Further analysis shows that motion of single C60 molecules is relatively uncommon, and that most diffusion of C60 on the surface occurs through the correlated or cooperative motion of molecular clusters ranging in size from 2 to 8 C60 molecules. Cluster diffusion is explained by a proposed “anchoring” mechanism, in which the stability of each C60 varies according to its position and orientation relative to the surface and to neighboring molecules.