Stony Hills Research Articles

Time in Between

Molloy College, a private liberal arts college in New York, founded by the Dominican sisters of Amityville, partnered with PRN (Physicians, Residents, Nurses) Relief International and the Dominican Sisters in Jamaica to organize a twice-annual service trip providing primary care, speech-language pathology, psychiatric-mental health care, and medical/surgical teams in rural and urban Jamaica. During the week-long trips, medical staff and speech pathologists move in teams from clinic to clinic, while mental health professionals, along with midwives and psychiatric nurses, work exclusively with the residents and staff at Homestead Place of Safety in Stony Hill, St. Andrew in the northern outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica. The state-operated facility, established as a home away from home, houses girls between the ages of 12 and 18 who experienced neglect or abuse, victimization, and sexual assault, or those in conflict with the law. Music Therapy services were included as part of the mental health team for the first time in October 2016 and provided an outlet for self-expression, an opportunity to foster resilience, a strengthened sense of community, and a supportive response to trauma. In past years, the mental health team found that the girls engaged freely in creative outlets such as art [therapy], and that music was an integral part of their culture and daily routine. Music therapy was therefore recommended to help normalize the therapeutic process, increase engagement, and develop therapeutic rapport.

The addition of mine waste rock to topsoil improves microsite potential and seedling emergence from broadcast seeds in an arid environment

This study investigated the effect of method of blending and spreading topsoil-waste rock (as dictated by waste dump position), rock addition, topsoil source and seed burial on seedling emergence from seeds broadcast onto mine restoration sites. Seed of 10 species were surface sown onto a waste rock dump plateau with six cover treatments spread by loose tipping; three topsoil source treatments (sand dunes, sandplains and stony hills) x two waste rock treatments (topsoil mixed and without waste rock). Emergence was greater on the waste dump plateau than slopes, where very few seedlings emerged. On the waste dump plateau, the addition of rock to topsoil increased seedling emergence >2.5-fold. Soil surface temperatures were cooler and water content at a depth of 2 cm was higher in topsoil mixed with rock than without rock. Higher seedling emergence with the addition of rock to topsoil was due to the creation of microsites where sub-soil moisture was retained for longer durations. Lack of emergence on waste dump slopes was attributed to relatively low surface roughness that reflected operational issues associated with different methods of spreading and mixing topsoil with rock on plateau versus on slopes.

Effect of Aleppo Pine Plantations (Pinus halepensis) on the Transformation of the Semidesert Landscapes of Southeast Israel

Anthropogenically deserted landscapes of southeastern Israel and their transformation under the influence of forest plantations are discussed. The first planting of coniferous forests in this area was performed in the middle of the last century on the stony hills of the southern part of the Hebron Highlands (Negev Plateau). The main forest-forming species of newly created forests is the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis). The interaction between the soil parameters of the landscape and the state of pine plantations is considered. The decisive influence of needle litter on the growth and development of coniferous forests was revealed. An approach to the assessment of the state of landscapes with coniferous forests in the normal state and forest with impaired integrity was proposed.

Responses of a Federally Endangered Songbird to Understory Thinning in Oak-Juniper Woodlands.

Wildlife conservation and management on military lands must be accomplished in the context of military readiness, which often includes ground-based training that is perceived to conflict with wildlife needs and environmental regulations. From 2008‒2012, we examined territory density, pairing success, and fledging success of the federally endangered golden-cheeked warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia; hereafter warbler) in relation to removal of small-diameter trees from the understory of mature oak-juniper (Quercus-Juniperus) woodland at the 87,890 ha Fort Hood Military Reservation in central Texas. Understory thinning created troop maneuver lanes, but left canopy vegetation intact. Warbler density, pairing success, and fledging success were similar across thinned and control sites. We found that warbler pairing and fledging success were best predicted by Ecological site (hereafter Ecosite), an indicator of hardwood tree species composition. Warbler pairing and fledging success were about 1.5 and 1.6 times higher, respectively, for territories dominated by the Low Stony Hill Ecosite than territories dominated by the Redlands Ecosite. Our results indicate that understory thinning for military training purposes did not have a negative effect on warblers at Fort Hood in the manner tested, and suggest that removal of smaller trees from the understory in a way that replicates historic conditions may elicit neutral responses from this forest-dependent songbird. Quantifying wildlife responses to military activities provides the Department of Defense and US Fish and Wildlife Service with data to guide conservation of threatened and endangered species on Department of Defense facilities while maintaining the military mission, and supports wildlife management efforts on other public and private lands.

Morphological features of <i>Hylotelephium triphillum</i> (Haw.) Holub (Crassulaceae DC.) under different light conditions when introduced into the steppe zone

In recent decades floral devices in a natural style has been becoming more common in gardening. In this connection there was a need for the introduction and study of the natural flora of plants in order to attract them to simulate the decorative and resistant plants. The article presents the results of studies of the effect of different light conditions on the habitat features and decorative biomorphological Hylotelephium triphyllum (Haw.) Holub (Crassulaceae DC.) when introduced in SE Donetsk Botanical Garden. This species is found naturally in the flora of Donbass, a decorative, but, according to the results of our analysis, is rarely used in green construction. Bioecological certification of this type has been done. It has been determined that the impact of site lighting conditions on the growth and development of H. triphyllum expressed in significantly smaller numbers of vegetative and generative shoots in the shaded areas. However, since the diameter of the plants does not change, more thickened planting in these areas is not recommended. The author found the dependence of the variation of the biometric data on the lighting conditions. In the study of seasonal dynamics of H. triphyllum the author revealed that the development of above-ground organs of his passes with a positive amount of average daily air temperatures. The growing season lasts an average of 225 days. Start of spring regrowth is observed in the second half of March early April, flowering in August September, fruits in September October. Vegetation stops when temperature goes below zero. Illumination of this type of habitat affect the time of vegetation beginning, budding, flowering, fruit set and fruit-bearing. On the shaded areas due to the later start of budding and flowering the most decorative period of H. triphyllum is shorter by an average of 10 days. This type is recommended for creation of group planting, stony hills, dry streams, rock gardens, rockeries, mixborders, curbs, ornamental compositions in the coastal zone of ornamental ponds and fountains in the steppe zone in areas with different light conditions, taking into account the above factors.

Drought and Ecological Site Interaction on Plant Composition of a Semi-Arid Rangeland

Fluctuating climatic patterns are increasing the frequency and severity of drought, a concern for native plant communities on grazed semi-arid rangelands. Vegetation successional models have focused on the impact of management and have failed to quantify the effects of extreme drought. From 2001 to 2011, plant community composition was sampled on ecological sites in a semi-arid rangeland managed with conservative grazing and frequent fire since 1937. Ordination and classification were used to assess the interactive effects of ecological site and extreme drought on plant species composition, holding all other external drivers constant. Deeper soil clay loam sites had 4x greater beta diversity than shallower and rockier low stony hill sites, an indication of greater species turnover and instability in response to extreme drought. Cumulative effects of drought years explained similarity between sites and species composition. Response to extreme drought varied by species; no response (Bouteloua curtipendula), decreased (Nassella leucotricha), and increased (Bouteloua rigidiseta and Eriochloa sericea). Annual C3 plant responses were explained by short-term drought and perennial C3 and C4 plant responses were explained by long-term drought. Clay loam sites had maximum species richness and diversity values during neutral periods with quadratic declines associated with climatic extremes (dry or wet) compared to the more xeric sites which had minimum species richness and diversity during neutral periods with quadratic increases during climatic extremes. The interaction between site and drought, holding all other external drivers constant, can enhance our understanding of plant community dynamics and secondary plant succession of degraded semi-arid rangelands.

Westernmost Record of Khuzestan Dwarf Gecko Tropiocolotes helenae helenae (Nikolsky, 1907) (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Kermanshah Province, Western Iran

Based on extensive and long-term field work in western regions of the Iranian Plateau from March 2008 to April 2010, five specimens of Tropiocolotes helenae helenae (Nikolsky, 1907) were collected from stony hills around Qasr-e-Shirin and Sarpol-e-Zahab, in Kermanshah Province. The collected specimens were examined based on metric, meristic and pholidotic characters and compared with other specimens of this taxon from Lorestan and Ilam Provinces. Furthermore, the presence of two pores in basal, ventral part of the tail in both sexes in T. helenae was noticed and their possible adaptive value discussed.

The effects of land uses on soil erosion in Spain: A review

Abstract Soil erosion is a key factor in Mediterranean environments, and is not only closely related to geoecological factors (lithology, topography, and climatology) but also to land-use and plant cover changes. The long history of human activity in Spain explains the development of erosion landscapes and sedimentary structures (recent alluvial plains, alluvial fans, deltas and flat valleys infilled of sediment). For example, the expansion of cereal agriculture and transhumant livestock between the 16th and 19th centuries resulted in episodes of extensive soil erosion. During the 20th century farmland abandonment prevailed in mountain areas, resulting in a reduction of soil erosion due to vegetation recolonization whereas sheet-wash erosion, piping and gullying affected abandoned fields in semi-arid environments. The EU Agrarian Policy and the strengthening of national and international markets encouraged the expansion of almond and olive orchards into marginal lands, including steep, stony hill slopes. Vineyards also expanded to steep slopes, sometimes on new unstable bench terraces, thus leading to increased soil erosion particularly during intense rainstorms. The expansion of irrigated areas, partially on salty and poorly structured soils, resulted in piping development and salinization of effluents and the fluvial network. The trend towards larger fields and farms in both dry farming and irrigated systems has resulted in a relaxation of soil conservation practices.

Kh. 'Aujah el-Foqa (Ataroth) — an Iron Age Fortified City in the Jordan Valley

During the Manasseh Hill Country Survey, an unknown fortified site was traced and explored. The site, Khirbet 'Aujah el-Foqa, may add new aspects to the understanding of both the Iron Age period and the history of the Jordan Valley. The site is situated on a high, stony hill in the western part of the Wadi 'Aujah valley and its overall area is 3.75 acres. The khirbeh was defended by a casemate wall and towers. The location of the site on an elevated hilltop, with an excellent view, hints at its military qualities and we suggest defining it as a 'fortified town'. The main settlement in the site was founded at the beginning of the Iron Age IIB and it was possibly abandoned during Sennacherib's campaign to Judah in 701 BCE. This site can be identified as 'Ataroth in the Manasseh–Ephraim boundary description (Jos 16. 6–7).

Reevaluating the "Old" Cold War: A Dialectical Reading of Two 9/11 Narratives

sent into battle as soon as their feet touch ground. Gone is the heroic, blond, and blueeyed Ari Ben Canaan threatening to blow up a shipload of civilians. Instead, as Gitai's dazed but armed refugees scramble up a stony hill, they encounter a group of Palestinian refugees trudging in the opposite direction. Uri Barrabash's The Dreamers (1985) has its turn-of-the-century pioneering Jewish settlement struggle with the ethos of agricultural labor, shared property, free love, and the forging of a New Jew. The claims of their Palestinian neighbors to land ownership get registered obliquely as they do with Gitai's refugees. Several articles in Gertz, Lubin, and Ne'eman's edited volume Fictive Looks concern these issues.

Contributions of different land cover types in Otindag Sandy Land and Bashang area of Hebei Province to the material source of sand stormy weather in Beijing

Different land cover types in Otindag Sandy Land and Bashang area of Hebei Province are linked to a material source of sand stormy weather in Beijing based on results of field vegetation and soil survey and laboratory works. Results of grain size analysis show that dust release potential in per unit area of moving sandy land is small, while lowland meadow and meadow steppe in stony hills have high potential of releasing dusts in per unit area during sand stormy weather occurrence. Further considering the effects of vegetation, it is inferred that the moving sandy land served as a material source of past dust storm and the possibility of dust release in per unit area is low in current time. Typical steppe in stony hills is undergoing desertification and its dust release possibility in per unit area is high. Farmland has strong potential of release dusts when they are ploughed in spring, but a large amount of therophytes grow and thus prevent dusts from release when cultivation was terminated. Potentials of dust release in per unit area in fixed sand dunes, stony mountain meadow steppe and lowland meadow are low due to high cover of perennials. Sand dune reactivation and desiccation of lakes and lowlands under estimated future climatic change will make them serve as a future material source of sand stormy weather.

Bands, Songs and Shamanistic Rituals: Folk Music in Korean Society (review)

124BOOK REVIEWS The ominous undulations of Kim Chi-wön's mysterious "Lullaby" can be contrasted to her insightful character study "A Certain Beginning." While a darkness of physical detail and a suggestion of morbidity run through all three stories by O Chöng-hüi included in this volume, each conjures up its own unique world, shaped by the experiences of very different characters. Other translators of course will want to question some of the Fultons' word choices or solutions to textual problems. Be that as it may, what is notable is that the Fultons do more than get individual words and ideas over into English: they manage to produce literature. While they polish and emend until the language sounds natural, they also keep an eye on the aura and affective impact of the work as a whole. The nature of Korean literature itself has been changing over the last decade and this new generation of writers is now producing a new literature of international value that deserves sensitive, intelligent, and literary translation. The fiction of Kang Sök-kyöng, Kim Ch-wön, and O Chöng-hüi represents such a new literature and the translations of Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton represent the kind of English treatment it deserves. Marshall R. Pihl University of Hawaii Bands, Songs and Shamanistic Rituals: Folk Music in Korean Society , by Keith Howard. Seoul: Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1989. 295 pp. Plates, musical examples. Years ago I was invited by a leading Seoul newspaper to describe my impressions of Korea. I wrote a piece in which I recounted the strong feeling of association with the spirits I had experienced, when alone as shadows lengthened in the remembering courtyards of the Kyöngbok Palace, while resting in secluded shade by the grassy tomb of King Söng-dök in Kyôngju, and by empathetic involvement in emotional scenes at a shaman ceremony in the stony hills outside Seoul. The article was never used and the promised check never arrived, and I have since comforted (deluded?) myself that this was because I had spoken too openly of matters which Koreans did not care to admit to outsiders at that time, especially the continued force of shamanism in a modernizing country. The climate of tolerance has since changed, and although at the time of the research that led to this work (1982-1984), Keith Howard still found Chindo people on the defensive about their association with practices and practitioners traditionally despised— however essential to survival—the study of native Korean religion by generally sympathetic Western social anthropologists has begun to flatter those who once complained of their patronizing attitude. The government in particular recognizes that in the folk arts associated with popular religion it has an authentic source of entertainment and financial income. Shamanism is now admitted to be alive and well and living in Korea (South), but with official, foreign, and impressive interest focused upon it, how much longer can it survive in its ancient forms? BOOK REVIEWS125 Keith Howard is a social anthropologist with a special love of Korean folk music and a strong desire for its appreciation and protection. The purpose of his study was to investigate and record it in the Chindo region while it still retained its peculiar characteristics, and before it became standardized from Seoul as part of the national cultural heritage. Living in their midst for sixteen months, he earned the respect of the Chindo people, who not only rewarded him with their musical skills but just as valuably with their most private views and reminiscences . He has painted them all, with sympathy and understanding, in a picture which like a p'yongsaengdo tableau on a temple wall displays the religious, social, historical, and musical elements that are all essential to the makeup of a traditional Korean community. Closely involved though he became in Korean life and ways, he nevertheless has been able to step back and see it from all angles, and to avoid the commitment to partial viewpoints that weaken the scholarship of many Koreans themselves. The result is a book that I found hard to put down, full of...

A new species of lizard (Lacertilia: Scincidae) from the Northern Territory, closely allied to Ctenotus decaneurus Storr

SUMMARY A new species of Ctenotus is described. It is ecologically and morphologically distinct from C. decaneurus, its nearest congener. Current data suggest that it is restricted to coastal alluvial plains whereas C. decaneurus inhabits stony hill country.

The Encyclical Abstraction

The flock will safely pick its way across the stony hills to patches of fresh pasture, for the shepherd is there and, it is hoped, his trusty dogs, yet the hyaenas can be heard, alike from the Osservatore Romano and the Guardian, calling from one side that we should greet Humanae Vitae with joyful submissiveness and from the other that we are damned if we do: it is hard to tell which howls are the more remote. (Hyaenas, of course, have their merits; they are the ancestors of animals we domesticate and grow fond of, terriers, spaniels, and so forth.) These interim notes, written in mid-September when the pastoral instruction of the English Bishops is still to come, offer nothing fresh; they follow the marks in the old ordnance maps published ever since moral theology was established as a scientific discipline about seven centuries ago. They will indicate, first, the place of abstraction in moral teaching; second, the intervention there of ecclesiastical authority; third, the argumentation offered to support a decision; fourth, its consequent appeal to natural law; fifth, the varieties of assent. For convenience these five headings are expanded into five sections.

The Cultural Revolution in China

IT would be absurd for a foreigner to pretend fully to understand the Chinese Cultural Revolution, but it may be useful to offer an attempt to translate its strange terminology into familiar language. What is the meaning of a party person in authority taking the capitalist road? How can class war persist when there are no owners of private property to exploit the workers? How can the leader of an established government proclaim that Rebellion is justified? What is the army doing in a triple alliance with the workers and the administration of a factory or a research institute? How does the thought of Mao Tse-tung make crops grow on a stony hill?

Field meeting on Stony Hill and the Junction Road, Jamaica: Jamaica group 27 January 1957

Field meeting on Stony Hill and the Junction Road, Jamaica: Jamaica group 27 January 1957

Rekognoscering på Qatar

Rekognoscering på Qatar

The Mijeti

The Mijeti Non-Shooting Area, in the north-west corner of the Chikwawa district of Nyasaland, comprises some 150–200 square miles of very broken and stony hill country clothed mostly with rather poor Brachystegia scrub, though small areas of bettergrown Brachystegia and Pterocarpus are to be found. The grass on the hills is seldom higher than about 3 feet, but in the dambos it often reaches a height of 8 to 10 feet. These “dambos” are open grassy glades which may be quite dry for half the year but which, owing to the high water-table during the rains, are almost treeless.

REVISIONS OF STATUS OF SOUTHWESTERN DESERT TREES AND SHRUBS

CALLIANDRA humilis Benth. var. reticulata (A. Gray) L. Benson, comb. nov. Acacia humilis Schlect. Linnaea 12: 567. 1938, not C. humilis Benth. in 1846. C. reticulata A. Gray, P1. Wright. 2: 53. 1853. Feuilleea humilis Kuntze, Rev. Gen. P1. 1: 188. 1891. F. reticulata Kuntze, loc. cit. 189. Anneslia reticulata Britt. Trans. N. Y. Acad. 14: 32. 1894. Anneslia reticulata Britt. & Rose, N. Amer. Fl. 23: 57. 1928. Primary leaflets in 1-2 or occasionally 3 or rarely 4 pairs; secondary leaflets 5 or commonly 7-11 mm. long, 2 or commonly 3.5-6 mm. broad, with often more than 2 conspicuous veins; leaflets, sepals, and pods glabrous or nearly so. Mostly in the yellow pine forests, the oak woodland, and the juniper-pinyon woodland at levels higher than the typical variety. Arizona from the Mogollon Rim southward to Santa Cruz and Cochise counties; New Mexico; Mexico. Type collections (1.) A. humilis, Pr. Raglam in pratis .... (C. Ehrenbergh). (2.) C. reticulata, Stony hills at the copper mines [Santa Rita], New Mexico; Aug. (1045.) Wright, GH. Corresponding characters of the typical variety have proved unstable. They are as follows: primary leaflets in 3-6 pairs; secondary leaflets 2.5-7 mm. long, 1.5-2.2 mm. broad or larger in occasional plants, with usually not more than two conspicuous veins; leaflets, sepals, and pods distinctly but not densely appressed-pubescent. Desert grassland and oak woodland at 3,500 to 5,000 feet elevation or rarely in yellow pine forests at as much as 7,000 feet. Arizona from Coconino County to Santa Cruz and Cochise counties; New Mexico; western Texas; Mexico.

CATAWBA POTTERS AND THEIR WORK

Among the stony hills near the river that bears their name in York county, South Carolina, a remnant of the once numerous Catawba tribe of Indians may still be found. In this region hunting and fishing as a means of livelihood are things of the past, and the rocky soil of the little reservation can hardly support the population; while the labor markets round about are glutted with negroes who will work for almost nothing. These and other factors, notably the excellence of the ware itself, may help to explain the remarkable survival of the potters' craft among the Catawba, an industry which to-day forms the chief support of the tribe and the main occupation of nearly every household. Using implements and methods that from their simplicity seem to have changed but little since prehistoric times, these Indians manufacture vessels and pipes which, on account of their beauty and oddity, find a ready sale at Rockhill and other neighboring towns. Alone among eastern Indians the Catawba have made their ceramic art an industry which has survived the years and the competition of machine-made wares. It is my purpose in this article to describe the process of pottery-making, as practised by the Catawba, but before doing so it might be well to say a few words about the people themselves as I found them. When I visited the reservation in June, 19o8, while collecting ethnological specimens for George G. Heye, Esq., of New York City, I was informed that there are now nineteen houses occupied by the Catawba, fourteen of which are on the reservation, the others scattered about within a few miles. Living in these houses are ninety-eight Indians who might be called Catawba, and besides these one or two Cherokee. There are also several Catawba living with the Eastern Cherokee in North Carolina, and others, it is claimed, isolated individuals and families scattered in Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, 'Texas, and Mexico.