Amalthea's density is less than that of water

Radio Doppler data from the Galileo spacecraft's encounter with Amalthea, one of Jupiter's small inner moons, on 5 November 2002 yield a mass of (2.08 +/- 0.15) x 10(18) kilograms. Images of Amalthea from two Voyager spacecraft in 1979 and Galileo imaging between November 1996 and June 1997 yield a volume of (2.43 +/- 0.22) x 10(6) cubic kilometers. The satellite thus has a density of 857 +/- 99 kilograms per cubic meter. We suggest that Amalthea is porous and composed of water ice, as well as rocky material, and thus formed in a cold region of the solar system, possibly not at its present location near Jupiter.     

Production of delayed ataxia by carbamate acid esters

Thirty-eight carbamates and thiocarbamates were evaluated for the production of delayed neurotoxicity in the mature White Leghorn hen. Several thiocarbamates including phenyl-N-ethylthiocarbamate and s-2,3-dichloroallyl diisopropylthiocarbamate (diallate) produced symptoms of severe delayed neurotoxicity following repeated oral administration. The results of these experiments do not preclude the possibility that neurotoxic carbamates and organophosphorous compounds may share a common site of action.     

A leakiness index for assessing landscape function using remote sensing

The cover, number, size, shape, spatial arrangement and orientation of vegetation patches are attributes that have been used to indicate how well landscapes function to retain, not ‘leak’, vital system resources such as rainwater and soil. We derived and tested a directional leakiness index (DLI) for this resource retention function. We used simulated landscape maps where resource flows over map surfaces were directional and where landscape patch attributes were known. Although DLI was most strongly related to patch cover, it also logically related to patch number, size, shape, arrangement and orientation. If the direction of resource flow is multi-directional, a variant of DLI, the multi-directional leakiness index (MDLI) can be used. The utility of DLI and MDLI was demonstrated by applying these indices to three Australian savanna landscapes differing in their remotely sensed vegetation patch attributes. These leakiness indices clearly positioned these three landscapes along a function-dysfunction continuum, where dysfunctional landscapes are leaky (poorly retain resources). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Transition From Sagebrush Steppe to Annual Grass (Bromus tectorum): Influence on Belowground Carbon and Nitrogen

Vegetation changes associated with climate shifts and anthropogenic disturbance have major impacts on biogeochemical cycling. Much of the interior western United States currently is dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) ecosystems. At low to intermediate elevations, sagebrush ecosystems increasingly are influenced by cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) invasion. Little currently is known about the distribution of belowground organic carbon (OC) on these changing landscapes, how annual grass invasion affects OC pools, or the role that nitrogen (N) plays in carbon (C) retention. As part of a Joint Fire Sciences-funded project called the Sagebrush Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP), we quantified the depth distribution of soil OC and N at seven sites experiencing cheatgrass invasion. We sampled plots that retained sagebrush, but represented a continuum of cheatgrass invasion into the understory. Eighty-four soil cores were taken using a mechanically driven diamond-tipped core drill to a depth of 90 cm, or until bedrock or a restrictive layer was encountered. Samples were taken in 15-cm increments, and soil, rocks, and roots were analyzed for OC and total N. We determined that cheatgrass influences the vertical distribution of OC and N within the soil profile and might result in decreased soil OC content below 60  cm. We also found that OC and total N associated with coarse fragments accounted for at least 10% of belowground pools. This emphasizes the need for researchers to quantify nutrients in deep soil horizons and coarse fragments.     

Integration of multiple soil parameters to evaluate soil quality: a field example

Development of a method to assess and monitor soil quality is critical to soil resource management and policy formation. To be useful, a method for assessing soil quality must be able to integrate many different kinds of data, allow evaluation of soil quality based on alternative uses or definitions and estimate soil quality for unsampled locations. In the present study we used one such method, based on non-parametric geostatistics. We evaluated soil quality from the integration of six soil variables measured at 220 locations in an agricultural field in southeastern Washington State. We converted the continous data values for each soil variable at each location to a binary variable indicator transform based on thresholds. We then combined indicator transformed data for individual soil variables into a single integrative indicator of soil quality termed a multiple variable indicator transform (MVIT). We observed that soil chemical variables, pools of soil resources, populations of microorgansims, and soil enzymes covaried spatially across the landscape. These ensembles of soil variables were not randomly distributed, but rather were systematically patterned. Soil quality maps calculated by kriging showed that the joint probabilities of meeting specific MVIT selection were influenced by the critical threshold values used to transform each individual soil quality variable and the MVIT selection criteria. If MVIT criteria adequately reflect soil quality then the kriging can produce maps of the probabilty of a soil being of good or poor quality.