Changing perceptions of fire management in savanna parks

Parks are managed to preserve their pristine state. Fire has had a varied role in this, depending on shifting paradigms of savanna functioning. Formerly, an equilibrium theory of functioning prevailed where fire was at first an unavoidable evil, and then an evil to be avoided as far as possible. Subsequently, fire was regarded as natural and was applied with fixed return period and seasonal timing to compartments with fixed boundaries. Recently, non‐equilibrium theory has supplemented equilibrium models in explaining a savanna functioning that is partly event‐driven. In these terms savannas are understood to have high patch diversity arising from catenal variation, species individuality and the spatio‐temporal variability of events. Policy and practice in fire management is accordingly shifting towards regarding fire parameters (e.g. return period, seasonal timing, intensity and extent) not as scalars but as vectors (i.e. with frequency distributions), and to burning under diverse conditions.     

Sampling Strategies for Mapping ‘Within-field’ Variability in the Dry Matter Yield and Mineral Nutrient Status of Forage Grass Crops in Cool Temperate Climes

In the absence of suitable technology to measure and map the dry matter (DM) yield distributions of forage grass crops within individual fields, a manual procedure of yield mapping has been developed. Samples of herbage are collected just prior to each silage harvest from known grid points within a field, and sward DM yields at each point are predicted from the mineral composition of the herbage, using empirical mathematical models. Yield maps (and maps of sward nutrient status) are then produced by kriging interpolation between the point data. To make the most efficient use of time and resources, however, sampling intensity needs to be kept to the absolute minimum necessary for interpolation purposes. The aim of the present study was to examine the spatial variability in sward DM yield and mineral nutrient status in a large grass silage field under a three-cut system, and devise optimal sampling strategies for mapping the distributions of these parameters at each cut. Herbage samples were collected from the field, prior to each harvest, at 25 m intervals in a regular rectangular grid to provide databases of herbage nutrient contents and DM yields. Different data combinations were abstracted from these databases for comparison purposes, and ordinary kriging used to produce interpolated maps of DM yield and sward N, P, K and S statuses. The results suggested that a sampling density of just seven samples per hectare was adequate for estimating the true population means of sward DM yield and sward N, P, K, and S statuses. For mapping purposes, it was found that the best compromise between interpolation accuracy and sampling efficiency was to collect herbage samples in a 35.4 m×35.4 m equilateral triangular sampling pattern.     

Common but differentiated rights and responsibilities in tuna fisheries management

The UN Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) and one of the implementing agreements of the Convention—the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA)—mandates all states to cooperate in the management of highly migratory and straddling fish stocks. In doing so, the UNFSA specifies that the special requirements of developing states need to be taken into account. To date, except in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), there is no formal mechanism to identify these differential responsibilities in tuna regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs). Although some conservation and management measures exempt small-scale and artisanal fishing vessels, power imbalances within RFMOs tend to favour the interests of more developed and larger distant water fishing nations over those of small developing coastal states. To facilitate the implementation of differentiated responsibilities as mandated in UNFSA, in this study we develop a three-step framework that could be applied in the case of new conservation and management measure proposals. The framework has also been tested based on two developing countries and compared with a developed state in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission and the adopted resolutions in 2019. To facilitate better transparency and equitable decision-making processes across RFMOs, this framework could be adapted based on member states' fisheries management objectives and target and non-target species.     

Farmer participation in barley breeding in Syria, Morocco and Tunisia

The paper describes experiments on farmer participation in plant breeding conducted in three countries (Morocco, Syria and Tunisia) on barley, which is the predominant annual rainfed crop in the most marginal areas of these countries. Trials with different types and number of breeding material were planted both on research stations and in farmers' fields. Selection was done by professional breeders and farmers and data were gathered on breeders' and farmers' selection criteria and selection efficiency. The trials reflected the situation of the crop in the three countries, with high yields on station, low yields in some of the most marginal farmers' fields, and poor correlations between research stations and farmers' fields, as well as between farmers' fields. Grain yield was by far the most commonly used selection criterion by the farmers. However, farmers also made a widespread use of selection criteria not normally used by breeders such as grain filling and straw yield, as well as other characteristics of the straw (color) and of the leaves because of the importance of the crop as source of animal feed. A major difference between the selection criteria used by breeders and farmers was disease resistance, almost entirely neglected by the latter. Farmer selection was effective in identifying some of the highest yielding lines in the farmers' own fields and also in those cases where they performed selection on station. The coincidence between entries selected by the breeder and the farmers was high in Morocco but very low in Syria and Tunisia. There were substantial differences between the lines selected by the breeders on station and those selected by farmers in their fields. In Syria, decentralized-participatory selection was significantly more efficient in identifying the highest yielding entries in farmers' fields than any other selection strategy. This work demonstrates that it is possible to organize a plant breeding program so that farmers become major actors in the selection of new cultivars. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Experiments in Rectangular Areas: Design and Randomization

Agricultural experiments are often laid out in a rectangle in 3?C5 replicates. Is it better to use a standard randomized complete-block design in rows, or a complete-block design in rows but with restricted randomization, or an efficient row-column design? These approaches differ in the variance of the estimator of a difference between two treatments, and in the bias of the estimator of that variance, as well as in the mechanics of constructing the design and analyzing the data. I conclude that when intra-column correlations are high then the row-column design is best but that when they are moderate the best procedure is to use an improved version of restricted randomization, which gives an unbiased estimator of the average variance in the single experiment performed.     

Jupiter: its captured satellites

Because of the small size and irregular orbits of the seven outer satellites of Jupiter, it is often assumed that they were derived by capture. The conditions whereby Jupiter can capture satellites have therefore been examined. Relationships derived on the basis of the three-body problem for planets in elliptical orbits enable the dimensions of the capture orbits around Jupiter to be calculated. It is found that Jupiter may capture satellites through the inner Lagrangian point when at perihelion or at aphelion. Captures at perihelion should give rise to satellites in direct orbits of 11.48 x 10(6) kilometers and capture at aphelion to retrograde orbits of 21.7 x 10(6) kilometers. The correspondence with the seven outer satellites suggests that Jupiter VI, VIl, and X in direct orbits at 11.47, 11.74, and 11.85 x 10(6) kilometers were captured at Jupiter perihelion, whereas Jupiter VIII, IX, XI, and XII in retrograde orbits of 23.5, 23.7, 22.5, and 21.2 x 10(6) kilometers were captured when Jupiter was at aphelion. Examination of the precapture orbits indicates that the seven outer satellites were derived from the asteroid belt.     

Potassium-argon ages from the galapagos islands

Potassium-argon ages of eight volcanic rocks from some of the geologically oldest flows exposed in the Galápagos Archipelago indicate that the Galápagos Islands have a probable maximum age of 3 million years. Rocks from six islands were dated; the oldest are from Espa?ola (3.2 +/- 0.2), Sante Fe (2.7 +/- 0.1), and Plazas (4.2 +/- 1.8 million years). The new data suggest that the Galápagos Islands are younger than previously supposed on the basis of marine magnetic anomaly dating, but they are older than most previously dated rocks from the Galápagos.