Late Quaternary palaeohydrology of the Konya Basin, Turkey, based on isotope studies of modern hydrology and lacustrine carbonates

The Konya plain in south central Anatolia, Turkey, which is now largely dry, was occupied around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum by a fresh-oligosaline lake covering more than 4000 km². Sediment cores from three residual water bodies (Pinarbai, Akgöl and Süleymanhaci) within the larger Pleistocene lake basin, have been analysed using a multidisciplinary approach. The sediment sequences are dated as spanning the last 50 Ka years, although breaks in sedimentation mean that there is only partial chronological overlap between them. Carbon and oxygen isotope analyses on lacustrine carbonate from the three cores give contrasting isotope profiles which reflect the different ages and independent hydrological behaviour of different sub-basins through the late Quaternary. Distinguishing changes that are regional from local effects is aided by modern isotope hydrology studies and by comparing the carbonate ¹³C and ¹⁸O values to diatom and other analyses undertaken on the same cores.     

Styles of subglacial glaciotectonic deformation within the context of the anglian ice-sheet

A substantial proportion of the glacial sediments of East Anglia, England, are chaotic and highly deformed. This has been attributed to (a) direct glaciotectonic deformation or (b) slumping of glaciomarine sediments. We show that interpretation (a) leads to a classification of subglacial glaciotectonic deposits into sites of ‘constructional deformation’, where little or no erosion of the preglacial deposits has occurred and styles of deformation are preserved moving up in the sequence, and ‘excavational deformation’, where substantial erosion of preglacial sediments has occurred and deformational styles are superimposed on each other. By using glaciological and geotechnical theory, we show that the expression of these deformational styles in East Anglia is a natural response to the stress fields imposed by the ice-sheet, and that in consequence their spatial relationships are explicable. The depth of deformation is related to the geotechnical properties of till and substrate, the stress and effective stress fields, and found to be consistent with observations.     

Tourism,forest conversion,and land transformations in the Angkor basin,Cambodia

The Angkor basin of Cambodia, the site of the great Angkor temple complex, has experienced explosive tourism growth since the 1993 onset of national political stability and renewed international investment, which in turn has driven increasing demand for water, wood, and biomass fuel, and rapid and extensive land-use and land-cover change. We use multi-temporal Landsat imagery (1989–2005) to describe the rate and extent of land-cover change throughout the Angkor basin. While 50% of the landscape remained in rice agriculture it is notable that a larger proportion of the area was deforested (23.4%) than experienced forest regrowth (4.9%). Most forest loss occurred between the Angkor temple complex and Phnom Kulen National Park, and was due in part to charcoal production to serve the tourist industry, and also conversion to permanent agriculture. The small area of forest increase was concentrated along the eastern boundary of the main Angkor complex. The interplay among global (tourism, climate), regional (national policies, large-river management), and local (construction and agriculture, energy and water sources to support the tourism industry) factors drives a distinctive but complex pattern of land-use and land-cover change.     

Seagrass-Watch: Engaging Torres Strait Islanders in marine habitat monitoring

Involvement in scientifically structured habitat monitoring is a relatively new concept to the peoples of Torres Strait. The approach we used was to focus on awareness, and to build the capacity of groups to participate using Seagrass-Watch as the vehicle to provide education and training in monitoring marine ecosystems. The project successfully delivered quality scientifically rigorous baseline information on the seasonality of seagrasses in the Torres Strait—a first for this region.     

Modeling biodiversity benefits and external costs from a keystone predator reintroduction policy

In this paper, an economic model was constructed to determine the optimal wolf population and distribution across the Northern Rocky Mountains. Both ecological and economic concepts were incorporated in an implicitly spatial social welfare maximization problem. This interdisciplinary model relies on multiple data sources, including current wolf population and distribution information, opportunity cost to local landowners, and contingent valuation studies to determine willingness-to-pay for wolves. Economic models tend to externalize ecological concerns and ecological models often omit the complex human dimensions of conservation policy. Accordingly, this model can serve as a guide for integrating best practices from both fields. The model presented here is sufficiently general to apply to wolves in other ecosystems and to other highly interacting species such as beavers and bison. The Northern Rocky Mountain wolf was used as an example of how this economic model works, but this model can be applied far more broadly.     

Lava channel roofing,overflows, breaches and switching: insights from the 2008–2009 eruption of Mt. Etna

During long-lived basaltic eruptions, overflows from lava channels and breaching of channel levées are important processes in the development of extensive 'a'ā lava flow-fields. Short-lived breaches result in inundation of areas adjacent to the main channel. However, if a breach remains open, lava supply to the original flow front is significantly reduced, and flow-field widening is favoured over lengthening. The development of channel breaches and overflows can therefore exert strong control over the overall flow-field development, but the processes that determine their location and frequency are currently poorly understood. During the final month of the 2008–2009 eruption of Mt. Etna, Sicily, a remote time-lapse camera was deployed to monitor events in a proximal region of a small ephemeral lava flow. For over a period of ~10 h, the flow underwent changes in surface elevation and velocity, repeated overflows of varying vigour and the construction of a channel roof (a required prelude to lava tube formation). Quantitative interpretation of the image sequence was facilitated by a 3D model of the scene constructed using structure-from-motion computer vision techniques. As surface activity waned during the roofing process, overflow sites retreated up the flow towards the vent, and eventually, a new flow was initiated. Our observations and measurements indicate that flow surface stagnation and flow inflation propagated up-flow at an effective rate of ~6 m h⁻¹, and that these processes, rather than effusion rate variations, were ultimately responsible for the most vigorous overflow events. We discuss evidence for similar controls during levée breaching and channel switching events on much larger flows on Etna, such as during the 2001 eruption.     

Local food activity in the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain

Recent changes in local food supply systems have attracted substantial research interest, but little consideration has been paid to exactly where they occur. This article combines data from three studies to compare local food system development in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland using a single index of food relocalisation, thereby exploring the usefulness of the Index across different social and political contexts. Four diagnostic indicators suggest that local food systems in the south west of Ireland and Britain are particularly well developed. The Index itself is a useful tool for making international comparisons, being easy to replicate and allowing the integration of different data sets. Perhaps its greatest utility is that it opens up new avenues for further research.     

Entanglement of Australian sea lions and New Zealand fur seals in lost fishing gear and other marine debris before and after Government and industry attempts to reduce the problem

In recent years, Australian governments and fishing industry associations have developed guiding principles aimed at reducing the impact of fishing on non-target species and the benthos and increasing community awareness of their efforts. To determine whether they reduced seal entanglement in lost fishing gear and other marine debris, we analysed Australian sea lion and New Zealand fur seal entanglement data collected from Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Contrary to our expectations, we found that entanglement rates did not decrease in recent years. The Australian sea lion entanglement rate (1.3% in 2002) and the New Zealand fur seal entanglement rate (0.9% in 2002) are the third and fourth highest reported for any seal species. Australian sea lions were most frequently entangled in monofilament gillnet that most likely originated from the shark fishery, which operates in the region where sea lions forage--south and east of Kangaroo Island. In contrast, New Zealand fur seals were most commonly entangled in loops of packing tape and trawl net fragments suspected to be from regional rock lobster and trawl fisheries. Based on recent entanglement studies, we estimate that 1478 seals die from entanglement each year in Australia. We discuss remedies such as education programs and government incentives that may reduce entanglements.     

Nutrient cycling in the sub-tropical Brunswick estuary,Australia

A combination of mixing plots, one-dimensional salt balance modelling, nutrient loading budgets, and benthic flux measurements were used to assess nutrient cycling pathways in the enriched sub-tropical Brunswick estuary during different freshwater flows. A simple model accounting for freshwater residence times and nutrient availability was found to be a good predictor of phytoplankton biomass along the estuary, and suggested that biomass accumulation may become nutrient-limited during low flows and that recycling within the water column is important during blooms. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) cycling budgets were constructed for the estuary during different freshwater flows accounting for all major inputs (catchment, sewage, and urban) to the estuary. Internal cycling due to phytoplankton uptake (based on measured biomass) and sediment-water fluxes (based on measured rates in each estuarine reach) was considered. Four different nutrient cycling states were identified during the study. In high flow, freshwater residence times are less than 1 d, internal cycling processes are bypassed and virtually all dissolved, and most particulate, nutrients are delivered to the continental shelf. During the growth phase of a phytoplankton bloom enhanced recycling occurs as residence times increase sufficiently to allow biomass accumulation. Remineralization of phytoplankton detritus during this phase can supply up to 50% of phytoplankton DIN demands. In post-bloom conditions, DIN uptake by phytoplankton decreases in the autumn wet season when biomass doubling times begin to exceed residence times. OM supply to the sediments diminishes and the benthos becomes nutrient-limited, resulting in DIN uptake by the sediments. As flows decrease further in the dry season, there is tight recycling and phytoplankton blooms, and uptake by the sediments can account for the entire DIN loading to the estuary resulting in complete removal of DIN from the water column. The ocean is a potentially important source of DIN to the estuary at this time. The results of the DIN cycling budgets compared favorably with mixing plots of DIN at each time. The results suggest that a combination of different approaches may be useful in developing a more comprehensive understanding of nutrient cycling behavior and the effects of nutrient enrichment in estuaries.