TERRA BOOKS PALAEOBIOLOGY A SYNTHESIS

1990, £89.50 (hbk), 583 pp. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford ISBN 0–632–02525–5     

Applied social area analysis: Defining and evaluating areas for urban neighbourhood councils

Urban neighbourhood councils, neither statutorily established nor widely initiated in England, are seen to possess a number of advantages over existing forms of representative participation in relation to the equitable distribution of resources. In Portsmouth a community area perception survey and principal components analysis of census data were undertaken to produce synthesised ‘best fit’ social sub-areas upon which to base neighbourhood councils. These areas were then analysed in terms of their relevance and appropriateness, terms specifically defined, along four scale dimensions. An original contention that for maximum effectiveness neighbourhood councils should be established to cover all urban residential areas was confounded by the manifest irrelevance of the neighbourhood council concept in certain socio-spatial contexts.     

The chemistry of star formation

Understanding the chemistry of molecular clouds is now realized to be fundamental to our understanding of the whole star-formation process. A two-day meeting was held within NAM2002 to bring together chemists and astronomers to discuss this complex subject. Derek Ward-Thompson, Helen Fraser and Jonathan Rawlings report.  

     

Coral bleaching indices and thresholds for the Florida Reef Tract, Bahamas, and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

It is well established that elevated sea temperatures cause widespread coral bleaching, yet confusion lingers as to what facet of extreme temperatures is most important. Utilizing long-term in situ datasets, we calculated nine thermal stress indices and tested their effectiveness at segregating bleaching years a posteriori for multiple reefs on the Florida Reef Tract. The indices examined represent three aspects of thermal stress: (1) short-term, acute temperature stress; (2) cumulative temperature stress; and (3) temperature variability. Maximum monthly sea surface temperature (SST) and the number of days >30.5 °C were the most significant; indicating that cumulative exposure to temperature extremes characterized bleaching years. Bleaching thresholds were warmer for Florida than the Bahamas and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands reflecting differences in seasonal maximum SST. Hind-casts showed that monthly mean SST above a local threshold explained all bleaching years in Florida, the Bahamas, and US Virgin Islands.