An incentive mechanism for reducing emissions from conversion of intact and non-intact forests

This paper presents a new accounting mechanism in the context of the UNFCCC issue on reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries, including technical options for determining baselines of forest conversions. This proposal builds on the recent scientific achievements related to the estimation of tropical deforestation rates and to the assessment of ‘intact’ forest areas. The distinction between ‘intact’ and ‘non intact’ forests used here arises from experience with satellite-based deforestation measurements and allows accounting for carbon losses from forest degradation. The proposed accounting system would use forest area conversion rates as input data. An optimal technical solution to set baselines would be to use historical average figures during the time period from 1990 to 2005. The system introduces two different schemes to account for preserved carbon: one for countries with high forest conversion rates where the desired outcome would be a reduction in their rates, and another for countries with low rates. A ‘global’ baseline rate would be used to discriminate between these two country categories (high and low rates). For the hypothetical accounting period 2013–2017 and considering 72% of the total tropical forest domain for which data are available, the scenario of a 10% reduction of the high rates and of the preservation of low rates would result in approximately 1.6 billion tCO₂ of avoided emissions. The resulting benefits of this reduction would be shared between those high-rate countries which reduced deforestation and those low-rate countries which did not increase their deforestation over an agreed threshold (e.g., half of “global” baseline rate).     

Mineralogy and chemistry of Rumuruti: The first meteorite fall of the new R chondrite group

Abstract— The Rumuruti meteorite shower fell in Rumuruti, Kenya, on 1934 January 28 at 10:43 p.m. Rumuruti is an olivine-rich chondritic breccia with light-dark structure. Based on the coexistence of highly recrystallized fragments and unequilibrated components, Rumuruti is classified as a type 3–6 chondrite breccia. The most abundant phase of Rumuruti is olivine (mostly Fa_～39) with about 70 vol%. Feldspar (～14 vol%; mainly plagioclase), Ca-pyroxene (5 vol%), pyrrhotite (4.4 vol%), and pentlandite (3.6 vol%) are major constituents. All other phases have abundances below 1 vol%, including low-Ca pyroxene, chrome spinels, phosphates (chlorapatite and whitlockite), chalcopyrite, ilmenite, tridymite, Ni-rich and Ge-containing metals, kamacite, and various particles enriched in noble metals like Pt, Ir, arid Au. The chemical composition of Rumuruti is chondritic. The depletion in refractory elements (Sc, REE, etc.) and the comparatively high Mn, Na, and K contents are characteristic of ordinary chondrites and distinguish Rumuruti from carbonaceous chondrites. However, S, Se, and Zn contents in Rumuruti are significantly above the level expected for ordinary chondrites. The oxygen isotope composition of Rumuruti is high in δ¹⁷O (5.52 ‰) and δ¹⁸O (5.07 ‰). Previously, a small number of chondritic meteorites with strong similarities to Rumuruti were described. They were called Carlisle Lakes-type chondrites and they comprise: Carlisle Lakes, ALH85151, Y-75302, Y-793575, Y-82002, Acfer 217, PCA91002, and PCA91241, as well as clasts in the Weatherford chondrite. All these meteorites are finds from hot and cold deserts having experienced various degrees of weathering. With Rumuruti, the first meteorite fall has been recognized that preserves the primary mineralogical and chemical characteristics of a new group of meteorites. Comparing all chondrites, the characteristic features can be summarized as follows: (a) basically chondritic chemistry with ordinary chondrite element patterns of refractory and moderately volatile lithophiles but higher abundances of S, Se, and Zn; (b) high degree of oxidation (37–41 mol% Fa in olivine, only traces of Fe, Ni-metals, occurrence of chalcopyrite); (c) exceptionally high Δ¹⁷O values of about 2.7 for bulk samples; (d) high modal abundance of olivine (～70 vol%); (e) Ti-Fe³⁺?rich chromite (～5.5 wt% TiO₂); (f) occurrence of various noble metal-rich particles; (g) abundant chondritic breccias consisting of equilibrated clasts and unequilibrated lithologies. With Rumuruti, nine meteorite samples exist that are chemically and mineralogically very similar. These meteorites are attributed to at least eight different fall events. It is proposed in this paper to call this group R chondrites (rumurutiites) after the first and only fall among these meteorites. These meteorites have a close relationship to ordinary chondrites. However, they are more oxidized than any of the existing groups of ordinary chondrites. Small, but significant differences in chemical composition and in oxygen isotopes between R chondrites and ordinary chondrites exclude formation of R chondrites from ordinary chondrites by oxidation. This implies a separate, independent R chondrite parent body.     

II. Geophysik Die geophysikalische Erforschung Nordwestdeutschlands im Zeitraum 1932–1947, ein Überblick

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Über ein Strahlungsmessgerät mit Ultrarotdurchlässiger Windschutzhaube am Meteorologischen Observatorium Hamburg

Zusammenfassung Es wird ein Strahlungsmessgerät mit ultrarotdurchlässigen Windschutzhauben beschrieben, das die von uns gestellten Forderungen nach laufender Registrierung der atmosphärischen Gegenstrahlung, der langwelligen Ausstrahlung des Erdbodens, der effektiven Ausstrahlung (bei Nacht) und der Strahlungsbilanz (bei Tag) unter den Bedingungen des Windschutzes, des Strahlungsempfangs aus dem Halbraum 2 und der Befolgung des Cos-Gesetzes erfüllt und sich im Dauerbetrieb bewährt hat. Als Strahlungsempfänger werden zweiMoll'sche Thermosäulen (eine nach oben und eine nach unten gerichtet) verwendet, die gegen den Windeinfluss durch eine ultrarotdurchlässige Lupolen-H-Folie geschützt sind. Die Thermosäulen sind elektrisch derart an drei Galvanometer geschaltet, dass die atmosphärische Gegenstrahlung für sich allein, die langwellige Ausstrahlung des Erdbodens für sich allein und bei Nacht zusätzlich die effektive Ausstrahlung sowie am Tage die Strahlungsbilanz laufend registriert werden können.

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Summary A radiation measuring instrument with windshelter transmitting infrared waves is described, it fulfills our demands for continuous records of the atmospheric radiation, of the long-wave outgoing radiation of the ground, of the effective outgoing radiation (nocturnal radiation), and of the radiation balance (during the days) on the conditions of protection against wind, of reception of radiation from the hemisphere (2 ), and of following the Cosinelaw; the instrument has proved well without interruption. The radiation is received by twoMoll thermopiles (one of which points towards the sky and the other one towards the earth's surface) which are protected against wind by means of a thin leave of Lupolen-H transmitting the infrared waves. The thermopiles are connected with three galvanometers in such a way that we are able to record continuously the atmospheric radiation for itself, the long-wave outgoing radiation of the ground for itself, and in the night additionally the effective outgoing radiation, as well as the whole day long the radiation balance.

     

Estimation of transboundary transport contribution to the air pollution in the far east region using the chemistry transport model

The CHIMERE mesoscale chemistry transport model is used for the quantitative assessment of the contribution of transboundary transport of anthropogenic admixtures from China to the surface concentrations of major suspended pollutants, aerosol PM₁₀, ozone O₃, and nitrogen oxides NO_x in the Far Eastern region. Analyzed in detail are the time series of concentration of mentioned substances computed with the model taking account and not taking account of anthropogenic emissions in China. It is revealed that the transboundary transport of anthropogenic pollutants can cause the recurring episodes of manyfold increase in the concentration of PM₁₀ in the south of Khabarovsk region, as well as more rare variations of O₃ and NO_x concentration. The trajectory and synoptic analysis demonstrated that the episodes of the increase in the concentration of PM₁₀ and O₃ in the south of the region mainly depend on the carryover of air masses from northeastern China in the front part of continental cyclones.     

The upper Cenomanian (Cretaceous) ammonite Neolobites vibrayeanus () in the Middle East: taxonomic and palaeoecologic remarks

In the Middle East and Africa, the Cenomanian ammonite genus Neolobites occurs, partly in great abundance, in shallow marine shelf settings. The genus includes several species but it has remained uncertain to what extent these species reflect biospecies, chronospecies or morphological variants. Based on material from Jordan and Egypt, the morphological variation of Neolobites vibrayeanus is described and discussed. From the several species of Neolobites described in the literature, only N. vibrayeanus, N. fourtaui and N. peroni appear to deserve specific separation. Sedimentological and lithological data, notably the common occurrence in strata that were possibly deposited above storm wave base, suggest that Neolobites was able to inhabit shallow marine settings. In these settings, it seems to form a distinct assemblage with the nautiloid Angulithes. Although N. vibrayeanus shows morphological variability between distinct populations, local N. vibrayeanus assemblages seem to develop morphologically stable populations that show only a little morphological overlap with those of other areas. This may be the reason for the earlier taxonomic splitting. The occurrence in habitats in which other stratigraphically significant ammonites are often missing may be the reason for the previous poor dating of Neolobites assemblages.     

Dietary niche partitioning in a piscivorous fish guild in response to stocking of an additional competitor - The role of diet specialisation

Species belonging to the same ecological guild can coexist only if there are differences in their responses to limiting resources. Thus, competitor introductions may modify the niches of the resident competitors, but empirical studies are rare. The extent of niche modification might further depend on the species’ trophic specialisation along the specialists-to-generalists axis. In this study, we performed a semi-natural experiment by introducing a trophically specialised piscivorous fish (pikeperch) to the resident predator guild of a trophic generalist (perch) and a trophic specialist (pike) in a temperate freshwater lake. Individual diet data were used to calculate total niche hypervolume and inter- and intraspecific dietary niche overlap to evaluate strength of competitive interactions before and after pikeperch introduction. In both pike and perch, there was a moderate niche compression in response to pikeperch stocking. Furthermore, whereas perch diet hypervolume did not overlap at all with that of pikeperch, the intersection of niche space between the two trophic specialists was highly asymmetrical in favour of pike due to its less specialised diet composition in comparison with pikeperch. The intraspecific dietary niche overlap between perch size classes reflected an enhanced partitioning, whereas that of pike size classes was found almost unchanged in response to pikeperch stocking. These empirical results corroborate that competitive interactions and the degree of specialisation may strongly shape the success of introductions of top-predators in freshwater ecosystems. The most specialised species may persist only if the competitors belong rather to the generalists along the specialisation continuum.     

Setting priorities for land management to mitigate climate change

Background

No consensus has been reached how to measure the effectiveness of climate change mitigation in the land-use sector and how to prioritize land use accordingly. We used the long-term cumulative and average sectorial C stocks in biomass, soil and products, C stock changes, the substitution of fossil energy and of energy-intensive products, and net present value (NPV) as evaluation criteria for the effectiveness of a hectare of productive land to mitigate climate change and produce economic returns. We evaluated land management options using real-life data of Thuringia, a region representative for central-western European conditions, and input from life cycle assessment, with a carbon-tracking model. We focused on solid biomass use for energy production.

Results

In forestry, the traditional timber production was most economically viable and most climate-friendly due to an assumed recycling rate of 80% of wood products for bioenergy. Intensification towards "pure bioenergy production" would reduce the average sectorial C stocks and the C substitution and would turn NPV negative. In the forest conservation (non-use) option, the sectorial C stocks increased by 52% against timber production, which was not compensated by foregone wood products and C substitution. Among the cropland options wheat for food with straw use for energy, whole cereals for energy, and short rotation coppice for bioenergy the latter was most climate-friendly. However, specific subsidies or incentives for perennials would be needed to favour this option.

Conclusions

When using the harvested products as materials prior to energy use there is no climate argument to support intensification by switching from sawn-wood timber production towards energy-wood in forestry systems. A legal framework would be needed to ensure that harvested products are first used for raw materials prior to energy use. Only an effective recycling of biomaterials frees land for long-term sustained C sequestration by conservation. Reuse cascades avoid additional emissions from shifting production or intensification.