Bitching about a billboard: Advertising, gender and canine (re)presentations

There is an increasing presence of animal representations in advertising and these are frequently visible in the urban landscape via billboards. We contend that billboards constitute a banal, yet influential, component of the built environment in which subtle, yet powerful, interplays of gender and local culture can literally take place. We consider a controversial billboard campaign that displayed the image of a cross-dressed dog in Auckland in 1999. An analysis of the image and objections lodged against it allows us to conclude that in conveying a public service message, this campaign mounted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, unintentionally performed another service: engaging the public in (re)interpreting the gendered nature of animal representation     

Biogeography and climatic change as a context to human dispersal out of Africa and within Eurasia

The dispersal of the genus Homo occurred against a background of continuous environmental change. Here, dispersals of large mammals through the Levantine Corridor and into Western Europe and Java are studied and compared to existing records of climatic change and dispersals of early humans and lithic industry.The first human dispersal (with Oldowan lithic industry) out of Africa, around or shortly before 1.8 Ma may have been triggered by biological evolution and increased social organisation, rather than environmental change. After that event, increasing aridity led to decreased faunal exchange between Africa and Eurasia and may have isolated the human populations of Africa and Africa. Southern (Java) and Eastern Asia (China) also seem to have been isolated. Human dispersal into Western Europe may have been limited by closed environments in Central Europe until about 1.2 Ma ago, when faunal dispersal into Europe suggests the cyclic spread of open environments to the west. Acheulean technology originated in Africa, some 1.6–1.5 Ma ago, but its dispersal into Eurasia may have been obstructed by an arid Southwest Asia, until broadly about 0.9 Ma ago, when faunal exchange suggests that the area became temporarily less dry. By 0.6–0.5 Ma ago it reached Europe.     

The impact of summer temperature changes on vegetation development in Ireland during the Weichselian Lateglacial Interstadial

We analysed pollen from a sediment core from Fiddaun, a small Lateglacial lake basin in western Ireland. Results reflect the general Lateglacial vegetation development in Ireland, as reconstructed from other pollen records. The Fiddaun diagram shows a number of short‐lived regressive vegetation phases during the Interstadial. The close similarity between two pollen records from the same region (Fiddaun and Lurga) indicates that these fluctuations probably reflect regional rather than local changes. Comparison with a previously published climate reconstruction, based on a chironomid‐inferred mean July air temperature reconstruction, lithology, and oxygen and carbon isotopes of lake marl from the Fiddaun record, allowed us to establish the relationship between summer temperature and vegetation changes. Results reveal that two temporary regressive shifts in the pollen record correspond to cold oscillations, which have been correlated to Greenland Interstadial 1b and 1d. It seems that the first cold oscillation (GI‐1d) had the most distinct effect on vegetation in Ireland. In contrast, it appears that the transition from Juniperus shrubland and Empetrum heath to grassland, which is estimated at ～13.7 ka BP, was not caused by decreasing summer temperatures, as no substantial change is observed in the climate proxies. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene environmental and climatic changes at Gorgo Basso,a coastal lake in southern Sicily,Italy

We used a new sedimentary record to reconstruct the Holocene vegetation and fire history of Gorgo Basso, a coastal lake in south-western Sicily (Italy). Pollen and charcoal data suggest a fire-prone open grassland near the site until ca 10,000 cal yr BP (8050 cal BC), when Pistacia shrubland expanded and fire activity declined, probably in response to increased moisture availability. Evergreen Olea europaea woods expanded ca 8400 to decline abruptly at 8200 cal yr BP, when climatic conditions became drier at other sites in the Mediterranean region. Around 7000 cal yr BP evergreen broadleaved forests (Quercus ilex, Quercus suber and O. europaea) expanded at the cost of open communities. The expansion of evergreen broadleaved forests was associated with a decline of fire and of local Neolithic (Ficus carica–Cerealia based) agriculture that had initiated ca 500 years earlier. Vegetational, fire and land-use changes ca 7000 cal yr BP were probably caused by increased precipitation that resulted from (insolation-forced) weakening of the monsoon and Hadley circulation ca 8000–6000 cal yr BP. Low fire activity and dense coastal evergreen forests persisted until renewed human activity (probably Greek, respectively Roman colonists) disrupted the forest ca 2700 cal yr BP (750 BC) and 2100 cal yr BP (150 BC) to gain open land for agriculture. The intense use of fire for this purpose induced the expansion of open maquis, garrigue, and grassland-prairie environments (with an increasing abundance of the native palm Chamaerops humilis). Prehistoric land-use phases after the Bronze Age seem synchronous with those at other sites in southern and central Europe, possibly as a result of climatic forcing. Considering the response of vegetation to Holocene climatic variability as well as human impact we conclude that under (semi-)natural conditions evergreen broadleaved Q. ilex–O. europaea (s.l.) forests would still dominate near Gorgo Basso. However, forecasted climate change and aridification may lead to a situation similar to that before 7000 cal yr BP and thus trigger a rapid collapse of the few relict evergreen broadleaved woodlands in coastal Sicily and elsewhere in the southern Mediterranean region.     

Regional circulation around Heard and McDonald Islands and through the Fawn Trough,central Kerguelen Plateau

The fine-scale circulation around the Heard and McDonald Islands and through the Fawn Trough, Kerguelen Plateau, is described using data from three high-resolution CTD sections, Argo floats and satellite maps of chlorophyll a, sea surface temperature (SST) and absolute sea surface height (SSH). We confirm that the Polar Front (PF) is split into two branches over the Kerguelen Plateau, with the NPF crossing the north-eastern limits of our survey carrying 25 Sv to the southeast. The SPF was associated with a strong eastward-flowing jet carrying 12 Sv of baroclinic transport through the deepest part of Fawn Trough (relative to the bottom). As the section was terminated midway through the trough this estimate is very likely to be a lower bound for the total transport. We demonstrate that the SPF contributes to the Fawn Trough Current identified by previous studies. After exiting the Fawn Trough, the SPF crossed Chun Spur and continued as a strong north-westward flowing jet along the eastern flank of the Kerguelen Plateau before turning offshore between 50°S and 51.5°S. Measured bottom water temperatures suggest a deep water connection between the northern and southern parts of the eastern Kerguelen Plateau indicating that the deep western boundary current continues at least as far north as 50.5°S. Analysis of satellite altimetry derived SSH streamlines demonstrates a southward shift of both the northern and southern branches of the Polar Front from 1994 to 2004. In the direct vicinity of the Heard and McDonald islands, cool waters of southern origin flow along the Heard Island slope and through the Eastern Trough bringing cold Winter Water (WW) onto the plateau. Complex topography funnels flow through canyons, deepens the mixed layer and increases productivity, resulting in this area being the preferred foraging region for a number of satellite-tracked land-based predators.     

Biomass Production in PioneerSpartina anglicaPatches: Evidence for the Importance of Seston Particle Deposition

Salt marsh formation can be initiated by the colonization of bare tidal flats by pioneer halophytes such asSpartina anglica. In the present study, growth ofS. anglicain the edge and centre zones of pioneer patches colonizing a tidal flat in a marine bay in the south-west Netherlands was investigated. Average biomass and shoot length was significantly lower in centre zones than in edge zones of the patches. Multiple linear regression showed that 84% of the variance in aboveground biomass in the centre zones could be explained by sediment phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations. No such relationship existed in the edge zone. This suggests that biomass production in the centre zones of the patches is nutrient limited, but that factors other than sediment nitrogen and phosphorus content determine growth ofSpartinain the edge zones.The sediment nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in the centre zones of the patches were significantly related with sediment carbon concentrations, indicating that the pool of particle-bound nutrients in the sediment to an important extent is associated with organic particles. Determination of stable carbon isotope signatures of the sedimentary organic matter showed that an increasing carbon content of the sediment in the centre zone of the patches (and a rise in plant biomass) coincides with a higher contribution of non-Spartinaderived carbon to the sedimentary organic matter pool. Sustained biomass production in the centre zones of the patches, thus, probably depends on deposition of allochthonous organic particles and the nutrient inputs inherent in this process. Due to the construction of large-scale hydro-engineering works, however, conditions for deposition of waterborne particles are currently unfavourable. The consequences of reduced carbon and nutrient inputs into the patches will be particularly in the (older) centre zones, where the nutrient pools in non-refractory organic matter have been drained in the years of previous growth. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the canopy-enhanced sedimentation for whichSpartinais well- known, via positive feed-back effects on plant growth can be crucial for plant vitality, and, hence, for successful colonization of unvegetated areas.     

Dictators and their capital cities: Moscow and Berlin in the 1930s

Stalin and Hitler planned major changes in the townscapes of their capital cities. These plans were part of their effort to install highly mobilized despotic regimes that needed a wide-ranging set of symbols to focus allegiance and to impress awe. These plans remained to some extent paper exercises but part of it left significant traces in the contemporary cities, particularly in Moscow. The intended changes showed similarities in their megalomania expressed in plans for a gigantic dome surrounded by a huge public square in the core of the city. There were also differences as regards the type of symbols used due to both dictotors' different roles within their regimes, the degree of didactic intent due to the nature of the commanding ideologies and the level of modernization of both countries, and the diverging versions of antimodernist building style (which they shared with many others elsewhere at the time).     

Impacts of cloud and turbulence schemes on integrated water vapor: comparison between model predictions and GPS measurements

Summary Structures in atmospheric Integrated Water Vapor (IWV) have been studied for the three successive cyclones, Kerstin, Liane and Monika, which controlled the meteorological conditions in the Baltic Sea catchment region in the period from 28 August to 5 September 1995 (part of the PIDCAP observational campaign defined within BALTEX). Several model predictions of these cyclones have been performed with a regional atmospheric general circulation model (RACMO). The impact of two different versions of the model physics package (standard ECHAM4 and a revised version with modifications in the cloud and turbulence scheme) has been investigated. Model predicted IWV has been evaluated with GPS station data from several stations in Sweden and Finland. For the most strongly developed cyclone Monika, the revised scheme generates more pronounced IWV structures, with well defined bands of high and low values of IWV curving into the center of the cyclone. In particular, the shape of the minima are in better agreement with the GPS station data, and the consistency between two subsequent model forecasts is also larger with the revised physics package. For the weaker systems, Kerstin and Liane, results from both model versions are very similar. Received August 11, 2000 Revised February 13, 2001