Minority women’s microenterprises in rural areas of the United States of America: African American,Hispanic American and Native American case studies

Women in many rural areas of the US often engage in small-scale businesses as one of several avenues for contributing to household incomes. In those geographical areas that contain a significant minority population, many of the women's businesses display the cultural diversity of the regions in which they live. Likewise, women's roles as economic providers as well as wives and mothers are reflected in the manner in which they operate their businesses. Candida Brush suggests that women's strategies for operating their businesses are highly integrative because women's business decisions are intertwined with familial responsibilities, household economic demands and desires to contribute to their communities. Hispanic and Native American women in the Four Corners region of southwestern US and African American women in central Virginia participated in interviews in which they responded to numerous short answer and open-ended questions about their businesses and decision-making strategies. From these interviews an image emerges of rural minority business women who are operating their businesses at the nexus of family obligations, economic necessities, cultural ties and with a commitment for serving their communities. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Public Participation in Planning: an intellectual history

This paper tracks the changing role of public participation in planning thought. In doing so, the paper shows that the role of public participation in planning is largely determined by the nature of the planning enterprise being undertaken. The definition of the planning problem, the kinds of knowledge used in planning practice, and the conceptualisation of the planning and decision-making context are the important determinants of the extent of participation offered to the public. The paper therefore contributes to thinking about how to evaluate public participation by showing that it can only be understood in terms of the decision-making context in which it is embedded. Specifically, it makes little sense to evaluate public participation in terms that are not shared by the planning model itself     

‘Committing to Place’ at the Local Scale: the potential of youth education programs for promoting community participation in regional natural resource management

Emerging approaches to environmental governance require a greater level of community participation than did previous approaches in which these responsibilities largely rested with government agencies. There is consequently a need for increased engagement with NRM among a broad community sector. This paper examines initiatives by two prominent government agencies, the Murray–Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) and the National Museum of Australia (NMA), to engage school children from regional communities using education programs that focus on place and environmental health. We focus on the MDBC's International Riverhealth Conference held in Mildura in 2003 and the associated Murray–Darling Basin TalkBack Classroom sponsored by the NMA and the Parliamentary Education Office (PEO). We explore how key themes of local scale, place-based identities, youth voice and critical engagement are developed in these programs and consider how they relate to the environmental agency of children. We then reflect on the potential for the kinds of environmental agency promoted through these programs to help build the capacity of local communities to progress larger goals of environmental restoration and sustainability in the Murray–Darling Basin. The evaluation research reported here forms part of the Committing to Place research project, an Australian Research Council Linkage grant involving the University of Tasmania, the National Museum of Australia and the Murray–Darling Basin Commission.     

The lateglacial Quercus expansion in the southern European Alps: rapid vegetation response to a late Allerød climate warming?

A pollen‐inferred vegetation shift, from pioneer birch–pine woodland to mixed pine–summergreen oak forests, in the southern Alpine forelands, is commonly attributed to a centennial‐scale warming that occurred between the Gerzensee Oscillation (GO) and the Younger Dryas. Two microtephra layers bracketing the Younger Dryas onset (the Laacher See Tephra and the Vedde Ash) improve the chronology at Lago Piccolo di Avigliana (northern Italy) and allowed accurate correlation with Central European records where the GO is clearly detected. We used pollen percentages, pollen accumulation rates (PARs) and plant macrofossils to assess the population dynamics of Quercus, and leaf‐cuticle analysis for a better taxonomic identification of Quercus. Our results indicate that the species that was locally present was probably Quercus robur. PARs suggest that the population expansion started as early as the Bølling and followed an exponential increase through time. We attribute this gradual shift to increasing summer temperatures and longer growing seasons which contrast with a gradually decreasing temperature trend as recorded in Greenland ice cores and in Central Europe. Breaks or set‐backs in the PAR record may indicate the biotic response to minor Lateglacial cooling events of different life‐history stages in the Quercus population. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The multi-component Hekla Ö Tephra,Iceland: a complex widespread mid-Holocene tephra layer

Large Plinian eruptions from Hekla volcano, Iceland, produce compositionally zoned tephra used as key markers in tephrochronology. However, spatial variations in chemical composition of a tephra layer may complicate its identification. An example is the 5950–6180 cal a bp Hekla Ö tephra layer, which shows compositional spread from rhyolite, dacite and andesite to basalt. In soil sections north of Hekla, the SiO₂ content of the tephra glass reaches 76 wt% in the lowest unit of the Hekla Ö deposit and decreases to 62–63 wt% in the uppermost unit. Intermingled within the whole deposit are basalt tephra grains having 46–47 wt% SiO₂. The composition of the basalt glass includes primitive basalt and a more evolved basalt (MgO >6 and <6 wt%, respectively). Together with literature data, the Hekla Ö tephra and the so-called T-Tephra/Hekla-T are most likely from contemporaneous eruptions of different vents on the Hekla volcanic system, forming a single important marker tephra (Hekla ÖT) deposited over 80% of Iceland. Identification is complicated by its spatial compositional heterogeneity, such as systematic decrease in SiO₂ content from the east to the west of Hekla volcano. Consequently, an individual tephra layer from a large explosive eruption can have different composition at different locations. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distinguishing the effect of diapir growth on magnetic fabrics of syn‐diapiric overburden rocks: Basque–Cantabrian basin,Northern Spain

An analysis of Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility was done on Aptian–Albian sediments from the Basque–Cantabrian basin. Samples were collected from 39 sites in the halokinetic sequences of the Bakio, Bermeo, Guernica and Mungia diapirs; 28 sites were sampled close to diapirs, and 11 sites were far from the diapir edges. The magnetic foliation is parallel to bedding, suggesting it reflects depositional and compaction processes, whereas the orientation of magnetic lineation varies. Far from the diapir edges, the magnetic lineation is interpreted as being related to the regional Pyrenean compression. Close to diapir edges, the observed behaviour shows that diapirs, predominantly formed by rigid ophites, have acted as buttresses, with shadow areas at their northern faces being protected from the Pyrenean compression. The high sensitivity of AMS makes it a very useful tool to distinguish deformation in halokinetic sequences related to diapir growth from that related to subsequent compression.     

Late Quaternary sea‐level change and evolution of Belfast Lough,Northern Ireland: new offshore evidence and implications for sea‐level reconstruction

The interplay of eustatic and isostatic factors causes complex relative sea‐level (RSL) histories, particularly in paraglacial settings. In this context the past record of RSL is important in understanding ice‐sheet history, earth rheology and resulting glacio‐isostatic adjustment. Field data to develop sea‐level reconstructions are often limited to shallow depths and uncertainty exists as to the veracity of modelled sea‐level curves. We use seismic stratigraphy, 39 vibrocores and 26 radiocarbon dates to investigate the deglacial history of Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland, and reconstruct past RSL. A typical sequence of till, glacimarine and Holocene sediments is preserved. Two sea‐level lowstands (both max. ?40 m) are recorded at c. 13.5 and 11.5k cal a bp . Each is followed by a rapid transgression and subsequent periods of RSL stability. The first transgression coincides temporally with a late stage of Meltwater Pulse 1a and the RSL stability occurred between c. 13.0 and c. 12.2k cal a bp (Younger Dryas). The second still/slowstand occurred between c. 10.3 and c. 11.5k cal a bp . Our data provide constraints on the direction and timing of RSL change during deglaciation. Application of the Depth of Closure concept adds an error term to sea‐level reconstructions based on seismic stratigraphic reconstructions.     

Spatial and Temporal Variations in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pyrodinium bahamense</Emphasis> Cyst Concentrations in the Sediments of Bioluminescent Mangrove Lagoon,St. Croix,USVI

Mangrove Lagoon, located on the island of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands (USVI), is one of few actively bioluminescent lagoons in a location experiencing significant anthropogenic impacts. The bioluminescence is due to an abundance of the dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense in the water column. We recovered surface sediments and sediment cores from Mangrove Lagoon to analyze the spatial distribution and temporal variability of P. bahamense cysts in this system. Surface sediment P. bahamense cyst concentrations ranged from 0 to 466 cysts g^?1 dry sediment, with higher abundances associated with elevated surface water nutrient concentrations and a mixed terrestrial–marine organic matter source regime. In combination with available bioassay data, we hypothesize that phytoplankton utilize nutrients rapidly and subsequent decay of organic matter makes nutrients available for dinoflagellates at the sediment–water interface in the eastern and northern quadrants of the lagoon. However, the nutrients are rapidly exhausted during counterclockwise lagoon circulation resulting in the decline of primary productivity and dinoflagellate abundance in the western quadrants. Downcore profiles suggest that P. bahamense blooms have been occurring for decades, declining in recent years. No cysts were present in sediments predating dredging activities of the 1960s that created Mangrove Lagoon. Recent reductions in cyst abundance may be the result of limited primary productivity caused by restricted water exchange with Salt River Bay due to shallowing of a sill at the mouth of the lagoon. This research highlights the need for more comprehensive geochemical and fossil analyses to better understand long-term ecological variability and inform conservation efforts of these unique habitats.