Thoracican cirripedes (Crustacea) from the Hauterivian (Lower Cretaceous) of Hannover,northern Germany

Diverse thoracican cirripedes from the Hauterivian of the Hannover district of northern Germany are described, including seven species, belonging to five genera. Of these, a new genus belonging to the Scalpellidae, Jaegerscalpellum, includes one Hauterivian species, J. elegans sp. nov., an Aptian species, J. comptum (Withers, 1910) and an Albian species, J. politum (Darwin, 1851) are also referred to it. A new Cretiscalpellum, C. mutterlosei sp. nov. is described from the Hauterivian, and C. matrioni sp. nov. is described from the Middle Albian of France. The oldest record of the Unilatera Gale, 2018, Pedupycnolepas pulcher sp. nov. is described from the Hauterivian; this displays typical shell structure of the group, retained by living Verrucidae. Finally, four species of Zeugmatolepadidae, subfamily Martillepadinae, are recorded from the Hauterivian, including Martillepas hausmanni (Koch and Dunker, 1836), M. decoratus sp. nov., M. auriculum sp. nov. and Etcheslaepas borealis (Collins, 1990). The Hauterivian fauna from Hannover shows affinities both with Late Jurassic and later Cretaceous (Aptian-Cenomanian) forms, and includes the earliest scalpellids, unilateran (Pedupycnolepas) and Cretiscalpellum species known. It constrains the age of the Cretaceous cirripede evolutionary radiation to the earliest Cretaceous.     

Consulting as a threat to local democracy? Flexible management consultants,pacified citizens,and political tactics of strategic development in German cities

These days, it is often claimed that democratic procedures are under threat. The detachment of policy decisions from political debates is partly a result of the increasing influence of non-elected organizations and experts. Following a conceptual discussion of the spatiality of democracy, this paper focuses on management consultants as constraint on collective political participation in urban development; namely on McKinsey and Roland Berger. (De-)democratization is assessed alongside processes of inclusion and exclusion of both topics and people from political decisions. Based on a comparison of strategy-making projects in six German cities, the findings reveal three different types of urban policymaking ranging between expert-led and participatory versions. Despite the differences, each of the projects relied on a notion of passive citizens, who primarily need to be “gotten on board” and who lack the power to make decisions. This paper exposes the political tactics involved in an expert-influenced curtailment of democratic procedures.     

Consideration of the genus Ginkgoites Seward and a redescription of two species from the Lower Cretaceous of Germany

Genera used for fossil ginkgoalean leafy shoots, especially Baiera F. Braun,Ginkgoites Seward and Ginkgo L., are discussed both in their historical context and in the light of recent discoveries. Use of Ginkgoites Seward as a form- or organ-genus for fossil leaves lacking associated reproductive structures is readopted. Two species, Ginkgoitesbrauniana (Dunker) comb. nov. and Ginkgoites pluripartita (Schimper) Seward, from the Lower Cretaceous Wealden facies of Germany, are rediagnosed and neotypes selected. The occurrence of G. pluripartita in the Lower Cretaceous of western Greenland, Montana, U S A, Canada and Siberia is confirmed.     

Succession,palaeoecology, evolution,and speciation of Pennsylvanian non‐marine bivalves,Northern Appalachian Basin,USA

Seventeen horizons of non‐marine bivalves are described within the Appalachian succession from the base of the Pottsville Group of Westphalian A‐B age to the Uniontown coal of Stephanian C age at the top of the Carboniferous System. A new highly variable fauna of Anthraconaia from the roof shales of the Upper Freeport coal near Kempton, west Maryland, dates from late Westphalian D or very early Cantabrian time, on the evidence of non‐marine shells and megafloras. Below this horizon, the Appalachian sequence reveals zones of Anthraconauta phillipsii and Anthraconauta tenuis in the same order as in Britain, whereas faunas of Anthraconaia of these zones are less common and differ from those of Britain. In all horizons above the Upper Freeport coal all non‐marine bivalve faunas consist of stages in the sequences of two natural species, the groups of Anthraconaia prolifera and Anthraconaia puella‐saravana. The first shows evidence of having lived in well‐oxygenated, probably shallow, fresh water conditions of relatively wide extent. The second group lived preferentially in a plant‐rich environment of relatively stagnant fresh water. Both groups are found in horizons associated with coal seams and may be seen together in the same habitats, but diagrams of variation (pictographs) suggest that there was no interbreeding between the two groups in either the Northern Appalachians or in southern Germany where the species split was first recognized. In the northern Spanish coalfields of Guardo‐Valderrueda and Central Asturia, facies evidence suggests how an initial split may have taken place in the same morphological directions and into the same palaeoenvironments as the later split into two species. Appalachian deposition was generally slow and intermittent with frequent palaeosols. There is also evidence of erosion and of small palaeontological breaks in the sequence, especially near the eastern edge of the Northern Appalachian Basin in western Maryland. The amount of accumulated sediment was less than one‐tenth of that of western Europe when basin centre deposition is compared. We found no evidence of a major palaeontological break representing Westphalian D strata overlain by Stephanian C strata. We figure non‐marine bivalve faunas of Stephanian B age in association with the Pittsburgh and the Little Pittsburgh coals. Two new species of non‐marine bivalves are described: Anthraconaia anthraconautiformis sp. nov. and Anthraconaia extrema sp. nov. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of FLEMOcs – a new model for the estimation of flood losses in the commercial sector

Abstract

The estimation of flood damage is an important component for risk-oriented flood design, risk mapping, financial appraisals and comparative risk analyses. However, research on flood-loss modelling, especially in the commercial sector, has not gained much attention so far. Therefore, extensive data about flood losses were collected for affected companies via telephone surveys after the floods of 2002, 2005 and 2006 in Germany. Potential loss determining factors were analysed. The new Flood Loss Estimation MOdel for the commercial sector (FLEMOcs) was developed on the basis of 642 loss cases. Losses are estimated depending on water depth, sector and company size as well as precaution and contamination. The model can be applied to the micro-scale, i.e. to single production sites as well as to the meso-scale, i.e. land-use units, thus enabling its countrywide application.

Citation Kreibich, H., Seifert, I., Merz, B. & Thieken, A. H. (2010) Development of FLEMOcs – a new model for the estimation of flood losses in the commercial sector. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(8), 1302–1314.     

Application and validation of FLEMOcs – a flood-loss estimation model for the commercial sector

Abstract

The estimation of flood loss is difficult, especially in the commercial sector, because of its great inhomogeneity. However, the reliability of loss modelling is fairly unknown, since flood-loss models are scarcely validated. The newly developed Flood Loss Estimation MOdel for the commercial sector (FLEMOcs) was validated on the micro-scale using a leave-one-out cross-validation procedure. Additionally, different meso-scale loss functions were compared. Meso-scale model application was undertaken in 19 municipalities which were affected during the 2002 flood in Germany. Model results were compared with the results of three other loss models, as well as with official loss records. The micro-scale validation shows very good results, with no bias and mean absolute errors between 23 and 31%. The meso-scale validation indicates that FLEMOcs provides good results, especially in large areas with many affected companies where high losses are expected.

Citation Seifert, I., Kreibich, H., Merz, B. & Thieken, A. H. (2010) Application and validation of FLEMOcs – a flood-loss estimation model for the commercial sector. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(8), 1315–1324.     

Sprawl Without Growth in Eastern Germany

This article examines sprawl without growth in former East Germany at a number of different metropolitan scales using a dataset from the Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung (Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning). Specific political, social, and economic circumstances in eastern Germany following reunification distinguish it not only from other declining regions, but also from some of its post-socialist neighbors that underwent similar urban spatial transformations after the fall of communism. Explanations for this phenomenon include: increasing incomes and latent demand for housing, which remained suppressed under communism; specific policies adopted after reunification that subsidized greenfield development at the metropolitan fringe; a lack of planning at the local, regional, and state levels in the immediate aftermath of reunification; and changing demographic patterns. Although a number of the factors exacerbating sprawl in the post-reunification period have disappeared, overall demographic decline in eastern Germany continues.     

Retrieval of remotely sensed LAI using Landsat ETM+ data and ground measurements of solar radiation and vegetation structure: Implication of leaf inclination angle

A time series of leaf area index (LAI) of a managed birch forest in Germany (near Dresden) has been developed based on 16-day normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data from the Landsat ETM+ sensor at 30 m resolution. The Landsat ETM+ LAI was retrieved using a modified physical radiative transfer (RTM) model which establishes a relationship between LAI, fractional vegetation cover (fC), and given patterns of surface reflectance, view-illumination conditions and optical properties of vegetation. In situ measurements of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and vegetation structure parameters using hemispherical photography (HSP) served for calibration of model parameters, while data from litter collection at the study site provided the ground-based estimates of LAI for validation of modelling results. Influence of view-illumination conditions on optical properties of canopy was simulated by a view angle geometry model incorporating the solar zenith angle and the sensor viewing angle. Effects of intra-annual and inter-annual variability of structural properties of the canopy on the light extinction coefficient were simulated by implementing variability of the leaf inclination angle (LIA), which was confirmed in the study site. The results revealed good compatibility of the produced Landsat ETM+ LAI data set with the litter-estimated LAI. The results also showed high sensitivity of the LAI retrieval algorithm to variability of structural properties of the canopy: the implementation of LIA dynamics into the LAI retrieval algorithm significantly improved the model accuracy.     

Small-scale heterogeneities below the Gräfenberg array, Germany from seismic wavefield fluctuations of Hindu Kush events

Small-scale elastic heterogeneities (<5  km) are found in the upper lithosphere underneath the Gräfenberg array, southeast Germany. The results are based on the analysis of broadband recordings of 17 intermediate-depth (201–272  km) events from the Hindu Kush region. The wavefront of the first P arrival and the following 40  s coda are separated into coherent and incoherent (scattered) parts in the frequency range from 0.05 to 5  Hz. The frequency-dependent intensities of the mean and fluctuation wavefields are used to describe the scattering characteristics of the lithosphere underneath the receivers. It is possible to discriminate a weak-fluctuation regime of the wavefield in the frequency range below approximately 1.5–2.5  Hz and a strong-fluctuation regime starting at 2.0–2.5  Hz and continuing to higher frequencies. In order to explain the observed wavefield fluctuations, an approach with seismic scattering at random media-type structures is proposed. The preferred model contains heterogeneities with 3–7 per cent perturbations in seismic velocity and correlation lengths of 0.6–4.8  km in the crust. This is compatible with models from active seismic experiments. Scattering in the lithospheric mantle is not required, but cannot be excluded at weak velocity contrasts (<3 per cent).