Asymmetric vegetation responses to mid-Holocene aridity at the prairie-forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota

The mid-Holocene (ca. 8000-4000 cal yr BP) was a time of marked aridity throughout much of Minnesota, and the changes due to mid-Holocene aridity are seen as an analog for future responses to global warming. In this study, we compare the transition into (ca. 9000-7000 yr ago) and out of (ca. 5000-2500 yr ago) the mid-Holocene (MH) period at Kimble Pond and Sharkey Lake, located along the prairie forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota, using high resolution (∼ 5-36 yr) sampling of pollen, charcoal, sediment magnetic and loss-on-ignition properties. Changes in vegetation were asymmetrical with increasing aridity being marked by a pronounced shift from woodland/forest-dominated landscape to a more open mix of grassland and woodland/savanna. In contrast, at the end of the MH, grassland remained an important component of the landscape despite increasing effective moisture, and high charcoal influxes (median 2.7-4.0 vs. 0.6-1.7 mm² cm^− 2 yr^− 1 at start of MH) suggest the role of fire in limiting woodland expansion. Asymmetric vegetation responses, variation among and within proxies, and the near-absence of fire today suggest caution in using changes associated with mid-Holocene aridity at the prairie forest boundary as an analog for future responses to global warming.     

Submergence and Herbivory as Divergent Causes of Marsh Loss in Long Island Sound

Tidal marsh degradation has been attributed to a number of different causes, but few studies have examined multiple potential factors at the same sites. Differentiating the diverse drivers of marsh loss is critical to prescribing successful interventions for conservation and restoration of this important habitat. We evaluated two hypotheses for vegetation loss at two marshes in Long Island Sound (LIS): (1) marsh submergence, caused by an imbalance between sea-level rise and marsh accretion, and (2) defoliation associated with herbivory by the purple marsh crab, Sesarma reticulatum. At our western LIS site, we found no evidence of herbivory: crabs were scarce, and crab-exclusion cages provided no benefit. We attribute degradation at that site to submergence, a conclusion supported by topographic and hydrologic data showing that loss of vegetation occurred only in wetter parts of the marsh. In contrast, at our central LIS site, our observations were consistent with herbivory as a driving force: There were substantial populations of Sesarma, crab-exclusion cages allowed plants to thrive, and vegetation loss took place across a variety of elevations. We also analyzed soil conditions at both sites, in order to determine the signatures of different degradation processes and assess the potential for restoration. At the submergence site, unvegetated soils exhibited high bulk density, low organic content, and low soil strength, posing significant biogeochemical challenges to re-colonization by vegetation. At the herbivory site, unvegetated soils had a characteristic “riddled-peat” appearance, resulting from expansion and erosion of Sesarma burrow networks. The high redox potential and organic content of those soils suggested that revegetation at the herbivory site would be likely if Sesarma populations could be controlled before erosion leads to elevation loss.     

A Long Way to Go: Collective Paths to Racial Justice in Geography

Despite decades of recognition and worry about diversity, our discipline remains persistently white. That is, it is dominated by white bodies and it continues to conform to norms, practices, and ideologies of whiteness. This is a loss. At best, it limits the possibilities and impact of our work as geographers. At worst, it perpetuates harmful exclusions in our discipline: its working environments, its institutions, and its knowledge production. This remains deeply concerning for many geographers, and there has been important research, commentary, and institutional activity over the years. Yet, research shows us that little meaningful progress has been made. We know that mentoring is one vital part of the journey toward change. As such, we reflect here on our experience developing a research collective built on a transformative mentoring practice. We outline the key challenges, strategies, and tentative successes of the collective in supporting women of color undergraduate, graduate, and faculty geographers, arguing that such feminist formations are a vital part of the path to intellectual racial justice in our field. Key Words: diversity, feminist geography, higher education, mentoring, race.     

Porphyry Molybdenum Prospectivity in the Zhongdian Arc,SW China: Use of Singularity and Factor Analyses for Resource Assessment

Natural Resources Research - The Zhongdian arc is an important mineral province in southwest China that hosts significant Cu- and Mo-rich ore deposits. These are mainly present as Late Triassic...     

Playing Lotto with Rotto? Tourism,the environment and gambling with the ethos of a Western Australian island

Rottnest Island is a popular holiday destination offshore from Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. Rottnest (or Rotto) attracts approximately 500 000 visitors annually. The island is managed by a statutory government authority, the Rottnest Island Authority (RIA), for the purposes of providing recreation and holiday facilities and services, and protecting its natural and cultural values. While there are advantages in management by one body, there appears to be a conflict in managing both the tourism business and the environment, largely as a result of funding issues. While further tourism development would boost the RIA's self-funded operating budget, increased pressures may compromise the island environment and the Rottnest ethos, which revolves around a relaxed and casual social ambiance. The RIA aims to develop Rottnest as a model for sustainability, but are dilemmas surrounding economic sustainability potentially risking the island's environmental and social sustainability? This paper concludes that in the pursuit of economic returns from tourism, Rottnest Island's environmental and social values face an uncertain future.     

A sediment budget for a grazed semi-arid catchment in the Burdekin basin, Australia

In catchments adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area in Queensland, Australia, there is a growing concern that sediments and nutrients being exported from the land are having a detrimental effect on coral reef communities. There is a need to determine the processes and rates of erosion from the major land use types, so that management intervention can be initiated to reduce sediment yields where required. This paper presents a sediment budget for Weany Creek, a 13.5 km² grazed semi-arid sub-catchment of the Burdekin River catchment, Australia. A range of field methods was used to measure erosion from hillslopes, gullies and stream banks, as well as identify the amount of sediment being deposited and remobilised on the bed of gullies and the stream network. The data suggests that at least during drought conditions, the primary erosion source in this catchment is gully erosion. However, the largest source of sediment in the budget is actually associated with the remobilisation of in-channel sediment stores. Overall, the sediment budget is comprised of  81% coarse material and 19% fine sediment and an agreement between the fine sediment yield estimated in the sediment budget and the yield measured at the catchment outlet is within 10%. The total sediment yield estimated for this catchment is  4205 t yr^− 1 and is much lower than expected for a catchment of this size. This may reflect the drought conditions during the measurement period; however, there is also the possibility that the primary erosion sources have been exhausted, and the rates of sediment loss may be much lower now than they may have been in the past. Nonetheless, the results show that stored sediment, which may have been deposited in the channel many decades ago, is an important contributor to end of catchment sediment yields and warrants further investigation.     

Neighborhood and socioeconomic change in emerging megapolitan nodes: tracking shifting social geographies in three rapidly growing United States metropolitan areas, 1980–2010

This paper investigates the complex demographic and social changes that have occurred in the neighborhoods of fast-growing United States metropolitan areas emerging as nodes in megapolitan regions between 1980 and 2010. A neighborhood typology is created using k-means cluster analysis to examine the demographic and housing characteristics, and geographic distribution, of neighborhoods that have existed in rapidly growing metropolitan areas. A socioeconomic index is created using principal component analysis (PCA) to analyze socioeconomic conditions within neighborhoods. Using data from the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas, Nevada; Austin, Texas; and Raleigh, North Carolina, this study identifies five neighborhood types, each of which has distinctive geographic and socioeconomic trends. The geographic orientation of each metropolitan area within their larger megapolitan region appears to have a role in the geography of neighborhood change. The results are also discussed in relation to human ecology, immigration, and economic restructuring.