Jamaican limestone forests: floristics, structure and environment of three examples along a rainfall gradient

1988 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Kelly ◽  
E. V. J. Tanner ◽  
V. Kapos ◽  
T. A. Dickinson ◽  
G. A. Goodfriend ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe describe forests from three areas of Jamaica, all on White Limestone but with markedly different rainfall regimes. The areas are Hog House Hill in the north-east with lower montane rain forest at c. 450 m altitude with a rainfall of c. 4000 mm yr−1; Broom Hall in the centre of the island with evergreen seasonal forest at c. 670 m altitude and with a rainfall of c. 1600 mm yr−1 and a marked dry season; and Round Hill near the south coast with dry semi-evergreen forest at c. 300 m altitude with an irregularly distributed rainfall of c. 1000 mm yr−1. Species lists were made from c. 180 ha at Hog House Hill, c. 5 ha at Broom Hall and c. 50 ha at Round Hill, and detailed inventories made of five sample sites of c. 1000 m2, two at Hog House Hill, one at Broom Hall and two at Round Hill.At Hog House Hill we listed 280 vascular plant species, including 118 species of trees and larger shrubs; at Broom Hall 247 and 135; at Round Hill 129 and 81. Species-area and species-individuals curves confirm that Broom Hall was richer in tree species than Hog House Hill. The wetter forests contain high proportions of species endemic to Jamaica: 40% of the total flora at Hog House Hill and 36% at Broom Hall. Canopy height decreased from c. 26–28 m at Hog House Hill to c. 13–24 m at Broom Hall to c. 8–15 m at Round Hill. Predominant leaf size decreased from mesophyll at Hog House Hill to notophyll at Broom Hall to microphyll at Round Hill.Compared with forests on other Caribbean islands, the Jamaican forests appear to be as species-rich as any, but lower in stature than natural forest in Trinidad and Dominica. Continental Neotropical forests are both more species-rich and taller.

2018 ◽  
pp. 149-154

Vera Antonovna Martynenko (17.02.1936–06.01.2018) — famous specialist in the field of studying vascular plant flora and vegetation of the Far North, the Honored worker of the Komi Republic (2006), The Komi Republic State Scientific Award winner (2000). She was born in the town Likhoslavl of the Kali­nin (Tver) region. In 1959, Vera Antonovna graduated from the faculty of soil and biology of the Leningrad State University and then moved to the Komi Branch of USSR Academy of Science (Syktyvkar). From 1969 to 1973 she passed correspondence postgraduate courses of the Komi Branch of USSR Academy of ­Science. In 1974, she received the degree of candidate of biology (PhD) by the theme «Comparative analysis of the boreal flora at the Northeast European USSR» in the Botanical Institute (St. Petersburg). In 1996, Vera Antonovna received the degree of doctor of biology in the Institute of plant and animal ecology (Ekaterinburg) «Flora of the northern and mid subzones of the taiga of the European North-East». The study and conservation of species and coenotical diversity of the plant world, namely the vascular plants flora of the Komi Republic and revealing its transformation under the anthropogenic influence, was in the field of V. A. Martynenko’ scientific interests. She made great contribution to the study of the Komi Republic meadow flora and the pool of medi­cinal plants. She performed inventorying and mapping the meadows of several agricultural enterprises of the Republic, revealed the species composition and places for harvesting medicinal plants and studied their productivity in the natural flora of the boreal zone. The results of her long-term studies were used for making the NPA system and the Red Book of the Komi Republic (1998 and 2009). Vera Antonovna participated in the research of the influence of placer gold mining and oil development on the natural ecosystems of the North, and developed the method of long-term monitoring of plant cover. Results of these works are of high practical value. V. A. Martynenko is an author and coauthor of more than 130 scientific publications. The most important jnes are «Flora of Northeast European USSR» (1974, 1976, and 1977), «Floristic composition of fodder lands of the Northeast Europe» (1989), «The forests of the Komi Republic» (1999), «Forestry of forest resources of the Komi Republic» (2000), «The list of flora of the Yugyd va national park» (2003), «The guide for vascular plants of the Syktyvkar and its vicinities» (2005), «Vascular plants of the Komi Republic» (2008), and «Resources of the natural flora of the Komi Republic» (2014). She also was an author of «Encyclopedia of the Komi Republic» (1997, 1999, and 2000), «Historical and cultural atlas of the Komi Republic» (1997), «Atlas of the Komi Republic» (2001, 2011). V. A. Martynenko made a great contribution to the development of the botanical investigations in the North. Since 1982, during more than 10 years, she was the head of the Department of the Institute of Biology. Three Ph. D. theses have been completed under her leadership. Many years, she worked actively in the Dissertation Council of the Institute of biology Komi Scientific Centre UrB RAS.  The death of Vera Antonovna Martynenko is a heavy and irretrievable loss for the staff of the Institute of Biology. The memory of Vera Antonovna will live in her numerous scientific works, the hearts of students and colleagues.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 496-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cinzia Panigada ◽  
Giulia Tagliabue ◽  
Eli Zaady ◽  
Offer Rozenstein ◽  
Roberto Garzonio ◽  
...  

Drylands, one of the planet’s largest terrestrial biomes, are suggested to be greatly threatened by climate change. Drylands are usually sparsely vegetated, and biological soil crusts (biocrusts) – that is, soil surface communities of cyanobacteria, mosses and/or lichens – can cover up to 70% of dryland cover. As they control key ecosystem processes, monitoring their spatial and temporal distribution can provide highly valuable information. In this study, we examine the potential of European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel-2 (S2) data to characterize the spatial and temporal development of biocrust and vascular plant greening along a rainfall gradient of the Negev Desert (Israel). First, the chlorophyll a absorption feature in the red region (CRred) was identified as the index mostly sensitive to changes in biocrust greening but minimally affected by changes in soil moisture. This index was then computed on the S2 images and enabled monitoring the phenological dynamics of different dryland vegetation components from August 2015 to August 2017. The analysis of multi-temporal S2 images allowed us to successfully track the biocrust greening within 15 days from the first seasonal rain events in the north of Negev, and to identify the maximum development of annual vascular plants and greening of perennial ones. These results show potential for monitoring arid and semi-arid environments using the newly available S2 images, allowing new insights into dryland vegetation dynamics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. Kovalenko ◽  
G. О. Klymenko ◽  
R. А. Yaroschuk ◽  
М. І. Fedorchuk ◽  
O. A. Lykholat

In recent years, interest in cultivating Ginkgo biloba L. as a medicinal plant has grown in Ukraine, and improvement of the technology of growing this plant in the conditions of the North-East of Ukraine is a relevant problem. The purpose of this article to present research on the morphological structure, growth and viability of young G. biloba plants in grown from seeds by different technologies and comparative analysis of growth and development of G. biloba plants under greenhouse conditions and on open soil. The experiment on G. biloba cultivation was initiated in 2014 in three variants (the plants were grown from the seeds). Variant No 1: G. biloba growing in a greenhouse at 60–80% humidity and temperatures not below +27 ºС; shading (shading level 60%) by green agronetting. Variant No 2: growing in open soil; shading (shading level 60%) by green agronetting; the climatic conditions were typical for Sumy region. Variant No 3: growing in open soil; there was no shading; climatic conditions were typical for the Sumy region. Plant analysis was conducted in June 2018. The following morphometric parameters of G. biloba plants were measured: plant height, annual growth of shoots, number of leaves, leaf size and leaf area, phytomass of the shoots, phytomass of leaves and phytomass of the stem, diameter of the shoots. The sampling used 60 samples. The leaf area was determined by the method of drawing contours on millimeter paper. Statistical processing of research results was carried out by generally accepted modern methods of mathematical statistics using dispersion, correlation, regression and vital analysis. In the conditions of the Ukrainian North East, G. biloba seedlings can be grown successfully in greenhouses and open soil, both with 60% shade by agronetting and without it. Differences between the plants grown in such conditions are insignificant and statistically unreliable. The obtained three to four year old G. biloba seedlings grown using different technologies were 25–30 cm in height and formed 13–17 leaves per plant. The seedlings were of quite high viability (Q is 0.22–0.30) and morphostructural integrity (67.8%). The output of viable seedlings (vital classes “a” and “b”) in variant 1 was 60%, variant 2 45% and variant 3 60%. Ecological-cenotic stability of G. biloba was observed repeatedly, though certain limitations on G. biloba cultivation may be that the plant is photophilic and thermophilic. But the conducted experiments show that the climatic conditions of the Ukrainian North-East are quite favourable for this species. Based on the data obtained for the Ukrainian North-East, it is possible to recommend the technology of growing G. biloba seedlings in open soil without agronetting as quite effective and low-cost.


Antiquity ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 50 (200) ◽  
pp. 216-222
Author(s):  
Beatrice De Cardi

Ras a1 Khaimah is the most northerly of the seven states comprising the United Arab Emirates and its Ruler, H. H. Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qasimi, is keenly interested in the history of the state and its people. Survey carried out there jointly with Dr D. B. Doe in 1968 had focused attention on the site of JuIfar which lies just north of the present town of Ras a1 Khaimah (de Cardi, 1971, 230-2). Julfar was in existence in Abbasid times and its importance as an entrep6t during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries-the Portuguese Period-is reflected by the quantity and variety of imported wares to be found among the ruins of the city. Most of the sites discovered during the survey dated from that period but a group of cairns near Ghalilah and some long gabled graves in the Shimal area to the north-east of the date-groves behind Ras a1 Khaimah (map, FIG. I) clearly represented a more distant past.


1999 ◽  
Vol 110 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 455-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Güvenç ◽  
Ş Öztürk
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Valentina Tagliapietra ◽  
Flavia Riccardo ◽  
Giovanni Rezza

Italy is considered a low incidence country for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Europe. Areas at higher risk for TBE in Italy are geographically clustered in the forested and mountainous regions and provinces in the north east part of the country, as suggested by TBE case series published over the last decade.


Italy is considered a low-incidence country for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Europe.1 Areas at higher risk for TBE in Italy are geographically clustered in the forested and mountainous regions and provinces in the north east part of the country, as suggested by TBE case series published over the last decade.2-5 A national enhanced surveillance system for TBE has been established since 2017.6 Before this, information on the occurrence of TBE cases at the national level in Italy was lacking. Both incidence rates and the geographical distribution of the disease were mostly inferred from endemic areas where surveillance was already in place, ad hoc studies and international literature.1


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