The beauty of xerothermic vegetation complexes in Ausserberg (Rhone valley, Switzerland)

Plant communities are described from an area on the Yukon – Kuskokwim (Y-K) delta of Alaska that is used extensively for brood rearing by three species of geese. Earlier studies identified plant species important as food for young geese, but few studies describe or quantify plant communities. We classified species presence or absence information from over 700 quadrats using a two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) and then tested for agreement of signatures on colour infrared air photos with the identified communities. Sedges were found to dominate all but the wettest and driest communities. Most of the brood-rearing area was covered by Carex ramenskii and Carex rariflora meadows, ponds, Carex mackenziei-dominated pond margins, and C. ramenskii and grass levee meadows. Our interpretation of airphotos accurately predicted vegetation community classes, which will facilitate future studies of habitat selection by geese during the time they are rearing young. The TWINSPAN classification was comparable to classifications of studies conducted elsewhere on the Y-K delta. The interpretation of air photos will enable the identification and evaluation of wetland vegetation complexes and potential goose brood-rearing areas away from our study site. Key words: air-photo interpretation, Alaska, plant communities, salt marsh, Yukon – Kuskokwim delta.

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Papal Legates against the Albigensians: The Debts of the Church of Valence (1215–1250)

Traditio ◽

10.1017/s0362152900001677 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 68 ◽

pp. 259-276

Author(s):

D. Dudley Stutz

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Thirteenth Century ◽

Detailed Treatment ◽

Northern Portion ◽

Rhone Valley ◽

The Church ◽

The Middle Ages

In 1232 Pope Gregory IX (r. 1227–41) imposed a tenth of episcopal revenues on prelates of Occitania to subsidize the church of Valence, which owed 10,000 poundstournoisto various bankers of Vienne, Rome, Lyons, and Siena. In 1865 B. Hauréau first noted the event when he edited one of the main documents in theGallia christianavolume concerning the ecclesiastical province of Vienne. With the publication of Gregory IX's register from 1890–1908 most of the facts of the tax were more widely available. In 1910 Ulysse Chevalier briefly mentioned the tax in his monograph on the long tenure of John of Bernin, archbishop of Vienne (r. 1218–66). In 1913, Heinrich Zimmermann cited Hauréau's text in a note in his detailed treatment of early thirteenth-century papal legations. Recently Alain Marchandisse reviewed eight of the eleven papal letters pertaining to the tax in his study of William of Savoy (d. 1239) as bishop-elect of Liège. These scholars provided no reason for the debt or why the papacy would take such measures to ensure payment. Perhaps they did not study this tax further because a church indebted to moneylenders is not in itself surprising. It appears that the church of Valence acquired the debt, very large compared to the church's income, when bishop-elect William of Savoy (r. 1225–39) waged war against Adhémar II of Poitiers-Valentinois, count of the Valentinois (r. 1189–1239). Struggles between bishops and the local nobility occurred on a regular basis throughout the Middle Ages, so what in this unimportant Rhone-valley diocese interested the pope enough to impose taxes on prelates of Occitania over twenty years to ensure payment of this debt? Adhémar II faithfully supported Raymond VI (r. 1194–1222) and Raymond VII (r. 1222–49) of Saint-Gilles, counts of Toulouse, throughout their struggle with the papacy during and following the Albigensian crusades. Adhémar II was also their vassal for the Diois, which borders the Valentinois on the southeast and comprised the northern portion of the marquisate of Provence. These lands had been reserved for the church in the Treaty of Meaux-Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian crusades. Thus William of Savoy as bishop-elect of Valence defended the papacy's claims on the marquisate of Provence, which the papacy deemed part of the larger struggle between the Roman church and the counts of Toulouse. The facts on the nature of the debts and the steps the papacy took to aid the diocese show that the local struggle between the bishop of Valence and the count of the Valentinois embodied a part of the larger struggle between the papacy and the counts of Toulouse over the marquisate of Provence, which began as early as 1215.

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Föhrenverjüngung: Plastizität und Akklimatisation in einem trockeneren Klima

Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen ◽

10.3188/szf.2018.0269 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 169 (5) ◽

pp. 269-278

Author(s):

Barbara Moser ◽

Christoph Bachofen ◽

Thomas Wohlgemuth

Keyword(s):

Scots Pine ◽

Natural Regeneration ◽

Common Garden ◽

Forest Steppe ◽

Short Time Scale ◽

Summer Drought ◽

Spring Precipitation ◽

Pine Regeneration ◽

A Minor ◽

Rhone Valley

Pine regeneration: plasticity and acclimation in a dryer climate Increasing summer drought might limit the natural regeneration of Scots pine stands at low elevations of the Rhone valley. Common garden experiments at the forest-steppe ecotone have shown that emergence and establishment of Scots pine primarily depend on spring precipitation and, to a minor degree, on summer drought and rising temperatures. Scots pine seedlings acclimated rapidly to drought periods by favouring root to shoot growth. In the second year, the saplings were already adapted to drought so that most of them survived an extended spring and summer drought, as recorded at Sion twelve times during the last 154 years. Only an extreme summer drought – no water from June to September – killed 14.7% of the Scots pine saplings. Surprisingly, they were even able to acclimate to such extreme drought events: after the same extreme summer drought in the third year, mortality dropped below 5%. In general, the Scots pine was very plastic, i.e. seedlings and saplings changed their phenotype depending on environmental conditions. But we also found genetic adaptation: Scots pine originating from regions with pronounced summer drought, including populations from lower elevations in the Rhone valley, produced more biomass than those from moister regions in all treatment combinations. Black pine reacted similarly to the treatments like Scots pine, but it grew faster and more saplings survived the first extreme summer drought. These results show that Scots pine from low elevations of the Rhone valley is one of the most drought-tolerant provenances in Europe. Thanks to its high phenotypic plasticity and the ability of seedlings and saplings to acclimate to drought on a short time scale, natural regeneration of Scot pine at low elevations of the Rhone valley is likely to occur also under future conditions, but maybe less frequent than today.

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200-m-deep earthquake swarm in Tricastin (lower Rhône Valley, France) accounts for noisy seismicity over past centuries

Terra Nova ◽

10.1111/j.1365-3121.2009.00875.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 203-210 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

François Thouvenot ◽

Liliane Jenatton ◽

Jean-Pierre Gratier

Keyword(s):

Earthquake Swarm ◽

Deep Earthquake ◽

Rhone Valley

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Manual Cutting of Sitka Alder-Dominated Plant Communities: Effects on Conifer Growth and Plant Community Structure

Western Journal of Applied Forestry ◽

10.1093/wjaf/19.4.277 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 277-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Suzanne W. Simard ◽

Jean L. Heineman ◽

Shannon M. Hagerman ◽

W. Jean Mather ◽

Donald L. Sachs

Keyword(s):

Plant Community ◽

Lodgepole Pine ◽

Vascular Plant ◽

Structural Diversity ◽

Community Diversity ◽

Limiting Factors ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Montane Vegetation ◽

Vegetation Complexes ◽

Hybrid Spruce

Abstract Five-year growth and survival responses of lodgepole pine and hybrid spruce to manual cutting of Sitka alder were studied in two montane vegetation complexes in interior British Columbia. The effects of brushing on plant community diversity and structure also were examined. Alder cover and height were reduced throughout the 5-year posttreatment measurement period, but this had no effect on growth or survival of either 5- to 7-year-old lodgepole pine growing in the Dry Alder complex or 4- to 7-year-old hybrid spruce in the Wet Alder complex. Moderate alder cover, which was characteristic at these sites, did not appear to inhibit diameter growth of lodgepole pine or spruce. This was supported by competition thresholds for conifer diameter of 30 and 37% alder cover in the Dry Alder and Wet Alder complexes, respectively. In neither complex did manual cutting result in any changes in species richness, species diversity, or structural diversity of the vascular plant community. The results of this study suggest that brushing of Sitka alder is unnecessary for release of healthy lodgepole pine growing on mesic sites in the Dry Alder complex and is ineffective at alleviating growth limiting factors to spruce on Wet Alder sites. West. J. Appl. For. 19(4):277–287.

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Water in a warmer world – is atmospheric evaporative demand changing in viticultural areas?

BIO Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/bioconf/20191201011 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 01011

Author(s):

H.R. Schultz

Keyword(s):

Wind Speed ◽

Solar Radiation ◽

Vapour Pressure ◽

Vapour Pressure Deficit ◽

Strong Increase ◽

Simultaneous Increase ◽

Evaporative Demand ◽

Precipitation Patterns ◽

Napa Valley ◽

Rhone Valley

The predicted developments in climate are region-specific and adaptation can only be successful considering the regional characteristics with its diverse technical, environmental, economic and social implications. One of the key concerns for many regions is the availability of water through precipitation, the distribution of precipitation throughout the year, and possible changes in evaporative demand of the atmosphere and thus water use. From rising temperatures it is mostly assumed that water holding capacity of the atmosphere will increase in the future as a function of the Clausius-Clapeyron law, which predicts an increase in the saturation vapour pressure of the atmosphere of 6–7% per degree Celsius. As a consequence, a simultaneous increase in potential evapotranspiration (ETp, the amount of water that could potentially be evaporated from soils and transpired by plants due to changes in climatic factors such as temperature, vapour pressure deficit, radiation and wind speed) is assumed in many cases, which would alter soil and plant water relations. However, the same underlying principles also predict an increase in precipitation by 1–2% per degree warming. Additionally, model predictions for many regions forecast altered precipitation patterns and thus in combination with the possibility of increased ETp, farmers around the world fear an increase in the likelyhood of water deficit and a reduction in the availability of water for irrigation. Contrary to expectations, there have been reports on a reduction in evaporative demand worldwide despite increasing temperatures. In many cases this has been related to a decrease in solar radiation observed for many areas on earth including wine growing regions in Europe until the beginning of the 80th (global dimming) of the last century. However, since then, solar radiation has increased again, but ETp did not always follow and a worldwide decrease in wind speed and pan evaporation has been observed. In order to evaluate different grape growing regions with respect to observed changes on precipitation patterns and ETp, the data of seven wine-growing areas in five countries in the Northern and Southern hemisphere across a large climatic trans-sect were analyzed (Rheingau, Germany, Burgundy, Rhone Valley, France, Napa Valley, USA, Adelaide Hills, Tasmania, Australia, Marlborough, New Zealand) were analyzed. Precipitation patterns differed vastly between locations and showed very different trends over observation periods ranging from 23 to 60 years. The ETp has increased continuously in only two of the seven wine growing areas (Rheingau and Marlborough). In most other areas, ETp has been stable during winter and summer for at least 22 years (Rhone Valley, Napa Valley, Tasmania), sometimes much longer (45 years Adelaide Hills), and has been declining in Burgundy after a period of strong increase for the last 13 years. The potential underlying factors are discussed in relation to observed shifts in precipitation patterns.

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Technical behaviours and subsistence patterns of lower middle palaeolithic men the case of the site of Payre in the Rhône valley (South-East of France)

Human Evolution ◽

10.1007/bf02437444 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 15 (3-4) ◽

pp. 157-174 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

M. -H. Moncel

Keyword(s):

Middle Palaeolithic ◽

Subsistence Patterns ◽

Rhone Valley

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Vertical velocity and turbulence aspects during Mistral events as observed by UHF wind profilers

Annales Geophysicae ◽

10.5194/angeo-22-3927-2004 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 22 (11) ◽

pp. 3927-3936 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

J.-L. Caccia ◽

V. Guénard ◽

B. Benech ◽

B. Campistron ◽

P. Drobinski

Keyword(s):

Boundary Layer ◽

Planetary Boundary Layer ◽

Vertical Velocity ◽

Convective Boundary Layer ◽

Dissipation Rate ◽

Convective Boundary ◽

Turbulent Dissipation ◽

The Alps ◽

Rhone Valley ◽

Wind Profilers

Abstract. The general purpose of this paper is to experimentally study mesoscale dynamical aspects of the Mistral in the coastal area located at the exit of the Rhône-valley. The Mistral is a northerly low-level flow blowing in southern France along the Rhône-valley axis, located between the French Alps and the Massif Central, towards the Mediterranean Sea. The experimental data are obtained by UHF wind profilers deployed during two major field campaigns, MAP (Mesoscale Alpine Program) in autumn 1999, and ESCOMPTE (Expérience sur Site pour COntraindre les Modèles de Pollution atmosphériques et de Transports d'Emission) in summer 2001. Thanks to the use of the time evolution of the vertical profile of the horizontal wind vector, recent works have shown that the dynamics of the Mistral is highly dependent on the season because of the occurrence of specific synoptic patterns. In addition, during summer, thermal forcing leads to a combination of sea breeze with Mistral and weaker Mistral due to the enhanced friction while, during autumn, absence of convective turbulence leads to substantial acceleration as low-level jets are generated in the stably stratified planetary boundary layer. At the exit of the Rhône valley, the gap flow dynamics dominates, whereas at the lee of the Alps, the dynamics is driven by the relative contribution of "flow around" and "flow over" mechanisms, upstream of the Alps. This paper analyses vertical velocity and turbulence, i.e. turbulent dissipation rate, with data obtained by the same UHF wind profilers during the same Mistral events. In autumn, the motions are found to be globally and significantly subsident, which is coherent for a dry, cold and stable flow approaching the sea, and the turbulence is found to be of pure dynamical origin (wind shears and mountain/lee wave breaking), which is coherent with non-convective situations. In summer, due to the ground heating and to the interactions with thermal circulation, the vertical motions are less pronounced and no longer have systematic subsident charateristics. In addition, those vertical motions are found to be much less developed during the nighttimes because of the stabilization of the nocturnal planetary boundary layer due to a ground cooling. The enhanced turbulent dissipation-rate values found at lower levels during the afternoons of weak Mistral cases are consistent with the installation of the summer convective boundary layer and show that, as expected in weaker Mistral events, the convection is the preponderant factor for the turbulence generation. On the other hand, for stronger cases, such a convective boundary layer installation is perturbed by the Mistral.

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