The Caravan Rolls On

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68409/2/10.1177_107554707900100103.pd

GEMAS: Boron as a geochemical proxy for weathering of European agricultural soil

About a century ago, B was recognised as an essential element for the normal growth of plants and terrestrial organisms. Limitations for plant development have been recognised in agricultural systems, particularly in highly weathered soil. Boron is rarely analysed in whole rock or soil analysis, as it requires specific analytical techniques. It is often determined, after partial extraction (aqua regia or Casingle bondCl), usually on a limited number of samples. Many more questions than answers exist about the environmental behaviour of B. We present B contents in agricultural soil samples (0–10 cm) collected in 33 European countries (5.6 million km2) during the GEMAS (GEochemical Mapping of Agricultural and grazing land Soil) continental-scale project. The B content, determined by ICP-MS following hot aqua regia extraction, varies in European agricultural soil from 0.5 to 49 mg/kg (median 2.42 mg/kg, n = 2108), which is somewhat similar to total B estimates for the Upper Continental Crust (17–47 mg/kg). Its spatial distribution in agricultural soil shows a patchy pattern with low values in regions with granitic bedrock and high contents in soil formed over limestone and in volcanic areas. Boron geochemical behaviour in soil is strongly dependent on other factors such as pH, CEC, presence of organic matter, clay and secondary oxides and hydroxides. Boron geochemical mapping at the continental scale in arable soil allows investigations of plant health, i.e., the beneficial and adverse effects due to the nutritional status of boron

Assessing progress in monitoring and implementing the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030

The aim of this science for policy report is twofold. First, it presents the state of play and the next steps in developing a monitoring framework for the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (EU BDS). Second, it provides an overview of progress made in implementing the EU BDS to date, as well as an assessment of the likelihood of reaching its targets by 2030. It mobilises various data sources – the official EU BDS and other policy-relevant progress monitoring tools, scientific literature and expert opinions – to provide a state of play of key achievements and remaining gaps in both monitoring and implementing the EU BDS as we approach its mid-term mark. Almost half of the actions are completed; the remaining half are mostly in progress, and a few are delayed. Indicators are published to track progress towards more than 40 % of the EU BDS targets and, with the notable exception of those on the state of biodiversity, the EU is showing progress in the right direction towards most of the evaluated targets; however, the pace of progress needs to accelerate massively to reach the 2030 targets. Further effort and engagement with the scientific community is needed to fill the remaining monitoring gaps, while a better implementation of the environmental policies would be necessary to meet the maximum of targets by 2030

The Shackles of Practice: History of psychology, research assessment and the curriculum

The history of psychology is being increasingly marginalized in British universities. In this article we argue that this marginalization has been brought about by a combination of material circumstances resulting from the marketization of the UK Higher Education sector. One consequence of this, the statutory audit known as the Research Excellence Framework, has made it increasingly difficult to undertake historical work as it has traditionally been done in UK Psychology Departments. At best such a situation challenges the ambition for historical work to have an impact on psychology. At worst it potentially renders the history of psychology irrelevant. Yet the theoretical justification for history of psychology has never been stronger. Psychology’s subject matter is neither exclusively natural nor entirely socially constructed, but lies on that “somewhat suspect borderland between physiology and philosophy” as Wilhelm Wundt put it. The discipline’s ontological claims are therefore always made from within epistemological frameworks which are themselves products of particular historical contexts. Such arguments have persuaded us that history of psychology has a fundamental role to play within the wider discipline. Yet as historians we cannot ignore the constraining social and material circumstances in which our field operates. We conclude that although the constraints of practice suggest that its prospects for influencing its parent discipline are seriously challenged, there are nevertheless opportunities for the history of psychology areas such as the undergraduate curriculum

Inventories of N2O and NO emissions from European forest soils

Forest soils are a significant source for the primary and secondary greenhouse gases N2O and NO. However, current estimates are still uncertain due to the still limited number of field measurements and the herein observed pronounced variability of N trace gas fluxes in space and time, which are due to the variation of environmental factors such as soil and vegetation properties or meteorological conditions. To overcome these problems we further developed a process-oriented model, the PnET-N-DNDC model, which simulates the N trace gas exchange on the basis of the processes involved in production, consumption and emission of N trace gases. This model was validated against field observations of N trace gas fluxes from 19 sites obtained within the EU project NOFRETETE, and shown to perform well for N2O (r2=0.68, slope=0.76) and NO (r2=0.78, slope=0.73). For the calculation of a European-wide emission inventory we linked the model to a detailed, regionally and temporally resolved database, comprising climatic properties (daily resolution), and soil parameters, and information on forest areas and types for the years 1990, 1995 and 2000. Our calculations show that N trace gas fluxes from forest soils may vary substantial from year to year and that distinct regional patterns can be observed. Our central estimate of NO emissions from forest soils in the EU amounts to 98.4, 84.9 and 99.2 kt N yr−1, using meteorology from 1990, 1995 and year 2000, respectively. This is <1.0% of pyrogenic NOx emissions. For N2O emissions the central estimates were 86.8, 77.6 and 81.6 kt N yr−1, respectively, which is approx. 14.5% of the source strength coming from agricultural soils. An extensive sensitivity analysis was conducted which showed a range in emissions from 44.4 to 254.0 kt N yr−1 for NO and 50.7 to 96.9 kt N yr−1 for N2O, for year 2000 meteorology. The results show that process-oriented models coupled to a GIS are useful tools for the calculation of regional, national, or global inventories of biogenic N trace gas emissions from soils. This work represents the most comprehensive effort to date to simulate NO and N2O emissions from European forest soils