High heterotrophic CO2 emissions from a Malaysian oil palm plantations during dry-season

Background Tropical peatlands are currently being rapidly cleared and drained for the establishment of oil palm plantations, which threatens their globally significant carbon sequestration capacity. Large-scale land conversion of tropical peatlands is important in the context of greenhouse gas emission factors and sustainable land management. At present, quantification of carbon dioxide losses from tropical peatlands is limited by our understanding of the relative contribution of heterotrophic and autotrophic respiration to net peat surface CO2 emissions. Methods In this study we separated heterotrophic and autotrophic components of peat CO2 losses from two oil palm plantations (one established in ‘2000’ and the other in 1978, then replanted in ‘2006’) using chamber-based emissions sampling along a transect from the rooting to non-rooting zones on a peatland in Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia over the course of three months (June-August, 2014). Collar CO2 measurements were compared with soil temperature and moisture at site and also accompanied by depth profiles assessing peat C and bulk density. Results The soil respiration decreased exponentially with distance from the palm trunks with the sharpest decline found for the plantation with the younger palms. The mean heterotrophic flux was 1244.7 ± SE 149.2 mg m-2h-1 and 663.8 ± SE 102.2 mg m-2h-1 at the 2000 and 2006 plantations, respectively. Autotrophic emissions adjacent to the palm trunks were 944 ± SE 99.7 mg m-2h-1 and 1962 ± SE 246 mg m-2h-1 at the 2000 and 2006 plantations, respectively. Heterotrophic CO2 flux was positively related to peat soil moisture, but not temperature. Total peat C stocks were 60 kg m-2 (down to 1 m depth) and did not vary among plantations of different ages but SOC concentrations declined significantly with depth at both plantations but the decline was sharper in the second generation 2006 plantation. Conclusions The CO2 flux values reported in this study suggest a potential for very high carbon (C) loss from drained tropical peats during the dry season. This is particularly concerning given that more intense dry periods related to climate change are predicted for SE Asia. Taken together, this study highlights the need for careful management of tropical peatlands, and the vulnerability of their carbon storage capability under conditions of drainage

The opposite of Dante's hell? The transfer of ideas for social housing at international congresses in the 1850s–1860s

With the advent of industrialization, the question of developing adequate housing for the emergent working classes became more pressing than before. Moreover, the problem of unhygienic houses in industrial cities did not stop at the borders of a particular nation-state; sometimes literally as pandemic diseases spread out 'transnationally'. It is not a coincidence that in the nineteenth century the number of international congresses on hygiene and social topics expanded substantially. However, the historiography about social policy in general and social housing in particular, has often focused on individual cases because of the different pace of industrial and urban development and is thus dominated by national perspectives. In this paper, I elaborate on transnational exchange processes and local adaptations and transformations. I focus on the transfer of the housing model of SOMCO in Mulhouse, (a French house building association) during social international congresses. I examine whether cross-national networking enabled and facilitated the implementation of ideas on the local scale. I will elaborate on the transmission and the local adaptation of the Mulhouse-model in Belgium. Convergences, divergences, and different factors that influenced the local transformations (personal choice, political situation, socioeconomic circumstances) will be taken into accoun

Experimental investigation of the vortical activity in the close wake of a simplified military transport aircraft

This paper focuses on the experimental characterization of the vortex structures that develop in the aft fuselage region and in the wake of a simplified geometry of a military transport aircraft. It comes within the framework of the military applications of airflow influence on airdrop operations. This work relies on particle image velocimetry measurements combined with a vortex-tracking approach. Complex vortex dynamics is revealed, in terms of vortex positions, intensities, sizes, shapes and fluctuation levels, for both closed and opened cargo-door and ramp airdrop configurations

Active mud volcanoes on the continental slope of the Canadian Beaufort Sea

The major geochemical characteristics of Red Sea brine are summarized for 11 brine-filled deeps located along the central graben axis between 19°N and 27°N. The major element composition of the different brine pools is mainly controlled by variable mixing situations of halite-saturated solution (evaporite dissolution) with Red Sea deep water. The brine chemistry is also influenced by hydrothermal water/rock interaction, whereas magmatic and sedimentary rock reactions can be distinguished by boron, lithium, and magnesium/calcium chemistry. Moreover, hydrocarbon chemistry (concentrations and δ 13 C data) of brine indicates variable injection of light hydrocarbons from organic source rocks and strong secondary (bacterial or thermogenic) degradation processes. A simple statistical cluster analysis approach was selected to look for similarities in brine chemistry and to classify the various brine pools, as the measured chemical brine compositions show remarkably strong concentration variations for some elements. The cluster analysis indicates two main classes of brine. Type I brine chemistry (Oceanographer and Kebrit Deeps) is controlled by evaporite dissolution and contributions from sediment alteration. The Type II brine (Suakin, Port Sudan, Erba, Albatross, Discovery, Atlantis II, Nereus, Shaban, and Conrad Deeps) is influenced by variable contributions from volcanic/ magmatic rock alteration. The chemical brine classification can be correlated with the sedimentary and tectonic setting of the related depressions. Type I brine-filled deeps are located slightly off-axis from the central Red Sea graben. A typical " collapse structure formation " which has been defined for the Kebrit Deep by evaluating seismic and geomorphological data probably corresponds to our Type I brine. Type II brine located in depressions in the northern Red Sea (i.e., Conrad and Shaban Deeps) could be correlated to " volcanic intrusion-/extrusion-related " deep formation. The chemical indications for hydrothermal influence on Conrad and Shaban Deep brine can be related to brines from the multi-deeps region in the central Red Sea, where volcanic/magmatic fluid/rock interaction is most obvious. The strongest hydrothermal influence is observed in Atlantis II brine (central multi-deeps region), which is also the hottest Red Sea brine body in 2011 (*68.2 °C)

Arctic Ocean fresh water changes over the past 100 years and their causes

Recent observations show dramatic changes of the Arctic atmosphere–ice–ocean system. Here the authors demonstrate, through the analysis of a vast collection of previously unsynthesized observational data, that over the twentieth century the central Arctic Ocean became increasingly saltier with a rate of freshwater loss of 239 ± 270 km3 decade−1. In contrast, long-term (1920–2003) freshwater content (FWC) trends over the Siberian shelf show a general freshening tendency with a rate of 29 ± 50 km3 decade−1. These FWC trends are modulated by strong multidecadal variability with sustained and widespread patterns. Associated with this variability, the FWC record shows two periods in the 1920s–30s and in recent decades when the central Arctic Ocean was saltier, and two periods in the earlier century and in the 1940s–70s when it was fresher. The current analysis of potential causes for the recent central Arctic Ocean salinification suggests that the FWC anomalies generated on Arctic shelves (including anomalies resulting from river discharge inputs) and those caused by net atmospheric precipitation were too small to trigger long-term FWC variations in the central Arctic Ocean; to the contrary, they tend to moderate the observed long-term central-basin FWC changes. Variability of the intermediate Atlantic Water did not have apparent impact on changes of the upper–Arctic Ocean water masses. The authors’ estimates suggest that ice production and sustained draining of freshwater from the Arctic Ocean in response to winds are the key contributors to the salinification of the upper Arctic Ocean over recent decades. Strength of the export of Arctic ice and water controls the supply of Arctic freshwater to subpolar basins while the intensity of the Arctic Ocean FWC anomalies is of less importance. Observational data demonstrate striking coherent long-term variations of the key Arctic climate parameters and strong coupling of long-term changes in the Arctic–North Atlantic climate system. Finally, since the high-latitude freshwater plays a crucial role in establishing and regulating global thermohaline circulation, the long-term variations of the freshwater content discussed here should be considered when assessing climate change and variability

Communication, Collaboration and Enhancing the Learning Experience: Developing a Collaborative Virtual Enquiry Service in University Libraries in the North of England

This paper uses the case study of developing a collaborative ‘out of hours’ virtual enquiry service by members of the Northern Collaboration Group of academic libraries in the north of England to explore the importance of communication and collaboration between academic library services in enhancing student learning. Set within the context of a rapidly changing UK higher education sector the paper considers the benefits and challenges of collaboration and the contribution of library services to the student experience. The project demonstrated clear benefits to student learning and evidence of value for money to individual institutions as well as showing commitment to national shared services agendas. Effective communication with students, with colleagues and stakeholders in our own and other Northern Collaboration member institutions, and with OCLC, our partner organisation, was a critical success factor in the development, promotion and uptake of the new service

Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from conversion of peat swamp forest to oil palm plantation.

Conversion of tropical peat swamp forest to drainage-based agriculture alters greenhouse gas (GHG) production, but the magnitude of these changes remains highly uncertain. Current emissions factors for oil palm grown on drained peat do not account for temporal variation over the plantation cycle and only consider CO2 emissions. Here, we present direct measurements of GHGs emitted during the conversion from peat swamp forest to oil palm plantation, accounting for CH4 and N2O as well as CO2. Our results demonstrate that emissions factors for converted peat swamp forest is in the range 70-117 t CO2 eq ha-1 yr-1 (95% confidence interval, CI), with CO2 and N2O responsible for ca. 60 and ca. 40% of this value, respectively. These GHG emissions suggest that conversion of Southeast Asian peat swamp forest is contributing between 16.6 and 27.9% (95% CI) of combined total national GHG emissions from Malaysia and Indonesia or 0.44 and 0.74% (95% CI) of annual global emissions

Circulation in the vicinity of Mackenzie Canyon from a year-long mooring array

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Lin, P., Pickart, R. S., Fissel, D., Ross, E., Kasper, J., Bahr, F., Torres, D. J., O'Brien, J., Borg, K., Melling, H., & Wiese, F. K. Circulation in the vicinity of Mackenzie Canyon from a year-long mooring array. Progress in Oceanography, 187, (2020): 102396, doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102396.Data from a five-mooring array extending from the inner shelf to the continental slope in the vicinity of Mackenzie Canyon, Beaufort Sea are analyzed to elucidate the components of the boundary current system and their variability. The array, part of the Marine Arctic Ecosystem Study (MARES), was deployed from October 2016 to September 2017. Four distinct currents were identified: an eastward-directed flow adjacent to the coast; a westward-flowing, surface-intensified current centered on the outer-shelf; a bottom-intensified shelfbreak jet flowing to the east; and a recirculation at the base of the continental slope within the canyon. The shelf current transports −0.120.03 Sv in the mean and is primarily wind-driven. The response is modulated by the presence of ice, with little-to-no signal during periods of nearly-immobile ice cover and maximum response when there is partial ice cover. The shelfbreak jet transports 0.030.02 Sv in the mean, compared to 0.080.02 Sv measured upstream in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea over the same time period. The loss of transport is consistent with a previous energetics analysis and the lack of Pacific-origin summer water downstream. The recirculation in the canyon appears to be the result of local dynamics whereby a portion of the westward-flowing southern limb of the Beaufort Gyre is diverted up the canyon across isobaths. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the low-frequency variability of the recirculation is correlated with the wind-stress curl in the Canada Basin, which drives the Beaufort gyre.The authors are indebted to Fisheries and Oceans Canada for building the logistics for MARES into the at-sea missions of the Integrated Beaufort Observatory. We are grateful to the captain and crew of the CCGS Sir Wilfred Laurier for ably deploying and recovering the MARES array. Marshall Swartz assisted with the cruise preparation logistics. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their input which helped improve the paper. This project was funded by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), on behalf of the National Ocean Partnership Program. The Canadian contribution was supported by the Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF Project 2014-02N). MARES publication 003

Fetal lower urinary tract obstruction: international Delphi consensus on management and core outcome set

Objectives: To reach an international expert consensus on the diagnosis, prognosis and management of fetal lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO) by means of a Delphi procedure, and to use this to define a core outcome set (COS). Methods: A three‐round Delphi procedure was conducted among an international panel of experts in fetal LUTO. The panel was provided with a list of literature‐based parameters to consider for the diagnosis, prognosis, management and outcomes of LUTO. A parallel procedure was conducted with patient groups during the development of the COS. Results: A total of 168 experts were approached, of whom 99 completed the first round and 80/99 (80.8%) completed all three rounds of the study questionnaires. Consensus was reached that, in the first trimester, an objective measurement of longitudinal bladder diameter of ≥ 7 mm should be used to suspect LUTO. In the second trimester, imaging parameters suggestive of LUTO could include enlarged bladder, keyhole sign, bladder wall thickening, bilateral hydronephrosis, bilateral hydroureteronephrosis and male sex. There was 79% agreement that the current prognostic scoring systems in the literature should not be used clinically. However, experts agreed on the value of amniotic fluid volume (at < 24 weeks) to predict survival and that the value of fetal intervention is to improve the chance of neonatal survival. Experts endorsed sonographic parameters suggestive of renal dysplasia, at least one vesicocentesis, and renal biochemistry for prognosis and counseling, but these items did not reach a consensus for determining candidacy for fetal intervention. On the other hand, imaging parameters suggestive of LUTO, absence of life‐limiting structural or genetic anomalies, gestational age of ≥ 16 weeks and oligohydramnios (defined as deepest vertical pocket < 2 cm) should be used as candidacy criteria for fetal intervention based on expert consensus. If bladder refill was evaluated, it should be assessed subjectively. Vesicoamniotic shunt should be the first line of fetal intervention. In the presence of suspected fetal renal failure, serial amnioinfusion should be offered only as an experimental procedure under research protocols. A COS for future LUTO studies was agreed upon. Conclusion: International consensus on the diagnosis, prognosis and management of fetal LUTO, as well as the COS, should inform clinical care and research to optimize perinatal outcomes

Value diversity and conservation conflict: Lessons from the management of red grouse and hen harriers in England

1. Conflicts between people over wildlife management are damaging, widespread, and notoriously difficult to resolve where people hold different values and worldviews. Cognitive approaches examining steps from human thought to action can help us understand conflict and explore strategies for their management. 2. We focused on the conflict between hunters and conservationists over the management of red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scoticus) and hen harriers (Circus cyaneus) in the English uplands which represents a classic, persistent conflict, where human dimensions are poorly understood. 3. Guided by conceptual frameworks from social and environmental psychology, we conducted a questionnaire‐based study to assess wildlife value orientations of key stakeholders. We quantified attitudes towards hen harriers, grouse shooting, gamekeepers, and raptor conservationists. We also measured support/opposition for harrier management strategies in England and investigated trust in the responsible government authority. 4. We present data from 536 respondents from field sport or nature conservation organizations. Respondents were categorized according to the primary objectives of their affiliated organization: Field sport (i.e., hunters), Non‐raptor, Pro‐raptor, and Pro‐bird (i.e., organizations promoting conservation of birds excluding raptors, raptors specifically, or birds generally). 5. Utilitarian value orientations were prominent among Field sport and Non‐raptor respondents. Most Pro‐raptor and Pro‐bird participants held mutualist value orientations, indicating they did not support shooting or management of wildlife. 6. As suggested by the cognitive hierarchy, we found strong correlations between attitude and support for management options, our proxy for behaviour. 7. Pro‐bird affiliates showed clear preference for less invasive management, and along with Pro‐raptor respondents did not support brood management (removal and later release of eggs/young when harrier density is high). Field sport individuals expressed a degree of support for all management types. Trust in Natural England was limited. 8. Understanding value orientations and attitudes of stakeholders helps explain differences in levels of support for management approaches. Our study highlighted strongly divergent beliefs. Such positions are hard to change. Increasing the level of ecological knowledge alone is unlikely to facilitate conflict management. Instead, conflict management would benefit from combining such knowledge with a focus on relationships, deliberation, and trust in addition to exploring comanagement interventions