Impacts of \u3ci\u3eYartsa Gunbu\u3c/i\u3e Harvesting on Alpine Ecosystems in the Barun Valley, Makalu-Barun National Park, Nepal

Around 2003, the highly valuable medicinal fungi Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Nepali: yartsa gunbu) began to be commercially harvested in the remote Barun valley of the Makalu-Barun National Park and Buffer Zone, eastern Nepal. Since then, an estimated 3,000 collectors per year have visited the valley each harvesting season, placing new pressures upon its subalpine and alpine landscapes. A review of the yartsa gunbu literature suggested that its harvesting throughout highland India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China has brought important economic benefits, but that it has often been accompanied by a corresponding increase in negative environmental impacts such as alpine shrub destruction, wildlife poaching, and improper garbage disposal. Adverse social impacts reported have included an increase in violence, occasional murder, and the erosion of traditional values. In an attempt to determine if similar phenomena were occurring within the Barun valley, east Nepal, we conducted a month-long study of yartsa gunbu harvesting practices between May and June of 2016. Unlike other regions of the Himalaya, we found that violence and social unrest due to harvesting competition were unheard of in the Barun, which we link to the (a) lower market value of yartsa gunbu harvested there when compared to other regions, and (b) the recognized role of yartsa gunbu as a supplemental and livelihood diversifying income generation opportunity instead of a sole source of new income. Since its collection and sale were legalized by the Government of Nepal in 2001, the concurrent development of locally responsive yartsa gunbu harvesting policies and practices can also be linked to the general absence of environmental disturbance that we found

Taming nitrogen : recognizing N2O emissions in fertilization practice

Atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas resulting from an imbalanced global nitrogen cycle. Although agricultural soils emit the majority of anthropogenic N2O, it is rarely considered in soil management practice. To understand why, this thesis explored the social constructs of nitrogen management through a case study contrasting practices and attitudes from three schools of thought with different approaches to soil fertility management: precision, organic, and no-till with cover crops; and from the perspective of different roles in agriculture from farming and advising to science and industry. Nitrogen management practices were compared using a model from organizational theory in which problems and solutions are inconsistently matched. All schools of thought had approaches to balance yield and nitrogen conservation, and a prominent best practice was maximizing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) as much as possible within the limits of acceptable yield. By reducing nitrogen flux, this reduces N2O. A sense of minimizing entropy – nitrogen losses inherent in conversions and storage between its many chemical forms – could further reduce N2O emissions. Though how to accomplish this is technologically unclear at present, a future state can be developed from currently evolving fusions between a mainstreaming soil health movement, a maturing practice of intensive cover crops, supportive technologies of soil testing, sensing and modeling which increasingly capture nitrogen dynamics, and the emerging technology of precision nitrogen sensing and management.M-A

The science of charity: The social network that restructured law and order in Baltimore, 1881-1901

Social networks undeniably build more cohesive ideologies between its members. Historians can better understand the path that urban reform took at the end of the nineteenth by focusing on the social networks that participated in many different reform efforts. In Baltimore, a group of elite businessmen began a variety of association and societies to aid the poor in their midst. The Charity Organization Society best combined this group of men. The Charity Organization Society of Baltimore sought to uplift the poor through advice rather than monetary aid. The group’s campaign to remove alms distribution from the police department in the mid-1880s inspired other societies and associations to call for reform in policing and punishment. This work untangles how the Charity Organization Society’s activities inspired groups like the Society for the Suppression of Vice, the Maryland Prisoners’ Aid Association, and Women’s Christian Temperance Union to force changes in methods of policing, criminal sentencing, and punishing. Most importantly is that each organization was controlled by one or more of the elite Baltimoreans that began the COS. Using annual reports from each organization, the city jail, city legislation, and newspapers, this narrative adds a new perspective on early, urban progressive reform. It especially emphasizes how Baltimore’s social network of elite reformers transformed city government structure before widespread calls for government intervention began

Nitrogenutnyttelse i dype jordlag og N₂O-dannelse fra kløvergras i norsk grovfôrproduksjon

Value creation in Norwegian agriculture is primarily based on milk and meat production, which depend in part on perennial grassland-based forage production. Roughly 60% of the fully cultivated land in Norway is used for grass production because the climate and growing conditions limit agronomic options for growing food-quality cereals and vegetables in many parts of the country. In addition, Norway has large areas of land which can be exploited as managed pasture or seasonal rangeland. Globally, there is much focus on improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) of crop production to mitigate the perturbation of the global nitrogen (N) cycle accompanying increased food production, with nitrate runoff leading to eutrophication of waterways, and emission of the climate-forcing gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Perennial grasslands located in cold and northern climates are especially vulnerable to large N losses due to poor winter survival, long dormant periods, and decomposition of frost-killed biomass. Much of Norway’s cultivable land lies in the hemiboreal climate zone, to which many perennial grassland species are adapted. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), which is grown for its good yield potential but is less winter-hardy, can increase the risk of N losses if it survives poorly. Clovers, which are N-rich and more frostsensitive than grasses, also contribute to N losses, especially to winter-associated N2O production. On the other hand, clovers can increase the NUE of forage swards by partially replacing the need for fertilizer, and via diversity effects with grasses which increase sward yields and protein concentration. Opportunities for improving NUE lie belowground. The dense mat of roots in the topsoil of grasslands cycles and stores massive amounts of N (and carbon and other nutrients) and is the locus for microbiological N transformations which also form N2O. Some grassland species are capable of sending roots far below the densest root zone and recapturing N which has leached downwards. Diversity effects, not only between clovers and grasses, but also between grass species, greatly influence how a grassland sward utilizes the N throughout the soil profile and throughout the growing season. Using a stable isotope method with a novel slow-release 15NH4+ label, we studied deep root N uptake in well-established perennial forage swards. We studied five grass and two clover species in pure stands, over two growing seasons and a variety of weather events (Paper I), as well as the diversity effects, or results arising from species interactions, on yields and deep N utilization by two grass-clover mixtures in the second growing season (Paper II). Tall-growing grass species proved effective at acquiring N from below the densest root zone in the mid- to late growing season, after apparently needing time to reestablish deep root activity in spring (Paper I). The affinity for NH4+, the winter hardiness, and the growth vigor of these species proved to be more important functional traits for deep N acquisition than purported root depth (Paper I). When in mixture, the importance of growth vigor “competitiveness” became even more important, stimulating changes in deep N uptake behavior between species (Paper II). Clovers contributed to higher forage yields wherein grasses had higher N content, and mixtures utilized deep N as well as grass pure stands, thus diversity effects led to the best combination of yields and NUE (Paper II). In an adjacent field, we monitored N2O formation in grass, clover, and grass-clover swards throughout winter, including prolonged reducing soil conditions under snowpack, and during spring thaw (Paper III). We explored how liming, hypothesized to reduce N2O formation by denitrification, affected N2O emissions under these conditions in situ. Use of a fast-chamber robot allowed us to measure N2O fluxes during thaw events at a high frequency, while we used pre-installed soil air probes and gas chromatography to monitor gas levels in subnivean soil air as indicators for microbiological N-cycling. Off-season N2O emissions were lowest in grasses, highest in red clover, and moderate in grass-clover mixtures, which emitted less than expected (Paper III). Although liming reduced subsoil N2O accumulation under snowpack in grass-only swards, we think that in clover-containing swards higher pH stimulated nitrification of N released by frost-killed clover biomass to NO3-, in turn stimulating N2O production by nitrification or by providing substrate for denitrification. The apparent diversity effect wherein grass-clover mixtures emitted less N2O than expected was observed in both limed and non-limed plots in autumn. However, this effect was weaker in limed mixtures in the spring, suggesting increased N cycling in the higher-pH soils became more important than decomposition of clover biomass to N2O production as the next growing season began. This thesis demonstrates synergistic diversity effects of combining clover with grasses, which results in reduced N losses combined with increased protein yields, and possibly reducing the severity of N2O formation due to clovers over winter. NUE and N2O emission in Norwegian forage production can be managed by careful choice of forage species, particularly considering the proportions of clover and appropriate pH management.Verdiskaping i det Norske landbruket baserer seg hovedsakelig på produksjon av melk og kjøtt, og er delvis avhengig av fôrproduksjon basert på flerårig eng. Cirka 60% av fulldyrket areal i Norge brukes til flerårig grasvekst som er velegnet også i deler av landet hvor klima og vekstforhold begrenser korn- og grønnsaksproduksjon. I tillegg har Norge store områder med areal som kan utnyttes som gjødslet innmarksbeite eller utmarksbeite. Globalt er det stor fokus på å forbedre nitrogeneffektiviteten (nitrogen use efficiency; NUE) i planteproduksjon for å motvirke forstyrrelsen av den globale nitrogensyklusen som følger med økt matproduksjon. Nitratavrenning fører til eutrofiering av vann og vassdrag, og N bruk i matproduksjon øker utslipp av klimagassen lystgass (N2O). Flerårig eng som finnes i kalde og nordlige områder er spesielt sårbare for nitrogen-tap på grunn av dårlig overvintring, lange perioder uten vekst, og nedbrytning av frostdrept biomasse. Mye av Norges fulldyrkede areal ligger i klimasonen «hemiboreal», hvor mange flerårige grasarter er tilpasset et kaldt vinterklima gjennom vinterherding. Flerårig raigras (Lolium perenne L.), som dyrkes på grunn av sitt gode avlingspotensial men som er mindre vinterhardt, kan øke sjansen for N tap hvis det overlever dårlig. Kløver, som er N-rik og som tåler frost dårligere enn gras, bidrar særlig til N-tap, spesielt om vinteren i form av lystgass, men på den andres siden kan kløver øke NUE i fôrproduksjonen ved å delvis erstatte tilført gjødselmengden. Sammen med gras bidrar kløver til diversitetseffekter som øker fôravlingene og proteinmengde. Muligheter for å øke NUE ligger under bakken. Den tette matten av røtter til grasvekster i øvre matjordlaget lagrer og sirkulerer store mengder N (samt karbon og andre næringsstoffer). I dette området omsetter mikroorganismer C og N og danner N2O underveis. Noen arter kan ha røttene langt ned i jorden og fanger opp N som har blitt vasket ned i jordprofilen. Diversitetseffekter, ikke bare mellom kløver og gras, men også mellom ulike grasarter, påvirker i stor grad N-utnyttelsen i hele jordprofilen, og gjennom sesongen. Vi kombinerte en stabil isotopmetode med en unik langvarig 15NH4+ merking for å undersøke N-opptak av dypgående røtter i veletablerte flerårige eng. Vi undersøkte fem gras- og to kløverarter i monokultur, i to vekstsesonger og gjennom flere ulike værhendelser (Artikkel I). Vi undersøkte diversitetseffekter, eller resultater som oppstår fra interaksjoner mellom plantearter, på avlinger og dyp N-utnyttelse i to blandinger av gras og kløver (kløvergras) i den andre vekstsesongen (Artikkel II). De høyvoksende grasartene utnyttet N fra dyp jord effektivt fra midten til slutten av vekstsesongen, men trengte tid til å gjenopprette dyp rot aktivitet om våren (Artikkel I). Affinitet for NH4+ opptak, grad av vinterherding og vekststyrke av disse artene viste seg å være viktigere funksjonelle egenskaper for dyp N-utnyttelse enn tidligere antatt rotdybde (Artikkel I). I kløvergras blandinger ble vekststyrke eller konkurranseevne enda viktigere, og stimulerte artene til å endre dyp N-utnyttelse på ulike måter (Artikkel II). Kløveren bidro til økt fôravling og høyere N-innhold i gras. Kløvergras blandinger utnyttet også dyp N like godt som grasmonokultur. Derfor førte diversitetseffekter til den beste kombinasjonen av avling, kvalitet og NUE (Artikkel II). I et tilgrensede felt undersøkte vi N2O produksjon i gras-, kløver-, og kløvergraseng gjennom en vinter, som inkluderte en periode med langvarig reduserende jordforhold under snødekke, og i løpet av tiningsperioden om våren (Artikkel III). Vi undersøkte hvordan kalking, som er antatt å redusere N2O-dannelse fra denitrifikasjon, påvirket N2O-utslipp under slike forhold in situ. Vi målte N2O-fluks med høy frekvens under fryse-tinehendelser ved bruk av en robot utstyrt med hurtigkamre («fast-box» chambers). Vi brukte forhåndsinstallerte jordluftsonder og gasskromatografi for å undersøke gassnivåer i jordluftet gjennom vinteren, som brukes som indikatorer for mikrobiologisk N-prosesser. Utslipp av N2O om vinteren var minst i gras, størst i rødkløver, og moderat i kløvergras, hvor utslippet var lavere enn forventet (Artikkel III). Mens kalking reduserte N2O i jordluften under snødekke i rene grasruter, resultatene indikerer at den høyere pH kan ha stimulert nitrifikasjon etter nedbrytning av N-rik biomasse fra frostskadet kløver, og at dette førte til økt N2O-produksjon ved nitrifikasjon eller ved å gi substrat for økt denitrifikasjon. Den tydelige diversitetseffekter der kløvergras ga mindre N2O utslipp enn forventet ble observert både i kalket og ikkekalket vekster om høsten, men effekten var svakere i kalket jord om våren. Det kan betyr at økt N-sirkulering ved høyere pH ble en viktigere kilde for N2O enn nedbrytningen av kløverbiomasse ved start av vekstsesongen. Denne avhandlingen dokumenterer noen synergiske diversitetseffekter av å blande kløver med gras i grovfôrproduksjon, som resulterer i redusert N-tap kombinert med økt proteinavling, og muligens med en redusert grad av N2O-utslipp utenom vekstsesongen. NUE og N2O-utslipp i norske fôrproduksjon kan påvirkes ved nøye sammensetning av fôrarter, spesielt med tanke på andel kløver i vekst, og hensiktsmessig pH-behandling

Impacts of Yartsa Gunbu Harvesting on Alpine Ecosystems in the Barun Valley, Makalu-Barun National Park, Nepal

Around 2003, the highly valuable medicinal fungi Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Nepali: yartsa gunbu) began to be commercially harvested in the remote Barun valley of the Makalu-Barun National Park and Buffer Zone, eastern Nepal. Since then, an estimated 3,000 collectors per year have visited the valley each harvesting season, placing new pressures upon its subalpine and alpine landscapes. A review of the yartsa gunbu literature suggested that its harvesting throughout highland India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China has brought important economic benefits, but that it has often been accompanied by a corresponding increase in negative environmental impacts such as alpine shrub destruction, wildlife poaching, and improper garbage disposal. Adverse social impacts reported have included an increase in violence, occasional murder, and the erosion of traditional values. In an attempt to determine if similar phenomena were occurring within the Barun valley, east Nepal, we conducted a month-long study of yartsa gunbu harvesting practices between May and June of 2016. Unlike other regions of the Himalaya, we found that violence and social unrest due to harvesting competition were unheard of in the Barun, which we link to the (a) lower market value of yartsa gunbu harvested there when compared to other regions, and (b) the recognized role of yartsa gunbu as a supplemental and livelihood diversifying income generation opportunity instead of a sole source of new income. Since its collection and sale were legalized by the Government of Nepal in 2001, the concurrent development of locally responsive yartsa gunbu harvesting policies and practices can also be linked to the general absence of environmental disturbance that we found

The Silent Crisis: Redefining Theoretical Approaches in Early Childhood Intervention Research with American Indians

This article discusses the theoretical context of the education of American Indian children. The unique needs of American Indian children and the lack of ECI provided, as well as the major theoretical approaches used by the dominant society in ECI program development are discussed. The linear model of time and human development – the view that the dominant society traditionally holds; and the nonlinear perspective of most American Indian communities is presented

Neonatal face-to-face interactions promote later social behaviour in infant rhesus monkeys

In primates, including humans, mothers engage in face-to-face interactions with their infants, with frequencies varying both within and across species. However, the impact of this variation in face-to-face interactions on infant social development is unclear. Here we report that infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta) who engaged in more neonatal face-to-face interactions with mothers have increased social interactions at 2 and 5 months. In a controlled experiment, we show that this effect is not due to physical contact alone: monkeys randomly assigned to receive additional neonatal face-to-face interactions (mutual gaze and intermittent lip-smacking) with human caregivers display increased social interest at 2 months, compared with monkeys who received only additional handling. These studies suggest that face-to-face interactions from birth promote young primate social interest and competenc

The One with the Feminist Critique: Revisiting Millennial Postfeminism with Friends

In the aftermath of its initial broadcast run, iconic millennial sitcom Friends (NBC, 1994–2004) generated some quality scholarship interrogating its politics of gender. But as a site of analysis, it remains a curious, almost structuring absence from the central canon of the first wave of feminist criticism of postfeminist culture. This absence is curious not only considering the place of Friends at the forefront of millennial popular culture but also in light of its long-term syndication in countries across the world since that time. And it is structuring in the sense that Friends was the stage on which many of the familiar tropes of postfeminism interrogated across the body of work on it appear in retrospect to have been tried and tested. This article aims to contribute toward redressing this absence through interrogation and contextualization of the series’ negotiation of a range of structuring tropes of postfeminist media discourse, and it argues for Friends as an unacknowledged ur-text of millennial postfeminism

Castrating the Female Dominant: An Analysis of Female Agency in Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s Venus im Pelz

This work examines the agency of the female dominant in Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's Venus im Pelz through the lens of contemporary theories on masochism. I argue that, contrary to popular scholarship, the dominant can assume control of the masochistic scenes through a creation of her own fantasies, fetishes, and authorship of the masochistic contract. To assess the female dominant's role as agent in the original, widely read version of the work published in 1870, I compare it with the lesser known revision published eight years later. I maintain that the dominant's agency is significantly diminished in this later version and that discerning the motivations behind such revisions offers a better understanding masochism in Sacher-Masoch's work