“Can any good come from Ireland?”:contrasting images of Ireland and the Irish in the Topography of Ireland by Gerald of Wales

Abstract. The purpose of this master’s thesis is to examine the seeming duality in the representations of Ireland and the Irish in the first recension of the Topography of Ireland (Topographia Hibernica) by Gerald of Wales (c. 1146–1223). The results of the study are threefold. Firstly, by comparing and contrasting the two representations, the study demonstrates that there is a contrast between the overwhelmingly positive portrayal of Ireland and the overwhelmingly negative characterisation of the Irish. Secondly, by comparing these representations with the negative preconceptions conveyed in the author’s preface, it may be said that there is a shift in the image of Ireland, whereas the image of the Irish is only reinforced. More specifically, Ireland seems to be raised to a new status as the home of the “wonders of the West”, while the Irish are marginalised even further. Both descriptions are based on the image of the island as the farthest western periphery. An exploration of the Topography’s historical context indicates that the characterisation of the Irish taps into the contemporary cliché of the peripheral and inferior barbarian. At the same time, the concept of the periphery seems to be rehabilitated where Ireland, the land, is concerned. Thirdly, although the inner logic of the work may be questioned, the author’s personal circumstances indicate that the two representations are not contradictory where authorial interests are concerned in so far as both may be seen to serve the same purpose of demonstrating the superiority of the Self. The Topography of Ireland revolves around notions of superiority and inferiority. The results of the study indicate the centrality of the Self in the work, which raises questions as to its real subject. In any case, although, historically, the Topography’s reputation has centred on its characterisation of the Irish, it is not the Irish—namely, the Other—but the Self that is of real interest in the work.Tiivistelmä. Tämä pro gradu -tutkielma vertailee Irlannin ja irlantilaisten näennäisen ristiriitaista kuvausta Gerald Walesilaisen (c. 1146–1223) teoksessa Topographia Hibernica. Tutkimus koskee teoksen noin vuonna 1187 ilmestynyttä ensimmäistä versiota. Tutkimuksesta käy ilmi, että teos esittää Irlannin positiivisessa valossa, mikä korostaa irlantilaisten negatiivista kuvausta. Lisäksi vertaamalla kuvauksia kirjoittajan esipuheessaan esiintuomiin negatiivisiin ennakkokäsityksiin voidaan todeta, että näkemys Irlannista muuttuu teoksen edetessä, kun taas irlantilaisiin liittyviä negatiivisia ennakkokäsityksiä vahvistetaan. Tarkemmin sanoen teos kohottaa Irlannin uuteen asemaan ”lännen ihmeiden” kotipaikkana syventäen irlantilaisten marginalisointia. Molempien kuvausten perustana on käsitys Irlannista kaukaisimpana läntisenä periferiana. Tutkimuksesta käy ilmi, että teos hyödyntää 1100-luvulle tyypillistä, syrjäseutujen kansoihin liitettyä barbaarisuuden käsitettä irlantilaisten kuvauksessa. Samalla periferian käsitteen voidaan nähdä muuttuvan suotuisammaksi mitä tulee Irlannin kuvaukseen. Vaikka teoksen sisäinen logiikka ontuukin, molempien kuvausten voidaan nähdä palvelevan kirjoittajan etuja, sillä Topographia on ennen kaikkea argumentti minuuden ylemmyydestä. Tutkimustulokset viittaavat minuuden käsitteen keskeiseen rooliin Topographiassa. Tutkielma esittääkin, että vaikka Topographia Hibernican maine on usein painottunut sen esittämään irlantilaisten kuvaukseen, olennaisinta on kuitenkin se, mitä se kertoo kirjoittajastaan ja tämän maailmasta

Self-reported reasons for on-duty sleepiness among commercial airline pilots

Experimental and epidemiological research has shown that human sleepiness is determined especially by the circadian and homeostatic processes. The present field study examined which work-related factors airline pilots perceive as causing on-duty sleepiness during short-haul and long-haul flights. In addition, the association between the perceived reasons for sleepiness and actual sleepiness levels was examined, as well as the association between reporting inadequate sleep causing sleepiness and actual sleep-wake history. The study sample consisted of 29 long-haul (LH) pilots, 28 short-haul (SH) pilots, and 29 mixed fleet pilots (flying both SH and LH flights), each of whom participated in a 2-month field measurement period, yielding a total of 765 SH and 494 LH flight duty periods (FDPs) for analyses (FDP, a period between the start of a duty and the end of the last flight of that duty). The self-reports of sleepiness inducers were collected at the end of each FDP by an electronic select menu. On-duty sleepiness was rated at each flight phase by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS). The sleep-wake data was collected by a diary and actigraph. The results showed that "FDP timing" and "inadequate sleep" were the most frequently reported reasons for on-duty sleepiness out of the seven options provided, regardless of FDP type (SH, LH). Reporting these reasons significantly increased the odds of increased on-duty sleepiness (KSS >= 7), except for reporting "inadequate sleep" during LH FDPs. Reporting "inadequate sleep" was also associated with increased odds of a reduced sleep-wake ratio (total sleep time/amount of wakefulnessPeer reviewe

High-resolution spatial patterns and drivers of terrestrial ecosystem carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide fluxes in the tundra

Arctic terrestrial greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) play an important role in the global GHG budget. However, these GHG fluxes are rarely studied simultaneously, and our understanding of the conditions controlling them across spatial gradients is limited. Here, we explore the magnitudes and drivers of GHG fluxes across fine-scale terrestrial gradients during the peak growing season (July) in sub-Arctic Finland. We measured chamber-derived GHG fluxes and soil temperature, soil moisture, soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks, soil pH, soil carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio, soil dissolved organic carbon content, vascular plant biomass, and vegetation type from 101 plots scattered across a heterogeneous tundra landscape (5 km2). We used these field data together with high-resolution remote sensing data to develop machine learning models for predicting (i.e., upscaling) daytime GHG fluxes across the landscape at 2 m resolution. Our results show that this region was on average a daytime net GHG sink during the growing season. Although our results suggest that this sink was driven by CO2 uptake, it also revealed small but widespread CH4 uptake in upland vegetation types, almost surpassing the high wetland CH4 emissions at the landscape scale. Average N2O fluxes were negligible. CO2 fluxes were controlled primarily by annual average soil temperature and biomass (both increase net sink) and vegetation type, CH4 fluxes by soil moisture (increases net emissions) and vegetation type, and N2O fluxes by soil C/N (lower C/N increases net source). These results demonstrate the potential of high spatial resolution modeling of GHG fluxes in the Arctic. They also reveal the dominant role of CO2 fluxes across the tundra landscape but suggest that CH4 uptake in dry upland soils might play a significant role in the regional GHG budget.</p

Quantifying the Detrimental Impacts of Land-Use and Management Change on European Forest Bird Populations

The ecological impacts of changing forest management practices in Europe are poorly understood despite European forests being highly managed. Furthermore, the effects of potential drivers of forest biodiversity decline are rarely considered in concert, thus limiting effective conservation or sustainable forest management. We present a trait-based framework that we use to assess the detrimental impact of multiple land-use and management changes in forests on bird populations across Europe. Major changes to forest habitats occurring in recent decades, and their impact on resource availability for birds were identified. Risk associated with these changes for 52 species of forest birds, defined as the proportion of each species' key resources detrimentally affected through changes in abundance and/or availability, was quantified and compared to their pan-European population growth rates between 1980 and 2009. Relationships between risk and population growth were found to be significantly negative, indicating that resource loss in European forests is an important driver of decline for both resident and migrant birds. Our results demonstrate that coarse quantification of resource use and ecological change can be valuable in understanding causes of biodiversity decline, and thus in informing conservation strategy and policy. Such an approach has good potential to be extended for predictive use in assessing the impact of possible future changes to forest management and to develop more precise indicators of forest health

Updating known distribution models for forecasting climate change impact on endangered species

To plan endangered species conservation and to design adequate management programmes, it is necessary to predict their distributional response to climate change, especially under the current situation of rapid change. However, these predictions are customarily done by relating de novo the distribution of the species with climatic conditions with no regard of previously available knowledge about the factors affecting the species distribution. We propose to take advantage of known species distribution models, but proceeding to update them with the variables yielded by climatic models before projecting them to the future. To exemplify our proposal, the availability of suitable habitat across Spain for the endangered Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata) was modelled by updating a pre-existing model based on current climate and topography to a combination of different general circulation models and Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. Our results suggested that the main threat for this endangered species would not be climate change, since all forecasting models show that its distribution will be maintained and increased in mainland Spain for all the XXI century. We remark on the importance of linking conservation biology with distribution modelling by updating existing models, frequently available for endangered species, considering all the known factors conditioning the species’ distribution, instead of building new models that are based on climate change variables only.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and FEDER (project CGL2009-11316/BOS

How generalist are these forest specialists? What Sweden's avian indicators indicate

Monitoring of forest biodiversity and habitats is an important part of forest conservation, but due to the impossible task of monitoring all species, indicator species are frequently used. However, reliance on an incorrect indicator of valuable habitat can reduce the efficiency of conservation efforts. Birds are often used as indicators as they are charismatic, relatively easy to survey, and because we often have knowledge of their habitat and resource requirements. In the Swedish government's environmental quality goals, there are a number of bird species identified as being associated with 'older' and 'high natural value' forests. Here we evaluate the occurrence of four of these indicator species using data from 91 production forest stands and 10 forest reserves in southern Sweden. The bird species assessed are willow tit Poecile montanus, coal tit Periparus ater, European crested tit Lophophanes cristatus and Eurasian treecreeper Certhia familiaris. For the production stands assessed, these indicator species exhibited no significant preferences regarding forest composition and structure, indicating a wider range of habitat associations than expected. These species frequently showed territorial behavior in forest stands &lt;60 and even 40 years of age; much younger than the 120-year threshold for 'older forest' as defined by governmental environmental goals. As almost 80% of the production stands >= 10 years old included at least one of the four indicator species, this raises questions regarding the suitability of these species as indictors of forests of high conservational value in southern Sweden. Notably, besides the four species assessed here, none of the additional indicator taxa identified by the government, were recorded in the 10 reserves. This outcome may reflect the difficulties involved in finding bird indicator species indicative of high natural values in this region. Our results highlight the importance of coupling bird surveys with quantified assessments of proximate vegetation cover

Arctic soil methane sink increases with drier conditions and higher ecosystem respiration

Arctic wetlands are known methane (CH4) emitters but recent studies suggest that the Arctic CH4 sink strength may be underestimated. Here we explore the capacity of well-drained Arctic soils to consume atmospheric CH4 using >40,000 hourly flux observations and spatially distributed flux measurements from 4 sites and 14 surface types. While consumption of atmospheric CH4 occurred at all sites at rates of 0.092 ± 0.011 mgCH4 m−2 h−1 (mean ± s.e.), CH4 uptake displayed distinct diel and seasonal patterns reflecting ecosystem respiration. Combining in situ flux data with laboratory investigations and a machine learning approach, we find biotic drivers to be highly important. Soil moisture outweighed temperature as an abiotic control and higher CH4 uptake was linked to increased availability of labile carbon. Our findings imply that soil drying and enhanced nutrient supply will promote CH4 uptake by Arctic soils, providing a negative feedback to global climate change