Impacts of the sustainable forestry initiative landscape level measures on hydrological processes

The effects on hydrological processes of the application of the landscape level measures included in the sustainable forestry initiative (SFI) program were analyzed through simulation. A landscape scenario where limitation of harvesting units’ size, imposition of a green-up interval, and establishment of streamside management zones (SMZ) were simulatedwas compared with a reference scenario where no SFI rules were followed. An intensively managed forested landscape located in East Texas, USA, was used as the study area. The HARVEST landscape model was used to simulate landscape pattern and a modified version of the APEX model was used to simulate hydrological processes. Water and sediment yields were generally small within the observation period and most of the runoff and erosion observed occurred during intense storm events. Water and sediment yield at the subarea level and water yield at the watershed level were similar in both scenarios. However, sediment yield at the watershed level was higher in the non-SFI scenario. The differences were due to the reduction in channel erosion resulting from the presence of SMZs. The effect of buffer zones in terms of sediment deposition was not different between scenarios, which can be attributed to the level slopes of the study area. Landscape measures of the SFI program, namely buffer zones, seem important in reducing channel degradation, particularly during major storm events, in intensively managed forest landscapes in East Texas.PRODEP II

Effects of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative on Landscape Pattern and Processes

We used simulation modeling to study the changes in landscape pattern and function resulting from the application of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program in East Texas, USA. Changes in landscape structure were examined by comparing landscapes with different management histories. The effects of pattern on processes were analyzed considering vertebrate habitat quality and configuration and hydrological processes such as water and sediment yield. Landscapes managed according to the SFI program presented increased general fragmentation. The application of measures under SFI increased habitat diversity in the landscape as well as Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values for most of the species. Habitat for species requiring large patches of mature forest was almost absent. Landscapes managed under the SFI program showed lower sediment yield at the watershed level than those under the non-SFI program due to higher channel erosion related to the absence of buffer strips in the non-SFI scenario

The role of the sustainable forestry Initiative in forest landscape changes in Texas, USA

We studied the changes in landscape pattern and function resulting from the application of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) in East Texas, USA. Changes in landscape structure were studied by comparing land-scapes with different management histories. A methodology to integrate landscape and stand pattern dynamics with processes was developed based upon modeling and simulation. The effects of pattern on processes were analyzed with this methodology considering the quality, quantity and con-figuration of vertebrate habitat and hydrological processes. Comparisons among landscapes revealed that forest management has a strong influence on landscape structure. The SFI program has increased overall fragmentation with an increase in number of patches, length of edges and shape complexity and a decrease in patch size, and number and size of core areas. Management according to the SFI program resulted generally in higher habitat suitability for many of the species analyzed and higher habitat di-versity in the landscape. The SFI program induced fragmentation of the habitat of pine warbler and the establishment of narrow and elongated habitats in a network structure for most of the remaining species. Land-scapes managed under the SFI program showed lower sediment yield at the watershed level than those under the non-SFI program due to lower channel erosion. The effects of the SFI program at the landscape level are related to the network of buffer strips. In general we conclude that relevant measures at the landscape level improve the sustainability of forested landscapes in East Texas

Coexistence or Separation of the Superconducting, Antiferromagnetic, and Paramagnetic Phases in Quasi One-Dimensional (TMTSF)2PF6 ?

We report on experimental studies of the character of phase transitions in the quasi-1D organic compound (TMTSF)2PF6 in the close vicinity of the borders between the paramagnetic metal PM, antiferromagnetic insulator AF, and superconducting SC states. In order to drive the system through the phase border P_0(T_0), the sample was maintained at fixed temperature T and pressure P, whereas the critical pressure P_0 was tuned by applying the magnetic field B. In this approach, the magnetic field was used (i) for tuning (P-P_0), and (ii) for identifying the phase composition (due to qualitatively different magnetoresistance behavior in different phases). Experimentally, we measured R(B) and its temperature dependence R(B,T) in the pressure range (0 - 1)GPa. Our studies focus on the features of the magnetoresistance at the phase transition between the PM and AF phases, in the close vicinity to the superconducting transition at T~1K. We found pronounced history effects arising when the AF/PM phase border is crossed by sweeping the magnetic field: the resistance depends on a trajectory which the system arrives at a given point of the P-B-T phase space. In the transition from the PM to AF phase, the features of the PM phase extends well into the AF phase. At the opposite transition from the AF to PM phase, the features of the AF phase are observed in the PM phase. These results evidence for a macroscopically inhomogeneous state, which contains macroscopic inclusions of the minority phase. When the system is driven away from the transition, the homogeneous state is restored; upon a return motion to the phase boundary, no signatures of the minority phase are observed up to the very phase boundary.Comment: 10 figures, 23 page

U-Pb zircon and monazite geochronology of Variscan magmatism related to syn-convergence extension in Central Northern Portugal

The Viseu area is located in the Central Iberian Zone of the Iberian Variscan Belt and hosts numerous post-thickening, collision-related granitoids intruded into upper and middle crustal levels. The present paper reports high precision U-Pb zircon and monazite ages for four plutons of the Viseu area: The syn-kinematic granitoids of Maceira (314±5 Ma), Casal Vasco (311±1 Ma) and Junqueira (307.8±0.7 Ma) and the late-kinematic biotite monzogranites of Cota (306±9 Ma). This points to a synchronous emplacement of the different syn-kinematic plutons shortly followed by the intrusion of the late-kinematic granites and shows that the Upper Carboniferous plutonism occurred within a short time span of ca. 10 million years. The ascent of granite magmas took place after an extensional tectonic event (D2) and is coeval with dextral and sinistral crustal-scale transcurrent shearing (D3). Field and petrographical evidence suggest a narrow time-span between peak T metamorphic conditions and the intrusion of granitic melts which implies very fast uplift rates accommodated through active tectonic exhumation. Magma compositions evolve through time, reflecting an increasing involvement of mid-crustal sources and the underplating effect of an upwelling asthenospheric mantle at the base of a thinning and stretching continental crust. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Produtividade e vigor do maracujazeiro-amarelo plantado em covas e plantio direto sob manejo orgânico.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o vigor e a produtividade do maracujazeiro-amarelo plantado em diferentes tamanhos de cova e plantio direto sob manejo orgânico. O experimento foi conduzido de 2005 a 2007, no Setor de Agricultura Ecológica da Universidade Federal do Acre, em delineamento de blocos casualizados, constituídos de cinco tratamentos, quatro repetições e quatro plantas por parcela. Foram avaliados cinco tipos de preparo do solo: T1 cova do tamanho do torrão (0,19 x 0,063m) com adubação em cobertura; T2 cova de 0,30 x 0,30 x 0,30m com adubação de plantio na cova; T3 cova de 0,30 x 0,30 x 0,30m com adubação de plantio em cobertura; T4 cova de 0,50 x 0,50 x 0,50m com adubação de plantio na cova; e T5 cova de 0,50 x 0,50 x 0,50m com adubação de plantio em cobertura. O tamanho da cova e o plantio direto não influenciaram o vigor da planta e a biomassa de raízes. O número de frutos por planta e a produtividade, na segunda e na somatória das duas safras, foram maiores com plantio direto e com covas cúbicas de 0,30m. Após dois anos de cultivo, a densidade do solo foi maior na camada de 0-5cm de profundidade num raio de 20cm da planta para o plantio em covas de 0,50m com adubação na cova e menor para o plantio direto, não havendo diferença entre os demais tratamentos. O plantio direto ou o plantio em covas pequenas com dimensões de 0,30 x 0,30 x 0,30m proporcionou maior produtividade de maracujá que o plantio em covas maiores, mesmo não influenciando o vigor das plantas e a massa seca de raízes