Seedling Establishment and Survival on Restored Campsites in Subalpine Forest

This study experimented with common restoration techniques (scarification, soil amendments, mulch, and seeding) on six closed wilderness campsites in subalpine forests in Oregon. Effectiveness in encouraging seedling establishment, growth, and survival was assessed every year for the first 7 years following treatment. Closure and restoration of the campsites increased the density of plants established from seed. Despite an original density of virtually zero, mean density of perennial plants was 55 plants/m2 7 years after closure. All the treatments, with the exception of the biodegradable mulch mat, increased plant density. Seven years after treatment, seeding had increased plant density 5-fold, whereas scarification and soil amendments (organic matter, compost, and soil inoculum) had each increased density 3-fold. The organic and compost amendments also had the positive benefit of increasing growth rates and shortening the time-to-reproductive maturity. Results suggest that restoration of the herbaceous cover on these campsites can occur rapidly using the techniques employed. All but one of the species we seeded established in substantial quantities and survived at densities exceeding their density in the naturally sparse herbaceous cover on these sites. Thirty-six perennial species volunteered on these sites. The remaining challenge is reestablishment of the shrub species that comprise much of the ground cover in these forests. These species seldom establish from seed

Reappraisal of the origins of the polymodal molecular mass distributions in the formation of poly(methylphenylsilylene) by the Wurtz reductive-coupling reaction

Variations of yields and molecular weight parameters of poly(methylphenylsilylene) formed through sodium-mediated Wurtz reductive coupling of dichloromethylphenylsilane in toluene, xylene, diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, and diphenyl ether both in the presence and in the absence of 15-crown-5 and at different temperatures are described. The effects of various terminating reagents are also considered. The crown ether when it is present in the reaction mixture is shown to act as a phase transfer agent for the sodium and this is interpreted as having two effects. The first is to activate the alkali metal for reductive coupling, which at lower temperatures is a necessary condition for polymer formation. The other is to transport the alkali metal to points on the high molecular weight polymer chains where, as a prelude to backbiting, it induces a highly selective chain scission; this is explained by it occurring only at gauche defects in the otherwise rodlike all-trans sequences within the polymer in solution. The polymodal molecular weight distributions that are commonplace for polysilylenes are rationalized in terms of a competition between such activation and degradation processes

Reappraisal of the origins of the polymodal molecular mass distributions in the formation of poly(methylphenylsilylene) by the Wurtz reductive-coupling reaction

Variations of yields and molecular weight parameters of poly(methylphenylsilylene) formed through sodium-mediated Wurtz reductive coupling of dichloromethylphenylsilane in toluene, xylene, diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, and diphenyl ether both in the presence and in the absence of 15-crown-5 and at different temperatures are described. The effects of various terminating reagents are also considered. The crown ether when it is present in the reaction mixture is shown to act as a phase transfer agent for the sodium and this is interpreted as having two effects. The first is to activate the alkali metal for reductive coupling, which at lower temperatures is a necessary condition for polymer formation. The other is to transport the alkali metal to points on the high molecular weight polymer chains where, as a prelude to backbiting, it induces a highly selective chain scission; this is explained by it occurring only at gauche defects in the otherwise rodlike all-trans sequences within the polymer in solution. The polymodal molecular weight distributions that are commonplace for polysilylenes are rationalized in terms of a competition between such activation and degradation processes

VLF Observations of ionospheric disturbances in association with TLEs from the EuroSprite-2007 campaign

International audienceTwo Very Low Frequency (VLF) AWESOME remote sensing systems located at Algiers, Algeria (36.45°N, 3.28°E) and Sebha, Libya (27.02°N, 14.26°E) monitor VLF signal perturbations for evidence of ionospheric disturbances. During the EuroSprite‐2007 campaign a number of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) were captured over the Mediterranean Sea by cameras at Pic du Midi (42.94°N, 0.14°E) and at Centre de Recherches Atmosphériques (CRA) in southwestern France (43.13°N, 0.37°E). The cameras observations are compared to collected VLF AWESOME data. We consider early VLF perturbations observed on 12–13, 17–18 October and 17–18 December, 2007. The data from the two VLF receivers confirm the association between TLEs and early VLF signal perturbations with the perturbations amplitudes dependent on the observation configuration i.e. whether the TLE is near the receiver, near the transmitter, or far from both and the scattering process. The results also reveal that the early VLF perturbations can occur in the absence of a TLE