The Empirical Landscape of Trade Policy

This chapter surveys empirically the broad features of trade policy in goods for 31 major economies that collectively represented 83 percent of the world's population and 91 percent of the world's GDP in 2013. We address five questions: Do some countries have more liberal trading regimes than others? Within countries, which industries receive the most import protection? How do trade policies change over time? Do countries discriminate among their trading partners when setting trade policy? Finally, how liberalized is world trade? Our analysis documents the extent of cross-sectional heterogeneity in applied commercial policy across countries, their economic sectors, and their trading partners, over time. We conclude that substantial trade policy barriers remain as an important feature of the world economy.antidumpin

Das Paläolithikum von Ziegenhain und von Lenderscheid (Bez. Kassel)

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Die geologische und archäologische Stellung des altpaläolithischen Fundplatzes Markkleeberg bei Leipzig

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Leitlinien der altsteinzeitlichen Kulturentwicklung

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Effects of Patch Burning and Grazing Exotic-Grass Monocultures on Northern Bobwhite Habitat and Productivity

Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) is an invasive, exotic grass that threatens biodiversity and wildlife habitat throughout the southwest. This is especially true for northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus). Bobwhite populations have decreased over the past century because of a loss in habitat and usable space. Use of exotic grass monocultures by quail tends to be limited to edges adjacent to woody plant communities. We evaluated if creating a mosaic of small prescribed burns followed by intense cattle grazing in exotic-grass monocultures will increase usable space for bobwhites and increase bobwhite abundance in La Salle County, Texas. We randomly assigned a patch burn-graze treatment to 2,200-ha pastures dominated by buffelgrass and randomly selected 2 experimental controls (grazing only) to 2,200-ha pastures. We burned patches totaling 25% of each pasture in January 2010 and allowed grazing after burned grass reached 15 cm in height. Grazing intensity (standing crop removal) was sampled in June and August 2010. Patch-burning and grazing resulted in more heterogeneity in standing crop of buffelgrass (P , 0.001). Bobwhites appeared to use exotic grass monocultures in burned patches with a greater abundance of native forbs and woody plants during the first year of study. Bobwhites avoided areas where there was no native vegetation, and their abundance was closely associated with brushy riparian areas (P 1⁄4 0.09). There were no differences (P . 0.05) in bobwhite abundance between treatment and control pastures. Severe drought during the first year of study may have affected the results

Begriffe in der Quartärforschung

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The Forgotten Quail Decline: The Plight of Scaled Quail in Texas

Several quail species are experiencing range-wide declines in the United States. The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) has garnered the most attention, both from a research and conservation perspective. The bobwhite decline in Texas, has resulted in considerable time and effort being devoted to research and management on the species due to its status as a highly popular and economically important game bird. This attention has been beneficial to bobwhite conservation and management but, an unfortunate consequence of this focus has been neglect of the scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) that has been declining at even a more alarming rate. Scaled quail, according to Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data, have declined at a rate of 5.1% per year in the Tamaulipan Biotic Province (southern Texas), the greatest of any region surveyed in its geographic range. Anecdotal reports of landowners have long noted the gradual disappearance of scaled quail and concomitant replacement with northern bobwhite throughout southern Texas, beginning since about the 1990s. Analysis of BBS data provides evidence for this replacement. Percent of quail detections in the core of the scaled quail range in the Tamaulipan Biotic Province were 80:20 (scaled quail: bobwhite) during the 1960s but currently represent about 5:95. In addition, the range of scaled quail has been contracting, moving progressively west with time. The species is no longer detected on the easternmost BBS routes in southern Texas