Opposing effects of agricultural intensification on two ecologically similar species

Brown hares and rabbits are widely distributed in agricultural landscapes across the UK, occupy similar habitats and have considerable dietary overlap. However, as agriculture in the UK has intensified, hares have declined and become a species of conservation concern while rabbits have become an increasing pest. An intensive study of hares, rabbits and the dynamics of pastures over two grazing seasons was undertaken, in order to understand the environmental factors associated with hare and rabbit abundance at field level. Linear mixed models were used to assess the environmental variables, in terms of the structure, nutritional components and effects of livestock grazing that are associated with the abundance of the two species. The models revealed that hares were negatively associated with grazing intensity and plant diversity, whereas rabbits showed the strongest associations with nutritional content of pastures, in particular fat, nitrogen and fibre content in forage, as well as a positive association with short grass swards. The data suggest that, at the field-scale intensification of pasture use may have contributed to declines in hares and increases in rabbits

Sigma-phase in Fe-Cr and Fe-V alloy systems and its physical properties

A review is presented on physical properties of the sigma-phase in Fe-Cr and Fe-V alloy systems as revealed both with experimental -- mostly with the Mossbauer spectroscopy -- and theoretical methods. In particular, the following questions relevant to the issue have been addressed: identification of sigma and determination of its structural properties, kinetics of alpha-to-sigma and sigma-to-alpha phase transformations, Debye temperature and Fe-partial phonon density of states, Curie temperature and magnetization, hyperfine fields, isomer shifts and electric field gradients.Comment: 26 pages, 23 figures and 83 reference

Between the Vinča and Linearbandkeramik worlds: the diversity of practices and identities in the 54th–53rd centuries cal BC in south-west Hungary and beyond

Szederkény-Kukorica-dűlő is a large settlement in south-east Transdanubia, Hungary, excavated in advance of road construction, which is notable for its combination of pottery styles, variously including Vinča A, Ražište and LBK, and longhouses of a kind otherwise familiar from the LBK world. Formal modelling of its date establishes that the site probably began in the later 54th century cal BC, lasting until the first decades of the 52nd century cal BC. Occupation, featuring longhouses, pits and graves, probably began at the same time on the east and west parts of the settlement, the central part starting a decade or two later; the western part was probably abandoned last. Vinča pottery is predominantly associated with the east and central parts of the site, and Ražište pottery with the west. Formal modelling of the early history and diaspora of longhouses in the LBK world suggests their emergence in the Formative LBK of Transdanubia c. 5500 cal BC and then rapid diaspora in the middle of the 54th century cal BC, associated with the ‘earliest’ (älteste) LBK. The adoption of longhouses at Szederkény thus appears to come a few generations after the start of the diaspora. Rather than explaining the mixture of things, practices and perhaps people at Szederkény by reference to problematic notions such as hybridity, we propose instead a more fluid and varied vocabulary including combination and amalgamation, relationships and performance in the flow of social life, and networks; this makes greater allowance for diversity and interleaving in a context of rapid change

13C and 15N Isotopic Data on Grinding Stones from the Güvercinkayası Site, Turkey

Pavlů Ivan, Gülçur Sevil, Jačkova I., Buzek F. 13C and 15N Isotopic Data on Grinding Stones from the Güvercinkayası Site, Turkey. In: Anatolia Antiqua, Tome 17, 2009. pp. 19-30