The Rhetorical Burden of Expert Witnesses

When judges and juries hear from expert witnesses, what exactly do they expect to hear? In other words, as an audience what purpose do they have for the communication? Just what rhetorical burden is the expert expected to bear? The theme of our paper is that the Frye and Daubert rules that dominate legal argument about the use of expert witnesses are both flawed. Neither shows adequate respect either for what Billig calls the argumentative aspect of social life or the inescapable hermeneutic and perspectival problems highlighted by the rhetoric-of-the-human-sciences movement

Clarifying the meaning of mantras in wildland fire behaviour modelling: reply to Cruz <i>et al.</i> (2017)

International audienceIn a recent communication, Cruz et al. (2017) called attention to several recurring statements (mantras) in the wildland fire literature regarding empirical and physical fire behaviour models. Motivated by concern that these mantras have not been fully vetted and are repeated blindly, Cruz et al. (2017) sought to verify five mantras they identify. This is a worthy goal and here we seek to extend the discussion and provide clarification to several confusing aspects of the Cruz et al. (2017) communication. In particular, their treatment of what they call physical models is inconsistent, neglects to reference current research activity focussed on combined experimentation and model development, and misses an opportunity to discuss the potential use of physical models to fire behaviour outside the scope of empirical approaches

Academic freedom in Europe: time for a Magna Charta?

This paper is a preliminary attempt to establish a working definition of academic freedom for the European Union states. The paper details why such a definition is required for the European Union and then examines some of the difficulties of defining academic freedom. By drawing upon experience of the legal difficulties beset by the concept in the USA and building on previous analyses of constitutional and legislative protection for academic freedom, and of legal regulations concerning institutional governance and academic tenure, a working definition of academic freedom is then derived. The resultant definition which, it is suggested, could form the basis for a European Magna Charta Libertatis Academicae, goes beyond traditional discussions of academic freedom by specifying not only the rights inherent in the concept but also its accompanying duties, necessary limitations and safeguards. The paper concludes with proposals for how the definition might be tested and carried forward

Clarifying the meaning of mantras in wildland fire behaviour modelling: reply to Cruz <i>et al.</i> (2017)

International audienceIn a recent communication, Cruz et al. (2017) called attention to several recurring statements (mantras) in the wildland fire literature regarding empirical and physical fire behaviour models. Motivated by concern that these mantras have not been fully vetted and are repeated blindly, Cruz et al. (2017) sought to verify five mantras they identify. This is a worthy goal and here we seek to extend the discussion and provide clarification to several confusing aspects of the Cruz et al. (2017) communication. In particular, their treatment of what they call physical models is inconsistent, neglects to reference current research activity focussed on combined experimentation and model development, and misses an opportunity to discuss the potential use of physical models to fire behaviour outside the scope of empirical approaches

Non-Destructive Fuel Volume Measurements Can Estimate Fine-Scale Biomass across Surface Fuel Types in a Frequently Burned Ecosystem

Measuring wildland fuels is at the core of fire science, but many established field methods are not useful for ecosystems characterized by complex surface vegetation. A recently developed sub-meter 3D method applied to southeastern U.S. longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) communities captures critical heterogeneity, but similar to any destructive sampling measurement, it relies on separate plots for calculating loading and consumption. In this study, we investigated how bulk density differed by 10-cm height increments among three dominant fuel types, tested predictions of consumption based on fuel type, height, and volume, and compared this with other field measurements. The bulk density changed with height for the herbaceous and woody litter fuels (p &lt; 0.001), but live woody litter was consistent across heights (p &gt; 0.05). Our models predicted mass well based on volume and height for herbaceous (RSE = 0.00911) and woody litter (RSE = 0.0123), while only volume was used for live woody (R2 = 0.44). These were used to estimate consumption based on our volume-mass predictions, linked pre- and post-fire plots by fuel type, and showed similar results for herbaceous and woody litter when compared to paired plots. This study illustrates an important non-destructive alternative to calculating mass and estimating fuel consumption across vertical volume distributions at fine scales

Linking Fine Scale Fuel Heterogeneity with Fire Behavior in a Frequently Burned Pinus palustris Ecosystem

In ecosystems with frequent surface fire regimes, fire and fuel heterogeneity has been largely overlooked. This could be a result of the relatively complete burns that give an impression of homogeneity in fire behavior and fire effects, or due to the difficulty in capturing fine scale variation in fuel characteristics and fire behavior. While there are often few unburned patches in these systems, there is variation in fire intensity and duration that occurs at fine scales (\u3c10 \u3em). The diverse vegetation in these ecosystems also varies at a similar fine scale. This diversity could be driven by the influences of local interactions among patches of fuels, both derived from understory vegetation and canopy supplied fine fuels. We will present the results of a study linking fine-scale fuel heterogeneity and in-situ measures of fire intensity within longleaf pine forests of the southeastern USA. Initially, we developed a novel method to capture fine scale fuel spatial variation and structure and found that fuels occur in discrete patches that occur at a scale of approximately 0.5 m. We referred to these patches as “wildland fuel cells” and present here the results of how they influenced fire behavior. We used infrared thermography to couple fire intensity and residence time with fuel cells in a spatially explicit manner. We found that fire temperatures and residence times varied at similar scales to those observed for wildland fuel cells. The results also showed that fuel cells directly affected maximum temperatures, residence time, and an index of intensity, though there were also complex interactions. We plan to couple these measurements to effects on understory vegetation dynamics. The wildland fuels cell concept shows promise as a means to connect empirical studies with models of fire behavior and fire effects, allowing better predictions of the impact of within burn heterogeneity

Appendix N. Indicator species and change in frequency and abundance for reference conditions and treatment sites.

Indicator species and change in frequency and abundance for reference conditions and treatment sites