Runoff at the micro-plot and slope scale following wildfire, central Portugal

Through their effects on soil properties and vegetation/litter cover, wildfires can strongly enhance overland flow generation and accelerate soil erosion [1] and, thereby, negatively affect land-use sustainability as well as downstream aquatic and flood zones. Wildfires are a common phenomenon in present-day Portugal, devastating in an average year some 100.000 ha of forest and woodlands and in an exceptional year like 2003 over 400.000 ha. There therefore exists a clear need in Portugal for a tool that can provide guidance to post-fire land management by predicting soil erosion risk, on the one hand, and, on the other, the mitigation effectiveness of soil conservation measures. Such a tool has recently been developed for the Western U.S.A. [3: ERMiT] but its suitability for Portuguese forests will need to be corroborated by field observations. Testing the suitability of existing erosion models in recently burned forest areas in Portugal is, in a nutshell, the aim of the EROSFIRE projects. In the first EROSFIRE project the emphasis was on the prediction of erosion at the scale of individual hill slopes. In the ongoing EROSFIRE-II project the spatial scope is extended to include the catchment scale, so that also the connectivity between hill slopes as well as channel and road processes are being addressed. Besides ERMiT, the principal models under evaluation for slope-scale erosion prediction are: (i) the variant of USLE [4] applied by the Portuguese Water Institute after the wildfires of 2003; (ii) the Morgan–Morgan–Finney model (MMF) [5]; (iii) MEFIDIS [6]. From these models, MEFIDIS and perhaps MMF will, after successful calibration at the slope scale, also be applied for predicting catchment-scale sediment yields of extreme events

Inheritance of determinants of flower colour in tetraploid roses

The choice of selection breeding for crop improvement in cut roses requires a better understanding of biological mechanisms and knowledge of the inheritance of the major target traits which can lead to new or improved screening methods. Colour is still the most important trait in cut roses. A tetraploid mapping population will be characterized for flower colour, by using colour charts such as the official chart of the Royal Horticultural Society, and additionally, by image analysis and measuring reflectance using a spectrocolorimeter. The genetics of flower colour will be studied. In addition, flower petals of all genotypes will be analysed by HPLC to characterize secondary metabolic components that determine flower colour, such as anthocyanins. The inheritance of these components will also be assessed and compared to that of flower colour. Preliminary results show that the most effective method to quantify colour is by HPLC analysis of the extracted anthocyanins. The highest pelargonidin concentrations occur at relatively low cyanidin concentrations. Absorbance and reflectance measurements illustrate the accumulated effect of all the individual antho¬cyanins present in the peta

Runoff and erosion at the micro-plot and slope scale in a small burnt catchment, central Portugal

Wildfires can have important impacts on hydrological processes and soil erosion in forest catchments, due to the destruction of vegetation cover and changes to soil properties. However, the processes involved are non-linear and not fully understood. This has severely limited the understanding on the impacts of wildfires, especially in the up-scaling from hillslopes to catchments; in consequence, current models are poorly adapted for burnt forest conditions. The objective of this presentation is to give an overview of the hydrological response and sediment yield from the micro-plot to slope scale, in the first year following a wildfire (2008/2009) that burnt an entire catchment nearby the Colmeal village, central Portugal. The overview will focus on three slopes inside the catchment, with samples including: • Runoff at micro-plot scale (12 bounded plots) and slope scale (12 open plots); • Sediments and Organic Matter loss at micro-plot scale (12 bounded plots) and slope scale (12 open plots plus 3 Sediment fences); • Rainfall and Soil moisture data; • Soil Water Repellency and Ground Cover data. The analysis of the first year following the wildfire clearly shows the complexity of runoff generation and the associated sediment transport in recently burnt areas, with pronounced differences between hillslopes and across spatial scales as well as with marked variations through time. This work was performed in the framework of the EROSFIRE-II project (PTDC/AGR-CFL/70968/2006) which has as overall aim to predict soil erosion risk in recently burnt forest areas, including common post-fire forest management practices; the project focuses on the simultaneous measurement of runoff and soil erosion at multiple spatial scales.The results to be presented in this session are expected to show how sediment is generated, transported and exported in the Colmeal watershed; and contribute to understand and simulate erosion processes in burnt catchments, including for model development and evaluation

Magnetism in heavy-fermion U(Pt,Pd)3 studied by mSR

We report mSR experiments carried out on a series of heavy-electron pseudobinary compounds U(Pt1-xPdx)3 (x<=0.05). For x<=0.005 the zero-field muon depolarisation is described by the Kubo-Toyabe function. However the temperature variation of the Kubo-Toyabe relaxation rate does not show any sign of the small-moment antiferromagnetic phase with TN~6 K (signalled by neutron diffraction), in contrast to previous reports. The failure to detect the small ordered moment suggests it has a fluctuating (> 10 MHz) nature, which is consistent with the interpretation of NMR data. For 0.01<=x<=0.05 the muon depolarisation in the ordered state is described by two terms of equal amplitude: an exponentially damped spontaneous oscillation and a Lorentzian Kubo-Toyabe function. These terms are associated with antiferromagnetic order with substantial moments. The Knight-shift measured in a magnetic field of 0.6 T on single-crystalline U(Pt0.95Pd0.05)3 in the paramagnetic state shows two signals for B perpendicular to c, while only one signal is observed for B||c. The observation of two signals for B perpendicular to c, while there is only one muon localisation site (0,0,0), points to the presence of two spatially distinct regions of different magnetic response.Comment: 25 pages including 12 figures (PS), J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, in prin

The men behind economically successful women: A focus on Dutch dual-earner couples

Abstract Using data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, this paper compares the partners of economically successful women with those of women who have fared less well on the labor market. Economic success is measured as belonging to the top ten percent income bracket of the female sample. First, socioeconomic and cultural homogamy/asymmetry are investigated. With respect to education, homogamy is the dominant pattern. Income asymmetry, where husbands contribute most to the household income, characterizes the majority of couples, particularly in the older age groups. Gender asymmetry in cultural resources is predominant, with women having more modern gender role attitudes than men. Second, hypotheses derived from social capital theory and companionate theory are tested to examine how socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of male partners are related to women’s economic success. Economically successful women tend to have high-income men, suggesting an accumulation of favorable resources. A larger share of the male partner in carrying out household tasks is positively related to a woman’s success. Men’s supportive behavior rather than their attitudes contribute to their wives’ economic success

Critical voltage of a mesoscopic superconductor

We study the role of the quasiparticle distribution function f on the properties of a superconducting nanowire. We employ a numerical calculation based upon the Usadel equation. Going beyond linear response, we find a non-thermal distribution for f caused by an applied bias voltage. We demonstrate that the even part of f (the energy mode f_L) drives a first order transition from the superconducting state to the normal state irrespective of the current

Reversible Diffusion-Limited Reactions: "Chemical Equilibrium" State and the Law of Mass Action Revisited

The validity of two fundamental concepts of classical chemical kinetics - the notion of "Chemical Equilibrium" and the "Law of Mass Action" - are re-examined for reversible \textit{diffusion-limited} reactions (DLR), as exemplified here by association/dissociation $A+A \rightleftharpoons B$ reactions. We consider a general model of long-ranged reactions, such that any pair of $A$ particles, separated by distance $\mu$, may react with probability $\omega_+(\mu)$, and any $B$ may dissociate with probability $\omega_-(\lambda)$ into a geminate pair of $A$s separated by distance $\lambda$. Within an exact analytical approach, we show that the asymptotic state attained by reversible DLR at $t = \infty$ is generally \textit{not a true thermodynamic equilibrium}, but rather a non-equilibrium steady-state, and that the Law of Mass Action is invalid. The classical picture holds \text{only} in physically unrealistic case when $\omega_+(\mu) \equiv \omega_-(\mu)$ for any value of $\mu$.Comment: 4 page

Monitoring the salt marsh vegetation and flora of the Baixo Vouga Lagunar (Ria of Aveiro, Portugal)

El carácter transicional de la Ría de Aveiro le confiere una riqueza florística singular, integrando comunidades vegetales típicas de las regiones Eurosiberiana y Mediterránea. La implantación del Proyecto Desenvolvimento Agrícola do Vouga (PDAV) va a provocar una modificación de las tasas de encharcamiento y una reducción gradual de la salinidad, factores ecológicos determinantes para muchas de las comunidades halófilas y helofíticas. El presente trabajo pretende contribuir a un mejor conocimiento de la tipología de la vegetación local, que sirva como base para desarrollar un programa de monitorización adecuado que detecte las alteraciones en los patrones espacio- temporales de la vegetación de los sistemas húmedos. Teniendo como objetivo seleccionar los puntos de muestreo donde instalar las parcelas permanentes de monitorización, se realizó una caracterización de la flora y la vegetación a través de trece transectos utilizando una aproximación simplificada al método de Braun- Blanquet. Una vez identificados los tipos de vegetación - en función de su composición florística, corología y ecología - fueron seleccionados al azar inventarios representativos de cada tipo, en los que han sido instaladas dichas parcelas.The transitional biogeographic character of the Ria de Aveiro lagoon area confers it a singular floristic richness, integrating plant communities typical for the Eurosiberian as well as Mediterranean Region. The implementation of the Agricultural Development Plan of the Lower Vouga area (PDAV) in the near future is expected to result in noticeable changes in the tidal submersion regime and a gradual reduction of salinity levels, which are determining ecological factors for many of the halophytic and helophytic plant communities. The present work pretends to contribute to a better knowledge of the local vegetation types and, thereby, to the implementation of an adequate monitoring programme for detecting changes in the spatio-temporal vegetation patterns of the wetlands. With the objective to select the locations for the installation of permanent quadrats, the vegetation of the wetlands was described along 13 transects using a simplified Braun-Blanquet approach. A total of 24 local vegetation types were recognised, 23 of which were selected for the current monitoring programme