Floods, Worms, and Cattle Plague: Nature-induced Disaster at the Closing of the Dutch Golden Age, 1672-1764

The Golden Age of the Dutch Republic was waning by the end of the seventeenth century. The dramatic economic growth and cultural efflorescence that had defined this era was stagnant. The catastrophic "disaster year" of 1672 was a watershed event that revealed the Republic's increasing fragility. It also signaled the beginning of an era of nature-induced disaster. Between 1672 and 1764, environmental catastrophes repeatedly tested Dutch cultural, technological, and economic resiliency. The four most dramatic nature-induced disasters included a massive coastal flood in 1717 that devastated communities across the North Sea coastal region, an infestation of invasive mollusks (shipworms) into the wooden components of sea dikes in the 1730s, and two outbreaks of cattle plague (1713-20; 1744-1764) that decimated herds in the Netherlands and across Europe. Dutch religious figures, government officials, technocrats, and the public wrestled with the meaning and consequences of these disasters in the context of Dutch decline. This dissertation argues that nature-induced disaster was a central element in the decline of the Dutch Republic. For contemporaries, disastrous events reflected increasing cultural and moral anxieties about the decay of this once-dominant European power. Disaster events also created social and economic instability that amplified the cultural resonance of these traumas. The repeated disasters of the period between 1672 and 1764 compounded these effects. Decline was far from homogenous, however. Disasters tested Dutch resiliency, but they also sparked introspection and innovation. Nature-induced disaster prompted reappraisal and redesign of institutional, technological, and medical strategies to manage and control environmental vulnerabilities. They also prompted providential reassessments of the ultimate cause and meaning of these events. Four case studies evaluate catastrophic disaster events that occurred between 1672 and 1764, highlighting the contingencies and continuities that shaped Dutch interpretation and response. Ideas about natural change mirrored shifting environmental realities as the seemingly novel, or uniquely devastating condition of disasters during this era conditioned Dutch moral, technological, and medical reactions. Disasters were also long-term processes. They were the cumulative outcome of long-standing natural and cultural relationships. Disasters often underscored increasing disequilibria in Dutch relationships between a changing environment and their cultural and social systems of control. Contemporaries conceptually integrated multiple disaster episodes into a longer period of disaster that lasted from 1672-1764. The repeated nature-induced catastrophes during this post-Golden Age era of disaster entered into a conjuncture of economic, cultural, and climatic disasters that created a devastating and deadly synergy. The cumulative and compounding nature of this synergy was a significant factor in Dutch Golden Age decline

Ruderal vascular plants on a waste ground in the island of Dånö, Åland Islands, SW Finland

The Åland Islands, SW Finland, are known for luxuriant vegetation with numerous calciphilic vascular plants, but ruderal plants are rather few compared to the adjoining regions of Finland and Sweden. However, new ruderal plants are occasionally found in Åland. We came across a waste ground in the island of Dånö, municipality of Geta, on which several non-familiar vascular plants grew. The waste ground has been used for dumping flower shop garbage and thus some unfamiliar plants have been dumped there. The following species have not been found previously as ruderal plants in the Åland Islands: Allium sativum, Cucumis melo, Dipsacus fullonum, Hedera helix, Inula helenium and Lactuca serriola. Several other more or less rare ruderals were also found on the waste ground: Bromus secalinus, Conyza canadensis, Holcus lanatus, Lepidium densiflorum subsp. neglectum and Senecio jacobaea. Three garden shrubs, Rosa spinosissima, Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus and Salix viminalis grew together with more common garden ruderals, such as Digitalis purpurea, Malva moschata and Saponaria officinalis. A total of 137 vascular plant taxa, most of them common in the Åland Islands, were observed growing on the waste ground

Epilobium hirsutum in the Åland Islands, SW Finland

Epilobium hirsutum L. is an introduced species in Finland with the first reliable findings made in the late 19th century. The number of new findings accumulated slowly during the period 1900–1929. From the 1930’s onwards, the number of findings grew rapidly and E. hirsutum has been found in 153 grid squares of 10 km × 10 km size in the southern part of Finland until 2012. The first information of the species in the Åland Islands is a note in the literature from 1821 and the first collected specimen in the Åland Islands is from the municipality of Sund in 1873. However, both these are doubtful as they were not noticed in Finnish vascular plant floras later on. The first reliable finding is from 1973 and thereafter the localities with E. hirsutum increased with four more during the 1970’s, eight new during the 1980’s, fourteen new during the 1990’s and 35 new localities during the period 2000–2013. It thrives chiefly in man-made habitats in the cultural landscape and the most common habitats in the Åland Islands seem to be roadsides and road ditches. Although E. hirsutum has expanded during the last fifty years in Åland, it is not common yet and it has not been found in most of the eastern archipelago area. As an immigrant in our flora, E. hirsutum is now well established in the Åland Islands and it will probably be more common in the future. However, it seems that it is not a harmful invasive weed in Åland

A new record of Arctic Bramble, Rubus arcticus, in the Åland Islands, SW Finland

The Arctic Bramble, Rubus arcticus L., was found in Gottby in the municipality of Jomala, the Åland Islands, SWFinland, in June 2009. It was both flowering and fruiting, although rather sparingly. This boreal species has not been observed in the Åland Islands since 1950. The total distribution of the species is outlined.An account is given of the previous six observations of R. arcticus in Åland. The dispersal of the seeds (endocarps with seeds) of R. arcticus is treated

Effect of Tempering on the Bainitic Microstructure Evolution Correlated with the Hardness in a Low-Alloy Medium-Carbon Steel

A low-alloy medium-carbon bainitic steel was isothermally tempered at 300 degrees C for up to 24 hours which led to a significant hardness decrease. In order to explain the decreasing hardness, extensive microstructural characterization using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and atom probe tomography was conducted. The experimental work was further supplemented by thermodynamic and kinetic simulations. It is found that the main underlying reason for the hardness reduction during tempering is related to dislocation annihilation, possibly also with corresponding changes in Cottrell atmospheres. On the other hand, cementite precipitate size, effective grain size of the bainite, and retained austenite fraction appear unchanged over the whole tempering cycle

MESSENGER Observations of a Flux-Transfer-Event Shower at Mercury

Analysis of MESSENGER magnetic field observations taken in the southern lobe of Mercury's magnetotail and the adjacent magnetosheath on 11 April 2011 indicates that a total of 163 flux transfer events (FTEs) occurred within a 25 min interval. Each FTE had a duration of ∼2-3 s and was separated in time from the next by ∼8-10 s. A range of values have been reported at Earth, with mean values near ∼1-2 min and ∼8 min, respectively. We term these intervals of quasiperiodic flux transfer events "FTE showers." The northward and sunward orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field during this shower strongly suggests that the FTEs observed during this event formed just tailward of Mercury's southern magnetic cusp. The point of origin for the shower was confirmed with the Cooling model of FTE motion. Modeling of the individual FTE-type flux ropes in the magnetosheath indicates that these flux ropes had elliptical cross sections, a mean semimajor axis of 0.15RM (where RM is Mercury's radius, or 2440 km), and a mean axial magnetic flux of 1.25 MWb. The lobe magnetic field was relatively constant until the onset of the FTE shower, but thereafter the field magnitude decreased steadily until the spacecraft crossed the magnetopause. This decrease in magnetic field intensity is frequently observed during FTE showers. Such a decrease may be due to the diamagnetism of the new magnetosheath plasma being injected into the tail by the FTEs

Agronomic and Economic Performance Characteristics of Conventional and Low-External-Input Cropping Systems in the Central Corn Belt

We conducted a 9-ha field experiment near Boone, IA, to test the hypothesis that yield, weed suppression, and profit characteristics of low-external-input (LEI) cropping systems can match or exceed those of conventional systems. Over a 4-yr period, we compared a conventionally managed 2-yr rotation system {corn (Zea mays L.)/soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]} with two LEI systems: a 3-yr corn/soybean/small grain + red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) rotation, and a 4-yr corn/soybean/small grain + alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)/alfalfa rotation. Synthetic N fertilizer use was 59 and 74% lower in the 3- and 4-yr systems, respectively, than in the 2-yr system; similarly, herbicide use was reduced 76 and 82% in the 3- and 4-yr systems. Corn and soybean yields were as high or higher in the LEI systems as in the conventional system, and weed biomass in corn and soybean was low (≤4.2 g m−2) in all systems. Experimentally supplemented giant foxtail (Setaria faberi Herrm.) seed densities in the surface 20 cm of soil declined in all systems; supplemented velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti Medik.) seed densities declined in the 2- and 4-yr systems and remained unchanged in the 3-yr system. Without subsidy payments, net returns were highest for the 4-yr system ($540 ha−1 yr−1), lowest for the 3-yr system ($475 ha−1 yr−1), and intermediate for the 2-yr system ($504 ha−1 yr−1). With subsidies, differences among systems in net returns were smaller, as subsidies favored the 2-yr system, but rank order of the systems was maintained