Linking Forest Fire Regimes and Climate—A Historical Analysis in a Dry Inner Alpine Valley

Forest fire regimes are likely to experience considerable changes in the European Alps due to climatic changes. However, little is known about the recent regional fire history and the impact of local climate on the fire regime during the 20th century. We therefore reconstructed the fire history in a dry continental valley of the Swiss Alps (Valais) over the past 100years based on documentary evidence, and investigated the relationship between the reconstructed fire regime and the local climatic variability. We compared the impact of temperature, precipitation, drought and dry foehn winds on fire frequency, extent of burnt area, and fire seasonality on various spatial and temporal scales. In the subalpine zone, the fire regime appears to have been mainly driven by temperature and precipitation, whereas these variables seem to have played only a secondary role in the colline-montane zones. Here, foehn winds and, probably, non-climatic factors seem to have been more important. Temperature and precipitation played a major role in shaping fire frequency and burnt area in the first half of the 20th century, but lost their importance during the second half. Our case study illustrates the occurrence of different fire regime patterns and their driving forces on small spatial scales (a few hundred square kilometers). We conclude that the strong rise in temperature over the past century has not profoundly changed the fire regime in Valais, but in the second half of the 20th century temperature was no longer a strong determinant for forest fires as compared to human activities or biomass availability in forest

Human impacts on fire occurrence: a case study of hundred years of forest fires in a dry alpine valley in Switzerland

Forest fire regimes are sensitive to alterations of climate, fuel load, and ignition sources. We investigated the impact of human activities and climate on fire occurrence in a dry continental valley of the Swiss Alps (Valais) by relating fire occurrence to population and road density, biomass removal by livestock grazing and wood harvest, temperature and precipitation in two distinct periods (1904-1955 and 1956-2006) using generalized additive modeling. This study provides evidence for the role played by humans and temperature in shaping fire occurrence. The existence of ignition sources promotes fire occurrence to a certain extent only; for example, high road density tends to be related to fewer fires. Changes in forest uses within the study region seem to be particularly important. Fire occurrence appears to have been negatively associated with livestock pasturing in the forest and wood harvesting, in particular during the period 1904-1955. This study illustrates consistently how fire occurrence has been influenced by land use and socioeconomic conditions. It also suggests that there is no straightforward linear relationship between human factors and fire occurrenc

Calculating fertilizer value of supplemental feed for cattle on pasture (2006)

Most cattle maintained on pasture receive supplemental feed during some portion of the year. Supplements are commonly fed to grazing cattle when pasture forage quality and quantity are below animal requirements

Multi-component blending system

A blending system incorporating a blender with an operating cavity housing a plurality of elongate rod elements extending at least partially along the length of the operating cavity such that controlled relative movement between the rod elements and a multi-constituent composition within the operating cavity causes the development of predefined structures within the multi-constituent composition. The cavity within the blender incorporates a diminished cross-section in the vicinity of its terminal end. Methods to provide controlled development of microstructures and properties are also provided

An investigation of the country church in Missouri

TypescriptM.A. University of Missouri 1909The Country Church has recently become a subject of new interest and of great importance. It is attracting the attention not only of the ministry but also of the laity and must be considered anew. There is a vague feeling, which has become general, that the condition of the country church is not what it ought to be. Indeed there is a feeling that it is declining. It, however, has not assumed any definite form of expression. Little careful study has been given to the conditions and problems of the country churches. Literature is almost entirely lacking concerning them. At present it consists of a few magazine articles. These, for the greater part, are not to the point, being theoretical in character and written by men who evidently were not acquainted with the subject at first hand. What is true of the country church as a whole, in the above respects, is true of it in Missouri, to which this investigation is confined. So at the very beginning it became evident some original work would have to be done. Two questions at once arose. First, what shall be considered a country church? Second, what are its problems? (The first one necessarily had to be answered before any progress could be made either in setting forth its conditions or considering its problems.) In order to reach some conclusion in regard to the above two points, circular letters were sent to fifty men in various parts of the United States who were conversant with the conditions and problems of the church, both rural and urban, asking them: (1) where the division should be made between rural churches and urban churches; (2) to give five questions that they would like to have answered regarding the country church; and (3) to give sources of information on the subject.Includes bibliographical reference

Composites with oriented particles and particle networks with method

A method and types of composites in which particles are oriented within a melt-processable material or are arranged into networks in response to chaotic advection. A masterbatch comprising a melt-processable material and particles is supplied to a blender in which chaotic advection is maintained for a specified period. A second, melt-processable material may be supplied to the blender simultaneously. Resulting composites include extrusions with oriented inorganic platelets that reduce permeation or electrically conducting plastics and other functional materials

Leveraging Higher Education Institutions for Regional Economic Innovation: The Michigan State University Center for Community and Economic Development Approach

Inequities continue to weaken Michigan\u27s capacity to respond quickly and effectively to crises, both natural and human made. Minority and low-income populations, already disadvantaged, suffer the burden of the inequitable social, environmental, and economic injustices that have culminated in previously unacknowledged levels. Since 2011, the Michigan State University U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center for Regional Economic Innovation (REI) has been leveraging higher education assets in collaboration with distressed regions to support the co-creation, co-implementation, and dissemination of new economic development strategies to build equitable, resilient, and inclusive economies. The Michigan State University Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) and its Regional Economic Innovation (REI) initiative’s unique approach embraces collaboration to create innovative economic development tools, models, policies, and programs to improve the lives of underserved and historically excluded citizens. The Center addresses these challenges through community engagement, strategic partnerships, and collaborative learning.   Through technical assistance, Student-Led Faculty-Guided (SLFGs) projects, Co-Learning Plans (CLPs), and Innovation Fellowships (IFs), REI and partners co-create innovative and equitable initiatives leading to long-term economic recovery across Michigan. Addressing these issues requires an innovative, community-centered approach that leverages higher education assets. Engaging Michigan’s underserved communities through a collaborative model can drive high-growth entrepreneurship, job creation, and equitable economic development, fostering resilience and long-term prosperity.REI’s approach also emphasizes justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (JEDI+B), and draws on the unique strengths of higher education to empower local communities. The model has produced measurable impacts, such as increased investments and strengthened community networks, positioning REI as a replicable model for regional economic innovation

TIME-BASED CLOCKFACE RESIZING

A computing device (e.g., a cellular phone, a smartphone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a portable gaming device, a watch, etc.) may display, via a display (which is usually rectangular in shape), a graphical element of an analog clock (which is usually circular in shape) that dynamically changes size and/or position at least in part based on the time of day. Rather than display the entirety of the clock, the computing device may size and resize the clock such that the display only displays a portion of the clock but at a larger scale, allowing for the radius of the clock to exceed approximately half of the shorter length of the display. Furthermore, to ensure that the clock still effectively indicates the time of day, the computing device may position and reposition the clock such that the display always displays the entirety of a minute hand and the entirety of an hour hand of the clock. In this way, the clock may occupy more of the display and appear more visually dynamic, thereby potentially improving the user experience of the computing device