Journal Staff

Multi-decadal studies of community and ecosystemdynamics are rare; however, this time frame is most relevant for assessing the impact of anthropogenic influences and climate change on ecosystems. For this reason, we investigated changes in vegetation and microtopography over 52 years in two contrasting mire ecosystems, one ombrotrophic (bog) and one minerotrophic (fen), representing different successional stages and contrasting hydrological settings. In both peatlands, floristic composition was recorded in the same permanent plots (n = 55-56, 0.25 m(2)) in both 1960 and 2012 and microtopography was mapped over a large area (ca. 2500 m(2)) that encompassed these same plots. We quantified and compared the community-level changes and internal spatial dynamics, tested associations between pH/microtopography and community/species change, and examined how the area and location of hummock microforms had changed over time. The bog exhibited little site level change in vegetation, where few species changed significantly in cover and plot frequency. However, detailed analyses revealed some large within-plot changes over time in the bog, illustrating that bogs can be highly dynamic systems at a fine scale. In contrast, the rich fen experienced a clear directional change; specifically, bryophyte abundance decreased by 70% and brown mosses were almost extinct. Although pH had decreased over time at the rich fen, this decrease at the plot-level was not associated with the decline of brown moss abundance. The microtopographic structure did not change substantially at the bog where similar to 70% was covered by lawn/hummocks; however, in the rich fen hummocks expanded (from 10% to 16% cover) and moved or expanded down slope. Our study suggests, that at the site-level, the bog ecosystem was more resistant to environmental changes over time compared to the rich fen, as evidenced by shifts in vegetation and microtopography. The contrasting scales of vegetation dynamics observed within a bog (i.e., within-plot changes vs. site-level) indicate that plant-environment feedbacks contribute to the peatland level stability. While in rich fens, internal feedbacks may be weaker and the ecosystem's vegetation and microtopographic structure are vulnerable to shifting hydrological fluxes

How wages change : micro evidence from the International Wage Flexibility Project

How do the complex institutions involved in wage setting affect wage changes? The International Wage Flexibility Project provides new microeconomic evidence on how wages change for continuing workers. We analyze individuals’ earnings in 31 different data sets from sixteen countries, from which we obtain a total of 360 wage change distributions. We find a remarkable amount of variation in wage changes across workers. Wage changes have a notably non-normal distribution; they are tightly clustered around the median and also have many extreme values. Furthermore, nearly all countries show asymmetry in their wage distributions below the median. Indeed, we find evidence of both downward nominal and real wage rigidities. We also find that the extent of both these rigidities varies substantially across countries. Our results suggest that variations in the extent of union presence in wage bargaining play a role in explaining differing degrees of rigidities among countriesWage setting, Wage change distributions, Downward nominal wage rigidity, Downward real wage rigidity

The interaction of labor markets and inflation: analysis of micro data from the International Wage Flexibility Project

Inflation can “grease” the wheels of economic adjustment in the labor market by relieving the constraint imposed by downward nominal wage rigidity, but not if there is also substantial downward real wage rigidity. At the same time, inflation can throw “sand” in the wheels of economic adjustment by degrading the value of price signals. A number of recent studies suggest that wage rigidity is much more important for business cycles and monetary policy than previously believed (see Erceg, Henderson and Levin, 2000, Smets and Wouters, 2003, and Hall, 2005). Thus, our results on how wage rigidity and other labor market imperfections vary between countries and how they are affected by the rate of inflation should be of considerable value in formulating monetary policy and conducting related research.

How wages change: micro evidence from the International Wage Flexibility Project

How do the complex institutions involved in wage setting affect wage changes? The International Wage Flexibility Project provides new microeconomic evidence on how wages change for continuing workers. We analyze individuals’ earnings in 31 different data sets from sixteen countries, from which we obtain a total of 360 wage change distributions. We find a remarkable amount of variation in wage changes across workers. Wage changes have a notably non-normal distribution; they are tightly clustered around the median and also have many extreme values. Furthermore, nearly all countries show asymmetry in their wage distributions below the median. Indeed, we find evidence of both downward nominal and real wage rigidities. We also find that the extent of both these rigidities varies substantially across countries. Our results suggest that variations in the extent of union presence in wage bargaining play a role in explaining differing degrees of rigidities among countries. JEL Classification: E3, J3, J5Downward nominal wage rigidity, Downward real wage rigidity, Wage change distributions, Wage setting

Activity of perch, Perca fluviatilis L. in relation to water temperature [Translation from: Kalamies 1973(6) 4.]

Catchability and activity of Perca fluviatilis in relation to temperature is examined. The number of fish caught and water temperature during the 3 summer months was used the assess the numbers of hours of activity of perch. Parallel to the research on activity, large-scale marking was carried out to establish the periods of growth during the year

The atmospheric implications of radiation belt remediation

High altitude nuclear explosions (HANEs) and geomagnetic storms can produce large scale injections of relativistic particles into the inner radiation belts. It is recognised that these large increases in >1 MeV trapped electron fluxes can shorten the operational lifetime of low Earth orbiting satellites, threatening a large, valuable population. Therefore, studies are being undertaken to bring about practical human control of the radiation belts, termed "Radiation Belt Remediation" (RBR). Here we consider the upper atmospheric consequences of an RBR system operating over either 1 or 10 days. The RBR-forced neutral chemistry changes, leading to NOx enhancements and Ox depletions, are significant during the timescale of the precipitation but are generally not long-lasting. The magnitudes, time-scales, and altitudes of these changes are no more significant than those observed during large solar proton events. In contrast, RBR-operation will lead to unusually intense HF blackouts for about the first half of the operation time, producing large scale disruptions to radio communication and navigation systems. While the neutral atmosphere changes are not particularly important, HF disruptions could be an important area for policy makers to consider, particularly for the remediation of natural injections

Syrjäytymisestä selviytymiseen Suomessa : Köyhyydestä ja sosiaalisista mahdollisuuksista kertovan laadullisen seuranta-aineiston (2006–2012) kuvaus

Syrjäytymisestä selviytymiseen Suomessa -tutkimushankkeessa kerättiin kolme laadullista seuranta-aineistoa. Ensimmäinen osa koostuu Arkipäivän kokemuksia köyhyydestä -kirjoituskilpailun 134 kirjoituksesta vuodelta 2006 ja samojen henkilöiden uusista kirjoituksista vuodelta 2012. Yhteensä kirjoituksia on 268. Toisen kokonaisuuden muodostavat saman kirjoituskilpailun 13 kirjoitusta vuodelta 2006 ja samojen henkilöiden haastattelut vuodelta 2012. Nämä kaksi kokonaisuutta on arkistoitu Yhteiskuntatieteelliseen tietoarkistoon. Kolmas aineisto koostuu diakoniarahaston avustushakemuksista joko vuodelta 2007 tai 2008 sekä näiden perusteella vuonna 2012 kerätyistä kahdestakymmenestä haastattelusta. Aineiston avulla tutkitaan ihmisten prosessinomaista selviytymistä köyhyydessä ja köyhyydestä. Sosiaalipoliittisessa tutkimuksessa selviytymisen käsitteellä ei ole systemaattista ja vakiintunutta sisältöä. Käsittelemme selviytymisen käsitteen erilaisia lähestymistapoja, kuten selviytymistä yksilön ominaisuutena ja toimintakykynä ja esittelemme aiheesta tehtyä aiempaa tutkimusta. Käymme sitten läpi aineiston keruuta ja siihen liittyviä valintoja sekä pohdimme aineiston pätevyyttä ja tutkimusetiikkaa. Syrjäytymisestä selviytymiseen Suomessa -aineiston esittely on suunnattu pääasiassa seuranta-aineistoa käyttäville tutkijoille