Obalni turizam u Crnoj Gori – razvojna dinamika, prostorni razvoj i buduće perspektive

Montenegro seeks its future perspectives in tourism. And there are good reasons for that: The country was considered to be the fastest growing tourism market worldwide in 2007. Notwithstanding a slight decrease during the last years, tourism is still seen as a crucial factor for future economic development. This seems to be a viable option if we consider Montenegro’s natural potential, its beneficial position on the Adriatic coastline and the experience in tourism gained in the many years since the 1970s. These dynamic developments were motivation enough to explore tourism in Montenegro in a research project with strong empirical evidence, organised as co-operation between Universities from Germany, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. Our empirical approach included semi-structured, flexible interviews with different types of stakeholders. Since tourism in Montenegro is still almost entirely limited to the coast, we chose three coastal hot-spots in tourism, namely Kotor, Budva and Ulcinj. Our results show that the current development in tourism can surely be considered as progressive and dynamic. But it is also strongly affected by multiple polarisations and divergent trends. There is a need for infrastructural upgrades in the mass tourism sector, which is for the most part a low budget market with very difficult future perspectives. At the same time, there is a small but growing number of very exclusive offers, often seen as the vanguard of Montenegro’s future as an upper class tourists’ destination. All in all, the economic bias towards coastal tourism involves the risk of an increase in the already strong spatial disparities, leaving behind a mountainous hinterland with a shrinking economy and population.Crna Gora traži svoju budućnost u turizmu, i to s dobrim razlozima: u 2007. godini bila je najbrže rastuće turističko tržište u svijetu. Unatoč blagom padu posljednjih godina, turizam se i dalje smatra najvažnijim faktorom budućeg ekonomskog razvoja države. To i ne čudi, uzmu li se u obzir prirodne karakteristike Crne Gore, položaj na obali Jadranskog mora i iskustvo u turizmu koji započinje još 1970-ih. Ovakav dinamičan razvoj bio je glavni razlog za istraživanje turizma Crne Gore putem znanstvenog projekta nastalog u suradnji sveučilišta iz Njemačke, Albanije, Crne Gore i Srbije. Empirijski pristup u ovom istraživanju uključuje polustrukturirane, fleksibilne intervjue s različitim dionicima. S obzirom da je turizam Crne Gore vezan gotovo isključivo uz obalu, odabrana su tri obalna turistička centra – Kotor, Budva i Ulcinj. Rezultati pokazuju da je razvoj tržišta turističkih usluga u Crnoj Gori dinamičan i napreduje, dok je istovremeno karakteriziran jakom polarizacijom i divergentnim trendovima. Potrebna su ulaganja u sektoru infrastrukture koja je većinom orijentirana na masovni turizam i tržište niske platežne moći kojem je razvojna budućnost neizvjesna. Istovremeno, postoji malena, ali rastuća ponuda ekskluzivnih turističkih usluga koje se smatraju predvodnicom budućeg razvoja Crne Gore kao destinacije za bogate turiste. Sve u svemu, gospodarski naglasak na razvoj obalnog turizma uključuje i rizik povećanja već snažnih prostornih dispariteta, ostavljajući za sobom planinsku unutrašnjost s padom u gospodarskom razvoju i populaciji

"Tourism is our future" - Stand und Perspektiven des Tourismus in Montenegro

"Tourismus ist unsere Zukunft" - diese Aussage stellt keine Einzelmeinung dar. Ähnliche Prognosen lassen sich in nahezu jeder Einschätzung der Zukunftsaussichten dieses jungen Balkanstaates in Montenegro fi nden. Dafür gibt es gute Gründe, wie z.B. das naturräumliche Potenzial, die Lage an der Adria und die jahrzehntelange Erfahrung im Tourismus. Montenegro war nicht ohne Grund 2007 der am schnellsten wachsende Tourismusmarkt weltweit. Trotz einer mittlerweile abgefl achten Wachstumskurve gilt der Fremdenverkehr immer noch als Schlüssel für die gesamte zukünftige Wirtschaftsentwicklung des Landes. Empirische Untersuchungen in Kotor, Budva und Ulcinj zeigen, dass die gegenwärtigen Entwicklungen im Tourismus zwar progressiv und dynamisch sind, aber auch zu vielfältigen Polarisierungen und divergierenden Trends führen. Es gibt einen erheblichen Investitions- und Innovationsbedarf im massentouristischen Marktsegment. Gleichzeitig nehmen exklusive Angebote zu. Diese Entwicklung Montenegros zur hochklassigen Tourismusdestination ist maßgeblich von ausländischem Kapital abhängig. Letztlich birgt die wirtschaftliche Ausrichtung auf den Küstentourismus die Gefahr einer Verstärkung der bereits vorhandenen räumlichen Disparitäten im Land, die ein ökonomisch und demographisch schrumpfendes Hinterland mit erheblichem Entwicklungsbedarf zur Folge haben."Tourism is our future" - this is not a singular opinion, similar predictions can be found in nearly every comment on the future perspectives of this young nation. And there are good reasons for that, if we consider Montenegro's natural potential, the benefi ciary position at the Adriatic coastline and the experience in tourism gained in many years since the 1970s. Montenegro was considered to be the fastest growing tourism destination worldwide in 2007. Notwithstanding a slight decrease during the last years, tourism is still seen as a crucial factor for the country's future economic development. Results of empirical research in Kotor, Budva and Ulcinj show that the current development in tourism can be considered as progressive and dynamic. But it is also strongly affected by multiple polarizations and divergent trends. There is a need for infrastructural upgrades in the mass tourism sector. At the same time, there is a small but growing number of very exclusive offers, often seen as the vanguard of Montenegro's future as an upper class tourists' destination, while being highly dependant on foreign investments. All in all, the economic bias on coastal tourism involves the risk of an increase of the already strong spatial disparities, leaving behind a mountainous hinterland with shrinking economy and population

From Post-Socialist Transition to Globalisation and Europeanisation? Metropolitan Developments in Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia

Balkan Metropolises (i.e. Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia) are the hotspots of economical, social and cultural developments in their nations. Notwithstanding their different histories they faced common processes of restructuring and transition during the last two decades. The focal points of the analysis are the corresponding effects on the urban fabric as well as the functionality of the metropolitan areas in South East Europe

Investigating microbial transformations of soil organic matter: synthesizing knowledge from disparate fields to guide new experimentation

Discerning why some soil organic matter (SOM) leaves soil profiles relatively quickly while other compounds, especially at depth, can be retained for decades to millennia is challenging for a multitude of reasons. Simultaneous with soil-specific advances, multiple other disciplines have enhanced their knowledge bases in ways potentially useful for future investigations of SOM decay. In this article, we highlight observations highly relevant for those investigating SOM decay and retention but often emanating from disparate fields and residing in literature seldom cited in SOM research. We focus on recent work in two key areas. First, we turn to experimental approaches using natural and artificial aquatic environments to investigate patterns of microbially mediated OM transformations as environmental conditions change, and highlight how aquatic microbial responses to environmental change can reveal processes likely important to OM decay and retention in soils. Second, we emphasize the importance of establishing intrinsic patterns of decay kinetics for purified substrates commonly found in soils to develop baseline rates. These decay kinetics – which represent the upper limit of the reaction rates – can then be compared to substrate decay kinetics observed in natural samples, which integrate intrinsic decay reaction rates and edaphic factors essential to the site under study but absent in purified systems. That comparison permits the site-specific factors to be parsed from the fundamental decay kinetics, an important advance in our understanding of SOM decay (and thus persistence) in natural systems. We then suggest ways in which empirical observations from aquatic systems and purified substrate–enzyme reaction kinetics can be used to advance recent theoretical efforts in SOM-focused research. Finally, we suggest how the observations in aquatic and purified substrate–enzyme systems could be used to help unravel the puzzles presented by oft-observed patterns of SOM characteristics with depth, as one example of the many perplexing SOM-related problems

Harmonic-seeded remote laser emissions in N2-Ar, N2-Xe and N2-Ne mixtures: a comparative study

We report on the investigation on harmonic-seeded remote laser emissions at 391 nm wavelength from strong-field ionized nitrogen molecules in three different gas mixtures, i.e., N2-Ar, N2-Xe and N2-Ne. We observed a decrease in the remote laser intensity in the N2-Xe mixture because of the decreased clamped intensity in the filament; whereas in the N2-Ne mixture, the remote laser intensity slightly increases because of the increased clamped intensity within the filament. Remarkably, although the clamped intensity in the filament remains nearly unchanged in the N2-Ar mixture because of the similar ionization potentials of N2 and Ar, a significant enhancement of the lasing emission is realized in the N2-Ar mixture. The enhancement is attributed to the stronger third harmonic seed, and longer gain medium due to the extended filament.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Four-wave interaction in gas and vacuum. Definition of a third order nonlinear effective susceptibility in vacuum

Semiclassical methods are used to study the nonlinear interaction of light in vacuum in the context of four wave mixing. This study is motivated by a desire to investigate the possibility of using recently developed powerful ultrashort (femtosecond) laser pulses to demonstrate the existence of nonlinear effects in vacuum, predicted by quantum electrodynamics (QED). An approach, similar to classical nonlinear optics in a medium, is developed in this article. A third order nonlinear effective susceptibility of vacuum is then introduced .Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Combined Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Transcriptomic Analysis Identifies the P3/P4 Transition as a Key stage in Rice Leaf Photosynthetic Development

Leaves are derived from heterotrophic meristem tissue that, at some point, must make the transition to autotrophy via the initiation of photosynthesis. However, the timing and spatial coordination of the molecular and cellular processes underpinning this switch are poorly characterized. Here, we report on the identification of a specific stage in rice (Oryza sativa) leaf development (P3/P4 transition) when photosynthetic competence is first established. Using a combined physiological and molecular approach, we show that elements of stomatal and vascular differentiation are coordinated with the onset of measurable light absorption for photosynthesis. Moreover, by exploring the response of the system to environmental perturbation, we show that the earliest stages of rice leaf development have significant plasticity with respect to elements of cellular differentiation of relevance for mature leaf photosynthetic performance. Finally, by performing an RNA sequencing analysis targeted at the early stages of rice leaf development, we uncover a palette of genes whose expression likely underpins the acquisition of photosynthetic capability. Our results identify the P3/P4 transition as a highly dynamic stage in rice leaf development when several processes for the initiation of photosynthetic competence are coordinated. As well as identifying gene targets for future manipulation of rice leaf structure/function, our data highlight a developmental window during which such manipulations are likely to be most effective

Cell density and airspace patterning in the leaf can be manipulated to increase leaf photosynthetic capacity

The pattern of cell division, growth and separation during leaf development determines the pattern and volume of airspace in a leaf. The resulting balance of cellular material and airspace is expected to significantly influence the primary function of the leaf, photosynthesis, and yet the manner and degree to which cell division patterns affect airspace networks and photosynthesis remains largely unexplored. In this paper we investigate the relationship of cell size and patterning, airspace and photosynthesis by promoting and repressing the expression of cell cycle genes in the leaf mesophyll. Using microCT imaging to quantify leaf cellular architecture and fluorescence/gas exchange analysis to measure leaf function, we show that increased cell density in the mesophyll of Arabidopsis can be used to increase leaf photosynthetic capacity. Our analysis suggests that this occurs both by increasing tissue density (decreasing the relative volume of airspace) and by altering the pattern of airspace distribution within the leaf. Our results indicate that cell division patterns influence the photosynthetic performance of a leaf, and that it is possible to engineer improved photosynthesis via this approach