3,003 research outputs found
Anthropogenic nitrogen autotrophy and heterotrophy of the world's watersheds: Past, present, and future trends
Anthropogenic nitrogen autotrophy of a territory is defined as the nitrogen flux associated with local production of harvested crops and grass consumed by livestock grazing (in kg N/km(2)/yr). Nitrogen heterotrophy is the nitrogen flux associated with local food and feed consumption by humans and domestic animals. These two summarizing characteristics (anthropogenic nitrogen autotrophy and heterotrophy (ANAH)) indicate the degree of anthropogenic perturbation of the nitrogen cycle by agriculture and human consumption: their balance value provides information on either the potential for commercial export or the need to import agricultural goods; in a watershed, their vector sum is related to the nitrogen flux delivered to the sea. These indicators were calculated for all the watersheds in the Global Nutrient Export from Watersheds (NEWS) database for 1970 and 2000, as well as for 2030 and 2050, according to Millennium Ecosystem Assessment scenarios. During this 30 year period, many watersheds shifted from relatively balanced situations toward either more autotrophic or more heterotrophic conditions. This trend is predicted to become more pronounced over the next 50 year
Murdering the Market: How Stigmatized Property Disclosure Requirements in South Dakota Unreasonably Diminish Economic Value in the Residential Real Estate Market
N:P:Si nutrient export ratios and ecological consequences in coastal seas evaluated by the ICEP approach
The Indicator for Coastal Eutrophication Potential (ICEP) for river nutrient export of nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica at the global scale was first calculated from available measurement data. Positive values of ICEP indicate an excess of nitrogen and phosphorus over silica and generally coincide with eutrophication. The sign of ICEP based on measured nutrient fluxes was in good agreement with the corresponding one calculated from the Global-NEWS models for more than 5000 watersheds in the world. Calculated ICEP for the year 2050 based on Global NEWS data for the four Millennium Ecosystem Assessment scenarios show increasing values particularly in developing countries. For further evaluation of the ICEP at the outlet of the rivers of the world based on measurements, there is a need for additional determination silica fluxes and concentrations, which are scarcely documented
The BIOEXPLOIT Project
The EU Framework 6 Integrated Project BIOEXPLOIT concerns the exploitation of natural plant biodiversity for the pesticide-free production of food. It focuses on the pathogens Phytophthora infestans, Septoria tritici, Blumeria graminis, Puccinia spp. and Fusarium spp. and on the crops wheat, barley, tomato and potato. The project commenced in October 2005, comprises 45 laboratories in 12 countries, and is carried out by partners from research institutes, universities, private companies and small-medium enterprises. The project has four strategic objectives covered in eight sub-projects. These objectives relate to (i) understanding the molecular components involved in durable disease resistance, (ii) exploring and exploiting the natural biodiversity in disease resistance, (iii) accelerating the introduction of marker-assisted breeding and genetic engineering in the EU plant breeding industry, and (iv) coordinating and integrating resistance breeding research, providing training in new technologies, disseminating the results, and transferring knowledge and technologies to the industry
Young stars in Epsilon Cha and their disks: disk evolution in sparse associations
(abridge) The nearby young stellar association Epsilon Cha association has an
estimated age of 3-5 Myr, making it an ideal laboratory to study the disk
dissipation process and provide empirical constraints on the timescale of
planet formation. We combine the available literature data with our Spitzer IRS
spectroscopy and VLT/VISIR imaging data. The very low mass stars USNO-B120144.7
and 2MASS J12005517 show globally depleted spectral energy distributions
pointing at strong dust settling. 2MASS J12014343 may have a disk with a very
specific inclination where the central star is effectively screened by the cold
outer parts of a flared disk but the 10 micron radiation of the warm inner disk
can still reach us. We find the disks in sparse stellar associations are
dissipated more slowly than those in denser (cluster) environments. We detect
C_{2}H_{2} rovibrational band around 13.7 micron on the IRS spectrum of
USNO-B120144.7. We find strong signatures of grain growth and crystallization
in all Epsilon Cha members with 10 micron features detected in their IRS
spectra. We combine the dust properties derived in the Epsilon Cha sample with
those found using identical or similar methods in the MBM 12, Coronet cluster,
Eta Cha associations, and in the cores to disks (c2d) legacy program. We find
that disks around low-mass young stars show a negative radial gradient in the
mass-averaged grain size and mass fraction of crystalline silicates. A positive
correlation exists between the mass-averaged grain sizes of amorphous silicates
and the accretion rates if the latter is above ~10^{-9} Msun/yr, possibly
indicating that those disks are sufficiently turbulent to prevent grains of
several microns in size to sink into the disk interior.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figures, 6 tables, language revised; accepted to A&
The Onset of Planet Formation in Brown Dwarf Disks
The onset of planet formation in protoplanetary disks is marked by the growth
and crystallization of sub-micron-sized dust grains accompanied by dust
settling toward the disk mid-plane. Here we present infrared spectra of disks
around brown dwarfs and brown dwarf candidates. We show that all three
processes occur in such cool disks in a way similar or identical to that in
disks around low- and intermediate-mass stars. These results indicate that the
onset of planet formation extends to disks around brown dwarfs, suggesting that
planet formation is a robust process occurring in most young circumstellar
disks.Comment: Published in Science 2005, vol 310, 834; 3 pages in final format, 4
figures + 8 pages Supporting Online Material. For final typeset, see
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/310/5749/834?eto
The absence of the 10 um silicate feature in the isolated Herbig Ae star HD 100453
We analyse the optical and IR spectra, as well as the spectral energy
distribution (UV to mm) of the candidate Herbig Ae star HD100453. This star is
particular, as it shows an energy distribution similar to that of other
isolated Herbig Ae/Be stars (HAEBEs), but unlike most of them, it does not have
a silicate emission feature at 10 um, as is shown in Meeus (2001). We confirm
the HAEBE nature of HD100453 through an analysis of its optical spectrum and
derived location in the H-R diagram. The IR spectrum of HD100453 is modelled by
an optically thin radiative transfer code, from which we derive constraints on
the composition, grain-size and temperature distribution of the circumstellar
dust. We show that it is both possible to explain the lack of the silicate
feature as (1) a grain-size effect - lack of small silicate grains, and (2) a
temperature effect - lack of small, hot silicates, as proposed by Dullemond
(2001), and discuss both possibilities.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures; accepted by A&
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