Chimpanzees surviving in a fragmented high‐altitude forest landscape of the Congolese Albertine Rift

Long-term impact of fire on high-altitude balsam fir (Abies balsamea) forests in south-central Quebec deduced from soil charcoal

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2012-0414 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 43 (2) ◽

pp. 188-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Pierre-Luc Couillard ◽

Serge Payette ◽

Pierre Grondin

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

High Altitude ◽

Tree Species ◽

Abies Balsamea ◽

Balsam Fir ◽

Forest Landscape ◽

White Birch ◽

Soil Charcoal ◽

Fire Activity

Extensive balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) stands across the southern boreal forest are ecosystems likely more influenced by insect outbreaks and windthrows than by fire. To what degree the dominance of balsam fir stands reflects past and present disturbance dynamics associated with fire is not well documented. To answer this question, we focused on the reconstruction of the long-term fire history of high-altitude balsam fir forests of southern Quebec. The reconstruction was based on botanically identified and radiocarbon-dated soil charcoal particles in 19 sites covering successional stages from white birch (Betula payrifera Marsh.) to mixed white birch – balsam fir stands. Fire activity commenced early after deglaciation, about 9600 calibrated years before present when the first boreal tree species were established. Fire occurred recurrently during the following 5000 years with a forest landscape composed of the principal tree species common to the boreal forest, including jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.). Fire activity ceased more or less abruptly about 4500 years ago due to less fire-conducive, more humid conditions. Then, the forest landscape progressively changed towards a larger representation of white birch – balsam fir forests and the disappearance of jack pine. Whereas several balsam fir stands have not burned over the last 4500 years, scattered fires occurred in particular over the last 250 years when 1815 and 1878 fires, probably man-made, burned 50% of the forest, thus causing a major change in the composition of the forest landscape. It is concluded that the high-altitude forest landscape of southern Quebec changed profoundly over the Holocene in close association with a time-transgressive dry-to-wet climatic gradient.

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A comparison of bird richness, abundance and trophic organization in forests of Ecuador and Denmark: are high-altitude Andean forests temperate or tropical?

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467402002407 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 615-636 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Bent Otto Poulsen

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

Sea Level ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Bird Species ◽

Forest Landscape ◽

Bird Abundance ◽

Rate Of Increase ◽

Bird Richness ◽

Species Area ◽

Log Normal

The fact that certain climatic variables are similar in high-latitude temperate zones and at high-altitude sites in the tropics, has led to assumptions about ecologically equivalent situations. The altitudinal differences between two data sets obtained in forests in temperate Denmark at sea level and in tropical Ecuador at 3000–3350 m above sea level provided a comparison suitable for examining whether high-altitude Andean forests are temperate or tropical from the standpoint of avian richness, abundance and trophic organization. Sampling methods at the two locations were similar. The Ecuadorian high-altitude sites were found to be significantly more species-rich than Danish temperate sites at all spatial scales studied (from point census to 10 km2). Additionally, species–area curves from the two countries displayed positive correlations, as expected, but with different rates of increase. The high-altitude Andean curve demonstrated a higher rate of increase causing the two curves to separate widely as more area was added. This means that when increasing areas are considered, proportionately more species squeeze into the Ecuadorian high-altitude forest landscape than do into the temperate Danish forest landscape. Corresponding to the data on richness, bird abundance was significantly higher at the Ecuadorian sites than at the Danish ones. The analysis of rank–abundance plots from Denmark and Ecuador throws light on the organization of bird species and abundance. The majority of communities in both countries fitted both the log-series and the log-normal models, making statistical distinction impossible. However, a visual inspection of the rank-ordered abundance distributions demonstrated that the Danish communities, in contrast to the Ecuadorian ones, had dominant species with relatively higher abundance, had more species with intermediate abundance, and had fewer species ‘rare by abundance’. Some major food resources (especially fruit and nectar) exploited in high-altitude sites of Ecuador were not reliably available in temperate Denmark leading also to differences in the distribution of bird species within six major trophic categories. In conclusion, the ecological characteristics of birds of the high Andes apparently are similar to those of the tropical and tropical lower montane sites (increased richness and abundance, similar organization of richness and abundance, similar additional trophic categories, similar clutch sizes), and not to those of the high- and low-latitude temperate sites.

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Contrast of Filament Bright Rims

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100025628 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 144 ◽

pp. 365-367

Author(s):

E. V. Kononovich ◽

O. B. Smirnova ◽

P. Heinzel ◽

P. Kotrč

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

Line Profile ◽

Line Center ◽

Magnetic Structures ◽

The Mean

AbstractThe Hα filtergrams obtained at Tjan-Shan High Altitude Observatory near Alma-Ata (Moscow University Station) were measured in order to specify the bright rims contrast at different points along the line profile (0.0; ± 0.25; ± 0.5; ± 0.75 and ± 1.0 Å). The mean contrast value in the line center is about 25 percent. The bright rims interpretation as the bases of magnetic structures supporting the filaments is suggested.

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Clean Electron Microscope Substrate Films Used for Micrometeorite Collection and Study

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100061847 ◽

1967 ◽

Vol 25 ◽

pp. 366-367

Author(s):

D. M. Davies ◽

R. Kemner ◽

E. F. Fullam

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Electron Microscope ◽

High Altitude ◽

Amyl Acetate ◽

Temperature Variations ◽

Film Forming ◽

Film Specimen ◽

Particulate Contaminants

All serious electron microscopists at one time or another have been concerned with the cleanliness and freedom from artifacts of thin film specimen support substrates. This is particularly important where there are relatively few particles of a sample to be found for study, as in the case of micrometeorite collections. For the deposition of such celestial garbage through the use of balloons, rockets, and aircraft, the thin film substrates must have not only all the attributes necessary for use in the electron microscope, but also be able to withstand rather wide temperature variations at high altitude, vibration and shock inherent in the collection vehicle's operation and occasionally an unscheduled violent landing.Nitrocellulose has been selected as a film forming material that meets these requirements yet lends itself to a relatively simple clean-up procedure to remove particulate contaminants. A 1% nitrocellulose solution is prepared by dissolving “Parlodion” in redistilled amyl acetate from which all moisture has been removed.

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