bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sharing, Talking, and Giving: Relief of Social Tensions among !Kung Bushmen
Authors: Marshall Lorna
Published: April 2006

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This paper describes customs, practised by the !Kung Bushmen in the Nyae Nyae region of South Africa, which help them to avoid situations that are likely to arouse ill will and hostility among individuals within the bands and between bands. Two customs which seem to be especially helpful and which I describe in detail are meat-sharing and gift-giving. I mention also the !Kung habits of talking, aspects of their good manners, their borrowing and lending, and their not stealing.
Kamcape: an Anti-Sorcery Movement in South-West Tanzania
Authors: Willis R. G.
Published: April 2006

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While doing field-work among the Fipa of south-west Tanzania between December 1962 and June 1964 I collected evidence about an anti-sorcery cult or movement called Kamcape which was then active in the area. The present article describes this evidence and seeks to assess its sociological significance.
Aspirations and Social Structure: a West African Example
Authors: Peil Margaret
Published: April 2006

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The has been considerable concern in recent years with the large number of young people in various developing countries who receive a few years of primary education and then prove a drain on the economy because they cannot or will not find employment. The usual complaint has been that they all want clerical jobs for which they are marginally, if at all, qualified, and the usual remedy suggested has been a return to the farm.
Some Swazi Views on Land Tenure
Authors: Hughes A. J. B.
Published: April 2006

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Virtually all sub-Saharan Africa is in the throes of rapid social and economic change. The recent fashion for meteorological allegories has merely served to stress the fact that these changes are also causing very considerable problems. The dilemma facing most administrations throughout the continent is that while much of the old way of life must inevitably disappear if the tribal groups involved are to hope to survive as viable populations in the modern world, this same process can, if it occurs too fast, threaten the whole social order and the systems of social control and social organization, which have hitherto bound them together as groups and governed the day-to-day lives of their members.
Red and School: a Quantitative Approach
Authors: Dubb A. A.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

In his recent study of urbanization among the Xhosa in East London, Mayer (1961) reveals a new dimension in the pagan/Christian opposition. The Xhosa-speaking tribes, Mayer points out, distinguish between what they call Red people (abantu ababomvu) and School people (abantu basesikolweni). The former are conservative traditionalists, adhering to Xhosa custom; the latter are already westernized to a degree and value many aspects of European material and non-material culture. But, Mayer emphasizes, Red Xhosa must not simply be regarded as a backward residue of unfortunates who have lacked the opportunity, one way or another, of becoming westernized. On the contrary: the Red Xhosa, no less than School Xhosa, have probably had more opportunity than any other population in Africa to experience and adopt western culture. The point is that Reds are not only conservatives, they are positive conservatives. They represent those Xhosa who have deliberately rejected white civilization and chosen instead to maintain their traditional way of life. And theirs is not an easy choice: it is a constant struggle against the forces of change.
From Tribute to Tax in a Tikar Chiefdom
Authors: Chilver E. M. , Kaberry P. M.
Published: April 2006

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This historical reconnaissance is not concerned with the economic consequences of direct taxation or its relation to the dogma of colonial self-sufficiency but rather with what McPhee calls its ‘political, moral and social nature’. A revenue system reflects not only the circumstances in which the authority of governments is exercised, but some of its ideal premisses—a truism which can be illustrated from the tax history of British West Africa in general and by the comparison of the Northern and Southern Nigerian systems before the post-Amalgamation reforms of Lugard and his successors. Since direct taxation is an aspect of colonial administration which affects members of a tribal society regularly and generally and demands a voluntary or enforced accommodation, its study in a particular tribal area may provide some useful insights to students of social change. Where the tribal society already has a system of tribute or provisioning, the introduction of a different system presents the colonial Government's native agents with problems of reinterpretation as well as procedure.
Anthropology and the Development of African Studies
Authors: Forde Daryll
Published: April 2006

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The foundation and the broad policies of our Institute emerged from what proved a fortunate conjunction of diverse interests and opportunities that developed after the First World War. The initial phase of modern economic advance in tropical Africa, following the introduction of the telegraph, railways, all-weather roads, was by the twenties making apparent a wide range of needs and opportunities for further progress in Africa—progress in which both the interests of, and contribution by, its peoples would be closely concerned. Within African territories the demand for literacy and training in new skills both more extensive and at higher levels was becoming more and more obvious and pressing. The significance of the increasing and inevitable association of Africans and their communities with a world economy was beginning to be more widely appreciated. With this growing recognition of the need for a more positive and constructive response many questions arose concerning not only the means of fostering such developments, but also their effects on the attitudes, beliefs, and institutions that had hitherto sustained the cultures and the social life of largely autonomous tribes and chiefdoms.
Bangwa (Western Bamileke) Marriage Wards
Authors: Brain Robert
Published: April 2006

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It is not uncommon in West Africa for lineage heads and chiefs in patrilineally organized societies to retain important bridewealth rights in their daughters or marriage wards and their descendants. My own field-work, on which this paper is based, was done among the Bangwa, a Bamileke group of the Cameroons. The Bamileke have been described as practising a special form of marriage, known as ngkap marriage. The principle is simple: a girl is given in marriage without transfer of bridewealth from her husband; as a result, the marriages of the daughters of this union are arranged by their maternal grandfather, who becomes known as their tangkap (ta ngkap = father [of bride] wealth). In ‘ngkap marriage’, unlike marriage with normal bridewealth transfers between a husband and his wife's kin, husbands only obtain rights in uxorem (in the woman as a wife) and not rights in genetricem (in the woman as a mother). If the tangkap continues to give his wards in marriage without receiving bridewealth from their suitors, he continually increases his capital stock of marriage wards. Chiefs among the Bamileke, heads of large polygynous compounds, give daughters and wards to their impecunious subjects, sons, and servants who cannot afford the marriage payments. Hurault estimated that in one chief-dom with a population of approximately 20,000, the chief had 1,500 female wards and was linked, through ngkap marriage, to the majority of his subjects. On a lower level lineage heads are able to increase the size of patrilineages through ngkap marriage, since wards and their children are incorporated into the group of their tangkap, not that of their father.
Marriage Patterns and Trends in the Nomadic and Settled Populations of the Sudan
Authors: Henin R. A.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

This study is based on data collected as part of a series of demographic surveys conducted in 1961–2 in different parts of the Sudan. The primary aim of the surveys was to study fertility differentials in the country.

The study of marriage patterns, however, is a prerequisite for any serious investigation of fertility especially in a country like the Sudan where birth control, as understood in countries of the West European type, is almost unknown.
Swazi Royal Ritual
Authors: Beidelman T. O.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

In his Frazer Lecture of 1952, Rituals of Rebellion in South-East Africa (1954), Professor Max Gluckman considers certain types of ritual behaviour as institutionalized expressions of rebellion against authority. He maintains that this expression is an important function of such ritual. The following quotations present the gist of his interpretation:

I shall therefore consider the social components of ceremonies, analogous to those which concerned Frazer, among the South-Eastern Bantu.…Here there are…performed, as elsewhere in Africa, national and local ceremonies at the break of the rains, sowing, first fruits, and harvest.…But whatever the ostensible purpose of the ceremonies, a most striking feature of their organization is the way in which they openly express social tensions. Women have to assert license and dominance as against their formal subordination to men, princes have to behave to the kings as if they covet the throne, and subjects openly state their resentment of authority. Hence I call them rituals of rebellion. I shall argue that some ritual rebellions proceed within an established distribution of power, and not about the structure of the system itself. This allows for instituted protest, and in complex ways renews the unity of the system (1954, p. 3).

We are here confronted with a cultural mechanism which challenges study by sociologists, psychologists, and biologists, the analysis in detail of the process by which this acting of conflict achieves a blessing—social unity. Clearly we are dealing with the general problem of catharsis set by Aristotle … the purging of emotion through ‘pity, fear and inspiration’. Here I attempt only to analyze the sociological setting of the process (1954, p. 20).
Strangers in West African Societies
Authors: Skinner Elliott P.
Published: April 2006

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The difficulties attending the attempt of the new African polities to weld their disparate elements into viable nation-states have been popularly attributed to ‘tribalism’. Certainly, in some cases groups indigenous to a region did come into conflict as new states arose there, but a hard look at tribal relations in modern Africa shows these relations to be of a different order from those of pre-European times. One element in the so-called ‘tribalism’ in modern Africa, and one which has so far escaped systematic treatment, is the conflict which arose between Africans indigenous to an area and African ‘strangers’—those groups which for various reasons had moved out of their homelands and had established relatively long-term residence in the territories of other groups—as political autonomy and independence became a reality. An examination of the factors which made for conflict between ‘locals’ and ‘strangers’ in West African societies would not only give us the opportunity to understand this phenomenon in a time-perspective, but would also enable us to see whether the status and role of the ‘stranger’ in these societies could throw light on the universal problem of the ‘stranger’.
The Political Function of the Poro. (Part II.)
Authors: Little Kenneth
Published: April 2006

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In the concluding paragraphs of Part I of this article it was pointed out that in addition to its judicial functions the Poro society possessed some important powers of administration. On the other hand, there was also evidence to suggest that the society carried on this wide range of activities, amounting almost to government of the country, as an instrument of the chiefs.
Interpretation of Evidence on the Introduction of Maize into West Africa
Authors: Miracle Marvin P.
Published: April 2006

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Frank Willett, in scrutiny of the evidence cited by M. D. W. Jeffreys to support the hypothesis of pre-Columbian maize in Africa, has helpfully reopened the controversy concerning the introduction of maize to tropical Africa, but on three points he curiously comes dangerously close to committing the major error he shows Jeffreys to be guilty of, viz., drawing ‘…on all manner of evidence, with more industry than discretion…’.
The Dynamics of Multilineality on the Mambila Plateau
Authors: Rehfisch F.
Published: April 2006

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The Mambila social structure, unlike the majority of those studied in West Africa, is characterized by the presence of kinship groups with corporate functions which are not unilineal. All members of these units claim descent from a common male ancestor or his sibling, but descent may be traced through males, females, and in some cases through links including both sexes. A knowledge of the changes in both the traditional and present marriage practices is essential for obtaining an understanding of this kinship system. Changes in the two principal Mambila kinship groups—the memin and the man—over the past three or four decades will also be analysed.
Relations between the sexes among the Nuer: 1930
Authors: Hutchinson Sharon
Published: April 2006

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As this important Nuer myth suggests, men's control of the disruptive forces around them is limited and problematic. In part this limitation stems from relations of mutual dependence which continually restrict the power and authority of men in Nuer society. In speaking of their dependence upon cattle, Nuer say: ‘“They will be finished together with mankind”, for men will all die on account of cattle and they and cattle will cease together’ (1940:49). Similarly, the dependence of men upon the reproductive and nurturing powers of women assures the latter an important source of control: mutual dependence implies a mutual independence. Women have an exclusive realm of activity and hence an exclusive domain ofxontrol and influence. Moreover, they can subvert political alliances and aggravate divisions within the male hierarchy through the manipulation of their children's loyalties. In this essay, I examine these bonds of mutual dependence uniting men and women in Nuer society so as to outline some of the sources, characteristics and limitations of male domination and authority.
The clans of Rwanda: an historical hypothesis
Authors: Newbury David S.
Published: April 2006

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Only recently have precolonial African historical studies broken away from their fixation on dynastic histories and trade. In reassessing the dynastic traditions, historians of the African past have increasingly drawn on oral traditions from non-royal sources. In particular they have placed a great deal of emphasis on ‘clan traditions’ and the clan group has consequently served as an important building block in reconstructing the African past. But in Rwandan studies this has often been undertaken in a rather uncritical manner; in fact, historians may have been building on a foundation which is less enduring than they realize. For their new construct is often based on the assumption of ‘primordial’ clan units reaching far back into the past, antedating the dynastic political units of which they came to form a part. It is usually argued that these enduring clan units could absorb individuals from other clans or experience geographical expansion through migration; but the basic structure of clan identities is seen as unchanging.
Nomadism in Ankole as a Substitute for Rebellion
Authors: Elam Yitzchak
Published: April 2006

Introduction: Ankole's Non-rebellious Character

The heroic Bacwezi, founders of kingship in Ankole and in other East African interlacustrine states, are said to have ‘disappeared’ because of their subjects' ungrateful insurrection (Oberg 1940: 124). The moral of the legend—that revolts against Ankole's kings, successors of the Bacwezi, are doomed!—has been curiously adhered to.
Forty Days: The Akan Calendar
Authors: Bartle Philip F. W.
Published: April 2006

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Several attempts have been made to understand the development if not the origin of Akan culture in terms of the diffusion of (a) traits from the north which were taken south with the expansion and disintegration of the great savanna trading empires and the southward migration of Mande Dyula merchants and (b) traits which were already present prior to that migration in a large area once populated mainly by Guan in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Togo, and today populated for the most part by Akan, Adanbe, and Ewe. The mixing of these cultural traits and the point of origin for the Akan expansion appear, to have taken place along a trade route stretching from the Sahara to the Atlantic coast, close to the site of Begho near Wenchi in the Bono Techiman state (Boahen 1966; Goody 1959, 1966, 1968; Wilks 1962).
Le système des forces nkisi chez les Kongo d'après le troisième volume de K. Laman
Authors: Dupré Marie-Claude
Published: April 2006

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Le troisième volume des notes de K. Laman édité par S. Lagercrantz en 1962 étudie la vie religieuse chez les Kongo. Une grande partie des 258 pages traite des nkisi, ces forces non humaines capturées par les hommes qui les incorporent à un support matériel pour les mettre à leur service. Souvent aussi, prenant l'initiative du contact, les nkisi offrent leurs pouvoirs à certaines personnes de leur choix. A partir des 119 nkisi mentionnés ou décrits par K. Laman est-il possible de construire un système explicatif dans lequel ils obéissent à une certaine logique, sont actifs dans un domaine particulier, sont justifiés par des correspondances avec certaines catégories du monde, bref, sont reliés à un système de pensée cohérent et capable de légitimer leur action? Laman lui-même nous y invite puisqu'il déclare ‘minkisi belong to three classes: land, water and sky minkisi, according as their nkisi-fotraing medicines derive from these respective spheres’ (p. 71).
Traditional History and Political Change Among the Matengo of Tanzania
Authors: Basehart Harry W.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

During the period of British colonial control of the former mandated territory of Tanganyika, political activity among the Matengo of the extreme south-western part of the country was characterized by opposition and conflict between two chiefly dynasties of the tribe. The issue on which the contending parties focused was that of the legitimacy of conflicting claims to the office of paramount chief. Both dynasties made use of versions of traditional history to support their claims to rulership. In this paper I propose to discuss the major features of these contrasting traditional histories and examine their significance for the understanding of aspects of political conflict and change in Umatengo during the colonial regime.
Beti society in the nineteenth century
Authors: Quinn Frederick
Published: April 2006

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The Beti are a Bantu-speaking people of approximately 500,000 persons, most of whom live between the Nyong and Sanaga rivers in central Cameroon. This article reconstructs aspects of traditional Beti society in the nineteenth century. It is based primarily on German and French archival sources available in Cameroon, German explorer's accounts and numerous oral interviews with Beti elders, some of whom were appointed chiefs, schoolteachers or functionaries under the Germans.
Initiation into the Bori Cult: A Case Study in Ningi Town
Authors: Besmer Fremont E.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

The town of Ningi is located on the western edge of the North East State of Nigeria, about 25 km from the south-eastern corner of Kano State. Old Ningi town (about 50 km from the town's present site) was founded by a Kano Qur'anic teacher-scholar, Malam Hamza, and his followers in the middle of the nineteenth century. Malam Hamza is said to have fled Kano because of political and religious disputes with the Emir of Kano which resulted in a purge of the Malam class. Moving away from the centre of Kano power to the comparative safety of the Kabara hills and the non-Hausa people who lived in them, Malam Hamza was able to establish the separatism he and his followers desired. During this period the Kabara hills were the scene of slave-raiding and warfare, constantly threatened by the Hausa-Fulani emirates which surrounded them. Fighting from the hills, the people of Old Ningi, loosely allied with their neighbours, the Butawa, Warjawa, and others, were able to maintain their independence from Bauchi, Zaria, and Kano.
The Living Dead: Art and Immortality among the Yoruba of Nigeria
Authors: Lawal Babatunde
Published: April 2006

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The consciousness that Death will sooner or later expel him from the earth, despite all his efforts to make it a permanent home—and such a comfortable one for that matter—is certainly the greatest question facing man. Scared by the imminence of Death, man sometimes wishes that he had not been created at all; but having been created, he has no choice other than to accept Death as the price to be paid for living. Now it is up to him to ignore it so as to be able to enjoy the little time he has to spend on earth; he should then pay the price when it is due. Alternatively, he may want to challenge Death and try to neutralize its power. This, of course, is taking a big risk. But to succeed is to live foreever.
Awka who Travel: Itinerant Metalsmiths of Southern Nigeria
Authors: Neaher Nancy C.
Published: April 2006

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The activities of Igbo metalsmiths caught the eye of foreign observers of southeastern Nigerian cultures well over a hundred years ago, but it was not until the turn of this century that the unorthodox character of Igbo smithing achieved some recognition. G. T. Basden's typical remarks, made after a long missionary sojourn among the Igbo, highlight this striking dimension:

There are some towns which practically monopolise certain specialised professions. For example, Awka, Nkwerre and a few other places manufacture nearly all the metal work produced in the Ibo country .… These men travel widely, not only in the Ibo country, but in the regions beyond its borders as far as Calabar, Bonny, Warri and even farther afield. (Basden 1938: 318; italics mine)
Profile and Process: Subsistence Hunters in a Zambian Community
Authors: Marks Stuart A.
Published: April 2006

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Most descriptions of social life in rural communities in Central Africa contain some references to hunters or hunting practices. Despite the decimation of some wildlife species by rinderpest at the turn of the last century, wildlife continued plentiful in many regions and hunting and trapping were part of the subsistence routines of males in rural areas during the first three decades of this century. During this period in Zambia, European administrators (Gouldsbury and Sheane 1911; Melland 1923; Hughes 1933), missionaries (Smith and Dale 1920), and itinerants (Lyell 1910; Letcher 1911) often interspersed their exploitative accounts of ‘sport hunting’ with descriptions of chants, rituals, magic and other hunting lore of their African associates. These accounts of local traditions, often colored with the latent assumptions of the time, apparently intrigued and fascinated their European readership then mentally riding the crest of colonial expansion and technological superiority. In subsequent decades, large wild mammals declined in numbers and in importance as a subsistence base in most rural areas. Yet information on hunting customs, gleaned incidentally in the pursuit of the researchers' major interests, has been a continuous feature of ethnographies written subsequently by social scientists (Richards 1939; White 1956; Turner 1957; Scudder 1962; Stefaniszyn 1964; Reynolds 1968) suggesting a widespread enthusiasm for hunting even where wildlife is no longer of consequence. These fortuitous bits of information on the subsistence hunter's world still leave many unresolved questions as to the function and frequency of these customs, the numbers and types of hunters in each community, and the nature of subsequent changes.
Comparative Analysis of Central African Religions
Authors: MacGaffey Wyatt
Published: April 2006

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In 1936 Godfrey Wilson attempted ‘to introduce the subject of morality for scientific discussion in a new manner’. The new manner owed much to Malinowski's insistence on the importance of inventories in field-work. Wilson showed that Nyakyusa religion fell into three distinct but related categories: ancestor cult, magic, and witchcraft. The ancestor cult was the concern of kin-groups; within the kinship context, the belief that cult failures brought down afflictions upon individuals served to constrain their behaviour in the interests of morality. Magic and witchcraft had similar effects within the political community, of which the kin-groups were constituents. The three possible sources of affliction formed a limited series.
Rural Migrants as Catalysts in Rural Development: The Urhobo in Ondo State, Nigeria
Authors: Otite Onigu
Published: April 2006

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Although there is a plethora of works on migratory processes and migrant organizations, few of these deal with the contribution of rural-to-rural migrants to socio-economic development and the emergence of small urban centres. Migration involves permanent or semi-permanent changes in residence and takes account of factors which intervene between the economic opportunities and social conditions of the place of origin and those of the destination (Lee 1966; Otite f.c; Udo 1975). Economic and non-economic calculations of cost are important in all decisions to migrate. Rural-to-rural migration (with which we are concerned here) involves those who because of their low education and incentives decided to move to exploit familiar resources in new rural environments. Perhaps it is through in depth anthropological studies that the best light may be shed on the contributions of such migrants to development in the particular place to which they migrate.
Small Urban Centres and the Growth of Underdevelopment in Rural Kenya
Authors: Kabwegyere T. B.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

The 1970–4 Kenya Development Plan designated four levels of centres to stimulate rural development: urban centres as the main commercial centres for an entire district, mostly district headquarters though some like Kajiado, Narok and Kitui have not been so designated; rural centres to serve a population of at least 40,000; market centres to serve populations of about 15,000; and local centres to cater for populations of at least 5,000. Thirty six urban centres, 140 rural centres, 231 market and 600 local centres were identified (see Kabwegyere n.d.: esp. ch. 6).
Forever Gained: Resettlement and Land Policy in the Context of National Development in Zimbabwe
Authors: Kinsey B. H.
Published: April 2006

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In September 1980 the Government of Zimbabwe embarked upon a programme of agricultural resettlement which is modest in terms of the extent of the problems which it seeks to mitigate, but ambitious in terms of the capacity of a new administration to implement it. The target rates of resettlement designed into the original programme have subsequently been multiplied some ninefold by the addition of a second, parallel programme, which makes resettlement now and in the foreseeable future the major rural development activity in Zimbabwe; indeed, it is currently the only sustained public sector programme with the potential to affect fairly immediately and significantly the economic welfare of large numbers of rural dwellers.
Do intrinsically dominant and subordinate species exist? A test statistic for field data
Authors: Olff Han , Bakker Jan P.
Published: April 2006

Abstract. We propose a new method to obtain information about processes that structure plant communities. We analysed the relationship between the presence and dominance of species across a range of habitats. A simple regression model was used to describe this relationship for each species. Based on the regression parameters, we distinguished globally dominant species, which dominate in the same proportion of plots within a habitat as in which they occur, locally dominant species, which reach dominance only when present in almost every plot of a habitat, and intrinsically subordinate species, which never attain dominance. We tested this method using a large data set of species occurrences across a range of salt marsh habitats. The relationships between presence and dominance could be described well by the regressions, and showed large differences between the species. Global dominants occurred later in the succession and higher on the elevational gradient than intrinsically subordinate species. Local dominants were characteristic of early successional stages. These patterns are discussed in the light of colonisation‐competition and tolerance‐competition trade‐offs.
A multidisciplinary evaluation of restoration measures in a degraded Cirsio‐Molinietum fen meadow
Authors: van Duren I.C. , Strykstra R.J. , Grootjans A.P. , ter Heerdt G.N.J. , Pegtel D.M.
Published: April 2006

Abstract. An integrated multidisciplinary approach including descriptive and experimental research of environmental and biotic factors was used to evaluate an attempt to restore a species‐rich fen meadow, phytosociologically belonging to the Cirsio‐Molinietum. Expert judgement and preliminary research indicated that soil acidification, due to drainage in the surrounding area, caused the degeneration of the fen meadow. Flooding the meadow with surface water was applied in order to stop acidification. A small irrigated wetland (helophyte filter) was constructed to reduce nutrient availability in the surface water. Sod cutting was applied in a small area as well. The two measures were evaluated through: (1) measurements of hydrological and soil factors, (2) seed bank analysis, (3) recording species composition in permanent plots, (4) assessing the type and extent of nutrient limitation using a full‐factorial fertilization experiment, (5) assessing the effect of liming on vegetation biomass, and (6) recording the growth of three introduced fen meadow species in the liming experiment.

The research was carried out in a degraded site with intact vegetation, a degraded site where the top soil was removed by sod cutting and a reference site with intact Cirsio‐Molinietum vegetation. Groundwater levels in the degraded and the stripped site differed slightly from those of the reference site but they were within the range of Cirsio‐Molinietum requirements. Groundwater quality slightly improved in the stripped site. Top‐soil removal considerably reduced the macro‐nutrient contents and caused a stronger P‐deficiency. No increase in soil pH was observed immediately after top‐soil removal. A small increase in soil pH was found after five years in the stripped site, indicating a slight recovery from acidification. Liming after top‐soil removal had little effect on the soil pH after six months but stimulated the growth of established species such as Agrostis canina. Few viable seeds of characteristic fen meadow species were present in the seed banks of both degraded and well developed fen meadow sites. The species composition after top soil removal reflected the seed bank of the degraded fen meadow and establishment of characteristic fen meadow species was poor, even after five years. The introduced species (Carex hostiana, C. panicea, Cirsium dissectum) survived during the first year in both the degraded and the stripped site. Liming initially stimulated the growth of two species, but in the second year this effect disappeared. After two years, none of the introduced species survived at the stripped site. The restoration measures failed so far, probably because acidification could not be counteracted satisfactorily.

Finally, it was concluded that our multidisciplinary approach enables us to draw proper conclusions and that it is suitable for other restoration attempts as well.
Prediction of occurrence of vascular plants in deciduous forests of South Sweden by means of Ellenberg indicator values
Authors: Dupré Cecilia , Diekmann Martin
Published: April 2006

Abstract. In this study we present a new method for predicting the occurrences of species using data from deciduous forests in South Sweden. Complete species lists of vascular plants were compiled from 101 stands and from representative sample plots inside the stands. Soil samples from each stand were collected for determination of pH and nitrogen mineralization.

Presence‐absence data for species were fitted to the values of four environmental variables ‐ soil moisture, soil reaction (pH), soil nitrogen and light ‐ by means of Linear (Multiple) Logistic Regression (LLR), and Gaussian (Multiple) Logistic Regression (GLR). First, these values were estimated by calculating the weighted averages of Ellenberg indicator values. Second, the estimates for reaction and nitrogen were substituted by the real measurements of pH and mineralized NH4+, keeping the Ellenberg estimates for light and moisture. The models were validated by an independent test data set.

In general, the models had high predictive abilities. GLR fitted the species occurrences better to the environmental variables than LLR, but had a lower accuracy of prediction of species occurrence in the stands. The use of soil measurements instead of Ellenberg indicator values did not improve the predictive abilities of the models. The environmental conditions in the stand test set were successfully estimated by using species data from the plots. When using the species lists of the stands instead of plot data, a slightly better predictive ability was obtained. The collection of plot data, however, is easier and less time‐consuming. The accuracy of prediction differed considerably between species.
The Performance and Legacy of NAPAP
Authors: Cowling Ellis B.
Published: April 2006

This paper reviews the performance of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program during its initial 10 yr. Special emphasis is given to contributions to science, to public decision—making, and to lessons for future environmental and ecological research.
The Effect of Leaf‐Mining by Liriomyza Trifolii on Seed Set in Greenhouse Marigolds
Authors: Heinz Kevin M. , Parrella Michael P.
Published: April 2006

The effect of foliage feeding by the serpentine leafminer, Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess), on seed production and germination by male—sterile marigolds (Tagetes erecta L.) was examined over two cropping seasons in commercial production greenhouses. Five components of T. erecta relative fitness (the number of flowers, ovules, and germinations per plant, seed mass, and plant height) were compared in plants grown under four different control strategies representing three different intensities of L. trifolii herbivory: no control (high herbivory), biological or chemical control (intermediate herbivory), and insect—free (low herbivory). In both years of the study, significant between—treatment differences in number of viable seeds per plant were detected but no significant differences were found in the other four relative fitness measures. The number of viable seeds was highest with high herbivory (no—control treatments) and lowest with comparatively low herbivory (chemical and insect—free treatments). L. trifolii damage may reduce photosynthate availability, which may slow seed development and increase the length of time in which ovule physiological and morphological conditions are suitable for successful fertilization. Because all plants within each year received an equal number of pollinations occurring at the same time relative to plant growth, ovules within plants in the high—damage treatments may have had a greater probability of being fertilized, resulting in an increase in production of viable seeds.
Primary Production in Grasslands and Coniferous Forests with Climate Change: An Overview
Authors: Long Steve P. , Hutchin Paul R.
Published: April 2006

In energy terms primary production is the driving step of the global carbon cycle. To predict the interaction of ecosystems with the "greenhoude" effect, it is necessary to understand how primary production, consumption, and decomposition will respond to climate change. Most estimates of primary production have been made by extrapolation from measured standing crops. For grasslands we show this approach to be seriously in error. Even where detailed studies of turnover and belowground production have been undertaken, errors are invariably high, severely limiting the value of models based on correlation of climate with measured production. Detailed information is available on the responses of individual plant processes to individual climatic variables at the leaf, plant, and stand level, giving potential for a more mechanistic approach in modelling. This approach is limited by lack of information on multivariate interactions and on some key physiological processes, and by uncertainties in scaling up to populations and communities. Despite this, some important insights to possible community responses, particularly those of C3 and C4 types, may be gained from knowledge of responses at the plant level and below. This review outlines the expected character of climate change in grasslands and coniferous forests. Knowledge of the responses of different physiological processes underlying production to individual aspects of climate change is considered, and its implications for higher levels of organization are discussed. Although feasible, mechanistic models of production compound the errors associated with individual process responses with uncertainties surrounding interaction and scaling up, and result in very large errors in any prediction of response to climate change. We conclude that there is insufficient information to predict accurately the response of primary production to climate change. The key processes for which information is inadequate and the parameters that have meaning at different scales need to be identified. Of particular promise is the approach of predicting production from light interception and conversion efficiency.
Vegetation‐Hydrology Models: Implications for Management of Prosopis Velutina (Velvet Mesquite) Riparian Ecosystems
Authors: Stromberg Juliet C. , Wilkins Scott D. , Tress James A.
Published: April 2006

Prosopis velutina (velvet mesquite) forests are one of many types of aridland riparian ecosystems that are threatened by groundwater pumping and other types of water development. Empirical models developed using both hydrological and vegetational data sets have potential uses in the management of these threatened ecosystems. To this end, we developed models for Prosopis velutina stands across a xeric—to—mesic moisture gradient. The models expressed canopy height, basal area, leaf area index, vegetation volume, and leaflet area as functions of plant water potential, and they expressed plant water potential and riparian stand structure as functions of water table depth. These data indicated that stand structure was strongly related to water availability. Management applications of the models include the ability (1) to identify minimum water—table depths for riparian stand maintenance and (2) to detect stressful hydrological conditions, via water potential measurements, before the onset of structural degradation.
Reversing the Fragmentation Perspective: Effects of Clearcut Size on Bird Species Richness in Maine
Authors: Rudnicky Tamia C. , Hunter Malcolm L.
Published: April 2006

The effects of clearcut size on bird species richness in a forest—dominated landscape were examined. Forty—five clearcuts, ranging in size from 2 to 112 ha and in age from 3 to 10 yr post—cut were selected as study sites in eastern Maine. At least 10% of each clearcut was censused using 1—16 fixed—radius (50—m) circular plots in May and June of 1989 and 1990. Species richness increased with clearcut size but the number of species present per plot did not differ significantly over the size range of cuts. There was some evidence of increased richness in clearcuts up to 20 ha. Of the 15 most common clearcut species in both years, 10 (1989) and 12 (1990) increased in abundance between 2 and 20 ha, beyond which no preference for clearcut size was found. Additionally bird species locations throughout clearcuts were largely independent of distance from the forest edge.
Evaluating Models for Spruce Budworm‐Forest Management: Comparing Output with Regional Field Data
Authors: Fleming Richard A. , Shoemaker Christine A.
Published: April 2006

The evaluation of models used in the management of populations can be complicated by the number of component parts and by the large temporal and spatial scales often required. This is particularly true of models developed for the analysis of management policy in forest pest situations. In this study, two large—scale spruce budworm—forest simulation models were evaluated by comparing their output with data collected annually by the Maine Forest Service survey at 1000 sites from 1975 to 1980. In practice, model evaluation typically involves a comparison of observations, independent of those used to construct the model, with overall model output. We did this, and in addition, separate tests were performed on major components of each large—scale budworm model. These components represent Maine's forest protection policy, the budworm—forest dynamics, and pest control efficacy. Both models produced output that was in some way inconsistent with the Maine survey data. Inconsistencies were most prevalent at low budworm densities, especially after pesticide spraying, when model output predicts budworm populations increase more slowly than the survey data suggest. These inconsistencies pointed to inaccuracies in the models' representation of Maine's forest protection policy, of budworm population growth at low densities, and of the effectiveness of spraying (especially at low budworm densities). Problems translating the results of studies of nonlinear population dynamics from small experimental plots to the larger spatial scale used in the models are implicated. Our results suggest that the optimal threshold density of budworm for insecticide application is probably higher than the upper threshold of 20 egg masses/m2 inferred from the models.
Integrating Scientific Methods with Habitat Conservation Planning: Reserve Design for Northern Spotted Owls
Authors: Murphy Dennis D. , Noon Barry R.
Published: April 2006

To meet the requirements of Congressional legislation mandating the production of a "scientifically credible" conservation strategy for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), the Interagency Spotted Owl Scientific Committee employed scientific methods to design a habitat reserve system. Information on the current and historical distributions of the owl and its habitats was reviewed in light of economic, political, and legal constraints; results were used to develop a preliminary reserve system of habitat "polygons." A map representing these polygons and their attendant properties served as a set of hypotheses that were tested. Statistical analyses of empirical data, predictions from ecological theory, predictions from population dynamics models, and inferences drawn from studies of related species were used to test properties of the preliminary map, including the number and sizes of habitat conservation areas (HCAs), their distribution, configuration, and spacing, and the nature of the landscape matrix between HCAs. Conclusions that failed to confirm specific map properties were used to refine the reserve system, a process that continued iteratively until all relevant data had been examined and all map properties had been tested. This conservation planning process has proven to be credible, repeatable, and scientifically defendable, and should serve as a model for wildlife management, endangered species recovery, and national forest planning.
The Effects of Bush Clearance on African Ungulates in a Semi‐Arid Nature Reserve
Authors: Ben-Shahar Raphael
Published: April 2006

Bush encroachment has contributed to the diminishing availability of open grassland areas and possibly caused the decline of the local wildebeest and zebra populations in a semi—arid nature reserve in South Africa. Bush was subsequently cleared to convert dense woodland to parkland savanna. Based on an ecological gradient of habitat utilization previously described for African ungulates, it was assumed that wildebeest and zebra would favor cleared areas, whereas impala and kudu would prefer naturally dense woodland vegetation. Measurements of forage production showed that dry matter yield of grasses was greater in cleared areas. Proportion similarity indices and confidence intervals, representing the monthly occurrence of ungulates in different habitats, suggested that wildebeest and zebra were selecting for cleared areas, whereas impala and kudu occurred randomly in cleared and natural habitats. Results suggested that moderate modifications of woodland savanna habitats by means of bush clearance could be advantageous to ungulates that are common in grassland habitats, while not being detrimental to resident dwellers of dense woodland. Managers, however, should consider carefully the application of bush clearance. The response of ungulates was weak, and therefore clearance might not be justified if done for the purpose of propagating grazers.
Rarity in Neotropical Bats: Correlations with Phylogeny, Diet, and Body Mass
Authors: Arita Hector T.
Published: April 2006

Bats are an important component of tropical faunas, both in terms of number of species and total biomass. Very little information, however, is available on the status and conservation of this diverse group. To contribute to the solution of this problem, rarity among Neotropical bats was analyzed using a set of 150 species. Rarity was quantified by local abundance and area of distributional range and by a combined index of rarity created by compounding these two variables. Nested analyses of variance showed local abundance to be more variable among genera than at any other taxonomic level, and area of distribution to be more variable among species. No significant correlation with body mass was found for local abundance or for area of distribution. Similarly, no correlation was found between distribution and abundance. Local abundance, but not area of distribution, varied significantly among taxonomic and trophic categories. At the local level, bats of the family Molossidae tend to be less abundant than other species. Bats that feed on plant parts or products (fruit, nectar, and pollen) are more abundant than insectivores and carnivores. The distribution of species among Rabinowitz' categories of rarity varied among taxonomic and trophic groups. The classification of rarity and the combined index of rarity introduced here can be used as guidelines for the identification of vulnerable species.