Hydrology at Aberdeen – thinking about water locally and globally

ABSTRACT

Although geographical hydrology research at Aberdeen contributed significant insights into the connections between river channel processes and landscape evolution in the early twentieth century it was not until the 1980s that hydrology became a discernible research theme in the Department of Geography. Whilst the research initially focused on understanding the linkages between fluvial geomorphology, hydrology and in-stream hydraulics, since the mid-1990s a burgeoning research community has made significant contributions to advancing physical hydrology, understanding water quality issues and elucidating inter-connections between hydrology and both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. A particular research strength has been the use of isotopic tracers (especially high-resolution, field-based data) to advance hydrological models. Work at Aberdeen has also been internationally leading in terms of understanding the role of hydrology in shaping the life cycle of Scottish Atlantic salmon and other aquatic organisms. Ideas and research approaches developed at local Scottish field sites are being increasingly applied and adapted to advance hydrological understanding in geographical regions as diverse as the rain forests of Costa Rica, the karst of south west China, aquifers in east Africa, the Chilean high Andes, Arctic Canada, peatlands in western Siberia and forests in northern Germany.     

Back to civilization (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

This editorial reinforces recent calls for anthropologists to participate more actively in multidisciplinary reappraisals of the concept of civilization. Beyond the dominant relativist model of discrete cultures and historical accounts of complex trading networks across the Eurasian landmass, it is important to recognize the civilizational coagulations that sustained such networks. The challenge is how to explain the dogged persistence of civilizational boundaries in the face of continuous contacts between them, accelerated by modern means of communication.     

CLASSIFYING PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES: THE CASE OF MANINKA FARMERS IN SOUTHWESTERN MALI

This article argues that understanding how people classify physical geographic features is necessary for identifying fundamental, cross‐cultural geographic concepts that are required for successful communication of geographic knowledge. Academic geographers have not given sufficient attention to systems of local geographic knowledge, even though promising theoretical frameworks exist, particularly in the field of ethnoecology. However, the research approach that has characterized ethnoecology is insufficient to develop ethnogeography as a field of inquiry, because ethnoecologists have overemphasized limited aspects of local knowledge systems, such as soils, which has often led researchers to incompletely sample local knowledge systems. Using ethnographic methods, this article analyses the content and structure of physical geographic knowledge in the Maninka language as spoken in southwestern Mali, and compares Maninka knowledge to that of other cultural groups. The results suggest that broad physical geographic concepts may be shared pan‐environmentally, but that most physical geographic knowledge is contained in culturally specific classifications embedded within a broad cross‐cultural framework. Academic geographers should expect only broad correspondence between their categories of physical geographic variation and those of people who classify biophysical features according to local knowledge systems. Finally, this article also shows that ethnoecological research will be advanced if geographic theories of place are given more prominence in ethnoecological studies.     

Protodammara reimatamoriori,a new species of conifer (Cupressaceae) from the Upper Cretaceous Tupuangi Formation,Chatham Islands,Zealandia

Mays, C. & Cantrill, D.J., January 2018. Protodammara reimatamoriori, a new species of conifer (Cupressaceae) from the Upper Cretaceous Tupuangi Formation, Chatham Islands, Zealandia. Alcheringa XXX, X–X. ISSN 0311-5518.

Isolated conifer female reproductive structures are common fossil elements from Cenomanian (ca 99–94 Ma) charcoal- and resin-rich beds of the Tupuangi Formation, Chatham Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. Recent findings have proposed that these are the oldest fossil evidence of serotiny, a highly successful fire-adaptive reproductive strategy common among tree species living in fire-prone areas today. Herein, we systematically describe the external morphological and anatomical features of these fossils, by employing a combination of manual extraction and neutron tomography techniques. We propose a new species of conifer, Protodammara reimatamoriori, and a re-examination of fossil material of the Protodammara type species facilitated an emendation of the genus. Protodammara shares numerous features with extant Cunninghamia, Taiwania, Athrotaxis, and several extinct taxa of Cupressaceae, and is interpreted as an extinct lineage of the early-divergent ‘taxodioid Cupressaceae’ stem group.

Chris Mays [chris.mays@nrm.se] Department of Palaeobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Frescativägen 40, Stockholm 114 18, Sweden; School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, 9 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; David J. Cantrill [david.cantrill@rbg.vic.gov.au] Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Private Bag 2000, South Yarra, VIC 3141, Australia; School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.     

Constitutionalists,Despots, Whigs,and Revisionists: Tudor Parliamentary History in the 20th Century

The 20th century was the great age of Tudor parliamentary history. This essay examines the contributions and profound changes to the field made by the leading historians of the era, especially Sir John Neale and Sir Geoffrey Elton. Taking as its starting point the whiggish ideas of Stubbs's Constitutional History of England, it traces the impact of A.F. Pollard, G.M. Trevelyan, and Sir Lewis Namier on the field. At its core, though, lie the often acrimonious differences of opinion between Neale and his pupil, Elton. For Neale the Elizabethan parliaments were characterised by an increasingly puritanical Commons eager to wrest control of debates on religion and the succession away from the queen. In so doing this created a constitutional clash that would eventually lead to civil war in the mid 17th century. This ‘orthodoxy’ was savagely critiqued by a revisionist ‘school’ led by Elton that dismantled the interpretation of Neale and replaced it with an institution that was not dominated by political conflict but by largely consensual politics. It was also a position that gave equal weight to the Lords and to the importance of the business of parliament – legislation. The revisionists were masters of critique and highly effective at demolishing Neale, but did little to replace his theories or to explain religio‐political conflict – in doing so it could be argued that they killed the subject. The essay ends by suggesting some new approaches to Tudor parliaments that could help revitalise the subject.