Effects of reduced summer precipitation on productivity and forage quality of floodplain meadows at the Elbe and the Rhine River.

Background: Floodplain meadows along rivers are semi-natural habitats and depend on regular land use. When used non-intensively, they offer suitable habitats for many plant species including rare ones. Floodplains are hydrologically dynamic ecosystems with both periods of flooding and of dry conditions.

Managing floodplain-forest restoration in European river landscapes combining ecological and flood-protection issues.

Throughout Europe the demands for improved flood protection on the one hand and the requirements to maintain and enhance floodplain forests on the other are perceived as conflicting goals in river-basin management, revealing the urgent need for strategies to combine both issues. We developed an interdisciplinary approach for floodplain-forest restoration identifying sites suitable for reforestations from both an ecological and hydraulic point of view. In the ecological module, habitat-distribution models are developed providing information on ecologically suitable sites.

Vegetative reproduction capacities of floodplain willows--cutting response to competition and biomass loss.

While several studies on regeneration in Salicaceae have focused on seedling recruitment, little is known about factors controlling their vegetative reproduction. In two greenhouse experiments, we studied the response of floodplain willows (Salix fragilis, S. viminalis, S.

Soil vs. canopy seed storage and plant species coexistence in species-rich Australian shrublands.

The fire-prone shrublands of southwestern Australia are renowned for their high plant species diversity and prominence of canopy seed storage (serotiny). We compared species richness, abundance, and life history attributes for soil and canopy seed banks in relation to extant vegetation among four sites with different substrate conditions and high species turnover (50-80%) to identify whether this unusual community-level organization of seed storage might contribute to maintenance of high species richness. Soil seed bank (SSB) densities were low to moderate (233-1435 seeds/m2) compared with densities for other Mediterranean-type vegetation and were lowest for sites with highest canopy seed bank (CSB) species richness and lowest nutrient availability, but not richness or abundance of resprouters.

Investigation of the validity of postural evaluation skills in assessing lumbar lordosis using photographs of clothed subjects.

Data for this study was collected at the 1988 Texas Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference with approval through the state Research Committee. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the US. Government.

A comparison of actual and apparent lumbar lordosis in black and white adult females.

The purposes of this study were to investigate differences in lumbar lordosis in black and white adult females and to explain the clinical impression that blacks have a greater lordosis than whites. An actual lumbosacral lordosis angle (ALS) was measured from a standing right lateral lumbosacral radiograph using the angle formed from the intersection of lines drawn across the top of the second lumbar vertebral body (L2) and across the top of the sacrum. An actual lumbo-lumbar angle (ALL) was measured in the same manner, except the second line was drawn across the bottom of the fifth vertebral body (L5).

Investigation of the flexible ruler as a noninvasive measure of lumbar lordosis in black and white adult female sample populations.

The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.