Forest Soils on Acid Essay -- Ecology Nature Environmental Papers

Forest Soils on Acid Forest ecosystems are important both ecologically and economically. It is arguable that the most fundamental dynamic of the forest ecosystem is the forest soil. The acidity of forest soils can alter the chemistry, biota, and hydraulics of the soil, and thus, alter the soil formation characteristics and the soil composition. It follows that the acidification of forest soils demands a great deal of research and attention. Forest soils are commonly found to have pH readings of 4-6, even in areas of moderate to low acid deposition (Binkley et al, p. 4). In fact, an abundance of forest vegetation thrives on and stabilizes most forest soils at relatively low pH levels. It seems as though forest ecosystems generally thrive upon strongly acid soils. Though forest soils naturally are acidic, problems can occur when the acidity levels are raised artificially through processes such as acid rain. This paper will investigate the effects of higher than normal acidity and acid deposition in forest soils to gain a greater understanding of current and potential problems to forest soils and ecosystems. It is important to remember when discussing the implications of high acid in forest soils that there are several general factors that will alter acidic effects on soil chemistry, hydrology, biota, and weathering. These factors include soil type, soil sensitivity, and the quantity of precipitation. Texture, structure, grain size, and consistence are all crucial to defining the soil type or series and also to the amount of time soil is exposed to acid deposition. In a particular study on humus degradation based on simulated "acid rains" conducted by Greszta et al. (1991) revealed the extent to which soil type influenced ... ...556-563. Mulder, J., J.J. M. van Grinsven, and N. van Breemen. 1987. Impacts of acid atmospheric deposition on woodland soils in the Netherlands: III. aluminum chemistry. Soil Science Society of America Journal 51: pp. 1640-1646. Rampazzo, N., and W.E.H. Blum. 1992. Changes in chemistry and minerology of forest soils by acid rain. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 61: pp. 209-220. Sharpe, W.E., B.R. Swistock, and D.R. Dewalle. 1992. A greenhouse study of northern red oak seedling growth on two forest soils at different stages of acidification. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 66: pp. 121-133. Singer, M.J., and D.N. Munns. 1996. Soils: An Introduction. Prentice-Hall, Inc. New Jersey. Tamm, C.O., and L. Hallbacken. 1986. Changes in soil pH over a 50-year period under different forest canopies in SW Sweden. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 31: pp. 337 341.

Questions asked from the managers Essay

The following questions are those asked from the managers of the IT corporations. Each and everyone of them were also asked to give a brief company profile before the questions about blogging were asked. Company Profile 1. Name of Company: 2. Year Company Started: 3. Brief History of Company 4. Nature of Company’s work 5. Number of company employees: 6. Target market of the company: Questions on Corporate Blog 1. What does the company offer? a. Services – (what services and for whom? ) b. Products – (what products and for whom? ) 2. Since when did your company start engaging in corporate blog? 3. How much does your company spend for the operation of your corporate blog? 4. What was the effect of corporate blog to your corporation 5. Is blogging effective in making your customers understand more about your company? 6. Does blogging make understanding your services easier? 7. Communication with Customers a. Did you receive more client feedback when you engaged in corporate blog? b. Are your customers more informed about your products when you engaged in corporate blog? 8. Communication with Employees a. How many of your employees engage in blogging? b. What are your rules regarding employees blogging? 9. Did you integrate your missions, visions, and goals into corporate blogging? 10. Did you consider the risks involved when your corporation or company started adopting corporate blog? If yes, why does your company still continue engaging in corporate blog? 11. Are the solutions which your company pursued, effective in reducing the risks of corporate blog? If not, what other solutions do you think should be done? 12. What have been the advantages of corporate blog for your company? 13. What have been the perceived disadvantages of corporate blog for your company? 14. What were the problems faced in engaging corporate blog? 15. Is corporate blogging better than written media into bringing your services closer to the customers? 4. 3 Analyzing obtained data The data obtained from the interviews have been tabulated and themes and trends from such qualitative data would then be identified, and analyses would then be formulated. The data obtained from the questionnaires will be analyzed using the Likert scale. The primary tool used to examine Likert Scale is by the use of graphical analysis. Since the frequency distribution can visually be seen in the graph, it is easier to explain the results. The trend represents certain patterns that match with the frequency distribution. The Likert scale is a unidimensional scaling method. Unidimensional concepts are generally easier to understand. Its either something has more of it or less (Trochim 2006, http://www. socialresearchmethods. net/kb/scalgen. php ). Since the aim of the research is to identify whether the receptiveness of corporate blog to employees, executives and the corporation as a whole is better or worse, then a unidimensional scaling would be a good measurement for the research. 4. 4 Other Resources Secondary resources are also critically used in this project, which mainly include news, journal articles and books. Internet and Email will be as the communication and research tools for this project. The collected data will be coded and analyzed under the theoretical framework and prior reviewed literature. According to Coffey and Atkinson (1996), coding is the process of condensing the bulk of data sets into analyzable units. Coding and analyzing data based theoretical concepts has the important role of enabling rigours review on our data. Therefore, the collected data will be coded and analysed under the theoretical framework and prior reviewed literature. 5 Discussion 5. 1 Research expectation and risk The author will discuss the outputs from the case study, interviews and questionnaires. Each case study will be discussed here in full detail. Blog contents from the corporate blogs of each company will be evaluated and discussed. The research study is able to seek: why did the company considered blogging? What are the advantages and disadvantages from setting up a corporate blog? The expectation data obtained from the questionnaires will also be presented and discussed. Results obtained through the Likert scale will be interpreted. Results are also related to previous researches and theoretical issues discussed in the introduction and literature review. The author will give a brief introduction to the uses of blogs, corporate blogs, its advantages and limitations, and the issues surrounding corporate blogs, which includes privacy or information leakage of the corporation because of the freedom, entailed in corporate blogging. To which we can now generate our prediction of corporate blogging with the analysis of its strategic management implementation (rules and regulations), the perception of employees and employers, and our own analysis as to how corporate blogging can elevate the communication process among a business organization. The author expects challenging the blogging system as an entity of information and as a communication medium to delimit its disadvantages and provide better means of communication for the business sector. Assuming that results are as predicted, we can now generalize the discussion. Note, however, that different companies have different cultures and strategies in corporate blogging; thus different results would be yield, and themes would have to be established in order for data to be qualitatively analyzed. Having the prediction of the future of corporate blogging may be a challenging step but I think it is feasible in this case since we can generate information regarding how the corporate blogging system can improve and be able to overcome the challenges of advanced technology. 5. 2 The limitations of the study On major limitation of the study is that only IT companies are to be considered in data gathering. It is possible that other companies may have a different culture and perception on corporate blogging. Future research may focus on determining the perceptions of companies other than IT and compare its results with the results obtained from this study. Also, the study only analyzed the perceptions of bloggers on corporate blogging. Studies on the perception of nonbloggers (or those who have blogs but do not post regularly) may be carried out to give a more generalized rate of acceptance of blogging as a new kind of innovation. There is also a restraint in Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory. It may be the most widely used theory in both individual and organizational IT adoption researches but none of the five predictors (relative advantage, compatibility with existing values and practices, simplicity and ease of use, trialability and observable results) made Jeyaraj et al. ’s (2006) list of best predictors for the aggregate IT adoption construct. Another limitation of this research is that blogging can result in legal problems because of the lack of blogging management. The integrity rules for protection and management are expected to established immediately.

Finding Water on Mars

Ever since we began the exploration of Mars with spacecraft (back in the 1960s), scientists have been on the lookout for evidence of water on the Red Planet. Each mission gathers more evidence for the existence of water in the past and present, and each time definitive proof is found, scientists share that information with the public. Now, with the popularity of Mars missions on the rise and the amazing story of survival that moviegoers have seen in The Martian, with Matt Damon, the search for water on Mars takes on additional meaning.   On Earth, definitive proof of water is easy to find — in as rain and snow, in lakes, ponds, rivers, and the oceans. Since we havent visited Mars in person yet, scientists work with observations made by orbiting spacecraft and lander/rovers on the surface. Future explorers WILL be able to find that water and study it and use it, so its important to know NOW about how much there is and where it exists on the Red Planet.   Streaks on Mars Over the past few years, scientists noticed curious-looking dark streaks that appear on the surface on steep slopes. They seem to come and go with the change of seasons, as temperatures change. They darken and appear to flow down the slopes during periods when the temperatures are warmer, and then fade out as things cool down. These streaks appear in several locations on Mars and have been called recurring slope linae (or RSLs for short). Scientists strongly suspect theyre related to liquid water that deposits hydrated salts (salts that have been in contact with water) on those slopes.   Salts Point the Way Observers took a look at the RSLs using an instrument onboard NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter called the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM). It looked at sunlight after it had been reflected from the surface, and analyzed it to figure out what chemical elements and minerals were there. The observations showed the chemical signature of hydrated salts in several locations, but only when the dark features were wider than usual.   A second look at the same places, but when the swaths were not very wide didnt turn up any hydrated salt. What this means is that if theres water there, its wetting the salt and causing it to show up in the observations.What are these salts? Observers determined that they are hydrated minerals called perchlorates, which are known to exist on Mars. Both the Mars Phoenix Lander and the Curiosity rover have found them in the soil samples theyve studied. The discovery of these perchlorates is the first time these salts have been spotte d from orbit over several years. Their existence is a huge clue in the search for water. Why Worry about Water on Mars?   If it seems that Mars scientists have announced water discoveries before, remember this: the discovery of water on Mars has not been one single discovery. It is the result of many observations over the past 50 years, each one giving more solid evidence that water exists. More studies will pinpoint more water, and eventually give planetary scientists a much better handle on how much water the Red Planet has and its sources underground.   Ultimately, people will travel to Mars, perhaps sometime in the next 20 years. When they do, those first Mars explorers will need all the information they can get about conditions on the Red Planet. Water, of course, is important. Its essential to life, and it can be used as a raw ingredient for many things (including fuel). Mars explorers and inhabitants will need to rely on the resources around them, just as explorers on Earth had to do as they explored our planet.   Just as important, however, is to understand Mars in its own right. Its similar to Earth in many ways, and formed in roughly the same region of the solar system some 4.6 billion years ago. Even if we never send people to the Red Planet, knowing its history and composition help fill in our knowledge of the solar systems many worlds. In particular, knowing its water history helps fill in the gaps of our understanding about what this planet may have been in the past: warm, wet, and much more habitable for life than it is now.