Baseline biodiversity surveys of the soil macrofauna of London’s green spaces

A serious barrier to our understanding of urban ecosystems is a lack of information on the ecology of soils organisms of green spaces within large cities. This study addresses this gap by providing baseline survey data on the biodiversity of soil macrofauna in urban parks and domestic gardens of London, UK. In April and June 2004, the soil macrofauna were handsorted from soil cores in eleven parks and gardens of various sizes in central London. Five taxa were identified to species (Lumbricidae, Isopoda, Diplopoda, Chilopoda and Formicidae). The biodiversity value of the two main habitats (horticultural borders and mown grass lawns) was assessed and the influence of a range of environmental factors on species density (number of species per unit area) examined. The species densities of the studied soil invertebrates in the urban gardens were comparable with those found in natural ecosystems, although plant borders contained significantly more species than lawns. Borders had higher levels of plant nutrients, higher floristic diversity and lower levels of micronutrients and heavy metals than lawns. Significant predictor variables of species densities in the plant borders were the percentage of leaf litter cover, sampling month and soil pH. Species densities in the lawns were significantly correlated with the distance of the samples from the edge of the lawn.     

Non-governmental organisations in international development: trends and future research priorities

North Atlantic NGOs have significantly increased their role in international development. They have expanded their activities beyond relief to include a more structural approach to third-world poverty and have attracted increasing amounts of government subsidies for their work overseas. They have also begun to engage in education of their home populations about global poverty and have established close ties to an emerging network of third-world NGOs who channel their resources to the grassroots poor abroad. In the post-Cold War era, North Atlantic NGOs enjoy some unique opportunities to expand their work due to the increase of third-world democracy and free-market economies, but they also face some critical challenges ahead — balancing periodic relief efforts with long-term development programmes, resisting pressures by governments to use NGOs for their own purposes, upgrading the quality of development education at home, and finding ways to relate to third-world NGOs as more equal partners. These and other challenges (for example, improving institutional capacities of North Atlantic NGOs to handle increasing demands, and relationship between third-world NGOs and grassroots organisations) need the attention of scholars in the years ahead.An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Quarterly Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at the United States Department of State, Washington, DC, 15 September 1992.     

Some thoughts on the validity of estimates of charitable giving

There is but a single source of widely-accepted estimates of charitable giving in the United States, and that isGiving USA, an annual publication of the AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy. This paper examines the validity of those estimates and raises questions that imply a need for further research in this area.Despite the improvements in the quality of the estimates over the years, there remain conceptual, empirical and procedural problems of which all users of the numbers should be aware. The conceptual problems are largely a matter of definition, and it is argued that grants by private foundations should be excluded from the total because foundations themselves are charitable recipients of funds from the rest of society and their inclusion results in double-counting. The empirical problems arise from defects in much of the data from the tax files that are used as sources of information for making the final estimates; some of those defects are spelled out in detail. The procedural problems stem from the lack of comprehensive information about the amounts of charitable giving from individual donors; in making its estimates,Giving USA relies primarily on an econometric equation, some of the variables in which are questionable.     

Counselor and client perceptions of the effect of social and physical contact on the therapeutic process

In 1991 a random sample of former clients of a metropolitan counseling center were surveyed as to their perceptions of the effect on therapy of 21 forms of social or physical contact between client and counselor. This article reports the results of a follow-up study conducted in 1992 in which the professional counseling staff of the same center were surveyed as to their perceptions of the effect on therapy of the same 21 types of contact. The results of both studies are compared, and statistically significant differences in evaluation of the behaviors by the two groups are noted.     

EXPECTATIONS OF RATIOS OF QUADRATIC FORMS IN NORMAL VARIABLES: EVALUATING SOME TOP-ORDER INVARIANT POLYNOMIALS

Chikuse's (1987) algorithm constructs top-order invariant polynomials with multiple matrix arguments. Underlying it is a set of simultaneous equations for which all integer solutions must be found. Each solution represents a component of the sum of terms which comprise the polynomial. The system of equations has a specialised structure which may be exploited to obtain a polynomial with r matrix arguments in terms of a polynomial with r-1 matrix arguments. This is demonstrated for two particular polynomials that have two matrix arguments. These results are applied to problems involving expectations of ratios of quadratic forme in normal variables; analytic as well as computable formulae are derived.     

Rural Migration,Rapid Growth,and Fear of Crime*

Abstract Although much research on rural “boomtowns” explores differences between rapid‐growth communities and more stable communities, it is logical to consider that residents within rural boomtowns experience community transitions in different ways. We examine a specific outcome, fear of crime, across three categories of community residents with different migration histories: lifetime residents, migrants who joined the boomtown community during its period of rapid growth, and post‐boom period migrants. This perspective is particularly interesting, given the likelihood that these three different categories of residents have had substantially different community experiences. Making use of survey data from two intermountain West communities that represent resource‐dependent transitions during the 1970s and 1980s (Evanston, Wyoming and Delta, Utah), we find that boom migrants express greater fear of crime than longer‐term residents or post‐boom migrants. The findings suggest that the longer‐term decline in fear of crime in “post‐boom” periods is not equal among residents.     

Implementation of a demographic and contraceptive surveillance system in four counties in north China

This paper details efforts to implement a demographic and contraceptive surveillance system in four counties in North China. These counties are taking part in a large-scale field experiment involving the introduction of new contraceptives, greater choice in the use of contraceptives, and better training of family planning personnel. To evaluate the impact of these changes, a system of detailed, individual-level records are being kept in the 24 townships taking part in the project. We discuss the interaction between data collection and policy implementation - its general forms, its manifestations in modern China, and its relevance for the current project. We describe the system that we are implementing - what the old system looked like, and how we have tried to improve it. We evaluate the system's functioning over three years, based on field observations and preliminary data from one of the project's four counties. We conclude that there has been progress in the timely accumulation of standardized data; but there remains an antinomy whereby, past a point, an emphasis on data quality has the effect of sensitizing those responsible for recording data to the problematic nature of such data, thereby weakening accuracy. Many of the issues encountered in implementing the new system are relevant to the larger issues of (a) correct interpretation of data from China, and (b) creating a reasonable climate for change in the family planning system.