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Most Cited Ecological Indicators Articles
The most cited articles published since 2011, extracted from Scopus.
Mapping ecosystem service supply, demand and budgetsBenjamin Burkhard | Franziska Kroll | Stoyan Nedkov | Felix Müller
Volume 21, Issue , October 2012, Pages 17-29
Among the main effects of human activities on the environment are land use and resulting land cover changes. Such changes impact the capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services to the human society. This supply of multiple goods and services by nature should match the demands of the society, if self-sustaining human-environmental systems and a sustainable utilization of natural capital are to be achieved. To describe respective states and dynamics, appropriate indicators and data for their quantification, including quantitative and qualitative assessments, are needed. By linking land cover information from, e.g. remote sensing, land survey and GIS with data from monitoring, statistics, modeling or interviews, ecosystem service supply and demand can be assessed and transferred to different spatial and temporal scales. The results reveal patterns of human activities over time and space as well as the capacities of different ecosystems to provide ecosystem services under changing land use. Also the locations of respective demands for these services can be determined. As maps are powerful tools, they hold high potentials for visualization of complex phenomena. We present an easy-to-apply concept based on a matrix linking spatially explicit biophysical landscape units to ecological integrity, ecosystem service supply and demand. An exemplary application for energy supply and demand in a central German case study region and respective maps for the years 1990 and 2007 are presented. Based on these data, the concept for an appropriate quantification and related spatial visualization of ecosystem service supply and demand is elaborated and discussed. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
An overview of sustainability assessment methodologiesRajesh Kumar Singh | H. R. Murty | S. K. Gupta | A. K. Dikshit
Volume 15, Issue 1, April 2012, Pages 281-299
Sustainability indicators and composite index are gaining lot of importance and increasingly recognized as a powerful tool for policy making and public communication in providing information on countries and corporate performance in fields such as environment, economic, social, or technological improvement. By conceptualizing phenomena and highlighting trends, sustainability indicators simplify, quantify, analyze and communicate the complex and complicated information. There are number of initiatives exist on indicators and frameworks for sustainable development. This article provides an overview various sustainability indices applied in sustainability domain. The paper also compiles the information related to sustainability indices formulation strategy, scaling, normalization, weighting and aggregation methodology. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Three hundred ways to assess Europe's surface waters: An almost complete overview of biological methods to implement the Water Framework DirectiveSebastian Birk | Wendy Bonne | Angel Borja | Sandra Brucet | Anne Courrat | Sandra Poikane | Angelo Solimini | Wouter Van De Bund | Nikolaos Zampoukas | Daniel Hering
Volume 18, Issue , July 2012, Pages 31-41
According to the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the status of European surface waters is assessed using aquatic organism groups. Here we present an overview of 297 assessment methods, based on a questionnaire survey addressing authorities in all countries implementing the WFD. Twenty-eight countries reported on methods applied to rivers (30%), coastal waters (26%), lakes (25%) and transitional waters (19%). More than half of the methods are based on macroscopic plants (28%) or benthic invertebrates (26%); in addition, phytoplankton (21%), fish (15%) and phytobenthos (10%) were assessed. Countries of Central and Western Europe had developed almost all methods required for the WFD implementation. Two main sampling strategies were discernable: small-scale sampling of the taxonomically diverse groups of benthic invertebrates and phytobenthos that demand elaborate processing, versus large-scale sampling of vast, species-poor plant stands or the mobile fish fauna. About three-quarters of methods identified organisms to species-level while in particular phytoplankton-based methods used class- or phylum-level, or included no taxonomic information. Out of nine metric types distinguished, river methods used more sensitivity and trait metrics while for other water categories abundance metrics prevailed. Fish-based methods showed the highest number of metrics. Fifty-six percent of methods focussed on the detection of eutrophication and organic pollution, with shares decreasing from autotrophic to heterotrophic organism groups: phytoplankton > phytobenthos > macroscopic plants > benthic invertebrates > fish fauna. The order was almost reverse for hydrological or morphological deterioration: fish fauna and macroscopic plants > benthic invertebrates > phytoplankton > phytobenthos. These pressures were mainly assessed by methods applied to rivers and transitional waters. The pressure-impact relationship of about one-third of methods was not tested empirically with methods for transitional waters being the least validated. The strength of relationships differed significantly between organism groups and water categories. The correlation coefficients generally covered a broad range (<0.4 to >0.8), but on average with the pattern: phytoplankton > macroscopic plants > benthic invertebrates > phytobenthos and fish fauna. In terms of water categories the following order resulted: coastal waters > lakes > transitional waters > rivers. Status boundaries were mostly defined using statistical approaches. We advocate better reflection of the necessary sampling effort and precision, full validations of pressure-impact relationships and an implementation of more ecological components into classification. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Integrating Ecological, Carbon and Water footprint into a "footprint Family" of indicators: Definition and role in tracking human pressure on the planetAlessandro Galli | Thomas Wiedmann | Ertug Ercin | Doris Knoblauch | Brad Ewing | Stefan Giljum
Volume 16, Issue , May 2012, Pages 100-112
In recent years, attempts have been made to develop an integrated Footprint approach for the assessment of the environmental impacts of production and consumption. In this paper, we provide for the first time a definition of the "Footprint Family" as a suite of indicators to track human pressure on the planet and under different angles. This work has been developed under the 7th Framework Programme in the European Commission (EC) funded One Planet Economy Network: Europe (OPEN:EU) project. It builds on the premise that no single indicator per se is able to comprehensively monitor human impact on the environment, but indicators rather need to be used and interpreted jointly. A description of the research question, rationale and methodology of the Ecological, Carbon and Water Footprint is first provided. Similarities and differences among the three indicators are then highlighted to show how these indicators overlap, interact, and complement each other. The paper concludes by defining the "Footprint Family" of indicators and outlining its appropriate policy use for the European Union (EU). We believe this paper can be of high interest for both policy makers and researchers in the field of ecological indicators, as it brings clarity on most of the misconceptions and misunderstanding around Footprint indicators, their accounting frameworks, messages, and range of application. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Framework for systematic indicator selection to assess effects of land management on ecosystem servicesAlexander P E Van Oudenhoven | Katalin Petz | Rob Alkemade | Lars Hein | Rudolf S. De Groot
Volume 21, Issue , October 2012, Pages 110-122
Land management is an important factor that affects ecosystem services provision. However, interactions between land management, ecological processes and ecosystem service provision are still not fully understood. Indicators can help to better understand these interactions and provide information for policy-makers to prioritise land management interventions. In this paper, we develop a framework for the systematic selection of indicators, to assess the link between land management and ecosystem services provision in a spatially explicit manner. Our framework distinguishes between ecosystem properties, ecosystem functions, and ecosystem services. We tested the framework in a case study in The Netherlands. For the case study, we identified 12 property indicators, 9 function indicators and 9 service indicators. The indicators were used to examine the effect of land management on food provision, air quality regulation and recreation opportunities. Land management was found to not only affect ecosystem properties, but also ecosystem functions and services directly. Several criteria were used to evaluate the usefulness of the selected indicators, including scalability, sensitivity to land management change, spatial explicitness, and portability. The results show that the proposed framework can be used to determine quantitative links between indicators, so that land management effects on ecosystem services provision can be modelled in a spatially explicit manner. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
How to understand and measure environmental sustainability: Indicators and targetsBedřich Moldan | Svatava Janoušková | Tomáš Hák
Volume 17, Issue , June 2012, Pages 4-13
The concept of sustainable development from 1980 to the present has evolved into definitions of the three pillars of sustainability (social, economic and environmental). The recent economic and financial crisis has helped to newly define economic sustainability. It has brought into focus the economic pillar and cast a question mark over the sustainability of development based on economic progress. This means fully addressing the economic issues on their own merits with no apparent connection to the environmental aspects. Environmental sustainability is correctly defined by focusing on its biogeophysical aspects. This means maintaining or improving the integrity of the Earth's life supporting systems. The concept of sustainable development and its three pillars has evolved from a rather vague and mostly qualitative notion to more precise specifications defined many times over in quantitative terms. Hence the need for a wide array of indicators is very clear. The paper analyses the different approaches and types of indicators developed which are used for the assessment of environmental sustainability. One important aspect here is setting targets and then "measuring" the distance to a target to get the appropriate information on the current state or trend. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Spatial indicators for the assessment of ecosystem services: Providing, benefiting and connecting areas and landscape metricsRalf Uwe Syrbe | Ulrich Walz
Volume 21, Issue , October 2012, Pages 80-88
The ecosystem services approach is an established framework for the balanced evaluation of ecological, economic and social landscape resources. It promotes functional synergies (win-win situations) as well as trade-offs among various benefits resulting from ecosystem processes. Spatial aspects of heterogeneity and configuration play a major role in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services and hence in human wellbeing. Cultural artifacts also contribute to landscape functionality. Because of the underlying areal aspects, an additional term, landscape service has been proposed and is increasingly used (Termorshuizen and Opdam, 2009). We take a particular interest in spatial aspects of this framework and the optimization of trade-offs between landscape services. Firstly, spatial heterogeneity is assessed by means of landscape metrics computed as indicators for landscape services. Landscape heterogeneity is a key measure of biodiversity and contributes to several valuable functions. Habitat connectivity and other measures of landscape structure are also essential criteria for the behavior of metapopulations and for recreational value. Secondly, service providing areas (SPAs) are discussed as the areal basis for service provision. Similarly, service benefiting areas (SBAs) and connecting areas (SCAs) for the transfer of matter, energy and organisms between them are investigated. Place-based assessment addresses such areas. We thus show possibilities for estimating and evaluating landscape units. Thirdly, the landscape consists of the natural environment, artifacts from past human use, current human activity and even social thinking. The landscape services approach in a wider sense allows us to take social/cultural services better into account because they depend strongly on heritage assets, structural characteristics, historical conditions end even cultural specifics; which can hardly be subsumed to ecosystems. Place-based assessment is an appropriate solution for combining several spatial categories. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A multi-criteria approach for an integrated land-cover-based assessment of ecosystem services provision to support landscape planningLars Koschke | Christine Fürst | Susanne Frank | Franz Makeschin
Volume 21, Issue , October 2012, Pages 54-66
The article presents a multicriteria assessment framework for the qualitative estimation of regional potentials to provide ecosystem services as a prerequisite to support regional development planning. We applied this approach to a model region in Saxony, Eastern Germany. For the estimation of the potentials of the model region to provide ecosystem services, we used a modified approach compared to the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). We then employed a benefit transfer and a purely expert driven approach to assess contribution of the land cover classes in our model region to the provision of ecosystem services. In a subsequent step, the services in our set were combined to ecosystem services groups that were designed together with regional actors, while considering their ideas, concerns and experiences in regional decision making. The latter was analyzed in a weighting experiment, in which different weighting approaches were tested. Based upon this, we analyzed the performance of the model region to provide ecosystem services and generated ecosystem services distribution maps. We could show that the different data gathering methods "benefit transfer" and "expert-based assessment" have a considerable impact on the evaluation outcomes. The results of our study show that the combination of selected services and land cover data can contribute to regional planning by communicating the effect of land cover change on ecosystem services groups, especially when applied as an evaluation basis in the tool Pimp Your Landscape (PYL). The approach supports also the assessment of the performance of a region to provide ecosystem services and the comparison of regions towards this aspect. Finally, we discuss the limitations of our approach that are related to coarse land cover data, lacking knowledge on the provision of ecosystem services at a landscape scale, and the difficulty to make relevant the ecosystem services concept in regional planning processes. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Ecosystem properties, potentials and services - The EPPS conceptual framework and an urban application exampleOlaf Bastian | Dagmar Haase | Karsten Grunewald
Volume 21, Issue , October 2012, Pages 7-16
The concept of ecosystem services is an approach widely discussed to clarify and to assess the dependence of human society on ecosystems and landscapes. In order to better differentiate between the potential performance of ecosystems and landscapes and the quality needed or demanded by society, in this paper we suggest returning to the landscape potential concept developed by landscape ecologists in the 1970s. Emerging from both concepts is the hereinafter discussed EPPS framework - ecosystem (or landscape) properties, potentials and services - which is a way to better link both potentials and services to current planning and management practice and governance schemes. The empirical part of the paper shows applications of the EPPS framework in an urban region. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Community stakeholders' knowledge in landscape assessments - Mapping indicators for landscape servicesNora Fagerholm | Niina Käyhkö | Festo Ndumbaro | Miza Khamis
Volume 18, Issue , July 2012, Pages 421-433
The evaluation of landscape services essentially deals with the complex and dynamic relationships between humans and their environment. When it comes to landscape management and the evaluation of the benefits these services provide for our well-being, there is a limited representation of stakeholder and intangible values on the land. Stakeholder knowledge is essential, since disciplinary expert evaluations and existing proxy data on landscape services can reveal little of the landscape benefits to the local stakeholders. This paper aims at evaluating the potential of using local stakeholders as key informants in the spatial assessment of landscape service indicators. A methodological approach is applied in the context of a rural village environment in Tanzania, Zanzibar, where local, spatially sensitive stakeholder knowledge is crucial in solving land management challenges as the resources are used extensively for supporting community livelihoods and are threatened by economic uses and agricultural expansion. A typology of 19 different material and non-material, cultural landscape service indicators is established and, in semi-structured interviews, community stakeholders map these indicators individually on an aerial image. The landscape service indicators are described and spatially analysed in order to establish an understanding of landscape level service structures, patterns and relationships. The results show that community involvement and participatory mapping enhance the assessment of landscape services. These benefits from nature demonstrate spatial clustering and co-existence, but simultaneously also a tendency for spatial dispersion, and suggest that there is far more heterogeneity and sensitivity in the ways the benefits are distributed in relation to actual land resources. Many material landscape service indicators are individually based and spatially scattered in the landscape. However, the well-being of communities is also dependent on the non-material services, pointing out shared places of social interaction and cultural traditions. Both material and non-material services are preferred closest to settlements where the highest intensity, richness and diversity are found. Based on the results, the paper discusses the role of local stakeholders as experts in landscape service assessments and implications for local level management processes. It can be pointed out that the integration of participatory mapping methods in landscape service assessments is crucial for true collaborative, bottom-up landscape management. It is also necessary in order to capture the non-utilitarian value of landscapes and sensitivity to cultural landscape services, which many expert evaluations of landscape or ecosystem services fail to do justice. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Indicators of ecosystem service potential at European scales: Mapping marginal changes and trade-offsRoy Haines-Young | Marion Potschin | Felix Kienast
Volume 21, Issue , October 2012, Pages 39-53
This study develops an approach to mapping indicators of the potential of ecosystems to supply ecosystem services, and the impact of changes in land cover and use upon them. The study focuses on the EU-25 plus Switzerland and Norway, and develops the methodology proposed by Kienast et al. (2009), which uses expert-and literature-driven modelling methods. The methods are explored in relation to mapping and assessing four of the ecosystem services: "Crop-based production"; "Wildlife products"; "Habitat diversity"; and "Recreation". The potential to deliver services is assumed to be influenced by (a) land-use, (b) net primary production, and (c) bioclimatic and landscape properties such as mountainous terrain, adjacency to coastal and wetland ecosystems, as well as adjacency to landscape and nature protection zones. The novel aspect of this work is an analysis of whether the historical and the projected land use changes for the periods 1990-2000, 2000-2006, and 2000-2030 are likely to be supportive or degenerative in the capacity of ecosystems to deliver ecosystem services; we refer to these as 'marginal' or incremental changes. The latter are assessed by using land account data for 1990-2000 and 2000-2006 (LEAC, EEA, 2006) and EURURALIS 2.0 land use scenarios for 2000-2030. The results are reported at three spatial reporting units, i.e. (1) the NUTS-X regions, (2) the bioclimatic regions, and (3) the dominant landscape types. All mapped output has been compared with independently generated continent-wide assessments (maps of ecosystem services or environmental parameters/indicators), which revealed that the straightforward binary links work satisfactorily and generate plausible geographical patterns. This conclusion mainly holds for provisioning services. At the continental scale, the selected input parameters are thus valid proxies which can be used to assess the medium-term potential of landscapes to provide ecosystem services. For a subset of NUTS-x regions for which change trajectories for 1990-2000, 2000-2006 and 2000-2030 are available, trade-offs between the four services have been analyzed using cluster analyses. The latter allowed us to simultaneously analyze the state of the four services in year 2000 and the individual trajectories of each service over three time periods. As a result we obtained seven regions with distinct trade-off patterns. To our knowledge this is one of the first continental-wide analyses where land use trajectories are taken into account to construct an indicator to estimate the balance between a set or bundle of ecosystem services. The relationship between the outputs of this work and the development of rapid assessment and accounting frameworks is discussed. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Integrative freshwater ecology and biodiversity conservationJuergen Geist
Volume 11, Issue 6, November 2011, Pages 1507-1516
Freshwater ecosystems provide goods and services of critical importance to human societies, yet they are among the most heavily altered ecosystems with an overproportional loss of biodiversity. Major threats to freshwater biodiversity include overexploitation, water pollution, fragmentation, destruction or degradation of habitat, and invasions by non-native species. Alterations of natural flow regimes by man-made dams, land-use changes, river impoundments, and water abstraction often have profound impacts on lotic communities. An understanding of the functional interactions and processes in freshwater ecosystems presents a major challenge for scientists, but is crucial for effective and sustainable restoration. Most conservation approaches to date have considered single species or single level strategies. In contrast, the concept of 'Integrative Freshwater Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation' (IFEBC) proposed herein addresses the interactions between abiotic and biotic factors on different levels of organization qualitatively and quantitatively. It consequently results in a more holistic understanding of biodiversity functioning and management. Core questions include modeling of the processes in aquatic key habitats and their functionality based on the identification and quantification of factors which control the spatial and temporal distribution of biodiversity and productivity in aquatic ecosystems. The context and importance of research into IFEBC is illustrated using case studies from three major areas of research: (i) aquatic habitat quality and restoration ecology, (ii) the genetic and evolutionary potential of aquatic species, and (iii) the detection of stress and toxic effects in aquatic ecosystems using biomarkers. In conclusion, our understanding of the functioning of aquatic ecosystems and conservation management can greatly benefit from the methodological combination of molecular and ecological tools. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Analysis of historic changes in regional ecosystem service provisioning using land use dataSven Lautenbach | Carolin Kugel | Angela Lausch | Ralf Seppelt
Volume 11, Issue 2, March 2011, Pages 676-687
Land use change has a major impact on goods and services that our environment supplies for society. While detailed ecological or biophysical field studies are needed to quantify the exact amount of ecosystem service supply at local scales, such a monitoring might be unfeasible at the regional scale. Since field scale monitoring schemes for ecosystem services or ecosystem functioning are missing, proxy based indicators can help to assess the historic development of ecosystem services or ecosystem functioning at the regional scale. We show at the example of the historic development (1964-2004) in the district of Leipzig/Germany how land use/land cover data can be used to derive regional scale indicators for ecosystem functions. We focus thereby on two hypotheses: (1) the ecosystem functioning has degraded over time and (2) changes in land use configuration play an important role in this degradation. The study focuses on indicators for ecosystem functions related to (i) water purification by riparian buffer strips, (ii) pollination, (iii) food production and (iv) outdoor recreation. Each indicator builds on the analysis of land use configuration and land use composition information and is tested on sensitivity/robustness with respect to parameters which had to be estimated based on expert knowledge. We show that land use composition is an important aspect in our ecosystem service assessment. Although our study region is faced with a maximum land use change of 11% in the major land use classes between 1964 and 2004, we see a decrease of ecosystem function indicators up to 23%. The regional assessment shows an overall trend for degradation of ecosystem functioning from 1964 to 1984. This trend is reversed between 1984 and 1994 but the process slowed down until 2004 without reaching the level of 1964. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sustainability indicator development-science or political negotiation?Ewald Rametsteiner | Helga Pülzl | Johanna Alkan-Olsson | Pia Frederiksen
Volume 11, Issue 1, January 2011, Pages 61-70
The efforts to develop sustainability indicators have strongly increased since the beginning of the 1990s, often led by intergovernmental processes. More recently, a number of sustainability indicator development processes have been initiated within large research projects that aim to design tools for sustainability assessments, funded by the European Union. The development of sustainability indicators provides a particular challenge to scientists, given the essentially normative dimension of the concept of "sustainability" . Thus, we argue, the development of sustainability indicators is a process of both scientific "knowledge production" and of political "norm creation", and both components need to be properly acknowledged. Based on a respective theoretical framework and comparing five cases of sustainability indicator development processes (three science-led and two led by intergovernmental processes), we find that the political norm creation dimension is not fully and explicitly recognized in science-led processes. The paper concludes by discussing a number of implications for the design of sustainability indicator development processes, in particular with regard to participation and representation as well as adjustment of indicators over time. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.
Accounting for demand and supply of the biosphere's regenerative capacity: The National Footprint Accounts' underlying methodology and frameworkMichael Borucke | David Moore | Gemma Cranston | Kyle Gracey | Katsunori Iha | Joy Larson | Elias Lazarus | Juan Carlos Morales | Mathis Wackernagel | Alessandro Galli
Volume 24, Issue , January 2013, Pages 518-533
Human demand on ecosystem services continues to increase, and evidence suggests that this demand is outpacing the regenerative and absorptive capacity of the biosphere. As a result, the productivity of natural capital may increasingly become a limiting factor for the human endeavor. Metrics tracking human demand on, and availability of, regenerative and waste absorptive capacity within the biosphere are therefore needed. Ecological Footprint analysis is such a metric; it measures human appropriation (Ecological Footprint) and the biosphere's supply (biocapacity) of ecosystem products and services in terms of the amount of bioproductive land and sea area (ecological assets) needed to supply these products and services. This paper documents the latest method for estimating the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity of nations, using the National Footprint Accounts (NFA) applied to more than 200 countries and for the world overall. Results are also compared with those obtained from previous editions of the NFA. According to the 2011 Edition of the National Footprint Accounts, humanity demanded the resources and services of 1.5 planets in 2008; this human demand was 0.7 planets in 1961. Situations in which total demand for ecological goods and services exceed the available supply for a given location, are called 'overshoot'. 'Global overshoot' indicates that stocks of ecological capital are depleting and/or that waste is accumulating. As the methodology keeps being improved, each new edition of the NFA supports the findings of a global overshoot. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Deadwood as a surrogate for forest biodiversity: Meta-analysis of correlations between deadwood volume and species richness of saproxylic organismsAurore Lassauce | Yoan Paillet | Hervé Jactel | Christophe Bouget
Volume 11, Issue 5, September 2011, Pages 1027-1039
Deadwood is an important component of forest ecosystems on which many forest dwelling species depend. Deadwood volume is therefore widely used as an indicator of forest biodiversity, notably throughout Europe. However, using deadwood as an indicator has mostly been based on boreal references, and published references for temperate forests are scarce. As a result, the magnitude of the relationship between deadwood volume and species richness remains unclear for saproxylic species. We used meta-analysis to study the correlation between deadwood volume and the species richness of saproxylic beetles and fungi relative to several predictors at the forest stand level: biome, type of deadwood (log, snag, and stump) and decay class (fresh vs. decayed). We showed that the correlation between deadwood volume and species richness of saproxylic organisms was significant but moderate (r = 0.31), and that it varied only slightly between logs and snags or between decay stages. However, we found a strong biome effect: deadwood volume and species richness were more correlated in boreal forests than in temperate forests. This could be attributed both to differences in the history of forest management between biomes and to varying landscape patterns. Finally, we conclude that total deadwood volume is probably not a sufficient indicator of saproxylic biodiversity, and those additional variables (notably at the landscape level) such as type of deadwood or decay class should be integrated in deadwood monitoring. In addition, further forest research is needed to better assess the quantitative relationship between deadwood and saproxylic biodiversity, and in order to build indicators adapted to different biome contexts. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Remote sensing for conservation monitoring: Assessing protected areas, habitat extent, habitat condition, species diversity, and threatsHarini Nagendra | Richard Lucas | João Pradinho Honrado | Rob H G Jongman | Cristina Tarantino | Maria Adamo | Paola Mairota
Volume 33, Issue , October 2013, Pages 45-59
Monitoring protected areas and their surrounds at local to regional scales is essential given their vulnerability to anthropogenic pressures, including those associated with climatic fluctuation, and important for management and fulfilment of national and international directives and agreements. Whilst monitoring has commonly revolved around field data, remote sensing can play a key role in establishing baselines of the extent and condition of habitats and associated species diversity as well as quantifying losses, degradation or recovery associated with specific events or processes. Landsat images constitute a major data source for habitat monitoring, capturing broad scale information on changes in habitat extent and spatial patterns of fragmentation that allow disturbances in protected areas to be identified. These data are, however, less able to provide information on changes in habitat quality, species distribution and fine-scale disturbances, and hence data from other spaceborne optical sensors are increasingly being considered. Very High Resolution (VHR) optical datasets have been exploited to a lesser extent, partly because of the relative recency of spaceborne observations and challenges associated with obtaining and routinely extracting information from airborne multi-spectral and hyperspectral datasets. The lack of a shortwave infrared band in many VHR datasets and provision of too much detail (e.g., shadows within and from landscape objects) also present challenges in some cases. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, particularly when used synergistically with optical data, have benefited the detection of changes in the three-dimensional structure of habitats. This review shows that remote sensing has a strong, yet underexploited potential to assist in the monitoring of protected areas. However, the data generated need to be utilized more effectively to enable better management of the condition of protected areas and their surrounds, prepare for climate change, and assist planning for future landscape management. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Achievements and gaps in indicators for sustainabilityArthur Lyon Dahl
Volume 17, Issue , June 2012, Pages 14-19
In a world faced with accelerating climate change, economic instability and resource limits, it is urgent to find better indicators of progress towards sustainability. The available indicators mostly succeed at measuring unsustainable trends that can be targeted by management action, but fall short of defining or ensuring sustainability. A recent review of environmental assessment and reporting at the national level for the United Nations Environment Programme shows about half of reporting countries to be using indicators and provides some lessons learned. However indicators at the national level are not sufficient. The challenges ahead include finding indicators of change in dynamic systems, establishing sustainability targets towards which national progress can be measured, developing global level indicators of planetary sustainability, and providing individuals with indicators reflecting their own progress and providing positive incentives for further efforts. Finally, since achieving sustainability is fundamentally an ethical challenge, a new set of values-based indicators is required to measure and motivate the implementation of ethical principles necessary to guide the transition towards sustainability. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Flood regulating ecosystem services - Mapping supply and demand, in the Etropole municipality, BulgariaStoyan Nedkov | Benjamin Burkhard
Volume 21, Issue , October 2012, Pages 67-79
Floods exert significant pressure on human societies. Assessments of an ecosystem's capacity to regulate and to prevent floods relative to human demands for flood regulating ecosystem services can provide important information for environmental management. In this study, the capacities of different ecosystems to regulate floods were assessed through investigations of water retention functions of the vegetation and soil cover. The use of the catchment based hydrologic model KINEROS and the GIS AGWA tool provided data about peak rivers' flows and the capability of different land cover types to "capture" and regulate some parts of the water. Based on spatial land cover units originating from CORINE and further data sets, these regulating ecosystem services were quantified and mapped. Resulting maps show the ecosystems' flood regulating service capacities in the case study area of the Malki Iskar river basin above the town of Etropole in the northern part of Bulgaria. There, the number of severe flood events causing significant damages in the settlements and infrastructure has been increasing during the last few years. Maps of demands for flood regulating ecosystem services in the study region were compiled based on a digital elevation model, land use information and accessibility data. Finally, the flood regulating ecosystem service supply and demand data were merged in order to produce a map showing regional supply-demand balances. The resulting map of flood regulation supply capacities shows that the Etropole municipality's area has relatively high capacities for flood regulation. Areas of high and very high relevant capacities cover about 34% of the study area. The flood regulation ecosystem service demand map shows that areas of low or no relevant demands far exceed the areas of high and very high demands, which comprise only 0.6% of the municipality's area. According to the flood regulation supply-demand balance map, areas of high relevant demands are located in places of low relevant supply capacities. The results show that the combination of data from different sources with hydrological modeling provides a suitable data base for the assessment of complex function-service-benefit relations. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The importance of setting targets and reference conditions in assessing marine ecosystem qualityÁngel Borja | Daniel M. Dauer | Antoine Grémare
Volume 12, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 1-7
Assessing benthic quality status of marine and transitional water habitats requires to set up both: (i) tools (i.e. indices) to assess the relative quality of the considered habitat, and (ii) reference conditions for which such indices can be computed and used to infer the absolute ecological status (ES) of the considered habitat. The development of indices, their comparison and the assessment of the causes of their discrepancies have been largely discussed but less attention has been paid to the methods used for the setting of adequate reference conditions, although this step is clearly crucial for the sound assessment of ES. This contribution reviews the approaches available in setting both reference conditions (pristine areas, hindcasting, modelling and best professional judgment) and targets (baseline set in the past, current baseline and directional/trends). We scored the use of pristine or minimally impacted conditions as the best single method; however, the other methods were judged as adequate then combined with best professional judgment. The case of multivariate AMBI (AZTI's Marine Biotic Index) is used to highlight the importance of setting correct reference conditions. Hence, data from 29 references, including 14 countries from Europe and North America, and both coastal (15 cases) and transitional (17 cases) waters, have been used to study the response of multivariate AMBI to human pressures. Results show that the inability of this index to detect human pressure is in most cases linked with the use of inappropriate methods for setting reference conditions. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Network analysis to assess landscape connectivity trends: Application to European forests (1990-2000)Santiago Saura | Christine Estreguil | Coralie Mouton | Mónica Rodríguez-Freire
Volume 11, Issue 2, March 2011, Pages 407-416
Landscape networks and ecosystems worldwide are undergoing changes that may impact in different ways relevant ecological processes such as gene flow, pollination, or wildlife dispersal. Amyriad of indices have been developed to characterize landscape patterns, but not all of them are equally suited to evaluate temporal changes in landscape connectivity as is increasingly needed for biodiversity monitoring and operational indicator delivery. Relevant advancements in this direction have been recently proposed based on graph theoretical methods to analyze landscape network connectivity and on the measurement of habitat availability at the landscape scale. Building from these developments, wemodify arecent index and present the equivalent connected area (ECA) index, defined as the size of a single patch (maximally connected) that would provide the same probability of connectivity than the actual habitat pattern in the landscape. The temporal changes in ECA can be directly compared with the changes in total habitat area. This allows for additional and straightforward insights on the degree to which the gains or losses in habitat amount can be beneficial or deleterious by affecting landscape elements that uphold connectivity in a wider landscape context. We provide a demonstrative example of application and interpretation of this index and approach to monitor changes in functional landscape connectivity. We focus on the trends in European forests at the province level in the period 1990-2000 from Corine land cover data, considering both changes in the forest spatial pattern and in the average permeability of the landscape matrix. The degree of connectivity was rather stable over most of the study area, with a slight overall increase in forest connectivity in Europe. However, a few countries and regions concentrated remarkably high changes in the analyzed period, particularly those with a low forest cover. The species traits also affected the responses to landscape pattern changes, which were more prominent for those species with limited dispersal abilities. We conclude discussing the potential of this approach for consistent indicator delivery, as well as the limitations and possibilities of application to a variety of situations, for which the required quantitative tools are freely available as open source projects. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Indicators to support environmental sustainability of bioenergy systemsAllen C. McBride | Virginia H. Dale | Latha M. Baskaran | Mark E. Downing | Laurence M. Eaton | Rebecca A. Efroymson | Charles T. Garten | Keith L. Kline | Henriette I. Jager | Patrick J. Mulholland | Esther S. Parish | Peter E. Schweizer | John M. Storey
Volume 11, Issue 5, September 2011, Pages 1277-1289
Indicators are needed to assess environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems. Effective indicators will help in the quantification of benefits and costs of bioenergy options and resource uses. We identify 19 measurable indicators for soil quality, water quality and quantity, greenhouse gases, biodiversity, air quality, and productivity, building on existing knowledge and on national and international programs that are seeking ways to assess sustainable bioenergy. Together, this suite of indicators is hypothesized to reflect major environmental effects of diverse feedstocks, management practices, and post-production processes. The importance of each indicator is identified. Future research relating to this indicator suite is discussed, including field testing, target establishment, and application to particular bioenergy systems. Coupled with such efforts, we envision that this indicator suite can serve as a basis for the practical evaluation of environmental sustainability in a variety of bioenergy systems. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Form follows function? Proposing a blueprint for ecosystem service assessments based on reviews and case studiesRalf Seppelt | Brian Fath | Benjamin Burkhard | Judy L. Fisher | Adrienne Grêt-Regamey | Sven Lautenbach | Petina Pert | Stefan Hotes | Joachim Spangenberg | Peter H. Verburg | Alexander P E Van Oudenhoven
Volume 21, Issue , October 2012, Pages 145-154
Ecosystem service assessments (ESA) hold the promise of supporting the quantification and valuation of human appropriation of nature and its goods and services. The concept has taken flight with the number of studies published on the topic increasing rapidly. This development, and the variation of diverging approaches, support innovative ideas and may lead to complementary insights from various perspectives. However, at the same time this slows scientific synthesis through increasing uncertainty with respect to the appropriate methodologies to be used to support solving environmental management problems. We analyzed ESA and the underlying concepts based on the variety of available publications and reviews, which revealed a number of different methods, uncertain reliability and robustness. In order to facilitate comparison, evaluation and synthesis of ecosystem service assessments we propose a blueprint for reporting studies in a structured way. By exemplifying this with worked examples, we argue that the use of such a blueprint will (i) assist in achieving improved communication and collaboration in transdisciplinary teams; (ii) reveal methodological aspects, important for the interpretation of results; (iii) support robustness and reliability of assessments; (iv) aid in structuring assessment studies and monitoring programs; (v) provide a base for comparing and synthesizing results of different studies (e.g. in meta-analysis), and thus (vi) provide a base for further implementation of ESA. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Trade-offs across value-domains in ecosystem services assessmentBerta Martín-López | Erik Gómez-Baggethun | Marina García-Llorente | Carlos Montes
Volume 37, Issue PART A, February 2014, Pages 220-228
One of the key challenges for ecosystem services research is to develop a comprehensive methodological approach in which biophysical, socio-cultural and monetary value-domains can be explicitly considered and integrated into decision making processes. This paper operationalizes a methodological approach for ecosystem service assessment on the basis of value pluralism. We assessed eleven ecosystem services delivered in the Doñana social-ecological system (SW Spain). We found that different ecosystem service trade-offs came into view depending the value-domain in which services were assessed. The use of different valuation methods uncovers the fact that methods to elicit value actually shape and define the values being elicited. In this context, the prevalence of biophysical and monetary value-domains in scientific literature entails two main concerns: (1) the ecosystem service concept reflect in a limited extent the concerns of their beneficiaries, and (2) ecosystem service assessment results are biased towards the information provided by markets at the expense of other value-articulating institutions. Recognizing the role of ecosystem service assessment methods as value-articulating institutions, we call for a methodological framework able to contemplate the multidimensional nature of ecosystem services. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
An empirical review of cultural ecosystem service indicatorsMónica Hernández-Morcillo | Tobias Plieninger | Claudia Bieling
Volume 29, Issue , February 2013, Pages 434-444
Over millennia human well-being has benefited from ecosystems, not only through tangible goods, but also through intangible assets known as cultural ecosystem services. Despite growing research over the last decade, cultural services assessment still remains arbitrary and is largely limited to marketable services such as tourism. Evident difficulties in standardizing definitions and measurements have challenged cultural services accounting in decision making processes. However, the imminent formation of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services offers an opportunity to counterbalance this misrepresentation by establishing a scientific basis for consistently assessing cultural services. In that regard, the current review intends to facilitate discussion investigating the current state of cultural services accounting by offering an appraisal of existing evidence regarding cultural services indicator quality. The review builds on scientifically recognized frameworks to develop a holistic understanding of how cultural services indicators are conceived within ecosystem services research. Among the measures found, benefit indicators were most frequently used for assessing inspirational, educational and recreational services. A broad variety of methods for accounting cultural services was found, mainly due to the varied aims of the studies. Most of the cultural services indicators were deficient concerning their clarity of definitions, purposes and understanding of the processes to be measured and referring only marginally to tradeoffs and bundles with other services. Only 17% performed multitemporal assessments and 23% used spatially explicit information. It seems that indicator quality could be greatly enhanced by investing more effort toward involving relevant stakeholders in conceptualization and communication phases, using participatory mapping tools to enhance visibility. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.


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wind by human, blowing near the microphone (Behringer B1)
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GLENDALE, Ariz. ― As confetti flew, Kenyan Drake searched for the words.
His wild ride as Alabama's Swiss Army Knife just ended with a second national title, but a lot's happened since the last one. There was the broken leg at Ole Miss last year. Then he fractured his arm at Mississippi State this November.
Yet there he stood, with a championship hat and a taste of redemption.
The senior capped his career with a 95-yard kickoff return in the closing moments of Alabama's 45-40 national title game win over Clemson. It gave the Tide a 38-27 lead over the Tigers just seconds after Clemson's field goal made it a one-score game.
"I was determined to get in the end zone. It's been a real tough year for me personally but my team has done a great job of rallying behind everybody."
The touchdown meant more than points to Drake. You could see his disappointment when leaving the field in the second quarter, stuffed at the goal line trying to punch one in.
Memories of his first-quarter kick return crept into his mind as he caught the last one. Drake broke off a 39-yard return but was tackled by kicker Greg Huegel.
"I didn't want the kicker to tackle me again," Drake said. "That's the worst nightmare of a kick returner to have the kicker tackle you. Once I beat his angle and got around the corner, I was just trying to keep stride and stay compact. I'm an old track runner so I just tried to keep my form. I started to lose it at the end. That's why I dove."
That last leap for the pylon forced the ball loose as tacklers closed in. The play was reviewed to be sure the ball wasn't fumbled before breaking the invisible line.
"I made a mistake," Drake said. "Coach always tells us not to put the ball out when we're on the goal line on that one-yard line. I'm disappointed I didn't give that extra effort. I wasn't going to be denied, diving into the end zone. That's what I wanted to do."
There was fatigue setting in, too. Drake had just the one carry and two receptions for 21 yards, but this was a draining game.
"Yeah, I was tired," Drake said. "I mean, 95 yards and I've been playing the whole game. I was kind of gassed. I gave it all my last 10 yards. Just put it all on the line for the team."
Nick Saban knew what that moment meant to Drake, who was a reserve running back on the 2012 title team.
"Well, Kenyan has been through a lot and we thought he would have a tremendous breakout season. When the season started, I didn't know who would be more productive, Derrick Henry or Kenyan Drake," Saban said. "I thought they both would be. Kenyan fought, whether it was hamstrings or all kinds of injuries, then he got a little frustrated and put a lot of pressure on himself, and got him settled down and that and he started to be productive, and as soon as he started to be productive he broke his arm so he missed a couple of games.
"But he's really done a great job for us all year in whatever his role has been. I always like to see guys that are seniors who have been great contributors in the program do something special that's going to be a great memory to them, and that kickoff return was really something special."


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'The Artist' and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' lead BAFTA nominations
As ever with their nominations announcement, BAFTA giveth, and BAFTA taketh away. Excited to see "Drive" up for Best Film and Best Director? Sure, but in return we have to accept Jim Broadbent nominated, ahead of Albert Brooks, for a career-worst performance in "The Iron Lady," which also somehow copped a Best Original Screenplay nod. (Despite this showing, the film mercifully didn't crack their Best British Film lineup.)
Glad to see a strong showing at last for "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy?" Yes, but the flipside of that is zero nominations for "The Tree of Life" -- no, not even a cinematography nod for Emmanuel Lubezki. Even when trying to anticipate the Oscar race, BAFTA remain a law unto themselves -- which can be as exasperating as it is occasionally rewarding.
The frontrunners, of course, could have been spotted from space. Oscar favorite "The Artist" naturally leads the way with 12 nominations -- the (mostly) silent film scored even in the Best Sound category -- while British loyalty netted an impressive 11 nods for domestic hit "Tinker, Tailor." The two will fight it out for the top award, though with the latter primed for the consolation prize of Best British Film, I think we know how this is going to go.
The Best Film category is rounded out with "The Descendants," "The Help" and, in their most independent and adventurous move, the aforementioned "Drive." "The Help" is perhaps the most surprising of these, given that the distinctly Yank-flavored film didn't do much business in the UK, and that its slot comes at the expense of "Hugo," which nonetheless scored nine nominations, including a Best Director bid for this year's BAFTA Fellowship honoree, Martin Scorsese. You know what I've been saying about "The Help" invisibly picking up momentum in the Best Picture race? There's your evidence.
As usual, the nominations hewed closely to the chapter selections marked in the longlists -- and where the votes of the general membership did diverge from those of the relevant chapter, it wasn't generally for the better. Eddie Marsan out of Best Supporting Actor, Broadbent in. "Young Adult" out of Best Original Screenplay, "The Iron Lady" in. "Drive" out of Best Cinematography, "War Horse" in. Some other replacements are welcome ones, but for the most part, one wonders why BAFTA doesn't just leave it to the supposed experts.
If you're surprised to see Carey Mulligan mentioned in the Best Supporting Actress category for "Drive" rather than "Shame" -- in what other list would the British ingenue emerge as the only acting nominee from Nicolas Winding Refn's film? -- bear in mind that she was longlisted as a lead in the latter. BAFTA also overruled campaign categorization in the case of "The Artist" star Bérénice Bejo, correctly deeming her a lead -- she scores a Best Actress nomination, which does little to clarify the Oscar picture in that category. (Before Glenn Close's detractors pop the champagne, remember that "Albert Nobbs," which is still without UK distribution, wasn't eligible.)
Anything else? Well, the Brits clearly aren't buying this year's Americans in Paris quite as wholesale as voters across the pond -- in addition to "Hugo" missing out in the top race, "Midnight in Paris" scored a solitary Original Screenplay nod. And they're only half-sold on "The Descendants": the Golden Globe winner had enough residual heat for three nods, including Best Film, but is missing from the Best Director and Best Supporting Actress categories. (Joining Scorsese at the lone-director table, in one of the morning's most thrilling nominations, is Lynne Ramsay for "We Need to Talk About Kevin.")
Another film that didn't do nearly as well with the Brits as it has with US Guild voters is David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Last year, the Swedish original nagged Actress and Adapted Screenplay nominations, in addition to snagging Best Foreign Language Film; by contrast, the remake managed only a pair of technical nods. I can't help wondering if the Academy's response on Oscar nomination morning might be similarly deflating.
Anyway, I'll leave you to pick through the full list of nominees below. The awards will be handed out on February 12 in London.
Best Film
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"The Help"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Best British Film
"My Week With Marilyn"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
"We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Nicolas Winding Refn, "Drive"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
Tomas Alfredson, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy"
Lynne Ramsay, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Best Actor
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Michael Fassbender, "Shame"
Gary Oldman. "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"
Best Actress
Bérénice Bejo, "The Artist"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Tilda Swinton, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"
Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
Jim Broadbent, "The Iron Lady"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Ides of March"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Best Supporting Actress
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Judi Dench, "My Week With Marilyn"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Carey Mulligan, "Drive"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"
Best Original Screenplay
"The Artist"
"The Guard"
"The Iron Lady"
"Midnight in Paris"
Best Adapted Screenplay
"The Descendants"
"The Help"
"The Ides of March"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Best Foreign Language Film
"A Separation"
"The Skin I Live In"
Best Documentary
"George Harrison: Living in the Material World"
"Project Nim"
Best Animated Feature
"The Adventures of Tintin"
"Arthur Christmas"
Best Art Direction
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
"War Horse"
Best Cinematography
"The Artist"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
"War Horse"
Best Costume Design
"The Artist"
"Jane Eyre"
"My Week With Marilyn"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Best Film Editing
"The Artist"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Best Makeup & Hair
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"
"My Week With Marilyn"
Best Music
"The Artist"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
"War Horse"
Best Sound
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
"War Horse"
Best Visual Effects
"The Adventures of Tintin"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"War Horse"
Best Debut by a British Director, Writer or Producer
Joe Cornish, "Attack the Block"
Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley and Sarah Brocklehurst, "Black Pond"
Ralph Fiennes, "Coriolanus"
Richard Ayoade, "Submarine"
Paddy Considine, "Tyrannosaur"
Remember to keep track of the ups and downs of the 2011-2012 film awards season via The Circuit.
For more views on movies, awards season and other pursuits, follow @GuyLodge on Twitter.
Sign up for Instant Alerts from In Contention!


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Your location is set for Ashburn, VA 20147
Tools & Resources
Published: January 2013
Shopping for car insurance would be a breeze if you only had to look at price: You would just zero in on the company that offers the cheapest premium rates, and you'd be set. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. Going with the low-cost auto insurance provider may help save you money, but will it always give you peace of mind?
Cheaper isn't always better. If you're looking at the car insurance company with the lowest price, remember that you sometimes get what you pay for. Nowhere is this truer than in car insurance, where sometimes the cheapest policy means far lower limits of coverage. It can sometimes even mean foregoing critical coverage that you'll hopefully never need—but that would sure be nice to have if you find yourself in an accident.
Raising your deductible can lower your premium costs, but should you really set it that high? When you get car insurance, you may have the option of establishing a lower deductible. This is usually associated with higher premiums, but it also means that if and when the time comes to use your policy, you won't have to pay a large sum of money at once to cover your car repair. Raising your deductible has its pros and cons, but it's up to you to decide what's best for you.
Opting out of certain types of coverage may not be a great idea. Depending on where you live, you'll find certain laws in place that govern what kind of insurance you're required to have. It's important to find out what your state requirements are. Most states make liability insurance mandatory, while others also require you to have personal injury protection. But, keep one thing in mind: Just because you're not required by law to have coverage doesn't mean it's not a good idea to get it anyway. Cheap insurance policies usually only provide the basic state requirements, just enough to keep you legal. But, there may be a big difference between meeting the bare legal requirements and getting the best coverage for your money.
Boosting your level of coverage could be worth every penny you put in. If you're looking at a cheaper car insurance policy, it's probably inexpensive for a reason. One of those reasons might be that the level of coverage you're getting isn't really high enough to cover potential damages. For example, the state of Florida only requires a minimum of $10,000 for property damage liability. But, what happens if you're deemed at fault in an accident and the amount of damages exceeds that $10,000? It's entirely possible, especially considering that cars aren't getting any cheaper. If this happens, you may need to pay for any damages that exceed your insurance policy. Not such a good deal, is it?
Sometimes, low cost can mean low quality. It doesn't matter if you're talking car insurance or restaurant service—customer service counts for a lot. Oftentimes, being able to discuss your insurance options with your agent in person or to file a claim with a real, live person on the telephone can give you peace of mind during a stressful time. To be absolutely certain that the company you're looking at hasn't lowered prices to match its level of customer service, get online and do your homework or talk it over with someone you know who has a policy with the same company. If you hear good things about their service, consider this a good sign.
Ready to find an auto insurance policy that's right for you? Visit the Allstate.com Auto Insurance section.
This section highlights examples of precautions you can consider to help maintain your personal property. Please recognize that a particular precaution may not be appropriate or effective in every circumstance, and that taking preventive measures cannot guarantee any outcome. We encourage you to use your own good judgment about what's appropriate, and always consider safety.
Coverage subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Policy issuance is subject to qualifications. Allstate Insurance Company, Allstate Indemnity Company, Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company, Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Northbrook, IL. © 2015 Allstate Insurance Company, Northbrook, IL.
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Holiday Accommodation in Kingsbridge
We have found 2 properties to book, based on your search for Holiday Accommodation in Kingsbridge, Devon, England.
Clanaborough Cottage Self Catering South Devon
Holiday Cottage in Kingsbridge, Devon, England
Overlooking quiet rolling fields in South Devon, this 400 year old thatched cottage is just the perfect venue for a cosy and relaxing holiday. Sleeps 6. A pet friendly cottage and ...
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Holiday Cottage in Kingsbridge, Devon, England
Superb indoor pool and outdoor tennis court. Nearest beach three miles away at Torcross. Situated between Dartmouth and Salcombe in South Devon.
£ 260.00 - £ 660.00 per week
Sleeps: 2Pet & Dog Friendly Pets Welcome
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Dr. Ernst Lengyel is an OB-GYN in Chicago, IL. He cares for conditions affecting women's health, officially referred to as obstetrics & gynecology.
We invite you to write a review about your experience with Dr. Lengyel.
Find potential causes and treatment options with the MD.com Symptom Checker.
See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.


text:
Snega is a 48 kg lb, 18 year old beauty from russia. She is 164 cm and her favorite position is doggie.
All models found on this website were OVER 18 years of age when photographed. All paperwork pertaining to Title 18 U.S.C. 2257 is on file and available for inspection.
18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement


text:
Computing - Information Technology Programmes
The School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences is an extremely successful part of the university and is recognised both nationally and internationally for its cutting edge research and its innovative approach to curriculum development.
Our up-to-date, relevant and exciting programs are designed in close collaboration with industry to provide the skills that employers really want. Our research record is outstanding, focusing on practical and important real-life problems.


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Kids Day Of Lexington
Rating: 0 stars 0 0 review 21
929 North Lake Drive Lexington SC 29072 USA
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Promote This Nonprofit
GreatNonprofits badges allow you to raise awareness of your favorite nonprofits on your own web sites!
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Society For Preservation & Encouragement Of Barbershop Quartet Singing America
KPinLexington wrote:
The Main Street Harmonizers! Harmony for all! Recreational singing for men of all ages. See www.MainStreetHarmonizers.com and... more »
- Location:
- Lexington, SC


text:
gib.gov.tr opened on 1.5.1970 and this domain is 46 years, 5 months old. We see that gib.gov.tr is using Google Adsense to monetize and , 17248 Alexa Rank and Country rank shows us how good and useful this site is.It is well known webmasters care about W3 Validator and unfortunately W3 found 18 errors and 3 warnings on gib.gov.tr. It is important for every website to open quick and be smooth while surfing. We see this site opens in 28 milliseconds and it is a really good score. This domain's nameservers are ns1.gib.gov.tr and ns2.gib.gov.tr.On our researches we see gib.gov.tr gets visitors with these words : gib, internet vergi dairesi, vergi dairesi, mtv, gib.gov.tr, mtv sorgulama, motorlu taşıtlar vergisi, gİb, mtv hesaplama, gelirler. This website doesn't have any keyword, we think they should put at least one or two keywords. We see gib.gov.tr has DMOZ record in False category that is why we think this website is 100% secure to surf but since DMOZ wants money to add your website to Dmoz we can't say, if a site is not in Dmoz then it is not a secure site.We see that your website gets most of the users with these missed types;bib.gov.tr, gb.gov.tr, gjib.gov.tr, gig.gov.tr,
Mostly to be successful, and to obtain top rankings or positions in the search engines.


text:
WEST LONG BRANCH - Students and staff at Monmouth University focused on going green for Earth Day Tuesday.
LED light bulbs were given away on the West Long Branch college campus as part of the celebration.
Free seed packets were also available to students and faculty as well as energy-saving tips.
READ MORE: Environment Stories
"If I can make the change, I can influence my friends to make a change, and it'll be like a chain reaction kind of thing," says sophomore Faith Blamon.
Earth Day celebrations will continue at the university Wednesday as the community garden that donates fresh produce to local organizations opens its doors for planting.


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Browse by Creator
Group by: Item Type | No Grouping | Creators | Year of publication, submission, or completion
Jump to: J
Number of items: 1.
Jempson, M. and Powell, W. (2012) Blame not the mobile phone, 'twas ever thus'. In: Keeble, R. L. and Mair, J., eds. (2012) The Phone Hacking Scandal: Journalism on Trial. Arima. ISBN 9781845495336 Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/16389
This list was generated on Thu Oct 27 02:43:00 2016 BST.


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A Le Moyne education invites students to live lives of service, faith, intellect, and integrity.
A Jesuit education is not simply about reading from a textbook or researching information online.
Le Moyne is the second youngest of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States.
More than just the members of the Society of Jesus, our Jesuit community extends to all corners of our campus.
Some things last the test of time. That includes the rich, 500-year-old Jesuit heritage upon which the College was founded.
What's the best way to learn about life at Le Moyne? Explore, investigate and discover our beautiful campus for yourself.
Submit your application for undergraduate, graduate or continuing education programs today.
G.I. Bill® Educational Benefits
Put your mind to work – for yourself, for your future, and for your world.
Clubs and Organizations
Everything you experience teaches you something about yourself and the world around you. Savor as many as possible.
Your gift to Le Moyne today is an investment in countless tomorrows.
July 11-22, 2016
Why do films make us happy? Sad? Afraid? Angry? At Le Moyne College's new summer film workshop, come explore how films use images and sound to appeal to our emotions so effectively. Those who attend will view classic contemporary films in order to figure out how the best ones "speak" to audiences. Then, using Le Moyne's state-of-the-art recording and editing equipment, participants will collaborate to create short films all set in the same "cinematic universe." At the conclusion of this exciting program, we invite family and friends to the premiere of the students' short films. (Popcorn included!)
For youth entering grades 9-12
Hours: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fee: $460
Check out our other summer programs in Theatre, Musical Theatre, and Strings.
Click here to apply for any of our programs online, or you can download an application to print here.
Join us on facebook!
Questions? Call (315) 445-4230 or email email@example.com.
Le Moyne is committed to a maintaining a safe campus environment. For information about Title IX and assault resources, click below.Learn More


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Christchurch Wineries and Breweries
Christchurch City is alive with colour, atmosphere and world-class attractions. It's a place known internationally for its spectacular gardens, such as the Botanical Gardens. more
New Zealand is famous for its highly distinctive, premium quality wines. Take a winery tour in Christchurch and enjoy fantastic scenery, good food and fine wine.
Select wineries in Christchurch, New Zealand, from the list below. Alternatively select a different Christchurch area.


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Category:Battles involving Morocco
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This category includes historical battles in which Sultanates of Morocco (1269–present) participated. Please see the category guidelines for more information.
This category has only the following subcategory.
Pages in category "Battles involving Morocco"
The following 43 pages are in this category, out of 43 total. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more).


text:
Hello Sharon,
Kudos to you for finding this article and posting it for the public.
Please place a prominent link to this article on your front page. Beginning with http://www.thepostemail.com, I was trying to locate the article today. I searched for 15 minutes and could not find it. (Not even with a search for 'long'.) (Possibly I'm just blind.) Fortunately, one of Leo's links directly to the article still worked. Sometimes a forwarded link does not work and the recipient will not want to type in the whole URL. If they start with your home page, they should easily be able to find a link to this article. It is possibly the best, most intuitive explanation of NBC that I have seen, including Leo's writing. Plus, it give several 'on point' examples.


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Hello to all the wonderful mom's out there. Im new to the board so I thought I'd do an introduction
I'm Lisa Im a 31 yr old single mom of 3 children, 2 daughters ages 13 and 12 from a pervious relationship and 1 son from my most recent relationship from hell. I live in Brooklyn, NY and I cant stand my son's father. My daughters' father lives in another state, and doesnt help with anything financially. I asked him to send me money for schoolshopping, but instead he told me to send him the list and he would buy it out where he lives, and send it to me. I wanted to choke him
My son's father is useless. He's a grown ass baby who's arrogant and selfish. He had the audacity to tell me that I would never find anyone better than him. I told him that my B.O.B (battery operated boyfriend) was more man than he could ever imagine being.
I look forward to getting to know you all. Im glad that a group has been created for moms who are also the dads in their child/children's life
Take Care


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Posts Tagged 'Pat Barker'
"The Work Is Full of Ghosts": An Interview with Pat Barker
April 8, 2016 | by Dan Piepenbring
At 92Y's Unterberg Poetry Center, The Paris Review has copresented an occasional series of live conversations with writers—many of which have formed the foundations of interviews in the quarterly. Recently, 92Y and The Paris Review have made recordings of these interviews available at 92Y's Poetry Center Online and here at The Paris Review. Consider them deleted scenes from our Writers at Work interviews, or directors' cuts, or surprisingly lifelike radio adaptations.
This week we've debuted four new recordings from the series. Today, the last of the bunch: Pat Barker, author of the Regeneration Trilogy, who spoke with Michael Gorra on April 16, 2001. This interview was never adapted for the Review's Writers at Work series, so what you hear has been essentially buried for the past fifteen years. From the start, Barker discusses why she disdains being considered a "gritty, working-class" writer because of her hailing from Northern England, and how fiction can help readers face "the past that's not even past": Read More »
From the Cloakroom, at the Booker
October 20, 2011 | by Jonathan Gharraie
For the real action at this year's Man Booker Prize, you had to hit the cloakroom. For much of the evening, along with correspondents from all the major newspapers, I was sequestered in a large room in the palatial spread of the Guildhall. It was only when I ventured downstairs that recognizable faces attached to tuxedos and evening gowns began to drift in from the dinner. I ran across one former winner, dreamily improvising at an invisible keyboard while explaining how relieved he was to belong to what he called the great continuity of the prize; a well-known literary editor roamed the corridors, warily peering from right to left in the manner of a displaced meerkat; and Anne Robinson, host of The Weakest Link, was huddled against a wall, unusually hushed by the seashell allure of her cellphone. Read More »


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our next native plant sale will be Saturday December 3rd, 2016
A major threat to the native ecosystems and endangered butterfly habitats on San Bruno Mountain is the invasion of non-native plants that can take over entire hillsides in one season. The native plants that we propagate in the Mission Blue Nursery are a vital tool in combating this invasion. In conjunction with San Mateo County Parks, seeds are manually collected from the mountain from various locations to ensure genetic diversity. Volunteers nurture the seedlings in the nursery and replant them back onto the mountain after invasive plants have been removed. This jumpstarts the native ecosystem and bolsters its ability to survive future invasions.
To find out more about our stewardship program, please visit our Stewardship page.
Mission Blue Nursery offers a regular drop-in volunteer program on Wednesdays from 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM - no experience is necessary. Volunteers are crucial in every aspect of nursery work, from sowing seeds, to potting up plants, from tending our demonstration garden and seed crop fields, to cleaning seeds and maintaining the health of our plants. Volunteers gain intimate knowledge of the flora of San Bruno Mountain and California plants in general.
If Wednesdays don't work for you, volunteer opportunities can also be arranged by appointment by contacting Ildiko Polony, the Nursery Manager. We are happy to figure out how your specific talents and interests can best fit the needs of the Nursery while working with your schedule. The following special skills are currently needed: light carpentry, irrigation maintenance and optimization, rain water collection, small scale solar installation and hook up.
We are currently accepting applications for internships. If you're interested, please email email@example.com.
Stock up during our seasonal plant sales (2016 dates: February 20, May 14, September 11 - during pancake breakfast, December 3). Sign up below to receive notifications about our sales. An updated plant sale list is posted before each sale.
The nursery is also open by appointment. Visit our sale-by-appointment page or contact Ildiko Polony, Nursery Manager.
You can also contract with us to grow plants for your larger landscape or restoration projects, from seed and cutting collection to mature plants. We typically need 18 months advance notice for contract grows.
One of the most direct ways you can help nature is by planting the native plants that have evolved with your local fauna over millions of years and on whom this wildlife depends. Mission Blue Nursery offers over 110 different species of plants from shrubs and grasses, to wildflowers and trees that would be appropriate for much of the Bay Area and the coast of California. As a non-profit nursery, all sales support our conservation and restoration efforts on San Bruno Mountain.


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- About
- Our Mission & Vision
- What is a Charter School?
- Board of Directors
- Campus
- Why Ben Franklin?
- FAQs
- Employment
- 13 Virtues
- BFA Foundation
- Finances
- Media
- Handbooks and Policies
- Academics
- Parents
- State-Mandated Testing
- Teachers
Required Financial Transparency
Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-44-304
(Commencing July 1, 2015)
Ben Franklin Academy (BFA) operates utilizing a fiscal year beginning July 1st and ending June 30 of the following year. In addition, BFA uses a modified accrual method of accounting and is aligned with the Colorado Department of Education's Chart of Accounts. Financial statements are reviewed and monitored by their governing Board of Directors as well as a Finance Committee with a minimum of 3 parent representatives on a monthly basis.
The Finance Committee works with BFA's Business Manager in overseeing the BFA's budget and audits. Member's bios can be found here.
Disclaimer: Please consider the context when evaluating financial transactions. Some transactions may appear improper on the surface but are perfectly normal and justifiable when placed in the proper context. We welcome your questions regarding our financial transactions or records.If you would like to inquire about financial information, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Ben Franklin Academy Financials
Quarterly Unaudited Statements
Monthly Credit Card Statements
Investment Performances Statements
Investment Statements Reserves
Yearly Snapshots:
2015-2016 (as of 10/31/15)
Student Enrollment: 893
Employees: 110
General Operating Budget: $7,410,036
Student Enrollment: 887
Employees: 106
General Operating Budget: $6,982,716
Student Enrollment: 859
Employees: 125
General Operating Budget: $6,574,001
Student Enrollment: 767
Employees: 92
General Operating Budget: $5,766,703
External Sites:
Douglas County School District - Financial Transparency
Colorado Department of Education Website
Financial Policies & Procedures
Ben Franklin Academy does not currently follow a salary schedule
BFA's Employee Leave and Compensation Policy can be found on page 18 of the 2015/2016 BFA Employee Handbook.


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Also Known As
- Scott "Rollerboy" Smith
Game Credits
|World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (2012)
|(Level Designers)
|Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight (2010)
|(Game Designers)
|World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (2010)
|(Additional Design)
|Minority Report: Everybody Runs (2002)
|Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Commander... (2009)
|(Special Thanks)
|Uprising X (1998)
|(Special Thanks)
|Overwatch (2016)
|(Additional Blizzard Contributions)
|StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (2015)
|(Blizzard Development Family)
|Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (2014)
|(Blizzard Development Family)
|Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition (2014)
|(Blizzard Development Family)
|Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (2014)
|(Blizzard Development Family)
Developer Biography
There is no biography on file for this developer.
If you have a portrait of this person, you can upload it to the MobyGames database.
Related Sites
There are no related websites on file for this developer. If you know of any related websites for the person, please consider contributing them.


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Museum Store
January 1 – 31 | CLOSED
February – June | 11:30am to 4:30pm
July – September 5| 10:30am – 5:30pm
September 6 – December 31 | 11:30am to 4:30pm
November 18 – 20 | CLOSED
Thanksgiving Day | CLOSED
Christmas Day | CLOSED
Pittock Mansion's museum store offers gifts that connect visitors with Portland history, emphasizing the values, achievements, and characters that link the Pittock family to modern day Portland.
Our museum store is located in the Mansion's garage and offers items including period-inspired men's and women's accessories, décor, toys and games, history books, and holiday decorations.
Ideal for holiday shopping, we feature unique gifts and charming Christmas decorations.
And remember, members of Pittock Mansion receive a 10% discount on museum store purchases!
For more information, call the Pittock Mansion museum store at (503) 823-3628.


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Fred Stonehouse returns to stomping grounds
No one talks about art the way Fred Stonehouse talks about art. Like some of his paintings, there is an element of the circus sideshow in the way presents his ideas, surreal entertainments to be relished.
His paintings are filled with visual booty. From the bleeding hosts and weeping Madonnas of his Catholic upbringing to the antique sideshow banners of state fairs, from the Day of the Dead artworks he collects and covets to the bizarre hybrid beings of beloved folk tales, Stonehouse cribs liberally from the history of art, popular culture, a rich array of visual sources and his own life experiences. »Read Full Blog Post
Free beer, bands attract crowd to local label's SXSW showcase
When it comes to pulling off a successful showcase during the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference, a prime location in downtown Austin, Texas, is a key factor.
Except when it isn't. »Read Full Article(1)
Skylight Music Theatre finds power in 'Hydrogen Jukebox'
Just before intermission at Friday's opening performance of "Hydrogen Jukebox" — Skylight Music Theatre's production of a song cycle featuring Philip Glass' music and Allen Ginsberg's poetry — the ornate Cabot Theatre hosted a backroom poetry reading.
Clutching a poem and speaking into an old-fashioned microphone, baritone Dan Kempson channeled Ginsberg reading from "Wichita Vortex Sutra," written as Ginsberg traveled through Kansas during the height of the Vietnam War. »Read Full Article
MSO Pops, Cherish the Ladies show St. Patrick's Day spirit
Nothing says "Happy St. Patrick's Day" quite like an evening of Irish music and dance, particularly when the group performing is Cherish the Ladies and singer Cathie Ryan.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Pops, led by guest conductor Michael Krajewski, joined forces Friday with the internationally acclaimed, all-female group for a high-energy evening of Irish music — both traditional and recently written — and dance. »Read Full Article
Jennifer Nettles right at home in solo show at Riverside Theater
What path would Jennifer Nettles, the big-voiced half of the country-pop super duo Sugarland, take with her first steps toward solo stardom?
The first answer to that question came in January with the release of her debut album, "That Girl." The Rick Rubin-produced disc both employed and harnessed the potency and emotional depth of Nettles' voice and four years of songwriting reflection. »Read Full Article
Hank the dog connects with Brewers owner, others
Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio calls Hank the Brewers dog his favorite new mascot.
"This is the start of my 10th season, and the first time People magazine ever wanted to interview me was about Hank," Attanasio said. »Read Full Article(18)
SXSW 2014 Reviews: Mary Lambert, Aloe Blacc, A Great Big World, Phantogram, Typhoon
From a kid-approved Phantogram set to an Aloe Blacc dance party in a parking lot to a moving Typhoon performance set in a church, here's some of what I caught at the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference Thursday.
PHANTOGRAM »Read Full Article


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For the next several days the National Weather Service has issued a host of watches and warning related to the frigid weather. There is potential for freezing temperatures that could render crops lifeless that would be worth millions of dollar.
"This weekend is getting into that area and those durations below 32 degrees at those durations are not friendly to the citrus grower," Taft said. "When the outside temperatures get extremely cold, we lose that little bit of insulation that the fruit provides and the juice cells rupture and that's where the damage comes."
Running water through the orchard and use of wind turbines are tools that can be used when conditions permit.
The process has been proven to raise temps by some 8-10 degrees.
"When its 22 and it could kill your crop, that 10 degrees is a lifesaver," Taft said.
Taft also offered advice for residents with fruit trees in their backyard: "If the oranges in your backyard taste good now and it's going to be really cold, pick what you think you can eat in the next few weeks."


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Xbox Portable possibility
Having previously backed the now financially troubled Gizmondo handheld with a few of their more popular gaming series', Microsoft now appear to be reconsidering their options in this burgeoning market, despite having in the past denied any interest in launching their own DS/PSP rival. Indeed, sources now suggest that Microsoft have set-up a research group to investigate possible opportunities for handheld product, according to US magazine Business Week. There's no word on this research officially, but a movie/music/game playing portable device has been mooted, with the research group hoping to formulate the makings of a gizmo that would differ from current rivals such as the Apple iPod.
Were Microsoft to create a handheld platform, "It can't just be our version of the iPod," Peter Moore told Business Week, conceding that the company might be tempted to give the machine Xbox branding. Microsoft apparently view the reputable and established nature of their gaming brand as 'an opportunity'. Microsoft currently makes lashings of wonga from selling Windows licences on handheld platforms, and this has kept them out of the business to a certain extent, though interest appears to have been revived as the machines continue to sell by the bucketload, especially the iPod.
We'll keep you posted on this, and hope we'll be able to hear more on what Microsoft's researchers uncover. Xbox Portable, anyone?
Latest News
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III is coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360 after all
- Tomonobu Itagaki's Devil's Third gets a release date
- Adr1ft is coming to PC and consoles at the end of the summer
- EA gives the new Mirror's Edge a name – Mirror's Edge Catalyst
- ZombiU PS4 and Xbox One port reportedly in the works
- Mike Bithell's Volume to be released this August
- Gearbox's new shooter Battleborn gets a pre-E3 trailer
- Steam Controller launches in October, Steam Machines arrive in November
- Gears Of War devs Black Tusk change their name to The Coalition ahead of E3


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Elise shuddered upon the impact of the Goblin's pickaxe coming down with ferocious force on her shield. Her virtual muscles strained under the collision, her brain a whole other world away coordinating their actions and reactions. Elise couldn't help but smile. Here she was, in an almost pitch black cave, nothing but fluorescent crystals in the ceiling and the Goblin's fire to guide her, a horde of enemies ready to ruthlessly cut her down where she stood and end this life; yet, she couldn't help but smile. This was living, not laying on a bed being attended to by your doting mother who asked you if you were okay every ten minutes. Her sword, her shield and her legs. This was all that Elise had right now and it was all that she needed.
She spied Krissu materialize from the shadows, her stealth skill dissipating. Elise had a hard time spying her through her own preoccupation with the enemy, but Krissu seemed to be holding her own. She couldn't help but be jealous of her stealth skill at this time, if she had a decent enough one herself, they probably could have avoided this fight altogether. Yet, here they were. Krissu dispatched one foe as the fragments of data illuminated the cave for a split second. Elise turned to her own and with a quick vertical slash, drained the health bar of the enemy she had initially hit with her shield. Another burst of data, another split second of white light that cast ghastly shadows of those in the cave.
Her distraction from checking on Krissu cost her, another Goblin lunged from behind and raked her with its weapon across the small of her back. Elise turned, one leg tucked up against her bottom, almost like the pirouette of a ballerina, and deflected the pickaxe before it could do more damage while also bringing up her shield beneath its chin causing the Goblin to stumble back into one of its own. Two down, one dispatched each by Krissu and Elise respectively, three to go. She readied another sword art, one of her mid range abilities she had recently picked up. [Guardian's Wish] Her shield glowed a faint pale blue, her legs propelled her forward, sword held out in front of her to pierce. It almost resembled that of an ancient knight on horseback with a shield and lance, minus the horse of course.
She made contact with the Goblin on the far left; her shield throwing it straight up in the air and its body crashing into the ceiling of the cave, shaking loose debris before falling to the ground in an eruption of data. Three down. The other Goblins took advantage of her preoccupation with their now fallen comrade, they lunged and struck her simultaneously on the slightly weaker armor of her shoulders. Elise quickly cast a glance at her health bar to discover it was now about half way drained. She took in the whereabouts of Krissu and with a kick that took more effort than she hoped, pushed one of the Goblins stumbling in her direction. Hopefully if they split these up it would be over much quicker.
"Heads up Krissu! Got an ugly one headed your way!" Elise shouted to her as she turned to face down her final opponent. A vaincre sans péril, on triomphe sans gloire.