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Conditions Under Which Nitrogen Can Limit Steady-State Net Primary Production in a General Class of Ecosystem Models
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DOI: 10.1007/s10021-011-9426-x
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- Menge, D.N.L. Ecosystems (2011) 14: 519. doi:10.1007/s10021-011-9426-x
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Human activity is drastically altering global nitrogen (N) availability. The extent to which ecosystems absorb additional N—and with it, additional CO2—depends on whether net primary production (NPP) is N-limited, so it is important to understand conditions under which N can limit NPP. Here I use a general dynamical model to show that N limitation at steady-state—such as in old-growth forests—depends on the balance of biotically controllable versus uncontrollable N inputs and losses. Steady-state N limitation is only possible when uncontrollable inputs (for example, atmospheric deposition) exceed controllable losses (for example, leaching of plant-available soil N), which is the same as when uncontrollable losses (for example, leaching of plant-unavailable soil N) exceed controllable inputs (biological N fixation). These basic results are robust to many model details, such as the number of plant-unavailable soil N pools and the number and type of N fixers. Empirical data from old-growth tropical (Hawai'i) and temperate (Oregon, Washington, Chile) forests support the model insights. Practically, this means that any N fixer—symbiotic or not—could overcome ecosystem N limitation, so understanding N limitation requires understanding controls on all N fixers. Further, comparing losses of plant-available N to abiotic inputs could offer a rapid diagnosis of whether ecosystems can be N-limited, although the applicability of this result is constrained to ecosystems with a steady-state N cycle such as old-growth forests largely devoid of disturbance.
Keywordsnitrogen fixation lichen ecosystem theory dissolved organic nitrogen nitrogen deposition biogeochemical theory nitrogen loss
Many ecosystems are receiving increasing amounts of nitrogen (N) deposition due to fossil fuel burning (Galloway and others 2004), and ecosystem responses to this global change depend on whether N limits net primary production (NPP). Ecosystems in which N limits NPP, which are relatively common (LeBauer and Treseder 2008), will respond to additional N deposition by taking up additional CO2 from the atmosphere, whereas those that are not N-limited will not take up additional CO2. Moreover, additional N deposition to non-N-limited ecosystems facilitates the release of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) (Aber and others 1989; Hall and Matson 1999, 2003) and exacerbates other environmental issues such as eutrophication and acidification (Aber and others 1989). For these and other reasons, it is critically important to understand the conditions under which N can limit NPP.
Nitrogen availability to plants is ultimately constrained by N inputs to and N losses from ecosystems. In terrestrial ecosystems, N inputs include atmospheric deposition of fixed N (that is, not N2), biological N fixation (BNF), and in rare cases rock weathering (Holloway and Dahlgren 2002). Nitrogen losses include leaching into waterways, gas losses, and erosion. Each of these inputs or losses includes many separate processes or sources. For example, BNF comes from symbioses between plants and bacteria, lichens, and a host of free-living prokaryotes; and gas losses come from denitrification, nitrification, ammonia volatilization, fire, and other processes.
Despite these complexities, grouping N inputs and losses by the degree to which they are under biotic control has advanced our understanding of N limitation. Vitousek and Reiners (1975) argued that N-limited plants should take up most or all plant-available N in the soil, drastically limiting N losses. Because abiotic inputs such as wet and dry deposition are omnipresent and essentially independent of biotic demand, they argued that plant control over N losses should render N limitation a transient phenomenon. Noting that N losses also come from plant-unavailable N pools such as recalcitrant organic molecules (Binkley and others 1992; Currie and others 1996; Hedin and others 1995; Sollins and others 1980), Hedin and others (1995) suggested that sufficiently large losses of plant-unavailable N could perpetuate N limitation.
Ecosystem models have formalized these arguments by assuming N limitation and determining conditions that prevent infinite N accumulation, typically in the context of old-growth forests largely devoid of disturbance. This approach works because we know N does not accumulate without bound in reality. If a model that assumes N limitation leads to an equilibrium, it is a decent reflection of reality. On the other hand, if it leads to infinite N accumulation, it is not a decent reflection of reality, so we conclude that the assumption of N limitation is incorrect under those conditions. DeAngelis (1992) showed in an analytical model of autotrophs and available nutrients that N accumulated infinitely when losses originated from only the available pool, whereas N accumulation was constrained when losses originated from the autotroph pool, with or without losses from the available pool. Using simulation models with plant, detritus, and available nutrient pools, Vitousek and others (1998) showed that losses via episodic disturbance such as fire or losses of plant-unavailable forms also constrained N accumulation. Menge and others (2009b) used an analytical model with plant, detritus, and available nutrient pools and a wide range of functional forms for ecosystem processes to show that losses of plant-unavailable N were necessary to prevent infinite N accumulation, but this effect only became apparent at centurial time scales.
These examples illustrate one of the challenges with classifying losses as "controllable" versus "uncontrollable" and pools as "plant-available" versus "plant-unavailable." Autotrophs likely have some degree of control over losses from themselves, yet according to these studies these losses fit in the "uncontrollable" category. Similarly, N in a plant is certainly available to that individual, yet it falls into the "plant-unavailable" category. Here I retain the labels for ease of discussion and because I do not include any empirical data on losses from plants, but I note that "control" and "availability" are not absolute, and that the terms are poor descriptions for N within autotrophs.
Because symbiotic BNF—a biotically controlled input that uses the inexhaustible pool of atmospheric dinitrogen gas—can bring large quantities of N into ecosystems when symbiotic N fixers are abundant, it should have the capacity to overcome any N limitation imposed by losses of plant-unavailable N (Vitousek and Howarth 1991). Vitousek and Field (1999) extended an earlier simulation model to include symbiotic BNF, and found that symbiotic BNF could overcome N limitation unless it was constrained by other resources or processes. More complex simulation models (Jenerette and Wu 2004; Rastetter and others 2001) have yielded similar results. Menge and others (2008) included symbiotic BNF in an analytical model of plant biomass and available N and found that the exact amount of symbiotic BNF necessary to overcome N limitation at steady-state was the amount lost from plant-unavailable N pools.
All of these ecosystem models were developed to address certain questions and issues—not necessarily those discussed here—so they exclude a number of issues pertinent to the current study. Most of these models use at most a single detritus pool with a single turnover time, but detailed empirical and modeling studies show that decomposition of litter alone is best described by three pools with different turnover times (Adair and others 2008), to say nothing of additional detrital pools. Although some models cited above incorporate BNF by plant–microbe symbioses, they do not include BNF by other N fixers such as lichens, cyanobacteria in bryophyte mats, or free-living heterotrophs. Plant–microbe symbioses can fix tens to hundreds of kg N ha−1 y−1 when abundant (Cleveland and others 1999), but they are rare or absent from many ecosystems (Menge and others 2010; Vitousek and Howarth 1991). On the other hand, other N fixers are ubiquitous and often important N sources, accounting for ones to occasionally tens of kg N ha−1 y−1 (for example, Antoine 2004; Cleveland and others 1999; DeLuca and others 2008; Matzek and Vitousek 2003; Menge and Hedin 2009; Reed and others 2008).
In addition to omitting some key ecosystem features that are relevant to understanding N limitation, most of the models cited above are mathematically specific. Simulation models require parameter values and specific functional forms for each process, and most analytical models also specify functional forms. The insights about biotic control over inputs and losses have greatly facilitated our understanding of N limitation, but the utility of these insights depends on their generality. For example, if the insights depend on whether plant N uptake is described by a Type I (proportional) versus a Type II (saturating, for example, Michaelis–Menten) functional response, they are less generally applicable than if both functional responses produce the same results.
In this study I investigate the generality of insights about plant-controllable versus uncontrollable inputs and losses in light of some known ecosystem complexities. Using a model with generalized functional forms for most processes, many different types of N fixers, and multiple soil organic N pools, I ask the following question: What are the conditions under which N limitation can be maintained at equilibrium? To find conditions under which N limitation can be maintained, I follow a similar approach to previous models (Menge and others 2008, 2009b; Vitousek and others 1998). First, I specify a general class of models that assumes N limitation to NPP and a few other details such as "N uptake increases with available N." Resources aside from N—such as phosphorus, water, light, and space—and other potentially limiting factors such as herbivory or disease are not included in the model. This omission does not imply that these other factors are unimportant; indeed, there is a large body of literature demonstrating the importance of each for many questions. Rather, the focus on N alone is meant to isolate conditions that could produce sustained N limitation, a puzzling phenomenon that has received substantial attention (Jenerette and Wu 2004; Menge and others 2008; Rastetter and others 2001; Vitousek and Field 1999; Vitousek and Howarth 1991).
To analyze the model I assume that plants can become established in an ecosystem without any facilitation and that after they become established, the amounts of N in plants, other N fixers, and soils will eventually equilibrate (common dynamics in myriad specific ecosystem models). I then derive conditions—call them X—that must be true if these assumptions are met. Because they lead to equilibration, conditions X can constrain N accumulation and thus perpetuate N limitation.
After deriving these conditions I use data from a number of well-studied temperate and tropical forests that are at or near equilibrium (here I use "equilibrium" as a synonym for "steady-state") to test the model and make predictions about whether the forests can be N-limited. If the data satisfy conditions X, they are consistent with the assumptions I made in constructing and analyzing the model, and thus consistent with N limitation. It is important to note that they do not guarantee N limitation because X may also be consistent with other models assuming that NPP is limited by other factors. However, if the data disagree with X, at least one of the assumptions I made in constructing the model must be wrong. Because I chose forests at or near equilibrium of the N cycle, the assumption most likely to be wrong is N limitation, so I interpret data that disagree with X to mean that the forests cannot be N-limited. This study builds on previous work in this area by generalizing ecosystem theory to a much broader set of conditions and offering a preliminary test of the theory with data from well-established field sites.
Model Description
The model framework includes potentially N-fixing plants (B for biomass), heterotrophic N fixers (H), autotrophic N fixers such as cyanobacteria living in lichens and bryophytes (C for 'cyanobacteria,' which I will hereafter use as shorthand for these pools), an arbitrary number (m) of plant-unavailable N pools in the soil (Di for 'detritus'), and plant-available N (A). All variables are in units of [mass N area−1]. Within-system fluxes of the model include turnover of biotic N, decomposition and mineralization of detrital N, and plant uptake of available N, but it is not necessary to specify mathematical forms for most of these fluxes.
There are abiotic inputs of plant-available N forms (I) such as wet and dry deposition that do not depend on any variable in the system, and thus are not under biotic control. I consider losses of plant-available N (k(A)) from the rooting zone—such as denitrification or leaching of nitrate, ammonium, or small organic N—"controllable" because they come from a pool plants can access. I assume that there are no losses when there is no available N (k(0) = 0) and that losses increase monotonically as available N increases (dk(A)/dA > 0). The increase could be linear, saturating (for example, Michaelis–Menten), sigmoidal (for example, logistic), or any other curve with a positive first derivative. Unless otherwise stated, these are the assumptions I make about all functions of single variables. An important point about "controllable" losses in this type of model is that plants never acquire all available N, so there are losses from that pool (k(A) > 0) despite plant control. I consider losses from plants (φBB, where φB is a constant rather than a function), heterotrophic N fixers (φH(H)), cyanobacteria (φC(C)), and all plant-unavailable soil N pools (\( \varphi_{{D_{i} }} (D_{i} ) \)) "uncontrollable" because plants cannot take up N directly from any of these pools. These losses include leaching of plant-unavailable dissolved organic N.
Finally, biotically controllable inputs are BNF from plants (BFB), heterotrophs (FH()), and cyanobacteria (FC()). There is evidence that some N-fixing plants down-regulate BNF when they cease to be N-limited (for example, Barron and others 2011; Pearson and Vitousek 2001), whereas others maintain a relatively constant BNF rate per biomass despite changing soil N and other resource conditions (Binkley and others 1992; Menge and Hedin 2009). However, because the model in the current work assumes that plants are solely N-limited, they should fix at the maximum rate regardless of whether they can down-regulate BNF, so FB is a constant. Although much is known about controls on heterotrophic and cyanobacterial BNF (for example, Barron and others 2009; Benner and others 2007; Crews and others 2000; Eisele and others 1989; Silvester 1989), I need not assume anything about the arguments of the functions FH() and FC() (that is, for this analysis it does not matter whether they depend on any combination of variables or none of them) or their forms, although I do assume they cannot be negative.
In reality each of these processes likely includes pulses and seasonal variation, which may be important for vegetation dynamics (Scheffer and others 2008). As in many simplified modeling studies, I make the assumption that these stochastic processes average across time and space and only examine mean-field dynamics.
Empirical Forest Data Used to Evaluate the Model
To test the predictions of this model it would be necessary to find data from old growth terrestrial ecosystems (that is, with the N cycle at or near steady-state) that had been fertilized with N and in which all N inputs and losses had been measured. To my knowledge there are few sites that fit all these criteria, so I also included sites that meet subsets of these criteria. The sites I included are montane tropical rainforests on the Long-term Substrate Age Gradient (LSAG) (Vitousek 2004) and the Maui rainfall gradient (Schuur and Matson 2001) in Hawai'i, conifer-dominated temperate forests (without alders) in the Wind River and Cascade Head Experimental Forests in Washington and Oregon (Binkley and others 1992), and montane temperate rainforests in Parque Nacional Chiloé, Chile (Hedin and others 1995) (Appendix A in Supplemental Material). Some sites in these areas such as the young Hawaiian sites are excluded because they are far from steady-state.
Atmospheric N deposition and BNF measurements likely capture the majority of N inputs to these forests, although not all potential BNF sources were measured at each site. Except for Wind River and Cascade Head, fire is unlikely to be an important N loss vector at these sites, so hydrologic and gaseous N losses from the soil likely capture most N losses. All major inputs and losses except fire are represented in at least some sites (Appendix A in Supplemental Material), so these measurements should give decent estimates of the possibility of N limitation given the model assumptions.
In many cases there are single or aggregated measures of the fluxes in these sites, but the exceptions are worth noting. At Wind River a local measurement suggested abiotic inputs of about 6.1 kg N ha−1 y−1 but nearby measurements are 2.0–2.5 kg N ha−1 y−1 (Klopatek and others 2006), so I use high (6.1) and low (2.0) estimates. To my knowledge there are no N deposition data from Cascade Head, so I used the regional estimate from a nation-wide map (Holland and others 2004). For some Maui sites two different approaches have been used to measure N gas losses. Houlton and others (2006) used isotopic measurements whereas Holtgrieve and others (2006) directly measured gas losses. I present both datasets, with Houlton's estimates of gas to hydrologic N loss ratios for both. I also present two different estimates of abiotic N inputs on the Maui sites. The data in Houlton and others (2006) yield bulk deposition fluxes around 2 kg N ha−1 y−1, but estimates of nearby Hawaiian forests suggest that including cloud N inputs may more than triple abiotic N inputs (Carrillo and others 2002; Vitousek 2004), so I present low (2) and high (6) estimates. Hydrologic N losses are from streams except at the LSAG sites, where only lysimeter measures are available (Hedin and others 2003), and Chiloé, where both lysimeter and stream estimates are available (Perakis and others 2005; Perakis and Hedin 2002). More site and methods details are in Appendix A (Supplemental Material).
In the model soil N is divided into plant-available (A) and unavailable (D1, …, Dm) forms, which poses a minor problem for linking with data. It is generally agreed that inorganic N forms such as nitrate and ammonium are plant-available, whereas many forms of organic N such as complex molecules of humus or lignin are not. However, some organic N molecules such as amino acids are directly plant-available (for example, Näsholm and others 1998), that is, plants can acquire and use them before mineralization (Schimel and Bennett 2004). Unfortunately, to my knowledge no studies have distinguished organic N losses that are directly plant-available from those that are not. For lack of a way to divide organic N data into available and unavailable, here I initially assume that all organic N is plant-unavailable, which might underestimate plant-available N and overestimate plant-unavailable N. To examine the sensitivity of this assumption I then derive the percentages of organic N in losses that would need to be plant-available to qualitatively change the results for each site.
Model Analysis
In many ecosystems primary succession begins with N fixers like lichens, and plants invade later. Although other N fixers might facilitate plant growth, I assume that plants do not require facilitation to become established because abiotic inputs will eventually supply enough N for non-fixing plants to establish. Although current evidence does not suggest that facilitation by other N fixers is obligatory for primary succession (Walker and del Moral 2003), and I think the assumption is reasonable, it is difficult to evaluate empirically due to the ubiquity of N-fixing microbes. In the example models I have examined, assuming that facilitation is required for plant establishment leads to an unstable system that either crashes or grows without bound, and thus is unrealistic. I show the implications of requiring facilitation in Supplemental Material Appendix B (Supplemental Material).
This makes sense from the perspective of standard plant-resource models (for example, Tilman 1982). If plants can survive in an ecosystem and are limited by a resource, they will eventually draw that resource down to a lower level than it had reached without plants.
What happens when condition 9 or 10 is violated, that is, when losses from plant-available N pools exceed abiotic inputs or BNF inputs exceed losses from plant-unavailable N pools? In a real ecosystem at or near equilibrium, a measurement of losses from plant-available N pools exceeding abiotic inputs or a measurement of BNF exceeding losses of plant-unavailable N would indicate that at least one assumption in this model is wrong. Provided that facilitation is not needed, the assumption most likely to be incorrect is N limitation, in which case a measurement of k(A*) > I or ∑F* > ∑φ* would indicate that the ecosystem cannot be solely N-limited.
In the model, an N-limited equilibrium is impossible when condition 9 or 10 is violated, as the following contradiction proves. At equilibrium, if ∑F* ≥ ∑φ*, then from equation (4), k(A*) ≥ I. If k(A*) ≥ I = k(A0), then A* ≥ A0, so g(A*) ≥ g(A0). If g(A*) ≥ g(A0), then assuming plants can establish in the empty ecosystem (condition 6), g(A*) > \(\mu_{B} + \varphi_{B} - F_{B}\). However, the equilibrium value A* is defined by g(A*) = μB + φB − FB (equation (7)), and g(A*) cannot be greater than itself, revealing the contradiction. In fact, when plant-available N remains at or above its base level (A ≥ A0), as implied by a measurement of k(A*) > I, plants in the model grow without bound (g(A) ≥ g(A0) > \(\mu_{B} + \varphi_{B} - F_{B}\); dB/dt > 0). Perpetual growth is impossible in reality, so this model result suggests that N cannot constrain plant growth when k(A*) ≥ I or ∑F* ≥ ∑φ*.
Successional Changes in Species and Parameters
This analysis concerns late-successional (equilibrium) conditions, yet makes the assumption that late-successional plants could invade a plant-less environment given sufficient time and lack of competition from early-successional plants. This is not quite the same as assuming that late-successional plants could invade an early-successional environment, because the "plant-less environment" is set by parameters (loss rates and atmospheric deposition fluxes) measured during late succession. Even so, it is difficult to evaluate this assumption in nature because early-successional plants would colonize such environments before late-successional plants. Hence, it is useful to ask whether these assumptions can be derived from more defensible assumptions. Using different subscripts for parameter values measured when plants are absent ("0"), when early-successional plants are present ("early"), and when late-successional plants are present ("late"), I now ask whether more standard assumptions lead to the same conclusion that late-successional plants could invade a plant-less, late-successional environment, that is, that Ilate > klate(\( A_{\text{late}}^{*} \)).
Almost by definition, early-successional plants can invade early-successional environments and late-successional plants can out-compete early-successional plants. From the same logic as above, early-successional plants can invade early-successional environments when I0 > kearly(\( A_{\text{early}}^{*} \)), which is equivalent to when A0 > \( A_{\text{early}}^{*} \). In this type of model, species replacement can only happen if late-successional species survive on a lower A* than early-successional species (Tilman 1982), so assuming that late-successional plants can out-compete early-successional plants is the same as assuming that \( A_{\text{early}}^{*} \) > \( A_{\text{late}}^{*} \). Do these assumptions imply that Ilate > klate(\( A_{\text{late}}^{*} \))?
Model Evaluation with Data
Model Comparison to Data
In general, my model accurately predicted N limitation in real ecosystems. Empirical tests of nitrogen limitation—that is, fertilization studies—would invalidate the model by showing N limitation to NPP when (i) losses from plant-available N pools exceed abiotic N inputs or (ii) BNF inputs exceed losses from plant-unavailable N pools. Among the sites included in this study, only the 20 and 4100 ky Hawaiian LSAG sites have been fertilized. The 20 ky site is co-limited by N and P, whereas the 4100 ky site is limited by P alone (Vitousek and Farrington 1997). These results match the model predictions, which are that the 20 ky site can be N-limited unless a majority of organic N losses are in plant-available form but the 4100 ky site cannot, regardless of organic N availability.
To my knowledge there have been no measurements of the proportion of organic N in hydrologic losses that is in plant-available form. However, the proportion in hydrologic losses is likely to be similar to the proportion in soil solution, which is thought to be small, corresponding to rapid turnover rates of amino acids (Schimel and Bennett 2004). A recent analysis of N forms dissolved in soil solution below four different soil types in Sweden found that free amino acids were 50 times less abundant than amino acids bound in dissolved proteins (Jämtgård and others 2010). If the proportion of plant-available organic N is similarly small (2%, or even less than 10%) in hydrologic losses, the only model prediction that might change would be that the 1400 ky LSAG site could not be N-limited, which would still match with the speculation that this site is P limited (Parton and others 2005; Vitousek 2004). Studies elucidating the availability of organic N in hydrologic losses and other media are much needed.
Other models have also reproduced the observed patterns of nutrient limitation along the LSAG sites (Parton and others 2005; Wang and others 2007), and do so in a far more comprehensive way than does the present work, predicting quantitative pools and fluxes as well as nutrient limitation. However, these more complex models require well-constrained information on a multitude of parameters, whereas the simple framework in the present work requires fairly crude knowledge of only a few fluxes.
Researchers working on some of the other forests included in Figure 1 have speculated about their limitation status, although the forests have not been fertilized. Wind River (Binkley and others 1992) and Chiloé (Hedin and others 1995) are thought to be N-limited. These speculations agree with my model predictions as long as the proportions of organic N losses that are in plant-available form are not large. Cascade Head is thought not to be N-limited (Binkley and others 1992), matching the prediction of my model. Measurements of BNF at Cascade Head, which would be near 20 kg N ha−1 y−1 if the N cycle is near equilibrium, would further elucidate N cycle dynamics.
The Maui sites highlight the importance of accurate N flux measurements because different estimates yield conflicting results. All estimates of abiotic inputs and losses from plant-available N pools suggest that the 2200 and 2450 mm Maui sites cannot be N-limited, whereas for the wetter sites the possibility of N limitation is unclear. There are some suggestions that the wettest sites are N-limited (Schuur and Matson 2001), but if losses from plant-available N pools are as high as the isotopic measurements suggest, the model or the limitation status would come into question, regardless of the form of organic N losses. Measurements of BNF at these sites would help address these issues, and are likely to yield interesting patterns in their own right. If the N cycle is near equilibrium in these forests, BNF could range from negligible at the wettest site to more than 20 kg N ha−1 y−1 at the least wet site.
Ecosystem Theory Insights
The theoretical result that equilibrium N limitation is impossible when symbiotic BNF inputs exceed losses from plant-unavailable N pools (Menge and others 2008) is robust to the generalizations tested here. Whereas Menge and others (2008) used linear forms of N uptake and loss with specific within-system N cycling, the current study shows that any monotonically increasing uptake and loss functions—such as Michaelis–Menten or logistic—and myriad combinations of within-system fluxes yield the same results. Similarly, including multiple detrital pools, as seems to be important for describing litter decomposition (Adair and others 2008), has no effect on the basic result, so more complicated models are subject to the same constraint. Whereas some previous studies included N losses from either autotrophs (DeAngelis 1992) or detritus (Menge and others 2009b; Rastetter and others 2005; Vitousek and others 1998), this model shows that all N losses from pools other than plant-available N have a similar qualitative effect on maintaining N limitation, as suggested by Vitousek and Field (1999). Additionally, the model yields similar results if there are successional changes in a variety of parameters.
This model adds new insight by showing that understanding the maintenance of N limitation requires knowledge of controls on all types of N fixers rather than just symbiotic N fixers. Because plant–microbe symbioses can fix tens to hundreds of kg N ha−1 y−1 (Binkley and others 1992; Cleveland and others 1999), which greatly exceeds typical losses from plant-unavailable N pools (Figure 1), it is clearly essential to understand what controls their abundance and activity (Vitousek and Howarth 1991), and progress has been made in this area (Jenerette and Wu 2004; Menge and others 2008, 2009a; Rastetter and others 2001; Uliassi and Ruess 2002; Vitousek and Field 1999). However, N-fixing plant–microbe symbioses are rare or absent in many ecosystems (Menge and others 2010; Vitousek and Howarth 1991), yet BNF from other N fixers such as lichens, cyanobacteria in bryophytes, free-living cyanobacteria, and heterotrophic bacteria is ubiquitous. The current work shows that BNF by these other N fixers can prevent N limitation to NPP if it exceeds losses from plant-unavailable N pools. These other N fixers often exist in N-poor biogeochemical niches within a forest (Menge and Hedin 2009; Reed and others 2008), so they often fix N even when soil N availability is high. In addition to responding to their local N availability (Barron and others 2009; Crews and others 2000; Cusack and others 2009; DeLuca and others 2007; Liengen 1999; Zackrisson and others 2004), BNF by lichens, cyanobacteria in bryophytes, and heterotrophs in leaf litter, wood, and soil has been shown to respond to temperature (Antoine 2004; Kurina and Vitousek 2001; Liengen 1999), water (Antoine 2004; Freiberg 1998; Kurina and Vitousek 2001; Vitousek 1994), light (Freiberg 1998; Kurina and Vitousek 2001; Liengen 1999; Reed and others 2008), phosphorus (Benner and others 2007; Crews and others 2000; Eisele and others 1989; Liengen 1999; Reed and others 2007a, b; Vitousek 1999), molybdenum (Barron and others 2009; Silvester 1989), and combinations of nutrients (Crews and others 2000, 2001; Vitousek 1999). Although much is known about potential controls, further studies elucidating which of these controls is important in different environments—and particularly why—would improve our understanding of ecosystem-level N limitation.
Although it is intuitive that sufficiently large BNF rates can overcome N limitation, it seems counterintuitive that sufficiently low abiotic N inputs (k(A*) > I) render N limitation impossible. For example, the model states that N cannot limit NPP at Cascade Head, where losses of plant-available N forms exceed abiotic inputs. Would increasing abiotic inputs at Cascade Head make N limitation possible? The primary explanation for this apparent paradox is that large losses from plant-available N pools indicate a relaxation of plant control on available N in the soil (Vitousek and Reiners 1975). When purely N-limited plants can inhabit an ecosystem without any facilitation from other N fixers, they draw down available N as they grow, which yields lower losses from plant-available N pools. On the contrary, when N does not limit NPP, plants do not absorb excess N, so increases in I would be matched by increases in k(A*) to maintain steady-state (I would not exceed k(A*)). A secondary explanation concerns the model assumption of N limitation: it shows when N limitation is possible rather than when it is expected because no other resources are included in the model. Increasing abiotic N inputs in real forests eventually saturates N demand (Aber and others 1989), and the model would reflect this if other potentially limiting resources were included.
The steady-state conditions that form the main results of this paper are indicators of whether N can limit NPP, but because the N cycle is a cycle, the causal links go both ways. For example, low losses of plant-available N result from plants depleting available N levels, but low available N levels are what cause N limitation in the first place.
Applying this Theory to Real Ecosystems
Practically, the result that k(A*) > I renders N limitation impossible could offer a crude but rapid diagnosis of whether old-growth forests can be N-limited. The conditions under which this model applies—chiefly, a steady-state N cycle—restrict its applicability, but using k(A*) versus I rather than ∑F* versus ∑φ* is much less restrictive. Available N in the soil (A) approaches its long-term equilibrium on the timescale of plant biomass N (seen from equation (2)), which is typically much sooner (decades to centuries) than the entire ecosystem (millennia or longer) (Menge and others 2009b). This means that comparing losses of plant-available N to abiotic N inputs measured at any time beginning when plant biomass N (rather than the entire N cycle) is near equilibrium indicates what the equilibrium relationship will be. On the contrary, comparing measurements of BNF and losses of plant-unavailable N only indicates the equilibrium relationship when the entire N cycle is at equilibrium because plant-unavailable soil N pools are typically the last ecosystem component to equilibrate (Menge and others 2009b). In addition to being more applicable, comparing k(A*) to I is also likely to be more accurate than comparing ∑F* and ∑φ* given the relatively greater ease of measuring these fluxes. However, none of these fluxes is easy to measure, and the difficulties associated with these measurements—such as determining which N forms are plant-available—can make it hard to use these results operationally. Large losses of plant-available N forms are already used to infer N saturation or N richness in many real ecosystems (for example, Aber and others 1989; Hedin and others 2009), though, and in that sense the current work puts a threshold on what constitutes "large" losses—greater than abiotic inputs. Because abiotic deposition maps are widely available (for example, Holland and others 2004), this work could provide theoretical guidance to a practice already in use.
One benefit of this method is that it does not depend on a full accounting of losses of plant-unavailable N. Gas losses such as denitrification can be difficult to quantify accurately (Groffman and others 2006), and as discussed above, partitioning organic N into plant-available versus plant-unavailable forms is similarly tricky. Hydrologic losses of inorganic N (leaching of ammonium and nitrate), though, are relatively easy to measure, and it is possible to make headway with these alone. A measurement of ammonium and nitrate leaching exceeding N deposition in a forest near steady-state implies a lack of N limitation to NPP. Even if ammonium and nitrate leaching comprised all losses of plant-available N, the opposite result—N deposition exceeding ammonium and nitrate leaching—would not imply N limitation because other potentially limiting resources and factors are not included in the model.
More extensive empirical testing of this theory is necessary, and of course the biogeochemical details of individual ecosystems need to be considered (for example, weathering of bedrock with significant N would need to be included in I), but it might be feasible to use this technique as a rapid diagnosis of whether a steady-state ecosystem can be N-limited. This information, in turn, can help understand broader issues of CO2 uptake, eutrophication from nitrate leaching, and N2O emissions that contribute to greenhouse warming, because these issues hinge on whether N limits NPP.
The present work applies to ecosystems in which the N cycle is at or near equilibrium, that is, old-growth forests. Although the mathematics are likely to be less elegant, similar results likely hold for systems farther from equilibrium, and future work in this area could help extend these insights to a larger portion of the globe. Additionally, future work examining some of the other assumptions I make here would help pin down controls on N limitation. An important example is the assumption in the current work of sole limitation by N. Co-limitation is thought to be common (Bloom and others 1985), and some models that incorporate co-limitation with a non-recycled resource such as light allow for stable equilibria even when plant-controlled nutrient inputs exceed uncontrolled nutrient losses (for example, Ju and DeAngelis 2010).
J. Balch, F. Ballantyne, J. Brookshire, S. Levin, E. Rastetter, L. Wolkovich, and two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments on earlier drafts. The author was supported in part as a Postdoc at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, a Center funded by the NSF (Grant #EF-0553768), the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the State of California, and in part by the Carbon Mitigation Initiative, with funding from BP and Ford.
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Chapter 1/?
Summary: When Detective Heero Yuy agreed to help his best friend Duo Maxwell fix-up his newest acquisition, Monroe Manor it sounded Idyllic. Three months away from the hectic city, away from his Ex-fiancé Relena Peacecraft. Yet from the moment he takes one look at the old manor he felt uneasy. It might be the way the paint is peeling, it might be the creak of the old wood, or it might be something neither Heero nor Duo are quite ready to face.
Warnings: Violence, gore, emotional distress, and M/M sex.
Heero sighed as he stared up at the strange mansion before him. Monroe Manor was a monster of a building. It stood three stories high and had to be at least ten thousand square feet in size. The façade of the grand dam showed definite signs of ageing. The paint peeled exposing green tinted wood, the porch slanted awkwardly just to the right of the front step and one creaking shutter moved with the wind.
The air was damp with an oncoming storm, the sun hidden behind rapidly darkening clouds. A storm was rolling in from the east bringing with it the smell of salt water. He shivered in the warm summer breeze; the place gave him the creeps.
His best friend had purchased the old house a month ago in hopes of having a haven from the bustle of Boston. He had described it as "in need of some TLC" when he had asked for his help fixing the old place up. Heero thought it would be less expensive to knock the dilapidated old building down and start over.
The sound of crunching gravel announced the arrival of his apparently insane friend. Moments later a door slammed and he turned to glare at the bright red sports car.
"She's beautiful isn't she?" Heero growled and shook his head.
"You and I really need to go over vocabulary terms." He shot back turning to inspect the house again.
"Why?" He sighed wondering why he had ever agreed to this.
"Because this is neither beautiful or in need of a little TLC. This Duo," He waved his hand at the old manor. "is a death trap."
Heero twisted around to glare at his grinning friend.
"Oh come on 'ro you gotta admit it has a charm about it!" The over excited man exclaimed coming to throw one arm around his shoulders.
"I do not. It's the worst house I have ever seen and that is counting the shack we had to stay in on L2." He spit not really meaning it. That shack had been… growing things.
"No do not even go there Heero Yuy there is nowhere that bad, I don't think Hell is that bad." A noticeable shiver ran through the other man.
Heero shrugged but dropped the subject, Duo obviously loved this old place and once Duo decided to do something there was no talking him out of it.
He stepped cautiously onto the front steps, they were crumbling beneath his feet, their stone façade breaking away to show concrete beneath. He grabbed the rail testing for strength and almost fell into the overgrown shrubs as it gave way. Heero glared at the rusted out bottom, then turned his glare on his best friend who still stood on solid land.
"Uh well I guess the first thing on the to do list is fix the railing?" His smile widened.
Heero glared for a moment longer before turning and walking up the rest of the steps and on to the rather dilapidated porch.
The wood creaked in protest as he treaded across the expansive outer entry. He glanced at the rotting piece, stepping deftly around it and opened the large double doors that lead in to the interior.
Strangely they opened without a squeak, sliding as though they were oiled daily. He wondered at that, turning to look at Duo.
"Have you been working on this place already?" He asked softly. He hadn't thought anyone had been out here for quite sometime from the looks of things.
"Nah I bought it off the realtor after seeing the virtual tour. I haven't really been able to get away from work, why?" Duo looked concerned his violet eyes clouding in worry.
"No reason, I just expected the hinges to need oiling. I guess the realtor must have done it." He shrugged it off.
Stepping in to the house he took in the grandeur. It was a marvel. The floors were intricately designed marble stretching from the foyer to the grand main stairway and beyond. A crystal chandelier hung above the stairway shimmering in what little daylight flitted in between the heavy velvet curtains.
Duo pushed past him striding across the room and throwing open the first set of drapes.
"Come help me get these open 'ro I need to head to the basement to start up the electric but let's get some light in here for now." He called moving on to the next set.
Heero nodded although he didn't think Duo noticed and started opening the curtains on the other side of the house.
The front room was long running almost the length of the mansion and thin, he thought it couldn't more than twelve feet across. Paintings hung every few feet depicting lush landscapes and pretty homes. Heero stopped as he came to the last set of hangings and glanced at his hands, they were covered in dust from the think fabric. He sighed and wiped them on his jeans trying in vain to wipe away the black layer.
He looked out at the side yard it housed a large garage and what looked to be a riding pen. The grass was long and blowing in the wind of the oncoming storm, he squinted at the sky it looked like it was going to be a bad one.
"Hey you find something interesting?" Duo's voice made him jump slightly. He shook his head and turned to look at the braided man.
"Storms looking bad we should get the power on before it rolls in." Duo nodded, grabbing his braid and toying with it.
"Yeah I guess so, I'm gonna go down and get it on. Why don't you go check out the kitchen. I had some contractors in here to install a fridge and stove so there should be a place to put food." Heero nodded and grabbed the sack Duo held out to him. He glanced inside, a two liter, some chips and a frozen pizza stared back at him. He shook his head, he would have to go grocery shopping tomorrow. Trust Duo to plan for the now and forget tomorrow.
He walked slowly through the house trying to remember where the kitchen had been on the floor plan Duo had sent him the day before.
He wandered down the back hall glancing into several dark dank rooms. The house was surprisingly cold for the time of year and he found himself shivering.
Finally he made it to the kitchen at the back of the house, he pushed open the swinging door that separated it from the rest of the manor and stepped in.
Large bay windows let the waning sunlight in to the room. In one corner a large stainless steel fridge and range/oven duo sat looking ridiculously out of place among the clearly turn of the century details. Tall crown molding ran the room above white cracking intricately carved cupboards. The white marble counters were the same as the floors and shone in the dusky light.
He set the bag on the counter next to the fridge and opened it. Light poured from it brightening the room considerably. He smiled and put the soda in to cool. He opened the freezer, shoved the pizza in, closed the doors and walked over to the flick on the lights.
They flickered to life flooding the room with harsh unnatural light. He glanced up at the fixtures. They were surprisingly cheap for the opulence of the rest of the house.
The door creaked open, Heero turned and glanced at the bouncing figure.
"The power is oooonnnn!" Duo crooned jumping up and sitting on the island. He threw a green duffle at Heero, a blue one sat at his swinging feet.
"Yeah I figured that out." He smiled and shook the bag Duo had thrown at him. "Did you break in to my car?"
"Nah I lifted your keys when we were in the front hall." He laughed and Heero glared harshly at him. "Do you wanna go scope out some rooms to sleep in? I think the second floor should be fine to crash in. I know the third is a little rickety but there is nothing up there but an attic" He explained grabbing Hero's hand and tugging. Heero laughed and allowed his exuberant friend to lead him through the maze of hallways. Now that light shone in to the darkened nooks and on the thick cobwebs the house looked much less intimidating.
"How did you even afford this place?" Heero wondered running one hand along the intricate banister as they ascended to the second floor.
"Mostly used the proceeds from my writing, It helped that this place came cheap." He explained. Heero raised one eyebrow. He knew his partner had a pretty decent career as an author but he had no idea it was this lucrative.
"Why the hell are you still on the force if you can afford this kind of summer house?" He asked stalling at the top of the stairs to look out over the expansive entry.
"Same reason as you Mr. Silver Spoon, I want something to do with my life other than sitting around on my ass." Heero nodded wincing at his friends tone. He should have left well enough alone he hated it when Duo brought up his inheritance.
They moved towards a long, brightly lit hallway that led off the foyer of the second floor. Beautifully carved doors hit what he assumed to be bedrooms.
Duo paused suddenly, almost sending Heero crashing into his back.
"Why did you and Miss. Princess break it off?" He asked suddenly throwing Heero for a loop.
It had been more than a month since he had left his fiancée Relena Peacecraft. In all that time Duo hadn't mentioned it, not once.
"She's a bitch." He grumbled looking at his feet. "And she wanted my fucking money okay? Her family isn't quite as rich as everyone thinks. I'm pretty sure they are living on credit." He explained refusing to look at his friend.
He glanced at the door they had stopped in front of.
"Let's check in here." He decided grabbing the handle and pushing hard.
Nothing happened.
Heero stared at the annoyingly closed door.
"Did they give you keys for the upstairs?" He asked kicking the offending object.
"Uh no… Heero that knob doesn't even have a key hole on it, are you sure it's not just stuck?" He glared at his grinning partner.
"It's not just stuck Maxwell." He stepped aside motioning to the door. "But please be my guest."
He watched as his cocky friend took hold of the handle, turned it and shoved his shoulder in to the door with so much force it cracked.
"Fuck!" The braided man exclaimed stumbling back and rubbing his shoulder irritably. "Son of a bitch Yuy you weren't kidding!" He groused hopping as he glared at the door.
"Yeah I know. Come one let's just go find another room to bunk in, we can stash this crap and make dinner."
Heero nodded, they walked in companionable silence until they got to the last room. Duo pushed the door it creaked but sung inwards, opening in to a large furnished bedroom.
"Why is this place furnished?" He asked glaring at the dusty white sheets covering everything.
"Dunno I guess the last residents left it." Duo shrugged, walking to the bed and pulling the sheet off it. Beneath the while cotton was a beautiful blue comforter and mounds of pillows. "Well hello this it defiantly where I'm sleeping!" The braided man exclaimed throwing himself on to the bed.
"That is disgusting." Heero bit out trying not to think about what could be living in the mattress.
"Oh come on 'ro it's just for the night, the new beds and sheets come tomorrow with the rest of the stuff I ordered."
Heero sighed and nodded. "Fine I'll go find a room then." He groused opening the door and walking across the hall. The opposite door opened in to a bed room much like the other. He pulled the sheets from the furniture, beneath were dark woods and shades of green that would be soothing in any other situation.
"This is so sick." He grumbled, throwing his duffle on to the bed and turning to walk from the room.
Something moved in the corner of the room. Heero turned glimpsing what looked to be a human before it was gone. His eyes went wide, he moved slowly towards the door he supposed led to a closet.
"Whoever the fuck is in there, you better get out here." He called wrenching the door open. He was met with clothing and neatly arranged shoes. He pushed them aside searching through the rather large closet. No one was in the little room, Heero felt around for several minutes looking for a trap door or secret passage.
Finally he gave up deciding it must have been a trick of the light. He stepped out of the closet noting the strangeness of it being full before closing the door. He stalked across the room and in to the hall. Duo was waiting for him when he emerged smile plastered on his face.
"There are still cloths in the closet in there Duo, who the hell owned this place last?" He asked, wiping the smile from his friends face.
"I don't know. Are there really cloths in there? There weren't any in mine and that is really weird."
Heero nodded moving to one side as Duo pushed past him and in to his room. He followed closely watching as Duo wrenched open the closet door.
There was nothing in the closet, it was absolutely positively empty. Heero balked remembering the way the fine fabrics had felt against his skin and he musty smell of old clothing.
"Haha 'ro good one. Fuck you had me kinda freaked out." Duo laughed throwing an arm around Heero for a moment before retreating from the room. "You stay here and stare at the emptiness for a while, I'm gonna go start dinner!" He called closing the door behind him.
Heero stared unblinkingly at the empty closet running what he had seen over and over again in his mind.
"Fuck Yuy you have been working too much." He muttered shaking his head, flicking the light off and turning to go meet Duo in the kitchen.
Behind him a pair of soulful green eyes stared from the recesses of the now darkened room.
End Chapter One
A/N Guh yet another WIP but this one should be rather short so I decided to start it Bleh. I kinda like it I love writing gore so I think it will end uo being one of my favorite stories I've written.
So remember to feed the author.!


text:
The Latrobe City Council is launching a campaign to stop the privatisation of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission's Traralgon office in south-east Victoria.
Topics: privatisation-and-deregulation, local-government, activism-and-lobbying, federal-government, traralgon-3844
The Committee for Gippsland has outlined its key funding priorities for the south-east Victorian region ahead of tonight's federal budget.
Topics: budget, federal-government, sale-3850, traralgon-3844
The Member for Morwell, Russell Northe, is calling on the State Government to commit funding for an indoor swimming pool at Traralgon in the state's south-east.
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, activism-and-lobbying, states-and-territories, lifestyle-and-leisure, traralgon-3844
VicRoads is asking motorists to obey the temporary speed zones in place this week around roadworks in Gippsland.
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, traralgon-3844, sale-3850, morwell-3840
Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner says he is satisfied with the time it has taken the Environment Protection Authority to alert residents to air pollution.
Topics: emergency-planning, emergency-incidents, health, morwell-3840, traralgon-3844, churchill-3842
A Gippsland doctor says the Environment Protection Authority should use text messages to alert people to high air pollution levels.
Topics: air-pollution, health, activism-and-lobbying, doctors-and-medical-professionals, traralgon-3844, morwell-3840, sale-3850
The National party has appointed teacher Melina Bath as its new Member for Eastern Region.
Topics: nationals, traralgon-3844
V/Line will close part of the Gippsland train line for two weeks, from Saturday, to allow for major upgrades.
Topics: rail-transport, urban-development-and-planning, morwell-3840, traralgon-3844
An attempt to overturn Latrobe City Council's declaration that the area, in south-east Victoria, is a 'refugee welcome zone', has been defeated.
Topics: local-government, programs-and-initiatives, immigration, refugees, traralgon-3844, morwell-3840
Gippsland residents in south-east Victoria are being awarded Australia Day honours today for providing outstanding service to their communities.
Topics: awards-and-prizes, traralgon-3844, foster-3960, yarragon-3823
Stage three of the Princes Highway duplication between Traralgon and Sale in south-east Victoria has officially opened.
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, federal---state-issues, sale-3850, traralgon-3844
Mobile black spots are making it impossible to install wi-fi on regional Victorian trains, raising concerns the service may not be available for several years.
Topics: rail-transport, states-and-territories, vic, ballarat-3350, traralgon-3844, geelong-3220, seymour-3660
Gippsland V/Line services have again been ranked as the least punctual in Victoria.
Topics: rail-transport, moe-3825, morwell-3840, traralgon-3844
The Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester, says heavy rain should not cause too much of delay with works to duplicate the Princes Highway.
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, water, water-management, sale-3850, traralgon-3844
A three-year strategy to encourage growth and investment in Gippsland will be used to lobby state and federal governments for money.
Topics: regional-development, traralgon-3844, sale-3850
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has improved its air quality monitoring capabilities in Victoria's Latrobe Valley.
Topics: air-pollution, environmental-management, morwell-3840, traralgon-3844
Passengers on the Gippsland line need to prepare for delays because of a problem with the Morwell River crossing.
Topics: rail-transport, bairnsdale-3875, moe-3825, traralgon-3844
Posted| Updated
Environment Victoria (EV) is calling on all sides of politics to commit to speeding up rehabilitation of the Latrobe Valley coal fields.
Topics: coal, mining-industry, mining-rural, mining-environmental-issues, elections, morwell-3840, traralgon-3844, moe-3825, yallourn-north-3825, vic
Posted| Updated
Environment and community groups want all parties to push for better rehabilitation at Victoria's coal mines. Read more
Topics: mining-environmental-issues, coal, mining-rural, mining-industry, elections, vic, moe-3825, morwell-3840, traralgon-3844
Posted| Updated
A man and a teenager are charged with armed robbery after a 300-kilometre police pursuit that started in Dandenong and ended near Lakes Entrance in Victoria's east.
Topics: police, courts-and-trials, dandenong-3175, moe-3825, vic, bairnsdale-3875, traralgon-3844, endeavour-hills-3802, melbourne-3000
Posted| Updated
A man is arrested after a dramatic four-hour police pursuit across 300 kilometres of eastern Victoria.
Topics: crime, law-crime-and-justice, emergency-incidents, traralgon-3844
Posted| Updated
The State Government says several companies have expressed interest in developing brown coal reserves within the Latrobe Valley, but won't be revealing further details prior to the election.
Topics: elections, coal, mining-industry, vic, moe-3825, morwell-3840, traralgon-3844
Victorian government is confident coal has a future but isn't giving details prior to election
Topics: state-parliament, states-and-territories, elections, mining-rural, coal, morwell-3840, traralgon-3844, moe-3825, melbourne-3000, vic
The numerous Victorian agencies responsible for tackling the states fires are being told to prepare for a likely early start to a dry season.
Topics: fires, emergency-planning, heyfield-3858, traralgon-3844, bairnsdale-3875
Fire agencies gather to discuss bushfire season outlook for East Gippsland
Topics: fires, emergency-planning, heyfield-3858, traralgon-3844, sale-3850, orbost-3888


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Sunday, October 27, 2013: Fiji to start Daylight Saving Time
Published 10-Sep-2013
Fiji's government has decided to start Daylight Saving Time (DST) on Sunday, October 27, 2013.
©thinkstockphotos.com/Digital Vision
At 02:00 (2am), local time on October 27, 2013, Fijians will move their clocks one hour ahead to 03:00 (3am), local time.
DST dates Worldwide - second half of 2013
DST dates Worldwide - first half of 2014
2014 DST end date
According to the official government press release, DST in Fiji will end at 02:00 (2am) on Sunday, January 19, 2014. At this time, people in Fiji will turn their clocks back one hour from 03:00 (3am) to 02:00 (2am).
Recent updates
- Australia & New Zealand end DST on April 6, 2014
- Crimea to adopt Moscow Standard Time
- March 30, 2014: Europe starts Daylight Saving Time
- Sunday, March 9, 2014: DST starts in USA and Canada
- Chile Extends DST to April 27, 2014
- Turkey delays DST start by one day
More about Daylight Saving Time
More information
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Hi,im a Sec 1 student. I need to do a maths portfolio on standard form and it is due on 31 Jan!Plus,marks will be included in CA1 I don't really know standard form I need help for this.
1.One of the component is doing a mindmap on SF.Can you write down a few points i should write? I'm not familiar with mindmap either
2.Self practice questions. I need to look for 30 questions on SF,at least 15 word problems and others short questions.Where can i look for them online with answers?I need to mark them for the next component. I don't have any assessments book so i don't have any place to get the questions.
3.What is SF use for nowaday? Its application(?). I don't really know what my teacher means that ><
Currently asking help from my seniors and from web.
It'll be a great help if you help.
Thanks! ^^
HELP!Maths portfolio on Standard Form
PSLE marks the graduation of Primary school students and their entry into Secondary schools as teenagers. Discuss all issues about Secondary schooling here.


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Sunday, October 24, 2010
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
This feels like an apt song to get us going. Apologies, as usual technology is defeating me and I can embed the video here but not on the new The Broken Of Britain blog.
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ED Magedson – Founder
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Dish TV Padding Bills, Lying upon signing up, and financial savagery Nationwide
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From the start i was signed up by a reseller that acted like they were DISH themselves. I was lied to about what my inital charges were. And every month since then (and granted Ive added like two 10.00/month tv packages)the bill has gone up and up. They bill you for channels 6 months up front (at least that what "Drake" told me just now about why my bill was 199..00) For more channels Brighthouse charged me between 60-80.And then they false advertise. I can record 3 channels at once and i saw a commerical for DISH saying you can record 8. Yeah if you pay for it. NOTHING is free or reasonably priced with these people. You pay for EVERYTHING. Do not expect your bill to go down from switching from Direct or Brighthouse. (Ive had both and they were MUCH MUCH cheaper). These people will lie to you to get you to sign up and then they lock you into a contract so you cant go aywhere on them. So they are free to continue the financai shellacking.
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Diskeeper 2011–Restore point update..Old posts Tagged Old posts, Old posts March 23rd, 2011
Just a quickie. It appears that Diskeeper 2011 doesn't trash restore points on my computer as the 2010 version was doing.
Also, it is even less noticeable in operation that 2010 was. Way to go, Diskeeper. Well done..
Diskeeper 2011 is now available to all, btw.. https://www.diskeeper.com/
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This in not merely a memoir about half a lifetime lived in theaters around the world. Far more compelling is the unfolding of the artist's heart that lived it all. Sex, intrigue, ravishing beauty and appalling abuse. Its all here.
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ABC de Sevilla called Adria Firestone, A wild stage beast. Opera News called her, A light in the darkness. Reforma in Mexico City called her, The Queen of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Adria enjoyed a long, award-winning career as an opera singer, musical theater performer and actor. Her credits range from her world-renowned Carmen in Bizet's opera to Family Guy. From Shanghai to the Pacific Rim and from Cairo to Canada, Adria has performed throughout the world. Adria won the coveted Carbonell Award for Best Actress in a Musical and was awarded Woman of the Year at the Spoleto Festival in Italy.
The same fire that Adria brought to her performances, makes her a powerful speaker and master story teller. She fosters deep transformation for her coaching clients around the globe and is working on her fifth book. She is the go to guru for presentation skills, strategic communication and personal and professional development.


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I am a huge fan of lace dresses because even if you don't spend very much money on one of these dresses, you can still look amazing, particularly if you choose the right color.
That's why I absolutely love this Dark Green Long Sleeve Lace Dress because this particular dress costs just $21.99, but still looks fantastic on this particular model because of the color and the overall shape of this dress.
I really like the see-through long sleeves, the open back and the neckline collar, but for me it's the short length of this dress combined with the extra width at the bottom that finishes if off perfectly because this will really help to show off your legs in the spring and the summer.
If you would like to buy this dress, it has just gone on sale on the SheInside website and is available in sizes S, M, L and XL.
Here is the product page if you would like to take a closer look at this dress and find out more about it.


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London, August 27: English Premier League giants Arsenal FC visit Vicarage stadium on Saturday (August 27) evening to face Watford FC in a crucial game week 3 encounter.
It is a must win game for Arsene Wenger's stadium as they are yet to collect full three points this season. After losing the opening match against Liverpool 4-3, they managed a 0-0 draw against reigning champions Leicester City.
They are struggling at the bottom half of the league table, very unusual of the Gunners who are among the title contenders in the league.
Watford's start to the season too has been pretty bad as they are yet to win a game. They started the season with a draw against Southampton and lost the second match against Chelsea FC.
Last week they came very close to bag full three points as Etiene Capoue's goal had gave them the lead. Unfortunate for them that Eden Hazard and Diego Costa scored in the ending moments to snatch away three points.
Team News
Walter Mazzarri is likely to field his team in 3-5-2 formation. He made quite a few changes in the starting line-up during the midweek game in the English Football League Cup against Gillingham. But today, he will likely stick to the same XI who had played against Chelsea last week.
Arsene Wenger most likely will bring in star attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil in the starting XI. The German superstar had joined the squad way back but Wenger did not field him as he joined late from the Euros. But now that two weeks have gone past and Arsenal's performance is not upto the mark, Ozil will be back in the starting XI.
The rest of the players are likely to remain unchanged with Alexis Sanchez as the front striker.
Predicted XIs
Watford FC starting XI
Goalkeeper: Heurelho Gomes
Defenders: Younes Kaboul, Sebastian Prodl, Miguel Britos
Midfielders: Etiene Capoue, Valon Behrami, Daryl Janmaat, Juan Zuniga, Adlene Guedioura
Strikers: Troy Deeney, Odion Ighalo
Arsenal FC starting XI
Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
Defenders: Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal
Midfielders: Granit Xhaka, Franics Coquelin; Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott
Striker: Alexis Sanchez
OneIndia News


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Asian Currencies Complete Weekly Drop on Stimulus Disappointment
Asian currencies had their first weekly drop in more than a month on concern regional exports will falter as China refrains from adding to measures that support growth in the region's biggest economy.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index lost 0.3 percent in the past five days after data showed China's imports rose the least in three months in July. India, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan all reported this month that their overseas shipments fell. Premier Wen Jiabao said there's "growing room for monetary-policy operations," during a visit to the eastern province of Zhejiang, Chinese state television reported this week. The yuan weakened 1 percent this year.
"There was disappointment that China didn't do a stimulus," said Vishnu Varathan, an economist at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. in Singapore. "There's also a sense China wouldn't allow a fast pace of appreciation with its currency, which means Asian currencies have less room to rise."
The Philippine peso weakened 1.3 percent this week to 42.420 per dollar in Manila, according to Tullett Prebon Plc. India's rupee slid 0.8 percent to 55.7450, Malaysia's ringgit fell 0.4 percent to 3.1323 and South Korea's won lost 0.3 percent to 1,134.25. The yuan was little changed at 6.3585.
The People's Bank of China lowered the yuan's reference rate to 6.3495 per dollar yesterday, the weakest level since Nov. 29. Yuan positions at Chinese lenders accumulated from foreign-exchange purchases stood at 25.658 trillion yuan ($4 trillion) at the end of July, down from 25.661 trillion yuan in June, PBOC data showed on Aug. 14.
Chinese Exports
Chinese exports grew 1 percent in July from a year earlier, the smallest gain since a decline in January, figures released on Aug. 10 showed, spurring speculation the nation will act to revive growth.
The Philippine currency completed its biggest weekly slide since May as central bank Governor Amando Tetangco said on Aug. 14 a slowdown in China's economy may hurt overseas sales. China is the Philippines' largest export market after Japan and the U.S.
The peso touched 42.43 per dollar yesterday, the weakest level since June 29, after growth in remittances slowed. Funds sent home by Filipinos living abroad rose 4.2 percent in June from a year earlier, the least in 15 months, the central bank reported on Aug. 15. The peso has gained 3.3 percent this year, the second-best performance among Asia's 11 most-active currencies.
The rupee touched a two-week low after Director General of Foreign Trade Anup Pujari said on Aug. 14 that merchandise shipments from India declined 14.8 percent to $22.4 billion last month, leaving a trade deficit of $15.5 billion. The currency completed the biggest weekly drop since June this week.
Indian Inflation
The rupee is also weakening on concern the fastest inflation among the largest emerging markets leaves little room for policy measures to stimulate growth, according to Mumbai- based brokerage Edelweiss Financial Advisors Ltd.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said this week that high inflation has reduced room for policy measures to spur the nation's economic growth. A government report on Aug. 14 showed wholesale prices rose 6.87 percent in July from a year earlier, after gaining 7.25 percent in June. Inflation was 5.2 percent in Brazil, 1.8 percent in China and 5.6 percent in Russia last month, according to official figures.
Thailand's baht completed a weekly loss as official figures next week will probably show exports fell for a second month in July amid Europe's debt crisis, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. The baht dropped 0.1 percent since Aug. 10 to 31.52 per dollar.
Thai GDP
Gross domestic product rose 3.1 percent last quarter from a year earlier, the most since the third quarter of 2011, a separate survey showed before data due on Aug. 20.
"Thailand is still benefiting from the rehabilitation process from last year's floods, which is supporting domestic demand," said Hideki Hayashi, a researcher at the Japan Center for Economic Research in Tokyo. "But I don't expect a one-way sharp appreciation in the baht as external demand is weak because of Europe's debt crisis, and exports may continue to be sluggish."
Elsewhere, Taiwan's dollar slipped 0.1 percent this week to NT$30.025, while Indonesia's rupiah closed at 9,494 yesterday, compared with 9,492 on Aug. 10. Vietnam's dong was little changed at 20,845.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lilian Karunungan in Singapore at firstname.lastname@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Is Love Best Expressed Through a Touch or a Smile?By Nadine Lueras-Tramma, Raymond Firmalino | September 9, 2011 | 5 comments
Summaries of new research on how we express our emotions and how to cope with rejection.
* This Greater Good section, Research Digests, offers short summaries of recent studies on happiness, empathy, compassion, and more. Quick to read, easy to digest—we review the research so you don't have to! Subscribe to the Research Digests RSS feed to receive future digests.
Is Love Best Expressed through a Touch or a Smile?
"Nonverbal Channel Use in Communication of Emotion: How May Depend on Why"
App, B., McIntosh, D. N., Reed, C. L., & Hertenstein, M. J. Emotion, Vol. 11 (3), June 2011, 603-617.
Is love best expressed through a touch or a smile? This study suggests that the best way to convey an emotion depends on what type of emotion you're trying to convey. Researchers asked participants to express a range of emotions to someone else using their face, body, or touch. Participants also watched videos of other people expressing emotions and had to identify the emotions conveyed. The results suggest that the body best expresses emotions that convey our social status (e.g., embarrassment, guilt, or pride), the face best expresses survival emotions (e.g., anger, happiness, or sadness), and touch best expresses intimate emotions (e.g., love, sympathy). —Nadine Lueras-Tramma
How to Cope with Rejection
"Social Acceptance and Rejection: The Sweet and the Bitter"
DeWall, N. C.; Bushman, B.J.Current Directions in Psychological Science, Vol. 20 (4), August 2011, 256-260.
No one ever likes being socially rejected—in fact, it can feel downright painful. But this study suggests the effects of rejection go beyond hurt feelings. Reviewing more than 20 prior studies, it found that social rejection can reduce performance on a challenging intellectual task, reduce impulse control, and increase aggression and levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The authors also looked at how people can effectively cope with rejection, finding (not surprisingly) that it varies by individual but that it's generally important to overcome rejection and seek out new sources of support or acceptance. Studies have found that effective strategies include striving to form bonds with new friends, recalling positive memories from childhood, and even taking a pain reliever like Tylenol. —Raymond Firmalino
expressing our emotions is very important for the people we love
yeessss good
دردشة صوتية | 11:32 am, June 1, 2012 | Link
No, it's healthier to avoid enaitg right before you sleep. In fact, you should avoid enaitg for several hours before you sleep.Your body needs to spend sleeptime resting and regenerating. If you eat right before bed, then your body's working to digest what you ate, rather than resting. Also, food is more likely to come back up on you when you're lying down during initial phases of digestion. Over time, this can damage your esophagus.You do retain fat more if you eat before bed rather than before periods of activity. When you're sedentary (or flat out sleeping), your body just absorbs everything. When you're active, your body is better at jettisoning excess calories.
a heartbreak isnât always as loud as a bomb exploding. sometimes it can be as quiet as a feather falling.. and the most painful thing is, no one really hears it. except you.
London flight | 9:40 am, July 6, 2012 | Link
Story Topics
Find the subjects that interest you.


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Action 9: Federal officials warn of risks with dietary supplements
by: Jason Stoogenke Updated:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Heading into flu season, many people are looking to boost their immune systems, but federal officials sent Action 9 a warning that may make you think twice before buying dietary supplements.
Marshall Linder and his wife get flu shots every year.
"Almost 50 years, yeah," said Linder.
But with three family members in the medical profession, they do not put much weight in supplements promising to prevent colds or the flu.
"To be honest with you, a lot of this stuff about boosting this and boosting that, I take with a grain of salt. I really do," said Linder.
And the Federal Trade Commission is also warning people to be cautious. The FTC points to two recent cases.
In one, the FTC said Walgreens sold Wal-born products promising to prevent illness and fight germs, but that the science did not back it up.
Now roughly 8,000 customers are getting back a total of $218,750.
In the other, the FTC said Iovate Health Sciences was selling supplements like ColdMD, GErmMD and AllergyMD, and that the research did not support their claims either.
Now 2,500 people are getting combined $182,573 back.
The North Carolina Consumers Council followed the Walgreens case carefully and said always look past the advertising, read disclaimers on the packaging carefully.
"If you have a product on a store shelf that has an asterisk behind a claim leading to a small print disclaimer saying this product has not been evaluated by the FDA, we generally tell consumers to steer clear of those," said Matthew Oliver with the NC Consumers Council.
He and the FTC said ask your doctor before taking any supplements.
Speaking of people in the medical profession, remember the Linders – he was a dentist and has two children who are doctors. He is sticking with just flu shots for now.


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The Deal
$75 for a golf package for two people (total value up to $173)
- 18 holes of golf with cart for two ($150 value)
- Two buckets of 40 balls ($13 value)
- Two drink vouchers ($10 value)
$139 for a golf package for four people (total value up to $346)
$260 for a golf package for eight people (total value up to $692)
Camden Lakeside Golf Club
The only course in Sydney designed by British Open star Peter Thomson, Camden Lakeside Golf Club offers challenges for golfers no matter their level of experience. The 72 par course is designed in a links style, with several tee positions to suit both beginners and pros. Players weave around pot bunkers, perched greens and fairway undulations for 18 hole games that are full of energy.
Afterward people chill out in the Bistro with an cold brew and bowl of chips or simply head in for a country-style breakfast, lunch or snack. Located less than one hour's drive from Sydney, the club is an ideal place to catch up with friends or woo business associates.
Customer Reviews
Catherine Field
50 Raby RoadGet Directions


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Unisex Tarin Thomas Samuel Ring
Unisex Tarin Thomas Samuel Ring
With it's flat, square face adorned with a high polished 16x16mm black onyx the 'Samuel' ring combines practicality and edge. This unisex signet ring is a go-to piece with endless wearability. Onyx is worn to defend against negativity, it has protective energies that are believed to bring rejuvenation, fortify self confidence and responsibility and sharpens your senses. Made in New York. Black Onyx- no two stones are alike. Available in sterling silver & yellow brass. **This ring will take 3-5 days to ship out.
Shipping and returns (when eligible) are FREE for purchases from US and Canadian boutiques when shipped to customers located in the US or Canada. We offer a flat shipping fee of $30 for all international transactions.
Shipping Details
Returns are accepted on full-priced items except when item is marked as Final Sale. All sale items, including Make an Offer items, are FINAL SALE.
Returns Policy
tarin thomas
Tarin Thomas was born out of the need for cool, sophisticated jewelry at an accessible price point. Named for her middle name and her brother's name, designer Kylie Nakao nails it with pieces that explore life's crazy dualities and experiment with new metals and stones. Handcrafting everything in New York City, the Toronto native is renowned for versatile, stackable pieces. Prepare to become a collector.


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By Mike Snider, USA TODAY
John Madden may be leaving the broadcast booth, but the Madden NFL video game will play on.
Madden will continue to work with EA Sports, said the game company's president, Peter Moore. "His distinct role in shaping the EA Sports football experience has redefined how multiple generations have come to know and love the sport with unrivaled passion," Moore said in a statement.
For many thirtysomethings — and those younger — Madden is the video game guy. "A lot of people, this is how we know him," says George Jones of GamePro magazine. The version of John Madden Football for the Sega Genesis video game system, first published in 1990, helped legitimize video games as a form of entertainment "to be something greater than we ever imagined," Jones says.
In June, when GamePro publishes its list of the top 25 most influential people in video games, Madden will be in the top five, he says.
When EA founder Trip Hawkins asked Madden to help him create a computer football game, the former coach thought it might simply serve as a tool to help teach others about the game. Now, more than 20 years later, the video game franchise has sold more than 70 million copies worldwide.
From the beginning, Madden demanded authenticity. "It had to look like NFL football," he said in an interview with USA TODAY last year.
That early involvement carries on today. The upcoming version of the game, out Aug. 14, "is going to be the most authentic yet," Jones says.
Beyond the video game, Madden has a long reach into pop culture, from his TV ads for Miller Lite and "fast-actin' " Tinactin, to the All-Madden Team and the Thanksgiving Day turducken.
Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.


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English: Ashford-in-the-Water is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, England, and on the River Wye. It is known for the quarrying of black marble (a form of limestone), and for the Maiden's Garlands made to mark the deaths of virgins in the village until 1801. In the churchyard lies the base and stump of the market cross, which may date from the fifteenth century.
This category has the following 5 subcategories, out of 5 total.
- ► Sheepwash Bridge, Ashford (14 F)
- ► Ashford Black Marble (10 F)
- ► Ashford Hall (3 F)
- ► Holy Trinity Church, Ashford-in-the-Water (1 C, 8 F)
Media in category "Ashford-in-the-Water"
The following 92 files are in this category, out of 92 total.
- Ashford Arms.jpg 689 KB


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Aston Villa to play FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo in July
FRISCO, Texas (AP) - Aston Villa will play two games against Major League Soccer teams in Texas during a preseason tour.
The English Premier League club will face FC Dallas on July 23 in Frisco, Texas, then play at the Houston Dynamo three days later.
MORE: Arsenal returns to USA for first time in 25 years to face Henry, RBNY
Villa also said Tuesday it will play an exhibition at the Dutch team Groningen on Aug. 2 as it prepares for Premier League openers Aug. 16-17.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal also have announced preseason games in the U.S.
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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|iPhone apps
The Bucharest AR Guide
Viewlity offers the best experience in finding nearby points of interest using augmented reality. You don't need to navigate though countless menus or do keyword search any more. You just look through the iPhone screen and find directions right to your destination!
This Viewlity application comes bundled with:
Banks & ATMs
Car Related
Food & Supermarket Shops
Pharmacies & Doctors
Places of Worship
Schools & Education
in Bucharest, Romania.
We're constantly adding new and exciting applications so you can easily find what you're looking for with the minimum amount of effort. To propose an application category go to our website at Viewlity.com and use the contact page to get in touch.
The Viewlity apps work best on a iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, but we also made it possible for you to use the apps on an iPhone 3G by using the GPS heading to simulate the compass. You can use the app on iPod touch as well, but due to the lack of a dedicated camera and true GPS solution the augmented reality experience can be limited.
To find more Viewlity apps head to Viewlity.com and look over our portfolio. Every week tens of new apps are added for cities and locations from all around the world!
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The information may be outdated (2011-04-27 14:14:22). For actual information go to iTunes


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Joe Manganiello Injured Himself While Stripping on the Set of Magic Mike XXL
Description:We spotted Joe Manganiello on West Hollywood sporting a brace on his arm. According to his girlfriend, Sofia Vergara, Joe was actually injured while stripping on the set of Magic Mike XXL.
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An extension of Bodega's own personal aesthetic, their new 2009 Spring/Summer line offers classic, simple light weight Spring-friendly pieces. Each garments is well thought out, paying special attention to construction and quality. Unique details throughout the line, such as double pockets, reversibility, contrasting materials, and subtle features are guaranteed to make each item an everyday essential. Produced in limited quantities, Spring/Summer 2009 can be found at Bodega along with a few select retailers. An official in-store launch is slated for Saturday April 25th with an online release on May 18th. Further looks from the collection will follow in the coming weeks.
6 Clearway Street
Boston, MA 02115


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Camo Mackenzie Blue Travel Organizer Set
Sold Out
Up To 25% Off: SAVEMORE
Bring ease and order to traveling with kids. Designed in two sizes, these bags tuck easily inside your childs suitcase to keep smaller items organized and visible.
- Small: 8 wide x 0.75 deep x 6.5 high
- Large: 13 wide x 2.5 deep x 11.5 high
- Made from rugged, water-resistant 600-denier polyester.
- Top zipper closure.
- Set of 2 includes one of each.


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cognitivex necessitava di un nuovo design di logo e ha lanciato un contest su 99designs.
È stato scelto un vincitore tra 343 design presentati da 97 designer.
youtaskit.com will be a simple task management tool that will allow users to create lists and receive reminders for anything type of list they would like.
This logo should represent the versatility of youtaskit.com and also contain the words (you task it). When we say versatility we mean that users can create checklists for any subject. Some examples checklist for planning a wedding, checklist for buying a car, checklist for voting. All will be supported.
- simple logo
- can be cartoony
- easily recognizable
- contains the words "you task it"
- has few colors (2-3 max)
- can be incorporated easily into a web design


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- Printpack, Inc12.Jan 2016
- Employee
Suggestions for improvement
- Clean out the dead weight in management, including the members of the founding family that have no business running a business. Take off some of the restrictions to pay raises, so that people have some sort of motivation to excel, then reward them for excelling.
What I like about the company
Printpack goes out of its way not to lay people off during times of slow production. This saves training costs and gives employees some semblance of stability.