title: "Arc lamp" content: windings. A moment later the starter interrupts the current flow from the ballast, which has a high inductance and therefore tries to maintain the current flow (the ballast opposes any change in current through it); it cannot, as there is no longer a 'circuit'. As a result, a high voltage appears across the ballast momentarily, to which the lamp is connected; therefore the lamp receives this high voltage across it which 'strikes' the arc within the tube/lamp. The circuit will repeat this action until the lamp is ionized enough to sustain the arc. When the lamp sustains the arc, the


title: "Arc lamp" content: ballast performs its second function, to limit the current to that needed to operate the lamp. The lamp, ballast and igniter are rating-matched to each other; these parts must be replaced with the same rating as the failed component or the lamp will not work. The colour of the light emitted by the lamp changes as its electrical characteristics change with temperature and time. Lightning is a similar principle where the atmosphere is ionized by the high potential difference (voltage) between earth and storm clouds. The temperature of the arc in an arc lamp can reach several thousand degrees Celsius.


title: "Arc lamp" content: The outer glass envelope can reach 500 degrees Celsius, therefore before servicing one must ensure the bulb has cooled sufficiently to handle. Often, if these types of lamps are turned off or lose their power supply, one cannot restrike the lamp again for several minutes (called cold restrike lamps). However, some lamps (mainly fluorescent tubes/energy saving lamps) can be restruck as soon as they are turned off (called hot restrike lamps). The Vortek water-wall plasma arc lamp, invented in 1975 by David Camm and Roy Nodwell at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, made the Guinness Book of World


title: "Arc lamp" content: Records in 1986 and 1993 as the most powerful continuously burning light source at over 300 kW or 1.2 million candle power. In popular use, the term "arc lamp" means "carbon arc lamp" only. In a carbon arc lamp, the electrodes are carbon rods in free air. To ignite the lamp, the rods are touched together, thus allowing a relatively low voltage to strike the arc. The rods are then slowly drawn apart, and electric current heats and maintains an arc across the gap. The tips of the carbon rods are heated and the carbon vaporizes. The carbon vapor in


title: "Arc lamp" content: the arc is highly luminous, which is what produces the bright light. The rods are slowly burnt away in use, and the distance between them needs to be regularly adjusted in order to maintain the arc. Many ingenious mechanisms were invented to effect the distance automatically, mostly based on solenoids. In one of the simplest mechanically-regulated forms (which was soon superseded by more smoothly acting devices) the electrodes are mounted vertically. The current supplying the arc is passed in series through a solenoid attached to the top electrode. If the points of the electrodes are touching (as in start up)


title: "Arc lamp" content: the resistance falls, the current increases and the increased pull from the solenoid draws the points apart. If the arc starts to fail the current drops and the points close up again. The Yablochkov candle is a simple arc lamp without a regulator, but it has the drawbacks that the arc cannot be restarted (single use) and a limited lifetime of only a few hours. The concept of carbon-arc lighting was first demonstrated by Sir Humphry Davy in the early 19th century (sources disagree about the year he first demonstrated it; 1802, 1805, 1807 and 1809 are all mentioned), using


title: "Arc lamp" content: charcoal sticks and a two thousand cell battery to create an arc across a gap. He mounted his electrodes horizontally and noted that, because of the strong convection flow of air, the arc formed the shape of an arch. He coined the term "arch lamp", which was contracted to "arc lamp" when the devices came into common usage. The arc lamp provided one of the first commercial uses for electricity, a phenomenon previously confined to experiment, the telegraph, and entertainment. In the United States, there were attempts to produce arc lamps commercially after 1850, but the lack of a constant


title: "Arc lamp" content: electricity supply thwarted efforts. Thus electrical engineers began focusing on the problem of improving Faraday's dynamo. The concept was improved upon by a number of people including William Staite and Charles F. Brush. It was not until the 1870s that lamps such as the Yablochkov candle were more commonly seen. In 1877, the Franklin Institute conducted a comparative test of dynamo systems. The one developed by Brush performed best, and Brush immediately applied his improved dynamo to arc-lighting an early application being Public Square in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 29, 1879. In 1880, Brush established the Brush Electric Company. The


title: "Arc lamp" content: harsh and brilliant light was found most suitable for public areas, such as Cleveland's Public Square, being around 200 times more powerful than contemporary filament lamps. The usage of Brush electric arc lights spread quickly. "Scientific American" reported in 1881 that the system was being used in: 800 lights in rolling mills, steel works, shops, 1,240 lights in woolen, cotton, linen, silk, and other factories, 425 lights in large stores, hotels, churches, 250 lights in parks, docks, and summer resorts, 275 lights in railroad depots and shops, 130 lights in mines, smelting works, 380 lights in factories and establishments of


title: "Arc lamp" content: various kinds, 1,500 lights in lighting stations, for city lighting, 1,200 lights in England and other foreign countries. A total of over 6,000 lights which are actually sold. There were three major advances in the 1880s: František Křižík invented in 1880 a mechanism to allow the automatic adjustment of the electrodes. The arcs were enclosed in a small tube to slow the carbon consumption (increasing the life span to around 100 hours). "Flame arc lamps" were introduced where the carbon rods had metal salts (usually magnesium, strontium, barium, or calcium fluorides) added to increase light output and produce different colours.


title: "Arc lamp" content: In the U.S., patent protection of arc-lighting systems and improved dynamos proved difficult and as a result the arc-lighting industry became highly competitive. Brush's principal competition was from the team of Elihu Thomson and Edwin J. Houston. These two had formed the American Electric Corporation in 1880, but it was soon bought up by Charles A. Coffin, moved to Lynn, Massachusetts, and renamed the Thomson-Houston Electric Company. Thomson remained, though, the principal inventive genius behind the company patenting improvements to the lighting system. Under the leadership of Thomson-Houston's patent attorney, Frederick P. Fish, the company protected its new patent rights.


title: "Arc lamp" content: Coffin's management also led the company towards an aggressive policy of buy-outs and mergers with competitors. Both strategies reduced competition in the electrical lighting manufacturing industry. By 1890, the Thomson-Houston company was the dominant electrical manufacturing company in the U.S. Nikola Tesla received U.S. Patent 447920, ""Method of Operating Arc-Lamps"" (March 10, 1891), that describes a 10,000 cycles per second alternator to suppress the disagreeable sound of power-frequency harmonics produced by arc lamps operating on frequencies within the range of human hearing. Around the turn of the century arc-lighting systems were in decline, but Thomson-Houston controlled key patents to urban


title: "Arc lamp" content: lighting systems. This control slowed the expansion of incandescent lighting systems being developed by Thomas Edison's Edison General Electric Company. Conversely, Edison's control of direct current distribution and generating machinery patents blocked further expansion of Thomson-Houston. The roadblock to expansion was removed when the two companies merged in 1892 to form the General Electric Company. Arc lamps were used in some early motion-picture studios to illuminate interior shots. One problem was that they produce such a high level of ultra-violet light that many actors needed to wear sunglasses when off camera to relieve sore eyes resulting from the ultra-violet light.


title: "Arc lamp" content: The problem was solved by adding a sheet of ordinary window glass in front of the lamp, blocking the ultra-violet. By the dawn of the "talkies", arc lamps had been replaced in film studios with other types of lights. In 1915, Elmer Ambrose Sperry began manufacturing his invention of a high-intensity carbon arc searchlight. These were used aboard warships of all navies during the 20th century for signaling and illuminating enemies. In the 1920s, carbon arc lamps were sold as family health products, a substitute for natural sunlight. Arc lamps were superseded by filament lamps in most roles, remaining in


title: "Arc lamp" content: only certain niche applications such as cinema projection, followspots, and searchlights. Even in these applications conventional carbon arc lamps are being pushed into obsolescence by xenon arc lamps, but were still being manufactured as spotlights at least as late as 1982 and are still manufactured for at least one purpose – simulating sunlight in "accelerated aging" machines intended to estimate how fast a material is likely to be degraded by environmental exposure. Arc lamp An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc). The carbon arc light, which


title: "Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics" content: Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, eight gymnastics events, all for men, were contested in Panathinaiko Stadium. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Wrestling and Gymnastics. Events took place on April 9, April 10, and April 11 1896. There were 71 competitors from 9 nations (including 52 from Greece) that took part in gymnastics. These medals are retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and subsequent places received no award. A total of 71 gymnasts from 9 nations competed at the Athens Games:


title: Loon content: Loon The loons (North America) or divers (Great Britain/Ireland) are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus Gavia, family Gaviidae and order Gaviiformes. Loons, which are the size of a large duck or a small goose, resemble these birds in shape when swimming. Like ducks and geese, but unlike coots (which are Rallidae) and grebes (Podicipedidae), the loon's toes are connected by webbing. The loons may be confused with the cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae), which are not too distant relatives of divers, and like


title: Loon content: them are heavy-set birds whose bellies, unlike those of ducks and geese, are submerged when swimming. Loons in flight resemble plump geese with seagulls' wings that are relatively small in proportion to their bulky bodies. The bird points its head slightly upwards while swimming, but less so than cormorants. In flight, the head droops more than in similar aquatic birds. Male and female loons have identical plumage, which is largely patterned black-and-white in summer, with grey on the head and neck in some species. All have a white belly. This resembles many sea-ducks (Merginae) – notably the smaller goldeneyes ("Bucephala")


title: Loon content: – but is distinct from most cormorants, which rarely have white feathers, and if so, usually as large rounded patches rather than delicate patterns. All species of divers have a spear-shaped bill. Males are larger on average, but relative size is only apparent when the male and female are together. In winter, plumage is dark grey above, with some indistinct lighter mottling on the wings, and a white chin, throat and underside. The specific species can then be distinguished by certain features, such as the size and colour of the head, neck, back and bill. But reliable identification of wintering


title: Loon content: divers is often difficult even for experts – particularly as the smaller immature birds look similar to winter-plumage adults, making size an unreliable means of identification. Gaviiformes are among the few groups of birds in which the young moult into a second coat of down feathers after shedding the first one, rather than growing juvenile feathers with downy tips that wear off, as is typical in many birds. This trait is also found in tubenoses (Procellariiformes) and penguins (Sphenisciformes), both relatives of the loons. Loons are excellent swimmers, using their feet to propel themselves above and under water. However, since


title: Loon content: their feet are located posteriorly on the body, loons have difficulty walking on land. Thus, loons avoid coming to land, except when nesting or severely injured. Loons fly strongly, though they have high wing-loading (mass to wing area ratio), which complicates takeoff. Indeed, most species must run upwind across the water's surface with wings flapping to generate sufficient lift to take flight. Only the red-throated loon ("G. stellata") can take off from land. Once airborne, loons are capable of long flights during migration. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, who have implanted satellite transmitters in some individuals, have recorded daily


title: Loon content: flights of up to 1078 km in a 24-hour period, which probably resulted from single movements. North European loons migrate primarily via the South Baltic and directly over land to the Black Sea or Mediterranean. Loons can live as long as 30 years and can hold their breath for as long as 90 seconds while underwater. Loons find their prey by sight. They eat mainly fish, supplemented with amphibians, crustaceans and similar mid-sized aquatic fauna. Specifically, they have been noted to feed on crayfish, frogs, snails, salamanders and leeches. They prefer clear lakes because they can more easily see their


title: Loon content: prey through the water. The loon uses its pointy bill to stab or grasp prey. They eat vertebrate prey headfirst to facilitate swallowing, and swallow all their prey whole. To help digestion, loons swallow small pebbles from the bottoms of lakes. Similar to grit eaten by chickens, these gastroliths may assist the loon's gizzard in crushing the hard parts of the loon's food such as the exoskeletons of crustaceans and the bones of frogs and salamanders. The gastroliths may also be involved in stomach cleaning as an aid to regurgitation of indigestible food parts. Loons may inadvertently ingest small lead


title: Loon content: pellets, released by anglers and hunters, that will contribute to lead poisoning and the loon's eventual death. Jurisdictions that have banned the use of lead shot and sinkers include but are not limited to Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, some areas of Massachusetts, Yellowstone National Park, Great Britain, Canada, Michigan, and Denmark. Loons nest during the summer on freshwater lakes and/or large ponds. Smaller bodies of water (up to 0.5 km) will usually only have one pair. Larger lakes may have more than one pair, with each pair occupying a bay or section of the lake. The red-throated loon, however, may


title: Loon content: nest colonially, several pairs close together, in small Arctic tarns and feed at sea or in larger lakes, ferrying the food in for the young. Loons mate on land, often on the future nest site, and build their nests close to the water, preferring sites that are completely surrounded by water such as islands or emergent vegetation. Loons use a variety of materials to build their nests including aquatic vegetation, pine needles, leaves, grass, moss and mud. Sometimes, nest material is almost lacking. Both male and female build the nest and incubate jointly for 28 days. If the eggs are


title: Loon content: lost, the pair may re-nest, usually in a different location. Since the nest is very close to the water, rising water may induce the birds to slowly move the nest upwards, over a meter. Despite the roughly equal participation of the sexes in nest building and incubation, analysis has shown clearly that males alone select the location of the nest. This pattern has the important consequence that male loons, but not females, establish significant site-familiarity with their territories that allows them to produce more chicks there over time. Sex-biased site-familiarity might explain, in part, why resident males fight so hard


title: Loon content: to defend their territories. Most clutches consist of two eggs, which are laid in May or June, depending upon latitude. Loon chicks are precocial, able to swim and dive right away, but will often ride on their parents' back during their first two weeks to rest, conserve heat, and avoid predators. Chicks are fed mainly by their parents for about six weeks but gradually begin to feed themselves over time. By 11 or 12 weeks, chicks gather almost all of their own food and have begun to fly. Biologists, especially from Chapman University, have extensively studied the mating behaviour of


title: Loon content: the common loon ("G. immer"). Contrary to popular belief, pairs seldom mate for life. Indeed, a typical adult loon is likely to have several mates during its lifetime because of territorial takeover. Each breeding pair must frequently defend its territory against "floaters" (territory-less adults) trying to evict at least one owner and seize the breeding site. Territories that have produced chicks in the past year are especially prone to takeovers, because nonbreeding loons use chicks as cues to indicate high-quality territories. One-third of all territorial evictions among males result in the death of the owner; in contrast, female loons usually


title: Loon content: survive. Birds that are displaced from a territory but survive usually try to remate and (re)claim a breeding territory later in life. The European Anglophone name "diver" comes from the bird's habit of catching fish by swimming calmly along the surface and then abruptly plunging into the water. The North American name "loon" likely comes from either the Old English word "lumme", meaning lummox or awkward person, or the Scandinavian word "lum" meaning lame or clumsy. Either way, the name refers to the loon’s poor ability to walk on land. Another possible derivation is from the Norwegian word "lom" for


title: Loon content: these birds, which comes from Old Norse " lómr", possibly cognate with English "lament", referring to the characteristic plaintive sound of the loon. The scientific name "Gavia" refers to seabirds in general. The scientific name "Gavia" was the Latin term for the smew ("Mergellus albellus"). This small sea-duck is quite unrelated to loons and just happens to be another black-and-white seabird which swims and dives for fish. It is not likely that the ancient Romans had much knowledge of loons, as these are limited to more northern latitudes and since the end of the last glacial period seem to have


title: Loon content: occurred only as rare winter migrants in the Mediterranean region. The term "gavia" was transferred from the ducks to the loons only in the 18th century. Earlier naturalists referred to the loons as "mergus" (the Latin term for diving seabirds of all sorts) or "colymbus", which became the genus name used in the first modern scientific description of a "Gavia" species (by Carl Linnaeus) in 1758. Unfortunately, confusion about whether Linnaeus' "wastebin genus" "Colymbus" referred to loons or grebes abounded, with North American ornithologists using the genus name for grebes and European names, following Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Richard Bowdler


title: Loon content: Sharpe, for divers. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature tried to settle this issue in 1956 by declaring "Colymbus" a suppressed name unfit for further use and establishing "Gavia", created by Johann Reinhold Forster in 1788, as the valid genus name for the loons. However, the situation was not completely resolved even then, and the following year the ICZN had to act again to prevent Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot's 1818 almost-forgotten family name Urinatoridae from overruling the much younger Gaviidae. Some eminent ornithologists such as Pierce Brodkorb tried to keep the debate alive but the ICZN's solution has been satisfactory.


title: Loon content: All living species are placed in the genus "Gavia". Phylogenetically, the five living species can be arranged as follows: Basal lineage Black-throated lineage Black-headed lineage The loons were formerly often considered to be the most ancient of the northern hemisphere bird families; this idea grew basically out of the perceived similarity of shape and (probably) habits between loons and the entirely unrelated extinct Cretaceous order Hesperornithiformes. In particular "Enaliornis", which was apparently an ancestral and plesiomorphic member of that order, was sometimes used to support claims of Albian (Early Cretaceous) Gaviiformes. More recently, it has become clear that the Anseriformes


title: Loon content: (waterfowl) and the Galliformes are the most ancient groups of modern birds. It is possible, though not at all well-supported, that these were distinct by the end of the Albian 100 million years ago (Ma). Loons belong to a more modern radiation. They were once believed to be related to grebes, which are also foot-propelled diving birds, and both species were once classified together under the order Colymbiformes. However, as recently as the 1930s, it was determined that the two groups are not that closely related at all and are merely the product of convergent evolution and adapted in a


title: Loon content: similar way to a similar ecological niche. The similarity is so strong that even the most modern cladistic analyses of general anatomical features are easily misled into grouping loons and grebes. The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy still allied the loons with the grebes in its massively paraphyletic "Ciconiiformes", and it is almost certain that the relationships of loons lie with "some" of the orders placed therein. Namely, other recent authors have considered loons to share a rather close relationship with seabirds such as penguins (Sphenisciformes), tubenoses (Procellariiformes), waders (Charadriiformes) – and perhaps the newly discovered clade Mirandornithes which unites grebes (Podicipediformes) and


title: Loon content: their closest living relatives, the flamingos (Phoenicopteriformes). It is perhaps notable that some early penguins had skulls and beaks that were in many aspects similar to those of the living and fossil Gaviiformes. In prehistoric times, the loons had a more southerly distribution than today, and their fossils have been found in places such as California, Florida and Italy. The conflicting molecular data regarding their relationships is not much resolved by the fossil record; though they seem to have originated at the end of the Late Cretaceous like their presumed relatives, modern loons are only known with certainty since the


title: Loon content: Eocene. By that time almost all modern bird orders are at least strongly suspected to have existed – if not known from unequivocally identified specimens – anyway. "Colymboides", the oldest unequivocal gaviiform genus known as of 2009, is widely known from early Priabonian – about 37 million years ago (Ma) in the Late Eocene – to Early Miocene (late Burdigalian, less than 20 Ma) limnic and marine rocks of western Eurasia north of the Alpide belt, between the Atlantic and the former Turgai Sea. It is usually placed in the Gaviidae already, but usually in a subfamily Colymboidinae, with the


title: Loon content: modern-type loons making up the "Gaviinae". But the "Colymboides" material is generally quite distinct from modern loons, and may actually belong in a now-extinct family of primitive gaviiforms. Furthermore, the supposed genus could well be paraphyletic, so that for example "Dyspetornis" – which is now contained therein – might have to be separated again. A leg of an undescribed small diver was found in the Late Oligocene deposits at Enspel (Germany); it too may or may not belong to "Colymboides". Of the crown genus "Gavia", nearly ten prehistoric species have been named to date, and about as many undescribed ones


title: Loon content: await further study. The genus is known from the Early Miocene onwards, and the oldest members them are rather small (some are smaller than the red-throated diver). Throughout the late Neogene, the genus by and large follows Cope's Rule. List of fossil "Gavia" ""Gavia" portisi" from the Late Pliocene of Orciano Pisano, Italy, is known from a cervical vertebra that may or may not have been from a loon. If so, it was from a bird slightly smaller than the common loon. Older authors were quite sure the bone was indeed from a "Gavia" and even considered "G. concinna" a


title: Loon content: possibly junior synonym of it. This is now regarded as rather unlikely due to the quite distinct range and age. The Early Pliocene "Gavia" skull from Empoli (Italy) was referred to "G. concinna", and thus could conceivably have been of ""G." portisi" if that was indeed a diver. The holotype vertebra may now be lost, which would make ""G." portisi" a "nomen dubium". In addition, there are some older fossils that are sometimes assigned to the Gaviiformes. From the Late Cretaceous, the genera "Lonchodytes" (Lance Formation, Wyoming, United States) and "Neogaeornis" (Quinriquina Formation, Chile) have been described; both are usually


title: Loon content: allied with orders which are considered related to loons. In particular the latter is still sometimes explicitly proposed as a primitive loon as they both were initially, but other authors consider "Neogaeornis" a hesperornithiform; note however that neither Gaviiformes nor Hesperornithiformes are known from the Southern Hemisphere or anywhere near it. "Lonchodytes" was more certainly quite close to loons, but probably closer still to some of the loons' relatives. Of similarly doubtful validity and surrounded by considerable dispute is the supposed Late Cretaceous loon "Polarornis" (Seymour Island, Antarctica). "Eupterornis" from the Paleocene of Châlons-sur-Vesle (France) has some features reminiscent of


title: Loon content: loons, but others seem more similar to Charadriiformes such as gulls (Laridae). A piece of a carpometacarpus supposedly from Oligocene rocks near Lusk, Wyoming, was described as "Gaviella pusilla", but this handbone also shows some similarities to the plotopterids, flightless wing-propelled divers, and if these are apomorphic would make an unconvincing member of the Gaviidae (though it still could be a small-winged gaviiform in a yet-undescribed family "Gaviellidae"): while the carpometacarpus in "Gavia" is somewhat convergent to that of wing-propelled divers, enabling the wings to be used as rudders for quick underwater turns, "Colymboides" still had an unspecialized plesiomorphic hand.


title: Loon content: "Parascaniornis", sometimes allied to the loons by early authors, was eventually determined to be a junior synonym of the hesperornithiform "Baptornis". A supposed mid-Eocene diver fossil form Geiseltal (Germany) was erroneously assigned to "Gavia". Loon The loons (North America) or divers (Great Britain/Ireland) are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus Gavia, family Gaviidae and order Gaviiformes. Loons, which are the size of a large duck or a small goose, resemble these birds in shape when swimming. Like ducks and geese, but


title: "The African Queen (film)" content: the 1951 Oscars. Its New York City opening was on February 20, 1952 at the Capitol Theatre. Contemporary reviews from critics were mostly positive. Upon the film's premiere, Edwin Schallert of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that it "should impress for its novelty both in casting and scenically," and found the ending "rather contrived and even incredible, but melodramatic enough, with almost a western accent, to be popularly effective." Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" called the film "a slick job of movie hoodwinking with a thoroughly implausible romance, set in a frame of wild adventure that is as


title: "Richard II (play)" content: however, subjects who continue faithful to the king, among them Bushy, Bagot, Green and the Duke of Aumerle (son of the Duke of York), cousin of both Richard and Bolingbroke. When King Richard leaves England to attend to the war in Ireland, Bolingbroke seizes the opportunity to assemble an army and invades the north coast of England. Executing both Bushy and Green, he wins over the Duke of York, whom Richard has left in charge of his government in his absence. Upon Richard's return, Bolingbroke not only reclaims his lands but lays claim to the very throne. Crowning himself King


title: "Susan Sarandon" content: member of the Jury for the NYICFF, a local New York City Film Festival dedicated to screening films made for children between the ages of 3 and 18. Sarandon joined the cast of the adaptation of "The Lovely Bones", opposite Rachel Weisz, and appeared with her daughter, Eva Amurri, in "Middle of Nowhere"; both films were made in 2007. In June 2010, Sarandon joined the cast of the HBO pilot "The Miraculous Year", as Patty Atwood, a Broadway director/choreographer. However, the series was not picked up. In 2012, Sarandon's audiobook performance of Carson McCullers' "The Member of the Wedding" was


title: Dahlia content: Dahlia Dahlia ( or ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico. A member of the Asteraceae (or Compositae), dicotyledonous plants, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum, and zinnia. There are 42 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. Flower forms are variable, with one head per stem; these can be as small as diameter or up to ("dinner plate"). This great variety results from dahlias being octoploids—that is, they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes, whereas most plants have only two. In addition, dahlias also contain many transposons—genetic pieces that


title: Dahlia content: move from place to place upon an allele—which contributes to their manifesting such great diversity. The stems are leafy, ranging in height from as low as to more than . The majority of species do not produce scented flowers or cultivars. Like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly colored, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue. The dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico in 1963. The tubers were grown as a food crop by the Aztecs, but this use largely died out after the Spanish Conquest. Attempts to introduce the


title: Dahlia content: tubers as a food crop in Europe were unsuccessful. Dahlias are annual blooming plants, with mostly tuberous roots. While some have herbaceous stems, others have stems which lignify in the absence of secondary tissue and resprout following winter dormancy, allowing further seasons of growth. As a member of the Asteraceae the flower head is actually a composite (hence the older name Compositae) with both central disc florets and surrounding ray florets. Each floret is a flower in its own right, but is often incorrectly described as a petal, particularly by horticulturists. The modern name Asteraceae refers to the appearance of


title: Dahlia content: a star with surrounding rays. In the language of flowers, Dahlias represent dignity and stability, as well as meaning my gratitude exceeds your care. Spaniards reported finding the plants growing in Mexico in 1525, but the earliest known description is by Francisco Hernández, physician to Philip II, who was ordered to visit Mexico in 1570 to study the "natural products of that country". They were used as a source of food by the indigenous peoples, and were both gathered in the wild and cultivated. The Aztecs used them to treat epilepsy, and employed the long hollow stem of the ("Dahlia


title: Dahlia content: imperalis") for water pipes. The indigenous peoples variously identified the plants as "Chichipatl" (Toltecs) and "Acocotle" or "Cocoxochitl" (Aztecs). From Hernandez' perception of Aztec, to Spanish, through various other translations, the word is "water cane", "water pipe", "water pipe flower", "hollow stem flower" and "cane flower". All these refer to the hollowness of the plants' stem. Hernandez described two varieties of dahlias (the pinwheel-like "Dahlia pinnata" and the huge "Dahlia imperialis") as well as other medicinal plants of New Spain. Francisco Dominguez, a Hidalgo gentleman who accompanied Hernandez on part of his seven-year study, made a series of drawings to


title: Dahlia content: supplement the four volume report. Three of his drawings showed plants with flowers: two resembled the modern bedding dahlia, and one resembled the species "Dahlia merki"; all displayed a high degree of doubleness. In 1578 the manuscript, entitled "Nova Plantarum, Animalium et Mineralium Mexicanorum Historia", was sent back to the Escorial in Madrid; they were not translated into Latin by Francisco Ximenes until 1615. In 1640, Francisco Cesi, President of the "Academia Linei" of Rome, bought the Ximenes translation, and after annotating it, published it in 1649-1651 in two volumes as "Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus Seu Nova Plantarium, Animalium


title: Dahlia content: et Mineraliuím Mexicanorum Historia". The original manuscripts were destroyed in a fire in the mid-1600s. In 1787, the French botanist Nicolas-Joseph Thiéry de Menonville, sent to Mexico to steal the cochineal insect valued for its scarlet dye, reported the strangely beautiful flowers he had seen growing in a garden in Oaxaca. In 1789, Vicente Cervantes, Director of the Botanical Garden at Mexico City, sent "plant parts" to Abbe Antonio José Cavanilles, Director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid. Cavanilles flowered one plant that same year, then the second one a year later. In 1791 he called the new growths "Dahlia"


title: Dahlia content: for Anders (Andreas) Dahl. The first plant was called "Dahlia pinnata" after its pinnate foliage; the second, "Dahlia rosea" for its rose-purple color. In 1796 Cavanilles flowered a third plant from the parts sent by Cervantes, which he named "Dahlia coccinea" for its scarlet color. In 1798, Cavanilles sent D. Pinnata seeds to Parma, Italy. That year, the Marchioness of Bute, wife of The Earl of Bute, the English Ambassador to Spain, obtained a few seeds from Cavanilles and sent them to Kew Gardens, where they flowered but were lost after two to three years. In the following years Madrid


title: Dahlia content: sent seeds to Berlin and Dresden in Germany, and to Turin and Thiene in Italy. In 1802, Cavanilles sent tubers of "these three" ("D. pinnata, D. rosea, D. coccinea") to Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle at University of Montpelier in France, Andre Thouin at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and Scottish botanist William Aiton at Kew Gardens. That same year, John Fraser, English nurseryman and later botanical collector to the Czar of Russia, brought "D. coccinea" seeds from Paris to the Apothecaries Gardens in England, where they flowered in his greenhouse a year later, providing "Botanical Magazine" with


title: Dahlia content: an illustration. In 1804, a new species, "Dahlia sambucifolia", was successfully grown at Holland House, Kensington. Whilst in Madrid in 1804, Lady Holland was given either dahlia seeds or tubers by Cavanilles. She sent them back to England, to Lord Holland's librarian Mr Buonaiuti at Holland House, who successfully raised the plants. A year later, Buonaiuti produced two double flowers. The plants raised in 1804 did not survive; new stock was brought from France in 1815. In 1824, Lord Holland sent his wife a note containing the following verse:"The dahlia you brought to our isle Your praises for ever shall


title: Dahlia content: speak; Mid gardens as sweet as your smile, And in colour as bright as your cheek." In 1805, German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt sent more seeds from Mexico to Aiton in England, Thouin in Paris, and Christoph Friedrich Otto, director of the Berlin Botanical Garden. More significantly, he sent seeds to botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow in Germany. Willdenow now reclassified the rapidly growing number of species, changing the genus from "Dahlia" to "Georgina"; after naturalist Johann Gottlieb Georgi. He combined the Cavanilles species "D. pinnata" and "D. rosea" under the name of "Georgina variabilis"; "D. coccinea" was still held to


title: Dahlia content: be a separate species, which he renamed "Georgina coccinea". Since 1789 when Cavanilles first flowered the dahlia in Europe, there has been an ongoing effort by many growers, botanists and taxonomists, to determine the development of the dahlia to modern times. At least 85 species have been reported: approximately 25 of these were first reported from the wild, the remainder appeared in gardens in Europe. They were considered hybrids, the results of crossing between previously reported species, or developed from the seeds sent by Humboldt from Mexico in 1805, or perhaps from some other undocumented seeds that had found their


title: Dahlia content: way to Europe. Several of these were soon discovered to be identical with earlier reported species, but the greatest number are new varieties. Morphological variation is highly pronounced in the dahlia. William John Cooper Lawrence, who hybridized hundreds of families of dahlias in the 1920s, stated: "I have not yet seen any two plants in the families I have raised which were not to be distinguished one from the other. Constant reclassification of the 85 reported species has resulted in a considerably smaller number of distinct species, as there is a great deal of disagreement today between systematists over classification.


title: Dahlia content: In 1829, all species growing in Europe were reclassified under an all-encompassing name of "D. variabilis, Desf.", though this is not an accepted name. Through the interspecies cross of the Humboldt seeds and the Cavanilles species, 22 new species were reported by that year, all of which had been classified in different ways by several different taxonomists, creating considerable confusion as to which species was which. In 1830 William Smith suggested that all dahlia species could be divided into two groups for color, red-tinged and purple-tinged. In investigating this idea Lawrence determined that with the exception of "D. variabilis", all


title: Dahlia content: dahlia species may be assigned to one of two groups for flower-colour: Group I (ivory-magenta) or Group II (yellow-orange-scarlet). The genus "Dahlia" is situated in the Asteroideae subfamily of the Asteraceae, in the Coreopsideae tribe. Within that tribe it is the second largest genus, after "Coreopsis", and appears as a well defined clade within the Coreopsideae. Sherff (1955), in the first modern taxonomy described three sections for the 18 species he recognised, "Pseudodendron", "Epiphytum" and "Dahlia". By 1969 Sørensen recognised 29 species and four sections by splitting off "Entemophyllon" from section "Dahlia". By contrast Giannasi (1975) using a phytochemical analysis


title: Dahlia content: based on flavonoids, reduced the genus to just two sections, "Entemophyllon" and "Dahlia", the latter having three subsections, "Pseudodendron", "Dahlia", and "Merckii". Sørensen then issued a further revision in 1980, incorporating subsection "Merckii" in his original section "Dahlia". When he described two new species in the 1980s ("Dahlia tubulata" and "D. congestifolia"), he placed them within his existing sections. A further species, "Dahlia sorensenii" was added by Hansen and Hjerting in (1996). At the same time they demonstrated that "Dahlia pinnata" should more properly be designated "D. x pinnata". "D. x pinnata" was shown to actually be a variant of


title: Dahlia content: "D. sorensenii" that had acquired hybrid qualities before it was introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century and formally named by Cavanilles. The original wild "D. pinnata" is presumed extinct. Further species continue to be described, Saar (2003) describing 35 species. However separation of the sections on morphological, cytologal and biocemical criteria has not been entirely satisfactory. To date these sectional divisions have not been fully supported phylogenetically, which demonstrate only section "Entemophyllon" as a distinct sectional clade. The other major grouping is the core "Dahlia" clade (CDC), which includes most of section "Dahlia". The remainder of the species occupy


title: Dahlia content: what has been described as the variable root clade (VRC) which includes the small section "Pseudodendron" but also the monotypic section "Epiphytum" and a number of species from within section "Dahlia". Outside of these three clades lie "D. tubulata" and "D. merckii" as a polytomy. Horticulturally the sections retain some usage, section "Pseudodendron" being referred to as 'Tree Dahlias', "Epiphytum" as the 'Vine Dahlia'. The remaining two herbaceous sections being distinguished by their pinnules, opposing ("Dahlia") or alternating ("Entemophyllon"). Sections (including chromosome numbers), with geographical distribution; Only "Pseudodendron" ("D. imperialis") and "Dahlia" ("D. australis", "D. coccinea") occur outside Mexico. There


title: Dahlia content: are currently 42 accepted species in the genus "Dahlia", but new species continue to be described. The naming of the plant itself has long been a subject of some confusion. Many sources state that the name "Dahlia" was bestowed by the pioneering Swedish botanist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus to honor his late student, Anders Dahl, author of "Observationes Botanicae". However, Linnaeus died in 1778, more than eleven years before the plant was introduced into Europe in 1789, so while it is generally agreed that the plant was named in 1791 in honor of Dahl, who had died two years before,


title: Dahlia content: Linnaeus could not have been the one who did so. It was probably Abbe Antonio Jose Cavanilles, Director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid, who should be credited with the attempt to scientifically define the genus, since he not only received the first specimens from Mexico in 1789, but named the first three species that flowered from the cuttings. Regardless of who bestowed it, the name was not so easily established. In 1805, German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow, asserting that the genus "Dahlia" Thunb. (published a year after Cavanilles's genus and now considered a synonym of "Trichocladus") was more widely


title: Dahlia content: accepted, changed the plants' genus from "Dahlia" to "Georgina"; after the German-born naturalist Johann Gottlieb Georgi, a professor at the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, Russia. He also reclassified and renamed the first three species grown, and identified, by Cavanilles. It was not until 1810, in a published article, that he officially adopted the Cavanilles' original designation of "Dahlia". However, the name "Georgina" still persisted in Germany for the next few decades. "Dahl" is a homophone of the Swedish word "dal", or "valley"; although it is not a true translation, the plant is sometimes referred to as the


title: Dahlia content: "valley flower". Predominantly Mexico, but some species are found ranging as far south as northern South America. "D. australis" occurs at least as far south as southwestern Guatemala, while "D. coccinea" and "D. imperialis" also occur in parts of Central America and northern South America. "Dahlia" is a genus of the uplands and mountains, being found at elevations between 1,500 and 3,700 meters, in what has been described as a "pine-oak woodland" vegetative zone. Most species have limited ranges scattered throughout many mountain ranges in Mexico The commonest pollinators are bees and small beetles. Slugs and snails are serious pests


title: Dahlia content: in some parts of the world, particularly in spring when new growth is emerging through the soil. Earwigs can also disfigure the blooms. The other main pests likely to be encountered are aphids (usually on young stems and immature flower buds), red spider mite (causing foliage mottling and discolouration, worse in hot and dry conditions) and capsid bugs (resulting in contortion and holes at growing tips). Diseases affecting dahlias include powdery mildew, grey mould ("Botrytis cinerea"), verticillium wilt, dahlia smut ("Entyloma calendulae" f. "dahliae"), phytophthora and some plant viruses. Dahlias are a source of food for the larvae of some


title: Dahlia content: Lepidoptera species including angle shades, common swift, ghost moth and large yellow underwing. Dahlias grow naturally in climates which do not experience frost (the tubers are hardy to USDA Zone 8), consequently they are not adapted to withstand sub-zero temperatures. However, their tuberous nature enables them to survive periods of dormancy, and this characteristic means that gardeners in temperate climates with frosts can grow dahlias successfully, provided the tubers are lifted from the ground and stored in cool yet frost-free conditions during the winter. Planting the tubers quite deep (10 – 15 cm) also provides some protection. When in active


title: Dahlia content: growth, modern dahlia hybrids perform most successfully in well-watered yet free-draining soils, in situations receiving plenty of sunlight. Taller cultivars usually require some form of staking as they grow, and all garden dahlias need deadheading regularly, once flowering commences. The inappropriate term "D. variabilis" is often used to describe the cultivars of "Dahlia" since the correct parentage remains obscure, but probably involves "Dahlia coccinea". In 1846 the Caledonia Horticultural Society of Edinburgh offered a prize of 2,000 pounds to the first person succeeding in producing a blue dahlia. This has to date not been accomplished. While dahlias produce anthocyanin, an


title: Dahlia content: element necessary for the production of the blue, to achieve a true blue color in a plant, the anthocyanin delphinidin needs six hydroxyl groups. To date dahlias have only developed five, so the closest that breeders have come to achieving a "blue" specimen are variations of mauve, purples and lilac hues. By the beginning of the twentieth century a number of different types were recognised. These terms were based on shape or colour, and the National Dahlia Society included cactus, pompon, single, show and fancy in its 1904 guide. Many national societies developed their own classification systems until 1962 when


title: Dahlia content: the International Horticultural Congress agreed to develop an internationally recognised system at its Brussels meeting that year, and subsequently in Maryland in 1966. This culminated in the 1969 publication of "The International Register of Dahlia Names" by the Royal Horticultural Society which became the central registering authority. This system depended primarily on the visibility of the central disc, whether it was open centred or whether only ray florets were apparent centrally (double bloom). The double bloom cultivars were then subdivided according to the way in which they were folded along their longitudinal axis, flat, involute (curled inwards) or revolute (curling


title: Dahlia content: backwards). If the end of the ray floret was split, they were considered fimbriated. Based on these characteristics, nine groups were defined plua a tenth miscellaneous group for any cultivars not fitting the above characteristics. Fimbriated dahlias were added in 2004, and two further groups (Single and Double orchid) in 2007. The last group to be added, Peony, first appeared in 2012. In many cases the bloom diameter was then used to further label certain groups from miniature through to giant. This practice was abandoned in 2012. There are now more than 57,000 registered cultivars, which are officially registered through


title: Dahlia content: the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). The official register is "The International Register of Dahlia Names 1969" (1995 reprint) which is updated by annual supplements. The original 1969 registry published about 14,000 cultivars adding a further 1700 by 1986 and in 2003 there were 18,000. Since then about a hundred new cultivars are added annually. The official RHS classification lists fourteen groups, grouped by flower type, together with the abbreviations used by the RHS; Earlier versions of the registry subdivided some groups by flower size. Groups 4, 5, 8 and 9 were divided into five subgroups (A to E) from Giant


title: Dahlia content: to Miniature, and Group 6 into two subgroups, Small and Miniature. Dahlias were then described by Group and Subgroup, "e.g." 5(d) ‘Ace Summer Sunset’. Some Dahlia Societies have continued this practice, but this is neither official nor standardised. As of 2013 The RHS uses two size descriptors Sizes can range from tiny micro dahlias with flowers less than 50mm to giants that are over 250mm in diameter. The groupings listed here are from the New Zealand Society. In addition to the official classification and the terminology used by various dahlia societies, individual horticulturalists use a wide range of other descriptions,


title: Dahlia content: such as 'Incurved' and abbreviations in their catalogues, such as CO for Collarette. Some plant growers include their brand name in the cultivar name. Thus Fides (part of the Dümmen Orange Group) in the Netherlands developed a series of cultivars which they named the Dahlinova Series, for example Dahlinova 'Carolina Burgundy'. These are Group 10 Miscellaneous in the RHS classification scheme. In 1805, several new species were reported with red, purple, lilac, and pale yellow coloring, and the first true double flower was produced in Belgium. One of the more popular concepts of dahlia history, and the basis for many


title: Dahlia content: different interpretations and confusion, is that all the original discoveries were single flowered types, which, through hybridization and selective breeding, produced double forms. During the years 1805 to 1810 several people claimed to have produced a double dahlia. In 1805 Henry C. Andrews made a drawing of such a plant in the collection of Lady Holland, grown from seedlings sent that year from Madrid. Like other doubles of the time it did not resemble the doubles of today. The first modern double, or full double, appeared in Belgium; M. Donckelaar, Director of the Botanic Garden at Louvain, selected plants for


title: Dahlia content: that characteristic, and within a few years secured three fully double forms. By 1826 double varieties were being grown almost exclusively, and there was very little interest in the single forms. Up to this time all the so-called double dahlias had been purple, or tinged with purple, and it was doubted if a variety untinged with that color was obtainable. In 1843, scented single forms of dahlias were first reported in Neu Verbass, Austria. "D. crocea", a fragrant variety grown from one of the Humboldt seeds, was probably interbred with the single "D. coccinea". A new scented species would not


title: Dahlia content: be introduced until the next century when the "D. coronata" was brought from Mexico to Germany in 1907. The exact date the dahlia was introduced in the United States is uncertain. One of the first Dahlias in the USA may be the D. coccinea speciosissima grown by Mr William Leathe, of Cambridgeport, near Boston, around 1929. According to Edward Sayers "it attracted much admiration, and at that time was considered a very elegant flower, it was however soon eclipsed by that splendid scarlet, the Countess of Liverpool". However 9 cultivars were already listed in the catalog from Thornburn, 1825. And


title: Dahlia content: even earlier reference can be found in a catalogue from the Linnaean Botanical Garden, New York, 1820, that includes one scarlet, one purple, and two double orange Dahlias for sale. Sayers stated that "No person has done more for the introduction and advancement of the culture of the Dahlia than George C. Thorburn, of New York, who yearly flowers many thousand plants at his place at Hallet's Cove, near Harlaem. The show there in the flowering season is a rich treat for the lovers of floriculture : for almost every variety can be seen growing in two large blocks or


title: Dahlia content: masses which lead from the road to the dwelling-house, and form a complete field of the Dahlia as a foreground to the house. Mr T. Hogg, Mr William Read, and many other well known florists, have also contributed much in the vicinity of New York, to the introduction of the Dahlia. Indeed so general has become the taste that almost every garden has its show of the Dahlia in the season." In Boston too there were many collections, a collection from the Messrs Hovey of Cambridgeport was also mentioned. In 1835 Thomas Bridgeman, published a list of 160 double dahlias


title: Dahlia content: in his Florist's Guide. 60 of the choicest were supplied by Mr. G. C. Thornburn of Astoria, N.Y. who got most of them from contacts in the UK. Not a few of them had taken prices "at the English and American exhibitions". In 1872 J.T. van der Berg of Utrecht in the Netherlands, received a shipment of seeds and plants from a friend in Mexico. The entire shipment was badly rotted and appeared to be ruined, but van der Berg examined it carefully and found a small piece of root that seemed alive. He planted and carefully tended it; it


title: Dahlia content: grew into a plant that he identified as a dahlia. He made cuttings from the plant during the winter of 1872-1873. This was an entirely different type of flower, with a rich, red color and a high degree of doubling. In 1874 van der Berg catalogued it for sale, calling it "Dahlia juarezii" to honor Mexican President Benito Pablo Juarez, who had died the year before, and described it as "...equal to the beautiful color of the red poppy. Its form is very outstanding and different in every respect of all known dahlia flowers.". This plant has perhaps had a


title: Dahlia content: greater influence on the popularity of the modern dahlia than any other. Called "Les Etoiles du Diable" (Stars of the Devil) in France and "Cactus dahlia" elsewhere, the edges of its petals rolled backwards, rather than forward, and this new form revolutionized the dahlia world. It was thought to be a distinct mutation since no other plant that resembled it could be found in the wild. Today it is assumed that "D. juarezii" had, at one time, existed in Mexico and subsequently disappeared. Nurserymen in Europe crossbred this plant with dahlias discovered earlier; the results became the progenitors of all


title: Dahlia content: modern dahlia hybrids today. As of 2015, 124 dahlia cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, including:- The asterid eudicots contain two economically important geophyte genera, "Dahlia" and "Liatris". Horticulturally the garden dahlia is usually treated as the cultigen "D. variabilis" Hort., which while being responsible for thousands of cultivars has an obscure taxonomic status (see also Cultivation). Today the dahlia is still considered one of the native ingredients in Oaxacan cuisine; several cultivars are still grown especially for their large, sweet potato-like tubers. Dacopa, an intense mocha-tasting extract from the roasted tubers, is used to


title: Dahlia content: flavor beverages throughout Central America. In Europe and America, prior to the discovery of insulin in 1923, diabetics—as well as consumptives—were often given a substance called "Atlantic starch" or "diabetic sugar", derived from inulin, a naturally occurring form of fruit sugar, extracted from dahlia tubers. Inulin is still used in clinical tests for kidney functionality. Dahlia Dahlia ( or ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico. A member of the Asteraceae (or Compositae), dicotyledonous plants, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum, and zinnia. There are 42 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown


title: "Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'" content: Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' "Dahlia" 'Bishop of Llandaff' is a branching, tuberous tender perennial cultivar with dark eggplant-colored, almost black, foliage. This produces a stunning contrast with its scarlet flowers. The plant was first bred by Fred Treseder, a Cardiff nurseryman. It was selected by and named to honour Joshua Pritchard Hughes, Bishop of Llandaff, in 1924 and won the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 1928. The plant is about 1 m tall and flowers from June until September. As with all dahlias, frost blackens its foliage, and its tubers need to be overwintered in a dry, frost-free place.


title: "Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'" content: A seed strain has been produced from this plant called 'Bishops Children', they retain the dark foliage color but produce a mix of flower colors and flower shapes from single to semi-double flowers in different sizes. Plant Profile:- Height:1.1m (3&1/2 ft) Spread: 45 cm (18 in) site: Full Sun Soil: Fertile, free-draining Hardiness: Half hardy Also comes in rich reds & purples, yellows & oranges, as well as paler shades Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' "Dahlia" 'Bishop of Llandaff' is a branching, tuberous tender perennial cultivar with dark eggplant-colored, almost black, foliage. This produces a stunning contrast with its scarlet flowers.


title: Mekong content: the Central Highlands of Vietnam, forest cover was reduced from over 95 percent in the 1950s to around 50 percent in the mid-1990s. Agricultural expansion and population pressure are the major reasons for land use and landscape change. Both drought and flood are common hazards in the Delta, which many people believe is the most sensitive to upstream hydrological change. Table 1: Basic data on country share of Mekong Basin territory and water flows By taking into account hydrological regimes, physiography land use, and existing, planned and potential resource developments, the Mekong is divided into six distinct reaches: "Reach 1:


title: "Toxicodendron radicans" content: poison ivy: Toxicodendron radicans Toxicodendron radicans, commonly known as eastern poison ivy or poison ivy, is a poisonous Asian and Eastern North American flowering plant that is well-known for causing urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, an itchy, irritating, and sometimes painful rash, in most people who touch it. The rash is caused by urushiol, a clear liquid compound in the plant's sap. The species is variable in its appearance and habit, and despite its common name, it is not a true ivy ("Hedera"), but rather a member of the cashew and pistachio family (Anacardiaceae). "T. radicans" is commonly eaten by many animals,


title: "Amadeus V, Count of Savoy" content: expansion saw his dominions further increased. On 1 October 1285, Amadeus was declared protector of Geneva after negotiations with the Bishop of Geneva. The hereditary title belonged to Amadeus II, Count of Geneva who was in conflict with the Bishop. In 1287 Amadeus besieged the castle of Ile in the Rhône near Geneva, and captured it after fourteen weeks. In 1295, Amadeus acquired the fortress at Chambéry from its previous owner Hugh of La Rochette. He brought Georges de Aquila, a student of Giotto from Florence, to his court. Georges decorated the castle with paintings, carved wood, and frescoes. He


title: Lord content: family there is the Dutch "Meneer/Mijnheer/De Heer" (as in: "aan de heer Joren Jansen"), German "Herr", and Danish "Herre". All three of these stem from a Germanic title of respect (in this case, from the Proto-Germanic root "*haira-", "hoary, venerable, grey", likely a loan translation of Latin "seniorem"). In other European languages there is Welsh "Arglwydd", Hungarian "Úr", Greek "Kyrie", Polish "Pan", Czech "pán", Breton "Aotrou", Albanian "Zoti". In several Indian languages there are have: Hindi "Swami", "Prabhu", "Samprabhu"(Overlord) also words like "Saheb" or "Laat Saheb" from "Lord Saheb" were once used but have changed in meaning now, Telugu "Prabhuvu",


title: "Boniface of Savoy (bishop)" content: and fellow member of the House of Savoy, Count Boniface of Savoy, the son of Amadeus IV. The elder Boniface was born about 1207 in Savoy. He was the eleventh child of his parents. Some sources state that at a young age he joined the Carthusian Order. However, there is no evidence of this, and it would have been very unusual for a nobleman to enter that order with its very strict discipline. He also had a brother Peter of Savoy who was named Earl of Richmond in 1240 and yet another brother William of Savoy, who was Bishop of


title: "Economy of Bolivia" content: Bolivia experienced a budget surplus of about 1.5% of GDP in 2012. Expenditures were nearly US$12.2 billion while revenues amounted to about US$12.6 billion. The government runs surplus accounts since 2005. The Bolivian currency is the boliviano (ISO 4217: BOB; symbol: Bs.) One boliviano is divided into 100 centavos. The boliviano replaced the Bolivian peso at a rate of one million to one in 1987 after many years of rampant inflation. At that time, 1 new boliviano was roughly equivalent to 1 U.S. dollar. At the end of 2011 the boliviano was only worth around 0.145 U.S. Dollar. Annual interest


title: "Armed Forces of Bolivia" content: a mechanized division, each of which, with the exception of Viacha, occupy a region generally corresponding to the administrative departments, with some overlapping. These and their respective divisional headquarters and constituent units are: RI: infantry regiment RC: cavalry regiment RA: artillery regiment Bat.Ing.: battalion engineer Army organized has ten divisions controlling the following units: The Army maintains a small fleet of utility aircraft, primarily to support headquarters. Army officers, NCOs, and enlisted personnel wear generally gray or, for tropical areas, gray-green service uniforms. Army fatigue uniforms were olive green, and combat uniforms were of US woodland pattern camouflage. The standard


title: "Mutiny on the Bounty" content: wrath. He was often humiliated by the captain—sometimes in front of the crew and the Tahitians—for real or imagined slackness, while severe punishments were handed out to men whose carelessness had led to the loss or theft of equipment. Floggings, rarely administered during the outward voyage, now became increasingly common. On 5 January 1789 three members of the crew—Charles Churchill, John Millward and William Muspratt—deserted, taking a small boat, arms and ammunition. Muspratt had recently been flogged for neglect. Among the belongings Churchill left on the ship was a list of names that Bligh interpreted as possible accomplices in a


title: "Tiberius Gracchus" content: him at the end of his one-year term, since he was regarded as having violated the constitution and having used force against a tribune. In one standoff between Tiberius and Titus Annius, a renowned orator, Annius argued that if a colleague of Tiberius stood to defend him and Tiberius disapproved, he would simply in a passion physically remove the man. Tiberius realized that his actions against Octavius had won him ill repute among the Senate and even among the People. After the death of a friend of Tiberius, rumors circulated that the man had been poisoned. Seizing the opportunity to


title: "Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy" content: Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy Victor Amadeus I (; 8 May 1587 – 7 October 1637) was the Duke of Savoy from 1630 to 1637. He was also known as the "Lion of Susa". He was born in Turin, Piedmont to Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Catherine Micaela of Spain, daughter of King Philip II of Spain. He spent much of his childhood in Madrid at the court of his grandfather Philip II. He stayed there until the king's death in 1598, when Victor Amadeus was eleven. When his brother, Filippo Emanuele, died in 1605, he became


title: "London Zoo" content: panda since the end of October 1994. Zoo staff later suggested that Chinese zookeepers knew that she was infertile and lent her in order to hide how much more advanced Western husbandry techniques were compared to theirs. On January 31, 1996, Turgi, who was the last "Partula turgida", died in his habitat. For four days in late August 2005, the zoo ran an exhibit entitled the Human zoo, which put eight humans on display in the Mappin Terraces. The idea behind the exhibit was to demonstrate the basic nature of man as an animal and examine the impact we have


title: "House of Savoy" content: Royal House of Savoy in Turin and the neighbourhood are protected as a World Heritage Site. Although the titles and distinctions of the Italian royal family are not legally recognised by the Italian Republic, the remaining members of the House of Savoy, like dynasties of other abolished monarchies, still use some of the various titles they acquired over the millennium of their reign prior to the republic's establishment, including Duke of Savoy, Prince of Naples, Prince of Piedmont and Duke of Aosta. Currently the leadership of the House of Savoy is contested by two cousins: Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples,


title: "Crossing the Red Sea" content: applied to the battle of the Milvian Bridge (312). The theme enjoyed a vogue during the fourth century on carved sarcophagi: at least twenty-nine have survived in full or in fragments. Eusebius of Caesarea cast Maxentius, drowned in the Tiber, in the role of Pharaoh, both in his "Ecclesiastical History" and in his eulogistic "Life of Constantine". Crossing the Red Sea The Crossing of the Red Sea (Hebrew: קריעת ים סוף "Kriat Yam Suph" – Crossing of the Red Sea or Sea of Reeds) is part of the biblical narrative of the Exodus, the escape of the Israelites, led by


title: "History of the Gambia" content: a series of treaties with the chiefs living along the banks of the river. Some of these included the cession of small tracts of territory, but most conferred British protection. The last and most important of these was concluded in 1901 with Musa Molloh, the paramount chief of Fuladu. In 1894, an Ordinance was passed for the better administration of these districts which had not been ceded but merely placed under the protection of the British government. It was decided that it was not feasible to administer these places from the seat of government in Bathurst, so in 1895 and


title: Band-Aid content: Band-Aid Band-Aid is a brand of adhesive bandages distributed by the American pharmaceutical and medical-devices company Johnson & Johnson. Invented in 1920, the brand has become a generic term for adhesive bandages in the United States. The Band-Aid was invented in 1920 by a Johnson & Johnson employee, Earle Dickson in Highland Park, New Jersey for his wife Josephine, who frequently cut and burned herself while cooking. The prototype allowed her to dress her wounds without assistance. Dickson passed the idea on to his employer, which went on to produce and market the product as the Band-Aid. Dickson had a


title: Band-Aid content: successful career at Johnson & Johnson, rising to vice president before his retirement in 1957. Perhaps a curiosity, the word "Band" in German means tape. The original Band-Aids were handmade and not very popular. By 1924, Johnson & Johnson introduced machine-made Band-Aids and began the sale of sterilized Band-Aids in 1939. In 1951, the first decorative Band-Aids were introduced. They continue to be a commercial success, with such themes as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Oliver & Jenny, Superman, Spider-Man, Hello Kitty, Rocket Power, Rugrats, smiley faces, Barbie, Dora the Explorer, Batman and Duck Dynasty. In World War II, millions were


title: Band-Aid content: shipped overseas, helping popularize the product. Since then, Johnson & Johnson currently has estimated a sale of over 100 billion Band-Aids worldwide. Johnson & Johnson continues to defend the Band-Aid trademark against it being genericized. Band-Aid arguably has, over time, become a generic term in the United States, and a generic term cannot function as a trademark; but Johnson & Johnson has registered Band-Aid as a trademark on the Principal Register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the registration is valid and legal. A registration on the Principal Register does not create ownership rights under the laws


title: Band-Aid content: of the United States, and a registration may be challenged and removed if the challenger proves as a matter of fact that the alleged trademark has become generic. To protect the name, their trademark, Johnson & Johnson always refers to its products as "BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages", not just "Band-Aids". Manufacturing facilities are located in Brazil, China and Denmark. Band-Aid Band-Aid is a brand of adhesive bandages distributed by the American pharmaceutical and medical-devices company Johnson & Johnson. Invented in 1920, the brand has become a generic term for adhesive bandages in the United States. The Band-Aid was invented in


title: Pelican content: Pelican Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches, and bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the breeding season. The eight living pelican species have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone, though they are absent from interior South America and from polar


title: Pelican content: regions and the open ocean. Long thought to be related to frigatebirds, cormorants, tropicbirds, and gannets and boobies, pelicans instead are now known to be most closely related to the shoebill and hamerkop, and are placed in the order Pelecaniformes. Ibises, spoonbills, herons, and the desolate bitterns have been classified in the same order. Fossil evidence of pelicans dates back at least 30 million years to the remains of a beak very similar to that of modern species recovered from Oligocene strata in France. They are thought to have evolved in the Old World and spread into the Americas; this


title: Pelican content: is reflected in the relationships within the genus as the eight species divide into Old World and New World lineages. Pelicans frequent inland and coastal waters, where they feed principally on fish, catching them at or near the water surface. They are gregarious birds, travelling in flocks, hunting cooperatively, and breeding colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees. The relationship between pelicans and people has often been contentious. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with commercial and recreational fishing. Their populations have fallen


title: Pelican content: through habitat destruction, disturbance, and environmental pollution, and three species are of conservation concern. They also have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography. The genus "Pelecanus" was first formally described by Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his "Systema Naturae"'. He described the distinguishing characteristics as a straight bill hooked at the tip, linear nostrils, a bare face, and fully webbed feet. This early definition included frigatebirds, cormorants, and sulids, as well as pelicans. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word "pelekan" (πελεκάν), which is itself derived from the


title: Pelican content: word "pelekys" (πέλεκυς) meaning "axe". In classical times, the word was applied to both the pelican and the woodpecker. The family Pelecanidae was introduced (as Pelicanea) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. Pelicans give their name to the Pelecaniformes, an order which has a varied taxonomic history. Tropicbirds, darters, cormorants, gannets, boobies, and frigatebirds, all traditional members of the order, have since been reclassified: tropicbirds into their own order, Phaethontiformes, and the remainder into the Suliformes. In their place, herons, ibises, spoonbills, the hamerkop, and the shoebill have now been transferred into the Pelecaniformes. Molecular evidence suggests


title: Pelican content: that the shoebill and the hamerkop form a sister group to the pelicans, though some doubt exists as to the exact relationships among the three lineages. The eight living pelican species were traditionally divided into two groups, one containing four ground-nesters with mainly white adult plumage (Australian, Dalmatian, great white, and American white pelicans), and one containing four grey- or brown-plumaged species which nest preferentially either in trees (pink-backed, spot-billed and brown pelicans), or on sea rocks (Peruvian pelican). The largely marine brown and Peruvian pelicans, formerly considered conspecific, are sometimes separated from the others by placement in the subgenus


title: Pelican content: "Leptopelicanus" but in fact species with both sorts of appearance and nesting behavior are found in either. DNA sequencing of both mitochondrial and nuclear genes yielded quite different relationships; the three New World pelicans formed one lineage, with the American white pelican sister to the two brown pelicans, and the five Old World species the other. The Dalmatian, pink-backed, and spot-billed were all closely related to one another, while the Australian white pelican was their next-closest relative. The great white pelican also belonged to this lineage, but was the first to diverge from the common ancestor of the other four


title: Pelican content: species. This finding suggests that pelicans evolved in the Old World and spread into the Americas, and that preference for tree- or ground-nesting is more related to size than genetics. The fossil record shows that the pelican lineage has existed for at least 30 million years; the oldest known pelican fossil was found in Early Oligocene deposits at the Luberon in southeastern France, and is remarkably similar to modern forms. Its beak is almost complete and is morphologically identical to that of present-day pelicans, showing that this advanced feeding apparatus was already in existence at the time. An Early Miocene


title: Pelican content: fossil has been named "Miopelecanus gracilis" on the basis of certain features originally considered unique, but later thought to lie within the range of interspecific variation in "Pelecanus". The Late Eocene "Protopelicanus" may be a pelecaniform or suliform – or a similar aquatic bird such as a pseudotooth (Pelagornithidae). The supposed Miocene pelican "Liptornis" from Patagonia is a "nomen dubium" (of doubtful validity), being based on fragments providing insufficient evidence to support a valid description. Fossil finds from North America have been meagre compared with Europe, which has a richer fossil record. Several "Pelecanus" species have been described from fossil


title: Pelican content: material, including: Pelicans are very large birds with very long bills characterised by a downcurved hook at the end of the upper mandible, and the attachment of a huge gular pouch to the lower. The slender rami of the lower bill and the flexible tongue muscles form the pouch into a basket for catching fish, and sometimes rainwater, though not to hinder the swallowing of large fish, the tongue itself is tiny. They have a long neck and short stout legs with large, fully webbed feet. Although they are among the heaviest of flying birds, they are relatively light for


title: Pelican content: their apparent bulk because of air pockets in the skeleton and beneath the skin, enabling them to float high in the water. The tail is short and square. The wings are long and broad, suitably shaped for soaring and gliding flight, and have the unusually large number of 30 to 35 secondary flight feathers. Males are generally larger than females and have longer bills. The smallest species is the brown pelican, small individuals of which can be no more than and long, with a wingspan of as little as . The largest is believed to be the Dalmatian, at up


title: Pelican content: to and in length, with a maximum wingspan of . The Australian pelican's bill may grow up to long in large males, the longest of any bird. Pelicans have mainly light-coloured plumage, the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches, and bare facial skin of all species become brighter before breeding season commences. The throat pouch of the Californian subspecies of the brown pelican turns bright red, and fades to yellow after the eggs are laid, while the throat pouch of the Peruvian pelican turns blue. The American white pelican grows a prominent knob on its bill


title: Pelican content: that is shed once females have laid eggs. The plumage of immature pelicans is darker than that of adults. Newly hatched chicks are naked and pink, darkening to grey or black after 4 to 14 days, then developing a covering of white or grey down. Anatomical dissections of two brown pelicans in 1939 showed that pelicans have a network of subcutaneous air sacs under their skin situated across the ventral surface including the throat, breast, and undersides of the wings, as well as having air sacs in their bones. The air sacs are connected to the airways of the respiratory


title: Pelican content: system, and the pelican can keep its air sacs inflated by closing its glottis, but how air sacs are inflated is not clear. The air sacs serve to keep the pelican remarkably buoyant in the water and may also cushion the impact of the pelican's body on the water surface when they dive from flight into water to catch fish. Superficial air sacs may also help to round body contours (especially over the abdomen, where surface protuberances may be caused by viscera changing size and position) to enable the overlying feathers to form more effective heat insulation and also to


title: Pelican content: enable feathers to be held in position for good aerodynamics. Modern pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica. They primarily inhabit warm regions, although breeding ranges extend to latitudes of 45° South (Australian pelicans in Tasmania) and 60° North (American white pelicans in western Canada). Birds of inland and coastal waters, they are absent from polar regions, the deep ocean, oceanic islands (except the Galapagos), and inland South America, as well as from the eastern coast of South America from the mouth of the Amazon River southwards. Subfossil bones have been recovered from as far south as New Zealand's


title: Pelican content: South Island, although their scarcity and isolated occurrence suggests that these remains may have merely been vagrants from Australia (much as is the case today). Pelicans swim well with their strong legs and their webbed feet. They rub the backs of their heads on their preen glands to pick up an oily secretion, which they transfer to their plumage to waterproof it. Holding their wings only loosely against their bodies, pelicans float with relatively little of their bodies below the water surface. They dissipate excess heat by gular flutter – rippling the skin of the throat and pouch with the


title: Pelican content: bill open to promote evaporative cooling. They roost and loaf communally on beaches, sandbanks, and in shallow water. A fibrous layer deep in the breast muscles can hold the wings rigidly horizontal for gliding and soaring. Thus, they use thermals for soaring to heights of 3000 m (10,000 ft) or more, combined both with gliding and with flapping flight in V formation, to commute distances up to to feeding areas. Pelicans also fly low (or "skim") over stretches of water, using a phenomenon known as ground effect to reduce drag and increase lift. As the air flows between the wings


title: Pelican content: and the water surface, it is compressed to a higher density and exerts a stronger upward force against the bird above. Hence, substantial energy is saved while flying. Adult pelicans rely on visual displays and behaviour to communicate, particularly using their wings and bills. Agonistic behaviour consists of thrusting and snapping at opponents with their bills, or lifting and waving their wings in a threatening manner. Adult pelicans grunt when at the colony, but are generally silent elsewhere or outside breeding season. Conversely, colonies are noisy, as chicks vocalise extensively. Pelicans are gregarious and nest colonially. Pairs are monogamous for


title: Pelican content: a single season, but the pair bond extends only to the nesting area; mates are independent away from the nest. The ground-nesting (white) species have a complex communal courtship involving a group of males chasing a single female in the air, on land, or in the water while pointing, gaping, and thrusting their bills at each other. They can finish the process in a day. The tree-nesting species have a simpler process in which perched males advertise for females. The location of the breeding colony is constrained by the availability of an ample supply of fish to eat, although pelicans


title: Pelican content: can use thermals to soar and commute for hundreds of kilometres daily to fetch food. The Australian pelican has two reproductive strategies depending on the local degree of environmental predictability. Colonies of tens or hundreds, rarely thousands, of birds breed regularly on small coastal and subcoastal islands where food is seasonally or permanently available. In arid inland Australia, especially in the endorheic Lake Eyre basin, pelicans breed opportunistically in very large numbers of up to 50,000 pairs, when irregular major floods, which may be many years apart, fill ephemeral salt lakes and provide large amounts of food for several months


title: Pelican content: before drying out again. In all species, copulation takes place at the nest site; it begins shortly after pairing and continues for 3–10 days before egg-laying. The male brings the nesting material, in ground-nesting species (which may not build a nest) sometimes in the pouch, and in tree-nesting species crosswise in the bill. The female then heaps the material up to form a simple structure. The eggs are oval, white, and coarsely textured. All species normally lay at least two eggs; the usual clutch size is one to three, rarely up to six. Both sexes incubate with the eggs on


title: Pelican content: top of or below the feet; they may display when changing shifts. Incubation takes 30–36 days; hatching success for undisturbed pairs can be as high as 95%, but because of sibling competition or siblicide, in the wild, usually all but one nestling dies within the first few weeks (later in the pink-backed and spot-billed species). Both parents feed their young. Small chicks are fed by regurgitation; after about a week, they are able to put their heads into their parents' pouches and feed themselves. Sometimes before, or especially after, being fed, they may seem to have a seizure that ends


title: Pelican content: in falling unconscious; the reason is not clearly known. Parents of ground-nesting species sometimes drag older young around roughly by the head before feeding them. From about 25 days old, the young of these species gather in "pods" or "crèches" of up to 100 birds in which parents recognise and feed only their own offspring. By 6–8 weeks they wander around, occasionally swimming, and may practise communal feeding. Young of all species fledge 10–12 weeks after hatching. They may remain with their parents afterwards, but are now seldom or never fed. They are mature at three or four years old.


title: Pelican content: Overall breeding success is highly variable. Pelicans live for 15 to 25 years in the wild, although one reached an age of 54 years in captivity. The diet of pelicans usually consists of fish, but occasionally amphibians, turtles, crustaceans, insects, birds, and mammals are also eaten. The size of the preferred prey fish varies depending on pelican species and location. For example, in Africa, the pink-backed pelican generally takes fish ranging in size from fry up to and the great white pelican prefers somewhat larger fish, up to , but in Europe, the latter species has been recorded taking fish


title: Pelican content: up to . In deep water, white pelicans often fish alone. Nearer the shore, several encircle schools of small fish or form a line to drive them into the shallows, beating their wings on the water surface and then scooping up the prey. Although all pelican species may feed in groups or alone, the Dalmantian, pink-backed, and spot-billed pelicans are the only ones to prefer solitary feeding. When fishing in groups, all pelican species have been known to work together to catch their prey, and Dalmantian pelicans may even cooperate with great cormorants. They catch multiple small fish by expanding


title: Pelican content: the throat pouch, which must be drained above the water surface before swallowing. This operation takes up to a minute, during which time other seabirds may steal the fish. Large fish are caught with the bill-tip, then tossed up in the air to be caught and slid into the gullet head-first. A gull will sometimes stand on the pelican's head, peck it to distraction, and grab a fish from the open bill. Pelicans in their turn sometimes snatch prey from other waterbirds. The brown pelican usually plunge-dives head-first for its prey, from a height as great as , especially for


title: Pelican content: anchovies and menhaden. The only other pelican to feed using a similar technique is the Peruvian pelican, but its dives are typically from a lower height than the brown pelican. The Australian and American white pelicans may feed by low plunge-dives landing feet-first and then scooping up the prey with the beak, but they—as well as the remaining pelican species—primarily feed while swimming on the water. Aquatic prey is most commonly taken at or near the water surface. Although principally a fish eater, the Australian pelican is also an eclectic and opportunistic scavenger and carnivore that forages in landfill sites,


title: Pelican content: as well as taking carrion and "anything from insects and small crustaceans to ducks and small dogs". Food is not stored in a pelican's throat pouch, contrary to popular folklore. Great white pelicans have been observed swallowing city pigeons in St. James's Park in London. Spokeswoman for the Royal Parks Louise Wood opined that feeding on other birds is more likely with captive pelicans that live in a semiurban environment and are in constant close contact with humans. However, in southern Africa, eggs and chicks of the Cape cormorant are an important food source for great white pelicans. Several other


title: Pelican content: bird species have been recorded in the diet of this pelican in South Africa, including Cape gannet chicks on Malgas Island as well as crowned cormorants, kelp gulls, greater crested terns, and African penguins on Dassen Island and elsewhere. The Australian pelican, which is particularly willing to take a wide range of prey items, has been recorded feeding on young Australian white ibis, and young and adult grey teals and silver gulls. Brown pelicans have been reported preying on young common murres in California and the eggs and nestlings of cattle egrets and nestling great egrets in Baja California, Mexico.


title: Pelican content: Peruvian pelicans in Chile have been recorded feeding on nestlings of imperial shags, juvenile Peruvian diving petrels, and grey gulls. Cannibalism of chicks of their own species is known from the Australian, brown, and Peruvian pelicans. Globally, pelican populations are adversely affected by these main factors: declining supplies of fish through overfishing or water pollution, destruction of habitat, direct effects of human activity such as disturbance at nesting colonies, hunting and culling, entanglement in fishing lines and hooks, and the presence of pollutants such as DDT and endrin. Most species' populations are more or less stable, although three are classified


title: Pelican content: by the IUCN as being at risk. All species breed readily in zoos, which is potentially useful for conservation management. The combined population of brown and Peruvian pelicans is estimated at 650,000 birds, with around 250,000 in the United States and Caribbean, and 400,000 in Peru. The National Audubon Society estimates the global population of the brown pelican at 300,000. Numbers of brown pelican plummeted in the 1950s and 1960s, largely as a consequence of environmental DDT pollution, and the species was listed as endangered in the US in 1970. With restrictions on DDT use in the US from 1972,


title: Pelican content: its population has recovered, and it was delisted in 2009. The Peruvian pelican is listed as near threatened because, although the population is estimated by BirdLife International to exceed 500,000 mature individuals, and is possibly increasing, it has been much higher in the past. It declined dramatically during the 1998 El Niño event and could experience similar declines in the future. Conservation needs include regular monitoring throughout the range to determine population trends, particularly after El Niño years, restricting human access to important breeding colonies, and assessing interactions with fisheries. The spot-billed pelican has an estimated population between 13,000 and


title: Pelican content: 18,000 and is considered to be near threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Numbers declined substantially during the 20th century, one crucial factor being the eradication of the important Sittaung valley breeding colony in Burma through deforestation and the loss of feeding sites. The chief threats it faces are from habitat loss and human disturbance, but populations have mostly stabilised following increased protection in India and Cambodia. The pink-backed pelican has a large population ranging over much of sub-Saharan Africa. In the absence of substantial threats or evidence of declines across its range, its conservation status is


title: Pelican content: assessed as being of least concern. Regional threats include the drainage of wetlands and increasing disturbance in southern Africa. The species is susceptible to bioaccumulation of toxins and the destruction of nesting trees by logging. The American white pelican has increased in numbers, with its population estimated at over 157,000 birds in 2005, becoming more numerous east of the continental divide, while declining in the west. However, whether its numbers have been affected by exposure to pesticides is unclear, as it has also lost habitat through wetland drainage and competition with recreational use of lakes and rivers. Great white pelicans


title: Pelican content: range over a large area of Africa and southern Asia. The overall trend in numbers is uncertain, with a mix of regional populations that are increasing, declining, stable, or unknown, but no evidence has been found of rapid overall decline, and the status of the species is assessed as being of least concern. Threats include the drainage of wetlands, persecution and sport hunting, disturbance at the breeding colonies, and contamination by pesticides and heavy metals. The Dalmatian pelican has a population estimated at between 10,000 and 20,000 following massive declines in the 19th and 20th centuries. The main ongoing threats


title: Pelican content: include hunting, especially in eastern Asia, disturbance, coastal development, collision with overhead power lines, and the over-exploitation of fish stocks. It is listed as near threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as the population trend is downwards, especially in Mongolia, where it is nearly extinct. However, several European colonies are increasing in size and the largest colony for the species, at the Small Prespa Lake in Greece, has reached about 1,400 breeding pairs following conservation measures. Widespread across Australia, the Australian pelican has a population generally estimated at between 300,000 and 500,000 individuals. Overall population numbers fluctuate


title: Pelican content: widely and erratically depending on wetland conditions and breeding success across the continent. The species is assessed as being of least concern. Pelicans have been persecuted by humans for their perceived competition for fish, despite the fact that their diet overlaps little with fish caught by people. Starting in the 1880s, American white pelicans were clubbed and shot, their eggs and young were deliberately destroyed, and their feeding and nesting sites were degraded by water management schemes and wetland drainage. Even in the 21st century, an increase in the population of American white pelicans in southeastern Idaho in the US


title: Pelican content: was seen to threaten the recreational cutthroat trout fishery there, leading to official attempts to reduce pelican numbers through systematic harassment and culling. Great white pelicans on Dyer Island, in the Western Cape region of South Africa, were culled during the 19th century because their predation of the eggs and chicks of guano-producing seabirds was seen to threaten the livelihood of the guano collectors. More recently, such predation at South African seabird colonies has impacted on the conservation of threatened seabird populations, especially crowned cormorants, Cape cormorants, and bank cormorants. This has led to suggestions that pelican numbers should be


title: Pelican content: controlled at vulnerable colonies. Apart from habitat destruction and deliberate, targeted persecution, pelicans are vulnerable to disturbance at their breeding colonies by birdwatchers, photographers, and other curious visitors. Human presence alone can cause the birds to accidentally displace or destroy their eggs, leave hatchlings exposed to predators and adverse weather, or even abandon their colonies completely. DDT pollution in the environment was a major cause of decline of brown pelican populations in North America in the 1950s and 1960s. It entered the oceanic food web, contaminating and accumulating in several species, including one of the pelican’s primary food fish –


title: Pelican content: the northern anchovy. Its metabolite DDE is a reproductive toxicant in pelicans and many other birds, causing eggshell thinning and weakening, and consequent breeding failure through the eggs being accidentally crushed by brooding birds. Since an effective ban on the use of DDT was implemented in the US in 1972, the eggshells of breeding brown pelicans there have thickened and their populations have largely recovered. In the late 1960s, following the major decline in brown pelican numbers in Louisiana from DDT poisoning, 500 pelicans were imported from Florida to augment and re-establish the population; over 300 subsequently died in April


title: Pelican content: and May 1975 from poisoning by the pesticide endrin. About 14,000 pelicans, including 7500 American white pelicans, perished from botulism after eating fish from the Salton Sea in 1990. In 1991, abnormal numbers of brown pelicans and Brandt's cormorants died at Santa Cruz, California, when their food fish (anchovies) were contaminated with neurotoxic domoic acid, produced by the diatom "Pseudo-nitzschia". As waterbirds that feed on fish, pelicans are highly susceptible to oil spills, both directly by being oiled and by the impact on their food resources. A 2007 report to the California Fish and Game Commission estimated that during the


title: Pelican content: previous 20 years, some 500–1000 brown pelicans had been affected by oil spills in California. A 2011 report by the Center for Biological Diversity, a year after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, said that 932 brown pelicans had been collected after being affected by oiling and estimated that 10 times that number had been harmed as a result of the spill. Where pelicans interact with fishers, through either sharing the same waters or scavenging for fishing refuse, they are especially vulnerable to being hooked and entangled in both active and discarded fishing lines. Fish hooks are swallowed or


title: Pelican content: catch in the skin of the pouch or webbed feet, and strong monofilament fishing line can become wound around bill, wings, or legs, resulting in crippling, starvation, and often death. Local rescue organisations have been established in North America and Australia by volunteers to treat and rehabilitate injured pelicans and other wildlife. As with other bird families, pelicans are susceptible to a variety of parasites. Specialist feather lice of the genus "Piagetella" are found in the pouches of all species of pelican, but are otherwise only known from New World and Antarctic cormorants. Avian malaria is carried by the mosquito


title: Pelican content: "Culex pipens", and high densities of these biting insects may force pelican colonies to be abandoned. Leeches may attach to the vent or sometimes the inside of the pouch. A study of the parasites of the American white pelican found 75 different species, including tapeworms, flukes, flies, fleas, ticks, and nematodes. Many of these do little harm, but flies may be implicated in the death of nestlings, particularly if they are weak or unwell, and the soft tick "Ornithodoros capensis" sometimes causes adults to desert the nest. Many pelican parasites are found in other bird groups, but several lice are


title: Pelican content: very host-specific. Healthy pelicans can usually cope with their lice, but sick birds may carry hundreds of individuals, which hastens their demise. The pouch louse "Piagetiella peralis", which occurs in the pouch, so cannot be removed by preening, is usually not a serious problem, even when present in such numbers that it covers the whole interior of the pouch, but sometimes inflammation and bleeding may harm the host. The brown pelican has a similarly extensive range of parasites. The nematodes "Contracaecum multipapillatum" and "C. mexicanum" and the trematode "Ribeiroia ondatrae" have caused illness and mortality in the Puerto Rican population,