The Uplift War is a 1987 science fiction novel by American writer David Brin , the third book of six set in his Uplift Universe . It was nominated as the best novel for the 1987 Nebula Award and won the 1988 Hugo and Locus Awards. The previous two books are Sundiver and Startide Rising .
125-459: 50,000 years before the events of the novel, the planet Garth was leased to the Bururalli who, imperfectly uplifted, reverted to a pre-sophont state and nearly destroyed its ecosystem by overhunting all large indigenous species. The ecologically sensitive galactic civilization declared a war of extermination and the Bururalli were made extinct. As the youngest clan in galactic civilization, Earthclan
250-409: A cell wall . Newly dead animals may be covered by an exoskeleton . Fragmentation processes, which break through these protective layers, accelerate the rate of microbial decomposition. Animals fragment detritus as they hunt for food, as does passage through the gut. Freeze-thaw cycles and cycles of wetting and drying also fragment dead material. The chemical alteration of the dead organic matter
375-495: A food chain . Real systems are much more complex than this—organisms will generally feed on more than one form of food, and may feed at more than one trophic level. Carnivores may capture some prey that is part of a plant-based trophic system and others that are part of a detritus-based trophic system (a bird that feeds both on herbivorous grasshoppers and earthworms, which consume detritus). Real systems, with all these complexities, form food webs rather than food chains which present
500-605: A habitat . Ecosystem ecology is the "study of the interactions between organisms and their environment as an integrated system". The size of ecosystems can range up to ten orders of magnitude , from the surface layers of rocks to the surface of the planet. The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study started in 1963 to study the White Mountains in New Hampshire . It was the first successful attempt to study an entire watershed as an ecosystem. The study used stream chemistry as
625-609: A central role over a wide range, for example, in the slow development of soil from bare rock and the faster recovery of a community from disturbance . Disturbance also plays an important role in ecological processes. F. Stuart Chapin and coauthors define disturbance as "a relatively discrete event in time that removes plant biomass". This can range from herbivore outbreaks, treefalls, fires, hurricanes, floods, glacial advances , to volcanic eruptions . Such disturbances can cause large changes in plant, animal and microbe populations, as well as soil organic matter content. Disturbance
750-420: A courtroom. In turn, the defendant had to issue a "mentita", meaning that he had to tell the agent "you lie", which consisted of an injury of words. After this, the agent had to issue a notarised cartello , or a notice of challenge, to the defendant, which, if accepted, would set the formal proceedings in motion. The defendant had the important advantage of the election of weapons. This was done to ensure that
875-507: A critical role in global nutrient cycling and ecosystem function. Phosphorus enters ecosystems through weathering . As ecosystems age this supply diminishes, making phosphorus-limitation more common in older landscapes (especially in the tropics). Calcium and sulfur are also produced by weathering, but acid deposition is an important source of sulfur in many ecosystems. Although magnesium and manganese are produced by weathering, exchanges between soil organic matter and living cells account for
1000-608: A fabled race of pre-sentient creatures that were rumored to have survived the Bururalli holocaust. Uthacalthing also plants evidence about the Garthlings in his "diplomatic cache" – which is, after being disturbed by Fiben Bolger, stolen by the Gubru. Unknown to him, some renegade humans have already been illegally beginning the uplift process of gorillas, meaning that there actually is a 'Garthling' race up for adoption. The three Gubru co-commanders ( suzerains ) overreact to most situations. When
1125-517: A faster recovery. More severe and more frequent disturbance result in longer recovery times. From one year to another, ecosystems experience variation in their biotic and abiotic environments. A drought , a colder than usual winter, and a pest outbreak all are short-term variability in environmental conditions. Animal populations vary from year to year, building up during resource-rich periods and crashing as they overshoot their food supply. Longer-term changes also shape ecosystem processes. For example,
1250-454: A form that can be readily used by plants and microbes. Ecosystems provide a variety of goods and services upon which people depend, and may be part of. Ecosystem goods include the "tangible, material products" of ecosystem processes such as water, food, fuel, construction material, and medicinal plants . Ecosystem services , on the other hand, are generally "improvements in the condition or location of things of value". These include things like
1375-427: A function-based typology has been proposed to leverage the strengths of these different approaches into a unified system. Human activities are important in almost all ecosystems. Although humans exist and operate within ecosystems, their cumulative effects are large enough to influence external factors like climate. Ecosystems provide a variety of goods and services upon which people depend. Ecosystem goods include
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#17328839321741500-698: A general level, for example, tropical forests , temperate grasslands , and arctic tundra . There can be any degree of subcategories among ecosystem types that comprise a biome, e.g., needle-leafed boreal forests or wet tropical forests. Although ecosystems are most commonly categorized by their structure and geography, there are also other ways to categorize and classify ecosystems such as by their level of human impact (see anthropogenic biome ), or by their integration with social processes or technological processes or their novelty (e.g. novel ecosystem ). Each of these taxonomies of ecosystems tends to emphasize different structural or functional properties. None of these
1625-457: A jury. Peers of the realm, priests, and citizens of the City of London (the last pursuant to their guarantee of ancient liberties under Magna Carta ) could also decline the battle if challenged. If the actual battle took place, it would occur in judicial lists , 60 feet (18 m) square, following the taking of oaths against witchcraft and sorcery. If the defendant was defeated and still alive, he
1750-453: A low sense of humor that, along with a yen for surprise, motivates much of their behavior. By contrast, the Thennanin are portrayed as dour, supercilious, protectors of the rights of animals and species. Hoping to fool Kault with an elaborate and ultimately costly practical joke, Uthacalthing secretly instructs a furtive neo-chimp to create false evidence pointing to the existence of Garthlings –
1875-429: A man named David Zachary Ostrom requested a trial by combat in response to a custody and property dispute with his ex-wife over their children. Following Ostrom requesting trial by combat, he was court-ordered to be administered a sanity test and was temporarily restricted from parenting rights. Upon successfully clearing his sanity test, Ostrom's parenting time was restored. Ostrom has since admitted that he initially made
2000-665: A means of monitoring ecosystem properties, and developed a detailed biogeochemical model of the ecosystem. Long-term research at the site led to the discovery of acid rain in North America in 1972. Researchers documented the depletion of soil cations (especially calcium) over the next several decades. Ecosystems can be studied through a variety of approaches—theoretical studies, studies monitoring specific ecosystems over long periods of time, those that look at differences between ecosystems to elucidate how they work and direct manipulative experimentation. Studies can be carried out at
2125-528: A more important role in moving nutrients around. This can be especially important as the soil thaws in the spring, creating a pulse of nutrients that become available. Decomposition rates are low under very wet or very dry conditions. Decomposition rates are highest in wet, moist conditions with adequate levels of oxygen. Wet soils tend to become deficient in oxygen (this is especially true in wetlands ), which slows microbial growth. In dry soils, decomposition slows as well, but bacteria continue to grow (albeit at
2250-406: A number of common, non random properties in the topology of their network. The carbon and nutrients in dead organic matter are broken down by a group of processes known as decomposition. This releases nutrients that can then be re-used for plant and microbial production and returns carbon dioxide to the atmosphere (or water) where it can be used for photosynthesis. In the absence of decomposition,
2375-501: A position in the royal household. The duel was watched by the royal court, several royal dukes, and thousands of ordinary Parisians and was recorded in several notable chronicles including Froissart's Chronicles and Grandes Chroniques de France . It has since been covered by several notable texts, including Diderot 's Encyclopédie , Voltaire and the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition , and also by
2500-477: A private prosecution was last conducted in the case of Ashford v Thornton in 1818. Pronouncing judgment in favour of the accused's plea claiming the wager of battle, Justice Bayley of the King's Bench said that: One inconvenience attending this mode of proceeding is, that the party who institutes it must be willing, if required, to stake his life in support of his accusation. Parliament abolished wager of battle
2625-421: A process known as denitrification . Mycorrhizal fungi which are symbiotic with plant roots, use carbohydrates supplied by the plants and in return transfer phosphorus and nitrogen compounds back to the plant roots. This is an important pathway of organic nitrogen transfer from dead organic matter to plants. This mechanism may contribute to more than 70 Tg of annually assimilated plant nitrogen, thereby playing
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#17328839321742750-426: A promise to pay Thomas of Brydges an annual retainer fee for acting as champion, with additional stipend and expenses paid for each fight. In criminal cases, an approver was often chosen from the accomplices of the accused or from prison to do the fighting for the crown. Approvers sometimes were given their freedom after winning five trials but sometimes were hanged anyway. In practice, a person facing trial by combat
2875-696: A significant portion of ecosystem fluxes. Potassium is primarily cycled between living cells and soil organic matter. Biodiversity plays an important role in ecosystem functioning. Ecosystem processes are driven by the species in an ecosystem, the nature of the individual species, and the relative abundance of organisms among these species. Ecosystem processes are the net effect of the actions of individual organisms as they interact with their environment. Ecological theory suggests that in order to coexist, species must have some level of limiting similarity —they must be different from one another in some fundamental way, otherwise, one species would competitively exclude
3000-408: A slower rate) even after soils become too dry to support plant growth. Ecosystems are dynamic entities. They are subject to periodic disturbances and are always in the process of recovering from past disturbances. When a perturbation occurs, an ecosystem responds by moving away from its initial state. The tendency of an ecosystem to remain close to its equilibrium state, despite that disturbance,
3125-464: A small effect on ecosystem function. Ecologically distinct species, on the other hand, have a much larger effect. Similarly, dominant species have a large effect on ecosystem function, while rare species tend to have a small effect. Keystone species tend to have an effect on ecosystem function that is disproportionate to their abundance in an ecosystem. An ecosystem engineer is any organism that creates, significantly modifies, maintains or destroys
3250-522: A suit of leather armour , bare to the knees and elbows and covered by a red surcoat of a light type of silk called sendal . The litigants appeared in person. The combat was to begin before noon and be concluded before sunset. Either combatant could end the fight and lose his case by crying out the word "Craven!", from the Old French cravanté , "defeated", which acknowledged "(I am) vanquished." The party who did so, however, whether litigant or champion,
3375-526: A system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks is termed its ecological resilience . Ecosystems can be studied through a variety of approaches—theoretical studies, studies monitoring specific ecosystems over long periods of time, those that look at differences between ecosystems to elucidate how they work and direct manipulative experimentation. Biomes are general classes or categories of ecosystems. However, there
3500-407: A trial by combat in the event of two families disputing the boundary between their lands. A handful of earth taken from the disputed piece of land is put between the contestants and they are required to touch it with their swords, each swearing that their claim is lawful. The losing party besides forfeiting their claim to the land is required to pay a fine. Capitularies governing its use appear from
3625-561: A trial not at common law but under consiliar jurisdiction. It is uncertain when the last actual trial by battle in Britain took place. While some references speak of such a trial being held in 1631, records indicate that King Charles I intervened to prevent the battle. A 1638 case is less clear: it involved a legal dispute between Ralf Claxton and Richard Lilburne (the latter the father of John Lilburne ). The king again stepped in, and judges acted to delay proceedings. No record survives of
3750-522: A variety of scales, ranging from whole-ecosystem studies to studying microcosms or mesocosms (simplified representations of ecosystems). American ecologist Stephen R. Carpenter has argued that microcosm experiments can be "irrelevant and diversionary" if they are not carried out in conjunction with field studies done at the ecosystem scale. In such cases, microcosm experiments may fail to accurately predict ecosystem-level dynamics. Biomes are general classes or categories of ecosystems. However, there
3875-454: Is an international synthesis by over 1000 of the world's leading biological scientists that analyzes the state of the Earth's ecosystems and provides summaries and guidelines for decision-makers. The report identified four major categories of ecosystem services: provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services. It concludes that human activity is having a significant and escalating impact on
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4000-442: Is consumed by animals while still alive and enters the plant-based trophic system. After plants and animals die, the organic matter contained in them enters the detritus-based trophic system. Ecosystem respiration is the sum of respiration by all living organisms (plants, animals, and decomposers) in the ecosystem. Net ecosystem production is the difference between gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration. In
4125-423: Is controlled by internal factors. Therefore, internal factors not only control ecosystem processes but are also controlled by them. Ecosystems are dynamic entities—they are subject to periodic disturbances and are always in the process of recovering from some past disturbance. The tendency of an ecosystem to remain close to its equilibrium state, despite that disturbance, is termed its resistance . The capacity of
4250-569: Is followed by succession, a "directional change in ecosystem structure and functioning resulting from biotically driven changes in resource supply." The frequency and severity of disturbance determine the way it affects ecosystem function. A major disturbance like a volcanic eruption or glacial advance and retreat leave behind soils that lack plants, animals or organic matter. Ecosystems that experience such disturbances undergo primary succession . A less severe disturbance like forest fires, hurricanes or cultivation result in secondary succession and
4375-554: Is governed by three sets of factors—the physical environment (temperature, moisture, and soil properties), the quantity and quality of the dead material available to decomposers, and the nature of the microbial community itself. Temperature controls the rate of microbial respiration; the higher the temperature, the faster the microbial decomposition occurs. Temperature also affects soil moisture, which affects decomposition. Freeze-thaw cycles also affect decomposition—freezing temperatures kill soil microorganisms, which allows leaching to play
4500-589: Is known to many cultures worldwide, trial by combat is known primarily from the customs of the Germanic peoples . The practice was "almost universal in Europe" according to medievalist Eric Jager . It was in use among the ancient Burgundians , Ripuarian Franks , Alamans , Lombards , and Swedes . It was unknown in Anglo-Saxon law and Roman law and it does not figure in the traditions of Middle Eastern antiquity such as
4625-481: Is mostly relegated to near-hopeless "recovery worlds" for colonization, and they are granted a lease to inhabit Garth. The novel begins in the year 2489 C.E. with the avian Gubru planning to invade Garth. The Gubru, a conservative and somewhat humorless alien race, decide to hold Garth hostage in an attempt to learn more about the discovery that the dolphin spaceship Streaker made in Startide Rising about
4750-405: Is no clear distinction between biomes and ecosystems. Biomes are always defined at a very general level. Ecosystems can be described at levels that range from very general (in which case the names are sometimes the same as those of biomes) to very specific, such as "wet coastal needle-leafed forests". Biomes vary due to global variations in climate . Biomes are often defined by their structure: at
4875-516: Is no clear distinction between biomes and ecosystems. Ecosystem classifications are specific kinds of ecological classifications that consider all four elements of the definition of ecosystems : a biotic component, an abiotic complex, the interactions between and within them, and the physical space they occupy. Biotic factors of the ecosystem are living things; such as plants, animals, and bacteria, while abiotic are non-living components; such as water, soil and atmosphere. Plants allow energy to enter
5000-411: Is not mishandled or abused). Athaclena and the remaining resistance fighters come down from the mountains and deliberately assemble in an exposed position, showing their willingness to die rather than allow further acts of war to damage Garth's already damaged ecosystems. The Suzerain of Beam and Talon orders his soldiers to destroy them, but they disobey and kill him, and the Gubru leave Garth in shame. As
5125-531: Is primarily achieved through bacterial and fungal action. Fungal hyphae produce enzymes that can break through the tough outer structures surrounding dead plant material. They also produce enzymes that break down lignin , which allows them access to both cell contents and the nitrogen in the lignin. Fungi can transfer carbon and nitrogen through their hyphal networks and thus, unlike bacteria, are not dependent solely on locally available resources. Decomposition rates vary among ecosystems. The rate of decomposition
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5250-463: Is recorded was Wulfstan v. Walter (1077), eleven years after the Conquest. Significantly, the names of the parties suggest that it was a dispute between a Saxon and a Norman . The Tractatus of Glanvill , from around 1187, appears to have considered it the chief mode of trial, at least among aristocrats entitled to bear arms. Around 1219, trial by jury replaced trial by ordeal, which had been
5375-485: Is termed its resistance . The capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks is termed its ecological resilience . Resilience thinking also includes humanity as an integral part of the biosphere where we are dependent on ecosystem services for our survival and must build and maintain their natural capacities to withstand shocks and disturbances. Time plays
5500-422: Is the "best" classification. Ecosystem classifications are specific kinds of ecological classifications that consider all four elements of the definition of ecosystems : a biotic component, an abiotic complex, the interactions between and within them, and the physical space they occupy. Different approaches to ecological classifications have been developed in terrestrial, freshwater and marine disciplines, and
5625-471: Is to await the accused at the designated place of combat. If the accused does not appear after being summoned three times, the accuser may execute two cuts and two stabs against the wind, and his matter will be treated as if he had won the fight. The Kleines Kaiserrecht , an anonymous legal code of c. 1300 , prohibits judicial duels altogether, stating that the emperor had come to this decision on seeing that too many innocent men were convicted by
5750-565: The Codex Wallerstein show similar material. While commoners were required to present their case to a judge before duelling, members of the nobility did have the right to challenge each other for duels without the involvement of the judiciary, so that duels of this kind were separate from the judicial duel already in the Middle Ages and were not affected by the latter's abolition in the early 16th century by Emperor Maximilian I , evolving into
5875-584: The Boston Tea Party , Parliament considered a bill that would have abolished appeals of murder and trials by battle in the American colonies. It was successfully opposed by Member of Parliament John Dunning , who called the appeal of murder "that great pillar of the Constitution". Writer and MP Edmund Burke , on the other hand, supported the abolition, calling the appeal and wager "superstitious and barbarous to
6000-470: The Delaware Court of Chancery rejected the defendant's request for "trial by combat to the death" on the grounds that dueling was illegal. In Forgotten Trial Techniques: The Wager of Battle , Donald J. Evans set out the possibility of a trial by battle in the setting of a lawyer's office. A tongue-in-cheek motion during 2015 for trial by combat in response to a civil suit was rejected in 2016. In 2020,
6125-473: The North Inch in front of King Robert III . The battle was intended to resolve a dispute over which clan was to hold the right flank in an upcoming battle of both clans (and several others) against Clan Cameron. The Clan Macpherson is thought to have won, but only twelve men survived from the original sixty. The last trial by combat under the authority of an English monarch is thought to have taken place during
6250-678: The code of Hammurabi or the Torah . However, it is recorded in the medieval Irish Brehon Laws , such as Din Techtugad . The practice is regulated in various Germanic legal codes . Being rooted in Germanic tribal law, the various regional laws of the Frankish Empire (and the later Holy Roman Empire ) prescribed different particulars, such as equipment and rules of combat. The Lex Alamannorum ( recension Lantfridana 81, dated to 712–730 AD) prescribes
6375-555: The resource inputs are generally controlled by external processes like climate and parent material, the availability of these resources within the ecosystem is controlled by internal factors like decomposition, root competition or shading. Other factors like disturbance, succession or the types of species present are also internal factors. Primary production is the production of organic matter from inorganic carbon sources. This mainly occurs through photosynthesis . The energy incorporated through this process supports life on earth, while
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#17328839321746500-435: The "tangible, material products" of ecosystem processes such as water, food, fuel, construction material, and medicinal plants . They also include less tangible items like tourism and recreation, and genes from wild plants and animals that can be used to improve domestic species. Ecosystem services , on the other hand, are generally "improvements in the condition or location of things of value". These include things like
6625-477: The 12th century. Unniyarcha , Aromal Chekavar and others were warriors of Chekavar lineage. It was during their period that kalaripayattu spread widely in southern Kerala . At the time of independence in 1776, trial by combat had not been abolished and it has never formally been abolished since. The question of whether trial by combat remains a valid alternative to civil action has been argued to remain open, at least in theory. In McNatt v. Richards (1983),
6750-592: The 16th century, dueling became illegal; however, its customs were maintained and utilized by most middle to upper social classes until the beginning of the 19th century. In the 15th century in the Malabar region of India, the same Kalaripayattu competition was held by the Thiyya caste, who are the Chekavars . A special kind of fighter called a chekvar was engaged to duel another chekavar on behalf of two opposing rulers to prevent
6875-481: The 2004 book The Last Duel by Eric Jager . About AD 630, Gundeberga , wife of the Lombard King Arioald (626–636), is supposed to have been accused by a disappointed lover of a plot to poison the king and take another man. King Arioald consented that her innocence should be tested by single combat between her accuser and a nobleman who undertook to defend her . The accuser having been slain, Gundeberga
7000-547: The Gubru immediately take hostage most of the human population using a pre-planned subterfuge consisting of repeated, wide aerial distribution of a poisonous gas specially formulated to target humans. In order to receive the antidote, the humans must report to island prison camps and agree to be imprisoned during the occupation. The Gubru, used to galactic norms , mistakenly believe that the neo-chimp population on Garth will be easily controlled without their human patrons to guide them. Taking advantage of resentments that fester among
7125-575: The Gubru. Fiben Bolger, in town on a fact-finding expedition for the Resistance, runs afoul of one of the conspirator neo-chimpanzees known as Irongrip. Elsewhere on the planet, Athaclena's father Uthacalthing, the Tymbrimi ambassador, and the Thennanin ambassador, Kault, are shot down while fleeing the Gubru invasion. The two ambassadors land safely, but must trek several hundred kilometers back to civilization. The Tymbrimi are allies of Earth and well known for
7250-468: The Progenitors. The Gubru overpower Garth's token space forces, in the battle a neo-chimp soldier of Earthclan, Fiben Bolger, pilots a small craft that is damaged and crash lands in the mountains. The Gubru engage a small portion of their ground force in ritualistic combat against Earthling forces, and Earthclan successfully defends its legal right to the planet under the standards of Galactic law. However,
7375-564: The Suzerain of Cost and Caution is killed in an accident set up by the neo-chim resistance movement, the other two suzerains exploit the situation and further their own goals. The Suzerain of Propriety seizes on the Garthling myth and builds an enormously expensive hypershunt on Garth. If Garthlings can be found, the Gubru will be able to use the hypershunt to adopt and indenture the race for 100,000 years in exchange for uplifting them to sentience. At
7500-481: The absence of disturbance, net ecosystem production is equivalent to the net carbon accumulation in the ecosystem. Energy can also be released from an ecosystem through disturbances such as wildfire or transferred to other ecosystems (e.g., from a forest to a stream to a lake) by erosion . In aquatic systems , the proportion of plant biomass that gets consumed by herbivores is much higher than in terrestrial systems. In trophic systems, photosynthetic organisms are
7625-402: The amount of energy available to the ecosystem. Parent material determines the nature of the soil in an ecosystem, and influences the supply of mineral nutrients. Topography also controls ecosystem processes by affecting things like microclimate , soil development and the movement of water through a system. For example, ecosystems can be quite different if situated in a small depression on
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#17328839321747750-504: The amount of light available, the amount of leaf area a plant has to capture light (shading by other plants is a major limitation of photosynthesis), the rate at which carbon dioxide can be supplied to the chloroplasts to support photosynthesis, the availability of water, and the availability of suitable temperatures for carrying out photosynthesis. Energy and carbon enter ecosystems through photosynthesis, are incorporated into living tissue, transferred to other organisms that feed on
7875-509: The biodiversity of the world ecosystems, reducing both their resilience and biocapacity . The report refers to natural systems as humanity's "life-support system", providing essential ecosystem services. The assessment measures 24 ecosystem services and concludes that only four have shown improvement over the last 50 years, 15 are in serious decline, and five are in a precarious condition. Trial by combat Trial by combat (also wager of battle , trial by battle or judicial duel )
8000-658: The book comes to an end, Uthacalthing's maneuverings have brought desperately needed assistance to Earthclan and its allies out on the starlanes, as the Thennanin and their allies join the conflict on Earthclan's side. The book received a number of reviews, including: Ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system ) is a system that environments and their organisms form through their interaction. The biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal factors . External factors such as climate , parent material which forms
8125-408: The carbon makes up much of the organic matter in living and dead biomass, soil carbon and fossil fuels . It also drives the carbon cycle , which influences global climate via the greenhouse effect . Through the process of photosynthesis, plants capture energy from light and use it to combine carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates and oxygen . The photosynthesis carried out by all
8250-558: The champions, but secretly with very good concurrence, both with us and between themselves, with such regard of her Majesty's service, as giveth us cause to commend them to your Lordships. The Annals of the Four Masters also refers to the trial and censures the parties for having allowed the English to entice them into the proceedings. It is also referred to in Holinshed's chronicles . This was
8375-432: The combustion of fossil fuels, ammonia gas which evaporates from agricultural fields which have had fertilizers applied to them, and dust. Anthropogenic nitrogen inputs account for about 80% of all nitrogen fluxes in ecosystems. When plant tissues are shed or are eaten, the nitrogen in those tissues becomes available to animals and microbes. Microbial decomposition releases nitrogen compounds from dead organic matter in
8500-418: The concept to draw attention to the importance of transfers of materials between organisms and their environment. He later refined the term, describing it as "The whole system, ... including not only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call the environment". Tansley regarded ecosystems not simply as natural units, but as "mental isolates". Tansley later defined
8625-489: The crime and Marguerite being with child, it was decided that guilt could not be decided through a standard jury trial, and a judicial duel was ordered. The duel put three lives in the hands of fate: Jacques le Gris, the accused, Jean de Carrouges, and the accuser, Marguerite. In the duel, the survivor of the said duel would be considered the winner of the claim. If Jacques le Gris won the duel, not only would Jean de Carrouges die but his pregnant wife would also be put to death for
8750-403: The crime of being a false accuser. In late December, shortly after Christmas, the combatants met just outside the walls of the abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs in the northern Paris suburbs. After a lengthy ceremony, the battle was joined, and after a furious and bloody encounter, Carrouges stabbed his opponent with a sword and claimed victory, being rewarded with substantial financial gifts and
8875-403: The dead organic matter would accumulate in an ecosystem, and nutrients and atmospheric carbon dioxide would be depleted. Decomposition processes can be separated into three categories— leaching , fragmentation and chemical alteration of dead material. As water moves through dead organic matter, it dissolves and carries with it the water-soluble components. These are then taken up by organisms in
9000-413: The defendant were taken in the mainour (that is, in the act of committing his crime), if he attempted to escape from prison, or if there was such strong evidence of guilt that there could be no effective denial, the defendant could not challenge. Similarly, if the plaintiff was a woman, above 60 years of age, a minor, lame or blind, they could decline the challenge, and the case would be determined by
9125-474: The duel would begin, and it was the responsibility of the issuer of the challenge to deliver (or attempt) the first blow. Incapacitating injuries or death would dictate victory, although other scenarios were possible as well. For instance, if the defendant could successfully parry all blows delivered by the agent until sundown, the defendant would be considered the victor. With the Counter-Reformation of
9250-643: The ecosystem or to gradual disruption of biotic processes and degradation of abiotic conditions of the ecosystem. Once the original ecosystem has lost its defining features, it is considered "collapsed ". Ecosystem restoration can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals . An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the abiotic pools (or physical environment) with which they interact. The biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. "Ecosystem processes" are
9375-498: The explosion of a blood feud. For this two chekavar fight each other in an arena for the king and die. For this they used sword and parija. When one of the chekavar defeated or killed the other in the public duel called the ankam, the two parties considered the matter closed without either having spilled any of their own blood. Kalaripayattu , the most ancient and important form of India, was practiced in Kerala. Its origins date back to
9500-421: The flow of energy through a lake was the primary driver of the ecosystem. Hutchinson's students, brothers Howard T. Odum and Eugene P. Odum , further developed a "systems approach" to the study of ecosystems. This allowed them to study the flow of energy and material through ecological systems. Ecosystems are controlled by both external and internal factors. External factors, also called state factors, control
9625-456: The following three centuries, there was latent tension between the traditional regional laws and Roman law. The Sachsenspiegel of 1230 recognizes the judicial duel as an important function to establish guilt or innocence in cases of insult, injury, or theft. The combatants are armed with swords and shields and may wear linen and leather clothing, but their heads and feet must be bare and their hands only protected by light gloves. The accuser
9750-551: The following year, in February 1819, in an Act ( Appeal of Murder, etc. Act 1819 ) introduced by the Attorney General Samuel Shepherd . At the same time, the writ of right and criminal appeals was also abolished. According to Gregory of Tours , King Childebert II ordered for two of his servants to engage in trial by combat against each other when he found a buffalo had been killed in his forest and one accused
9875-452: The forests of eastern North America still show legacies of cultivation which ceased in 1850 when large areas were reverted to forests. Another example is the methane production in eastern Siberian lakes that is controlled by organic matter which accumulated during the Pleistocene . Ecosystems continually exchange energy and carbon with the wider environment . Mineral nutrients, on
10000-651: The former physically handicapped in some way. The loser was killed. Otto the Great in 967 expressly sanctioned the practice of Germanic tribal law even if it did not figure in the more "imperial" Roman law. The celebrated case of Gero, Count of Alsleben , is a good example. The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 deprecated judicial duels, and Pope Honorius III in 1216 asked the Teutonic Order to cease its imposition of judicial duels on their newly converted subjects in Livonia . For
10125-430: The gauntlet ") and sometimes to go to separate churches and give five pence (for the five wounds of Christ) to the church. Early trials by combat allowed a variety of weapons, particularly for knights. Later, commoners were given war hammers , cudgels , or quarterstaves with sharp iron tips. The duelling ground was typically sixty feet square. Commoners were allowed a rectangular leather shield and could be armed with
10250-414: The gentlemanly duel of modern times which were outlawed only as late as in the 19th century. Hans Talhoffer in his 1459 Thott codex names seven offences that in the absence of witnesses were considered grave enough to warrant a judicial duel, viz. murder, treason , heresy , desertion of one's lord, "imprisonment" (possibly in the sense of abduction ), perjury /fraud, and rape. Wager of battle, as
10375-415: The institution would not be abused by the strong to overpower the weak, although the system was gamed in many ways bordering on the illegal. The duel would take place on the land of a lord impartial to both parties, or if this was not practicable, alla macchia , meaning on public lands. The herald read the accusation out loud and gave the defendant one last chance to confess. If the latter did not do so,
10500-496: The key neo-chimpanzee characters are eventually forced to choose between following the legal representatives of the surviving Planetary Government, or to follow their original leaders, Robert Oneagle and the young Tymbrimi Athaclena. Many of the major characters must weigh their personal feelings against patriotic duties and greater responsibilities. There is a trial by combat during the Uplift ceremony between Fiben Bolger and Irongrip for
10625-691: The landscape, versus one present on an adjacent steep hillside. Other external factors that play an important role in ecosystem functioning include time and potential biota , the organisms that are present in a region and could potentially occupy a particular site. Ecosystems in similar environments that are located in different parts of the world can end up doing things very differently simply because they have different pools of species present. The introduction of non-native species can cause substantial shifts in ecosystem function. Unlike external factors, internal factors in ecosystems not only control ecosystem processes but are also controlled by them. While
10750-409: The last degree". The writ of right was the most direct way, in the common law, of challenging someone's right to a piece of real property . The criminal appeal was a private criminal prosecution instituted by the accuser directly against the accused. It was not, unlike the contemporary appeal, a proceeding in a court of superior jurisdiction reviewing the proceedings of a lower court. Such
10875-537: The lead-up to the Battle of the North Inch , where a judicial duel is among the violent events culminating in a judicial battle between the clans before King Robert III of Scotland . The Carrouges–le Gris trial of 1386 was the subject of a 2004 book by Eric Jager. This book was adapted into a 2008 BBC Four documentary and dramatized in a 2021 film . Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire
11000-423: The living and dead plant matter, and eventually released through respiration. The carbon and energy incorporated into plant tissues (net primary production) is either consumed by animals while the plant is alive, or it remains uneaten when the plant tissue dies and becomes detritus . In terrestrial ecosystems , the vast majority of the net primary production ends up being broken down by decomposers . The remainder
11125-437: The lower social strata of the neo-chimp population (those with limited rights to breed), the Gubru subvert some of the neo-chimps in and around Port Helenia, the capital city. At the same time, a large group in the mountains, led by Robert Oneagle and Athaclena, engage in guerrilla warfare . Their combination of "wolfling" ingenuity and galactic diplomacy allow them to inflict significant damage, both psychological and physical, on
11250-471: The maintenance of hydrological cycles , cleaning air and water, the maintenance of oxygen in the atmosphere, crop pollination and even things like beauty, inspiration and opportunities for research. Many ecosystems become degraded through human impacts, such as soil loss , air and water pollution , habitat fragmentation , water diversion , fire suppression , and introduced species and invasive species . These threats can lead to abrupt transformation of
11375-408: The maintenance of hydrological cycles, cleaning air and water, the maintenance of oxygen in the atmosphere, crop pollination and even things like beauty, inspiration and opportunities for research. While material from the ecosystem had traditionally been recognized as being the basis for things of economic value, ecosystem services tend to be taken for granted. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
11500-528: The mode of proof for crown pleas since the Assize of Clarendon in 1166. With the emergence of the legal profession in the thirteenth century, lawyers, guarding the safety of the lives and limbs of their clients, steered people away from the wager of battle. A number of legal fictions were devised to enable litigants to avail themselves of the jury even in the sort of actions that were traditionally tried by wager of battle. The practice of averting trial by combat led to
11625-430: The modern concept of attorneys representing litigants. Civil disputes were handled differently from criminal cases. In civil cases, women, the elderly, the infirm of body, minors, and—after 1176—the clergy could choose a jury trial or could have champions named to fight in their stead. Hired champions were technically illegal but are obvious in the record. A 1276 document among Bishop Swinefield 's household records marks
11750-537: The other hand, are mostly cycled back and forth between plants, animals, microbes and the soil. Most nitrogen enters ecosystems through biological nitrogen fixation , is deposited through precipitation, dust, gases or is applied as fertilizer . Most terrestrial ecosystems are nitrogen-limited in the short term making nitrogen cycling an important control on ecosystem production. Over the long term, phosphorus availability can also be critical. Macronutrients which are required by all plants in large quantities include
11875-617: The other of the crime. In December 1386, one of the last trials by combat authorised by the French King Charles VI was fought in Paris. The trial was fought to decide a case brought by Sir Jean de Carrouges against squire Jacques le Gris , whom he accused of raping his wife Marguerite when Carrouges was in Paris conducting business. After lengthy hearings at the Parlement of Paris , with Jacques le Gris claiming that he had not committed
12000-509: The other. Despite this, the cumulative effect of additional species in an ecosystem is not linear: additional species may enhance nitrogen retention, for example. However, beyond some level of species richness, additional species may have little additive effect unless they differ substantially from species already present. This is the case for example for exotic species . The addition (or loss) of species that are ecologically similar to those already present in an ecosystem tends to only have
12125-475: The outcome of the case, but no contemporary account speaks of the trial by battle actually taking place. The last certain judicial battle in Britain was in Scotland in 1597, when Adam Bruntfield accused James Carmichael of murder and killed him in battle. Proposals to abolish trial by battle were made in the 17th century, and twice in the 18th, but were unsuccessful. In 1774, as part of the legislative response to
12250-403: The overall structure of an ecosystem and the way things work within it, but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem. On broad geographic scales, climate is the factor that "most strongly determines ecosystem processes and structure". Climate determines the biome in which the ecosystem is embedded. Rainfall patterns and seasonal temperatures influence photosynthesis and thereby determine
12375-530: The pity: Upon this Wednesday following Mortogh Cogge [O'Connor] appeared in the same place brought by the captains to the listes, and there stayed 2 hours making proclamation against his enemy by drum and trumpet, but he appeared not ... The only thing we commend in this action was the diligent travail of Sir Lucas Dillon and the Master of the Rolls [ Nicholas White ], who equally and openly seemed to countenance
12500-405: The plants in an ecosystem is called the gross primary production (GPP). About half of the gross GPP is respired by plants in order to provide the energy that supports their growth and maintenance. The remainder, that portion of GPP that is not used up by respiration, is known as the net primary production (NPP). Total photosynthesis is limited by a range of environmental factors. These include
12625-567: The practice just for being physically weak. Nevertheless, judicial duels continued to be popular throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. Trial by combat plays a significant role in the German schools of fencing in the 15th century. Notably, Hans Talhoffer depicts techniques to be applied in such duels, separately for the Swabian (sword and shield) and Franconian (mace and shield) variants, although other Fechtbücher such as that of Paulus Kal and
12750-585: The primary nutrients (which are most limiting as they are used in largest amounts): Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. Secondary major nutrients (less often limiting) include: Calcium, magnesium, sulfur. Micronutrients required by all plants in small quantities include boron, chloride, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, zinc. Finally, there are also beneficial nutrients which may be required by certain plants or by plants under specific environmental conditions: aluminum, cobalt, iodine, nickel, selenium, silicon, sodium, vanadium. Until modern times, nitrogen fixation
12875-413: The primary producers. The organisms that consume their tissues are called primary consumers or secondary producers — herbivores . Organisms which feed on microbes ( bacteria and fungi ) are termed microbivores . Animals that feed on primary consumers— carnivores —are secondary consumers. Each of these constitutes a trophic level. The sequence of consumption—from plant to herbivore, to carnivore—forms
13000-448: The proceedings as observed by one of the privy councillors is given in the State papers Ireland 63/104/69 (spelling adapted): The first combat was performed at the time and place accordingly with observation of all due ceremonies as so short a time would suffer, wherein both parties showed great courage by a desperate fight: In which Conor was slain and Teig hurt but not mortally, the more was
13125-549: The reign of Elizabeth I in the inner courtyard of Dublin Castle in Ireland on 7 September 1583. The dispute was between members of the sept of O'Connor Faly from King's County (modern County Offaly ), who were persuaded by two judges (referred to in the account below) to bring the matter before the Irish privy council for resolution. The dispute probably concerned dynastic power within
13250-472: The request for trial by combat in order to attract media attention to his case. At a rally for President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, former New York City mayor and Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani , made claims of voter fraud and called for a "trial by combat". The rally resulted in the storming of the United States Capitol . Walter Scott 's 1828 novel The Fair Maid of Perth dramatizes
13375-481: The right to choose patrons for their next stage of Uplift, as the Gubru attempt to co-opt the uplift of the neochimpanzees in order salvage the massive expense of building the hypershunt. In the end, Uthacalthing's joke succeeds beyond his wildest imaginings, as the partially uplifted gorillas suddenly come forward as Garthlings and indicate their willingness to be uplifted by the Thennanin, with Humans and Neo-Chimpanzees as their consorts (races tasked to ensure that uplift
13500-451: The same time, the Gubru and others find evidence of secret uplift in the mountains, and come to believe that Earthclan was hiding a secret effort to uplift Garthlings. The suzerains are unable to resolve their internal power struggles and begin scheming against one another. Fiben Bolger begins to fear that Earthclan's well-known naivete at Galactic punctilio could imperil the entire neo-chimpanzee population, both on Garth and on Earth. Some of
13625-480: The servant. In Scotland and Ireland, the practice was continued into the sixteenth century. In 1446, a trial by combat was arranged between two quarrelling Irish magnates, James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormonde , and the Prior of Kilmainham, but King Henry VI intervened personally to persuade them to settle their differences peacefully. The wager of battle was not always available to the defendant in an appeal of murder. If
13750-409: The soil and topography , control the overall structure of an ecosystem but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem. Internal factors are controlled, for example, by decomposition , root competition, shading, disturbance, succession, and the types of species present. While the resource inputs are generally controlled by external processes, the availability of these resources within the ecosystem
13875-611: The soil, react with mineral soil, or are transported beyond the confines of the ecosystem (and are considered lost to it). Newly shed leaves and newly dead animals have high concentrations of water-soluble components and include sugars , amino acids and mineral nutrients. Leaching is more important in wet environments and less important in dry ones. Fragmentation processes break organic material into smaller pieces, exposing new surfaces for colonization by microbes. Freshly shed leaf litter may be inaccessible due to an outer layer of cuticle or bark , and cell contents are protected by
14000-511: The soil, where plants, fungi, and bacteria compete for it. Some soil bacteria use organic nitrogen-containing compounds as a source of carbon, and release ammonium ions into the soil. This process is known as nitrogen mineralization . Others convert ammonium to nitrite and nitrate ions, a process known as nitrification . Nitric oxide and nitrous oxide are also produced during nitrification. Under nitrogen-rich and oxygen-poor conditions, nitrates and nitrites are converted to nitrogen gas ,
14125-483: The spatial extent of ecosystems using the term " ecotope ". G. Evelyn Hutchinson , a limnologist who was a contemporary of Tansley's, combined Charles Elton 's ideas about trophic ecology with those of Russian geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky . As a result, he suggested that mineral nutrient availability in a lake limited algal production . This would, in turn, limit the abundance of animals that feed on algae. Raymond Lindeman took these ideas further to suggest that
14250-454: The system through photosynthesis , building up plant tissue. Animals play an important role in the movement of matter and energy through the system, by feeding on plants and on one another. They also influence the quantity of plant and microbial biomass present. By breaking down dead organic matter , decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere and facilitate nutrient cycling by converting nutrients stored in dead biomass back to
14375-485: The territory of the O'Connors, and the parties, Teig and Conor, had accused each other of treason; the privy council granted their wish for trial by combat to take place on the following day, and for another such trial between two other members of the same sept to take place on the Wednesday following. The first combat took place as appointed, with the combatants "in their shirts with swords, targetts and skulles". An account of
14500-421: The transfers of energy and materials from one pool to another. Ecosystem processes are known to "take place at a wide range of scales". Therefore, the correct scale of study depends on the question asked. The term "ecosystem" was first used in 1935 in a publication by British ecologist Arthur Tansley . The term was coined by Arthur Roy Clapham , who came up with the word at Tansley's request. Tansley devised
14625-407: The treatises of Achille Marozzo (1536), Giovanni Battista Pigna (1554) and Girolamo Mutio (1560) have contributed to shed considerable light on the subject. The fundamental aspects of Italy's duelling customs were the following. The offended party ( attore or agent) had to accuse the defendant ( reo ) of an injury of words or deeds he received, in matters that could not be reliably proven in
14750-606: The trial by combat was called in English, appears to have been introduced into the common law of the Kingdom of England following the Norman Conquest and remained in use for the duration of the High and Late Middle Ages. The last certain trial by battle in England occurred in 1446: a servant accused his master of treason, and the master drank too much wine before the battle and was slain by
14875-613: The year 803 onwards. Louis the Pious prescribed combat between witnesses of each side, rather than between the accuser and the accused, and briefly allowed for the Ordeal of the Cross in cases involving clerics. In medieval Scandinavia, the practice survived throughout the Viking Age in the form of the holmgang . An unusual variant, the marital duel, involved combat between a husband and wife, with
15000-486: Was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat ; the winner of the fight was proclaimed to be right . In essence, it was a judicially sanctioned duel . It remained in use throughout the European Middle Ages , gradually disappearing in the course of the 16th century. Unlike trial by ordeal in general, which
15125-471: Was assisted by a second , often referred to as a squire . The role of the squire was to attend the battle and to arrange the particulars of the ceremony with the opposing squire. Over time, squires would meet and resolve disputes during negotiations over combat. Ample time was made for this by creating a process for checking the saddle and bridle of horses for prayer scrolls and enchantments and requiring litigants to exchange gloves (the origin of " throwing down
15250-514: Was declared innocent. This was the first instance of a trial by combat in the history of Italy. In the 730s, the Lombard king Liutprand (712–744) had lost confidence in the likelihood that the trial by battle would provide justice. He knew that the practice was subject to abuse. The jurisprudence of judicial duelling in Italy is particularly well documented in the 15th and 16th centuries. In particular,
15375-596: Was punished with outlawry . Fighting continued until one party was dead or disabled. The last man standing won his case. By 1300, the wager of combat had all but died out in favour of trial by jury. One of the last mass trials by combat in Scotland, the Battle of the Clans , took place in Perth in 1396. This event took the form of a pitched battle between teams of around thirty men each, representing Clan Macpherson and Clan Davidson , on
15500-679: Was the major source of nitrogen for ecosystems. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria either live symbiotically with plants or live freely in the soil. The energetic cost is high for plants that support nitrogen-fixing symbionts—as much as 25% of gross primary production when measured in controlled conditions. Many members of the legume plant family support nitrogen-fixing symbionts. Some cyanobacteria are also capable of nitrogen fixation. These are phototrophs , which carry out photosynthesis. Like other nitrogen-fixing bacteria, they can either be free-living or have symbiotic relationships with plants. Other sources of nitrogen include acid deposition produced through
15625-410: Was to be hanged on the spot. However, if he defeated his opponent, or if he were able to fend off his opponent from sunrise to sunset, he would go free. If the plaintiff said the word craven ("I am vanquished") and gave up the fight, he was to be declared infamous, deprived of the privileges of a freeman, and was liable for damages to his successful opponent. The earliest case in which wager of battle
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