Streetcar Named Desire Ghosts of the Past free essay sample

2. Plays often feature at least one ghost, either on stage or imagined in the form of haunting memories and burdens. Discuss this statement with reference to Streetcar. (NOVO 2010 HAL) In the tragedy Streetcar Named Desire the author Tennessee Williams brings out a ghost on stage through the haunting memories of Blanches past. The Flaws in Balance which are revealed to the audience by Stanley are rather shocking. It is revealed that Balance began to take part in cheap forms of entertainment at a hotel called Flamingo. According to Stanley the Flamingo did not mind these their guests asking part in these kinds of entertainment, although the management at the Flamingo was forced into throwing Balance out as she had made quite a reputation of herself. The audience is further made aware of Blanches horrific reputation when Stanley mentions that she had been fired from school as she had gotten into an affair with a 17 year old. We will write a custom essay sample on Streetcar Named Desire: Ghosts of the Past or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Even soldiers were asked to stay away from Balance. Her reputation was so famous that the mayor of Laurel had asked her to leave. Balance had nowhere else to go and that was the reason she showed up unannounced at Stella and Stanley house in Elysian Fields. These haunting memories of Blanches past are ironically revealed to the audience when she is taking a shower. Throughout the play Balance spends a lot of time in the shower, this is because the wants to symbolically cleanse herself of her haunting past and all the horrible things she had done in order to survive after losing her property, Belle Reeve. While Stanley is narrating the horrible truths to Stella about Blanches past, Balance is happily singing mystical and a fiction song with cardboard seas and paper moons. She believes that the only way she can get out of this situation is if she is helped by another man. She believes that Mitch can be this man. The line of the song It wouldnt be make believe if you believed in me which is consentingly being repeated tells us that Balance wanted Mitch to believe all her lies. Balance knew that if Mitch finds out the details about her past they would not be able to be together. If Mitch believes all her lies they can live happily together. Another key aspect about Blanches past which haunts her right through the play is the death of her former husband, Allan. Allan was a homosexual, at that time homosexuality was strictly forbidden and frowned upon by society. Balance is haunted by the memory Allan as she feels responsible for Élans death. Balance had caught Allan with another man. When she confronted him they were dancing to the variations which is a type of polish music. She said I saw! I know! You disgust me At that time this was a very appropriate reaction to have against homosexuals. Allan could not stand the humiliation of Balance knowing about his homosexuality so he committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth. Balance keeps on reliving this incident. This is brought out very clearly when she is having a conversation with Mitch. Balance hears the variations and tells Mitch, although he cannot hear anything and says What music? . Showing that this is only going on in Blanches head. Balance goes onto saying that the music stops once the gunshot is fired. The author very cleverly uses sound and music throughout the play as a part to stagecraft to symbolize various things. The variations symbolisms Blanches guilt and the reference to Allan. Preceding to this a gunshot is heard and the variations dies out. Over here the reader can see Balance being ha unted by past memories of Allan and her own actions.

20 Expository Essay Topics Meet Great Ideas on Evolution of Human Behavior

20 Expository Essay Topics Meet Great Ideas on Evolution of Human Behavior If you are in need of a good topic to use for your expository essay on the evolution of human behavior, then consider the list of twenty topics below. Remember that each of these topics is quite wide which means that in most cases you will need to revise the content, narrowing it down until you have a topic on which you can adequately write for the number of pages required from you. This means that almost any of the twenty topics listed below can be refined using a specific theory, researcher, time period, location, gender, age, study, book, or any other demographic. You can also use the same demographics to expand any topic listed below so as to fit a larger expository essay assignment, such as an assignment which spans more than ten to twenty pages in length: The Role Reason Plays in Human Behavior Evolution of Priming in Human Behavior First Impressions Recorded in Human Behavior Thucydides Views on Human Behavior Human Behavior and Genetics Human Behavior and Psychology Medical Care for Victims of Human Trafficking Human Behavior in Various Situations Zodiac Signs and their Relation to Human Behavior Human Behavior and Emulation Human Behavior in Fires: Historically to Now Human Behavior and Determinism Psychoanalysis to Explain Human Behavior Human Nature versus Nurture: The Real Impact Misconceptions about Human Nature Cognitive-Behavioral Theory and Human Nature Human Behavior and Literature: How it is Perceived Motivation and Human Behavior How the Color Red Impacts Human Behavior The Impact of Society on Human Behavior Aren’t those interesting topics? Feel free to also check our 10 facts on evolution of human behavior along with our guide on writing an expository essay on this topic. And there is more where that came from. Check an essay example written on one of the topics from the list above: Sample Expository Essay on the Evolution of Priming in Human Behavior In modern behavioral psychology, evolutionary questions can be asked about subconscious factors that may influence a person’s decisions and what precisely priming influences; is it personal experience, memories, emotions, stereotypes, social constructs, cultural background, group affiliations, or religious affiliations. Priming is a valuable tool for psychologists as it allows researchers to determine what influences a person’s decisions, thoughts, and perceptions using pictures, words, games, movies, and real life scenarios. These studies have found that exposure to certain priming materials can influence what a person thinks, such as stereotyping and decision-making processes. Priming was initially defined by Jacoby as sensitivity to certain stimuli based on a prior experience. Prior experience has been expounded upon to include prior photographic memories, written words, personal experiences, group thought, social constructs, and cultural upbringing. Thus, it is gene rally conceded that priming does not rely on explicit memory, but rather implicit memory. Understanding how names and faces affect a person’s cognitive processing for decision making is imperative to the study of priming. Banse (2001) used names and faces of people liked and disliked by the subjects as primes. Research focused on three hypotheses; stimuli which are related to the liked and disliked people would extract congruency priming effects; both the masked and the unmasked procedures would have similar effects; and individual difference would be related to relationship quality. The first hypothesis measured those primes which were clearly visible. The second trial removed priming with significant others or familiar friends and family by only showing unfamiliar faces. This allowed for a reserve priming effects to be demonstrated under the conditions of familiar and unfamiliar faces. As a group, priming effects consisting of names and faces provided strong evidence that these effects were caused by the activation of each person’s â€Å"schemata† o r their mental structure which represents pre-conceived ideas, their representation of the self, and a framework for organizing social information and aspects of the world. However, Banse’s study lacked consistent, explicit measures to support the correlational findings. Warren (2009) conducted further priming research using photos. He presented different pictures of people but kept the name the same for each. He found that the presentation of a word, which the researcher read aloud, had no effect on subsequent recognition of the picture. Ultimately, the study provided a categorization model which enables a more consistent analysis of data for the verbal system, much different than that categorization stage for pictures. It gave researchers the ability to interpret data which might otherwise have appeared contradictory. Rudman and Eugene (2002) are credited with research attributing to the theory that either temporary or chronic effects hold the ability to influence cognitive and behavioral reactions. Using a lexical decision task, they randomly assigned male subjects who were blocked on Pryor’s â€Å"Likelihood to Sexually Harass (LSH) scale† to a priming condition. Nonsexist and sexist words were incorporated as they pertained to women during their initial interview as well as the research setting, where the male participants interviewed female job applicants under high or low power conditions. Their study measured the priming manipulation as well as the stereotyped information acquiesced during the participants initial interview and their sexual behavior during the interview. Support was shown for the theory that the means of priming were sufficient enough to produce sex discriminatory behavior. Their work supported the conclusion that more than mere pictures could be used as primes . Specifically, words, and how those words are incorporated subconsciously within specifically altered settings has a significant effect on decision making. Embedded in their results is the theory that priming as a principal concept leads to subconscious activation of other concepts associated with the memory of the first. Their results allowed further opportunity to study whether or not the effects associated with one society can occur in another society if primed. Examining differences in the respective society’s judgments and behaviors would be a first step. More room for further study is necessary as in this literature the influences of cultural aspects such as honor, power, status and other variables greatly affected the consistency of the results. To date only supportive, not conclusive data exists regarding casual reasoning, another field with room for investigation. References: Arnold, John, and Joanne Silvester.  Work psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace. Pearson Education, 2005. Cool, V., Yarbrough, D. B., Patton, J. E., Runde, R. Experimental effects of radio and television distractors on children’s performance on mathematics and reading assignments. Journal of Experimental Education, (1994) 62, 181-194. Laland, Kevin N., and Gillian R. Brown.  Sense and Nonsense: Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behaviour. Oxford University Press, 2011. Lewens, Tim.  Cultural Evolution: Conceptual Challenges. OUP Oxford, 2015. Patton, J. E., Stinard, T. A., Routh, D. K. Where do children study? Journal of Educational Research, (1983). 76, 280-286. Pool, M. M., Koolstra, C. M., Van Der Voort, T. H. A. Distraction effects of background soap operas on homework performance: An experimental study enriched with observational data. Educational Psychology, (2003). 23, 361-380. Washburn, Sherwood Larned, and Elizabeth R. McCown. Evolution of human behavior.  Social Biology  19.2 (1972): 163-170.

Are Leaders Born Or Made How Do We Identify Leaders Do We Need Leaders Essay

Are Leaders Born Or Made How Do We Identify Leaders Do We Need Leaders In This Current Economic Climate - Essay Example This point has been explained in the present discourse by comparing two different organisations based on personal work experience. In the process, various aspects of leader and team behaviour, organisational systems, structure and management concepts have been used to explain leadership effectiveness and use of management concepts. This discourse presents an argument on leadership effectiveness in relation with leadership theories, management concepts and organisational culture. Leadership has been defined from different perspectives. Leadership at workplace has been the focus of many contemporary organisations. Contrary to the conventional management concepts and philosophy, the present-day organisations believe that leadership is essential for organisational sustenance. Daft defines leadership as the influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real change and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes (2007; p.4). In an organisational context, the essential eleme nts in leadership include the leader, influence, intention, personal responsibility and integrity, change, shared purpose, followers. These elements, although essential in any leadership concept, are specifically significant in an organisational context because this context brings together leaders by virtue of their position and people with a purpose. Such leadership is assigned leadership (Northouse, 2009). Another form of leadership is emergent leadership, which refers to leadership acquired by one’s actions, and ability to earn followers; this leadership is more commonly found in political groups, and lesser in organisational setups. Leadership has been defined in numerous ways by different people, and from different perspectives. One of the broad definitions proposed by Yuki is that leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accom plish shared objectives (, p.26). According to Bryman, â€Å"leadership is the creation of a vision about a desired future state which seeks to enmesh all members of an organisation in its net† (1986, p.6). Jackson and Parry (2007) highlight three aspects of leadership, which provide sufficient reasons to explore leadership. These aspects include the contemplative notion whether leaders were born or made; secondly, what are the characteristics of an effective leader; thirdly, what is the difference between leadership and management. These three aspects provide significant insight into the concept of leadership and management. Theoretical construct on the concept of leadership is vast and delves deep into aspects such as individuals’ personality, style, background etc (Contingency theories) along with situations (Situational leadership), culture, perceived values, vision (Visionary and transformational leadership) and even characteristics of followers. Various leadershi p characteristics have been proposed by many researchers, which gave rise to the trait theories of leadership. Some of the traits explained in these theories include intelligence, insight, responsibility, confidence, cognition, self-motivated, emotional intelligence etc (Northouse, 2007). Fiedler’s contingency theory of leadership emphasizes that leader’s effectiveness or the group’s performance is determined by leadership style and situational need. Leadership

Mongol Impact Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mongol Impact - Essay Example Moreover, under the Mongolian regime the communication system greatly improved. As regards to the negative impact of the Mongol invasion, their plunders, devastations and loots executed throughout the continents of Europe and Asia is viewed as their potent negativity. They also raped and brutally treated the innocent citizens thrusting upon them their religion which can be seen as another negativity of the Mongol Conquest. Also, the blood-thirsty image of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan is a well-accepted fact unanimously affirmed by all the historians which cannot be undermined. Overall, the Mongol invasion did have much negative sides when they are treated as plunderers and invaders. However, the great development and unification the Mongols brought about throughout the continents of Asia and Eastern Europe cannot be undermined. The all-around socio-economic development did occur throughout the continents holding the hands of the Mongols under whom the Persian silk trade or the rapid development of communication took place (President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2013; Stetson University,

Motivation Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Motivation - Speech or Presentation Example This is useful to the organization because it will manage to achieve its own objectives, satisfying its customers and the various stakeholders of an organization. Take for example a cashier serving customers in a retailing organization; a cashier who is well motivated will be (Higgins, 2012); On this basis, the advantages of motivating the employees of an organization will result to the production of high quality work (Karabenick and Urdan, 2010). It is always the role of a manager to motivate his own work force. There are a number of ways and methods of motivating the workforce of an organization. These methods include, It is important to denote that these activities fall under a motivational theory. There are a number of motivational theories developed by scholars of management and psychology. One such theory is the expectancy theory. This is a theory developed by Victor Vroom, and it gives a proposal that people will behave in a certain manner, because of a reward that is attached to the action under consideration (Higgins, 2012). For example, an employee in a manufacturing organization will decide work double shifts in case of shortages of work force, and in return, the employee will expect to get some compensation and praise from the management. Another theory is the equity theory developed by John Adams in 1963. This theory denotes that employees of an organization will be motivated if they are treated equally. For example, if employees of an organization perform the same job, i.e. they are both accountant, then the management should pay them an equal salary (Karabenick and Urdan, 2010). Failure for an organization to treat its employees equally could result to a de-motivated work force. Another theory is the hierarchy of needs theory by Abraham Maslow (Higgins, 2012). This theory denotes that the employees of an organization have several needs, and they are hierarchical in

Integrated Marketing communications used by HP

Integrated Marketing communications used by HP This case study analyses the marketing communication theories adapted by Hp as it progressed to being the worlds number one pc manufacturer in 2007. Its emergence as a global company in 1957 opened a window of opportunity. The theories addressed will aid in forming a combination of the key concepts used by Hp for its global campaign to increase customer loyalty and boost sales. A number of practises are seen to have developed along various communications and marketing theories. However, critical analysis of Hps 63- year development will show a lack of adherence to some very useful models by some academic scholars. A viable description of marketing through effective communication was made by Smith (2002), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦strategy of choice in a competitive environment is proactive, two -way communication, in which organisation plan for and initiate relationships with the people important to their success, emphasising dialogue over monologue and using various techniques to interact with their publics. Background Hewlett Packard, known as HP, is an electronics producer which was founded in 1939 in California by Bill Hewlett and David Packard. Since its birth the company has gained prominence around the world, becoming a major leader in the industry of electronics and technology. Early product designs produced by the company include inventions such as the resistance-capacitance audio oscillator named Model 200A. It is the manufacturing of products such as the Model 200A that have shaped the future for technology and helped pioneer many of todays products. In 1966, HP introduced the worlds first computer. In 1968 the company then unveiled the first desktop scientific calculator and named it the personal computer (PC). It was this event which boosted HP in to mainstream significance during the 1980s and became leading players in the technological industry. This was established in 1995, when HP entered the home computing market. In 2001the company merged with Compaq forming HP Compaq. This merger ensured efforts were made to further establish the brand as a leading company in the IT and computer industry. This was done through aggressive marketing tactics done through the concept of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). 1. Critical evaluation of the role of integrated marketing communications in the success of Hewlett-Packard since 2001 Joep cornelissen (2008) definition of corporate communication is as follows: Corporate communication is a management function that offers a frame work for the effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of establishing and maintaining favourable reputation with stake holder groups up on which the organisation is dependent. But using of this approach is not always good as some critics may say despite of 20 years of debate most practitioner still see that integrated marketing communication is emerging discipline (eagle and kitchen 2000) rather than fully formed concept. Like many other concept that have yet to fully develop it is subject to fully varying and some times colourful terminology. Thus 360 branding, total branding , whole egg, seam less communication, new advertising, orchestration, relationship marketing, one to one marketing, integrated marketing and integrated communications (Pickton and Broadrick 2001) have all been used to describe all or part of integrated marketing communications concepts promoting the charge that integrated marketing communication is yet another fad. What most observers agree on is that integrated marketing communication is good idea but very hard to implement in practice Like all companies, HP is a company whose primary aim is to make a profit. However whilst this is a common company goal, there are still necessary guideline which should be followed in order to achieve this. Fill (2006) recommends that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the process of developing corporate strategy demands that a series of objectives be set at different levels within an organisation. Grunig et al (1992) states that two-way communication, a form of communication which is also practiced by PR practitioners, is a helpful tool from which a mutual understanding can be developed between stakeholders. One of criticisms of HP was that the company was focused more on the advancement of technological innovation. The corporate image of the company was seen as being obsessed with innovative progression and undermining the value of its customers. Shutz et al (1992) cited in Clarke (1997, pg 93) states that such actions are damaging to a company and that customer based communication must be practiced at all times. You cannot depend on the product alone to build consumer confidence. Its the rapport, the empathy, the dialogue, the relationship, the communication you establish with the customer that makes the difference. These separate you from the pack. For all of HPs innovative output and diverse range of products, its market position was infringed through a lack of market research and poor internal organisation. Smith (2002) refers to the work of Tom Harris, who is a leading advocate of integrating communications. He describes integrated communications as an outside-in process that begins with an understanding of the consumer publics, particularly their wants, interests, needs and lifestyles. Fill et al (2001), however, argues that many practitioners deliberately persuade a target audience to behave in a particular way, while others persuade them. In whatever instance it might be, understanding the customers needs, which may in turn change their behavioural pattern, is not a necessarily bad evil. Hp deliberately changed their communications strategy to affect the buying behaviour in their customer through effective brand campaigns that brought mutual satisfaction to both consumer and HP. Clarke (1997) explained that for consulting firms to effectively handle marketing and communications they must reflect the overall objectives of the organisation. Todays market calls for a strategically integrated approach to marketing communications. Hp would have to reorganise its marketing communication s division in to one that is coherent to attract customers. Oliver (2001) defined this as the system Theory - which she said evaluates the relationship and structure as they relate to the whole. Market research builds the right perception and recognise the needs and behaviour of current and future customers; evident in the theory of cognition. The history of HP showed there was lack of strategic planning and changes on marketing and communication structures were needed. During 1960s, consumers probably did not know any better or did not have a chance to choose; and this could force them to adhere to HP products. However, now a days Kotler et al (2008) affirms consumers receive thousands of information per day. In this context, in 2002, HP realized that the company needed to invest in its corporate image. So, the company launched brand advertisement campaigns. In 2006, they create the Computer is personal again, which had focus on personal relationship that public have with its computers. By analysing the competitors, this campaign was based to convince customer that the best way to buy a PC was in a retail shop, where they could touch it. This was an opportunity to differentiate from its main competitor Dell, which has a strong internet sales record. Fill (2009) believes that the marketing segmentation is necessary to meet the consumer need and to have a functional and competitive-level strategy. The Computer is personal again campaign was structured to appeal to young generation, which the company believed to be customers with similar needs and responses. HP targeted the youth market and position itself as a customer loyal corporation. In this scenario, the marketing communication strategies combined channels online and offline and integrated all marketing efforts such as PR, sales, advertisement. Shimp (2000) states that mixing marketing communication elements is decisive to achieve the target public and a specific objective. Also. HP emphasized advertisement and sales promotion in order to maximize the sales, creating a Synergistic effect. Undoubtedly, every channel used by this campaign had a consistent message, which complemented each other. Cornelissen (2008) says the company should communicate on ongoing basis and themed m essages reinforce perceptions of how an organization wants to be seen. Marketing Integration Holm (2006) states that Smith (1999) developed a tool, from which there are seven levels through where marketing integration can occur. Holm says these seven levels are: Vertical objectives integration It means that communication objectives fit with marketing objectives and the overall corporate objectives. Horizontal/functional integration Marketing communications activities fit well with other business functions of manufacturing, operations and human resource management. Marketing mix integration The marketing mix of product, price and place decisions is consistent with the promotion decisions, e.g. with the required communication messages. Communications mix integration. All the 12 communications tools are being used to guide the customer/consumer/client through each stage of the buying process and all of them portray a consistent message. Creative design integration The creative design and execution is uniform and consistent with the chosen positioning of the product. Internal/external integration All internal departments and all external employed agencies are working together to an agreed plan and strategy. Financial integration The budget is being used in the most effective and efficient way ensuring that economies of scale are achieved and that long-term investment is optimized. Let us examine personal again campaign at each of these seven levels: Vertical Objective Integration: level of coordination between communication objective, corporate objective and marketing objective. . Corporate objective: Customer loyalty, profit, growth, market leadership, commitment to employees, leadership capabilities and global citizenship. (Source: www.hp.com) Marketing objective: To increase market share, compete with Dell, target young generation Communication objective: Focus on personal relationships to PC and show consumers the different tasks made possible by HP technology Synergy can be seen among these objectives. All advertisements were base on same theme where celebrities from different field were talking about how HP PC and technology is part of their life. Faces were not shown in any of the commercials and focus was on different tasks that HP makes easy. It reinforces customer loyalty which is corporate objective of HP. Advertisements in this campaign were appealing to young generation and through social media viral effect HP reached new customers which were otherwise non-respondent to traditional media, thus increasing market share. Horizontal/functional Integration: fit of MarCom and business functions like operations and HRM HP had strength in selling through retail stores in consumer segments rather than selling online which was Dells core competence. New campaign communicated that PC is a commodity which is close anyones personal life, its a part of life rather. It pushed customers to visit the nearest retail store to touch, feel and learn how HP technology can be useful to them. Marketing mix integration: How well the promotion (with communication message) goes with the other 3 Ps of marketing mix Although the general theme of the campaign was universal throughout the 100 countries where HP was doing business, some variation can be seen according to place and price. For example in India personal again campaign was supported by Business is Personal Again campaign that targeted SMEs. Although the basic theme remained unchanged, local celebrities and eminent personalities were used for promotion in particular places. Communications mix integration: Different communication tools portray a consistent message Every channel used to communicate message delivered consistent message. TV commercials, internet promotion, PR program, newspaper, billboards, reality shows etc. whichever medium was used for MarCom in personal Again campaign was complement to each other and had same tone/message. Creative design integration: creative design is in accordance with the positioning of the product With this new campaign HP wanted to acquire a trendier brand image. They wanted to target youth market and position itself as a consumer loyal company. Personal again campaign was very much on the line. It relied heavily on animations. Hand gestures were used to convey connectivity, assurance, and emotional connect. Celebrities shown in the commercial were those, who are followed by young generation. Events which were of special interest of youth, like Super Bowl and reality show meet or Delete were focused for marketing communication. Internal/external integration: Internal departments and external agencies work in synergy according to an agreed plan Personal Again campaign was designed by GSP, which is HPs advertising agency since 1996. All previous campaigns were also handled by same agency. Although not much evidences about the extent of coordination of HP and GSP are provided in the case but because of this long period of relationship; mutual trust and understanding between both can be expected. Financial integration: efficient utilization of budget ensuring long-term investment optimization Not sufficient information is provided in the case about budget allocation of Personal Again campaign Also, HP used celebrities in its advertisement in order to emotional connect the public. Fill (2009) citing Patzer suggests that the physical attractiveness of the communicator, particularly if it is the source, contributes significantly to the effectiveness of persuasive communications (Patzer in Fill, 2009, p.43) Celebrities from different field expressed how PC makes their lives easy. The identification of young people with celebrities encouraged the sales and reinforced customer loyalty. The brand value of HP increased 9% after the campaign. The celebrities enables the message to stand out among the clutter and noise that typify many markets (Fill, 2009, p.509). This concept was used by HP to persuade the sales and making the product more attractive to the target public through association with MTV channel. However, Fill (2009) adverts there are two main concerns about the use of celebrities on campaigns. The first one is if the celebrity fit in the image of the brand and if they will be acceptable by the target audience. The other is that the public may remember the celebrity, but not the brand. The use of celebrities and the creation of a realty show Meet or delete on the campaign Computer is personal again influenced the consumer behaviours as it motivate them to buy. Dibb et al (2001) say there are several factors that can persuade a purchase such as personal, psychological and social influence and describe motive as energy giving a persons activities towards satisfying a need or where achieving a goal (Dibb et al, 2001, p.133). Shimp (2000) affirms that advertising may influence consumer to buy items they may not need. The consumer buying decision process has 5 stages: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase evaluation, according to Dibb et al (2001). HP created awareness to young people by offering a PC not as commodity, but as extension of person life. The buzz generated by launching first videos on the internet and after in TV made consumer looking for more Knowledge about the product. However, the main goal of t his campaign was to interact with consumers, which could be helpful in the post-purchase evaluation phase as customers could trust that HP would be there if they need anything. Instead of creating a campaign to compete directly against Dell, HP could have done a public relation strategic planning. Smith (2002) citing Al Riel and Laure Riel explains that The purpose of advertising is not to build a brand, but to defend a brand once the brand has been built by other means, primarily public relation [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] (Al Riel and Laure Riel in Smith, 2002, p.9). A PR plan could identify and evaluate the organization viability and reputation, where a mutual beneficial relationship between company and consumer could be build, according to Smith (2002). The lack of market research and planning were the main problem of HP. By realizing a SWAT analysis, the company could have set clear objectives and develop a marketing and communication targets that would be the foundation for a nine steps strategic public relation plan. This plan would be beneficial to HP as company goal would be based on research and evaluation. Also, it would allow the HP to monitor the competi tor as a point of reference. HP used or could potentially use the following marketing tools to aid their Personal Again campaign. Category Communication Tool Media Broadcast: Television (Meet or Delete) Print: Newspaper, Magazines Internet: Social Networking Sites, Blogs, Interactive websites, Viral Video, Direct Response and Interactive Online ads featuring celebrities Adverts on websites such as: Yahoo, MTV, MySpace, MSN, Weather Channel, CIO, Forbes, Entrepreneur, InfoWorld, CNet. HPs own interactive websites: www.meetordelete.com and www.fingerskilz.tv Social networking and blog sites Outdoor Billboard Sponsorship Celebrity endorsement 2. Discuss the importance of branding, branding strategy and brand positioning to Hewlett-Packard in developing competitive advantage Brand can be defined as identifiable product, service [..] augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique added values which match their needs (Chernatony and McDonald, 2005, p.25). Xie and Boggs (2006) believes that a brand is a result from product differentiation and strategy of market segmentation. Organizations are changing their communication strategy to keep the consumers attention on the corporation and not anymore on the products. Until 2002, HP had not developed a unified image as the company used to invest less than 10% of its advertisement budget on brand ads. HP has focus to being innovative and to diversify its products line, but lack in market research and in position itself to get a competitive advantage from the competitors. Having focus on the corporate branding means the organization behaviour will have more exposure and be more visible and transparent in its activities. When corporate branding works, it is because it expresses the values of desire that attract key stakeholders to the organisation and encourage them to feel a sense of belonging to it (Hatch and Schultz, 2001, p. 1046). So, in 2003, this company introduce Operation one Voice in order to have a consistent message and an identified image for the external and internal public. Chernatony and McDonald (2005) believe that a successful brand has as objective to build a positive relationship with costumer, where feelings of commitment and belonging are presented. For a long time, HP has negligence the importance of connect with consumer. Just in 2006, to differentiate from competitors, HP redefined the PC as personal and not anymore as commodity. From decades, HP has an advantage from competitor for investing in technologic research. However, in the beginning of 90s, the consumers had more options and the competitors such as a Dell revelled themselves with a strong presence in the market. A positive point is that HP has a monolithic identity structure to reinforce the corporate brand, where all the products carry the corporate name. That strategy is a fundamental tool to build a strong reputation. The advantage of using a corporate branding is to apply the vision and culture as part of sales promotion and also to add a unique organisational value. Cornelissen (2008) believes that structure core emphasises the alignment between vision, culture and image. Also, he suggests using the toolkit developed by Hatch and Schultz to analyse the alignment or gap between vision, culture and image, by questioning the interface between those tree elements. Hatch, M, and Schultz, M. (2001) Bringing the corporation into corporate branding, European Journal of Marketing, vol. 37, no. 7/8, pp. 1041-1064. HP vision aims to be leader in its segment, to invent technologies and services that add value to business and also to create social benefit to consumers lives. Its identity seeks to be an innovative company, which produces range of quality products. In this context, there is not an alignment between vision and culture, because HP had not differentiated its strategies from competitors, imitating Dell direct sale tactics. Also, it seems to have a gap between culture and image as consumer have not perceived HP as an organization worried about their needs, but more concerned about develop new technologies .However, vision and image seem to be alignment as the company has a clear idea who is its main stakeholders and it understands the importance to communicate with them on ongoing basis. HP also is involved in corporate social responsibility projects and those help to communicate and reinforce its vision to its stakeholders. For a long period, HP prioritized its objectives, instead of the customers needs. Its products were advertised separately and interestingly did not use a lower price tatic as competitive advantage. According to Sengupta (2007), the position of a brand is determinate by the target consumers. Position then represents the essence of the brand as perceived the target consumer in a multi brand market'(Sengupta, 2007, p. 17). So, HP strategically reinvented the computer, giving a personal touch. In this context, the organization added 9% value to brand in 2007. Sengupta (2007) adverts that the company need to know who they are first and then create awareness in order to position the brand. By interacting with costumers through blogs and website, HP is changing the way how the public perceived its brand. The importance of position correctly a brand can be recognized in Sengupta citation: Position creates uniqueness, credibility, sustainable and valued place in consumers mind for brand (Sengupta, 2007, p. 17). Chernatony and McDonald (2005) affirms that a successful brand is a result of how much value the customers add to a product or a service. HP repositioned the brand, by differentiating the concept of PC. Xie and Boggs (2006) affirm that products and services are quickly imitated and homogenized, maintaining credible product differentiation is increasingly difficult, requiring the positioning of the whole corporation rather than simply its products (Xie and Boggs, 2006, p.349). HP has been investing in technologic research since 1960. In the beginning, the company had focus in hospital equipments and it seems HP looked just to niches, instead of looking the entire market for a long term strategy. However, its brand has extending to computers, printers and digital cameras. Because HP was recognized as an innovative company, this image was transferred to the news products lines. Consumers recognize the name and make associations that enable them to lower the perceived risk and in doing so provide a platform to try a new product (Fill, 2009, p 508). HP expertises in computers were extended to printers and digital cameras. Chernatony and McDonald (2005) states that one factor of success on brand extension is to build and sustain a favourable reputation for a parent brand. Reputation also is an important aspect on consumers loyalty. After decades, HP understood the importance to look what the brand means to the customers. By knowing the core associations that co nsumers perceived the brand, it is more likely to be successful in an expansion. HP targeted young consumers as this public and the company share values such as interest for technologies and innovation. That helps to create a connection. In 2006, a blog, which was part of HP association with FIFA World Cup website, attracted more than 180 thousands visitors. 3. Major challenges ahead for Hewlett-Packard Recommendations HP had certainly done good job on the front of integrated marketing communication by launching the new campaigns and other supporting campaigns. But while doing that there were some areas which were not addressed HPs ability to recognise the need to change its marketing and communication strategy purposefully led to its growth by 2007. Smith R.D. (2002) described campaigns as systematic sets of public relations activities, each with a specific and finite purpose, sustained over a length of time and dealing with objectives associated with a particular issue. Management was able to change the structure, process and relationship within the company to establish lasting partnership with its customers. The advertisements were able to persuade customers in to buying by evoking an inherent desire to be part that a celebrity group. However, to be able to sustain this flow, Hp will have to develop long term strategic marketing communications plans through continual market research and development. Extensive use of celebrity endorsement by having a long term association with celebrities there is a risk that any indecent behaviour of celebrity may affect the companys image. Company was over focused on advertising and under used other elements of communication mix like personal selling, sales promotion, PR. As the company grows in size and market share with huge number of customers, company also needs to address the retaining of existing customers. As small and medium business sector is emerged very attractive segment company should try to acquire number of customers in this segment as in the last campaign some critics said that the campaign was more focused on consumer sector rather than SME and corporate. In the current era of globalisation the economies are interlinked and interdependent on each other. There are new challenges arsing from this kind of phenomenon. To overcome from this kind of situation Doole and Lowe (2001) describe the companies are adopting a long term strategies, where marketing programmes and process are standardised and at the same time it has been adapt to local needs. It is important to understand the differences and similarities between local markets. Due this globalisation where new markets are opening like India, China, Brazil the company must adopt the strategy according to the culture of these countries Fill (2009) states from marketing communication perspectives, the prevailing culture in a region must be respected, otherwise it is likely that a brand and or organization will be rejected (Fill, 2009, p. 842). Kotler (2002) Multi-brand strategy: Multi-brand strategy enables a company to lock up more distributor shelf space and to protect its major brand by setting up flanker brands RECOMMENDATIONS Use the multiband strategy in future to acquire the more shelf space and beat the competition. Use personal selling as tool to improve sales. Use combination of push and pull strategy. More emphasis on sales promotions in store Use of PR to retain existing customer and maintain good relationship with stakeholders. Become more interactive with consumers through new media (develop message board and forums) Focus on corporate advertising as well as consumer advertising Continuous development of innovative new products Integrate at Different Levels of management. Put integration on the agenda for various types of management meetings whether annual reviews or creative sessions. Horizontally ensure that all managers, not just marketing managers understand the importance of a consistent message whether on delivery trucks or product quality. Also ensure that Advertising, PR, Sales Promotions staff are integrating their messages. To do this you must have carefully planned internal communications, that is, good internal marketing. Think Customers First. Wrap communications around the customers buying process. Identify the stages they go through before, during and after a purchase. Select communication tools which are right for each stage. Develop a sequence of communications activities which help the customer to move easily through each stage. Build Relationships and Brand Values. All communications should help to develop stronger and stronger relationships with customers. Ask how each communication tool helps to do this. Remember: customer retention is as important as customer acquisition. Develop a Good Marketing Information System which defines who needs what information when. A customer database for example, can help the telesales, direct marketing and sales force. IMC can help to define, collect and share vital information.

Huck Finn :: essays research papers

Chapter 33 Huck meets Tom Sawyer on the road and stops his carriage. Tom is frightened and thinks he is seeing a ghost, but Huck reassures him and they settle down. Huck then tells Tom what has happened at the Phelps's and Tom thinks about what they should do. He then tells Huck to return to the farm with his suitcase while he returns to the town and starts the trip over. Huck gets back and soon thereafter Tom arrives. The family is excited because they do not get very many visitors so they make Tom welcome. Tom makes up a whole story about his hometown and then impudently kisses Aunt Sally right on the mouth. She is so shocked that she nearly hits him over the head with her spinning stick until Tom tells her that he is Sid Sawyer. Silas then explains that Jim revealed to him what a scandal the Royal Nonesuch really was. Silas says that he told the rest of the town, and he figures they will ride the two cheats out of town that night. Huck and Tom climb out of their windows in a last minute attempt to warn the Duke and King, but they are too late. They see the two men being paraded through the street all covered in tar and feathers. Huck remarks that human beings can be awfully cruel to one another. Chapter 34 Tom and Huck think about ways to break Jim out of his prison. Huck plans to get the raft, steal the key to the padlock, unlock the door and then float down the river some more. Tom tells him that plan is too simple and would work too well. Tom's plan is much more elaborate and stylish, and takes a great deal longer to implement. The boys go to the hut where Jim is being kept and search around. Finally Tom decides that the best way, or at least the way that will take the longest, is to dig a hole for Jim to climb out of. The next day he and Huck follow the black man who is delivering Jim's food. Jim recognizes them and calls them by name, but both boys pretend not to have heard anything. When he has a chance, Tom tells Jim that they are going to dig him out. Jim is so happy he grabs Tom's hand and shakes it.

Financial Planning Informative Speech

Speech 4 – Informative Speech We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, â€Å"Stay the course. † Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. ~ Lee Iacocca Finance planning legend. A probably angry Lee Iacocca was indicating that finance is something that has to be pre-planned, planned, re-planned and even post-planned.Financial planning in itself does not involve just setting budgets, wage rates or deadlines. It is all about getting to know realistic work schedule, the manner in which they can be executed, back up plans that can be used and the least cost with the help of which the entire project can be executed. So basically, financial planning and growth forecasting, both i nvolve, the answers to the 4 important questions, why, when, where and how (answers have to be cost oriented). Steps in Long Term Financial PlanningStep 1: Let us take the example of a coffee shop, whereas a financial planner, one has to find legitimate answers to 4 questions, namely: Why should we be producing a specific item on the menu card? (consider cost of production and sales price) When should we produce such an item and for what time duration? (bear in mind seasonal costs, inflation of raw material prices) Where should we produce the item, right in the shop or some production center? (consider transport cost, nature of goods and selling cost) How should one produce the item, manually or mechanically? consider equipment and personnel cost) Step 2: The second step is to assess your business environment. In this step, surveying the competitor's performance, pricing and distribution is an absolute necessity. In such a scenario, you may also prepare a cost sheet of the financial features of production, namely, the money that you would have to invest as a manufacturing cost, its sales cost, and the profit that it would yield. Logically speaking, the sale price should be more than the cost price and the return over asset ratio/return over investment ratio should be healthy.While finalizing these three figures, you will need to take into consideration 3 important aspects. Average spending capacity of your customers. Your competitor's quality, quantity and price. Popularity of the product, potential market, customer retaining capacity of the product, etc. Though the trend of such products is more experimental in nature, they might become full-time, public favorite products, hence it is also important to make a financial provision to recover losses, that arise in the experimental period, until the product establishes itself in the market.Step 3: The third and fourth step are more analytical in nature and from the finance point of view, they are also quite expan sive. The idea that you need to implement in the third step is allocation of resources in such a manner that you tend to make a genuine profit in sales, during the long run. In this step, you will be using and analyzing cash flow statements on almost a daily basis. The key is to have uniform cash outflows for consecutive days/months/years. Cash outflow is basically all expenses and losses. Losses are quite uncontrollable but expenses are definitely controllable.Hence search for raw material sources, manpower and production processes that will help you to maintain a uniform and low per unit cost for the item/product. For example have regular suppliers, who will supply at an agreed and uniform cost. This uniformity will eventually come in handy to curb and control unexpected losses, and will also help you to keep a good hold over the market. The second part of the third step is making monetary provisions. This is absolutely essential due to the fact that no business is risk-free. Such provisions include advance to the raw material supplier, insurance, provisions for bad debts, extra services, etc.Step 4: I would like to call this step as retain, sustain and entertain. This step is quite an advanced one, and basically includes many different aspects, that aim at retaining the customers. The first important function of this step is to generate regular data and cash flow statements. With the help of these statements you will realize whether that very item on the menu is proving to be profitable or not. At the same time, you also need to maintain a statement that records cash inflows and outflows over a longer period of time (in months or a quarter).Thus, you will realize what is profitable for your business, and what your customers want. To sum up the whole theory, it can be said that long term finance planning is a 3 dimensional graph, with customer, product and market being the dimensions. The essence of cost and time are added to every dimension. After all, the key to successful long term financial planning is to facilitate all three dimensions logically, bearing in mind the essence of time and money. Read more at Buzzle: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/long-term-financial-planning. html

South America

Introduction The continent of South America has about one-eighth of the Earth's land surface, situated between latitudes 12 °N-55 °S and longitudes 80 °-35 °W; no other continent has a greater latitudinal span. Eighty percent of its land mass is within the tropical zone, yet it extends into the subantarctic. The extensive zones of temperate and cold climates in the vicinity of the Equator, in the Andes, are unique. The land area of about 17,519,900-17,529,250 km? is under the jurisdiction of 13 countries (Table 49); French Guiana is governed as an overseas department of France.The region's 1995 population of c. 320 million people is estimated to reach 452 million people in 2025. Three of the world's 21 megacities are in South America: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro (WRI, UNEP and UNDP 1994). Geological setting Although the neotropics may be conveniently considered as a single phytogeographic unit, the region is geologically complex. The neotropics include not only the South American continental plate but the southern portion of the North American plate, as well as the independent Caribbean plate (Clapperton 1993).The complicated geological history of the region, for example as these plates intermittently separated and collided through the Cretaceous and the Tertiary, provides the milieu within which plant evolution has been superimposed. South America has been an island continent during most of the period of angiosperm evolution, whereas Central America constitutes one of the two tropical parts of the Laurasian â€Å"world continent†. Both South America and North America have been moving westward, roughly in tandem, since the breakup of Pangaea in the Mesozoic.In contrast, the Antillean plate with its flotsam of Antillean islands formed only during the Cenozoic and has moved in a retrograde eastern direction, at least with respect to its larger neighbours. Whereas South America and North America have been widely separated through most of their geological histories, there has been generally increasing contact between them through most of the Cenozoic, culminating in their coalescence with formation of the Isthmus of Panama c. 3. 1 million years ago (Keigwin 1978).The date of this epochal event in neotropical geological history has been gradually estimated to be younger, with estimates of 5. 7 million years ago giving way to as recently as 1. 8 million years ago (Keller, Zenker and Stone 1989). In addition to their Pleistocene connection via the Isthmus of Panama, South America and North America apparently were more or less directly interconnected via the protoAntilles for a short time near the end of the Cretaceous, prior to formation of the Caribbean plate (Buskirk 1992).The outstanding geological feature of South America is the Andes, the longest mountain range in the world, which extends in a nearly straight line of over 7000 km from the north to the southern tip of the continent. The Andes have the highest mo untain in the Western Hemisphere, the highest mountain in the world's tropics, and as measured from the centre of the Earth (rather than metres above sea-level), the highest mountain in the world.The most important break in the north-south sweep of the â€Å"cordillera† is the Huancabamba Depression in northern Peru, where the eastern chain of the cordillera is entirely ruptured (by the Maranon River) and even the western chain dips to 2145 m (at the Abra de Porculla). The existence of this massive mountain range has had profound effects on plant and animal evolution in South America, and consequently has profound effects on essential conservation priorities.In essence, the Andes represent a classical plate tectonic upthrust of continental rock, as the leading edge of the westward-moving South American plate collides with the oceanic Pacific plates. The Southern Andes are the oldest, with significant uplift already present in early Cenozoic times, prior to the Oligocene. Most of the uplift of the Central Andes was in the Miocene or later, whereas most of the uplift of the northern portion of the cordillera has been Plio-Pleistocene (van der Hammen 1974).To the north the Andes become more geologically complex, breaking into three separate cordilleras on the Ecuador/Colombia border. Much of the north-western margin of South America, including Colombia's western and central cordilleras, appears to be amassed â€Å"suspect terrane† rather than an integral part of the South American continental plate (Juteau  et al. 1977; McCourt, Aspden and Brook 1984). Much of the rest of the South American continent consists of two great crystalline shields that represent the western portion of what was once Gondwanaland.The north-eastern portion of the continent constitutes the Guayana Shield, whereas much of Brazil south of Amazonia is underlain by the Brazilian Shield. These two major shields were formerly interconnected across what is today the Lower Amazon. They consist of a Precambrian igneous basement overlain by ancient mucheroded Precambrian sediments. The Guayana region has been the most heavily eroded, with basement elevations mostly below 500 m interrupted by massive flattopped table mountains, the fabled â€Å"tepuis†, typically rising to 2000 m or 2500 m.The peak of the highest of these, Cerro Neblina or Pico da Neblina on the Venezuela/Brazil border, reaches an altitude of 3015 m and is the highest point in South America outside the Andes. The tepuis and similar formations are highest and most extensive in southern Venezuela, becoming smaller and more isolated to the west and east where La Macarena near the base of the Andes in Colombia and the Inini-Camopi Range in French Guiana respectively represent their ultimate vestiges.The quartzite and sandstone of the Guayana Shield erode into nutrient-poor sands, and much of the Guayana region is characterized by extreme impoverishment of soils. The rivers draining this regio n are largely very acidic blackwater rivers, of which the Rio Negro is the most famous. The Brazilian Shield is generally higher and less dissected, with much of central Brazil having an elevation of 800-1000 m. The Brazilian Shield is mostly drained by clearwater rivers such as the Tapajos and Xingu.In contrast to these ancient shields, the Amazonian heartland of South America is low and geologically young. Prior to the Miocene most of Amazonia constituted a large inland sea opening to the Pacific. With uplift of the Central Andes, this sea became a giant lake that gradually filled with Andean sediments. When the Amazon River broke through the narrow connection between the Guayanan and Brazilian shields near Santarem, Brazil, Amazonia began to drain eastward into the Atlantic.Nevertheless, the region remains so flat that ocean-going ships can reach Iquitos, Peru, which is only 110 m above sea-level, yet 3000 km from the mouth of the Amazon and less than 800 km from the Pacific Ocea n. Most of Amazonian Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia is below 200 m in elevation. The process of Amazonian sedimentation is continuing, as the sediment-laden white-water rivers course down from the Andes, continually changing their channels and depositing and redepositing their sediments along the way.About 26% of Peruvian Amazonia shows direct evidence of recent riverine reworking (Salo  et al. 1986). With the lack of relief, it is not surprising that rather fine nuances of drainage, topography and depositional history are often major determinants of vegetation. Like Amazonia, some other distinctive geological features of the South American continent are relatively low, flat and geologically young, such as the chaco/pantanal/pampa region to the south, the Venezuelan/Colombian Llanos to the north and the trans-Andean Choco region of Colombia and Ecuador to the west.Large portions of these areas have been inundated during periods of high sea-level in the past, and large portions of all o f these regions are seasonally inundated presently. One aspect of the geological history of Latin America that has received much biogeographic attention is the series of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations and their effects on distribution and evolution of the present neotropical biota. It is clear from the palynological record that major changes in vegetation were associated with the cycles of Pleistocene glaciation (e. . van der Hammen 1974), although to what extent lowland Amazonia was predominantly drier (e. g. Haffer 1969; van der Hammen 1974), colder (Colinvaux 1987; Liu and Colinvaux 1988) or both, and how this affected the Pleistocene distribution of tropical forest, remain hotly contested (Colinvaux 1987; Rasanen, Salo and Kalliola 1991). Although most of the corroborative geomorphological evidence for dry periods in the tropical lowlands during the Pleistocene is now otherwise interpreted (Irion 1989; Colinvaux 1987), some new data look promising.There are also several other theories that attempt to explain aspects of present biogeography on the basis of past geological events, including river-channel formation and migration (Capparella 1988; Salo  et al. 1986; Salo and Rasanen 1989), hypothesized massive flooding in south-western Amazonia (Campbell and Frailey 1984), and the formation of a putative giant Pleistocene lake in Amazonia (Frailey  et al. 1988). Mesoamerica For its size, Middle America is even more complex geologically than South America (see Central America regional overview).Nuclear Central America, an integral part of the North American continent, reaches south to central Nicaragua. The region from southern Nicaragua to the isthmus of Darien in Panama is geologically younger and presents recent volcanism, uplift and associated sedimentation. Like South America, the northern neotropics have a mountainous spine that breaks into separate cordilleras in the north. In general the Middle American cordilleras are highest to the north in Mex ico, and lowest in Panama to the south-east.In Mexico, the geological picture is complicated by a band of volcanoes that bisects the continent from east to west at the latitude of Mexico City. This â€Å"eje volcanico transversal† is associated with the Mexican megashear, along which the southern half of the country has gradually moved eastward with respect to the northern half. In southern Central America, volcanism has been most intensive in Costa Rica, which has two sections of its Central Cordillera reaching above treeline. In northern Costa Rica and adjacent Nicaragua the volcanoes become gradually reduced in size and more isolated from each other to the north.Similarly in Panama the Central Cordillera is over 2000 m high to the west near the Costa Rican border but only about 500 m high in most of the eastern part of the country. In central Panama, the Panama Canal cuts through a continental divide of only 100 m elevation, and in the San Juan River/Lake Nicaragua area of Nicaragua the maximum elevation is even less. For montane organisms, these interruptions in the cordillera represent major biological discontinuities. The Yucatan Peninsula area of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize represents a geologically anomalous portion of Middle America.It is a flat limestone formation more like the Greater Antilles or Peninsular Florida than the mountainous terrain and volcanic soil of most of Middle America. Limestone is otherwise relatively rare in the continental neotropics, in contrast to many other parts of the world, with small outcrops like those in the Madden Lake region of central Panama or the Coloso area of northern Colombia being associated with peculiar floras. These areas, like the Yucatan Peninsula, tend to show distinctly Antillean floristic affinities, paralleling the geological ones.Caribbean The Antillean islands constitute the third geologic unit of the neotropics (see Caribbean Islands regional overview). The Antilles make up in geological co mplexity what they lack in size. The most striking geological anomaly is Hispaniola, which is a composite of what were three separate islands during much of the Cenozoic. In addition to being completely submerged during part of the midCenozoic, the southern peninsula of Hispaniola was probably attached to Cuba instead of Hispaniola until the end of the Cenozoic.Jamaica too was completely submerged during much of the mid-Cenozoic, and has a different geological history from the rest of the Greater Antilles, with closer connections to Central America via the nowsubmerged Nicaraguan Rise. Possibly a collision of the western end of the Greater Antilles island arc with Mexico-Guatemala fragmented its western end to form Jamaica. Also phytogeographically and conservationally important, some of the Antilles have extensive areas of distinctive substrates.In addition to large areas of limestone, most of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico) have significant areas of serpentine and other ultrabasic rocks formed from uplift of patches of oceanic crust during the north-eastward movement of the Caribbean plate. The Lesser Antilles are small and actively volcanic. Most of the other smaller islands are low limestone keys with little or no geological relief. These patterns are clearly reflected in the Antillean flora. The most striking concentrations of local endemism occur in areas of ultrabasic rocks or on unusual types of limestone on the larger islands.The Lesser Antilles, Bahamas and other smaller islands have only a depauperate subset of the generally most widespread Antillean taxa. Vegetation The neotropics include a broad array of vegetation types commensurate with their ecological diversity. Along the west coast of South America are both one of the wettest places in the world – Tutunendo in the Choco region of Colombia, with 11,770 mm of annual precipitation, and the driest – no rain has been recorded in parts of the Atacama Desert of Chi le.The largest tract of rain forest in the world is in the Amazon Basin, and Amazonia has received a perhaps disproportionate share of the world's conservation attention. While the forests of Upper Amazonia are the most diverse in the world for many kinds of organisms, including trees as well as butterflies, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, other vegetation types have equal or greater concentrations of local endemism and are more acutely threatened.In particular, the plight of dry forests and of Andean montane forests are beginning to receive increased attention. Some isolated areas of lowland moist forest outside of Amazonia also have highly endemic floras and are currently much more threatened than Amazonia. In the following paragraphs are sketched the major neotropical vegetation types, followed by a conservation assessment of each. At the very broadest level, the lowland vegetation types of South America and the rest of the neotropics may be summarized as: 1.Tropical moi st forest (evergreen or semi-evergreen rain forest)  in Amazonia, the coastal region of Brazil, the Choco and the lower Magdalena Valley, and along the Atlantic coast of Central America to Mexico. 2. Dry forest (intergrading into woodland)  along the Pacific side of Mexico and Central America, in northern Colombia and Venezuela, coastal Ecuador and adjacent Peru, the Velasco area (Chiquitania) of eastern Bolivia, a broad swath from north-west Argentina to north-east Brazil encompassing chaco, cerrado and caatinga, and with scattered smaller patches elsewhere. 3.Open grassy savanna  in the pampas region of north-eastern Argentina and adjacent Uruguay and southernmost Brazil, the Llanos de Mojos and adjacent pantanal of Bolivia and Brazil, the Llanos of Colombia and Venezuela, and the Gran Sabana and Sipaliwini savanna in the Guayana region. 4. Desert and arid steppe  in northern Mexico, the dry Sechura and Atacama regions along the west coast of South America between 5 °S a nd 30 °S, and in the monte and Patagonian steppes of the south-eastern part of the Southern Cone of South America. 5. The  Mediterranean-climate region  of central Chile. 6.The  temperate evergreen forests  of southern Chile with an adjacent fringe of Argentina. More complex montane formations occur along the Andean Cordillera which stretches the length of the western periphery of South America, in the more interrupted Central American/Mexican cordilleran system, in the tepuis of the Guayana region and in the coastal cordillera of southern Brazil. Moist and wet forests In general, forests receiving more than 1600 mm (Gentry 1995) or 2000 mm (Holdridge 1967) of annual rainfall are evergreen or semi-evergreen and may be referred to as tropical moist forest.In the neotropics, lowland tropical moist forest is often further subdivided, following the Holdridge life-zone system, into moist forest (2000-4000 mm of precipitation annually), wet forest (4000-8000 mm) and pluvial fore st (over 8000 mm). Nearly all of the Amazon Basin receives 2000 mm or more of annual rainfall and constitutes variants of the moist forest. There are also several major regions of lowland moist forest variously disjunct from the Amazonian core area. These include the region along the Atlantic coast of Central America (extending into Mexico), the lower Magdalena Valley of northern Colombia, the Choco egion along the Pacific coast of Colombia and northern Ecuador, and the coastal forests of Brazil. Lowland moist forest is the most diverse neotropical vegetation type, structurally as well as taxonomically. In most lowland moist-forest and wet-forest regions around a quarter of the species are vines and lianas, a quarter to a half terrestrial herbs (including weeds), up to a quarter vascular epiphytes and only about a quarter trees (Gentry and Dodson 1987; Gentry 1990b).To the extent that smaller organisms such as herbs and epiphytes may demand different conservation strategies than lar ge organisms like trees (or top predators), this habitat diversity assumes conservation importance. Diversity patterns are also important for conservation planning. There is a strong correlation of plant community diversity with precipitation – wetter forests generally are more botanically diverse. For plants the most speciesrich forests in the world are the aseasonal lowland moist and wet forests of Upper Amazonia and the Choco region.For plants over 2. 5 cm dbh in 0. 1-ha samples, world record sites are in the pluvial-forest area of the Colombian Choco (258-265 species); for plants over 10 cm dbh in 1-ha plots, the world record is near Iquitos, Peru (300 species out of 606 individual trees and lianas). Concentrations of endemism do not necessarily follow those of diversity. Local endemism appears to be concentrated in cloud-forest regions along the base of the northern Andes and in adjacent southern Central America (cf.Vazquez-Garcia 1995), and in the north-western sector o f Amazonia where the substrate mosaic associated with sediments from the Guayana Shield is most complex (Gentry 1986a). Overall regional endemism in predominantly moist-forest areas is greatest in Amazonia, with an estimated 13,700 endemic species constituting 76% of the flora (Gentry 1992d). However many of these species are relatively widespread within Amazonia. The much more restricted (and devastated, see below) Mata Atlantica forests of coastal Brazil have almost three-quarters as many endemic species (c. 500) as Amazonia and similarly high endemism (73% of the flora) (Gentry 1992d). Moreover a larger proportion of the Mata Atlantica species probably are locally endemic. On the other side of South America, the trans-Andean very wet to wet and moist forests of the Choco and coastal Ecuador are also geographically isolated and highly endemic (cf. Terborgh and Winter 1982). Estimates of endemism in the Choco phytogeographic region are c. 20% (Gentry 1982b). Probably about 1260 or 20% of western Ecuador's 6300 naturally occurring species also are endemic (Dodson and Gentry 1991).For the northern Andean region as a whole, including both the coastal lowlands of western Colombia and Ecuador and the adjacent uplands, Gentry (1992d) estimated over 8000 endemic species, constituting 56% of the flora. Moreover this is probably the floristically most poorly known part of the neotropics, perhaps of the world, surely with several thousand mostly endemic species awaiting discovery and description. Dry forests There are seven main areas of dry forest in the neotropics, and by some estimations this may be the most acutely threatened of all neotropical vegetations.The interior dry areas of South America are outstanding in their regional endemism, estimated at 73%. Two of the most extensive neotropical dry-forest areas represent manifestations of the standard interface between the subtropical high pressure desert areas and the moist equatorial tropics. In Middle America, th is area of strongly seasonal climate occurs mostly along the Pacific coast in a narrow but formerly continuous band from Mexico to the Guanacaste region of north-western Costa Rica.There are also outliers farther south in the Terraba Valley of Costa Rica, Azuero Peninsula of Panama, and even around Garachine in the Darien (Panama), partially connecting the main Middle American dry forest with that of northern South America. These western Middle American dry forests are made up almost entirely of broadleaved deciduous species. In addition, the northern part of the Yucatan and large areas of the Antilles are covered by dry-forest variants. Most of the Caribbean dry forests are on limestone, and their woody species tend to be distinctively more sclerophyllous and smaller leaved than are the Pacific coast dry-forest plants.In the driest areas, both these types of dry forest tend to smaller stature and merge into various kinds of thorn-scrub matorral. In South America, only the extreme n orthern parts of Colombia and Venezuela reach far enough from the Equator to enter the strongly seasonal subtropical zone. Floristically and physiognomically this northern dry area is very much like similarly dry areas of western Middle America. The strongly seasonal region of northern South America also includes the open savannas of the Llanos extending from the Orinoco River west and north to the base of the Eastern Cordillera of he Colombian Andes and the north slope of the Coast Range of Venezuela. Large areas of the lowlying, often poorly drained Llanos are seasonally inundated, especially in the Apure region. The main area of tropical dry forest in South America is the chaco region, encompassing the western half of Paraguay and adjacent areas of Bolivia and Argentina, south of 17 °S latitude. The â€Å"chaco† is physiognomically distinctive in being a dense scrubby vegetation of mostly smallleaved, spiny branched small trees interspersed with scattered large individua ls of a few characteristic species of large trees.To the south, the chaco gives way to the desert scrub of the Argentine monte. There is a distinctive but generally neglected area of dry forest at the interface between the chaco and Amazonia in Bolivia. The names Chiquitania and Velasco forest have been used locally in Bolivia to refer to this vegetation, which extends from the Tucuvaca Valley and Serrania de Chiquitos in easternmost Santa Cruz Department interruptedly westward to the base of the Andes and along much of the lower Andean slopes of the southern half of Bolivia.This region of closed-canopy dry forest is physiognomically similar to that of western Central America, with tall broadleaved completely deciduous (caducifolious) trees. Although it has been locally regarded as merely representing the transition between the chaco and Amazonia, it is a floristically and physiognomically distinctive unit that should be accorded equivalent conservation importance to the other major dry-forest vegetation types (Gentry 1994).The chaco is adjoined to the north by two large and phytogeographically distinctive areas of dry forest, the cerrado and caatinga, which cover a small portion of easternmost Bolivia and most of the Brazilian Shield area of central and north-eastern Brazil. The typical vegetation of the â€Å"cerrado† region consists of wooded savanna with characteristically gnarled sclerophyllous-leaved trees with thick twisted branches and thick bark, widely enough separated to allow a ground cover of grass intermixed with a rich assortment of woody-rooted (xylopodial) subshrubs.The cerrado also includes areas where the trees form a nearly closed canopy (â€Å"cerradao†), and large open areas of grasses and subshrubs with no trees at all (â€Å"campo limpio† and â€Å"campo rupestre†). Although the cerrado is appropriately considered a kind of dry forest, some cerrado regions actually receive more rainfall than do adjacent fores t regions; excess aluminium in the soil may be as important as the climate in determining its distribution. The even drier forest of the caatinga of north-eastern Brazil extends from an appropriately subtropical 17 °S latitude farther north to a surprisingly equatorial 3 °S.Why this region should have such low rainfall remains poorly understood. Another climatic peculiarity is the irregularity of its rainfall, not only with low annual precipitation, but also with frequent years when the rains fail almost completely. The typical vegetation of the â€Å"caatinga† – relatively low, dense, small-leaved and completely deciduous in the dry season – is physiognomically similar to that of the chaco. The final major South American dry-forest area is the coastal forest of north-western Peru and south-western Ecuador.Even more anomalous in its geographical setting than the caatinga, this dry-forest region is positioned almost on the Equator. The occurrence of dry fores t so near the Equator is due to the offshore Humboldt Current. While similar cold-water currents occur along mid-latitude western coasts of other continents, the Humboldt Current is perhaps the strongest of these and is the only cold current reaching so near the Equator. The dry forest of coastal Peru and adjacent Ecuador is (or at least was, see below) physiognomically similar to that of western Central America, tall with a closed canopy of broadleaved completely deciduous trees.There also are a number of scattered smaller patches of tropical dry forest and/or savanna in various interAndean valleys, around Tarapoto, Peru, the Trinidad region of Bolivia, Brazil's Roraima area, the Surinam/Brazil border region, on Marajo Island, and in the pantanal region of the upper Paraguay River. Grasslands and deserts Grasslands and deserts occupy smaller areas of the neotropics than they do in Africa or most higher latitude continents. The main grassland region of the neotropics is the pampas r egion between about 39 °S and 28 °S and encompassing most of Uruguay as well as adjacent eastern Argentina and southernmost Brazil.The other major grassland area is the llanos region of Colombia and Venezuela. Smaller predominantly grassland regions occur in north-eastern Bolivia (Llanos de Mojos) and the south-eastern Guayana region (Gran Sabana and Sipaliwini savanna). There are also areas with few or no trees and dominated by grasses in the cerrado and pantanal regions of Brazil, and scattered outliers associated with local edaphic peculiarities elsewhere. None of the major grassland regions has many endemic species, in contrast to the campos rupestres of the Brazilian Shield and the Guayana area whitesand savannas, which have many endemics.This contrast is especially marked in southern Venezuela where some savanna patches have clay soils and a llanos-type flora of widespread species, whereas others have sandy soils and a flora of Amazonian affinities with many endemic specie s (Huber 1982). The desert regions of Latin America are confined to northern Mexico, the monte (Morello 1958; Orians and Solbrig 1977) and Patagonian steppes of Argentina, and the narrow Pacific coastal strip of northern Chile and Peru. The 3500-km long South American coastal desert is one of the most arid in the world – most of it is largely devoid of vegetation.This region is saved from conservational obscurity, however, by the occurrence of islandlike patches of mostly herbaceous vegetation in places where steep coastal slopes are regularly bathed in winter fog. Although these â€Å"lomas† formations are individually not very rich in species (mostly fewer than 100 spp. ), they have a very high degree of endemism due to their insular nature. The overall lomas flora includes nearly 1000 species, mostly annuals or geophytes. Diversity and endemism in the lomas formations generally increase southward, where cacti and other succulents are also increasingly represented (M uller 1985; Rundel  et al. 991). Montane vegetation The main montane-forest area of the neotropics is associated with the Andes. A major but more interrupted montane-forest strip is associated with the mountainous backbone of Central America. Venezuela's Cordillera de la Costa phytogeographically is essentially an Andean extension, although geologically distinct from the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes. The tepui summits of the Guayana Highlands, though small in area, constitute a highly distinctive and phytogeographically fascinating montane environment.The Serra do Mar along Brazil's south-eastern coast is mostly low elevation but has a few peaks reaching above treeline with a depauperate paramo-like vegetation. The Andes may be conveniently recognized in three segments: northern – Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador; central-Peru and Bolivia; and southern-Chile and Argentina. In general the northern Andes are wetter, the central and southern regions drier. The main biogeographic discontinuity in the Andean forests is associated with the HuancabambaDepression in northern Peru, where the extensive system of dry interAndean valleys of the Maranon River and its tributaries entirely bisects the Eastern Cordillera and is associated with a topographically complex region having unusually high local endemism. Treeline in the tropical Andes occurs around 3500 m, depending on latitude and local factors. Above treeline, the wet grass-dominated vegetation of the Venezuelan, Colombian and northern Ecuadorian Andes is termed â€Å"paramo†; this drier vegetation, occurring from Peru to Argentina and Chile, is the â€Å"puna†.Colombian and Venezuelan paramos are characterized by  Espeletia  (Compositae) with its typical pachycaul-rosette growth form. The vegetation above treeline of most of Ecuador and northernmost Peru, locally called â€Å"jalca† in Peru, is ecologically as well as geographically intermediate; although generally cal led paramo in Ecuador, this region lacks the definitive  Espeletia  aspect of the typical northern paramos. While individual high-Andean plant communities are not very rich in species, many different communities can occur in close proximity in broken montane terrain.Thus the several high-Andean sites for which Florulas are available (Cleef 1981; Smith 1988; Galeano 1990; Ruthsatz 1977) have between 500-800 species, approaching the size of some lowland tropical Florulas. The moist Andean slopes generally show a distinctive floristic zonation, with woody plant diversity decreasing linearly with altitude from c. 1500 m to treeline. Below 1500 m Andean forests are generally similar both in floristic composition and diversity to equivalent samples of lowland forest. There are also structural changes at different elevations.For example hemi-epiphytic climbers show a strong peak in abundance between 1500-2400 m, epiphytes are usually more numerous in middleelevation cloud forests, and the stem density of woody plants is usually greater at higher elevations (Gentry 1992a). While the northern Andes have cloud forest on both western and eastern slopes, increasing aridity south from the Equator limits cloud forest to an ever narrower band on the Pacific slope. South of 7 °S latitude, forest on the western slopes of the Andes is restricted to isolated protected pockets, and the predominant slope vegetation becomes chaparral, thorn scrub and desert.One of the most striking features of the Andes phytogeographically is the high level of floristic endemism. In part this is associated with the discontinuity of high-altitude vegetation types, which are strongly fragmented into habitat islands. In addition to microgeographic allopatric speciation related to habitat fragmentation, it seems likely that unusually dynamic speciation, perhaps associated with genetic drift in small founder populations, may be a prevalent evolutionary theme in Andean cloud forests (Gentry and Dod son 1987; Gentry 1989).The combination of high local endemism (Gentry 1986a, 1993a; Luteyn 1989; Henderson, Churchill and Luteyn 1991) with major deforestation makes the Andes one of South America's conservationally most critical regions. As with the dry forests, the Andean forests have recently begun to receive greater conservation attention (Henderson, Churchill and Luteyn 1991; Young and Valencia 1992). Estimates of deforestation for the northern Andes as a whole are generally over 90%.Some areas are even more critical – perhaps less than 5% of Colombia's high-altitude montane forests remain (Hernandez-C. 1990) and only c. 4% of the original forest persists on the western Andean slopes of Ecuador (Dodson and Gentry 1991). Most of the northern Peruvian Andes are similarly deforested (cf. Dillon 1994). Although relatively extensive forests still remain on the Amazonfacing slopes of Peru and Bolivia, much of this area is being actively deforested, in large part to grow  "coca† (Erythroxylum coca) and opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). FloraFrom a conservation perspective, the neotropical region merits very special attention. Just as South America is sometimes called the â€Å"bird continent†, the neotropics might well be termed the â€Å"plant continent† in deference to their uniquely rich botanical diversity (Table 50). If current estimates are accurate, the neotropical region contains 90,000-100,000 plant species, twice to nearly three times as many as in either tropical Africa or tropical Australasia (cf. Prance 1994). The last great places for plant collecting are in the northern half of South America (J.Wurdack 1995, pers. comm. ), which is two to four times less documented by herbarium specimens than elsewhere in the tropics (cf. Campbell 1989). Some of the main relatively unexplored areas (according to Wurdack) are, in Brazil: Serra de Tumucumaque (Tumuc-Humac Mountains), along the border with Surinam and French Guiana; sl opes, especially the eastern slopes, of Pico da Neblina; in north-western Mato Grosso State, along the Linea Telegrafica; in Venezuela: slopes and talus forests of the tepuis; aramos west of Pinango (north of Merida); eastern slopes to Paramo de Tama (State of Merida, near border with Colombia); in Colombia: Paramo de Frontino (west of Medellin); Cuatrecasas' headwater localities of collection in western Colombia, particularly in the Department of Valle del Cauca (cf. Cuatrecasas 1958); upper elevations of the Serrania de La Macarena (Department of Meta); in Ecuador: Cordillera de Los Llanganates (which is east of Ambato) (cf.Kennerley and Bromley 1971); Cordillera de Cutucu (Province of Morona-Santiago); Cordillera del Condor, along the border with Peru; in Peru: elevations above 700 m of the Cerros Campanquiz, which are mostly in the Department of Amazonas; the eastern cordillera in the Department of Amazonas, Province of Chachapoyas (e. g. the Cerro de las Siete Lagunas east of C erro Campanario); portions of the Cordillera de Vilcabamba (which is north-west of Cusco), including the northern Cutivireni region (Villa-Lobos 1995); and in Bolivia: the easternmost Andes and granitic outliers in the Department of Santa Cruz.Floristic diversity is very asymmetrically distributed in South America (cf. Table 51). If the nine phytogeographic regions recognized by Gentry (1982a) for the neotropics are taken as a basis, Central America with Mexico (Mesoamerica) and Amazonia are the richest in species, with each of these two regions having about a quarter of the neotropical total. At the opposite extreme, the Antilles have an estimated 9% of the total neotropical flora and the Caribbean coastal region of Colombia and Venezuela has only 8%.The minuscule area of the Guayana Highlands (above 1500 m) accounts for only c. 2. 5% of the neotropical flora, but has one of the highest rates of endemism (65%) in the region (Berry, Huber and Holst 1995). The three main tropical Sou th American dry areas together include a relatively low 11% of the neotropical species total. Intermediate levels of regional plant species richness are found in the Northern Andean and Southern Andean regions and the Mata Atlantica area of Brazil, which each have between 16-18% of the tropical flora of the neotropical region.Regional endemism is greatest in Amazonia including lowland Guayana (76%), but almost as great in coastal Brazil (73%) and the chacocerradocaatinga dry areas (73%). In contrast, those two Andean subregions, Central America, and the Antilles have endemism levels of 54-60%, and the northern Colombia/Venezuela region only 24%. Farther south in the Southern Cone of South America, the monte of Argentina is estimated to include 700 species with 5% endemism, and Patagonia 1200 species with 30% endemism.Chile as a whole has 5215 species (Marticorena and Quezada 1985; Marticorena 1990), with 1800-2400 in the Mediterranean-climate area of central Chile where endemism is high, perhaps greater than for any of the equivalent tropical regions. The reasons for the unique floristic diversity of the neotropics as compared to Africa or tropical Australasia continue to be hotly debated. A popular theory is allopatric multiplication of species in habitat-island forest refugia during Pleistocene glacial advances (Haffer 1969; Prance 1973, 1982). Africa, which is higher and drier, would have had fewer refugia and more extinction.Tropical Asia was less affected, being buffered by the nearby ocean due to the island status of its components and by its proximity to a rain source from the Pacific (the world's largest ocean). Other theories, not necessarily mutually exclusive (cf. Terborgh and Winter 1982), focus on explosive speciation in the more extensive cloud-forest area of the neotropics (Gentry 1982a, 1989; Gentry and Dodson 1987); â€Å"Endlerian† speciation associated with habitat specialization in the uniquely complicated habitat mosaic of north-wes tern and north-central Amazonia (Gentry 1986a, 1989; Gentry and Ortiz-S. 993); speciation associated with riverine barriers to gene flow in the largest river system of the world (Capparella 1988; Ducke and Black 1953); or biogeographical phenomena associated with the Great American Interchange and stemming from the direct juxtaposition of Laurasian and Gondwanan elements via the Isthmus of Panama (Gentry 1982a; Marshall  et al. 1979). Social and environmental values, and economic importance The indigenous groups (nations) of South America (Gray 1987) are varyingly diverse peoples who often partly depend directly on the natural environment for their biological and cultural well or survival.Their approximate presence is shown inTable 52. As the site of one of the Vavilovian centres of domestication, South America has played an important role in providing plants useful to people. The Andean centre of domestication rivals the Indo-Malayan and Mediterranean areas as the region that has produced the most important crop plants. Tobacco, potatoes, grain amaranths, quinoa, peanuts, lima beans, kidney beans, tomatoes and perhaps sweet potatoes and pineapples all derive from the Peruvian Andes and immediately adjacent egions (Anderson 1952). Based on land-race diversity, western Amazonia was the centre of domestication of a series of less well-known but increasingly important crops, including â€Å"pejibaye† or peach palm (Bactris gasipaes), â€Å"biriba† or â€Å"anona† (Rollinia mucosa), â€Å"abiu† or â€Å"caimito† (Pouteria caimito), â€Å"sapota† (Quararibea cordata), â€Å"araza† (Eugenia stipitata), â€Å"uvilla† (Pourouma cecropiifolia) and â€Å"cubiu† or â€Å"cocona† (Solanum sessiliflorum) (Clement 1989).Of the 86 major crops and their more than 100 species included in a summary of crop plant evolution (Simmonds 1976), 24 crops are neotropical in origin either wholly (19) or partly (5). Also, a host of South American forest plants are used locally but have not reached world commerce. Amazonia is especially rich in wild fruits (e. g. Duke and Vasquez 1994). For example around Iquitos, Peru, 139 species of forest-harvested fruits are regularly consumed, 57 of them important enough to be sold in the local produce market (Vasquez and Gentry 1989).There are a multitude of other uses for neotropical plants. Gentry (1992b) notes that 38% of the Bignoniaceae species of north-western South America have specific ethnobotanical uses and suggests that this could be extrapolated to 10,000 species with uses in this part of the world alone. Many studies have shown that the direct economic value of such products can be very high (e. g. Peters, Gentry and Mendelsohn 1989; Balick and Mendelsohn 1992).In a single hectare of speciesrich tropical forest near Iquitos, 454 of the 858 trees and lianas of dbh 10 cm or more have actual or potential uses (Gentry 1986c), with the hectare of f orest potentially producing US$650 worth of fruit and US$50 worth of rubber per year. If the 93 m? of sellable timber worth US$1000 is included, the net present value of the hectare of forest is US$9000, far more than the net present value of managed plantations or cattle-ranching.Additionally, the major role of forested areas in controlling erosion, recycling rainfall and as a carbon sink are now well known. As the territory with the largest tropical forest remaining in the world, South America plays a major role in providing such regional and planetary environmental services. Return to Top Loss, threats and conservation Although the neotropical region has the most forest, it is also losing more forest each year than any other area of tropical forest (Myers 1982; Reid 1992).In western Ecuador only 4% of the original forest cover remains (Dodson and Gentry 1991). Much attention has focused on Brazil, which includes 48% of the South American area. Perhaps the most definitive satellit e analysis of deforestation in Amazonia to date (Skole and Tucker 1993) indicates that as of 1988 only c. 10% of Brazilian Amazonia had been deforested, but if allowance is made for a 1-km edge effect, fully 20% of Brazilian Amazonia had been impacted. Deforestation in Rondonia alone has been c. 4000 km? per year, reaching almost 40,000 km? r 15% of the state by 1989 (Malingreau and Tucker 1988; Fearnside 1991). In coastal Brazil estimates of surviving forest range from 2% (IUCN and WWF 1982) to 12% (Brown and Brown 1992). Burgeoning populations are the biggest factor in the ongoing losses, although political and economic instability in some areas, and short-sighted â€Å"development† programmes in other areas, also play significant roles. In most of the neotropics, unlike much of the Old World, commercial lumbering operations have played a relatively small role so far.Conservational awareness throughout the region has increased dramatically in the past few years. Not only ar e increasing numbers of National Parks and similar conservation units being set aside, but there is also rapidly growing interest in the possibility of sustainable use of tropical forests as a conservation strategy. Unfortunately many destructive and unsustainable uses of forest can masquerade behind the banner of sustainable use. Making this promising new concept fulfil its potential remains a major challenge.Similarly the growing appreciation of the potential value of biodiversity has been accompanied by too much political preoccupation and posturing about sovereignty over potential genetic resources. Despite such problems, it is clear that the diversity of rain-forest plant life is intrinsically valuable. South America, botanically the richest continent, is also the greatest repository of potentially useful plants. Conservation of South America's plant diversity is clearly a world conservational priority.

Geoff the Pedantic Elf A Christmas Proofreading Story

Geoff the Pedantic Elf A Christmas Proofreading Story Geoff the Pedantic Elf: A Christmas Proofreading Story ‘Twas the day after Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. This suited Santa Clause just fine. It had been a busy festive period, after all, culminating in his customary, physics-defying journey around the world to deliver gifts to all the good boys and girls (he delegated the naughty list these days for efficiency). The fact he uses such an old-fashioned mode of transport makes it even more impressive. Now, though, his work completed, Santa was enjoying a well-earned sit down in his office. He was just pouring himself a celebratory brandy, in fact, when someone knocked on the door. â€Å"Come in!† called Santa to the knocker. The door opened a crack. Geoff, Santa’s top admin elf, sidled in nervously. â€Å"Can I help you, young man?† asked Santa, chuckling to himself (he knew well that Geoff was 974 years old, which is fairly venerable even for an elf). â€Å"It was a good idea of yours to automate the Christmas list system this year,† he added, encouragingly. Are those even real glasses, Geoff? â€Å"Umm, thats actually what  I need to talk about,† said Geoff, avoiding eye contact with his boss. â€Å"We’ve had a few complaints.† â€Å"Complaints?† bellowed Santa, leaping to his feet and towering over the elf. â€Å"From whom?† Geoff cowered, but managed a response: â€Å"Parents!† he squeaked, â€Å"It seems that there might have been some typos in the Christmas list!† â€Å"Typos? Like what?† Santa grumbled, reaching for his tablet computer and opening the Good Boys and Girls app that Geoff had developed to handle the Christmas list this year. The head elf watched Santa struggle with the device for a few minutes, then gently took it off him and navigated to the â€Å"User Feedback† section. â€Å"Here,† he said, â€Å"This one is from a mother who says you crept into her little girl’s room and performed neural surgery on her in the middle of the night.† Not something youd want to wake up to. Santa sniffed defensively. â€Å"Yes, well? The list clearly said that she wanted a ‘boy brain’.† â€Å"It did,† agreed Geoff, â€Å"But it should have said ‘toy train’.† Santa’s face, usually so ruddy, suddenly turned pale. â€Å"Oh. Well. I can see why she might be upset. I thought that sounded like a strange request.† He paused. â€Å"Was there anything else?† â€Å"Quite a few, actually,† replied Geoff. â€Å"There was a boy in Arkansas who wanted a puppy.† â€Å"What did we deliver?† asked Santa with palpable trepidation. â€Å"A yuppy, apparently. â€Å"The kid’s dad says the boy freaked out when he found a businessman sat at the end of his bed, sipping coffee and working on a laptop.† Hes cute, sure, but is he puppy cute? â€Å"I can imagine,† said Santa, slumping back into his seat. Santa’s brow furrowed as he squinted at the tablet screen. â€Å"Is that even how you spell ‘yuppie’?† â€Å"It’s a variant spelling,† explained Geoff, shrugging. â€Å"That’s what you get when you hire temps to do the data entry work, I guess.† â€Å"So, then, what do we do now?† Santa asked, looking to the elf for help. â€Å"First of all, we need to get back out there and, ahem, make some corrections,† the elf suggested. â€Å"And then, before we get started on next year, we should probably hire a proofreader.† â€Å"Good idea,† muttered Santa, before taking a deep gulp of brandy. MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! Remember to proofread your letters to Santa next year!(Photo: Jonathan G Meath/wikimedia)