Communicating Geographical Risks in Crisis Management: The Need for Research.

In any crisis, there is a great deal of uncertainty, often geographical uncertainty or, more precisely, spatiotemporal uncertainty. Examples include the spread of contamination from an industrial accident, drifting volcanic ash, and the path of a hurricane. Estimating spatiotemporal probabilities is usually a difficult task, but that is not our primary concern. Rather, we ask how analysts can communicate spatiotemporal uncertainty to those handling the crisis. We comment on the somewhat limited literature on the representation of spatial uncertainty on maps. We note that many cognitive issues arise and that the potential for confusion is high. We note that in the early stages of handling a crisis, the uncertainties involved may be deep, i.e., difficult or impossible to quantify in the time available. In such circumstance, we suggest the idea of presenting multiple scenarios.

Characterization of nitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from field-grown barley, oat, and wheat.

Diazotrophic bacteria were isolated from the rhizosphere of field-grown Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vulgare, and Avena sativa grown in various regions of Greece. One isolate, with the highest nitrogen-fixation ability from each of the eleven rhizospheres, was selected for further characterisation. Diazotrophic strains were assessed for plant-growth-promoting traits such as indoleacetic acid production and phosphate solubilisation. The phylogenies of 16S rRNA gene of the selected isolates were compared with those based on dnaK and nifH genes. The constructed trees indicated that the isolates were members of the species Azospirillum brasilense, Azospirillum zeae, and Pseudomonas stutzeri. Furthermore, the ipdC gene was detected in all A. brasilence and one A. zeae isolates. The work presented here provides the first molecular genetic evidence for the presence of culturable nitrogen-fixing P. stutzeri and A. zeae associated with field-grown A. sativa and H. vulgare in Greece.