Prairie reconstruction has become a common method for reestablishing tallgrass prairie communities in the central United States. With the objective of creating plant communities that approximate remnant (reference) prairies, managers are interested in identifying: (1) best methods for reconstructing reference community conditions; (2) the rate of change in plant communities through time following reconstruction; and (3) species present in remnant communities but missing from reconstructed communities. This information is important in the development of adaptive management strategies during active reconstruction. We used a chronosequence approach to assess the success of two reconstruction methods in emulating local, reference remnant prairie plant communities. We compared broadcast dormant seeding following two types of site preparation, agricultural cropping (Crop) or herbicide control in existing grass assemblages (Grass), and remnant communities. The Crop site preparation method resulted in a rapid increase in richness shortly following seeding. Although more similar to remnant assemblages initially, the Grass method took longer for mean coefficient of conservatism and floristic quality index to approach conditions of the reference communities. However, neither method resulted in plant community compositions that converged with the reference through time. Further, indicator species analysis identified a diverse assemblage of species lacking from the reconstructed prairies. These results suggest the need to develop management strategies for establishing the “missing” species during reconstruction and provide further support for protection and conservation of existing remnant prairies.
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Mela in the United Kingdom has become, in its short thirty year history, one of the most popular forms of festival entertainment. The word ‘mela’ itself, is based on the Sanskrit, meaning a community gathering or meeting, and in its many forms mela in the UK has remained true to this broad sense of people, families and communities congregating together in an atmosphere of festivity. At its roots, mela in the UK has evolved out of South Asian religious rites and rituals, and can also be seen to be built on South Asian folk and rural culture and traditions. However, at the core of the definition of mela is the notion of a gathering. This is most appropriate here in that it does not necessarily refer to any mono-cultural or religious focus, and is important when we observe how mela has ‘travelled’ and become ‘habituated’ in the UK. Carnegie and Smith (2006) identify Edinburgh Mela as having travelled but in this chapter, whilst recognising the travelled nature of mela that they refer to, we indicate that it is the habituated nature of mela that more clearly identifies its nature and existence in the UK. Therefore, this chapter will document that, after 25 to 30 years, mela in the UK can be seen to be adopting its own traditions and connotations. Moreover, by the very nature of the modern diverse British population, mela is now largely urbanised and many continue to reflect South Asian religious festivals, be they Boishakhi Melas (Brick Lane London), Holi Hai Melas (Oxford) or Eid Melas (Birmingham), but others have lost touch with these roots as the demands of festival and cultural event management and venue availability have led to other requirements taking priority. The focus of the research presented here is concerned with the manifestation of mela in the UK and, in particular, how it has adapted to the various town and city locations in which it is now a fundamental part of the cultural events calendar. The importance of mela in terms of economic impact and tourism may be one reason why mela is popular with local authorities.
A complete guide to developing and running a festival from inception to evaluation, covering all aspects of festival management and key central issues and contemporary debates.
After reading this part you should: The director of a company specialising in festival support services had just come back from a contract at London’s Hyde Park, a big outdoor event, headlined by The Eurythmics, a fashionable band at the time. “What were they like?” an excited music enthusiast asked him. “I’ve no idea,” came the droll reply, “I spent the whole evening unblocking the toilets” (Toby Short of Rock City Stage Crew, 1999). To some, festival budgeting is a bit like that, it’s a task that seems dull boring and repetitive, but it’s also incredibly important. Doing endless budget projections – and they will keep changing – keeping a track of estimates and invoices, managing your cashflow and then counting the pennies at the end of the event is hardly glamorous. But if the finances get all blocked up or don’t flow in the right way, the smell will be pretty unpleasant and, in extreme cases you might even have to sell all your worldly possessions to sort out the mess.. Good budgeting is crucial to the long-term success of your festival and also your peace of mind. It’s not difficult, so long as you are careful and methodical. As your event grows, the financial numbers will obviously get bigger and some of the control issues get more complicated. But the principles remain the same. A growing festival will need to get the advice of an accountant, especially where tax matters are concerned.
Every organisation needs money to get going, and this includes non-profit ventures. The reasons why they need it may vary, as may the sources. To get a venture off the ground it generally needs ‘start-up funding’, whether it be borrowing £50 off your auntie to pay for the costs of printing some flyers, or maybe setting up a limited company, or borrowing £250,000 from a bank or financial institution to open several shops and an office. Whichever it is, you will have costs. So, unless you have a large sum of cash lying idle, you will need to find a way of raising money to get things started. Another reason for needing cash is if you know your venture, be it a new festival or a community arts venture, will not generate enough box office or other earned income to cover its costs, meaning you will be making a loss from the outset. In this case, if your project meets a well-articulated social need you will be able to make a case for start-up funding and money to cover its running costs. How you make the funding approach very much depends on your festival’s ethos and its legal structure. We covered the first of these in Chapter 2 and the legal issues are covered in more detail in Chapter 6. This chapter will give you the framework that ties together your festival objectives, its legal structure and the potential funding sources as well as some of the techniques you will need for raising that all-important cash. This chapter focuses mainly on fund-raising for not-for-profit or social enterprise festivals. The principles of persuading donors or bodies like an Arts Council are not that different from those of persuading commercial investors, other than that the return you would promise commercial investors would be financial rather than social or artistic objectives. The chapter starts by looking at those differences.
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