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.