codzienność: Physiognomy

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Physiognomy, or face reading and sometimes known by the later term anthroposcopy, is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term physiognomy can also refer to the general appearance of a person, object, or terrain without reference to its implied characteristics—as in the physiognomy of an individual plant (e.g. plant life-form) or of a plant community (e.g. vegetation). Physiognomy as a practice meets the contemporary definition of pseudoscience, and is regarded as such by academics because of its unsupported claims; popular belief in the practice of physiognomy is nonetheless still widespread. The practice was wel…

Evidence: 44 • authority: 72

A biome ( BY-ohm) is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, animal life, and an ecosystem. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Arthur Tansley added the climatic and soil aspects to the idea, calling it ecosystem. The International Biological Program (1964–74) projects popularized the concept of biome. However, in some contexts, the term biome is used in a different manner. In German literature, particularly in the Walter terminology, the term is used similarly as biotope (a concrete geographical unit), while the biome definition used in this article is used as an international…

Evidence: 38 • authority: 92

Applying Flora Composition and Leaf Physiognomy to Reconstruct the Paleocommunity, Palaeoclimate, and Paleoenvironment of the Jehol Biota in Jilin, China.. Herein, we present a systematic investigation of plant fossils from the Yingzuilazi Formation in Baishan City, Jilin Province, China. The Baishan flora comprises 27 genera and 46 species. They are predominantly autochthonous or parautochthonous, based on their floral composition and taphonomic attributes. An analysis of paleoecological characteristics of the fossil plant assemblages, combined with the habitat preferences of analogous modern communities, allowed us to reconstruct the Early Cretaceous plant communities in the Baishan Basin…

Evidence: 38 • authority: 92

Fire and grazing interact to maintain open physiognomy and diversity in a South American grassland.. Grasslands are disturbance-dependent ecosystems, where fire and grazing act as major drivers of structure and ecosystem functioning. In the Río de la Plata grasslands, however, fire-grazing interactions remain understudied despite their ecological and management relevance. We conducted a four-year field experiment in a subhumid grassland of eastern Uruguay dominated by Saccharum angustifolium, a tussock grass widely distributed in the region, to assess the individual and combined effects of fire and grazing on vegetation and soil occupation variables. The factorial design included burned and…

Evidence: 38 • authority: 88

Physiognomy and Political Appearance in the Early Ming. This chapter examines Zhu Di's plan to usurp the throne occupied by his nephew, the Ming Jianwen Emperor (Zhu Yunwen), and to proclaim himself the legitimate successor. It explores how and why xiangshu (Chinese physiognomy), as practiced by Zhu Di's three trusted advisors, the Buddhist Yao Guangxiao and the physiognomists Yuan Gong and Yuan Zhongche, was an effective method for constructing political appearance and for building legitimacy among social elites and commoners in early Ming China. In fifteenth-century China, political imagery mostly existed and was transmitted in aural and textual formats. Written descriptions of appearance…