Natural and anthropogenic influences on the diversity structure of reef fish communities in the Tuamotu Archipelago (French Polynesia)

Despite the rapid rate of human-induced species losses, the relative influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on the functional diversity of species assemblages remains unknown for most ecosystems. A model was previously developed to predict the diversity structure of coral reef fish assemblages in 10 atolls of low human pressure and contrasting morphology of the Tuamotu Archipelago (French Polynesia). This existing model predicted smoothed histograms (spectra) of species richness according to size classes, diet classes and life-history classes of fish assemblages using a combination of environmental characteristics at different spatial scales. The present study applied the model to Tikehau, another atoll of the same archipelago where commercial fishing is practiced and where the same sampling strategy was reproduced. Significant differences appeared between predicted and observed species richness in several size, diet and life-history classes of fish assemblages in Tikehau. Two parameters which were not accounted for in the initial model, i.e. fishing pressure and atoll position within the archipelago, explained together 63% of variance in model residuals, >60% being explained by fishing pressure only. The respective effects of fishing and atoll position on the diversity of coral reef fish assemblages are discussed, with the potential of such modelling approach to assess the relative importance of factors affecting functional diversity within communities.     

Spatial behaviour and site fidelity of the sicklefin lemon shark Negaprion acutidens in a remote Indian Ocean atoll

Understanding the movement behaviour of any species is important for developing species-specific management and conservation measures. In recent years, the sicklefin lemon shark Negaprion acutidens has shown rapid range reductions and has even disappeared altogether in certain areas. In this study, the area use patterns and site fidelity of the N. acutidens were assessed at the St. Joseph Atoll in the Seychelles. Passive acoustic telemetry methods were employed to monitor the movements of 19 tagged individuals for 1 year. Area use within the lagoon of the atoll was found to be highly restricted, with individuals typically utilising a small portion of the available area throughout the year. A high-use zone was apparent in the south-east of the atoll’s lagoon, which was shared by many of the monitored individuals. Fidelity to the study site was found to be extremely high, with the 79 % of tagged N. acutidens still present in the atoll at the end of the study. Individuals displayed both diel and tidal movements between the lagoon and surrounding habitats. The restricted area use and high site fidelity observed in this study highlight both the vulnerability of this species to rapid over exploitation and importance of remote habitats such as the St. Joseph Atoll in their future conservation. The results obtained here can be used to inform management decisions regarding the development and utilisation of similar atoll environments throughout the species’ range.     

Between introgression events and fragmentation, islands are the last refuge for the American crocodile in Caribbean Mexico

Habitat loss and degradation in the Mexican Caribbean, caused by the development of tourism, have decreased the potential nesting area for the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and have fragmented the populations of the Yucatan peninsula. Our study investigated five populations (three continental: North, South, Sian Ka’an, and two insular: Cozumel, Banco Chinchorro) of C. acutus in the Mexican Caribbean using seven different inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers as tools for genetic variability and population differentiation. Three classification methods were tested and compared: distance analysis, self-organizing map, and Bayesian methods, to evaluate the resolution of each method with ISSR markers. The 77 loci selected revealed a high variability between populations (polymorphism from 17% for Sian Ka’an to 75% for Banco Chinchorro) with a total polymorphism of 84% and a global coefficient of gene differentiation (G _ST ) of 0.296, but low values of Nei’s Gene diversity (from 0.065 for Sian Ka’an to 0.233 for Banco Chinchorro). Our results suggest elevated inbreeding in all local populations with higher indices for Banco Chinchorro and lower indices for Sian Ka’an. Three independent classification methods gave similar results, and suggested that most continental individuals are admixtures, with different levels of introgression, with the sympatric species Crocodylus moreletii. We propose that the islands/atolls remain the sole areas with genetically “pure” American crocodiles and we discuss these results for future conservation of this endangered crocodile species.     

A critical geography approach to land and water use in the tourism economy in Los Cabos,Baja California Sur,Mexico

ABSTRACT

This paper offers a critical assessment of how tourism development in the municipality of Los Cabos, Baja California Sur affects land and water use. Los Cabos is a seaside tourism Mecca located at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, in Mexico’s northwest. There, subsidised profits and a process of dispossession in the tourism sector have to do mainly with land and water appropriation in the form of restrictions to beach access by the local population, urban segregation and, in an arid region, privileging water provision for the tourism industry over the needs of the population. In order to sustain these claims, we map water and land use for tourism in Cabo San Lucas. We also analyse the expansion of the Los Cabos type of tourism to the small town of La Ribera, in the East Cape-Cabo Pulmo area, where marinas and high scale housing for residential tourism sprout along the coast. We argue that the seemingly ever-growing presence of tourism in the region carries with it an urgent call for the reappraisal of current approaches to land and water use, if local resources are to deliver quality of life for the population, and not only economic profitability for (mostly) foreign capital. Analytically, we address these issues by unpacking David Harvey’s concept of accumulation by dispossession, which – we argue – is for our purposes a broader tent than the (mostly Latin American) theorisations on extractivism, as we explain later in the relevant section of the paper.     

Sustainable tourism development including the enhancement of cultural heritage in the city of Nafpaktos – Western Greece

ABSTRACT

The application of a sustainable tourism management and development framework, including the enhancement of cultural heritage is presented for the city of Nafpaktos (Western Greece) and the surrounding area. Through a qualitative SWOT analysis and a quantitative Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC)–Tourism Carrying Capacity (TCC) framework, an attempt is made to establish thresholds, monitor current conditions, and upgrade tourism activities, with simultaneous development of the tourism-associated economic sectors and the cultural heritage of the city. Activity zones are identified and 18 indicators are selected to describe the environmental/cultural, economic, and social conditions of the area. Reference conditions for each indicator are established either as measured or negotiated thresholds and indicators are accordingly scored to depict the current divergence from reference. The Leopold matrix is used to compare scores and identify restrictions of development. Results reveal high potential for sustainable tourism development of the area, as 9 of 18 indicators received high scores, indicating sustainable conditions, and a variety of underdeveloped tourism endpoints were identified, including the castle of the city, which could potentially support a 90-fold increase in tourism flow. However, restricting factors of development were detected, related to the lack of a tourism management plan, the weak on-site protection of the natural and cultural heritage and the lack of awareness for sustainability among the local people. A strategic plan is finally proposed to provide managers, stakeholders, and the local communities with a guiding framework to upgrade the tourism flow in and around the city within a step-by-step sustainable process.     

Risks to large marine protected areas posed by drifting fish aggregation devices

Mapping and predicting the potential risk of fishing activities to large marine protected areas (MPAs), where management capacity is low but fish biomass may be globally important, is vital to prioritizing enforcement and maximizing conservation benefits. Drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs) are a highly effective fishing method employed in purse seine fisheries that attract and accumulate biomass fish, making fish easier to catch. However, dFADs are associated with several negative impacts, including high bycatch rates and lost or abandoned dFADs becoming beached on sensitive coastal areas (e.g., coral reefs). Using Lagrangian particle modeling, we determined the potential transit of dFADs in a large MPA around the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian Ocean. We then quantified the risk of dFADs beaching on the archipelago's reefs and atolls and determined the potential for dFADs to pass through the MPA, accumulate biomass while within, and export it into areas where it can be legally fished (i.e., transit). Over one-third (37.51%) of dFADs posed a risk of either beaching or transiting the MPA for >14 days, 17.70% posed a risk of beaching or transiting the MPA for >30 days, and 13.11% posed a risk of beaching or transiting the MPA for >40 days. Modeled dFADs deployed on the east and west of the perimeter were more likely to beach and have long transiting times (i.e., posed the highest risk). The Great Chagos Bank, the largest atoll in the archipelago, was the most likely site to be affected by dFADs beaching. Overall, understanding the interactions between static MPAs and drifting fishing gears is vital to developing suitable management plans to support enforcement of MPA boundaries and the functioning and sustainability of their associated biomass.     

Seasonal,diel, and tidal movements of green jobfish (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Aprion virescens</Emphasis>, Lutjanidae) at remote Hawaiian atolls: implications for marine protected area design

Empirical data quantifying the long-term movement patterns of coral reef top predators are needed in order to design marine protected areas (MPAs) that will provide these fishes with effective, long-term protection. Acoustic telemetry was used to quantify the movements of a large coral reef top predator (Aprion virescens, Lutjanidae; Hawaiian name ‘uku’) at five atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument (NWHIMNM) from May 2005 to September 2006. The study atolls were located between 23.8°N, 166.2°W and 28.5°N, 178.3°W, and were separated from their nearest receiver-equipped neighbor by distances ranging from 100 to 478 km. No inter-atoll movements by uku were detected but individuals were seasonally site-attached to core activity areas of up to 12 km in length, and ranged up to 19 km across atolls. Within their core areas, tagged uku exhibited diel and tidal habitat shifts, with the latter resulting in round trips of up to 24 km in 24 h. Seasonal uku migrations resulted in extended winter (October–April) absences from summer (May–September) core activity areas and may be linked to summer spawning. Large MPAs (i.e., entire islands, atolls or banks) would probably be required for full protection of resident populations of adult uku, but such ‘island-scale’ MPAs will not benefit fisheries unless there is significant larval supply from MPAs to neighboring fished areas, or adult emigration over time scales exceeding the 16-month monitoring period of this study. A mixed management strategy of combining smaller MPAs with conventional measures (e.g., minimum size limits, catch, and effort restrictions) may be the best approach for sustaining uku fisheries. However, this would still require relatively large MPAs (12 km in length) to contain uku short-term (diel and tidal) movements, and seasonal migrations would still take uku beyond the boundaries of MPAs of this size. These fluxes across MPA boundaries could supply fish to fisheries but, if high exploitation rates exist, fishing could eliminate key MPA benefits such as increased numbers of large, highly fecund individuals. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

A pycnogonid-ophiuroid association

Three species of the ophiuroid genus Ophiocoma (O. doederleini de Loriol, O. pica Müller and Troschel and O. erinaceus Müller and Troschel) are host to the pycnogonid Anoplodactylus ophiurophilus Stock n.sp. on Aldabra atoll, Seychelles Islands. Infestation levels of the host ophiuroids from 3 localities differed markedly according to species, and lay between 83.7 and 3.6%. Host-specificity is related to microhabitats and feeding activities of the hosts. The position of the pycnogonids on the host (near the mouth along the ambulacra) and their feeding is related to food stealing and ectoparasitism. This is the first report of a pycnogonid-ophiuroid association.     

A multiple instrument approach to quantifying the movement patterns and habitat use of tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier) and Galapagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis) at French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii

We equipped individual tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier Péron and Lesueur, 1822) and Galapagos (Carcharhinus galapagensis Snodgrass and Heller, 1905) sharks with both acoustic and satellite transmitters to quantify their long-term movements in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands). Tiger sharks exhibited two broad patterns of behavior. Some individuals were detected at French Frigate Shoals (FFS) year round, whereas others visited FFS atoll in summer to forage on fledging albatross, then swam thousands of kilometers along the Hawaiian chain, or out into open ocean to the North Pacific transition zone chlorophyll front, before returning to FFS in subsequent years. These patterns suggest tiger sharks may use cognitive maps to navigate between distant foraging areas. Different patterns of spatial behavior may arise because cognitive maps are built up through individual exploration, and each tiger shark learns a unique combination of foraging sites. Galapagos shark detections were all associated with FFS, suggesting these sharks may be more resident around oceanic islands. Both Galapagos and tiger sharks primarily used the mixed layer (<100 m depth) and made occasional deeper dives through the thermocline down to 680 m. Results show reef-associated sharks utilize a wide variety of habitats ranging from shallow atoll lagoons to deep reefs and open ocean and may provide important trophic links between these habitats.     

Cadmium in ocean-skaters,Halobates sericeus (Insecta), and in their seabird predators

Between February 1978 and February 1981, the content of cadmium was measured (1) in specimens of Halobates sericeus picked out from regurgitates of 9 species of seabirds, and (2) in the feathers of some seabirds which nested on 8 islands or atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In the 4 major avian predators of this oceanskater, the Cd concentrations increased from roughly 2 to 8 g g^-1 dry wt towards the northwest, over a linear distance of about 1500 km. The correlation between Cd levels in the insects and in the feathers of their predators suggests that this heavy metal is transmitted along the food chain.     

Technological advance and the conservation of resources

SUMMARY

This paper reviews the nature of technological changes in forestry and the forest industries and their impacts on forest conservation and deforestation. While noting that technological changes have made available substantially more forest products to consumers, with higher quality and/or at lower prices than would otherwise have been possible, not all impacts have been positive.

The authors take a long-term perspective of how changes in technologies, markets and transportation are likely to affect the management and conservation of tropical forests. The paper defines a research challenge to direct and harness science and innovation towards increasing the productivity of forests and reducing the environmental costs associated with forest industries and products.     

Nutrient budget of the lagoonal waters in an open central South Pacific atoll (Tikehau,Tuamotu, French Polynesia)

Nutrient concentrations were measured in the lagoon and surrounding oceanic waters of Tikehau Atoll (Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia) from 1984 to 1987. The atoll-mass effect alters the nutrient profiles: turbulent vertical mixing of the waters along the deeper slopes of the atoll induces nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment of the surface layer. Nutrient concentrations varied with year and month of sampling; except for ammonium, inorganic nutrient levels were lower inside the lagoon than in the surrounding oceanic waters. Nitrogen, phosphorus and silica budgets were calculated by mean differences in nutrient concentrations recorded between lagoon and oceanic surface waters and by the waterexchange rate through the passage linking the lagoon and oceanic waters and the reef-flat spillways. Particulate and dissolved organic nitrogen and ammonium are exported from the lagoon to the open ocean through the westward passage. The nitrogen budget is not balanced by the nitrate input from oceanic waters and the organic nitrogen and ammonium output from lagoonal waters. Nitrogen fixation would appear to constitute another source of nitrogen for lagoonal waters. The phosphorus budget is largely balanced by phosphate input from the oceanic waters and organic phosphorus output from the lagoon waters. The oceanic waters became impoverished in silicate during their crossing of the atoll reef edge and their residence in the lagoon. The atoll constitutes a source of nitrogen for the surrounding oceanic waters.     

The dynamic causal links between CO2 emissions from transport,real GDP,energy use and international tourism

This study examines the dynamic causality relationship between international tourism and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from transport, real gross domestic product and energy use. The vector error correction model and Granger causality test approach have been used to investigate these relationships for the top ten international tourism destinations spanning the period 1995–2013. Results reveal a unidirectional causality running from CO₂ emissions to economic growth without feedback; a bidirectional causality between economic growth and energy use; a bidirectional causality between international tourism and economic growth; and a bidirectional causality between international tourism and energy use. They also suggest that energy use and international tourism both contribute to the decrease of emissions level coming from transport sector, while economic growth leads to the increase of CO₂ emissions. This study can be used in policy recommendations by encouraging countries to use clean energy and to stimulate tourism sector for combating global warming.     

Orientation of Coenobita rugosus (Crustacea: Anomura): A field study on Aldabra

Experiments were designed to determine whether anemotaxis shown by the terrestrial hermit crab Coenobita rugosus H. Milne Edwards is (i) an orientational strategy leading the crabs to sea or (ii) a strategy improving rectilinear flight. In an arena with uniform landscape, hermit crabs from different beaches of the Aldabra atoll orientated during daylight in the direction of the sea of their own beach; this orientation was only slightly affected by wind direction. Under artificial wind conditions, at night, all hermit crabs displayed positive anemotaxis, independent of the orientation of the home beach, thus leaving little support for the first hypothesis. During the day, with the sea and beach both visible, all the hermit crabs on the beach moved landwards irrespective of wind and home beach direction.     

Community perceptions of scuba dive tourism development in Bien Unido,Bohol Island,Philippines

The Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation (CCEF), a Philippine environmental organization, in collaboration with Region 7 municipality leaders from Cebu, Leyte, and Bohol, as well as various financial donors, is striving to improve the marine resource management of the Outer Danajon Bank in the Philippines. One of the goals is to develop scuba dive tourism along the Outer Bank, beginning with the municipality of Bien Unido on Bohol Island. Despite previous efforts to attract investors and tourists by the Bien Unido mayor, dive tourism is currently absent from the municipality. During the summer of 2011, the mayor, the CCEF, and a private real estate developer, agreed to invest in infrastructure and livelihood training in Bien Unido for the purpose of developing a scuba dive tourism industry. This study analyzes current community viewpoints on the development of dive tourism in Bien Unido and four selected dive tourist cites. The study consists of thirty-four qualitative interviews conducted in Bien Unido and four other dive tourist sites as well as 1117 quantitative surveys conducted with community members throughout the central portion of the Philippines (Region 7). This study complements the Danajon Bank Marine Park Project of the CCEF and makes recommendations to improve the management of the Danajon Bank Double Barrier coral reef with protected areas and alternative livelihood projects linked to tourism development. The interviews served to define tourism and to document the specific needs of each barangay, or community, for tourism development. The qualitative survey revealed generally positive attitudes regarding scuba dive tourism development. Nintey-one percent of respondents believe tourism will help the barangay and most would participate in selling food/drink or being a recreational tour guide for tourists. Interview and survey respondents expectations that economic benefits will outweigh any social or environmental challenges, primarily alternative livelihoods and increased revenue for the municipality. Overall, Bien Unido and Region 7 community members will likely welcome visitors to their communities due to the expected benefits regardless of other negative environmental and social externalities such as increases in resource pressures and losses of tradition. Four additional municipalities were selected as “tourism developed sites” to further explore the negative and positive impacts of dive tourism, as perceived by the barangay captains or council, over a range of five to thirty years. These findings revealed challenges that were not mentioned in Bien Unido interviews or in the Region 7 qualitative surveys including changes in the price of living, increases in drug trafficking and sex trade, and private investors controlling community decisions.

“As long as tourists like to come, then we want them all. If they will come, we will welcome them all.” Bien Unido interviewee, July 19, 2011

     

A decomposition analysis of CO2 emissions: evidence from Malaysia’s tourism industry

The most important question raised from issues of environmental degradation is how economic activities bring about changes that will result in pollution. In the pursuit of tourism economy, contrary to popular interest, the travel and tourism (T&T) industry may cause environmental damages through the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from energy consumption in areas such as transportation and delivery of amenities. Given this major concern, this paper attempts to investigate the linkage between tourism and CO₂ emissions in Malaysia between 1981 and 2011. In particular, this study fills the knowledge gap by taking a closer look at the impact of international tourist arrivals on CO₂ emissions by sector – electricity and heat generation and transport. Results from the bound test method suggest that there exists a long-run relationship among the variables under consideration when CO₂ emissions become the dependent variable. The original result is similarly robust to alternatives, which are CO₂ emissions from sectors of electricity and heat generation and transport. Furthermore, the vector error correction model causality analysis indicates a causal relationship between tourism and CO₂ emissions by transport and electricity and heat generation. Subsequently, several tourism-related policies are drawn from these findings.     

Fungal pathogenesis of the sea fan Gorgonia ventalina: direct and indirect consequences

Summary. Fungal pathogenesis of the sea fan Gorgonia ventalina has developed on the Belize barrier reef during 1997 and 1998. The disease incidence (= percent of infected sea fans) remained unchanged at two sites along the barrier reef crest between years. However, the incidence increased significantly at an offshore atoll during that time, as did the virulence (= percent tissue loss). Grazing by the gorgonian specialist mollusc Cyphoma gibbosum increased on infected sea fans. Sea fan responses to fungal infection included significant decreases in a furano-germacrene compound with antifeedant activity and significant increases in the concentration of sclerites at the site of infection. Feeding assays utilizing C. gibbosum and a natural assemblage of reef fishes indicated sclerites are an effective deterrent, to both consumers, at both pre- and post-infected concentrations. In contrast, the compound was only deterrent to the fish, and only at concentrations found in pre-infected sea fans. These data indicate that sea fan pathogenesis can directly and indirectly affect population health via virulent tissue necrosis and pathogen-mediated reductions in grazer resistance, respectively. Received 4 November 1998; accepted 5 April 1999.     

Post-frontier governance up in smoke? Free-for-all frontier imaginations encourage illegal deforestation and appropriation of public lands in the Brazilian Amazon

ABSTRACT

Post-frontier governance in the Brazilian Amazon highlights the interaction of regulatory technologies, institutions and practices to combat illegal deforestation and appropriation of public lands. While the Amazon fires received tremendous media coverage in 2019, the dismantlement of environmental laws and regulatory agencies has supported the rise in deforestation as early as 2012. We discuss the impact of post-frontier governance in Southwest-Pará by analyzing the spatial distribution of deforestation, territorial management, law enforcement, and environmental regularization from 2000 to 2018. The integration of spatial analysis with qualitative field surveys in the blacklisted municipality Novo Progresso shows that deforestation control largely fails, specifically in undesignated public lands. While land tenure security remains the biggest challenge in the region, the persistent imagination of free-for-all frontier spaces encourages the uncontrolled appropriation of and speculation with public lands. Here, the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) has been identified as a key instrument to secure land claims.     

Enhancing the productivity and multifunctionality of traditional farming in Latin America

SUMMARY

An assessment is made of various grassroots development initiatives in Latin America which show that agroecological technologies can bring significant environmental and economic benefits to small farmers and rural communities in the region. Examined initiatives offer new ways of enhancing the multifunctional attributes of traditional agriculture through greater per unit area productivity and environmental services obtained in complex, integrated agroecological systems that feature many crop varieties, together with animals and trees. If such experiences were to be scaled up, multiplied, extrapolated, and supported in alternative policy scenarios, the gains in food security and environmental conservation would be substantial. The challenge now is to mobilize science, institutions and the right policies to increase the productivity of smallholder farming systems, while preserving the resource base and at the same time empowering local communities.     

Using plants for health: Indigenous knowledge in health care in a tribal region of Bihar,India

While the potential of indigenous knowledge for health care is fully recognised in the literature and by many health professionals, the practices of so many indigenous peoples go unrecorded and untested. Indigenous knowledge remains essentially untapped, an unwritten resource involving information, language and skills in many groups, languages, cultures and environments. An attempt is made in this paper to identify selected indigenous health technologies in a tribal area of Bihar State, India; to describe the treatments, their application and preparation; and to link the traditional practice with the relevant scientific information to test or determine the validity of the practices. These practices were found to be effective in the treatment of a variety of health problems, and most were also scientifically confirmed. The paper argues, however, that other plant uses practised by tribal people still need to be explored: in order to popularise more widely the authenticated practices; to preserve indigenous knowledge; to integrate or blend it with scientific knowledge so that health professionals and healthcare users may benefit from a wider range of healthcare strategies which are environmentally unthreatening.