Monitoring and reporting attacks on education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia

The United Nations' Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism is charged with documenting six grave violations against children in a time of conflict, including attacks on schools. Many of these incidents, however, remain unreported across the globe. This study explores whether or not a local knowledge base of education and child protection actors in North and South Kivu Provinces, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in Mogadishu, Somalia, could contribute to a more complete record of attacks on education in those areas. Hundreds of semi‐structured interviews were conducted with key informants across the three settings, and in total 432 attacks on education were documented. Purposive samples of these reports were verified and a large majority was confirmed. Local non‐governmental organisations and education institutions were most knowledgeable about these incidents, but most never reported them to a monitoring authority. The study concludes that attack surveillance and response were largely insufficient, and recommends investing in mechanisms that utilise local knowledge to address these shortcomings.     

Brood parasitism disproportionately increases nest provisioning and helper recruitment in a cooperatively breeding bird

Obligate avian brood parasites lay their eggs in nests of other species (hosts), which raise parasitic young. Parasitic nestlings are likely to influence host’s parental behaviours as they typically beg for food more vigorously than young host for a given hunger level. However, few studies have tested this idea, with conflicting results. These prior studies were largely limited to biparental hosts, but little is known about the effect of brood parasitism on parental behaviours in hosts that breed cooperatively. We followed a multimodel approach to examine the effect of brood parasitism on nest provisioning and helper recruitment in the baywing (Agelaioides badius), a cooperative breeder parasitised by screaming (Molothrus rufoaxillaris) and shiny (Molothrus bonariensis) cowbirds. Multimodel inference results indicated that feeding visits increased with nestling age, cooperative group size and number of cowbird nestlings in the brood. Brood size had little influence on feeding visits, which further suggests that baywings adjusted their provisioning effort in response to cowbird parasitism. In addition, nests parasitised artificially with shiny cowbird eggs or hatchlings recruited more helpers than unmanipulated nests having only host or screaming cowbird young. Our results provide novel evidence that brood parasitism and cooperative breeding interact in determining the levels of nest provisioning.     

A landscape-scale framework to identify refugia from multiple stressors

From a conservation perspective, quantifying potential refugial capacity has been predominantly focused on climate refugia, which is critical for maintaining the persistence of species and ecosystems. However, protection from other stressors, such as human-induced changes in fire and hydrology, that cause habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation is also necessary to ensure that conservation efforts focused on climate are not undermined by other threats. Thus, conceptual and methodological advances for quantifying potential refugia from multiple anthropogenic stressors are important to support conservation efforts. We devised a new conceptual approach, the domains of refugia, for assessing refugial capacity that identifies areas where exposure to multiple stressors is low. In our framework, patterns of environmental variability (e.g., increased frequency of warm summers), thresholds of resilience, and extent and intensity of stressors are used to identify areas of potential refugia from a suite of ongoing anthropogenic stressors (e.g., changes in fire regime). To demonstrate its utility, we applied the framework to a Southern California landscape. Sites with high refugial capacity (super-refugia sites) had on average 30% fewer extremely warm summers, 20% fewer fire events, 10% less exposure to altered river channels and riparian areas, and 50% fewer recreational trails than the surrounding landscape. Our results suggest that super-refugia sites (∼8200 km²) for some natural communities are underrepresented in the existing protected area network, a finding that can inform efforts to expand protected areas. Our case study highlights how considering exposure to multiple stressors can inform planning and practice to conserve biodiversity in a changing world.     

Evaluation of cleaning and disinfection protocols for commercial farm equipment following a foreign animal disease outbreak

This study evaluated the microbiocidal efficacy of a cleaning and disinfection (C&D) treatment using stainless-steel coupons applied to three common types of animal mortality transport vehicles when exposed to agricultural conditions. Metal test coupons, inoculated with bacteriophage MS2, were affixed to the undercarriage of three types of animal mortality transport vehicles at various locations. Coupons were grimed by maneuvering the test vehicles down a series of wet dirt roads. Coupons were attached and extracted at various points to evaluate C&D performance with and without grime. C&D efficacy using a water-supplied pressure washing system and a dilute sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution was determined by comparing the difference in recovered viable virus between positive control coupons and test coupons. The results demonstrated a relatively high surface decontamination efficacy, with all but one location showing >5 log reduction of MS2. Coupons located on the roll-off truck's inside-back bumper contained the highest level of grime and resulted in a 4 log reduction of MS2. There was no significant difference in C&D efficacy across vehicle types, but locations impacted by grime and lack of accessibility achieved lower efficacies on average. These findings suggest that common C&D protocols, when applied to farm mortality transport vehicles, are effective. Hard-to-access locations containing high levels of grime may be candidates for additional targeted treatment.     

Catalyzing sustainable fisheries management through behavior change interventions

Small-scale fisheries are an important livelihood and primary protein source for coastal communities in many of the poorest regions in the world, yet many are overfished and thus require effective and scalable management solutions. Positive ecological and socioeconomic responses to management typically lag behind immediate costs borne by fishers from fishing pressure reductions necessary for fisheries recovery. These short-term costs challenge the long-term success of these interventions. However, social marketing may increase perceptions of management benefits before ecological and socioeconomic benefits are fully realized, driving new social norms and ultimately long-term sustainable behavior change. By conducting underwater visual surveys to quantify ecological conditions and by conducting household surveys with community members to quantify their perceptions of management support and socioeconomic conditions, we assessed the impact of a standardized small-scale fisheries management intervention that was implemented across 41 sites in Brazil, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The intervention combines TURF reserves (community-based territorial use rights for fishing coupled with no-take marine reserves) with locally tailored social-marketing behavior change campaigns. Leveraging data across 22 indicators and 4 survey types, along with data from 3 control sites, we found that ecological and socioeconomic impacts varied and that communities supported the intervention and were already changing their fishing practices. These results suggest that communities were developing new social norms and fishing more sustainably before long-term ecological and socioeconomic benefits of fisheries management materialized.     

Cadmium accumulation,LC50 and oxygen consumption in the tropical marine amphipod Elasmopus rapax

Adult Elasmopus rapax, collected from the eastern coast of Venezuela in 1990, were exposed to seawater containing various CdCl₂ concentrations ranging from 0.25 to 5.5 mol l^-1. The 48-h and 96-h LC₅₀ values obtained were 4.0 and 1.6 mol Cd l^-1, respectively. In amphipods exposed to 1 mol Cd l^-1 for up to 240 h, the apparent rate of cadmium uptake was higher in dead animals (most of which had molted during the preceding 24 to 48 h) than in those which survived throughout the treatments without molting. Thus, whole-body cadmium content reached 1.74 mol g^-1 dry weight (dw) in the former and only 0.85 mol g^-1 dw in the latter; the higher body Cd-load may have caused the increased mortality observed in molters. On exposure to cadmium levels above 0.5 mol l^-1 the oxygen consumption rate of non-molters decreased from 2.2 to about 1.5 ml O₂ g^-1 dw h^-1 over the first 24 h, remaining unchanged thereafter. The results place E. rapax among the most sensitive marine organisms yet studied concerning cadmium toxicity, and emphasize the usefulness of the Amphipoda as bioindicators and research tools for bioassays.     

Evidence of population genetic effects in Peromyscus melanophrys chronically exposed to mine tailings in Morelos, Mexico

Effects of environmental chemical pollution can be observed at all levels of biological organization. At the population level, genetic structure and diversity may be affected by exposure to metal contamination. This study was conducted in Huautla, Morelos, Mexico in a mining district where the main contaminants are lead and arsenic. Peromyscus melanophrys is a small mammal species that inhabits Huautla mine tailings and has been considered as a sentinel species. Metal bioaccumulation levels were examined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and genetic analyses were performed using eight microsatellite loci in 100 P. melanophrys individuals from 3 mine tailings and 2 control sites. The effect of metal bioaccumulation levels on genetic parameters (population and individual genetic diversity, genetic structure) was analyzed. We found a tissue concentration gradient for each metal and for the bioaccumulation index. The highest values of genetic differentiation (Fst and Rst) and the lowest number of migrants per generation (Nm) were registered among the exposed populations. Genetic distance analyses showed that the most polluted population was the most genetically distant among the five populations examined. Moreover, a negative and significant relationship was detected between genetic diversity (expected heterozygosity and internal relatedness) and each metal concentration and for the bioaccumulation index in P. melanophrys. This study highlights that metal stress is a major factor affecting the distribution and genetic diversity levels of P. melanophrys populations living inside mine tailings. We suggest the use of genetic population changes at micro-geographical scales as a population level biomarker.     

Climate change and crop diversity: farmers’ perceptions and adaptation on the Bolivian Altiplano

Crop diversity is central to traditional risk management practices on the Andean Altiplano and may find renewed importance in adapting to climate change. This study explored the role of crop diversity in farmers’ adaptation actions in eight Aymara communities on the northern Bolivian Altiplano. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including multifactor analysis and a community resilience self-assessment, we investigated how farmers’ use of diversity in adaptation is related to their perceptions of crop and variety tolerances and other environmental, social, and economic factors. Few crops and varieties were perceived as tolerant to increasingly intense and unpredictable drought, frost, hail, and pest and disease outbreaks. Some local crops and varieties were perceived as vulnerable to emerging conditions (e.g. oca, papalisa, isaño), whereas bitter potatoes and wild relatives of quinoa and cañahua were perceived as highly stress tolerant and provide food in harsh periods. A total 19% of households surveyed (N = 193) had introduced new crops or varieties—often disease resistant or early maturing—as an adaptive action. Introduction of commercial crops was a common adaptation action, reflecting farmers’ response to warming temperatures and changing economic opportunities, but greater sensitivity of the introduced crops may cause maladaptation. Despite intensification of cropping systems, households continue to maintain a median four potato varieties with different tolerance traits, yet this risk management practice was not perceived as adaptation. Strengthening resilience will require a combination of actions, including maintaining and expanding crop portfolios and restoring soil and ecosystem health, using both traditional and innovative approaches.     

Multi-causal and integrated assessment of sustainability: the case of agriculturization in the Argentine Pampas

Assessing the sustainability of complex development processes requires multi-causal and integrated analyses. We develop a system-based methodology, rooted in interdisciplinary discussion and consensus building between 15 experts, to construct a multi-causal diagram which examines the sustainability of the Argentine Pampas′ process of agriculturization. The resulting diagram includes 25 factors and provides a big-picture of the multiple dimensions and interrelations affecting sustainability. According to this examination, the increasing concentration of production and the incorporation of technological innovations, triggered by economic and institutional factors, are the cause of environmental distresses and social changes, whose consequences for sustainability are still highly disputed. Nevertheless, the symptoms of both environmental and social unsustainability are more evident in the case of the extra-Pampean regions than in the Pampas. This suggests that the Pampean agriculture model should not be transferred to these regions without substantial modifications. The experts did not reach consensus on whether the agriculturization process is overall sustainable or unsustainable. Lack of consensus revolved mainly around opposing perspectives regarding the significance of the threats to environmental sustainability. The magnitude of socio-distributive unbalance and loss of rural jobs were also contentious. Yet, the paper shows how the exercise of building a joint causal diagram was undoubtedly helpful for linking piece-meal disciplinary facts, brought in from all fronts, into a comprehensive and coherent picture. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.