Entry points for climate-informed planning for the water resources and agriculture sectors in Cambodia

Incorporating climate change concerns into national development planning allows adaptation to happen in harmony with the sustainable development of a country. Cambodia has received international support to enable climate change-resilient development; “mainstreaming climate change” is one of the key recent strategies. This article aims to identify entry points for integrating climate change concerns into national development planning, especially for the water resources and agriculture sectors. The study uses institutional ethnography research methods with informants drawn from government organisations, local academic institutions, and development partners, together with content analysis of key policy documents. It was found that the Cambodian national planning process restricts the involvement of other actors such as researchers, civil society, and private sector; yet flexible, in that it provides opportunities for the inclusion of climate change and other related concerns. The study identified specific entry points in key policy documents, such as the National Strategic Development Plans, and ministries’ plans. Other entry points were identified in the development planning process, for example, in the process of development departments and ministries’ plans, and actors such as department planners, and departments of planning of line ministries. Climate-informed planning is now plausible; more significant integration of concerns with future climate change, however, will require more commitment and stronger connections among national planning stakeholders, adaptation actors, and research communities.     

Iron oxide nanoparticles embedded in organic microparticles from Yerba Mate useful for remediation of textile wastewater through a photo-Fenton treatment: Ilex paraguariensis as a platform of environmental interest – Part 1

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Seven composites of iron oxide nanoparticles embedded in organic microparticles mediated by Cu(II) were synthesized using yerba mate (Ilex...     

Biochemical profile of non-enzymatic stress markers in the plant species “<Emphasis Type="Italic">Urginea maritima</Emphasis>” in a Mediterranean natural reserve exposed to oxidative stress

Protected areas decrease degrading natural ecosystems due to pollution such as air pollution. In 1981, the inhabitants founded Bentael natural reserve in Byblos, Lebanon, to secure their region against urbanization projects, like the recently constructed road that threatens the biodiversity of the reserve. This study was conducted to determine the oxidative stress resulting from this pollution and that menaces 360 floral species among them a rare species “Urginea maritima.” In this research, the biomonitoring approach was experienced to assess the oxidative stress. Biomonitoring possesses has the advantage to be low cost and a constructive method to generate valuable data for further examinations. The studied parameters were air pollutants, ascorbic acid, photosynthetic pigments, leave’s pH, relative water content, proline, carbohydrates, and hydrogen peroxide, in three chosen spots, near the pollution source (P1), opposite the latter spot (P2), and in an area relatively far from the source of contamination and which was chosen as the control site (Ctrl). The results showed in P1 detection of air pollutants higher of about 80% than in Ctrl, modifications in stress markers: increased concentration of the reactive oxygen species “hydrogen peroxide,” rise in the concentration of the osmoregulator amino acid “proline,” and depletion in chlorophyll content, in contrast to an increase in pheophytin. All these findings can be exploited as early diagnosis of air pollution and confirmed the ability to use such biomonitor (“Urginea maritima”) as a way to assess the environmental pollution levels and consequently affirm the danger of such landscape activities on natural reserves.     

First nonavian dinosaur from Lebanon: a brachiosaurid sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous of the Jezzine District

Two sauropod teeth from an Early Cretaceous (Neocomian) fluviodeltaic sandstone near Jezzine (Southern Lebanon) are the first nonavian dinosaur remains to be reported from Lebanon. Their distinctive character places them within Brachiosauridae. The sauropod teeth from Lebanon are a significant addition to the very scanty dinosaur record from the Levant, which hitherto consisted mainly of very poorly preserved and not easily identifiable specimens. The Basal Cretaceous Sandstone of Lebanon, thus, appears to be a potentially important source of fossil vertebrate material.     

Mammalian hairs in Early Cretaceous amber

Two mammalian hairs have been found in association with an empty puparium in a ∼100-million-year-old amber (Early Cretaceous) from France. Although hair is known to be an ancestral, ubiquitous feature in the crown Mammalia, the structure of Mesozoic hair has never been described. In contrast to fur and hair of some Jurassic and Cretaceous mammals preserved as carbonized filaments, the exceptional preservation of the fossils described here allows for the study of the cuticular structure. Results show the oldest direct evidence of hair with a modern scale pattern. This discovery implies that the morphology of hair cuticula may have remained unchanged throughout most of mammalian evolution. The association of these hairs with a possible fly puparium provides paleoecological information and indicates peculiar taphonomic conditions.     

Bateman gradients in a promiscuous mating system

The Bateman gradient is increasingly used to measure sexual selection and characterize mating systems. In a landmark paper, Arnold and Duvall (Am Nat 143:317–348, 1994) formulated predictions about the relationships between sex-specific Bateman gradients and the major types of mating system. In promiscuous species, gradients are expected to be strong and similar in both sexes. Current support for this prediction however remains equivocal as reported male gradients are almost constantly steeper than female gradients. Here, we estimated Bateman gradients in a wild population of Eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) over two reproductive seasons characterized by extreme levels of promiscuity and unbiased operational sex ratios. We found significant and positive Bateman gradients for both sexes. The gradients were not different among sexes suggesting that the strength of sexual selection was similar for males and females. The opportunity for selection was also particularly strong for a promiscuous species and not different among sexes. Our results thus support the predicted Bateman gradients for a promiscuous mating system.     

Offspring genetic diversity increases fitness of female Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Inbreeding has negative effects on individual and population performances. Therefore, enhancement of offspring genetic diversity is believed to play a major role in shaping mating systems. However, no study has clearly separated the direct effect of having multiple partners from the indirect effect of having more outbred offspring on the resulting reproductive success of individuals in the wild. In this study, we report significant associations between both multiple mating and within-individual genetic diversity of offspring, and an increased reproductive success of wild female Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar. Specifically, we found that females with a higher number of mates also have more outbred offspring (within-individuals), and that both of these characteristics increased their reproductive success expressed in terms of offspring surviving when combining all freshwater juvenile stages. Our findings also indicate that determinants of fitness are different among sexes as within-individual offspring genetic diversity was not a strong predictor of male reproductive success, while the number of mates was important. We also show that females mated with more outbred males than on average, which potentially increased their chances of producing outbred offspring. These results therefore suggest that there could be more important indirect genetic benefits of multiple mating for females than for males.Communicated by M. Abrahams