Looking beyond the flowers: associations of stingless bees with sap-sucking insects

The study addresses in vitro degradation potential of airborne Aspergillus and Penicillium/Talarmyces species originating from cultural heritage conservation premises. A series of rapid, cost effective biodegradation assays were performed to assess production of extracellular pigments, acids, and enzymes. Most of the isolates have demonstrated positive growth in at least one of the preformed tests. Strongest overall degradation potential was demonstrated for Penicillium brevicompactum, P. glabrum, and Talaromyces sayulitensis while Aspergillus domesticus, A. penicillioides, A. pseudoglaucus, and A. ruber did not exhibit positive reaction in any of the employed assays. Majority of isolates exhibited proteolytic and cellulolytic activity while carbonate dissolution was observed for only five tested fungi. Highest alteration of pH value in liquid media was documented for T. sayulitensis while A. niger and P. expansum exhibited strongest acid production on CREA. Certain isolates, mostly Penicillium species, displayed production of extracellular pigments. The results imply that many of the tested fungi have significant biodegradation capacity, indicating their potential to inflict structural and esthetic alterations on cultural heritage objects.

     

Overview of the Brazilian Citriculture Certification

This study aims to characterize the different types of certification in the Brazilian citriculture as well as analyze the major changes in the market. The paper also has the objective to discuss how social and environmental factors influence the demand for food certifications and the sustainability and ethics aspects in the field. Therefore, a literature review on the subject was carried out as well as a qualitative research using interviews with certifiers, governmental institutions, farmers, cooperatives and producer associations. The certification is becoming mandatory for those working in foreign markets and for those working nationally; it can be a competitive differential. The organic certification in citriculture shows the highest number of growers. Companies with large areas of citrus and the orange juice processing industry are adhering to this certification in order to maintain themselves competitive in the market. There is an enormous potential of Brazilian citriculture certification, because the certified area is still less than 6 % of the total area. Certification reduces the asymmetry of information and consists of an important step towards sustainability although incapable of solely guaranteeing it.     

Mapping Ecological Processes and Ecosystem Services for Prioritizing Restoration Efforts in a Semi-arid Mediterranean River Basin

Semi-arid Mediterranean regions are highly susceptible to desertification processes which can reduce the benefits that people obtain from healthy ecosystems and thus threaten human wellbeing. The European Union Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 recognizes the need to incorporate ecosystem services into land-use management, conservation, and restoration actions. The inclusion of ecosystem services into restoration actions and plans is an emerging area of research, and there are few documented approaches and guidelines on how to undertake such an exercise. This paper responds to this need, and we demonstrate an approach for identifying both key ecosystem services provisioning areas and the spatial relationship between ecological processes and services. A degraded semi-arid Mediterranean river basin in north east Spain was used as a case study area. We show that the quantification and mapping of services are the first step required for both optimizing and targeting of specific local areas for restoration. Additionally, we provide guidelines for restoration planning at a watershed scale; establishing priorities for improving the delivery of ecosystem services at this scale; and prioritizing the sub-watersheds for restoration based on their potential for delivering a combination of key ecosystem services for the entire basin.     

Supramolecular complex formation,a possible antigenotoxic mechanism of glucomannan against aflatoxin B1

Abstract

Glucomannan is a highly branched polysaccharide with glycosidic linkages, constituted of mannoses and glucoses. In recent years, its usefulness due to its immunological, antioxidant and antimutagenic activity has been recognized. The aim of the study was to determine the antigenotoxic ability of glucomannan extracted from Candida utilis orally administered (100–700?mg/kg) to mice, which subsequently received 1?mg/kg aflatoxin B₁. Hepatocytes obtained from these animals 4–16?h post administration were examined by means of the comet assay. The antigenotoxic effect was found to be higher than that observed in previous studies with α-mannan and β-D-glucan isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae., In order to explore the possibility of formation of a supramolecular complex between glucomannan and aflatoxin B₁, both compounds were co-crystallized, their melting points determined, and the complex analyzed through ultraviolet spectroscopy. The spectroscopy data suggest that the protective effect of glucomannan is related to the formation of a supramolecular complex between the two compounds.     

The importance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands for the conservation of terrestrial mammals

Indigenous Peoples’ lands cover over one-quarter of Earth's surface, a significant proportion of which is still free from industrial-level human impacts. As a result, Indigenous Peoples and their lands are crucial for the long-term persistence of Earth's biodiversity and ecosystem services. Yet, information on species composition on these lands globally remains largely unknown. We conducted the first comprehensive analysis of terrestrial mammal composition across mapped Indigenous lands based on data on area of habitat (AOH) for 4460 mammal species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We overlaid each species’ AOH on a current map of Indigenous lands and found that 2695 species (60% of assessed mammals) had ≥10% of their ranges on Indigenous Peoples’ lands and 1009 species (23%) had >50% of their ranges on these lands. For threatened species, 473 (47%) occurred on Indigenous lands with 26% having >50% of their habitat on these lands. We also found that 935 mammal species (131 categorized as threatened) had ≥ 10% of their range on Indigenous Peoples’ lands that had low human pressure. Our results show how important Indigenous Peoples’ lands are to the successful implementation of conservation and sustainable development agendas worldwide.     

Modeling the impacts of hunting on the population dynamics of red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus)

Overexploitation of wildlife populations occurs across the humid tropics and is a significant threat to the long-term survival of large-bodied primates. To investigate the impacts of hunting on primates and ways to mitigate them, we developed a spatially explicit, individual-based model for a landscape that included hunted and un-hunted areas. We used the large-bodied neotropical red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus) as our case study species because its life history characteristics make it vulnerable to hunting. We modeled the influence of different rates of harvest and proportions of landscape dedicated to un-hunted reserves on population persistence, population size, social dynamics, and hunting yields of red howler monkeys. In most scenarios, the un-hunted populations maintained a constant density regardless of hunting pressure elsewhere, and allowed the overall population to persist. Therefore, the overall population was quite resilient to extinction; only in scenarios without any un-hunted areas did the population go extinct. However, the total and hunted populations did experience large declines over 100 years under moderate and high hunting pressure. In addition, when reserve area decreased, population losses and losses per unit area increased disproportionately. Furthermore, hunting disrupted the social structure of troops. The number of male turnovers and infanticides increased in hunted populations, while birth rates decreased and exacerbated population losses due to hunting. Finally, our results indicated that when more than 55% of the landscape was harvested at high (30%) rates, hunting yields, as measured by kilograms of biomass, were less than those obtained from moderate harvest rates. Additionally, hunting yields, expressed as the number of individuals hunted/year/km², increased in proximity to un-hunted areas, and suggested that dispersal from un-hunted areas may have contributed to hunting sustainability. These results indicate that un-hunted areas serve to enhance hunting yields, population size, and population persistence in hunted landscapes. Therefore, spatial regulation of hunting via a reserve system may be an effective management strategy for sustainable hunting, and we recommend it because it may also be more feasible to implement than harvest quotas or restrictions on season length.     

Feeding ecology of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) at rocky reefs in western South Atlantic

Feeding ecology of green turtles was investigated between January 2005 and April 2008 at Arvoredo Reserve, Brazil (27°17′S, 48°18′W). Data were obtained through the performance of observational sessions, geo-referenced counts, benthic surveys, capture and recapture of individuals, and oesophageal lavages. This protected area was identified as an important green turtle feeding ground, used year-round by juveniles (curved carapace length = 32–83 cm). Turtles fed close to the rocky shores of the area and selected grazing sites commonly at hard-to-reach, near-vertical portions of the rocks. They were less active in cold months, and more abundant at shallow areas of the reef (0–5 m), where their preferred food items occurred. Their diet was dominated by macroalgae species but invertebrates were also present. Their main food item was the red algae Pterocladiella capillacea, which seems to be eaten through periodical cropping of its tips. Observational methods such as the ones applied here could be incorporated to other research programs aiming to understand the relationships between Chelonia mydas feeding populations and their environment.     

Quantification of 17 endocrine disruptor compounds and their spatial and seasonal distribution in the Iberian Ave River and its coastline

The Ave River flows through the most urbanized and industrialized Porto district areas. Despite ovotestis was recently reported in male fish from the estuary, no data exist on the water levels of natural and pharmaceutical estrogens (17β-estradiol, estrone, and 17α-ethynylestradiol), xenoestrogenic industrial pollutants (4-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol and their mono and diethoxylates, and bisphenol A), phytoestrogens (formononetin, biochanin A, daidzein, and genistein), and sitosterol. Absence of analyses applies to the river, estuary, and nearby coastline. Those compounds mimic the action of endogenous estradiol, being well-recognized endocrine disrupters (EDCs). To conclude about suspected influxes of estrogenic EDCs into the river and coastline, water samples were taken at eight sites every two months, during one year (2010), at low tide. Data showed ubiquitous presence of potentially hazardous amounts of estrogens (particularly ethynylestradiol, up to 10 ng L^?1), nonylphenol (up to 250 ng L^?1), and sitosterol (up to 6 μg L^?1), which helps explaining the ovotestis emergence in local fish. Also, because physicochemical parameters used in water quality evaluation, such as pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and nitrites levels, were within legal limits – suggesting good quality – our study supports that assessment of human and environmental risks by targeting surface waters requires integrating EDCs monitoring in routine analyses.     

Awareness of sea-level response under climate change on the coast of Ghana

In response to climate change, coastal communities are expected to experience increasing coastal impacts of sea-level rise (SLR). Strategies formulated and implemented to curb these impacts can thus be more effective if scientific findings on the response to climate change and SLR impacts on coastal communities are taken into consideration and not based merely on the need for coastal protection due to physical coastal erosion. There is also the need to determine the level of awareness of sea-level rise and responses in coastal communities to improve adaptation planning. This study assesses the impact of future erosion on the coastal land cover of Ghana. This assessment estimates approximately 2.66 km², 2.77 km², and 3.24 km² of coastal settlements, 2.10 km², 2.20 km² and 2.58 km² of lagoons, 1.39 km², 1.46 km² and 1.71 km² of wetlands to be at risk of inundation by the year 2050 based on coastal erosion estimates for the 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) used in the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This study also assesses the level of awareness of respondents to SLR on the coast of Ghana and explores the availability and level of integration of scientific knowledge of SLR into coastal adaptation strategies in Ghana. Assessment of the awareness of SLR responses to the changing climate in Ghana is made through semi-structured interviews at national, municipal/district and coastal community scales. Although settlements may be inundated based on the coastal erosion estimates, coastal dwellers interviewed cherish their proximity to the sea and are determined to maintain their occupancy close to the sea as spatial location influences their source of livelihood (fishing). Respondents lack knowledge/understanding of SLR, as the majority of household interviewees attributed the rise or fall in sea level to God. Respondents from Ngiresia alleged that the ongoing coastal sea defence project in their community has led to increased malaria cases.