Factors influencing the food transition in riverine communities in the Brazilian Amazon

The objective of this study was to determine the main patterns and factors influencing food transition in riverine people in the Brazilian Amazon. Through interviews with a semi-structured questionnaire, we inferred their food habits and provide information about general demographic, socioeconomic, resource use and environmental context. Data from the questionnaires were categorized and analyzed using a logistic regression model to assess the relative influence of socioeconomic and environment factors on the local diet. Based on a logistic regression data analysis, it was found a greater consumption of processed food significantly associated with multiple factors such as market participation, sex (female and male), government aid to forest conservation and environment context (upland and wetland). Although the local diet is composed mainly of local resources such as fish and cassava flour, increasing incomes due to direct government subsidy programs and marketing of cassava flour have influenced these local practices and habits. Through the analysis of factors influencing food transition, it was possible to evaluate those having the greatest effect on this Amazon region and propose an alternative method to subsidy food policy grounded in local opinion surveys.     

Using historical ecology to reassess the conservation status of coniferous forests in Central Europe

Forests cover approximately one‐third of Central Europe. Oak (Quercus) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) are considered the natural dominants at low and middle elevations, respectively. Many coniferous forests (especially of Picea abies) occur primarily at midelevations, but these are thought to have resulted from forestry plantations planted over the past 200 years. Nature conservation and forestry policy seek to promote broadleaved trees over conifers. However, there are discrepancies between conservation guidelines (included in Natura 2000) and historical and palaeoecological data with regard to the distribution of conifers. Our aim was to bring new evidence to the debate on the conservation of conifers versus broadleaved trees at midelevations in Central Europe. We created a vegetation and land‐cover model based on pollen data for a highland area of 11,300 km² in the Czech Republic and assessed tree species composition in the forests before the onset of modern forestry based on 18th‐century archival sources. Conifers dominated the study region throughout the entire Holocene (approximately 40–60% of the area). Broadleaved trees were present in a much smaller area than envisaged by current ideas of natural vegetation. Rather than casting doubt on the principles of Central European nature conservation in general, our results highlight the necessity of detailed regional investigations and the importance of historical data in challenging established notions on the natural distribution of tree species.     

Ecological roles of natural products from the marine sponge Geodia corticostylifera

In the Brazilian coast, high numbers of the small brittle star Ophiactis savignyi usually live associated with the sponge Geodia corticostylifera (Demospongiae, Geodidae), but not with other sympatric sponge species. In order to check whether this association was related only with the physical shelter provided by the sponge body or was chemically mediated, the crude organic extract of G. corticostylifera was added to sponge mimics made of phytagel and spongin skeleton. Control and treated mimics were simultaneously offered to previously sponge-associated O. savignyi in both static seawater and flow-through laboratory experiments. Ophiuroids were allowed to move towards the preferred mimic. The defensive properties of the sponge extract against fish predation and fouling were also evaluated. Chemotaxis assays showed that symbiotic ophiuroids were able to chemically recognize its host sponge, moving significantly more towards mimics containing G. corticostylifera extract. Chemical deterrence assays showed that the natural concentration of the extract of this sponge was also able to inhibit generalist fish predation on field experiments and the attachment of the common mussel Perna perna in laboratory assays. These results indicate that the crude extract of G. corticostylifera plays multiple functions in the marine environment, presumably being responsible for a closer association of this sponge with O. savignyi, providing protection for this ophiuroid and inhibition of epibionts on itself.     

Analysis of PM2.5 and PM10 in the atmosphere of Mexico City during 2000-2002

During the last 10 years, high atmospheric concentrations of airborne particles recorded in the Mexico City metropolitan area have caused concern because of their potential harmful effects on human health. Four monitoring campaigns have been carried out in the Mexico City metropolitan area during 2000-2002 at three sites: (1) Xalostoc, located in an industrial region; (2) La Merced, located in a commercial area; and (3) Pedregal, located in a residential area. Results of gravimetric and chemical analyses of 330 samples of particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 microm (PM2.5) and PM with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 microm (PM10) indicate that (1) PM2.5/PM10 average ratios were 0.42, 0.46, and 0.52 for Xalostoc, La Merced, and Pedregal, respectively; (2) the highest PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were found at the industrial site; (3) PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were lower at nighttime; (4) PM2.5 and PM10 spatial averages concentrations were 35 and 76 microg/m3, respectively; and (5) when the PM2.5 standard was exceeded, nitrate, sulfate, ammonium, organic carbon, and elemental carbon concentrations were high. Twenty-four hour averaged PM2.5 concentrations in Mexico City and Sao Paulo were similar to those recorded in the 1980s in Los Angeles. PM10 concentrations were comparable in Sao Paulo and Mexico City but 3-fold lower than those found in Santiago.     

Interdisciplinary studies on the technical and economic feasibility of deep underground coal gasification with CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> storage in bulgaria

This paper presents the outcome of a feasibility study on underground coal gasification (UCG) combined with direct carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture and storage (CCS) at a selected site in Bulgaria with deep coal seams (>1,200 m). A series of state-of-the-art geological, geo-mechanical, hydrogeological and computational models supported by experimental tests and techno-economical assessments have been developed for the evaluation of UCG-CCS schemes. Research efforts have been focused on the development of site selection requirements for UCG-CCS, estimation of CO₂ storage volumes, review of the practical engineering requirements for developing a commercial UCG-CCS storage site, consideration of drilling and completion issues, and assessments of economic feasibility and environmental impacts of the scheme. In addition, the risks of subsidence and groundwater contamination have been assessed in order to pave the way for a full-scale trial and commercial applications. The current research confirms that cleaner and cheaper energy with reduced emissions can be achieved and the economics are competitive in the future European energy market. However the current research has established that rigorous design and monitor schemes are essential for productivity and safety and the minimisation of the potential environmental impacts. A platform has been established serving to inform policy-makers and aiding strategies devised to alleviate local and global impacts on climate change, while ensuring that energy resources are optimally harnessed.     

Using Four Capitals to Assess Watershed Sustainability

The La Antigua watershed drains into the Gulf of Mexico and can be considered as one of the most important areas in Mexico because of its high productivity, history, and biodiversity, although poverty remains high in the area in spite of these positive attributes. In this study, we performed an integrated assessment of the watershed to recommend a better direction toward a sustainable management in which the four capitals (natural, human, social, and built) are balanced. We contrasted these four capitals in the municipalities of the upper, middle and lower watershed and found that natural capital (natural ecosystems and ecosystem services) was higher in the upper and middle watershed, while human and social capitals (literacy, health, education and income) were generally higher downstream. Overall, Human Development Index was negatively correlated with the percentage of natural ecosystems in the watershed, especially in the upper and lower watershed regions. Our results indicate that natural capital must be fully considered in projections for increasing human development, so that natural resources can be preserved and managed adequately while sustaining intergenerational well-being.     

Effect of UV-B exposure on eggs and embryos of patagonian anurans and evidence of photoprotection

In Patagonia, enhanced levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) are affecting not only the southernmost territories but the northern as well, and there is a growing body of evidence indicating effects on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Anurans occur along a wide geographical gradient in Patagonia and are common in shallow waters, usually breeding during spring when seasonal UV-B radiation is at its highest level. In this paper we analyse the effective irradiances (I) experienced in nature by eggs and embryos of the patagonian anurans Pleurodema bufoninum, Pleurodema thaul and Bufo spinulosus papillosus, considering water and egg jelly optical properties. Besides, we determine photoprotective pigments in eggs and embryos of the different species, and ontogenetic shifts in pigment concentration. Finally, we studied the effects of natural and enhanced levels of UV-B on eggs of P. bufoninum aiming to evaluate the role of the jelly envelope in screening the damaging radiation. The evidence gathered in this work shows that natural and enhanced UV-B levels did not induce significant changes on the survivorship but incremented the occurrence of malformations. Also, the species experiencing high levels of exposure presented high concentrations of melanin suggesting that exposure to sunlight triggers photoprotection by pigments. Collectively our results suggest that the studied species bear certain levels of adaptation to cope with high ambient UVR conferred by environmental and biological factors.     

Female and male serins (Serinus serinus) respond differently to derived song traits

We tested if male or female behavior towards manipulated song indicates intra- or inter-sexual selection of two characteristics of serin song that are extreme and evolutionarily derived in this species: high frequency and fast syllable rate. In a first experiment, we monitored vocal responses and attendance to song playbacks. Female behavior indicated a preference for high-frequency song and suggested an aggressive function for fast syllable rates, as fast songs inhibited vocal response. Males did not show discrimination of frequency or syllable rate with this experimental design. The second experiment used a simple approach/no approach design, and in this experiment, males showed stronger discrimination between stimuli than did females. Therefore, sex differences in discrimination appear not to result from differences in perceptual abilities but from differences in the context of stimulus presentation. The second experiment also supported a role of song frequency in female choice, as the effect of frequency was limited to females: males did not respond differently to song frequency and approached high-frequency songs less than females did. Results of this experiment also supported an aggressive function for fast syllable rates, as the effect of fast songs did extend to male behavior. Taken together, our results indicate that the high frequency and fast syllable rate of serin song cannot result from a single selection process: while high frequency may have evolved by inter-sexual selection, syllable rate provokes a pattern of response that is more consistent with intra-sexual selection.