Application of the ‘Climafor’ Approach to Estimate Baseline Carbon Emissions of a Forest Conservation Project in the Selva Lacandona,Chiapas, Mexico

We present a methodology for testing and applying a regional baseline for carbon (C) emissions from land-use change, using a spatial modelling approach (hereafter called the Climafor approach). The methodology is based on an analysis of causal factors of previous land-use change (Castillo et al. 2005). Carbon risk matrices constructed from the spatial correlation analysis between observed deforestation and driving factors (Castillo et al. 2005), are used to estimate future carbonemissions within acceptable limits for a forest conservation project. The performance of two risk matrices were tested by estimating carbon emissions between 1975 and 1996 from randomly selected sample plots of sizes varying from 1,600 to 10,000 ha and comparing the results of the observed emissions from these sample plots with the model estimations. Expected emissions from continued land-use change was estimated for the community applying the risk matrices to the current land cover. The methodology provides an objective means of constructing baseline scenarios including confidence intervals, using the sum of variances of the various data sources, such as measured carbon densities, classification errors, errors in the risk matrices, and differences between the model prediction and observed emissions of sample plots due to sample size. The procedures applied in this study also give an indication of the impact of the variance in the various data sources on the size of the confidence intervals, which allows project developers to decide what data sources are essential to improve his baseline. The modelling approach to estimate the deforestation pattern is based on readily available cartographic and census data, whereas data on carbon densities are required to assess the potential for forest conservation projects to offset carbon emissions.     

Light-dependent magnetoreception in birds: interaction of at least two different receptors

Passerine migrants require light from the blue-green part of the spectrum for magnetic compass orientation; under yellow light, they are disoriented. European robins tested under a combination of yellow light and blue or green light showed a change in behavior, no longer preferring their seasonally appropriate migratory direction: in spring as well as in autumn, they preferred southerly headings under blue-and-yellow and northerly headings under green-and-yellow light. This clearly shows that yellow light is not neutral and suggests the involvement of at least two types of receptors in obtaining magnetic compass information, with the specific interaction of these receptors being rather complex.     

Assessing the Vulnerability of Coastal Communities to Extreme Storms: The Case of Revere,MA., USA

Climate change may affect the frequency, intensity, and geographic distribution of severe coastal storms. Concurrent sea-level rise would raise the baseline of flooding during such events. Meanwhile, social vulnerability factors such as poverty and disability hinder the ability to cope with storms and storm damage. While physical changes are likely to remain scientifically uncertain into the foreseeable future, the ability to mitigate potential impacts from coastal flooding may be fostered by better understanding the interplay of social and physical factors that produce human vulnerability. This study does so by integrating the classic causal model of hazards with social, environmental, and spatial dynamics that lead to the differential ability of people to cope with hazards. It uses Census data, factor analysis, data envelopment analysis, and floodplain maps to understand the compound social and physical vulnerability of coastal residents in the city of Revere, MA, USA. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Oviposition strategies of conifer seed chalcids in relation to host phenology

Insects are considered the most important predators of seed cones, the female reproductive structures of conifers, prior to seed dispersal. Slightly more than 100 genera of insects are known to parasitize conifer seed cones. The most diverse (i.e., number of species) of these genera is Megastigmus (Hymenoptera: Torymidae), which comprises many important seed pests of native and exotic conifers. Seed chalcids, Megastigmus spp., lay eggs inside the developing ovules of host conifers and, until recently, oviposition was believed to occur only in fertilized ovules. Ovule development begins just after pollination, but stops if cells are not fertilized. The morphological stage of cone development at the time of oviposition by seed chalcids has been established for many species; however, knowledge of ovule development at that time has been documented for only one species, M. spermotrophus. Megastigmus spermotrophus oviposits in Douglas-fir ovules after pollination but before fertilization. Unlike the unfertilized ovules, those containing a M. spermotrophus larva continue to develop, whether fertilized or not, stressing the need to broaden our understanding of the insect–plant interactions for this entire genus. To achieve this task, we reviewed the scientific literature and assembled information pertaining to the timing of oviposition and to the pollination and fertilization periods of their respective host(s). More specifically, we were searching for circumstantial evidence that other species of Megastigmus associated with conifers could behave (i.e., oviposit before ovule fertilization) and impact on female gametophyte (i.e., prevent abortion) like M. spermotrophus. The evidence from our compilation suggests that seed chalcids infesting Pinaceae may also oviposit before ovule fertilization, just like M. spermotrophus, whereas those infesting Cupressaceae seemingly oviposit after ovule fertilization. Based on this evidence, we hypothesize that all species of Megastigmus associated with Pinaceae can oviposit in unfertilized ovules, whereas those exploiting Cupressaceae cannot, and thus oviposit only in already fully developed fertilized seeds. Furthermore, we predict that the presence of a larva in unfertilized ovules of all Pinaceae will influence the development of the female gametophyte by preventing its abortion. This influence on the Pinaceae can be interpreted as an ability to parasitize any of the potential seeds present in a seed cone, and as such represents a much more efficient oviposition strategy than searching and locating only fertilized seeds. Concomitantly, this ability has likely led to an overestimation of the impact of the species of seed chalcid infesting Pinaceae on seed production.     

Chromosomal abnormalities associated with a single umbilical artery

A single umbilical artery was seen in 10 out of 117 cytogenetically abnormal pregnancies. The abnormal karyotypes found to be associated with a single umbilical artery were trisomy 18 (n = 5), monosomy X (n = 2), triploidy (n = 1), sex chromosome (47,XYY; n = 1) and translocation (46t(X,5)(q13p15); n = 1). With the exception of the translocation case, all cases with a single umbilical artery had anatomical defects which were detectable ultrasonographically. This suggests that a single umbilical artery alone is not an indication for prenatal fetal karyotyping.     

The prenatal diagnosis of the cerebro-hepato-renal syndrome of Zellweger

The prenatal diagnosis of the cerebro-hepato-renal syndrome of Zellweger (CHRS) was made by assaying the levels of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) in amniotic fluid cell cultures, obtained by amniocentesis at 16 1/2 weeks of pregnancy. The family-at-risk, because they had previously borne a child with CHRS, accepted these results as indications of an affected fetus, and chose to terminate the pregnancy at 20 1/2 weeks of gestation. The diagnosis was confirned by the phenotype of the aborted fetus and the presence of markedly elevated levels of VLCFAs in fetal liver homogenates. The prenatal diagnosis of CHRS, which can now readily be determined from amniotic fluid cell cultures, is an important step in genetic counselling of families-at-risk for this disease.