Gendered medicinal plant knowledge contributions to adaptive capacity and health sovereignty in Amazonia

Local medical systems are key elements of social-ecological systems as they provide culturally appropriate and locally accessible health care options, especially for populations with scarce access to biomedicine. The adaptive capacity of local medical systems generally rests on two pillars: species diversity and a robust local knowledge system, both threatened by local and global environmental change. We first present a conceptual framework to guide the assessment of knowledge diversity and redundancy in local medicinal knowledge systems through a gender lens. Then, we apply this conceptual framework to our research on the local medicinal plant knowledge of the Tsimane’ Amerindians. Our results suggest that Tsimane’ medicinal plant knowledge is gendered and that the frequency of reported ailments and the redundancy of knowledge used to treat them are positively associated. We discuss the implications of knowledge diversity and redundancy for local knowledge systems’ adaptive capacity, resilience, and health sovereignty.     

Using electrical resistivity tomography to assess the effectiveness of managed aquifer recharge in a salinized coastal aquifer

Over 40 years, the detrital aquifer of the Plana de Castellón (Spanish Mediterranean coast) has been subjected to seawater intrusion because of long dry periods combined with intensive groundwater exploitation. Against this backdrop, a managed artificial recharge (MAR) scheme was implemented to improve the groundwater quality. The large difference between the electrical conductivity (EC) of the ambient groundwater (brackish water due to marine intrusion) and the recharge water (freshwater) meant that there was a strong contrast between the resistivities of the brackish water saturated zone and the freshwater saturated zone. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can be used for surveying similar settings to evaluate the effectiveness of artificial recharge schemes. By integrating geophysical data with lithological information, EC logs from boreholes, and hydrochemical data, we can interpret electrical resistivity (ER) with groundwater EC values and so identify freshwater saturated zones. Using this approach, ERT images provided a high-resolution spatial characterization and an accurate picture of the shape and extent of the recharge plume of the MAR site. After 5 months of injection, a freshwater plume with an EC of 400–600 μS/cm had formed that extended 400 m in the W-E direction, 250 m in the N-S direction, and to a depth of 40 m below piezometric level. This study also provides correlations between ER values with different lithologies and groundwater EC values that can be used to support other studies.     

Free ‐ living animals as indicators of environmental pollution by chlorinated hydrocarbons

As some species of game and free‐living animals promptly respond to ecosystem damage by a reaction that is easy to interpret, they are important ecological indicators in assessing the total contamination of the environment. Consumers of the highest order like predators, predatory and fish‐eating birds are among the most important bioindicators of environmental contamination by chlorinated hydrocarbons and PCB.

Data on chlorinated hydrocarbons and PCB levels were collected throughout 1988–1992 and obtained from 16 species of free‐living animals from 9 protected areas of Slovakia. Muscle tissue, liver, kidney and egg samples were examined for HCB, HCH isomers, DDT and its analogues, and PCB.

Levels of organic chlorinated contaminants reveal a decreasing tendency and thus cease to be a toxicologically important risk factor in game, with the exception of predatory birds, as significant values have been recorded in their eggs and reproductive organs.     

The relationship between maternal ornamentation and feeding rate is explained by intrinsic nestling quality

In altricial birds, parental feeding is essential, and its amount may depend on the quality of both parents. A relationship between parental quality and feeding rate is generally attributed to an active adjustment by parents in order to retain good quality mates or ensure high fitness through raising high-quality offspring. However, the behaviour and need of young may also change with parental quality, and this may affect parental behaviour. A further problem is that most studies have investigated post-hatching parental investment in relation to the secondary sexual signals of males, but not females. In a cross-fostering experiment, we examined the feeding rates of rearing parents in relation to the size and ornamentation of both original and rearing parents in collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis). Using this setup, we could examine whether the observed feeding patterns were the results of the decision of the parents based on their own and their partner’s traits or the constraints imposed by the behaviour or need of offspring. When correcting for clutch size and year, we found that feeding rate of both foster parents correlated with the wing patch size of the original female. This implies that original maternal quality had an offspring-mediated indirect effect on investment of foster parents, that is intrinsic nestling quality may constrain parental feeding decisions. This explanation should not be overlooked in future studies on preferential parental investment, and our results also point out that maternal ornaments deserve more attention in such studies.     

Analysis of lipid peroxidation in animal and plant tissues as field-based biomarker in Mediterranean irrigated agroecosystems (Extremadura,Spain)

ABSTRACT

The development of field-based biomarkers can allow for a more reliable assessment of the exposure of organisms to pollutants. Different sampling sites, along two streams running through an irrigable agricultural area, were selected to evaluate the effect of agrochemical load on the measured endpoints. The levels of lipid peroxidation were evaluated in several organs of Procambarus clarkii. The same method was applied to leaves of two woody species. Determining levels of MDA (malonaldehyde) by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay allows measuring the levels of lipid peroxidation. Differences in lipid peroxidation levels were observed in P. clarkii individuals collected at different sites; however, the patterns varied depending on the organ (when accounting for variations due to sex). The use of a MDA-gills/MDA-hepatopancreas index allowed for discrimination between reference and polluted sites. Significant differences in oxidative damage between sites were found in the leaves of Quercus rotundifolia but not in Salix sp. The lipid peroxidation of crayfish organs and holm oak leaves as a suitable biomarker of environmental pollution deserves further investigation.     

Canopy leaching of nutrients and metals in a mountain spruce forest

Precipitation and throughfall fluxes of major ions, nutrients (C, N, P), and metals (Al, Fe, Mn), and the chemical composition of litter fall and living plant tissue in Norway spruce stands (the Bohemian Forest; Czech Republic), were used to evaluate how microbial processes and decay of plant tissue in canopies influence canopy leaching (CL) of elements. Proton exchange for Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, and K⁺ in decaying biomass and co-transport of Ca²⁺ and K⁺ out of plant cells with organic acid anions were the most likely processes contributing to CL of base cations. The CL of total P and N (and also NO₃^?) was minor. Important proportions of the N and P mineral forms were transformed to organic forms by microbial processes (primary and bacterial production), with the respective CL of ?13.9 and 16.4 mmol m^?2 yr^?1 for NH₄⁺ and organic N, and ?0.33 and 0.22 mmol m^?2 yr^?1 for dissolved reactive P (DRP) and organic P. Most of particulate P and N in throughfall (～90%) originated from microbial DRP and NH₄⁺ transformations, but particulate C mostly came from the fragmentation of plant tissue (58%). Among metals, CL was not observed for Al, was small for Fe (0.3 mmol m^?2 yr^?1), and greatest for Mn (0.9 mmol m^?2 yr^?1) due to leaching from decaying tissue by acidic precipitation.     

Relation between occupational safety management and firm performance

Occupational accidents severely deteriorate human capital, and hence negatively affect the productivity and competitiveness of countries. But despite this, we still observe a scarcity of preventive practices, an unsatisfactory management commitment and an absence of safety culture among Spanish firms. The result is evident in firms’ high accident rates. This situation is a consequence of the general belief among firms that investing in safety is a cost, and hence has negative repercussions for their competitiveness. The current work aims to identify good practices in safety management, and analyse the effect of these practices on a set of indicators of organisational performance. For this, we first carry out an exhaustive literature review, and then formulate a series of hypotheses. We then test the proposed model on a sample of 455 Spanish firms. Our findings show that safety management has a positive influence on safety performance, competitiveness performance, and economic-financial performance. Hence they provide evidence of the compatibility between worker protection and corporate competitiveness.     

Dissipation of fenoxycarb and pyriproxyfen in fresh and canned peach

The objective of this work was to determine the dissipation of fenoxycarb and pyriproxyfen in fresh and canned peaches in order to know the levels of residues that can reach consumers in real circumstances. Two field dissipation studies were carried out, one of them at the pre-harvest interval (PHI) with good agricultural practice (GAP) and the other one in a situation of critical agricultural practice (CAP). Two canning dissipation studies were carried out for samples from both agricultural situations in an industrial pilot plant and the dissipation was determined in each relevant step. An analytical methodology was used including acetone-dichloromethane extraction, purification and analysis by liquid chromatography and diode array detection (LC-DAD) with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.05 mg/kg. It was validated under SANCO/10232/2006 Guidelines. These pesticides complied with the official maximum residue limits (MRLs) in peaches at the PHI with good agricultural practices. In hypothetical situation of a second application at the PHI, fenoxycarb and pyriproxyfen residues were above the MRLs in peaches. The canning study reduced the residues to no detectable levels in the cans for consumers.     

Interactions Between Spatially Explicit Conservation and Management Measures: Implications for the Governance of Marine Protected Areas

Marine protected areas are not established in an institutional and governance vacuum and managers should pay attention to the wider social–ecological system in which they are immersed. This article examines Islas Choros-Damas Marine Reserve, a small marine protected area located in a highly productive and biologically diverse coastal marine ecosystem in northern Chile, and the interactions between human, institutional, and ecological dimensions beyond those existing within its boundaries. Through documents analysis, surveys, and interviews, we described marine reserve implementation (governing system) and the social and natural ecosystem-to-be-governed. We analyzed the interactions and the connections between the marine reserve and other spatially explicit conservation and/or management measures existing in the area and influencing management outcomes and governance. A top-down approach with poor stakeholder involvement characterized the implementation process. The marine reserve is highly connected with other spatially explicit measures and with a wider social–ecological system through various ecological processes and socio-economic interactions. Current institutional interactions with positive effects on the management and governance are scarce, although several potential interactions may be developed. For the study area, any management action must recognize interferences from outside conditions and consider some of them (e.g., ecotourism management) as cross-cutting actions for the entire social–ecological system. We consider that institutional interactions and the development of social networks are opportunities to any collective effort aiming to improve governance of Islas Choros-Damas marine reserve. Communication of connections and interactions between marine protected areas and the wider social–ecological system (as described in this study) is proposed as a strategy to improve stakeholder participation in Chilean marine protected areas.     

Kinship structure and mating system in a solitary subterranean rodent, the silvery mole-rat

The African mole-rats (Bathyergidae, Rodentia) are subterranean rodents that have evolved a wide range of social organisations varying from solitary to eusocial. Due to some unusual features of their breeding and social systems, much attention has been focused on social species, with solitary species being virtually ignored. Here, we present the first genetic study on the mating system of any solitary mole-rats, the silvery mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) - a species which is assumed to be monogamous. Microsatellite markers were used to analyse the mating system and the kinship structure in populations in southern Malawi. Isolation by distance between individuals was apparent in two studied populations, but not in the third, probably, as a result of barriers limiting dispersal in the latter population. Polygyny was found to be a mating system in this population, where a strongly female-biased adult sex ratio was present. In this case, large distances between the burrow systems of mating partners exclude the possibility of belowground searching for mates, suggesting that the males might seek females aboveground. Interestingly, among analysed litters from various localities, one multiple-sired litter was found. Therefore, the results suggest that the mating system in potentially monogamous solitary subterranean rodents may be much more variable than expected and can differ among populations.