Expedient Metrics to Describe Plant Community Change Across Gradients of Anthropogenic Influence

Human influence associated with land use may cause considerable biodiversity losses, namely in oceanic islands such as the Azores. Our goal was to identify plant indicator species across two gradients of increasing anthropogenic influence and management (arborescent and herbaceous communities) and determine similarity between plant communities of uncategorized vegetation plots to those in reference gradients using metrics derived from R programming. We intend to test and provide an expedient way to determine the conservation value of a given uncategorized vegetation plot based on the number of native, endemic, introduced, and invasive indicator species present. Using the metric IndVal, plant taxa with a significant indicator value for each community type in the two anthropogenic gradients were determined. A new metric, ComVal, was developed to assess the similarity of an uncategorized vegetation plot toward a reference community type, based on (i) the percentage of pre-defined indicator species from reference communities present in the vegetation plots, and (ii) the percentage of indicator species, specific to a given reference community type, present in the vegetation plot. Using a data resampling approach, the communities were randomly used as training or validation sets to classify vegetation plots based on ComVal. The percentage match with reference community types ranged from 77 to 100 % and from 79 to 100 %, for herbaceous and arborescent vegetation plots, respectively. Both IndVal and ComVal are part of a suite of useful tools characterizing plant communities and plant community change along gradients of anthropogenic influence without a priori knowledge of their biology and ecology.     

How wave exposure, group size and habitat complexity influence foraging and population densities in fishes of the genus Halichoeres (Perciformes: Labridae) on tropical rocky shores

Wave exposure and habitat complexity have been used to explain variations in the distribution patterns and behavior of many reef fishes. This study analyzed the influence of both factors on density and foraging activity, and the influence of group size on foraging in three species of the genus Halichoeres (Labridae) on tropical rocky shores. It was shown that initial phases (IP) and terminal phases (TP) Halichoeres, were influenced by wave exposure, although foraging in Halichoeres brasiliensis TP was not influenced by wave exposure. The IP in all three species were positively associated with rugosity and algal cover while the TP was positively associated with depth. Habitat complexity also influences foraging in these species. Group size influenced foraging activity, except in H. brasiliensis TP. We also found variations in microhabitat patches used for foraging between species and differences in the stomach contents between species and phases, showing that functional roles change in response to ontogenetic shifts.     

非洲第一种有社会标志和有机标志的咖啡

1999年7月，喀麦隆的一个小农合作社Macefcoop成功地将其头两集装箱有机咖啡装运到欧洲.这是从非洲进入“公平交易”市场的第一种有机咖啡. 　　在坦桑尼亚，卡格拉(Kagera)区两个村庄的农民(卡格拉合作联盟的成员)最后决定转向有认证的有机生产. 　　也在坦桑尼亚的乞力马扎罗土著合作联盟正在从事一个试验项目工作，以在他们的一个农场上引种有机咖啡，旨在向农民们示范何谓有机以及怎样才能实施有机生产. 　　这三个合作社全都是Max Havelaar基金会的注册伙伴.......     

Interaction effects of organic load and cycle time in an AsBr applied to a personal care industry wastewater treatment

A mechanically stirred anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) containing granular biomass was applied to the treatment of a wastewater simulating the effluent from a personal care industry. The ASBR was operated with cycle lengths (t_C) of 8, 12 and 24 h and applied volumetric organic loads (AVOL) of 0.75, 0.50 and 0.25 gCOD/L.d, treating 2.0 L liquid medium per cycle. Stirring frequency was 150 rpm and the reactor was kept in an isothermal chamber at 30 °C. Increase in t_C resulted in efficiency increase at constant AVOL, reaching 77% at t_C of 24 h versus 69% at t_C of 8 h. However, efficiency decreased when AVOL decreased as a function of increasing t_C, due to the lack of substrate in the reaction medium. Moreover, replacing part of the wastewater by a chemically balanced synthetic one did not yield the expected effect and system efficiency dropped.     

Use of mix of clay/solid waste from steel works for civil construction materials.

The present study focuses on the use of solid waste generated by the steel works in Brazil for manufacturing clay-based structural products. The waste sample was characterized regarding chemical composition, X-ray diffraction, particle size, morphology, specific surface and plastic properties. The waste was added in gradual proportions to a kaolinitic clay from zero up to 3 wt.%. Ceramic bodies were formed by vacuum extrusion and fired at 950 degrees C. The physical-mechanical properties (linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent density and flexural strength) of the resulting clay/solid waste mixtures were determined. In addition, leaching tests were performed according Brazilian Standards as well as a preliminary analysis of gases evolved during the thermal process. It was found that the solid waste is formed by irregular particles, ranging in size from 1 to 500 microm. The test results indicate that solid wastes generated by steel works can be used as filler in construction materials, thereby increasing reuse in an environmentally safe manner.     

Sand-swimming behaviour reduces ectoparasitism in an iguanian lizard

Social interactions may shape brain development. In primitively eusocial insects, the mushroom body (MB), an area of the brain associated with sensory integration and learning, is larger in queens than in workers. This may reflect a strategy of neural investment in queens or it may be a plastic response to social interactions in the nest. Here, we show that nest foundresses—the reproductive females who will become queens but are solitary until their first workers are born—have larger MBs than workers in the primitively eusocial sweat bee Augochlorella aurata. Whole brain size and optic lobe size do not differ between the two groups, but foundresses also have larger antennal lobes than workers. This shows that increased neural investment in MBs precedes social group formation. Larger MBs among foundresses may reflect the increased larval nutrition provisioned to future queens and the lack of social aggression from a dominant queen upon adult emergence.

     

Ecological restoration as a strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change: lessons and challenges from Brazil

Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects biophysical systems and human well-being. The Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force in 2016 with the objective of strengthening the global response to climate change by keeping global temperature rise this century well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 °C. The agreement requires all Parties to submit their “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is an important strategy for mitigating climate change, particularly in developing countries with large forests. Extensive tropical forest loss and degradation have increased awareness at the international level of the need to undertake large-scale ecological restoration, highlighting the need to identify cases in which restoration strategies can contribute to mitigation and adaptation. Here we consider Brazil as a case study to evaluate the benefits and challenges of implementing large-scale restoration programs in developing countries. The Brazilian NDC included the target of restoring and reforesting 12 million hectares of forests for multiple uses by 2030. Restoration of native vegetation is one of the foundations of sustainable rural development in Brazil and should consider multiple purposes, from biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation to social and economic development. However, ecological restoration still presents substantial challenges for tropical and mega-diverse countries, including the need to develop plans that are technically and financially feasible, as well as public policies and monitoring instruments that can assess effectiveness. The planning, execution, and monitoring of restoration efforts strongly depend on the context and the diagnosis of the area with respect to reference ecosystems (e.g., forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands). In addition, poor integration of climate change policies at the national and subnational levels and with other sectorial policies constrains the large-scale implementation of restoration programs. The case of Brazil shows that slowing deforestation is possible; however, this analysis highlights the need for increased national commitment and international support for actions that require large-scale transformations of the forest sector regarding ecosystem restoration efforts. Scaling up the ambitions and actions of the Paris Agreement implies the need for a global framework that recognizes landscape restoration as a cost-effective nature-based solution and that supports countries in addressing their remaining needs, challenges, and barriers.

     

Permanent exposure versus facultative concealment of sexual traits: an experimental study in the house sparrow

In many bird species the cryptic winter plumage is due to the presence of light feather tips that conceal conspicuous colorations. The gradual abrasion of these tips that makes sexual traits visible has been interpreted as a strategy to improve mating success (here referred as the permanent exhibition hypothesis). However, under some circumstances, the maintenance of a full plumage that facultatively enables the bird to exhibit or cover aggression-inducing traits has proved to be advantageous (the coverable badge hypothesis). In a population of house sparrows where black throat patches (here called badges) are used in intrasexual competition, the degree of abrasion of dull feather tips that conceal bright colour early in the breeding season correlated neither with badge size nor with traits indicating morphology and body condition. These results are only in accordance with predictions of the coverable badge hypothesis. In 1992 experimental clipping of badge feather tips, which forced permanent exposure of badges, negatively affected birds with the largest badges in terms of nest acquisition, but an opposite trend was indicated for birds with the smallest badges. In 1993, when more novel birds in the study area were competing for nesting sites than in 1992, only badge size, but not the experimental manipulation, affected nesting success. These results suggest that the loss of the ability to conceal badges was disadvantageous, and more so if most competing individuals had already been resident in the colony in previous years and the larger their badges were. There is a striking contrast between the results reported for this study population, where badges mainly signal fighting ability, and those reported for another house sparrow population, where badges are mainly used in mate choice. In this last population, tip abrasion is advantageous for dominant individuals showing the largest badges. This suggests that the trade-off between conserving versus wearing off the feathers that conceal ornaments could have different optimal resolutions depending on the relative importance of inter and intrasexual selection on indicator traits. Received: 29 September 1995/Accepted after revision: 14 July 1996