Linguistic diversity and conservation opportunities at UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa

Africa contains much of Earth's biological and cultural–linguistic diversity, but conserving this diversity is enormously challenging amid widespread poverty, expanding development, social unrest, and rapidly growing human population. We examined UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Natural World Heritage Sites (WHSs) on continental Africa and nearby islands—48 protected areas containing globally important natural or combined natural and cultural resources—to gauge the potential for enlisting Indigenous peoples in their conservation. We used geographic information system technology to identify instances where Natural WHSs co-occur with Indigenous languages, a key indicator of cultural diversity. And, we compared the geographic ranges for 4 taxa and selected freshwater species with occurrence of all Indigenous languages within Natural WHSs and subsections of WHSs covered by the geographic extent of Indigenous languages to measure the correlation between linguistic and biological diversity. Results indicated that 147 languages shared at least part of their geographic extent with Natural WHSs. Instances of co-occurrence where a WHS, a language, or both were endangered marked localities particularly deserving conservation attention. We examined co-occurrence of all languages and all species, all languages and endangered species, and endangered languages and endangered species and found a correlation between linguistic and biological diversity that may indicate fundamental links between these very different measures of diversity. Considering only endangered species or endangered languages and species reduced that correlation, although considerable co-occurrence persisted. Shared governance of government-designated reserves is applicable for natural WHSs because it capitalizes on the apparent connection between culture and nature. Natural WHSs in Africa containing speakers of Indigenous languages present opportunities to conserve both nature and culture in highly visible settings where maintaining natural systems may rely on functioning Indigenous cultural systems and vice versa.     

Conserving the abundance of nonthreatened species

Human modification of the environment is driving declines in population size and distributional extent of much of the world's biota. These declines extend to many of the most abundant and widespread species, for which proportionally small declines can result in the loss of vast numbers of individuals, biomass, and interactions. These losses could have major localized effects on ecological and cultural processes and services without elevating a species’ global extinction risk. Although most conservation effort is directed at species threatened with extinction in the very near term, the value of retaining abundance regardless of global extinction risk is justifiable based on many biodiversity or ecosystem service metrics, including cultural services, at scales from local to global. The challenges of identifying conservation priorities for widespread and abundant species include quantifying the effects of species’ abundance on services and understanding how these effects are realized as populations decline. Negative effects of population declines may be disconnected from the threat processes driving declines because of species movements and environment flows (e.g., hydrology). Conservation prioritization for these species shares greater similarity with invasive species risk assessments than extinction risk assessments because of the importance of local context and per capita effects of abundance on other species. Because conservation priorities usually focus on preventing the extinction of threatened species, the rationale and objectives for incorporating declines of nonthreatened species must be clearly articulated, going beyond extinction risk to encompass the range of likely harmful effects (e.g., secondary extinctions, loss of ecosystem services) if declines persist or are not reversed. Research should focus on characterizing the effects of local declines in species that are not threatened globally across a range of ecosystem services and quantifying the spatial distribution of these effects through the distribution of abundance. The case for conserving abundance in nonthreatened species can be made most powerfully when the costs of losing this abundance are better understood.     

Wildlife impacts and vulnerable livelihoods in a transfrontier conservation landscape

Interactions between humans and wildlife resulting in negative impacts are among the most pressing conservation challenges globally. In regions of smallholder livestock and crop production, interactions with wildlife can compromise human well-being and motivate negative sentiment and retaliation toward wildlife, undermining conservation goals. Although impacts may be unavoidable when human and wildlife land use overlap, scant large-scale human data exist quantifying the direct costs of wildlife to livelihoods. In a landscape of global importance for wildlife conservation in southern Africa, we quantified costs for people living with wildlife through a fundamental measure of human well-being, food security, and we tested whether existing livelihood strategies buffer certain households against crop depredation by wildlife, predominantly elephants. To do this, we estimated Bayesian multilevel statistical models based on multicounty household data (n = 711) and interpreted model results in the context of spatial data from participatory land-use mapping. Reported crop depredation by wildlife was widespread. Over half of the sample households were affected and household food security was reduced significantly (odds ratio 0.37 [0.22, 0.63]). The most food insecure households relied on gathered food sources and welfare programs. In the event of crop depredation by wildlife, these 2 livelihood sources buffered or reduced harmful effects of depredation. The presence of buffering strategies suggests a targeted compensation strategy could benefit the region's most vulnerable people. Such strategies should be combined with dynamic and spatially explicit land-use planning that may reduce the frequency of negative human–wildlife impacts. Quantifying and mitigating the human costs from wildlife are necessary steps in working toward human–wildlife coexistence.     

Parcelization in rural agricultural and forested landscapes in Wisconsin, 1972–2007: evaluating multiple dimensions of human decision-making over time

Many land-use change studies have relied on geographical explanatory factors. Unfortunately, they are but a single perspective in the multidimensional process of human decision-making. This project was designed to model the social, economic, geographic, and regulatory factors at the most appropriate unit of analysis, the landowner. By examining parcelization, a window is opened into the antecedent event of land-use change. A logistic regression model determined the likelihood a tax parcel would split in three time periods between 1953 and 2007. Geographic variables showed expected relationships to a parcelization event, while economic and regulatory variables illustrated some unexpected relationships. Social variables demonstrated scale issues that challenged their efficacy. A temporal analysis showed that historic parcelization was explained more robustly than more contemporary parcelization. The results could indicate that contemporary parcelization is driven by new and more complex factors not yet represented in similar models.     

Economy wide impacts of ethanol and biodiesel policy in Canada: An input–output analysis

The Government of Canada has committed that Canada’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions be reduced by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020. The new Renewable Fuels Regulations required 2% renewable content in diesel fuel and heating distillate oil and 5% for gasoline. This represents approximately 2.1 billion liters of ethanol and 600 million liters of biodiesel requirement per year, which would reduce GHG emissions by more than four million tones. Canada is expected to consume more fuel ethanol compared to its production capacity. The above mandates as well as the gap in consumption and production of biofuel will have enormous impact on the Canadian economy. In this backdrop, an input–output model of the Canadian economy is developed to estimate the macroeconomic impact of the ethanol and biodiesel production in Canada. The impacts on sectoral prices have also been calculated. Simulation exercises have been attempted to reach the mandates using modified Leontief model. Results show that agriculture sector is affected because of feedstock use in the biofuel sector. Mining and manufacturing industries also show a considerable impact. In addition, the impact on commodity prices cannot be ignored. Finally, to meet the target of Copenhagen commitment, the nation needs to revise the blending capacity of ethanol and biodiesel.     

Neurotoxicity and oxidative stress induced by permethrin in gills of the freshwater mussel Unio ravoisieri

Pyrethroids are contaminants found in the aquatic environment, and their toxicological effects on aquatic organisms have received extensive attention. However, the impact on freshwater bivalve of exposure to these chemicals is still largely unknown. Freshwater mussels Unio ravoisieri were exposed to two nominal permethrin (PM) concentrations C1?=?50?µg/L and C2?=?100?µg/L during 7 days. The measured concentrations of PM using gas chromatography (GC/ECD) in the treated aquariums were, respectively, 28.7–62.3?µg/L. Catalase (CAT), Glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities, Glutatione (GSH) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were determined in gills of U. ravoisieri. Significant increase in CAT activity by the lowest concentration and decrease by highest concentration were observed. Additionally, GST activity was increased in a concentration-dependent manner. However, statistically significant decrease in GSH levels (about 39%) was observed only at high concentration of this compound (100?µg/L). PM generated an increase in MDA levels reaching the highest value at the high concentration. AChE activity of mussel ranging from 51% inhibition at lowest concentration 50?µg/L to 89% inhibition at highest concentration 100?µg/L. The results indicated that oxidative stress and cell damage might be one of the main mechanisms of PM toxicity to freshwater mussels.     

Investigation of the binding and simultaneous quantifications of propanil and bromoxynil herbicide concentrations in human serum albumin

This study reported the use of UV–visible and fluorescence spectroscopy and partial-least-square (PLS) multivariate regression for accurate and simultaneous quantifications of two widely used herbicides, propanil, 3′,4′-dichloropropionanilide (PPL) and bromoxynil, 3,5-dibromo-4-hydroxybenzonitrile (BXL) in human serum albumin (HSA) at physiological conditions. The binding affinity and thermodynamic properties of PPL-HSA and BXL-HSA complexes were also investigated. Partial-least-square (PLS) regression was used to collate the variability in the absorption or emission spectra of PPL-HSA and BXL-HSA complexes with PPL and/or BXL concentrations in HSA samples. The binding constants of 7.66× 10⁸ M^?1 for PPL-HSA and 4.88× 10⁶ M^?1 for BXL-HSA complexes were calculated at physiological conditions (temperature, 310 K; pH 7.4). Thermodynamic parameter values: enthalpy (ΔH) (13.99 kJ mol^?1), entropy (ΔS) (0.078 kJ mol^?1 K^?1), and Gibbs free energy (ΔG) (?10.19 kJ mol^?1) were determined for PPL-HSA complexation at physiological conditions. However, differences in thermodynamic property values of: ΔH (?214.3 kJ mol^?1), ΔS (?0.563 kJ mol^?1 K^?1), and ΔG (?39.70 kJ mol^?1) were observed for BXL–HSA complexes. The binding constants and negative ΔG values indicated strong binding affinity and thermodynamically favorability of PPL–HSA and BXL–HSA complex formation. Results of the PLS regression calibration showed good linearity (R² ≥ 0.998289), high sensitivity, and impressive low limit-of-detections (LODs) of 1.38× 10^?8 M for PPL and 1.68× 10^?8 M for BXL that are comparable and/or lower than many previously reported LODs for herbicide and pesticide analyses. Most importantly, PLS regression is capable of simultaneous quantifications of PPL and BXL concentrations in HSA samples with good accuracy and low errors of 3.66%. UV–visible spectrophotometers and spectrofluorometers are fairly inexpensive, easy to use, and are readily available in almost every laboratory, making this protocol excellent and affordable for routine analysis of weed/pest control chemical residues in humans. The results of this study are significant and remarkable that will provide critical insight into the binding mechanism of herbicide toxicity in humans and non-target organisms, which are of special interest in the area of biomedical study, environmental risk assessment, and ecotoxicology.     

Analysis of PV module connected in different configurations under uniform and non-uniform solar radiations

This paper focuses on investigating the current--voltage (I--V) and power--voltage (P--V) characteristics of a photovoltaic (PV) module connected in various configurations like series, parallel, and series-parallel. The performance analysis of PV module has been carried out under uniform and non-uniform conditions such as change in irradiation (passing clouds), change in temperature, accumulation of dust, and change in wind speed using MATLAB-Simulink environment. From the observed results, it has been indicated that for a given number of PV modules, the array configurations affect the maximum available output power and more local maxima are found under partially shaded conditions. Moreover, the comparative analysis of PV module has been performed for various configurations under the above disturbances. From the results, it is evident that even under non-uniform conditions, the parallel configuration of PV modules is more prominent and maximum output power is obtained. Further, parallel layout is particularly convenient for minimizing shadowing effects. The parameters of the PV module have been obtained from the manufacturer datasheet (KC200GT) for these investigations.     

Modelling agronomic properties of Technosols constructed with urban wastes

The greening of urban and suburban areas requires large amounts of arable earth that is a non-renewable resource. However, concentration of population in cities leads to the production of high amounts of wastes and by-products that are nowadays partly recycled as a resource and quite systematically exported out of urban areas. To preserve natural soil resources, a strategy of waste recycling as fertile substitutes is proposed. Eleven wastes are selected for their environmental harmlessness and their contrasted physico-chemical properties for their potential use in pedological engineering. The aim is (i) to demonstrate the feasibility of the formulation of fertile substrates exclusively with wastes and (ii) to model their physico-chemical properties following various types, number and proportions of constitutive wastes. Twenty-five binary and ternary combinations are tested at different ratios for total carbon, Olsen available phosphorus, cation exchange capacity, water pH, water retention capacity and bulk density. Dose–response curves describe the variation of physico-chemical properties of mixtures depending on the type and ratio of selected wastes. If these mixtures mainly mimic natural soils, some of them present more extreme urban soil features, especially for pH and P_Olsen. The fertility of the new substrates is modelled by multilinear regressions for the main soil properties.     

The response of Chenopodium album L. and Abutilon theophrasti Medik. to reduced doses of mesotrione

Limited toxicity data are available for estuarine and marine species and the widely used pyrethroid insecticide, permethrin. This study determined acute effects of permethrin on survival, lipid peroxidation, acetylcholinesterase activity, and splenocyte proliferation for two fish species found in South Carolina estuaries; juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and adult mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus). Juvenile S. ocellatus were significantly more sensitive than adult F. heteroclitus to permethrin exposure, with a 96-h LC50 value of 8 μg/L determined for red drum compared to 23 μg/L for mummichog. Lipid peroxidation activity of the liver increased in permethrin-treated fish compared to control animals after 24 h and decreased after 96 h. Permethrin had no effect on acetylcholinesterase activity of the brain at the concentrations tested. Permethrin exposure significantly inhibited splenocyte proliferation, indicating an immunosuppressive effect. Most of the effects of permethrin on fish cellular stress enzymes and survival occurred at concentrations much higher than those typically measured in the environment. However, inhibition of splenocyte proliferation in juvenile red drum occurred at approximately twice that of measured permethrin concentrations in surface water. These findings may prove useful to the future management and regulation of pyrethroid insecticide use near estuarine habitats.