Post-flooding disaster crop diversity recovery: a case study of Cowpea in Mozambique

To restore food security to a traditional African cropping system following a sudden loss of seed, genetic diversity must be re-established. This study examines the extent to which Cowpea diversity was reinstated two years after a flood disaster in Gaza Province, Mozambique. The contribution that seed from various sources made to the recovery was assessed using semi-structured interviews and morphological and molecular data. Data suggest that diversity had recovered to some extent yet there was evidence of a narrowing of the genetic base, with fewer rare alleles and differences in the distribution of allele frequencies. Although the main channels for accessing seed after the flood were seed relief and markets, these sources contributed to minimal and different diversity. It appears that diversity was regained primarily through social networking in the form of loans or gifts of seed from friends and relatives. The results of the study are discussed in relation to seed relief approaches.     

Different evolutionary histories in two sympatric limpets of the genus Nacella (Patellogastropoda) in the South-western Atlantic coast

The phylogeography of two sympatric Magellanic limpets of the genus Nacella was studied. The historical and contemporary processes underlying their intraspecific patterns in Argentina were inferred using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene. Results indicate different evolutionary histories in the two species. A recent geographic and demographic expansion ~11,000?years ago, with absence of current genetic structuring, is proposed for Nacella magellanica. In contrast, the phylogeographic pattern showed noticeable phylogenetic and geographic discontinuities in Nacella deaurata; slow continuous population size growth with current low levels of gene flow among its populations was also observed, indicating demographic equilibrium. The beginning of divergence between these closely related limpets was estimated at about 270,000?years ago with very little or none gene flow occurring after their splitting. These contrasting historic patterns could be related to distinctive responses to climate changes associated with Pleistocene glaciations, as a result of differences in their ecological traits.     

Immediate behavioural responses to earthquakes in Christchurch,New Zealand,and Hitachi,Japan

This study examines people's immediate responses to earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Hitachi, Japan. Data collected from 257 respondents in Christchurch and 332 respondents in Hitachi revealed notable similarities between the two cities in people's emotional reactions, risk perceptions, and immediate protective actions during the events. Respondents' physical, household, and social contexts were quite similar, but Hitachi residents reported somewhat higher levels of emotional reaction and risk perception than did Christchurch residents. Contrary to the recommendations of emergency officials, the most frequent response of residents in both cities was to freeze. Christchurch residents were more likely than Hitachi residents to drop to the ground and take cover, whereas Hitachi residents were more likely than Christchurch residents to evacuate immediately the building in which they were situated. There were relatively small correlations between immediate behavioural responses and demographic characteristics, earthquake experience, and physical, social, or household context.     

Quantitative–spatial assessment of soil contamination in S. Francisco de Assis due to mining activity of the Panasqueira mine (Portugal)

Through the years, mining and beneficiation processes produces large amounts of As-rich mine wastes laid up in huge tailings and open-air impoundments (Barroca Grande and Rio tailings) that are the main source of pollution in the surrounding area once they are exposed to the weathering conditions leading to the formation of AMD and consequently to the contamination of the surrounding environments, in particularly soils. In order to investigate the environmental contamination impact on S. Francisco de Assis (village located between the two major impoundments and tailings) agricultural soils, a geochemical survey was undertaken to assess toxic metals associations, related levels and their spatial distribution, and to identify the possible contamination sources. According to the calculated contamination factor, As and Zn have a very high contamination factor giving rise to 65.4 % of samples with a moderate to high pollution degree; 34.6 % have been classified as nil to very low pollution degree. The contamination factor spatial distribution put in evidence the fact that As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn soils contents, downstream Barroca Grande tailing, are increased when compared with the local Bk soils. The mechanical dispersion, due to erosion, is the main contamination source. The chemical extraction demonstrates that the trace metals distribution and accumulation in S. Francisco de Assis soils is related to sulfides, but also to amorphous or poorly crystalline iron oxide phases. The partitioning study allowed understanding the local chemical elements mobility and precipitation processes, giving rise to the contamination dispersion model of the study area. The wind and hydrological factors are responsible for the chemical elements transport mechanisms, the water being the main transporter medium and soils as one of the possible retention media.     

Metapopulations in Agricultural Landscapes: A Spatially Explicit Trade-off Analysis

This paper presents a spatially explicit trade-off analysis of species conservation in agricultural areas. A spatially explicit model is presented that integrates an applied metapopulation model with a farm management model. The model is used to calculate production possibilities frontiers of net monetary benefits from agriculture and conservation of three species with different habitats. Simulations of spatial habitat allocation under European agri-environment schemes are compared to these production possibilities frontiers. The results suggest that the cost-effectiveness of current conservation policies may be greatly enhanced if the spatial dimension is considered explicitly.     

性别和暴露时间对全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）暴露后斑马鱼基因表达的影响

全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）是全氟和聚氟烷基物质（PFASs）人造类别中的一员,是全世界在水体、人类、哺乳动物和鱼类中最常检测到的PFAS之一。斑马鱼（Danio rerio）是一种小型淡水鱼类,被认为是研究化合物毒性的合适的脊椎动物模型。先前的研究表明,雄性和雌性斑马鱼中脂肪酸结合蛋白（fabps）的组织特异性生物蓄积和表达的改变可能是由于PFAS和脂肪酸转运体之间的相互作用。此外,有报道显示人类和动物暴露于PFAS后导致神经系统的影响。因此,本研究旨在探讨PFOS暴露是否影响斑马鱼肝脏、肠道、心脏和卵巢脂肪酸代谢相关基因（fabp1a、fabp2和fabp10a）,以及大脑和肌肉中涉及神经系统的基因（ChAT、ngf、bdnf、AChE和hdac6）的表达。结果表明,与脂肪酸代谢和神经功能相关的基因表达随暴露浓度和性别的变化而变化。此外,我们的发现强调了这些基因的表达随暴露时间的不同而不同。我们的研究结果将PFOS作用的知识基础扩展到其他组织,而不是仅限于研究较为透彻的肝脏。这项调查结果为今后研究PFOS作为环境中最丰富的PFAS之一的潜在风险提供了依据。     

Macro- and mesoherbivores prefer native seaweeds over the invasive brown seaweed <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sargassum muticum</Emphasis>: a potential regulating role on invasions

Herbivory has a strong impact on algal distribution, abundance and community structure and may influence the establishment and spread of introduced seaweed species. In this study, we assess the potential regulating role of herbivory on one of the most invasive brown seaweeds: Sargassum muticum. Multiple choice feeding experiments were conducted with 13 native seaweeds, S. muticum and 5 herbivore species from the Northwest, Southwest and South of Portugal. S. muticum was always the least or among the least preferred seaweeds and attained one of the highest growth rates of the tested seaweeds, with and without herbivores. The addition of herbivores increased the number of cases by 40% in which the invader had higher growth rates. Our results suggest that low grazing pressure on S. muticum by the recipient herbivore community may give the invader a competitive advantage over at least part of the native seaweed community, thereby contributing to the invasiveness of S. muticum along the Portuguese coast.     

Effectiveness of biodiversity-conservation marketing

Conservation marketing holds potential as a means to engage audiences with biodiversity conservation and help to address the human dimensions of biodiversity loss. Empirical evaluations of conservation marketing indicatives are growing, so we reviewed the literature on this research to inform future directions in the field. We used a systematic search strategy to identify studies that evaluated the effects of conservation marketing interventions (techniques and campaigns) on psychosocial outcomes, categorized as cognitive, affective, or behavioral. Six academic databases (Business Source Complete, Communication & Mass Media Complete, Greenfile, Proquest, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collections), 3 gray-literature databases (BASE, Zenodo, and Google Scholar), and 2 websites (Rare and WildAid) were searched. Articles were subjected to critical appraisal to assess their methodological quality, and data were extracted from each article and analyzed using narrative synthesis. Altogether 28 studies from 26 articles were included in the review. Twenty-five studies were conducted from 2014 through 2016. Methodological quality of most studies was weak (n = 16, 57%) (moderate quality n = 8, 29%; high quality n = 4, 14%). The proportion of studies that evaluated a conservation-marketing technique (e.g., variants of texts, images, or videos) versus a campaign (e.g., community-based campaigns targeting locally relevant issues, such as unsustainable palm oil agriculture, light pollution, or wood fuel fire use) was relatively balanced. Although many studies reported statistically significant results in the intended direction, the utility of findings was limited by persistent methodological limitations, such as a lack of a comparator group, use of non-validated assessment tools, and a focus on self-reported data and subjective outcomes. Conservation marketing is clearly a nascent field of scientific enquiry that warrants further, high-quality research investigations.     

The cost of mitigation strategies for agricultural adaptation to global change

Land recovery and the improvement of lands affected by desertification for agricultural use, is achieved when a sustained recovery of agricultural productivity over time is obtained. In the areas affected by desertification and drought, it is common that the ecosystems do not have enough funding for water management and irrigation. This situation leads to an inadequate assessment of the environmental goods and services in arid zones. As a result we have a misuse of these dry lands. Many countries are implementing policies and making investments and efforts to mitigate arid land degradation and desertification through the National Action Programs (NAP). However, for the long term planning of mitigation and adaptation strategies, it is necessary to know the cost of recovery and land improvement in certain areas in order to forecast the budgets. This is the main objective of this paper in order to combat desertification and drought in central northern Chile. We have calculated a recovery cost per hectare by region and for each of the agriculture, livestock and forestry (ALF) promotion agencies. The results indicate that the cost of land reclamation in the northern regions is much higher than in the southern regions of this studied area. The cost is especially high for Region II, where investment per hectare is almost to 3000 US$ per hectare. At the other extreme is the Region VII, in the south of the studied area where the investment required per hectare barely reaches 500 US$. The contribution of the promotion agencies to the total cost also varied among regions and agencies. We discuss the results within a context of recovery cost per hectare depending on the different environmental characteristics and agricultural development of each of the studied regions.