How deforestation pattern in the Amazon influences vertebrate richness and community composition

The effects of habitat configuration on species persistence are predicted to be most apparent when remaining habitat cover is below 30%. We tested this prediction by comparing vertebrate communities in 21 landscapes located in the southern Amazonia, including 7 control landscapes (similar to 100% of forest cover) and 14 fragmented landscapes (4 x 4 km). The fragmented landscapes retained similar proportions of forest (similar to 25%), but had contrasting configurations, resulting from two different deforestation patterns: the "fish-bone pattern" common in small properties, and the large-property pattern generally used by large ranchers. Vertebrates were surveyed in all landscapes in February-July 2009 with interviews (n = 150). We found a significant difference in reported species richness among the fish-bone, large-property, and control areas (mean = 29.3, 38.8 and 43.5 respectively). Control areas and large-properties tended to have a higher number of specialist species (mean = 13.7, and 11.7, respectively), when compared with the fish-bone pattern (5.1). Vertebrate community composition in the control and large-properties was more similar to one another than to those of the fish-bone landscapes. The number of fragments was the main factor affecting the persistence of species, being negatively associated with specialist species richness. Species richness was also positively related with the size of the largest fragment structurally connected to the studied landscapes (i.e., a regional scale effect). Our results demonstrated that the large-property pattern, which results in less fragmented landscapes, can maintain a more diverse community of large vertebrates, including top predators, which are considered fundamental for maintaining ecosystem integrity. These results support the hypothesis that landscape configuration contributes to the persistence and/or extirpation of species.

Governor Tom Judge: Early Years - The Path to Becoming Montana's 18th Governor -- Sidney Armstrong, Larry Pettit & Kent Kleinkopf “In the Crucible of Change”

The dramatic period of progressive change in Montana that is documented "In the Crucible of Change" series really exploded with the election of Governors Forrest Anderson and Tom Judge. Anderson's single term saw the dispatching of the sales tax as an issue for a long period, the reorganization of the executive branch of state government and the revision of Montana's Constitution. As a former legislator, county attorney, Supreme Court justice, and Attorney General, Anderson brought unmatched experience to the governorship when elected. Tom Judge, although much younger (elected MT’s youngest governor at age 38 immediately following Anderson), also brought serious experience to the governorship: six years as a MT State Representative, two years as a MT State Senator, four years is Lieutenant Governor and significant business experience. The campaign and election of John F. Kennedy in 1960 spurred other young Americans to service, including Tom Judge. First elected in 1960, he rose rapidly through MT’s political-governmental hierarchy until he took over the governorship in time to implement many of the changes started in Governor Anderson’s term. But as a strong progressive leader in his own right, Governor Judge sponsored and implemented significant advancements of his own for Montana. Those accomplishments, however, are the subject of other films in this series. This film deals with Tom Judge’s early years – his rise to the governorship from when he returned home after college at Notre Dame and newspaper experience in Kentucky to his actual election in November 1972. That story is discussed in this episode by three major players in the effort, all directly involved in Tom Judge’s early years and path to the governorship: Sidney Armstrong, Larry Pettit and Kent Kleinkopf. Their recollections of the early Tom Judge and the period of his advancement to the governorship provide an insider’s perspective of the growth of this significant leader of the important period of progressive change documented “In the Crucible of Change.” Sidney Armstrong, President of Sidney Armstrong Consulting, serves on the board and as the Executive Director of the Greater Montana Foundation. Formerly Executive Director of the Montana Community Foundation (MCF), she has served on national committees and participated in national foundation initiatives. While at MCF, she worked extensively with MT Governors Racicot and Martz on the state charitable endowment tax credit and other endowed philanthropy issues. A member of MT Governor Thomas L. Judge’s staff in the 1970s, she was also part of Governor Brian Schweitzer’s 2004 Transition Team, continuing to serve as a volunteer advisor during his term. In the 1980s, Sidney also worked for the MT State AFL-CIO and the MT Democratic Party as well as working two sessions with the MT Senate as Assistant Secretary of the Senate and aide to the President. A Helena native, and great granddaughter of pioneer Montanans, Sidney has served on numerous nonprofit boards, and is currently a board member for the Montana History Foundation. Recently she served on the board of the Holter Museum of Art and was a Governor’s appointee to the Humanities Montana board. She is a graduate of the International School of Geneva, Switzerland and the University of Montana. Armstrong's Irish maternal immigrant great-grandparents, Thomas and Maria Cahill Cooney, came to Virginia City, MT in a covered wagon in 1865, looking for gold. Eventually, they settled on the banks of the Missouri River outside Helena as ranchers. She also has roots in Butte, MT, where her journalist father's family, both of whom were newspaper people, lived. Her father, Richard K. O’Malley, is also the author of a well-known book about Butte, Mile High, Mile Deep, recently re-published by Russell Chatham. She is the mother of four and the grandmother of eight. Dr. Lawrence K. Pettit (Larry Pettit) (b. 5/2/1937) has had a dual career in politics and higher education. In addition to being Montana’s first Commissioner of Higher Education (the subject of another film in this series); Pettit, of Lewistown, served as legislative assistant to U.S. Senators James E. Murray and Lee Metcalf, campaign manager, head of transition team and assistant to Montana Governor Thomas L. Judge; taught political science at The Pennsylvania State University (main campus), was chair of political science at Montana State University, Deputy Commissioner for Academic Programs at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Chancellor of the University System of South Texas (since merged with Texas A&M University), President of Southern Illinois University, and President of Indiana University of Pennsylvania from where he retired in 2003. He has served as chair of the Commission on Leadership for the American Council on Education, president of the National Association of (University) System Heads, and on many national and state boards and commissions in higher education. Pettit is author of “If You Live by the Sword: Politics in the Making and Unmaking of a University President.” More about Pettit is found at http://www.lawrencekpettit.com… Kent Kleinkopf of Missoula is co-founder of a firm with a national scope of business that specializes in litigation consultation, expert vocational testimony, and employee assistance programs. His partner (and wife of 45 years) Kathy, is an expert witness in the 27 year old business. Kent received a BA in History/Education from the University of Idaho and an MA in Economics from the University of Utah. The Kleinkopfs moved to Helena, MT in 1971 where he was Assistant to the Commissioner of State Lands (later Governor) Ted Schwinden. In early 1972 Kent volunteered full time in Lt. Governor Tom Judge’s campaign for Governor, driving the Lt. Governor extensively throughout Montana. After Judge was elected governor, Kent briefly joined the staff of Governor Forrest Anderson, then in 1973 transitioned to Judge’s Governor’s Office staff, where he became Montana’s first “Citizens’ Advocate.” In that capacity he fielded requests for assistance from citizens with concerns and information regarding State Agencies. While on the Governor’s staff, Kent continued as a travel aide with the governor both in Montana and nationally. In 1977 Kent was appointed Director of the MT Department of Business Regulation. That role included responsibility as Superintendent of Banking and Chairman of the State Banking Board, where Kent presided over the chartering of many banks, savings and loans, and credit unions. In 1981 the Kleinkopfs moved to Missoula and went into the business they run today. Kent was appointed by Governor Brian Schweitzer to the Board of the Montana Historical Society in 2006, was reappointed and continues to serve. Kathy and Kent have a daughter and son-in-law in Missoula.

Estancias de Entre Ríos en el siglo XIX, 1840 y 1880

En este trabajo abordamos la racionalidad de inversión de los estancieros y sus lógicas de explotación de las estancias entrerrianas durante los orígenes del capitalismo rural argentino entre 1840 y 1880. En la investigación analizamos cómo evolucionó la inversión rural dentro de los patrones generales de inversión. Qué peso tuvieron sobre el ciclo productivo rural los distintos costos de los factores de producción. Finalmente, estudiamos las estrategias de gestión y cuál fue la rentabilidad que tuvieron las estancias. En el ensayo utilizamos los datos de una serie de inventarios y de un conjunto de contabilidades de estancias provenientes de los registros de testamentarias. Intentamos mostrar en el trabajo el peso diversificado de los patrones de inversión y la evolución de los costos de los factores de producción. También se plantea tomar en cuenta la rentabilidad que parece haber obtenido los estancieros.

De ocupantes a propietarios, los conflictos entre vecinos de la frontera bonaerense. Chascomús y Ranchos, 1800-1840

En esta perspectiva, que intenta desentrañar las continuidades y rupturas entre el orden colonial y el entramado político y social del rosismo, nuestra intención es aportar un análisis sobre los litigios entre vecinos cuando la posesión de hecho sobre un terreno estaba en vías de convertirse en propiedad plena, cada vez que se accedía a los títulos mediante los distintos sistemas de otorgamiento de tierras públicas, desde los últimos años del período colonial hasta la finalización de la aplicación de la enfiteusis en la década de 1840, centrando la atención en la ocupación del territorio y los derechos adquiridos en los partidos de Chascomús y Ranchos. Aquí se pone de manifiesto el reconocimiento local de los estancieros y hacendados y los motivos de las disputas. A partir del análisis de los litigios se aprecia el juego de intereses de los hacendados y las conexiones con el poder civil en la frontera que se definen en la resolución extrajudicial del conflicto. Por otro lado se examinará el rol de las autoridades y los fundamentos de los dictámenes

Estancias de Entre Ríos en el siglo XIX, 1840 y 1880

En este trabajo abordamos la racionalidad de inversión de los estancieros y sus lógicas de explotación de las estancias entrerrianas durante los orígenes del capitalismo rural argentino entre 1840 y 1880. En la investigación analizamos cómo evolucionó la inversión rural dentro de los patrones generales de inversión. Qué peso tuvieron sobre el ciclo productivo rural los distintos costos de los factores de producción. Finalmente, estudiamos las estrategias de gestión y cuál fue la rentabilidad que tuvieron las estancias. En el ensayo utilizamos los datos de una serie de inventarios y de un conjunto de contabilidades de estancias provenientes de los registros de testamentarias. Intentamos mostrar en el trabajo el peso diversificado de los patrones de inversión y la evolución de los costos de los factores de producción. También se plantea tomar en cuenta la rentabilidad que parece haber obtenido los estancieros.

Estancias de Entre Ríos en el siglo XIX, 1840 y 1880

En este trabajo abordamos la racionalidad de inversión de los estancieros y sus lógicas de explotación de las estancias entrerrianas durante los orígenes del capitalismo rural argentino entre 1840 y 1880. En la investigación analizamos cómo evolucionó la inversión rural dentro de los patrones generales de inversión. Qué peso tuvieron sobre el ciclo productivo rural los distintos costos de los factores de producción. Finalmente, estudiamos las estrategias de gestión y cuál fue la rentabilidad que tuvieron las estancias. En el ensayo utilizamos los datos de una serie de inventarios y de un conjunto de contabilidades de estancias provenientes de los registros de testamentarias. Intentamos mostrar en el trabajo el peso diversificado de los patrones de inversión y la evolución de los costos de los factores de producción. También se plantea tomar en cuenta la rentabilidad que parece haber obtenido los estancieros.

De ocupantes a propietarios, los conflictos entre vecinos de la frontera bonaerense. Chascomús y Ranchos, 1800-1840

En esta perspectiva, que intenta desentrañar las continuidades y rupturas entre el orden colonial y el entramado político y social del rosismo, nuestra intención es aportar un análisis sobre los litigios entre vecinos cuando la posesión de hecho sobre un terreno estaba en vías de convertirse en propiedad plena, cada vez que se accedía a los títulos mediante los distintos sistemas de otorgamiento de tierras públicas, desde los últimos años del período colonial hasta la finalización de la aplicación de la enfiteusis en la década de 1840, centrando la atención en la ocupación del territorio y los derechos adquiridos en los partidos de Chascomús y Ranchos. Aquí se pone de manifiesto el reconocimiento local de los estancieros y hacendados y los motivos de las disputas. A partir del análisis de los litigios se aprecia el juego de intereses de los hacendados y las conexiones con el poder civil en la frontera que se definen en la resolución extrajudicial del conflicto. Por otro lado se examinará el rol de las autoridades y los fundamentos de los dictámenes

Estancias de Entre Ríos en el siglo XIX, 1840 y 1880

En este trabajo abordamos la racionalidad de inversión de los estancieros y sus lógicas de explotación de las estancias entrerrianas durante los orígenes del capitalismo rural argentino entre 1840 y 1880. En la investigación analizamos cómo evolucionó la inversión rural dentro de los patrones generales de inversión. Qué peso tuvieron sobre el ciclo productivo rural los distintos costos de los factores de producción. Finalmente, estudiamos las estrategias de gestión y cuál fue la rentabilidad que tuvieron las estancias. En el ensayo utilizamos los datos de una serie de inventarios y de un conjunto de contabilidades de estancias provenientes de los registros de testamentarias. Intentamos mostrar en el trabajo el peso diversificado de los patrones de inversión y la evolución de los costos de los factores de producción. También se plantea tomar en cuenta la rentabilidad que parece haber obtenido los estancieros.

De ocupantes a propietarios, los conflictos entre vecinos de la frontera bonaerense. Chascomús y Ranchos, 1800-1840

En esta perspectiva, que intenta desentrañar las continuidades y rupturas entre el orden colonial y el entramado político y social del rosismo, nuestra intención es aportar un análisis sobre los litigios entre vecinos cuando la posesión de hecho sobre un terreno estaba en vías de convertirse en propiedad plena, cada vez que se accedía a los títulos mediante los distintos sistemas de otorgamiento de tierras públicas, desde los últimos años del período colonial hasta la finalización de la aplicación de la enfiteusis en la década de 1840, centrando la atención en la ocupación del territorio y los derechos adquiridos en los partidos de Chascomús y Ranchos. Aquí se pone de manifiesto el reconocimiento local de los estancieros y hacendados y los motivos de las disputas. A partir del análisis de los litigios se aprecia el juego de intereses de los hacendados y las conexiones con el poder civil en la frontera que se definen en la resolución extrajudicial del conflicto. Por otro lado se examinará el rol de las autoridades y los fundamentos de los dictámenes

Serving all Americans.

"January 2004"--P. [3] of cover.

‘All of this Belongs to Us’: Land, Horses, and Indigenous Resistance on the Yakama Indian Reservation, 1900-1950

In the early 1900s, the Yakima Indian Agency welcomed non-Native ranching operations onto Yakama tribal lands, taxing rangelands, and resulting in widespread overgrazing. By the 1920s, agency concern for the welfare of ranchers facilitated a need to gain access to tribal grazing lands sustaining Yakama horses. As a result, agency officials launched systematic assaults on Yakama horse herds, citing horses as culprits of overgrazing and land degradation. However, Yakamas showed little interest in removing their horses, and instead actively opposed settler encroachment on tribal grazing lands. Through analyzing archival sources, conducting interviews, and reviewing scholarly sources, I argue that Yakamas and settlers used horses as a terrain of struggle, whereby they asserted competing claims to Indigenous lands and resources. Examining horses as a tool of resistance provides a useful lens for understanding forms of Native opposition to colonial hegemony, while interrogating problematic tropes settlers utilized to justify divesting Native communities.

Armed Groups and Violence in Paraguay

Armed violence in Paraguay is not a recent phenomenon. During the second half of the XX Century, Paraguay saw the rise of a larger number of underground, revolutionary movements that sought the overthrow of the Alfredo Stroessner’s (1954-1989) government. From among those movements emerged the Partido Patria Libre (or, Free Fatherland, also known for its acronym PPL), made up of a two branches: one legal and the other one, operational. The latter was based on people’s power, as represented by “Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo” (or, the Paraguayan People’s Army, with acronym EPP). After EPP broke with PPL in March 2008, this Marxist-oriented revolutionary project, which was apparently oriented to put an end to the social, political and economic inequalities in Paraguay, began to carry out markedly criminal activities, which included bank robberies, kidnappings, assassinations, terrorist attacks and armed confrontations. Its strategies and modus operandi utilized by the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC). Paraguay features a farm sector in a state of crisis, in which cattle-ranchers, peasants and agro-exporting companies live in a constant strife. The Paraguayan Departments that are the most affected by this situation are Concepciόn, San Pedro, Canindeyú y Caazapá, which also suffer from a weak government presence. This deficiency has made these departments ripe for drug-trafficking activity by Brazilian groups such as Primer Comando Capital (i.e., First Capital command), also PCC and Comando Vermelho, (i.e., The Red Command). That is why many peasants, now recruited by EPP, have joined the drug-trafficking business and that, not only as marihuana growers but as “campanas” (i.e., early warning sentinels) for the organization. This helps shape their attitudes for their future involvement in all areas of drug-trafficking. Paraguayan society is the result of social inequity and inequality, such as those resulting from a lack of opportunity. Although Paraguay has successfully recovered from the last world economic crisis, economic growth, by itself, does not ensure an improvement in the quality of life. As long as such economic and social gaps persist and the government fails to enact the policies that would result in a more just society and toward EPP neutralization or containment, the latter is bound to grow stronger. In this context, the situation in Paraguay calls for more research into the EPP phenomenon. It would also seem necessary for Paraguay to promote an open national debate that includes all sectors of society in order to raise consciousness and to induce society to take actual steps to eliminate the EPP, as well as any other group that might arise in the immediate future. EPP has strong connections with the Frente Patriόtico Manuel Rodríguez in Chile and other armed groups and peasant movements in other countries of this region. Although most governments in the region are aware that the armed struggle is not a solution to current problems, it might be worth it to hold a regional debate about armed or insurgent groups in Latin American to seek common strategies and cooperation on dealing with them since the expansion of these armed groups is a problem for all.

Adaptação de cultivares diploides e tetraploides de azevém anual às condições climáticas do sudoeste do Paraná

Annual ryegrass is one of the species that best meets the needs of ranchers of southern Brazil during the winter period of the year. The breeding of ryegrass for many years has been developing superior materials, diploid and tetraploid, which, despite its higher prices for seed are being used by producers because of their better performance and quality. The objective of this research was to evaluate the behavior of different cultivars of Italian ryegrass - diploid and tetraploid, grazing, climate conditions of southwestern Paraná. The experiment was conducted in the city of Pato Branco / PR. The experimental design was a randomized block design with four replications. The observed cultivars were: LE 284, Camaro, Bakarat, Estações, Ponteio and Nibbio (diploid) and Winter Star, KLM 138, Escorpio, Titan, Barjumbo and Potro (tetraploid). The grazing was mob-grazing type time respecting input of 25 cm and 10 cm high output. It was observed that the cultivars that had high period of pasture use were those that produced larger amounts of forage. For all cultivars the highest forage accumulations occur between the months of August, September and October. Tetraploid have lower population density of tillers, but this does not affect the IAF among cultivars nor the interception of solar radiation before and after the completion of a grazing. NDF and ADF contents linearly increase with advancing in ryegrass cultivars development cycle. On average, tetraploid cultivars produce larger amounts of forage in relation to diploid cultivars.

Interacción planta-animal en el contexto de sistemas productivos desarrollados en distintos ambientes ecológicos

El estudio de los factores que rigen los patrones espaciales de la distribución del pastoreo de los herbívoros domésticos es fundamental en la ecología y el manejo de los recursos naturales. Aunque los productores y profesionales realizan ajustes anuales o estacionales de la carga animal para influir en la preferencia animal por determinados ambientes de pastoreo y alcanzar un uso eficiente del recurso forrajero, el manejo de la distribución del ganado continúa siendo un gran desafío. La heterogeneidad de los ambientes de pastoreo tiene dimensión tanto espacial como temporal, lo cual impone desafíos en el entendimiento de los factores que influyen en las decisiones de selección de hábitat por parte del ganado. En esta contribución comenzamos revisando los modelos conceptuales actuales del comportamiento del ganado a grandes escalas. Luego, presentamos algunos resultados de estudios conducidos en diferentes ecosistemas contrastantes de Argentina y New Mexico (EEUU). Estos estudios desarrollados usando animales con y sin collares GPS contribuyen a mejorar gradualmente las decisiones de manejo de los pastizales. Finalmente, hacemos unas consideraciones breves relacionadas con el manejo del ganado en Ecuador que pueden contribuir a mejorar la sustentabilidad de los sistemas de producción ganaderos.