Protected environments and substrates for production of genipap seedlings

Genipap (Genipa americana L., Rubiaceae ) is a native Brazilian species and can be used in the recovery of degraded forest areas or for food supply. In order for the species to reach its potential, production of high quality seedlings is essential. The objective of this study was to evaluate genipap seedlings in protected environments and different substrates. The environments tested were: (1) a greenhouse with polyethylene film in the top, with aluminized screen (Aliminet®) of 50%-shading under this film, and lateral sides covered with 50%-shading nylon net (Sombrite®), (2) a shaded hut, all sides covered with 50%-shading nylon net (Sombrite®), and (3) a nursery shelter, with all lateral sides uncovered and the roof covered with leaves of buriti (Mauritia flexuosa). In these environments the following substrates were tested: 50% cattle manure + 50% cassava foliage, 50% cattle manure + 50% Vida Verde®, 50% cattle manure + 50% vermiculite, and 25% cattle manure + 25% vermiculite + 25% of cassava foliage + 25% Vida Verde®. Because there was no repetition of the growth environment, the effect of environment was examined using statistical procedures for analysis of combined experiments. Within environments a completely randomized design was used with five replications. All substrates are suitable for the formation of genipap seedlings, where the recommended substrates are: 50% cattle manure + 50% cassava foliage and 50% cattle manure + 50% Vida Verde® for the greenhouse and the substrates composed of 50% cattle manure + 50% vermiculite and 25% cattle manure + 25% cassava foliage + 25% Vida Verde®+ 25% vermiculite for the shaded hut. The buriti shelter is not recommended for production of genipap seedlings.

Natural landscapes of the United States / by J. Francis Macbride, Curator of Peruvian Botany.

no.27(1950)

Endangered Species Act biennial report, status of recovery program / prepared by U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources.

1994-1996

Combining classification techniques to define topo-climatic landscapes

Landscape classification tackles issues related to the representation and analysis of continuous and variable ecological data. In this study, a methodology is created in order to define topo-climatic landscapes (TCL) in the north-west of Catalonia (north-east of the Iberian Peninsula). TCLs relate the ecological behaviour of a landscape in terms of topography, physiognomy and climate, which compound the main drivers of an ecosystem. Selected variables are derived from different sources such as remote sensing and climatic atlas. The proposed methodology combines unsupervised interative cluster classification with a supervised fuzzy classification. As a result, 28 TCLs have been found for the study area which may be differentiated in terms of vegetation physiognomy and vegetation altitudinal range type. Furthermore a hierarchy among TCLs is set, enabling the merging of clusters and allowing for changes of scale. Through the topo-climatic landscape map, managers may identify patches with similar environmental conditions and asses at the same time the uncertainty involved.

Genetic differentiation in two European tree frog (Hyla arborea) metapopulations in contrasted landscapes of Western Switzerland

The survival of threatened species as the European tree frog (Hyla arborea) is strongly dependent on the genetic variability within populations, as well as gene flow between them. In Switzerland, only two sectors in its western part still harbour metapopulations. The first is characterised by a very heterogeneous and urbanized landscape, while the second is characterised by a uninterrupted array of suitable habitats. In this study, six microsatellite loci were used to establish levels of genetic differentiation among the populations from the two different locations. The results show that the metapopulations have: (i) weak levels of genetic differentiation (FST within metapopulation ≈ 0.04), (ii) no difference in levels of genetic structuring between them, (iii) significant (p = 0.019) differences in terms of genetic diversity (Hs) and observed heterozygozity (Ho), the metapopulation located in a disturbed landscape showing lower values. Our results suggest that even if the dispersal of H. arborea among contiguous ponds seems to be efficient in areas of heterogeneous landscape, a loss of genetic diversity can occur.

Instruction of haematopoietic lineage choices, evolution of transcriptional landscapes and cancer stem cell hierarchies derived from an AML1-ETO mouse model.

The t(8;21) chromosomal translocation activates aberrant expression of the AML1-ETO (AE) fusion protein and is commonly associated with core binding factor acute myeloid leukaemia (CBF AML). Combining a conditional mouse model that closely resembles the slow evolution and the mosaic AE expression pattern of human t(8;21) CBF AML with global transcriptome sequencing, we find that disease progression was characterized by two principal pathogenic mechanisms. Initially, AE expression modified the lineage potential of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), resulting in the selective expansion of the myeloid compartment at the expense of normal erythro- and lymphopoiesis. This lineage skewing was followed by a second substantial rewiring of transcriptional networks occurring in the trajectory to manifest leukaemia. We also find that both HSC and lineage-restricted granulocyte macrophage progenitors (GMPs) acquired leukaemic stem cell (LSC) potential being capable of initiating and maintaining the disease. Finally, our data demonstrate that long-term expression of AE induces an indolent myeloproliferative disease (MPD)-like myeloid leukaemia phenotype with complete penetrance and that acute inactivation of AE function is a potential novel therapeutic option.

Bats of Borneo: diversity, distributions and representation in protected areas

Protected areas are valuable in conserving tropical biodiversity, but an insufficient understanding of species diversity and distributions makes it difficult to evaluate their effectiveness. This is especially true on Borneo, a species rich island shared by three countries, and is particularly concerning for bats, a poorly known component of mammal diversity that may be highly susceptible to landscape changes. We reviewed the diversity, distributions and conservation status of 54 bat species to determine the representation of these taxa in Borneo's protected areas, and whether these reserves complement each other in terms of bat diversity. Lower and upper bound estimates of bat species composition were characterised in 23 protected areas and the proposed boundaries of the Heart of Borneo conservation area. We used lower and upper bound estimates of species composition. By using actual inventories, species representation was highly irregular, and even if some reserves were included in the Heart of Borneo, the protected area network would still exhibit low complementarity. By inferring species presence from distributions, composition between most reserves was similar, and complementarity was much higher. Predicting species richness using abundance information suggested that bat species representation in reserves may lie between these two extremes. We recommend that researchers better sample biodiversity over the island and address the conservation threats faced in Borneo both within and outside protected areas. While the Heart of Borneo Initiative is commendable, it should not divert attention from other conservation areas.

If you care make sure they're protected against flu

This poster encourages carers of elderly or disabled people to get the flu vaccine.

Risk-based modelling of diffuse land use impacts from rural landscapes upon salmonid fry abundance

Research has demonstrated that landscape or watershed scale processes can influence instream aquatic ecosystems, in terms of the impacts of delivery of fine sediment, solutes and organic matter. Testing such impacts upon populations of organisms (i.e. at the catchment scale) has not proven straightforward and differences have emerged in the conclusions reached. This is: (1) partly because different studies have focused upon different scales of enquiry; but also (2) because the emphasis upon upstream land cover has rarely addressed the extent to which such land covers are hydrologically connected, and hence able to deliver diffuse pollution, to the drainage network However, there is a third issue. In order to develop suitable hydrological models, we need to conceptualise the process cascade. To do this, we need to know what matters to the organism being impacted by the hydrological system, such that we can identify which processes need to be modelled. Acquiring such knowledge is not easy, especially for organisms like fish that might occupy very different locations in the river over relatively short periods of time. However, and inevitably, hydrological modellers have started by building up piecemeal the aspects of the problem that we think matter to fish. Herein, we report two developments: (a) for the case of sediment associated diffuse pollution from agriculture, a risk-based modelling framework, SCIMAP, has been developed, which is distinct because it has an explicit focus upon hydrological connectivity; and (b) we use spatially distributed ecological data to infer the processes and the associated process parameters that matter to salmonid fry. We apply the model to spatially distributed salmon and fry data from the River Eden, Cumbria, England. The analysis shows, quite surprisingly, that arable land covers are relatively unimportant as drivers of fry abundance. What matters most is intensive pasture, a land cover that could be associated with a number of stressors on salmonid fry (e.g. pesticides, fine sediment) and which allows us to identify a series of risky field locations, where this land cover is readily connected to the river system by overland flow. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quality uncertainty and allocation of decision rights in the European protected designation of origin

The paper considers some issue in the governance of the European Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The PDO systems are the outcomes of both farmers and consumers expectations and connect the valorisation of the agricultural and rural resources of given territories to the quality of typical products. A critical point in the governance of the PDO systems is represented by the connection between the quality strategies and the uncertainty. The paper argues that the PDO systems can be thought of as strictly coordinated subsystems in which the ex post governance play a critical role in coping with quality uncertainty. The study suggests that the society's inducements given raise to complex organizational systems in which the allocation of decision rights to PDO collective organizations play a major role. The empirical analysis is carried out by examining ten Italian PDO systems in order to identify the decision rights allocated.

Oxidative folding of synthetic polypeptides S-protected as tert-butylthio derivatives.

A new method for oxidative folding of synthetic polypeptides assembled by stepwise solid phase synthesis is introduced. Folding is obtained in excellent yields by reacting S-tert-butylthiolated polypeptides with a 100-fold molar excess of cysteine at 37 degrees C in a slightly alkaline buffer containing chaotropic salts, and in the presence of air-oxygen. This novel protocol has been applied to the folding of S-tert-butylthiolated human thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (hu-TARC) derivatives as well as to larger segments of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium berghei circumsporozoite proteins. Folded P. falciparum polypeptides have been used as substrates of endoproteinase Glu-C (Glu-C) and endoproteinase Asp-N (Asp-N) in an attempt to identify their disulfide connectivities. Particular practical advantages of the present method are (i) easy purification and storage of the S-protected peptide derivatives, (ii) elimination of the risk of cysteine alkylation during the acidolytic cleavage deprotection and resin cleavage steps, (iii) possibility to precisely evaluate the extent of folding and disulfide bond formation by mass spectrometry, and (iv) facile recovery of the final folded product.

A Comparison of the Management Models of Protected Areas between China and the Southern African Region

A Comparison of the Management Models of Protected Areas between China and the African South Region allows reading and evaluating the similarities and differences in the use of management model as a management tool for protected areas in China and South African Region. Specifically, some positive and negative features of the management approaches for the two regions. Secondary data was collected from various related literature such as policy documents, students‟ dissertations/thesis, scientific articles and magazines. Based on the method above, the study found out that China's first nature reserve was the Dingus Mountain Nature Reserve in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province established in 1956. By the end of 2005, about 2,349 nature reserves of various kinds were set up throughout the country, covering a total area of 149.95 million ha and accounting for 15 percent of the total land territory. The study further found that Southern Africa has approximately 4,390 protected areas out of 11487920 total land areas and Eastern Africa has approximately 1838144 protected areas, which is equivalent to 15.0% of the total land areas. South Africa in this region had its first declared natural park in 1926 after Paul Kruger (a war hero) had alerted the authorities of the extinguishing threat of some animal species of region.

Disteniinae Thomson (Insecta, Coleoptera): a protected name

The name "Cométites" Blanchard, 1845 (= Cometinae) is considered nomen oblitum, and "Distenitae" Thomson, 1861 (=Disteniinae), nomen protectum, under the provisions of the Article 23.9 of the ICZN. Disteniinae is hereafter used as a valid family-group name.

A genetic isolation gradient of populations of the Balearic green toad (Bufo balearicus) follows rising eastward fragmentation of the rural landscapes on the island of Menorca.

We present the first approach to the genetic diversity and structure of the Balearic toad (Bufo balearicus Boettger, 1880) for the island of Menorca. Forty-one individ- uals from 21 localities were analyzed for ten microsatellite loci. We used geo-refer- enced individual multilocus genotypes and a model-based clustering method for the inference of the number of populations and of the spatial location of genetic dis- continuities between those populations.¦Only six of the microsatellites analyzed were polymorphic. We revealed a northwest- ern area inhabited by a single population with several well-connected localities and another set of populations in the southeast that includes a few unconnected small units with genetically significant differences among them as well as with the individ- uals from the northwest of the island. The observed fragmentation may be explained by shifts from agricultural to tourism practices that have been taking place on the island of Menorca since the 1960s. The abandonment of rural activities in favor of urbanization and concomitant service areas has mostly affected the southeast of the island and is currently threatening the overall geographic connectivity between the different farming areas of the island that are inhabited by the Balearic toad.

State power and protected areas: Dynamics and contradictions of forest conservation in Madhya Pradesh, India

The traditionally coercive and state-controlled governance of protected areas for nature conservation in developing countries has in many cases undergone change in the context of widespread decentralization and liberalization. This article examines an emerging "mixed" (coercive, community- and market-oriented) conservation approach in managed-resource protected areas and its effects on state power through a case study on forest protection in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The findings suggest that imperfect decentralization and partial liberalization resulted in changed forms, rather than uniform loss, of state power. A forest co-management program paradoxically strengthened local capacity and influence of the Forest Department, which generally maintained its territorial and knowledge-based control over forests and timber management. Furthermore, deregulation and reregulation enabled the state to withdraw from uneconomic activities but also implied reduced place-based control of non-timber forest products. Generally, the new policies and programs contributed to the separation of livelihoods and forests in Madhya Pradesh. The article concludes that regulatory, community- and market-based initiatives would need to be better coordinated to lead to more effective nature conservation and positive livelihood outcomes.