Diversity and distribution of avian haematozoan parasites in the western Indian Ocean region: a molecular survey

Parasitology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
FARAH ISHTIAQ ◽  
JON S. BEADELL ◽  
BEN H.WARREN ◽  
ROBERT C. FLEISCHER

SUMMARYThe genetic diversity of haematozoan parasites in island avifauna has only recently begun to be explored, despite the potential insight that these data can provide into the history of association between hosts and parasites and the possible threat posed to island endemics. We used mitochondrial DNA sequencing to characterize the diversity of 2 genera of vector-mediated parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in avian blood samples from the western Indian Ocean region and explored their relationship with parasites from continental Africa. We detected infections in 68 out of 150 (45 3%) individuals and cytochrome b sequences identified 9 genetically distinct lineages of Plasmodium spp. and 7 lineages of Haemoproteus spp. We found considerable heterogeneity in parasite lineage composition across islands, although limited sampling may, in part, be responsible for perceived differences. Two lineages of Plasmodium spp. and 2 lineages of Haemoproteus spp. were shared by hosts in the Indian Ocean and also on mainland Africa, suggesting that these lineages may have arrived relatively recently. Polyphyly of island parasites indicated that these parasites were unlikely to constitute an endemic radiation and instead probably represent multiple colonization events. This study represents the first molecular survey of vector-mediated parasites in the western Indian Ocean, and has uncovered a diversity of parasites. Full understanding of parasite community composition and possible threats to endemic avian hosts will require comprehensive surveys across the avifauna of this region.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-243
Author(s):  
Raghvendra Kumar

The Indian Ocean has turned into the new geographical centre of power, where global power dynamics is being revealed. It has been transformed into a geostrategic heartland, forecasting new challenges and opportunities, and at the core of this is an emerging power, India, which, being located at a strategic juncture in the Indian Ocean, shapes much of this geostrategic transformation. Therefore, sustaining and improving security and continuing economic expansion, with an increased strategic presence in the region to safeguard its national, regional and global interests are some of the elements which greatly influence India’s involvement with the strategic island states of Africa in the Western Indian Ocean Region. In this backdrop, this article has tried to contextualise the ‘Western Indian Ocean Region’ and ‘situate the actors’ to explore the various contours of geostrategic engagements the region is witnessing. Further, the article examines India’s strategic interests in the Western Indian Ocean, which are critical for its global power aspirations. It discusses the linkages between India and the Western Indian Ocean island states of Africa, which would become the precursor for newer strategies and help in harnessing the potential of mutually beneficial cooperation. Lastly, the article seeks to re-engage with the island states of Africa to help forge a deeper cultural and strategic bond, which would be crucial in balancing the power equation in the region.


Author(s):  
A. V. Kupriianov

The article considers the origins and current perspectives of the concept of the “Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace” (IOZOP). It was formed within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s. The concept was supported by the countries of the Indian Ocean Region as the opportunity to avoid the transformation of the Indian Ocean into a zone of conflict between the great powers. Initially formulated very vaguely, in the end the IOZOP concept was reduced mainly to the requirement for non-regional powers to stop testing weapons and deployment of military forces and assets on the islands of the Indian Ocean. Despite the proclamation of the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace by UNGA in 1971, the Western powers ignored this decision, refusing to withdraw its militaryforces and bases from the region. The subsequent disagreements between the regional actors, some of which feared increasing India’s power, and the dramatic change in the political situation in the world led lto a decline in interest in this idea. However, in 2014, India, and Sri Lanka expressed their readiness to put this issue on the agenda again. The author analyzes the history of origin and attempts to realize the concept of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace, the reasons for its failure, highlights the positions of the main countries concerned, key moments that hinder and contribute to the formation of a zone of peace. He concludes that under current conditions, the IOZOP concept can be implemented in an updated form as part of a potential ocean management structure that could be formed on the basis of regional structures such as IORA and IONS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Editors of the JIOWS

The editors are proud to present the first issue of the fourth volume of the Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies. This issue contains three articles, by James Francis Warren (Murdoch University), Kelsey McFaul (University of California, Santa Cruz), and Marek Pawelczak (University of Warsaw), respectively. Warren’s and McFaul’s articles take different approaches to the growing body of work that discusses pirates in the Indian Ocean World, past and present. Warren’s article is historical, exploring the life and times of Julano Taupan in the nineteenth-century Philippines. He invites us to question the meaning of the word ‘pirate’ and the several ways in which Taupan’s life has been interpreted by different European colonists and by anti-colonial movements from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. McFaul’s article, meanwhile, takes a literary approach to discuss the much more recent phenomenon of Somali Piracy, which reached its apex in the last decade. Its contribution is to analyse the works of authors based in the region, challenging paradigms that have mostly been developed from analysis of works written in the West. Finally, Pawelczak’s article is a legal history of British jurisdiction in mid-late nineteenth-century Zanzibar. It examines one of the facets that underpinned European influence in the western Indian Ocean World before the establishment of colonial rule. In sum, this issue uses two key threads to shed light on the complex relationships between European and other Western powers and the Indian Ocean World.


Author(s):  
David Brewster

This chapter examines Indian and Chinese perspectives of each other as major powers and their respective roles in the Indian Ocean. It focuses on the following elements: (a) China’s strategic imperatives in the Indian Ocean Region, (b) India’s views on its special role in the Indian Ocean and the legitimacy of the presence of other powers, (c) China’s strategic vulnerabilities in the Indian Ocean and India’s wish to leverage those vulnerabilities, (d) the asymmetry in Indian and Chinese threat perceptions, and (d) Chinese perspectives of the status of India in the international system and India’s claims to a special role in the Indian Ocean. The chapter concludes that even if China were to take a more transparent approach to its activities, significant differences in perceptions of threat and over status and legitimacy will produce a highly competitive dynamic between them in the maritime domain.


Author(s):  
Caroline C. Ummenhofer ◽  
Sujata A. Murty ◽  
Janet Sprintall ◽  
Tong Lee ◽  
Nerilie J. Abram

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 214
Author(s):  
Lihua Yuan ◽  
Xiaoqiang Chen ◽  
Changqing Song ◽  
Danping Cao ◽  
Hong Yi

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has become one of the main economic forces globally, and countries within the IOR have attempted to promote their intra-regional trade. This study investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of the community structures of the intra-regional trade and the impact of determinant factors on the formation of trade community structures of the IOR from 1996 to 2017 using the methods of social network analysis. Trade communities are groups of countries with measurably denser intra-trade ties but with extra-trade ties that are measurably sparser among different communities. The results show that the extent of trade integration and the trade community structures of the IOR changed from strengthening between 1996 and 2014 to weakening between 2015 and 2017. The largest explanatory power of the formation of the IOR trade community structures was the IOR countries’ economic size, indicating that market remained the strongest driver. The second-largest explanatory power was geographical proximity, suggesting that countries within the IOR engaged in intra-regional trade still tended to select geographically proximate trading partners. The third- and the fourth-largest were common civilization and regional organizational memberships, respectively. This indicates that sharing a common civilization and constructing intra-regional institutional arrangements (especially open trade policies) helped the countries within the IOR strengthen their trade communities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Sainandan S. Iyer ◽  
Ranadhir Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Sridhar D. Iyer

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