Conserving Mackinder's eagle owls in farmlands of Kenya: assessing the influence of pesticide use, tourism and local knowledge of owl habits in protecting a culturally loathed species

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
DARCY L. OGADA ◽  
PAUL MURIITHI KIBUTHU
Keyword(s):  
Species Conservation ◽  
Ecological Literacy ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
Agricultural Pests ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Negative Beliefs ◽  
Common Control ◽  
Vertebrate Pests

SUMMARYFarmlands can be good habitat for owls and owls can benefit farmers, but pesticide use can negatively affect owls and within many regions of Africa owls are loathed owing to beliefs that they bring misfortune or death. Since 1997, a small-scale owl tourism initiative that educates farmers about owls and benefits them financially has been operating in central Kenya. Pesticide use, farmers' beliefs and knowledge about owls, and the impacts that tourism can have on farmers' attitudes and behaviour towards owls in rural Kenya were surveyed. Agricultural pests were the most serious problem facing farmers, though only 28 % of farmers said they controlled vertebrate pests using pesticides. The insecticide carbofuran was often misused to kill vertebrate pests. Common control measures were either to ‘do nothing’ or to chase pests from farms. Farmers knew of Mackinder's eagle owls living adjacent to their farms, but 68 % said they didn't adhere to the culturally negative beliefs about owls. Knowledge of owl diet amongst farmers was high (75 %). Farmers who benefited from owl tourism were more likely to know more about owl diet and habits. Where farmers gained financial benefits from tourism or knew more about owls, they were more likely to categorize owls as ‘good’, but farmers who knew about owl diet were more likely to use pesticides or kill owl prey on their farms. Though knowledge of owls did not have a positive effect on farmers' behaviour toward owls, this was probably the result of a lack of ecological literacy rather than any deliberate antagonism toward owls. Financial rewards are very important to poor farmers, but may not result in actions that enhance species conservation unless farmers have a basic understanding of ecological processes.

Understanding the effectiveness of measures aiming to stabilize urban gullies in Congolese cities: a systematic analysis based on field surveys

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Lutete Landu ◽  
Guy Ilombe Mawe ◽  
Charles Bielders ◽  
Fils Makanzu Imwangana ◽  
Olivier Dewitte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Clayey Soil ◽  
Waste Material ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Tropical Environments ◽  
Retention Ponds ◽  
Local Initiatives

<p>Many cities of the D.R. Congo are strongly affected by urban mega gullies. There are currently hundreds of such gullies in Kinshasa, Kikwit and Bukavu, representing a cumulative length of >200 km. Many of these gullies (typically tens of meters wide and deep) continue to expand, causing major damage to houses and other infrastructure and often claim human casualties. To mitigate these impacts, numerous measures are being implemented. The type and scale of these measures varies widely: from large structural measures like retention ponds to local initiatives of stabilizing gully heads with waste material. Nonetheless, earlier work indicates that an estimated 50% of the existing urban gullies continue to expand, despite the implementation of such measures. As such, we currently have very limited insight into the effectiveness of these measures and the overall best strategies to prevent and mitigate urban gullies. One reason for this is that most initiatives to stabilize urban gullies happen on a rather isolated basis and are rarely evaluated afterwards.</p><p>This work aims to improve our understanding of this issue. For this, we constructed a large inventory of measures implemented to stabilize urban gullies in Kinshasa, Kikwit and Bukavu and statistically confronted these measures with observed vegetation recovery and long-term gully expansion rates (derived from high-resolution imagery over a period of >14 years). Our preliminary results (based on a dataset of > 900 urban gullies) shows that the most commonly applied measures are revegetation and reinforcement of gully heads with sandbags or household waste material (implemented in around 65% of the cases). Retention ponds in streets and infiltration pits on house parcels are also frequently implemented (around 25% of the cases). Overall, techniques relying on vegetation are used relatively more frequently in regions with clayey soil, while techniques involving digging (e.g. infiltration pits) and topographic remodeling (e.g. gully reshaping by creation of terraces) are used mainly in sandy or sandy-clay areas. Surprisingly, small-scale local initiatives, such as stabilizing gully heads with household waste, often appear to have a higher effectivity than some large-scale civil engineering initiatives. However, such small-scale initiatives can come with important additional impacts (e.g. sanitation concerns). More research is needed to confirm these findings. Furthermore, the stability of gullies seems to be strongly linked to the degree of vegetation cover near the gully head. Nonetheless, it is not always clear if vegetation is the cause or the result of this stability. Overall, this study provides one of the first large scale assessments of the effectiveness of gully control measures in urban tropical environments. With this study, we hope to contribute to a better prevention and mitigation of this problem that affects many cities of the tropical Global South.</p>

scholarly journals Agroecological Formación in Rural Social Movements

2014 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 31-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils McCune ◽  
Juan Reardon ◽  
Peter Rosset
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Local Circuits ◽  
Rural Social Movements

Among the many sectors currently engaged in struggle against the corporate food system, small farmers play a particularly important role—not only do they constitute a legitimate alternative to global agribusiness, but also they are the heirs to long traditions of local knowledge and practice. In defending peasant agriculture, rural social movements defend popular control over seeds and genetic resources, water, land and territory against the onslaught of globalized financial capital. A framework called food sovereignty has been developed by the international peasant movement La Via Campesina (LVC), to encompass the various elements of a food system alternative based on reclaiming popular resource control, defending small-scale agriculture and traditional knowledge, rebuilding local circuits of food and labor, and recovering the ecological processes that can make farming sustainable. Recognizing the need to develop “movement people” capable of integrating many ecological, social, cultural and political criteria into their organizational activities, LVC increasingly has articulated processes of popular education and consciousness-raising as part of the global social movement for agroecology and food sovereignty. Given the enormous diversity of organizations and actors in LVC, an underlying feature known in Spanish as diálogo de saberes (roughly the equivalent of “dialogue between ways of knowing”) has characterized LVC processes of education, training, formation and exchange in agroecology. The diálogo de saberes takes place at the level of training centers and schools of the LVC organizations, as well as the larger scale of agricultural landscapes and peasant territories. The interactions between peasant, family or communal farmers, their organizations, their youth and their agroecology create social processes that assume the form and dynamic of a social movement in several countries of Latin America.

scholarly journals Effect of hypoxia and anoxia on invertebrate behaviour: ecological perspectives from species to community level

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1491-1518 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Riedel ◽  
T. Pados ◽  
K. Pretterebner ◽  
L. Schiemer ◽  
A. Steckbauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Benthic Macrofauna ◽  
Sediment Surface ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Natural Setting ◽  
Sea Anemones ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Individual Organism ◽  
Key Species

Abstract. Coastal hypoxia and anoxia have become a global key stressor to marine ecosystems, with almost 500 dead zones recorded worldwide. By triggering cascading effects from the individual organism to the community- and ecosystem level, oxygen depletions threaten marine biodiversity and can alter ecosystem structure and function. By integrating both physiological function and ecological processes, animal behaviour is ideal for assessing the stress state of benthic macrofauna to low dissolved oxygen. The initial response of organisms can serve as an early warning signal, while the successive behavioural reactions of key species indicate hypoxia levels and help assess community degradation. Here we document the behavioural responses of a representative spectrum of benthic macrofauna in the natural setting in the Northern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean). We experimentally induced small-scale anoxia with a benthic chamber in 24 m depth to overcome the difficulties in predicting the onset of hypoxia, which often hinders full documentation in the field. The behavioural reactions were documented with a time-lapse camera. Oxygen depletion elicited significant and repeatable changes in general (visibility, locomotion, body movement and posture, location) and species-specific reactions in virtually all organisms (302 individuals from 32 species and 2 species groups). Most atypical (stress) behaviours were associated with specific oxygen thresholds: arm-tipping in the ophiuroid Ophiothrix quinquemaculata, for example, with the onset of mild hypoxia (< 2 mL O2 L−1), the emergence of polychaetes on the sediment surface with moderate hypoxia (< 1 mL O2 L−1), the emergence of the infaunal sea urchin Schizaster canaliferus on the sediment with severe hypoxia (< 0.5 mL O2 L−1) and heavy body rotations in sea anemones with anoxia. Other species changed their activity patterns, for example the circadian rhythm in the hermit crab Paguristes eremita or the bioherm-associated crab Pisidia longimana. Intra- and interspecific reactions were weakened or changed: decapods ceased defensive and territorial behaviour, and predator–prey interactions and relationships shifted. This nuanced scale of resolution is a useful tool to interpret present benthic community status (behaviour) and past mortalities (community composition, e.g. survival of tolerant species). This information on the sensitivity (onset of stress response), tolerance (mortality, survival), and characteristics (i.e. life habit, functional role) of key species also helps predict potential future changes in benthic structure and ecosystem functioning. This integrated approach can transport complex ecological processes to the public and decision-makers and help define specific monitoring, assessment and conservation plans.

scholarly journals Design and analysis of small-scale transmission experiments with animals

2006 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. J. VELTHUIS ◽  
A. BOUMA ◽  
W. E. A. KATSMA ◽  
G. NODELIJK ◽  
M. C. M. DE JONG
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Experimental Designs ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Controlled Environment ◽  
Single Factor ◽  
Final Size ◽  
Transmission Data

Interactions between pathogens and hosts at the population level should be considered when studying the effectiveness of control measures for infectious diseases. The advantage of doing transmission experiments compared to field studies is that they offer a controlled environment in which the effect of a single factor can be investigated, while variation due to other factors is minimized. This paper gives an overview of the biological and mathematical aspects, bottlenecks and solutions of developing and executing transmission experiments with animals. Different methods of analysis and different experimental designs are discussed. Final size methods are often used for analysing transmission data, but have never been published in a refereed journal; therefore, they will be described in detail in this paper. We hope that this information is helpful for scientists who are considering performing transmission experiments.

scholarly journals Evaluating the effects of common control measures for influenza A (H1N1) outbreak at school in China: A modeling study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. e0177672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianmu Chen ◽  
Yuanxiu Huang ◽  
Ruchun Liu ◽  
Zhi Xie ◽  
Shuilian Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza A ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Common Control ◽  
Influenza A H1n1 ◽  
H1n1 Outbreak ◽  
Modeling Study

USING A SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL TO IDENTIFY AND UNDERSTAND FACTORS INFLUENCING THE USE AND ADOPTION OF A SUCCESSFUL INNOVATION BY SMALL-SCALE DAIRY FARMERS OF CENTRAL MEXICO

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARLOS GALDINO MARTÍNEZ-GARCÍA ◽  
CARLOS MANUEL ARRIAGA-JORDÁN ◽  
PETER DORWARD ◽  
TAHIR REHMAN ◽  
ADOLFO ARMANDO RAYAS-AMOR
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Reasoned Action ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Social Pressure ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Negative Beliefs

SUMMARYThis paper seeks to make an exploratory investigation regarding farmers who have been using an innovation for a relatively long period (established users), compared to farmers who have only recently started (recent users). Therefore, the aims of this research were to identify (i) the extent to which intentions, attitudes and social pressure are similar or different between these two groups and (ii) whether comparison of the groups can improve academic understanding and provide insights into what is influencing the uptake of innovations. The study was conducted with 80 farmers who are already engaged with the use of improved grassland. In order to develop an understanding of the differences in drivers of the adoption of new technology, the sample was divided into established users and recent users of the innovation. To identify differences between groups regarding farmer and farm characteristics, 11 quantitative variables were analysed through a dependent t-test. The theory of reasoned action (TRA) was used as a theoretical framework and the Spearman rank-order correlation was used in data analyses. To identify differences in farmers’ perceptions of the components of the TRA, we used the Mann–Whitney U test. The results showed that established users had stronger intention to use improved grassland in the next 12 months, which would be attributed to activity based on milk production as a main source of family income. Advantages of improved grassland included lower animal feeding expenses; increases in quantity, quality and availability of fodder production and increases in milk production. We concluded that established and recent users’ intention to use improved grassland over the 12 months was influenced in different ways. Established users’ intention to adopt was strongly influenced by normative beliefs, i.e. social pressure from salient referents, where the father, uncle and veterinarian played the most important role, whereas recent users’ intention was mainly influenced by behavioural beliefs (positive and negative beliefs regarding the innovation) and the variables that describe the farm characteristics, i.e. the advantages and disadvantages that farmers perceive of the use of improved grassland on their farms, which were also considered as drivers of adoption.

scholarly journals Weed Suppression in Pumpkin by Mulches Composed of Organic Municipal Waste Materials

HortScience ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 720-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin E. Splawski ◽  
Emilie E. Regnier ◽  
S. Kent Harrison ◽  
Mark A. Bennett ◽  
James D. Metzger
Keyword(s):  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Weed Suppression ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Plastic Mulch ◽  
Weed Biomass ◽  
Squash Bug ◽  
Black Plastic

Field studies were conducted in 2011 and 2012 to compare mulch treatments of shredded newspaper, a combination of shredded newspaper plus turfgrass clippings (NP + grass), hardwood bark chips, black polyethylene plastic, and bare soil on weeds, insects, soil moisture, and soil temperature in pumpkins. Newspaper mulch or black plastic reduced total weed biomass ≥90%, and woodchip or NP + grass mulch each reduced total weed biomass 78% compared with bare soil under high rainfall conditions in 2011. In 2012, under low rainfall, all mulches reduced weed biomass 97% or more compared with bare soil. In both years, all mulches resulted in higher squash bug infestations than bare soil. The woodchip, newspaper, and NP + grass mulches retained higher soil moistures than bare soil or black plastic over the course of each growing season, and the woodchip and NP + grass mulches caused greatest fluctuations in soil temperature. Pumpkin yields were abnormally low in 2011 and did not differ among treatments. In 2012, all mulches produced greater total marketable pumpkin fruit weights compared with bare soil, but only black plastic, newspaper, and NP + grass mulches resulted in greater total numbers of marketable pumpkins. Overall results indicate that shredded newspaper or NP + grass mulches may be useful for organic and/or small-scale urban crop producers as sustainable alternatives to black plastic mulch; however, their weed suppression efficacy may require higher application rates with increasing moisture conditions, and they may require greater squash bug control measures than under bare soil conditions.

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