scholarly journals Anthropogenic disturbances jeopardize biodiversity conservation within tropical rainforest reserves

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (19) ◽  
pp. 5323-5328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Martínez-Ramos ◽  
Iván A. Ortiz-Rodríguez ◽  
Daniel Piñero ◽  
Rodolfo Dirzo ◽  
José Sarukhán
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Anthropogenic Disturbances ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Maximum Height ◽  
Annual Growth Rate ◽  
Gap Formation ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Large Herbivores

Anthropogenic disturbances affecting tropical forest reserves have been documented, but their ecological long-term cumulative effects are poorly understood. Habitat fragmentation and defaunation are two major anthropogenic threats to the integrity of tropical reserves. Based on a long-term (four decades) study, we document how these disturbances synergistically disrupt ecological processes and imperil biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning at Los Tuxtlas, the northernmost tropical rainforest reserve in the Americas. Deforestation around this reserve has reduced the reserve to a medium-sized fragment (640 ha), leading to an increased frequency of canopy-gap formation. In addition, hunting and habitat loss have caused the decline or local extinction of medium and large herbivores. Combining empirical, experimental, and modeling approaches, we support the hypothesis that such disturbances produced a demographic explosion of the long-lived (≈120 y old, maximum height of 7 m) understory palm Astrocaryum mexicanum, whose population has increased from 1,243–4,058 adult individuals per hectare in only 39 y (annual growth rate of ca. 3%). Faster gap formation increased understory light availability, enhancing seed production and the growth of immature palms, whereas release from mammalian herbivory and trampling increased survival of seedlings and juveniles. In turn, the palm’s demographic explosion was followed by a reduction of tree species diversity, changing forest composition, altering the relative contribution of trees to forest biomass, and disrupting litterfall dynamics. We highlight how indirect anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., palm proliferation) on otherwise protected areas threaten tropical conservation, a phenomenon that is currently eroding the planet’s richest repositories of biodiversity.

scholarly journals Response: Commentary: Anthropogenic disturbances jeopardize biodiversity conservation within tropical rainforest reserves

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Martínez-Ramos ◽  
Iván A. Ortiz-Rodríguez ◽  
Daniel Piñero ◽  
Rodolfo Dirzo ◽  
José Sarukhán
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Anthropogenic Disturbances

scholarly journals Large Herbivores May Improve an Ecosystem’s Carbon Persistence

Eos ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rishika Pardikar
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Large Herbivores ◽  
New Research

The grazing habits of wild animals like elephants and boars enable long-term carbon storage, according to new research that stresses the need to align climate mitigation goals with biodiversity conservation.

scholarly journals Influence of Silane Pretreatment and Warm Air-Drying on Long-Term Composite Adaptation to Lithium Disilicate Ceramic

Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Pa Pa Kay Khine ◽  
Antonin Tichy ◽  
Ahmed Abdou ◽  
Keiichi Hosaka ◽  
Yasunori Sumi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resin Composite ◽  
Lithium Disilicate ◽  
Drying Methods ◽  
Gap Formation ◽  
Universal Adhesive ◽  
Air Drying ◽  
Swept Source ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
Interfacial Gap

Background: Repair bonding to lithium disilicate ceramic (LDS) remains an issue. This study examined whether the adaptation of a resin composite to LDS can be improved by a silane pretreatment and warm air-drying. Methods: LDS blocks (IPS e.max CAD) with prefabricated tapered cavities were bonded using a silane-containing universal adhesive (Clearfil Universal Bond Quick ER; UBQ) or the bonding agent of a two-step self-etch adhesive (Clearfil SE Bond 2), with and without a silane pretreatment (Clearfil Ceramic Primer; CP). CP and the adhesives were air-dried with normal air (23 ± 1 °C) or warm air (60 ± 5 °C), light-cured, and the cavities were filled with a flowable composite. Interfacial gap formation was evaluated using swept-source optical coherence tomography immediately after filling, after 24 h, 5000 and 10,000 thermal cycles, and an additional 1 year of water storage. Results: Without the silane pretreatment, all specimens soon detached from the cavities. Warm air-drying significantly decreased gap formation compared to normal air-dried groups (p < 0.001) and improved long-term stability (p < 0.001). The lowest gap formation was observed with UBQ when the silane pretreatment was combined with warm air-drying. Conclusions: Composite adaptation to LDS was insufficient without silanization, but it was stable in the long term if the silane pretreatment and warm air-drying were combined.

Economic valuation and the commodification of ecosystem services

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Gómez-Baggethun ◽  
Manuel Ruiz-Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Valuation Of Ecosystem Services ◽  
Equity Of Access ◽  
The Way

In the last decade a growing number of environmental scientists have advocated economic valuation of ecosystem services as a pragmatic short-term strategy to communicate the value of biodiversity in a language that reflects dominant political and economic views. This paper revisits the controversy on economic valuation of ecosystem services in the light of two aspects that are often neglected in ongoing debates. First, the role of the particular institutional setup in which environmental policy and governance is currently embedded in shaping valuation outcomes. Second, the broader economic and sociopolitical processes that have governed the expansion of pricing into previously non-marketed areas of the environment. Our analysis suggests that within the institutional setup and broader sociopolitical processes that have become prominent since the late 1980s economic valuation is likely to pave the way for the commodification of ecosystem services with potentially counterproductive effects in the long term for biodiversity conservation and equity of access to ecosystem services benefits.

scholarly journals Urban Ecological Restoration

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul H. Gobster
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Reference Sites ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Fixed Set ◽  
Natural Diversity ◽  
Urban Ecological Restoration

What does ecological restoration mean in an urban context? More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, and in response to the dynamic patterns of urbanization, a growing number of ecologists, land managers, and volunteers are focusing their efforts in and around cities to restore remnants of natural diversity (Ingram 2008). Ecological restoration is still a quite youthful field, yet many scientists and practitioners hold a relatively fixed set of criteria for what defines a successful restoration project, irrespective of where sites are located. Among the criteria commonly stated, sites should be composed of indigenous species, have a structure and diversity characteristic of currently undisturbed or historically documented “reference” sites, and be maintained through ecological processes such as fire that ensure long-term sustainability with minimal human assistance (Ruiz-Jaén and Aide 2005; SER International 2004). Application of these criteria has led to many ecologically successful restorations, but some ecologists in the field have begun to question whether the same standards can be realistically applied to sites such as those within urban areas that have been radically altered by past human activity (e.g., Martínez and López-Barerra 2008) or are being influenced by novel conditions that result in unpredictable trajectories (Choi 2007). Perhaps more significantly, it is becoming increasingly recognized that the broader viability of restoration projects, especially those in urban areas, hinges on how socially successful they are in gaining public acceptance for restoration activities and practices, building constituencies to assist with implementation and maintenance, and addressing a broader set of sustainability goals that reach beyond the protection of native biodiversity (e.g., Choi et al. 2008; Hobbs 2007; Rosenzweig 2003).

Agrodeforestation and the loss of agrobiodiversity in the Pacific Islands: a call for conservation

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randolph Thaman
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ecosystem Goods And Services ◽  
Livelihood Security ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Our ability to conserve biodiversity and to adapt to climate, environmental and economic change in the Pacific Islands will be greatly dependent on the conservation, restoration and enrichment of biodiversity within traditional multispecies agricultural land use systems. “Agrobiodiversity” is the most well-known, culturally-useful and accessible biodiversity on most islands and constitutes the most important foundation for ecosystem goods and services that support food, health, energy and livelihood security. This rich Pacific agrobiodiversity heritage, including associated ethnobiodiversity is highly threatened and deserves more prominence in mainstream conservation initiatives as a foundation for long-term sustainability. Such action is in line with Aichi Biodiversity Targets 7 and 13 which set goals for sustainable management of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and the maintenance of genetic diversity as critical for successful biodiversity conservation globally. It is also supported by the findings of the Japan Satoyama-Satoumi Assessment, which stresses the critical importance of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provided by traditional agricultural and village landscapes.

scholarly journals Long-term UVB exposure promotes predator-inspection behaviour in a fish

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 20170497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Vitt ◽  
Janina E. Zierul ◽  
Theo C. M. Bakker ◽  
Ingolf P. Rick
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Ultraviolet B ◽  
Antipredator Behaviour ◽  
Uvb Radiation ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Natural Sunlight ◽  
Predator Inspection

Ultraviolet-B radiation (UVB) reaching the earth's surface has increased due to human-caused stratospheric ozone depletion. Whereas the harmful effects of UVB on aquatic organisms are well studied at the molecular and cellular level, recent studies have also begun to address behavioural changes caused by sublethal amounts of UVB. However, the behavioural consequences of long-term exposure to ecologically relevant UVB levels over several life stages are virtually unknown, particularly with regard to predator–prey behaviour. We found increased predator-inspection behaviour together with a smaller body length in three-spined sticklebacks ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ) after fish were exposed for about seven months to natural sunlight conditions with enhanced UVB, compared with full siblings exposed to natural sunlight only. The observed change in antipredator behaviour may reflect a direct behavioural response mediated through UVB-induced oxidative stress during development. Alternatively, the smaller body size in UVB-exposed fish may result in an increased inspection effort allowing them to spend more time foraging. Our findings suggest that, within the scope of environmental change, UVB radiation constitutes an important stress factor by eliciting behavioural responses that influence crucial ecological processes, such as predator–prey interactions.

scholarly journals A floristic description of the Afromontane fynbos communities on Platberg, Eastern Free State, South Africa

Koedoe ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Brand ◽  
Pieter J. Du Preez ◽  
Leslie R. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Conservation Management ◽  
Alien Invasive Species ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
The North ◽  
Shrub Community ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Twinspan Classification

Within the Platberg area and the wider Drakensberg region, the shrinking natural resources and the threat posed to biodiversity are of concern to conservation management and require an understanding of long-term ecological processes. The vegetation of Platberg was investigated as part of an ecological survey to establish Afromontane floristic links to the Drakensberg as well as for the management of natural resources. From a TWINSPAN classification, refined by the Braun-Blanquet method, four main plant communities were identified, which were subdivided into fynbos, wetland, a woody/shrub community and grassland. A classification and description of the fynbos are presented in this article.The analysis showed the fynbos divided into two communities comprising four sub-communities and seven variants. The fynbos community had an average of 28.34 species per relevé, ranging from 14 to 54 species per sample plot. Twenty-four endemic or near-endemic Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) species and 22 exotic (alien-invasive) species were recorded. Numerous floristic links with the DAC, Cape flora fynbos and grassland bioregions to the north and west were also found. The description of the fynbos plant communities can serve as a basis for the formulation of management plans for the area.

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