Plant Spread Dynamics and Spatial Patterns in Forest Ecology

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio A. Cannas ◽  
Diana E. Marco
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Exotic Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Forest Ecology ◽  
Soil Composition ◽  
Heavy Grazing ◽  
Spread Dynamics ◽  
Strong Disturbance

Species in an ecosystem can be classified as natives or exotics. Native species are those that have coevolved in the ecosystem, while exotic ones have not. The introduction of exotic species into an ecosystem is usually associated with human influence, which can be intentional or accidental. Some exotic species do not survive, at least not without artificial assistance. But some others do quite well on their own in a new environment. Exotic species may have no natural predators in the new environment or they may make better use of the natural resources than the natives, so they spread in the new territory and compete with some of the natives, who eventually become extinct. Exotic species that successfully establish and spread in an ecosystem are called invaders. The process by which an invader arrives and spreads into the new territory is called biological invasion. It is worth mentioning that, although invaders are usually exotic species, sometimes native species may also behave like invaders. That is, if an ecosystem suffers a strong disturbance, like fire or heavy grazing, some native species whose populations were originally stable may start to grow, outcompeting other native species. There are many examples of introduced species that became invaders, ranging from bacteria to cattle. Accidental or intentional introductions by humans are responsible for most of the present biological invasions, threatening the structure and functioning of many ecosystems. There are many effects associated with biological invasions, perhaps the most important one being the possible loss of biodiversity in the long term. But biological invasions may also introduce changes in different environmental traits, like climate, hydrology (invaders may consume more water than natives), and soil composition (for instance, some plants take up salt from soil and deposit it on the surface, making it unsuitable for some native species). All these changes have strong economical impacts, considering their influences in agriculture, forestry, and public health [9]. Hence, it is of interest to understand this phenomenon in order to predict the potential invasiveness of a species before its introduction in an ecosystem, and to develop strategies of control for invasive species that have already been introduced.

scholarly journals Long-term colonisation and propagule pressure of fish assemblages in a Neotropical floodplain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Artur Valões Bezerra ◽  
Simone Libralato ◽  
Jan Kubecka ◽  
Andre Padial
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Biotic Resistance ◽  
Propagule Pressure ◽  
Paraná River ◽  
River Floodplain ◽  
Parana River ◽  
Paraná River Floodplain

Abstract Biological invasions are a major threat to biodiversity in the Neotropical region. However, few studies have evaluated the mechanisms underlying the long-term establishment of fish propagules in aquatic environments. Here, we associated fish biomass, species richness, and proportion of non-native species (contamination index) to quantify propagule and colonisation pressures, and fish biodiversity (measured by the Kempton’s index) in lakes and rivers of the Parana River floodplain. We organised species into native and non-native assemblages sampled by gillnetting and beach seining in spatio-temporal gradients, seasonally, from 2000 to 2017. Native and non-native Kempton’s indices were inversely correlated, native extinctions occurred locally with non-native biotic differentiation in lakes, rivers, and ecosystem contamination. A constant propagule pressure resulted in an overwhelming biodiversity of non-natives at the end of the evaluated time series. Biotic resistance to introduction was not evidenced in our deterministic trends. The observed patterns agreed with previous studies highlighting native biotic homogenisation and species extinctions, depending on biological invasions, landscape connectivity, and riverine impoundments. Long-term propagule pressure and non-native fish colonisation were the drivers of biodiversity that led to the predominance of non-native over native assemblages in the Parana River floodplain.

Strengthening of occupational health promotion by the German Prevention Health Care Act

2019 ◽  
pp. 188-190
Author(s):  
Diana Hart
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Primary Prevention ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Occupational Health Promotion ◽  
And Control

All countries are faced with the problem of the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCD): implement prevention strategies eff ectively, keep up the momentum with long term benefi ts at the individual and the population level, at the same time tackling hea lth inequalities. Th e aff ordability of therapy and care including innovative therapies is going to be one of the key public health priorities in the years to come. Germany has taken in the prevention and control of NCDs. Germany’s health system has a long history of guaranteeing access to high-quality treatment through universal health care coverage. Th r ough their membership people are entitled to prevention and care services maintaining and restoring their health as well as long term follow-up. Like in many other countries general life expectancy has been increasing steadily in Germany. Currently, the average life expectancy is 83 and 79 years in women and men, respectively. Th e other side of the coin is that population aging is strongly associated with a growing burden of disease from NCDs. Already over 70 percent of all deaths in Germany are caused by four disease entities: cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes. Th ese diseases all share four common risk factors: smoking, alcohol abuse, lack of physical activity and overweight. At the same time, more and more people become long term survivors of disease due to improved therapy and care. Th e German Government and public health decision makers are aware of the need for action and have responded by initiating and implementing a wide spectrum of activities. One instrument by strengthening primary prevention is the Prevention Health Care Act. Its overarching aim is to prevent NCDs before they can manifest themselves by strengthening primary prevention and health promotion in diff erent sett ings. One of the main emphasis of the Prevention Health Care Act is the occupational health promotion at the workplace.

Oithona davisae: naturalization in the Black sea, inter-annual and seasonal dynamics, effect on the structure of the planktonic copepod community

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1008-1015
Author(s):  
A. D. Gubanova ◽  
O. A. Garbazey ◽  
D. A. Altukhov ◽  
V. S. Mukhanov ◽  
E. V. Popova
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Acartia Tonsa ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Copepod Community ◽  
Oithona Davisae ◽  
Sevastopol Bay

Long-term (20032014) routine observations of zooplankton in Sevastopol Bay (the Black Sea) have allowed the naturalization of the invasive copepod Oithona davisae to be studied in the Black Sea coastal waters. Inter-annual and seasonal variability of the species and their impact on the native copepod community have been analyzed. The invasion of O. davisae and their undoubted dominance in terms of abundance were shown to alter the community structure but, at the same time, the abundances of the native species did not decrease, excepting the Black Sea earlier invader Acartia tonsa. A significant decline in A. tonsa numbers over the stages of O. davisae establishment and naturalization provided evidence of competition between the species. O. davisae have been demonstrated to gain competitive advantage over A. tonsa, that ensured their fast dispersal in the Black Sea, acclimatization in the new habitat and the successful competition over native species.

scholarly journals 4.C. Round table: Joining forces: frameworks for international and multi-sectoral collaborations in health information

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Round Table ◽  
Secondary Use ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
National Initiatives ◽  
Information Research

Abstract Countries have a wide range of lifestyles, environmental exposures and different health(care) systems providing a large natural experiment to be investigated. Through pan-European comparative studies, underlying determinants of population health can be explored and provide rich new insights into the dynamics of population health and care such as the safety, quality, effectiveness and costs of interventions. Additionally, in the big data era, secondary use of data has become one of the major cornerstones of digital transformation for health systems improvement. Several countries are reviewing governance models and regulatory framework for data reuse. Precision medicine and public health intelligence share the same population-based approach, as such, aligning secondary use of data initiatives will increase cost-efficiency of the data conversion value chain by ensuring that different stakeholders needs are accounted for since the beginning. At EU level, the European Commission has been raising awareness of the need to create adequate data ecosystems for innovative use of big data for health, specially ensuring responsible development and deployment of data science and artificial intelligence technologies in the medical and public health sectors. To this end, the Joint Action on Health Information (InfAct) is setting up the Distributed Infrastructure on Population Health (DIPoH). DIPoH provides a framework for international and multi-sectoral collaborations in health information. More specifically, DIPoH facilitates the sharing of research methods, data and results through participation of countries and already existing research networks. DIPoH's efforts include harmonization and interoperability, strengthening of the research capacity in MSs and providing European and worldwide perspectives to national data. In order to be embedded in the health information landscape, DIPoH aims to interact with existing (inter)national initiatives to identify common interfaces, to avoid duplication of the work and establish a sustainable long-term health information research infrastructure. In this workshop, InfAct lays down DIPoH's core elements in coherence with national and European initiatives and actors i.e. To-Reach, eHAction, the French Health Data Hub and ECHO. Pitch presentations on DIPoH and its national nodes will set the scene. In the format of a round table, possible collaborations with existing initiatives at (inter)national level will be debated with the audience. Synergies will be sought, reflections on community needs will be made and expectations on services will be discussed. The workshop will increase the knowledge of delegates around the latest health information infrastructure and initiatives that strive for better public health and health systems in countries. The workshop also serves as a capacity building activity to promote cooperation between initiatives and actors in the field. Key messages DIPoH an infrastructure aiming to interact with existing (inter)national initiatives to identify common interfaces, avoid duplication and enable a long-term health information research infrastructure. National nodes can improve coordination, communication and cooperation between health information stakeholders in a country, potentially reducing overlap and duplication of research and field-work.

scholarly journals COVID-19: Intensifying the Existential Threat to the Caribbean

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-172
Author(s):  
Michael Witter
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Neoliberal Globalization ◽  
Agricultural Exports ◽  
Existential Crisis ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
The Caribbean

The Caribbean has experienced an overlapping and interconnected series of challenges, including economic, social, and environmental, which pose an existential threat to the region. This article focuses on the nature of this threat as it evolved before and during the pandemic crisis. Under neoliberal globalization, Caribbean economies transformed themselves rapidly into service providers, most having resorted to developing a tourism sector, while some moved into oil production. In all cases, traditional agricultural exports declined with the loss of protected markets where they earned preferential prices. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the Caribbean’s existential crisis and revealed the inextricable links among the environment, economy, and public health. This article focuses on these links and suggests a way forward for public policy in the short, medium, and long term.

scholarly journals Epidemic of plague amidst COVID-19 in Madagascar: efforts, challenges, and recommendations

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullahi Tunde Aborode ◽  
Ana Carla dos Santos Costa ◽  
Anmol Mohan ◽  
Samarth Goyal ◽  
Aishat Temitope Rabiu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Public Health System ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
The Face ◽  
Endemic Areas

AbstractThe plague has been wreaking havoc on people in Madagascar with the COVID-19 pandemic. Madagascar’s healthcare sector is striving to respond to COVID-19 in the face of a plague outbreak that has created a new strain on the country’s public health system. The goal and activities of the gradual epidemic of plague in Madagascar during COVID-19 are described in this research. In order to contain the plague and the COVID-19 pandemic in this country, we have suggested long-term recommendations that can help to contain the outbreak so that it may spread to non-endemic areas.

scholarly journals Development of a web-platform for dynamic monitoring of population health in Geneva: Specchio project

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Baysson ◽  
S Joost ◽  
H Attar Cohen ◽  
I Guessous ◽  
S Stringhini
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Occupational Exposures ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Dynamic Monitoring ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Medical File ◽  
Directorate General ◽  
Web Platform

Abstract Background In order to provide efficient public health decisions making, it is crucial to obtain reliable and recent data on the state of health of the population. For that purpose, a web-platform for the dynamic monitoring of the health status and well-being of the population is being developed in the Geneva canton. Methods Using a dedicated website, recruitment will be carried out over 5 years so as to enroll up to 20 000 volunteers, resident in Geneva and aged ≥ 18 years, followed-up for at least 10 years. Once connected to the website, participants will fill a general self-administered questionnaire on their socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics, anthropometry, health status, physical activity and diet. Environmental, behavioral and occupational exposures will also be evaluated via more specific questionnaires. Current addresses of residence will be geocoded and linked to geographical databases to passively gather information on noise, air pollution, green areas, and other exposures. Surveillance of health events will be implemented via yearly self-administered on line questionnaires and potentially via passive linkage to medical databases (medical file) and health registries with the participants' consent. For a subsample of volunteers, biochemical samples and biomarkers will be collected. Results The pilot study shows that the project is feasible, potentially cost-effective but requires innovative methodologies for ensuring long term follow-up. Different communication strategies used for recruitment and long-term participation need to be implemented ensuring trust from participants, different levels of health literacy and the need of justice. Conclusions Specchio is a new project aimed at setting up a digital longitudinal health study in Geneva. Challenges concerns the determinants of participation, recruitment and attrition, quality of data and ethics. Long-term funding by the Directorate General of Health Geneva is currently under evaluation. Key messages This digital longitudinal health study will enable dynamic monitoring of the health status and well-being of Geneva residents and will enable efficient public health decision making. Specchio is a new project funded by the Directorate General of Health Geneva.

scholarly journals Global Health Impacts of Dust Storms: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117863022110183
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Aghababaeian ◽  
Abbas Ostadtaghizadeh ◽  
Ali Ardalan ◽  
Ali Asgary ◽  
Mehry Akbary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Respiratory Health ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Emergency Medical Dispatch ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
English Articles

Background: Dust storms and their impacts on health are becoming a major public health issue. The current study examines the health impacts of dust storms around the world to provide an overview of this issue. Method: In this systematic review, 140 relevant and authoritative English articles on the impacts of dust storms on health (up to September 2019) were identified and extracted from 28 968 articles using valid keywords from various databases (PubMed, WOS, EMBASE, and Scopus) and multiple screening steps. Selected papers were then qualitatively examined and evaluated. Evaluation results were summarized using an Extraction Table. Results: The results of the study are divided into two parts: short and long-term impacts of dust storms. Short-term impacts include mortality, visitation, emergency medical dispatch, hospitalization, increased symptoms, and decreased pulmonary function. Long-term impacts include pregnancy, cognitive difficulties, and birth problems. Additionally, this study shows that dust storms have devastating impacts on health, affecting cardiovascular and respiratory health in particular. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that dust storms have significant public health impacts. More attention should be paid to these natural hazards to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate these hazardous events to reduce their negative health impacts. Registration: PROSPERO registration number CRD42018093325

scholarly journals Long Term Interactions of Native and Invasive Species in a Marine Protected Area Suggest Complex Cascading Effects Challenging Conservation Outcomes

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Charalampos Dimitriadis ◽  
Ivoni Fournari-Konstantinidou ◽  
Laurent Sourbès ◽  
Drosos Koutsoubas ◽  
Stelios Katsanevakis
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Rocky Reef ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
High Level

Understanding the interactions among invasive species, native species and marine protected areas (MPAs), and the long-term regime shifts in MPAs is receiving increased attention, since biological invasions can alter the structure and functioning of the protected ecosystems and challenge conservation efforts. Here we found evidence of marked modifications in the rocky reef associated biota in a Mediterranean MPA from 2009 to 2019 through visual census surveys, due to the presence of invasive species altering the structure of the ecosystem and triggering complex cascading effects on the long term. Low levels of the populations of native high-level predators were accompanied by the population increase and high performance of both native and invasive fish herbivores. Subsequently the overgrazing and habitat degradation resulted in cascading effects towards the diminishing of the native and invasive invertebrate grazers and omnivorous benthic species. Our study represents a good showcase of how invasive species can coexist or exclude native biota and at the same time regulate or out-compete other established invaders and native species.

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