scholarly journals Myanmar’s terrestrial ecosystems: status, threats and conservation opportunities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Murray ◽  
David A. Keith ◽  
Adam Duncan ◽  
Robert Tizard ◽  
Jose R. Ferrer-Paris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Impacts ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Conservation Assessment ◽  
Conservation Action ◽  
Amphibian Species

AbstractMyanmar is highly biodiverse, with more than 16,000 plant, 314 mammal, 1131 bird, 293 reptile, and 139 amphibian species. Supporting this biodiversity is a variety of natural ecosystems—mostly undescribed—including tropical and subtropical forests, savannas, seasonally inundated wetlands, extensive shoreline and tidal systems, and alpine ecosystems. Although Myanmar contains some of the largest intact natural ecosystems in Southeast Asia, remaining ecosystems are under threat from accelerating land use intensification and over-exploitation. In this period of rapid change, a systematic risk assessment is urgently needed to estimate the extent and magnitude of human impacts and identify ecosystems most at risk to help guide strategic conservation action. Here we provide the first comprehensive conservation assessment of Myanmar’s natural terrestrial ecosystems using the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems categories and criteria. We identified 64 ecosystem types for the assessment, and used models of ecosystem distributions and syntheses of existing data to estimate declines in distribution, range size, and functioning of each ecosystem. We found that more than a third (36.9%) of Myanmar’s area has been converted to anthropogenic ecosystems over the last 2-3 centuries, leaving nearly half of Myanmar’s ecosystems threatened (29 of 64 ecosystems). A quarter of Myanmar’s ecosystems were identified as Data Deficient, reflecting a paucity of studies and an urgency for future research. Our results show that, with nearly two-thirds of Myanmar still covered in natural ecosystems, there is a crucial opportunity to develop a comprehensive protected area network that sufficiently represents Myanmar’s terrestrial ecosystem diversity.

scholarly journals Aulas de Campo em Ecossistemas Naturais da restinga de Ilha Comprida/SP e o Ensino e Aprendizagem de Biologia / Pratice lessons in Natural Ecosystems of sand-banks in Ilha Comprida/SP and Biology Learning and Teaching

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Fonseca ◽  
Ana Maria De Andrade Caldeira
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
School Students ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Ecological Concepts ◽  
The City

ABSTRACTThis study aims to investigate how lessons Field Practices in Terrestrial Ecosystems can contribute to the process of education and high school students of Ecology of Learning. We will seek to highlight how these activities can contribute to the construction of problematizations and Learning generating questions. For this we follow the process of signification ecological concepts developed in Campo classes in Natural Ecosystems. The research activities were held with high school students in the discipline of biology in a state school in the city of Ilha Comprida / SP. In this research work with ecological concepts planned for the high school. The didactic sequence presented involved the presentation of natural phenomena. The project generator theme were the Terrestrial Ecosystem Ilha Comprida. Because it is an island sandbank presents many coastal ecosystems of the Atlantic Forest with unique characteristics. Close spatially and physically limited on the northwestern coast by the Small Sea (estuary) and the southeast coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The city has well preserved vegetation. This makes Long Island a great "lab" didactic for teaching ecology of learning.RESUMOEste trabalho tem como objetivo investigar como as Aulas Práticas de Campo em Ecossistemas Terrestres podem contribuir para o processo de Ensino e Aprendizagem de Ecologia de estudantes do ensino médio. Buscaremos evidenciar como essas atividades podem contribuir para a construção de problematizações e perguntas geradoras de Aprendizagem. Para isso acompanhamos o processo de significação de conceitos ecológicos desenvolvidos em Aulas de Campo em Ecossistemas Natu-rais. As atividades de pesquisa foram realizadas com os alunos de ensino médio na disciplina de Biologia numa Escola Estadual no município de Ilha Comprida/SP. Nesta pesquisa trabalhamos com os conceitos de ecologia previstos para o ensino médio. A sequência didática apresentada envolveu a apresentação de fenômenos naturais. O tema gerador do projeto foram os Ecossis-temas Terrestres de Ilha Comprida. Por se tratar de uma ilha de restinga, apresenta diversos ecossistemas costeiros de Mata Atlântica com características singulares. Próximos espacialmente, e limitados fisicamente na costa noroeste pelo Mar Pequeno (estuário) e na costa sudeste pelo Oceano Atlântico. O município apresenta cobertura vegetal bem conservada. Tudo isto torna Ilha Comprida um ótimo “laboratório” didático para o ensino aprendizagem de ecologia. Contato principal: [email protected]

scholarly journals Potassium Control of Plant Functions: Ecological and Agricultural Implications

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 419
Author(s):  
Jordi Sardans ◽  
Josep Peñuelas
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Wood Formation ◽  
Cellular Growth ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Metabolite Transport ◽  
Physiological Functions

Potassium, mostly as a cation (K+), together with calcium (Ca2+) are the most abundant inorganic chemicals in plant cellular media, but they are rarely discussed. K+ is not a component of molecular or macromolecular plant structures, thus it is more difficult to link it to concrete metabolic pathways than nitrogen or phosphorus. Over the last two decades, many studies have reported on the role of K+ in several physiological functions, including controlling cellular growth and wood formation, xylem–phloem water content and movement, nutrient and metabolite transport, and stress responses. In this paper, we present an overview of contemporary findings associating K+ with various plant functions, emphasizing plant-mediated responses to environmental abiotic and biotic shifts and stresses by controlling transmembrane potentials and water, nutrient, and metabolite transport. These essential roles of K+ account for its high concentrations in the most active plant organs, such as leaves, and are consistent with the increasing number of ecological and agricultural studies that report K+ as a key element in the function and structure of terrestrial ecosystems, crop production, and global food security. We synthesized these roles from an integrated perspective, considering the metabolic and physiological functions of individual plants and their complex roles in terrestrial ecosystem functions and food security within the current context of ongoing global change. Thus, we provide a bridge between studies of K+ at the plant and ecological levels to ultimately claim that K+ should be considered at least at a level similar to N and P in terrestrial ecological studies.

scholarly journals Reduced resilience of terrestrial ecosystems locally is not reflected on a global scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhao Feng ◽  
Haojie Su ◽  
Zhiyao Tang ◽  
Shaopeng Wang ◽  
Xia Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Ecosystem Resilience

AbstractGlobal climate change likely alters the structure and function of vegetation and the stability of terrestrial ecosystems. It is therefore important to assess the factors controlling ecosystem resilience from local to global scales. Here we assess terrestrial vegetation resilience over the past 35 years using early warning indicators calculated from normalized difference vegetation index data. On a local scale we find that climate change reduced the resilience of ecosystems in 64.5% of the global terrestrial vegetated area. Temperature had a greater influence on vegetation resilience than precipitation, while climate mean state had a greater influence than climate variability. However, there is no evidence for decreased ecological resilience on larger scales. Instead, climate warming increased spatial asynchrony of vegetation which buffered the global-scale impacts on resilience. We suggest that the response of terrestrial ecosystem resilience to global climate change is scale-dependent and influenced by spatial asynchrony on the global scale.

A coupled multi-proxy and process modelling approach for extraction of quantitative terrestrial ecosystem information from speleothems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Lechleitner ◽  
Christopher C. Day ◽  
Oliver Kost ◽  
Micah Wilhelm ◽  
Negar Haghipour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Clear Correlation ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Regional Temperature ◽  
Global Carbon

<p>Terrestrial ecosystems are intimately linked with the global climate system, but their response to ongoing and future anthropogenic climate change remains poorly understood. Reconstructing the response of terrestrial ecosystem processes over past periods of rapid and substantial climate change can serve as a tool to better constrain the sensitivity in the ecosystem-climate response.</p><p>In this talk, we will present a new reconstruction of soil respiration in the temperate region of Western Europe based on speleothem carbon isotopes (δ<sup>13</sup>C). Soil respiration remains poorly constrained over past climatic transitions, but is critical for understanding the global carbon cycle and its response to ongoing anthropogenic warming. Our study builds upon two decades of speleothem research in Western Europe, which has shown clear correlation between δ<sup>13</sup>C and regional temperature reconstructions during the last glacial and the deglaciation, with exceptional regional coherency in timing, amplitude, and absolute δ<sup>13</sup>C variation. By combining innovative multi-proxy geochemical analysis (δ<sup>13</sup>C, Ca isotopes, and radiocarbon) on three speleothems from Northern Spain, and quantitative forward modelling of processes in soil, karst, and cave, we show how deglacial variability in speleothem δ<sup>13</sup>C is best explained by increasing soil respiration. Our study is the first to quantify and remove the effects of prior calcite precipitation (PCP, using Ca isotopes) and bedrock dissolution (open vs closed system, using the radiocarbon reservoir effect) from the speleothem δ<sup>13</sup>C signal to derive changes in respired δ<sup>13</sup>C over time. Our approach allows us to estimate the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (Q<sub>10</sub>), which is higher than current measurements, suggesting that part of the speleothem signal may be related to a change in the composition of the soil respired δ<sup>13</sup>C. This is likely related to changing substrate through increasing contribution from vegetation biomass with the onset of the Holocene.</p><p>These results highlight the exciting possibilities speleothems offer as a coupled archive for quantitative proxy-based reconstructions of climate and ecosystem conditions.</p>

scholarly journals Viral Hepatitis in South Korea

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella C Pak ◽  
Yaseen Alastal ◽  
Zubair Khan ◽  
Umar Darr
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Viral Hepatitis ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
Healthcare Policy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Public Health Burden ◽  
Therapeutic Modalities ◽  
Based Medicine

ABSTRACT In South Korea (S. Korea), viral hepatitis is a major public health burden. Advances in healthcare policy, evidence-based medicine, and therapeutic strategies in S. Korea have brought a rapid change in the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of viral hepatitis. This review discusses the innovative approaches that S. Korea has taken to curb the epidemic of viral hepatitis. In addition, the efficacy of various preventive and therapeutic modalities is discussed. This review aims to provide a brief overview to guide future research direction and healthcare policy changes. How to cite this article Pak SC, Alastal Y, Khan Z, Darr U. Viral Hepatitis in South Korea. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2017;7(2):163-165.

scholarly journals Simulation of nitrogen deposition in the North China Plain by the FRAME model

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 3319-3329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Zhang ◽  
A. J. Dore ◽  
X. Liu ◽  
F. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
The Yellow Sea ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Total N ◽  
Frame Model ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain

Abstract. Simulation of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition in the North China Plain (NCP) at high resolution, 5 × 5 km2, was conducted for the first time by the Fine Resolution Atmospheric Multi-pollutant Exchange (FRAME) model. The total N deposition budget was 1481 Gg in this region, with 77 % from reduced N and 23 % from oxidized N, and the annual deposition rate (47 kg N ha−1) was much higher than previously reported values for other parts of the world such as the UK (13 kg N ha−1), Poland (7.3 kg N ha−1) and EU27 (8.6 kg N ha−1). The exported N component (1981 Gg) was much higher than the imported N component (584 Gg), suggesting that the NCP is an important net emission source of N pollutants. Contributions of N deposition budgets from the seven provinces in this region were proportional to their area ratios. The calculated spatial distributions of N deposition displayed high rates of reduced N deposition in the south and of oxidized N deposition in the eastern part. The N deposition exceeded an upper limit of 30 kg N ha−1 for natural ecosystems over more than 90 % of the region, resulting in terrestrial ecosystem deterioration, impaired air quality and coastal eutrophication not only in the NCP itself but also in surrounding areas including the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.

scholarly journals A statistical assessment of population trends for data deficient Mexican amphibians

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Quintero ◽  
Anne E. Thessen ◽  
Paulina Arias-Caballero ◽  
Bárbara Ayala-Orozco
Keyword(s):  
Random Forests ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Population Trend ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Risk Category ◽  
Conservation Action ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Data Deficient

Background: Mexico is the fourth richest country in amphibians and the second country with the highest quantity of threatened amphibian species, and this number could be higher as many species are too poorly known to be accurately assigned to a risk category. The absence of a risk status or an unknown population trend can slow or halt conservation action, so it is vital to develop tools that in the absence of specific demographic data can assess a species’ risk of extinction, population trend, and to better understand which variables increase their vulnerability. Recent studies have demonstrated that the risk of species decline depends on extrinsic and intrinsic trait, thus including both of them for assessing extinction might render more accurate assessment of threat. Methods: In this study harvested data from the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) and the published literature for Mexican amphibians and used these data to assess the population trend of some of the Mexican species that have been assigned to the Data Deficient category of the IUCN using Random Forests, a Machine Learning method that gives a prediction of complex processes and identifies the most important variables that account for the predictions. Results: Our results show that most data deficient Mexican amphibians have decreasing population trends. We found that Random Forests is a solid and accurate way to identify species with decreasing population trends when no demographic data is available. Moreover, we point the most important variables that make species more vulnerable for extinction. This exercise is a very valuable first step in assigning conservation priorities for poorly known species.

scholarly journals A temperature threshold to identify the driving climate forces of the respiratory process in terrestrial ecosystems

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyuan Zhang ◽  
Renduo Zhang ◽  
Yang Zhou ◽  
Alessandro Cescatti ◽  
Georg Wohlfahrt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Ecosystem Respiration ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Temperature Threshold ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
Ecosystem Flux

Abstract. Terrestrial ecosystem respiration (Re) is the major source of CO2 release and constitutes the second largest carbon flux between the biosphere and atmosphere. Therefore, climate-driven changes of Re may greatly impact on future atmospheric CO2 concentration. The aim of this study was to derive an air temperature threshold for identifying the driving climate forces of the respiratory process in terrestrial ecosystems within different temperature zones. For this purpose, a global dataset of 647 site-years of ecosystem flux data collected at 152 sites has been examined. Our analysis revealed an ecosystem threshold of mean annual air temperature (MAT) of 11 ± 2.3 °C. In ecosystems with the MAT below this threshold, the maximum Re rates were primarily dependent on temperature and respiration was mainly a temperature-driven process. On the contrary, in ecosystems with the MAT greater than 11 ± 2.3 °C, in addition to temperature, other driving forces, such as water availability and surface heat flux, became significant drivers of the maximum Re rates and respiration was a multi-factor-driven process. The information derived from this study highlight the key role of temperature as main controlling factor of the maximum Re rates on a large fraction of the terrestrial biosphere, while other driving forces reduce the maximum Re rates and temperature sensitivity of the respiratory process. These findings are particularly relevant under the current scenario of rapid global warming, given that the potential climate-induced changes in ecosystem respiration may lead to substantial anomalies in the seasonality and magnitude of the terrestrial carbon budget.

scholarly journals Plant Phenology and Its Anthropogenic and Natural Influencing Factors in Densely Populated Areas During the Economic Transition Period of China

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peijun Ju ◽  
Wenchao Yan ◽  
Jianliang Liu ◽  
Xinwei Liu ◽  
Liangfeng Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Transition ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Plant Phenology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Urban Management ◽  
Climate Factors ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
The Impact

As a sensitive, observable, and comprehensive indicator of climate change, plant phenology has become a vital topic of global change. Studies about plant phenology and its responses to climate change in natural ecosystems have drawn attention to the effects of human activities on phenology in/around urban regions. The key factors and mechanisms of phenological and human factors in the process of urbanization are still unclear. In this study, we analyzed variations in xylophyta phenology in densely populated cities during the fast urbanization period of China (from 1963 to 1988). We assessed the length of the growing season affected by the temperature and precipitation. Temperature increased the length of the growing season in most regions, while precipitation had the opposite effect. Moreover, the plant-growing season is more sensitive to preseason climate factors than to annual average climate factors. The increased population reduced the length of the growing season, while the growing GDP increased the length of the growing season in most regions (8 out of 13). By analyzing the impact of the industry ratio, we found that the correlation between the urban management of emerging cities (e.g., Chongqing, Zhejiang, and Guizhou) and the growing season is more significant, and the impact is substantial. In contrast, urban management in most areas with vigorously developed heavy industry (e.g., Heilongjiang, Liaoning, and Beijing) has a weak and insignificant effect on plant phenology. These results indicate that different urban development patterns can influence urban plant phenology. Our results provide some support and new thoughts for future research on urban plant phenology.

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