scholarly journals Sharing cities with avian scavengers: sustainable development in social-ecological systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urvi Gupta ◽  
Nishant Kumar
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Solid Waste Disposal ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Mutual Tolerance ◽  
Conservation Breeding

Abstract Correlations in the timings of vulture collapse and rapid urbanisation in South Asia have affected the benefit trade-offs concerning conservation-breeding for vulture restoration. We show how the loss of vultures 30 years ago has led to the extinction of experience amongst people in South Asia who are co-adapted to various animal species within shared landscapes. We conducted ethnography that focused on avian scavengers (vultures, kites and crows) in Delhi to unpack how salience and charisma for avian scavengers link with socio-cultural legends. Perceptions about avian scavengers were based on birds’ appearance, behaviour, and ecosystem services. Anthropomorphisation mediated human-animal co-adaptation and drove ritual feeding of commensals that opportunistically consume garbage. Conflated with ethnoecology, such human-constructed niches supported enormous animal populations in the region and drove mutual tolerance. Prior evaluations of scavengers’ niche from biophysical perspectives alone have, therefore, overlooked links between vultures and animal husbandry practices. It undermined competitive release on commensals that have responded by an increase in numbers and distribution, by taking advantage of ritual feeding and people’s affiliative attitudes. The absence of vultures limits the availability of spaces where animal husbandry can be practised. Conversely, expanding built-up spaces, overhead wires, fake news, and interference from competing scavengers will be impediments to vulture restoration. Conservation policies should examine immediate and long-term objectives of solid waste disposal, considering the odds against the attainment of the yesteryear functional ecology of vultures in South Asia. We conclude that wildlife restoration in urbanising tropical landscapes is a moving target, necessitating policies sensitive to progressive loss and/or changes in associative heritage due to shifting economic and cultural practices.

scholarly journals Sharing cities with avian scavengers: sustainable development in social-ecological systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urvi Gupta ◽  
Nishant Kumar
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Solid Waste Disposal ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Mutual Tolerance ◽  
Conservation Breeding

Abstract Correlations in the timings of vulture collapse and rapid urbanisation in South Asia have affected the benefit trade-offs concerning conservation-breeding for vulture restoration. We show how the loss of vultures 30 years ago has led to the extinction of experience amongst people in South Asia who are co-adapted to various animal species within shared landscapes. We conducted ethnography, involving avian scavengers (vultures, kites and crows) in Delhi, to unpack how salience and charisma for avian scavenger’s link with socio-cultural legends. Perceptions about avian scavengers were based on birds’ appearance, behaviour, and ecosystem services. Anthropomorphisation mediated human-animal co-adaptation and drove ritual feeding of commensals that opportunistically consume garbage. Conflated with ethnoecology, such human-constructed niches supported enormous animal populations in the region and drove mutual tolerance. Prior evaluations of scavengers’ niche from biophysical perspectives alone have, therefore, overlooked links between vultures and animal husbandry practices. It undermined competitive release on commensals that have responded by an increase in numbers and distribution, by taking advantage of ritual feeding and people’s affiliative attitudes. The absence of vultures limits the availability of spaces where animal husbandry can be practised. Conversely, expanding built-up spaces, overhead wires, fake news, and interference from competing scavengers will be impediments to vulture restoration. Conservation policies should examine immediate and long-term objectives of solid waste disposal, considering the odds against the attainment of former functional ecology by vultures. We conclude that wildlife restoration in urbanising tropical landscapes is a moving target, necessitating policies sensitive to progressive loss and/or changes in associative heritage due to shifting economic and cultural practices.

scholarly journals Vulture loss and urbanisation correlations form blind spots for conservation and development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urvi Gupta ◽  
Nishant Kumar
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Solid Waste Disposal ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Mutual Tolerance ◽  
Conservation Breeding

Abstract Correlations in the timings of vulture collapse and rapid urbanisation in South Asia have affected the benefit trade-offs concerning conservation-breeding for vulture restoration. We show how the loss of vultures 30 years ago has led to the extinction of experience amongst people in South Asia who are co-adapted to various animal species within shared landscapes. We conducted ethnography, involving avian scavengers (vultures, kites and crows) in Delhi, to unpack how salience and charisma for avian scavenger’s link with socio-cultural legends. Perceptions about avian scavengers were based on birds’ appearance, behaviour, and ecosystem services. Anthropomorphisation mediated human-animal co-adaptation and drove ritual feeding of commensals that opportunistically consume garbage. Conflated with ethnoecology, such human-constructed niches supported enormous animal populations in the region and drove mutual tolerance. Prior evaluations of scavengers’ niche from biophysical perspectives alone have, therefore, overlooked prior links between vultures and animal husbandry practices. It undermined competitive release on commensals that have responded by an increase in numbers and distribution, by taking advantage of ritual feeding and people’s affiliative attitudes. The absence of vultures limits the availability of spaces where animal husbandry can be practised. Conversely, expanding built-up spaces, overhead wires, fake news, and interference from competing scavengers will be impediments to vulture restoration. Conservation policies should examine immediate and long-term objectives of solid waste disposal, considering the odds against the attainment of former functional ecology by vultures. We conclude that wildlife restoration in urbanising tropical landscapes is a moving target, necessitating policies sensitive to progressive loss and/or changes in associative heritage due to shifting economic and cultural practices.

scholarly journals Vulture, culture and more: putting human-dimensions back in the saddle for conservation policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urvi Gupta ◽  
Nishant Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Human Dimensions ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Migratory Species ◽  
Vulture Conservation ◽  
Human Use ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Mutual Tolerance ◽  
Extinction Of Experience

Abstract Vulture collapse in South Asia accompanied rapid urbanisation. However, the Indian-Subcontinent’s “Action Plan for Vulture Conservation'' and the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals’ (CMS) “Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian vultures” reflect poorly on how their scavenging services factored in the regional social-ecological tool - a nature-based-solution. We report the ethnography of the extinction of experience concerning vultures in the tropical megacity of Delhi to contribute to wildlife restoration policies in human-use landscapes. People anthropomorphised avian scavengers while sharing perceptions that promoted ritual feeding of crows and kites. It attracted and supported enormous bird-flocks in the region, an ecological response to the rapid niche-evacuation. Stakeholders’ perceptions that offered links in vulture salience and charisma corresponded with respective socio-cultural legends, based on bird morphology, behaviour, and ecosystem services. Conflating with ethnoecology, cultural legends mediated human-animal interface, based on species-specific life-history traits. The latter inextricably tied humans and vultures in their population and demographic parameters and mutual tolerance in behaviour that promoted co-existence. Therefore, wildlife restoration in urbanising landscapes is a moving target, necessitating policies sensitive to progressive loss and/or changes in associative heritage through shifting economic and cultural practices, and socio-cultural stories. In order to uphold their erstwhile functional ecology, vultures would need to behaviourally fathom new built-up spaces, interference from competing scavengers and mediatised misinformation.

scholarly journals Relationships of Resource Strategies, Family Composition, and Child Growth in Two Rural Timor-Leste Communities

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phoebe R. Spencer ◽  
Debra S. Judge
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Child Growth ◽  
Household Composition ◽  
Large Animal ◽  
Family Composition ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Pension Income ◽  
Timor Leste

Subsistence and economic activities undertaken by households in the context of transition from subsistence farming to cash economies are sometimes seen as substitutable with only minimal reference to the households themselves. We use data from in-depth interviews of 190 householders in Ossu (mountains) and Natarbora (coastal plains), Timor-Leste, to query relationships of family composition, resource strategies, and their relationships to children’s growth. Principal component analyses of six household composition variables reveal “grandparent and fostered-in children”, “two generational households with numerous adults and children”, and “smaller households with few adults and fostered-out children”, explaining 72% of the variance. A similar procedure with 11 resource variables produced four components explaining 56% of resource variance. Households with grandparents have a pension income and engage in large animal husbandry, and are associated with better standardized BMI for resident children. Households with numerous members (but not grandparents) are more invested in subsistence gardening and are negatively associated with child stature. Salaried income is not associated with household composition, but children in these households are taller than their peers. Consistent differences between the two communities are partially a result of differences in socioecology, but there remain unexplained differences that may relate to cultural practices.

scholarly journals Comparative Analysis of Pediatric COVID-19 Infection in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Japan, and China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Ju Ming Wong ◽  
Qalab Abbas ◽  
Soo Lin Chuah ◽  
Ririe Fachrina Malisie ◽  
Kah Min Pon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
World Health ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Clinical Presentations ◽  
The Common ◽  
Health Organization

There is a scarcity of data regarding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection in children from southeast and south Asia. This study aims to identify risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease among children in the region. This is an observational study of children with COVID-19 infection in hospitals contributing data to the Pediatric Acute and Critical Care COVID-19 Registry of Asia. Laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases were included in this registry. The primary outcome was severity of COVID-19 infection as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) (mild, moderate, severe, or critical). Epidemiology, clinical and laboratory features, and outcomes of children with COVID-19 are described. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify risk factors for severe/critical disease. A total of 260 COVID-19 cases from eight hospitals across seven countries (China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Pakistan) were included. The common clinical manifestations were similar across countries: fever (64%), cough (39%), and coryza (23%). Approximately 40% of children were asymptomatic, and overall mortality was 2.3%, with all deaths reported from India and Pakistan. Using the multivariable model, the infant age group, presence of comorbidities, and cough on presentation were associated with severe/critical COVID-19. This epidemiological study of pediatric COVID-19 infection demonstrated similar clinical presentations of COVID-19 in children across Asia. Risk factors for severe disease in children were age younger than 12 months, presence of comorbidities, and cough at presentation. Further studies are needed to determine whether differences in mortality are the result of genetic factors, cultural practices, or environmental exposures.

scholarly journals Introduction. Antarctic ecology: from genes to ecosystems. Part 2. Evolution, diversity and functional ecology

2007 ◽  
Vol 362 (1488) ◽  
pp. 2187-2189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex D Rogers ◽  
Eugene J Murphy ◽  
Nadine M Johnston ◽  
Andrew Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Antarctic Species ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Genes To Ecosystems ◽  
Micro Organisms ◽  
The Antarctic

The Antarctic biota has evolved over the last 100 million years in increasingly isolated and cold conditions. As a result, Antarctic species, from micro-organisms to vertebrates, have adapted to life at extremely low temperatures, including changes in the genome, physiology and ecological traits such as life history. Coupled with cycles of glaciation that have promoted speciation in the Antarctic, this has led to a unique biota in terms of biogeography, patterns of species distribution and endemism. Specialization in the Antarctic biota has led to trade-offs in many ecologically important functions and Antarctic species may have a limited capacity to adapt to present climate change. These include the direct effects of changes in environmental parameters and indirect effects of increased competition and predation resulting from altered life histories of Antarctic species and the impacts of invasive species. Ultimately, climate change may alter the responses of Antarctic ecosystems to harvesting from humans. The unique adaptations of Antarctic species mean that they provide unique models of molecular evolution in natural populations. The simplicity of Antarctic communities, especially from terrestrial systems, makes them ideal to investigate the ecological implications of climate change, which are difficult to identify in more complex systems.

scholarly journals Elevated oxidative damage is correlated with reduced fitness in interpopulation hybrids of a marine copepod

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1767) ◽  
pp. 20131521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe S. Barreto ◽  
Ronald S. Burton
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Oxidative Damage ◽  
Life History Evolution ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Hybrid Fitness ◽  
Atp Production ◽  
Marine Copepod ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Oxidative Phosphorylation Pathway ◽  
Mtdna Evolution

Aerobic energy production occurs via the oxidative phosphorylation pathway (OXPHOS), which is critically dependent on interactions between the 13 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-encoded and approximately 70 nuclear-encoded protein subunits. Disruptive mutations in any component of OXPHOS can result in impaired ATP production and exacerbated oxidative stress; in mammalian systems, such mutations are associated with ageing as well as numerous diseases. Recent studies have suggested that oxidative stress plays a role in fitness trade-offs in life-history evolution and functional ecology. Here, we show that outcrossing between populations with divergent mtDNA can exacerbate cellular oxidative stress in hybrid offspring. In the copepod Tigriopus californicus , we found that hybrids that showed evidence of fitness breakdown (low fecundity) also exhibited elevated levels of oxidative damage to DNA, whereas those with no clear breakdown did not show significantly elevated damage. The extent of oxidative stress in hybrids appears to be dependent on the degree of genetic divergence between their respective parental populations, but this pattern requires further testing using multiple crosses at different levels of divergence. Given previous evidence in T. californicus that hybridization disrupts nuclear/mitochondrial interactions and reduces hybrid fitness, our results suggest that such negative intergenomic epistasis may also increase the production of damaging cellular oxidants; consequently, mtDNA evolution may play a significant role in generating postzygotic isolating barriers among diverging populations.

scholarly journals Unintended consequences of selection for increased production on the health and welfare of livestock

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-185
Author(s):  
Este van Marle-Köster ◽  
Carina Visser
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Level Of Economic Development ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Longevity Selection

Abstract. Modern farming technologies, including quantitative selection and breeding methods in farm animal species, resulted in increased production and efficiency. Selection for increased output in both intensive and extensive production systems has trade-offs and negative outcomes, often more pronounced in intensive systems. Animal welfare and health are often adversely affected and this influences sustainable production. The relative importance of animal welfare differs among developed and developing countries due to the level of economic development, food security and education, as well as religious and cultural practices which presents challenges for sound scientific research. Due to breeding goals in the past set on growth performance, traits such as fertility, welfare and health have been neglected. Fertility is the single most important trait in all livestock species. Reduced fertility and lameness, claw health and mastitis results in unnecessary culling and reduced longevity. Selection pressure for growth accompanied with inbreeding has resulted in a number of genetic defects in beef, sheep and pigs. This review demonstrated the importance of inclusion of animal welfare concepts into breeding objectives and selection strategies. Accurate phenotyping of welfare traits is a limiting factor in the implementation of mitigating strategies, which include diagnostic testing, control of inbreeding and genomic selection.

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