scholarly journals Plant-pollinator interactions in East Asia: a review

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daichi Funamoto

Pollination studies in East Asia have been developing rapidly in recent decades. East Asia may provide important information on many aspects of plant-pollinator interactions because of the rich fauna and flora and highly heterogeneous environments that occur there. In this review, plant-pollinator interactions in East Asia were summarized. Bumblebees are important pollinators of many plant species in East Asia, as well as in Europe and North America. Native honeybees may also have important roles in pollination in East Asia. Bird pollination and hawkmoth pollination may be less common in East Asia than in North America. Geographic variation in pollination interactions is expected because several types of pollinators are rare or absent in some habitats or geographic regions. For example, specialized nectar-feeding vertebrates like sunbirds and pteropodid bats are absent from most of East Asia except for some areas in its southern part. Opportunistic nectar-feeding vertebrates may have important roles in pollination where specialized nectar-feeding vertebrates are absent. Human impacts on plant pollinator interactions are understudied in this region. However, climate change, habitat degradation, and invasive species may have negative impacts on plant-pollinator interactions and thus plant reproductive success there. The information available on the plant-pollinator interactions in East Asia is still limited because many plant and pollinator taxa and many types of habitats are understudied.

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 79-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunwoo Yoon ◽  
Patrick T. Vargas

In the present research we argue that avatars, as identity containers, can mirror people’s self-concepts. Research in cultural psychology suggests that East Asians tend to be more tolerant of contradictions and that they more easily adjust their self-concepts in accordance with changing contexts compared to North Americans (see Heine 2001). We therefore assume that preferred forms of avatars among East Asians and North Americans are different because of this self-concept variability across cultures. We conducted a quasi-experiment to explore how people in the two cultures differently evaluate two forms of avatars, human-like and cartoon-like avatars, in terms of likeability and preference. We found that East Asians rated cartoon-like avatars more favourably than North Americans. Moreover, compared to North Americans, East Asians preferred cartoon-like avatars to human-like avatars for their hypothetical avatars to play games. We conclude by discussing implications for future research.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiani Tan ◽  
Joshua S. Fu ◽  
Frank Dentener ◽  
Jian Sun ◽  
Louisa Emmons ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study uses multi-model ensemble results of 11 models from the 2nd phase of Task Force Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (HTAP II) to calculate the global sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) deposition in 2010. Modelled wet deposition is evaluated with observation networks in North America, Europe and Asia. The modelled results agree well with observations, with 76–83 % of stations having predicted within ±50 % of observations. The results underestimate SO42−, NO3− and NH4+ wet depositions in some European and East Asian stations, but overestimate NO3− wet deposition in Eastern United States. Inter-comparison with previous projects (PhotoComp, ACCMIP and HTAP I) shows HTPA II has considerably improved the estimation of deposition at European and East Asian stations. Modelled dry deposition is generally higher than the “inferential” data calculated by observed concentration and modelled velocity in North America, but the inferential data has high uncertainty, too. The global S deposition is 84 Tg(S) in 2010, with 49 % of the deposits on continental regions and 51 % on ocean (19 % on coastal). The global N deposition consists of 59 Tg(N) oxidized nitrogen (NOy) deposition and 64 Tg(N) reduced nitrogen (NHx) deposition in 2010. 65 % of N is deposited on the continental regions and 35 % is on ocean (15 % on coastal). The estimated outflow of pollution from land to ocean is about 4 Tg(S) for S deposition and 18 Tg(N) for N deposition. Compared our results to the results in 2001 from HTAP I, we find that the global distributions of S and N depositions have changed considerably during the last 10 years. The global S deposition decreases 2 Tg(S) (3 %) from 2001 to 2010, with significant decreases in Europe (5 Tg(S) and 55 %), North America (3 Tg(S) and 29 %) and Russia (2 Tg(S) and 26 %), and increases in South Asia (2 Tg(S) and 42 %) and the Middle East (1 Tg(S) and 44% ). The global N deposition increases by 7 Tg(N) (6 %), mainly contributed by South Asia (5 Tg(N) and 39 %), East Asia (4 Tg(N) and 21 %) and Southeast Asia (2 Tg(N) and 21 %). The NHx deposition is increased with no control policy on NH3 emission in North America. On the other hand, NOy deposition starts to dominate in East Asia (especially China) due to boosted NOx emission in recent years.


1997 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Evelyn Tucker

AbstractCallicott's Earth's Insights is a remarkable survey of resources from the world's religions for formulating a global ethics. He mentions, in particular, the rich symbolic and conceptual resources available from East Asia. This paper supports such an assertion and develops more fully the teachings of Japanese Shingon Buddhism which helped to foster a deep identity with the natural world by means of ritual. Moreover, the paper suggests that the literary and artistic resources of Japanese culture are also important sources for further exploration.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Dudgeon

River ecosystems in monsoonal Asia are experiencing human impacts to the detriment of the rich biodiversity they support. Threats include hydrologic alteration, pollution, habitat destruction, overexploitation, and invasive exotic species. Global warming will cause further changes to river ecosystems, and may act synergistically with other threat factors. Significant upward or northward range adjustments by the freshwater biota will be necessary to cope with rising temperatures, but there will be significant constraints upon dispersal ability and availability of suitable habitat for many organisms. Global warming will exacerbate existing impacts of hydrologic alteration because of the adaptive human responses that will be engendered by changes in climate and runoff, particularly dams constructed for hydropower generation, flood protection, water storage, and irrigation. The consequences of further hydrologic alteration and habitat fragmentation will be profound, since almost all ecological processes, material transfers and life-cycle events in the rivers of monsoonal Asia are mediated or controlled by flow. Thus a change in the timing or amounts of flow changes everything. Collaborative research to determine the environmental allocation of water flow needed to maintain ecosystem integrity and sustain biodiversity in the human-dominated rivers of monsoonal Asia should be a priority for ecologists, engineers and water-resource managers.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document