scholarly journals Challenges and Opportunities for in situ Maintenance of the Native Brazilian Cotton Gossypium mustelinum Miers

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Augusto Vianna Barroso ◽  
Lúcia Vieira Hoffmann ◽  
Nataly Duarte Lopes da Costa

The native Brazilian cotton Gossypium mustelinum has never been planted. It is tetraploid and may cross with cultivated cotton. Endemic to Northeast Brazil, it was known only to grow in semi-arid areas, but expeditions in 2011, 2016, and 2018 localized plants in preservation areas on the coast of Northeast Brazil (in the States of Paraiba and Pernambuco), as predicted before by niche simulations. New climatic modeling shows that new populations can still be found in the Pernambuco semi-arid area, despite the lack of herbarium and germplasm bank information. Historical data show that the preserved populations are in regions where sympatry has not occurred in the last 47 years. Gene flow is unlikely to be a threat, and communication may foster significantly in in situ preservation.

2011 ◽  
Vol 356-360 ◽  
pp. 2307-2311
Author(s):  
Qin Li ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
An Ming Bao

A typical arid area in China is the province of Xinjiang. The objective of this paper is to present a description of a method based on the energy balance and evaporative fraction, which is obtained by broadband albedo and land surface temperature, to estimate evapotranspiration (ET) in Arid Areas. In Arid areas, the ET always fluctuates from 0 to 2mm in the most part of region in 2005, especially the Tarim, Junggar and Turpan basins. In the mountain especially Tian-shan mountain and crop land of oasis, ET values rises 6mm.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 696
Author(s):  
Georgies F. Mgode ◽  
Ginethon G. Mhamphi ◽  
Apia W. Massawe ◽  
Robert S. Machang’u

Background: Leptospirosis is among the major neglected zoonoses in developing countries. The prevalence of leptospirosis remains underestimated in many African countries because of limited diagnostic facilities. We studied Leptospira seropositivity prevalence in humans, sheep, goats and rodents in a semi-arid region of central Tanzania and compared findings with reports from humid tropical areas. The aims were to establish the disease burden in different settings; understand circulating Leptospira serovars and potential major reservoirs for establishing appropriate control measures. Methods: Humans, sheep, goats, rodents and shrews (insectivores) were sampled from Bahi district, a semi-arid area in central Tanzania. Samples were tested for leptospiral antibodies using microscopic agglutination test (MAT) consisting of Leptospira serovars mainly reported in Tanzania and reference strains. Findings were compared with previous data to determine the disease epidemiological patterns. Results and conclusion: Semi-arid area showed high Leptospira seropositivity prevalence in humans and domestic animals due to intensive human–animal interactions at scarce water points and by flash flooding which occur in the area. Rodent population in the semi-arid areas was relatively low due to flooding. Leptospira seropositivity in rodents was also slightly lower, and the rodents appeared to be prolific breeders, probably as a means to compensate for the lost population during extreme drought as well as during short spells of floods. Intensive human–animal interaction in the semi-arid areas especially, in water sources in valleys where human and animals often meet, likely increased the risk of leptospirosis transmission to rice farmers in the area. Goats and sheep which are kept around homesteads had higher leptospiral antibodies prevalence (62%), nearly double of the 38% reported in same species in humid tropical regions of Tanzania. Livestock, especially goats and sheep, could be the major source of leptospirosis transmission to humans. Vaccination of livestock with vaccines against local Leptospira strains should be encouraged, and rodent control emphasized, as part of a management strategy against leptospirosis. Public awareness of leptospirosis must also be raised and supported by availability of rapid test kits in clinics for preliminary testing of leptospirosis in people with fevers of unknown origin.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rembrandt Romano Andrade Dantas Rotheá ◽  
Aline Lourenço ◽  
Alexandre Vasconcellos ◽  
Antonio José Creão-Duarte

Abstract Treehopper assemblages were sampled in four semi-arid areas of caatinga in Northeast Brazil during the rainy seasons of 2016 and 2017, using three different capture methods. The areas are located in two Ecoregions of the Caatinga: “Depressão Sertaneja Setentrional” (Northern Sertaneja Depression) and “Planalto da Borborema” (Borborema Plateau). A total of 2,394 individuals of 43 species were sampled, corresponding to approximately 87% of the mean estimated species richness for all four areas. The species richness varied among the areas from 14 to 21, while the abundance of individuals ranged from 129 to 1860. Eighteen species were shared among areas, of which only Enchenopa eunicea, Sundarion sp. 1, Ceresa vitulus and Erosne parvula occurred in all four due to the general behavior of the first three and the wide distribution of host plant of Erosne parvula - Mimosa tenuiflora. Twenty-five species occurred only in one area, of which 23 were categorized as rare with a maximum of eight individuals sampled, and seven with only one individual collected (singletons). Considering that the Caatinga Domain possesses at least nine Ecoregions with different climates, geomorphology and vegetation, along with marked endemism of plants, it is expected that the species richness of treehoppers will increase substantially on a regional scale.


1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Choquenot ◽  
G Saunders

Three ageing techniques were tested on samples of wild-caught feral pigs from subalpine (n =35) and semi-arid (n =64) areas in eastern Australia, and on a sample of known-age captive feral pigs reared from stock from semi-arid areas (n =15). Techniques employed were based on morphometric relationships, patterns of tooth eruption and wear, and counts of cementum lines in permanent incisors. Cyclic seasonal conditions led to apparently annular cementum line deposition for pigs from the subalpine area. In contrast, stochastic variation in seasonal conditions led to irregular cementum line deposition in pigs from the semi-arid area and captive-reared pigs of semi-arid stock. On the assumption that cementum lines are annular in pigs from the subalpine site, patterns of tooth eruption and wear and morphometrics returned reasonably accurate age estimates, the former being more precise. Patterns of tooth eruption and wear returned reasonably accurate age estimates for known-age captivereared pigs, whereas morphometrics gave increasing underestimates of age for progressively older pigs. On the assumption that patterns of tooth eruption and wear return similarly accurate age estimates for wild pigs from the semi-arid area, morphometrics again underestimated true age. A correction to the morphometric technique to improve its accuracy for semi-arid areas is given.


Solid Earth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Liu ◽  
Fuping Tian ◽  
Pengyan Jia ◽  
Jingge Zhang ◽  
Fujiang Hou ◽  
...  

Abstract. The establishment of grasslands on abandoned cropland has been proposed as an effective method to mitigate climate change. In this study, five cultivated grasslands (three leguminous species and two gramineous species), one abandoned cropland, and one natural grassland were studied to examine how soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration rate and sequestration efficiency change in a semi-arid area in China. Our results showed that leguminous grasslands had greater total biomass (above- and belowground biomass), SOC storage, SOC sequestration rate, and efficiency than gramineous grasslands, abandoned cropland, and natural grassland during the experimental period. The largest soil carbon (C) accumulation in leguminous grassland was mainly attributed to the capacity to incorporate C and the higher biomass production. Leguminous grasslands accumulated more SOC than gramineous grasslands by 0.64 Mg C ha−1 yr−1. The average SOC sequestration efficiency in leguminous grassland (1.00) was about 2 times greater than gramineous grassland (0.34). The results indicate that cultivated leguminous grassland sequestered more SOC with higher SOC sequestration efficiency than cultivated gramineous grassland in arid and semi-arid areas. Our results provide a reference for ecological management in arid and semi-arid areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong Li ◽  
Rui Han ◽  
Qianru Yu ◽  
Shuang Qi ◽  
Luo Guo

Ecological vulnerability, as an important evaluation method reflecting regional ecological status and the degree of stability, is the key content in global change and sustainable development. Most studies mainly focus on changes of ecological vulnerability concerning the temporal trend, but rarely take arid and semi-arid areas into consideration to explore the spatial heterogeneity of the ecological vulnerability index (EVI) there. In this study, we selected the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on the Loess Plateau of China, a typical arid and semi-arid area, as a case to investigate the spatial heterogeneity of the EVI every five years, from 1990 to 2015. Based on remote sensing data, meteorological data, and economic statistical data, this study first evaluated the temporal‒spatial change of ecological vulnerability in the study area by Geo-information Tupu. Further, we explored the spatial heterogeneity of the ecological vulnerability using Getis-Ord Gi*. Results show that: (1) the regions with high ecological vulnerability are mainly concentrated in the north of the study area, which has high levels of economic growth, while the regions with low ecological vulnerability are mainly distributed in the relatively poor regions in the south of the study area. (2) From 1990 to 2015, ecological vulnerability showed an increasing trend in the study area. Additionally, there is significant transformation between different grades of the EVI, where the area of transformation between a slight vulnerability level and a light vulnerability level accounts for 41.56% of the transformation area. (3) Hot-spot areas of the EVI are mainly concentrated in the north of the study area, and cold-spot areas are mainly concentrated in the center and south of the study area. Spatial heterogeneity of ecological vulnerability is significant in the central and southern areas but insignificant in the north of the study area. (4) The grassland area is the main driving factor of the change in ecological vulnerability, which is also affected by both arid and semi-arid climates and ecological projects. This study can provide theoretical references for sustainable development to present feasible suggestions on protection measures and management modes in arid and semi-arid areas.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Liu ◽  
Shaoda Li ◽  
Xinrui Luo ◽  
Wunian Yang ◽  
Yuhang Zhang ◽  
...  

<p>Aboveground plant water storage (APWS), the total of water storing in aboveground parts of plant, has the function of sustaining the balance between water loss by transpiration and water gain of root uptake. APWS is also essential for plants and hydrological cycle, particularly for semi-arid areas, where water availability is limited. However, APWS varies spatially due to the heterogeneity of natural areas that are composed of a large variety of vegetation types, and studies on the spatial variability of APWS are quite limited in semi-arid areas. To fill this knowledge gap, we established 55 inventory plots with 36 plots in forests and 19 plots in shrubs to detect the spatial variability of APWS using a Random Forest (RF) algorithm and Sentinel-2 images in Mao County, China. Field observations indicated that APWS varied significantly with ecosystems, with the highest APWS in forests. Regardless of ecosystem type, mean APWS in Mao Country was 117.63 Mg ha-1. 10-fold cross-validation suggested that the RF model could reasonably predict APWS (model efficiency = 0.68, root mean square error = 54 Mg ha-1), enabling to capture the spatial variability of APWS. A robust spatial variability of APWS was observed with the highest APWS in forests located high altitude areas, while the lowest APWS was found in shrubs located in low altitude areas. Total APWS was 3.39×107 Mg across the whole study area, which could be used as a valuable natural resource for the semi-arid area. Our study successfully explored the spatial variability of APWS, suggesting the capability of detecting APWS using Sentinel-2 and providing essential data evidence for environmental protection for semi-arid areas.</p>


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