scholarly journals Host Plant Species Mediates Impact of Neonicotinoid Exposure to Monarch Butterflies

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 999
Author(s):  
Cody Prouty ◽  
Paola Barriga ◽  
Andrew K. Davis ◽  
Vera Krischik ◽  
Sonia Altizer

Neonicotinoids are the most widely used insecticides in North America. Numerous studies document the negative effects of neonicotinoids on bees, and it remains crucial to demonstrate if neonicotinoids affect other non-target insects, such as butterflies. Here we examine how two neonicotinoids (imidacloprid and clothianidin) affect the development, survival, and flight of monarch butterflies, and how these chemicals interact with the monarch’s milkweed host plant. We first fed caterpillars field-relevant low doses (0.075 and 0.225 ng/g) of neonicotinoids applied to milkweed leaves (Asclepias incarnata), and found no significant reductions in larval development rate, pre-adult survival, or adult flight performance. We next fed larvae higher neonicotinoid doses (4–70 ng/g) and reared them on milkweed species known to produce low, moderate, or high levels of secondary toxins (cardenolides). Monarchs exposed to the highest dose of clothianidin (51–70 ng/g) experienced pupal deformity, low survival to eclosion, smaller body size, and weaker adult grip strength. This effect was most evident for monarchs reared on the lowest cardenolide milkweed (A. incarnata), whereas monarchs reared on the high-cardenolide A. curassavica showed no significant reductions in any variable measured. Our results indicate that monarchs are tolerant to low doses of neonicotinoid, and that negative impacts of neonicotinoids depend on host plant type. Plant toxins may confer protective effects or leaf physical properties may affect chemical retention. Although neonicotinoid residues are ubiquitous on milkweeds in agricultural and ornamental settings, commonly encountered doses below 50 ng/g are unlikely to cause substantial declines in monarch survival or migratory performance.

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Martins Barbosa ◽  
Sheila Giardini Murta

AbstractThe literature shows that retirement can bring both positive and negative effects. However, there are few tested interventions for preparing workers for this transition and avoiding or minimizing its negative impacts. This paper presents a study with multiple groups that examined the social validity of an intervention for retirement education grounded in contextual behavioral science and acceptance and commitment therapy. Twenty-seven workers aged 29 to 65 divided into three intervention groups participated (group 1, N = 15; group 2, N = 9; group 3, N = 3). According to the participants’ evaluations, the intervention provided socially valid goals, socially acceptable procedures, and socially important effects. However, some improvements are still needed, such as the use of more dynamic methods, better formatted printed material, and increased fidelity between the content’s implementation and the prescribed activities. The positive results indicate that contextual behavioral science may bolster the development of interventions whose components possess evidence for their social validity. The further evaluation of the intervention via a clinical trial study will offer more robust evidence for its effectiveness. It is hoped that by increasing the availability of theory-based interventions in this area, the present study will promote valid strategies to facilitate better adjustment to retirement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Hurmat Ejaz ◽  
Esther Somanader ◽  
Uday Dave ◽  
Hermann Ehrlich ◽  
M. Azizur Rahman

Didymosphenia geminata diatoms, or Didymo, was first found to be an invasive species that could have negative impacts on the environment due to the aggressive growth of its polysaccharide-based stalks. The stalks’ adhesive properties have prompted park officials to alert the general public to limit further spread and contamination of this algae to other bodies of water. Although the negative effects of Didymo have been studied in the past, recent studies have demonstrated a potential positive side to this alga. One of the potential benefits includes the structural component of the polysaccharide stalks. The origin of the polysaccharides within stalks remains unknown; however, they can be useful in a waste management and agricultural setting. The primary purpose of this study was to describe both the harmful and beneficial nature of Didymo. Important outcomes include findings related to its application in various fields such as medicine and technology. These polysaccharides can be isolated and studied closely to produce efficient solar power cells and batteries. Though they may be harmful while uncontained in nature, they appear to be very useful in the technological and medical advancement of our society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8235
Author(s):  
Alfredo J. Escribano ◽  
Maria Belen Peña ◽  
Carlos Díaz-Caro ◽  
Ahmed Elghannam ◽  
Eva Crespo-Cebada ◽  
...  

Meat production and consumption have been claimed to have negative impacts on the environment, and even on the consumer’s health. In this sense, alternative sources of protein, mainly meat substitutes and cultured meat, have emerged due to those perceived negative effects. Our paper carries out a choice experiment to analyze the preferences of 444 Spanish consumers and their willingness to pay for plant-based and cultured meats, as compared to conventional meat. Spain was considered of interest for this study due to its significant gastronomic culture, with high-quality meat products that make a great contribution to the economy, meaning that this could be a suitable and also challenging market in which to test alternative sources of protein. The findings show that consumers’ motivations and their interactions with these products are complex. Additionally, a cluster analysis allowed us to identify three types of consumers in terms of preference for these products: price-sensitive millennials, conscious/concerned consumers, and indifferent consumers. Only one group showed some level of acceptance of these alternative products meats.


Botany ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Ostry ◽  
G. Laflamme

Forest health is described and perceived in different ways by the general public, land owners, managers, politicians, and scientists, depending on their values and objectives. Native tree pathogens and diseases are often associated with negative impacts even though damage is limited or not widespread. Too often, the concepts of tree health and forest health are used interchangeably and are not related to scale. Similar to fire, occurrences of disease outbreaks focus on the negative effects. However, native pathogens often exist in equilibrium with natural forest communities so their critical ecological roles are not easily discernible. Examined holistically, native fungi and diseases, dead and dying trees, and the many complex ecological interactions among them provide valuable benefits that ultimately contribute to sustainable, healthy forest ecosystems.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1269
Author(s):  
María J. Andrade ◽  
João Pedro Costa ◽  
Eduardo Jiménez-Morales

In recent years, cruise tourism has increased the negative effects caused by touristification in many European port cities. Despite this, these cities are in a great competition to be a destination, a tourist-port. Cruise tourism has come to stay, and a steady growth can be expected in a post-COVID-19 scenario, but at what cost? The tourist-port demands highly effective planning answers occurring simultaneously, and the global pandemic crisis provides a buffer of time to seek best practices, combining the expected economical (re)development with social, environmental, and cultural sustainability. This paper proposes five different strategies that contribute to finding a sustainable coexistence between tourist ports and their cities. To this end, trans-scalar strategies developed in previous research from different disciplines have been studied and categorized in a port-city context, in order to provide a holistic viewpoint on the measures carried out to maximize the benefits and limit the negative impacts of cruise tourism on cities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-116
Author(s):  
Suhandi ◽  
Azhar Jaafar

Modernisation is the consequence of the demands of the development that brings negative impacts to the society. It is undeniable that modernization also brings abundance of positive impacts that ease the life of people and that modernization and humanization cannot be separated. In this context, the youth are considered as unstable being, who easily being controlled by multi-access communication technology; from social, fashion, behaviour, lifestyle, and ideology. Almost all of the damaging sides of technology affect the youth. Religion as the spiritual agent has a major role in combating this change in the society. Religion can act as the social control to hinder from immoral behaviour and worthless actions among the society. The main issue in the current study is to investigate the role of religion in strengthening the moral among the teenagers. This research was conducted by using qualitative method. Data were collected through observation, interview and documentation. The participants of this research were the people of the rural areas in Bandar Lampung. After data collection was carried out, the data were processed qualitatively using the data reduction process, data exposure, and data verification. To conclude, the existence of the negative effects of modernization resulted from lack of religious virtues and parents’ control over their children’s social behaviour.


Author(s):  
Zeynep Karsavuran

This chapter attempts to draw attention to the effects of COVID-19 on tourism and hospitality employment. Specifically, two major impacts on the workforce are detected and discussed within this scope: job losses and deterioration of the working conditions. Job loss causes financial strain, deterioration of physical and psychological health, and social consequences for the dismissed individuals. In addition, employees who remain in the organizations also face negative impacts of the COVID-19 crisis such as health risks, increasing precariousness, and changing working methods. These labour issues are further discussed for their consequences on the tourism and hospitality industry, and solution and recommendations are provided to overcome the negative effects.


Biomedicines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prasedya ◽  
Syafitri ◽  
Geraldine ◽  
Hamdin ◽  
Frediansyah ◽  
...  

Sunscreens today contain several synthetic UV (Ultraviolet) filter molecules to protect the skin epidermis from UV radiation damage. However, these molecules may create several negative effects on human skin. Due to this condition, there is an increase in the development of natural products to replace uses of these synthetic chemicals. Brown macroalgae Sargassum has been recently studied for its photoprotective activities. The purpose of this study is to investigate photoprotective activity of one of most abundant Sargassum species in Lombok coast; Sargassum cristaefolium. Spectrophotometry analysis with UV-VIS revealed the UV spectra absorbing capability of Sargassum cristaefolium (SC) in the UVA spectrum range (314–400 nm). Furthermore, spectrometry analyses with LC-MS revealed the existence of UV absorbing compound MAA-palythene. In correlation, SC ethanol extracts also demonstrate that it could protect DNA from UVA irradiation as analyzed in vitro in HeLa cell model. The effects of SC on UVA exposed-dorsal mice skin have also shown interesting results, as mice pretreated with SC before UVA exposure showed protective activity on the epidermal integrity similar as positive control. Whereas, UV exposed mice without SC or commercial products resulted in increased epidermal thickness, which is the common parameter of skin photoaging. In addition, pretreated mice with SC also show protective effects in the formation of collagen connective tissues. Overall, current results show promising photoprotective activity of SC against UV radiation. More advanced investigations of SC as a potential photoprotective agent would be reasonable for development of macroalgae-based natural skin protection products.


2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1938) ◽  
pp. 20202202
Author(s):  
L. Mark Elbroch ◽  
Jake M. Ferguson ◽  
Howard Quigley ◽  
Derek Craighead ◽  
Daniel J. Thompson ◽  
...  

Top-down effects of apex predators are modulated by human impacts on community composition and species abundances. Consequently, research supporting top-down effects of apex predators occurs almost entirely within protected areas rather than the multi-use landscapes dominating modern ecosystems. Here, we developed an integrated population model to disentangle the concurrent contributions of a reintroduced apex predator, the grey wolf, human hunting and prey abundances on vital rates and abundance of a subordinate apex predator, the puma. Increasing wolf numbers had strong negative effects on puma fecundity, and subadult and adult survival. Puma survival was also influenced by density dependence. Overall, puma dynamics in our multi-use landscape were more strongly influenced by top-down forces exhibited by a reintroduced apex predator, than by human hunting or bottom-up forces (prey abundance) subsidized by humans. Quantitatively, the average annual impact of human hunting on equilibrium puma abundance was equivalent to the effects of 20 wolves. Historically, wolves may have limited pumas across North America and dictated puma scarcity in systems lacking sufficient refugia to mitigate the effects of competition.


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