scholarly journals Body burden of pesticides and shape asymmetry in carabid beetles in different agricultural practices in Mediterranean agroecosystems

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucija Šerić Jelaska ◽  
Barbara Anđelić ◽  
Mišel Jelić ◽  
Tomislav Kos ◽  
Hugo Benitez
Keyword(s):  
Body Shape ◽  
Body Burden ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Trophic Guilds ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Olive Groves ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Soil Distribution

Neonicotinoids have been the most commonly used insecticides worldwide in the last two decades, whereas application of Copper (Cu) has a much longer history, especially in Mediterranean agriculture, (e.g. vineyards). Lately, large numbers of studies have shown negative effects of neonicotinoids on non-target species (especially on bees but also on other insects, and indirectly on insectivorous species like birds) being thus recently banned by EU commission. On the other hand, intensification of production in favour of ecological pest management increases the use of copper in pest control schemes and its absorption in agroecosystems. In this study we aimed to quantify the relationships between pesticide concentrations, including those with copper compounds, in soil, carabids and its prey at four sampling sites, in vineyards and olive groves under integrated (IPM) and ecological pest managements (EPM), and in pristine habitats in Zadar County, in Mediterranean region of Croatia. Soil, carabids, earthworms, snails and woodlice were sampled using pitfall traps and by hand. LC-MS/MS and ICP-MS technique were utilised to quantify pesticides and Cu concentrations in the soil and in the animals representing different trophic guilds. In addition we analysed changes in body shape symmetry of Poecilus koyi, one of the most dominant predatory carabid species in the study sites, in order to evaluate the potential environmental stress between maned and pristine habitats that can affect carabids during their development. Geometric morphometrics (GMM) has been used to analyse pronotum and abdomen shape variations, and left/right asymmetries in up to100 individuals of P. koyi per study site. Some preliminary results showed that body burden with pesticides differ between prey and predator organisms, and body concentrations of certain pesticides in carabid beetles did not correlate with those in the soil. Distribution of pesticide along different trophic guilds and changes in body shape and fluctuating asymmetry in P. koyi populations will be presented and discussed in details.

scholarly journals Fluctuating Asymmetry as a Method of Assessing Environmental Stress in Two Predatory Carabid Species within Mediterranean Agroecosystems

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1890
Author(s):  
Lara Ivanković Tatalović ◽  
Barbara Anđelić ◽  
Mišel Jelić ◽  
Tomislav Kos ◽  
Hugo A. Benítez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Stress ◽  
Pest Management ◽  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Bilateral Symmetry ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Species Response ◽  
Olive Groves ◽  
Development Stability ◽  
Different Levels

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is used in assessing the effect of environmental stress on the development stability of individuals by measuring small random deviations from perfect bilateral symmetry. Here, we checked for FA on two predatory carabid beetles, Pterostichus melas and Poecilus koyi, in order to evaluate species response to agricultural practices within Mediterranean agroecosystems, as well as FA as a method. The samples were collected in vineyards and olive groves, both under integrated pest management (IPM) and ecological pest management (EPM), and in pristine habitats in the Mediterranean region of Croatia. Geometric morphometrics (GMMs) were used to analyze the pronotum and abdomen shape variations and left–right asymmetries of each population. In respect to the FA measurements, analyzed species responded differently, with P. koyi displaying a lower intensity of FA than P. melas. On the other hand, P. melas beetles from vineyards showed a higher intensity of FA compared with populations from pristine habitats and olive groves. Accordingly, FA pointed out olive groves as potentially less adverse habitats to predatory carabids, keeping in mind the different levels of asymmetry between the two species. Our study singled out P.melas as a more suitable species for further research, in the effect that different agricultural practices can have their impact on non-target invertebrates analyzed by measuring the FA.

scholarly journals Diversity of plant-eating invertebrates as potential prey of carabid beetles in olive groves and vineyards in southern Croatia

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomislav Kos ◽  
Barbara Anđelić ◽  
Mišel Jelić ◽  
Lucija Šerić Jelaska ◽  
Kristijan Franin
Keyword(s):  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Karst Area ◽  
Taxonomic Resolution ◽  
Potential Prey ◽  
Invertebrate Prey ◽  
Olive Groves ◽  
Predatory Arthropods ◽  
Southern Croatia

Predatory arthropods, among them carabid beetles (fam. Carabidae), play a key role in regulating the plant eating invertebrates in different agroecosystems. Croatian part of Mediterranean is extremely reach in biodiversity, and poorly investigated. Especially, studies on impact of different agricultural practices and use of various pesticides on diversity of beneficial predatory fauna and their trophic interactions have been scarce. Prior to molecular trophic analyses, we sampled invertebrate fauna, as a potential food for predatory arthropods, including carabid beetles, in olive groves and vineyards, both in ecological (EPM) and integrated (IPM) productions, and in pristine natural habitat, typical for that part of karst area. The knowledge on diversity and phenology of potential prey groups is important for developing molecular assays for detecting consumed species, and for better taxonomic resolution of consumed prey species accessed via DNA metabarcoding analysis of stomach content. During vegetation season in 2018 in hinterland of Zadar county “Ravni Kotari”, in southern Croatia, a survey in the canopy and the ground layer was done using yellow sticky traps Plantella©, beating net, pitfall traps and Tullgren funnels. Diversity indices were calculated for each collecting method and for each type of agroecosystem. Results showed that with betting net at least 16 groups, with Tullgren funnels at least 11 and 8 groups of potential invertebrate prey with yellow sticky trap was found. In olive groves 2 and in vineyards 3 of found plant eating groups, respectively could be economically important for production. Diversity and phenology on sites will be presented and discussed in details. This survey contributes to understanding diversity and phenology of different invertebrate prey groups in Mediterranean agroecosystems that could help in sustaining predatory carabids in the field under different pest control practice. The study was conducted under the project activity of HRZZ – Mediteratri and EU INTERREG CBC Pescar.

scholarly journals Politics is making us sick: The negative impact of political engagement on public health during the Trump administration

PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0262022
Author(s):  
Kevin B. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Political Left ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Significant Health ◽  
Trump Administration

Objectives To quantify the effect of politics on the physical, psychological, and social health of American adults during the four-year span of the Trump administration. Methods A previously validated politics and health scale was used to compare health markers in nationally representative surveys administered to separate samples in March 2017 (N = 800) and October 2020 (N = 700). Participants in the 2020 survey were re-sampled approximately two weeks after the 2020 election and health markers were compared to their pre-election baselines. Results Large numbers of Americans reported politics takes a significant toll on a range of health markers—everything from stress, loss of sleep, or suicidal thoughts to an inability to stop thinking about politics and making intemperate social media posts. The proportion of Americans reporting these effects stayed stable or slightly increased between the spring of 2017 and the fall of 2020 prior to the presidential election. Deterioration in measures of physical health became detectably worse in the wake of the 2020 election. Those who were young, politically interested, politically engaged, or on the political left were more likely to report negative effects. Conclusions Politics is a pervasive and largely unavoidable source of chronic stress that exacted significant health costs for large numbers of American adults between 2017 and 2020. The 2020 election did little to alleviate those effects and quite likely exacerbated them.

scholarly journals The water crisis and its implications in Brazilian agribusiness: A bibliographic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
O. S. Fagundes ◽  
L. C. A. Oliveira ◽  
O. M. Yamashita ◽  
I. V. Silva ◽  
M. A. C. Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Industrial Effluents ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Water Crisis ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Basic Sanitation ◽  
Environmental Good

Water scarcity has become one of the main global problems, since of all the water of the terrestrial surface, only 2.5% represents fresh water, and of this, only 0.3% corresponds to the water of the rivers and lakes that are available to supply the demand for food production and other uses. The present work consisted in surveying the scenario related to the global water crisis and presenting evidence that even Brazil being abundant in the amount of water available, tends to face serious problems because of its scarcity, affecting two of the main economic pillars, agribusiness and industry. It was observed that the main negative effects on water resources occur due to urban occupation and agricultural practices in a disorderly way, causing destruction of natural resources through the discharge of domestic sewage, industrial effluents and agrochemicals. In general, the lack of control of the use of the water directed to the productive processes is one of the major generators of the water shortage, since 69% of the water derived from rivers, lakes and aquifers underground is turned to irrigated agriculture, using 70 times more water than for domestic purposes. Thus, it is necessary to adopt policies aimed at the conservation and efficient use of water resources, to value water as a social, social and environmental good, since their scarcity can generate instability in economic sectors such as agriculture, generating production insecurity in industry, as well as affecting the supply of drinking water, basic sanitation and public health.

scholarly journals Challenges of digitalization and artificial intelligence for modern economies, societies and management

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 556-567
Author(s):  
Rolf Clauberg
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Technical Information ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Official Policy ◽  
The Usa ◽  
New Jobs

This study aims at identifying the challenges of digitalization and artificial intelligence for modern economies, societies and business administration. The implementation of digitalization schemes as Industry 4.0 are presently official policy of many developed countries. The goal is optimization of production processes and supply chains. Artificial intelligence is also affecting many fields. Both technologies are expected to substantially change working conditions for many people. It is important to identify the kind and impact of these changes and possible means to minimize negative effects. For this purpose, this study uses previous results about the disappearance of manufacturing jobs in the USA and their impact on different groups of society together with technical information about the new technologies to deduce expected changes caused by digitalization and artificial intelligence. Results are that both technologies will destroy large numbers of jobs and complete job classes while at the same time creating new jobs very different from the ones destroyed. Extensive permanent education and re-education of employees will be necessary to minimize negative effects, probably even changes to a more broad-based education to improve the potential of job changes into completely new fields. In addition, the technical information about digitalization in cyber-physical systems points to dangers that will require solutions on the international level.

scholarly journals Detection of Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae) DNA in the gut of the soil species Pseudoophonus rufipes (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e1007
Author(s):  
Alice Albertini ◽  
Sónia A. P. Santos ◽  
Fátima Martins ◽  
José A. Pereira ◽  
Teresa Lino-Neto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Olive Tree ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Bactrocera Oleae ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit ◽  
Mtdna Sequences ◽  
Olive Orchard ◽  
Control Service

Pest control service provided by natural enemies of Bactrocera oleae, the key pest of the olive tree, is nowadays recognized as fundamental. B. oleae has developed resistance to common insecticides, and negative effects both on consumers’ health and non-target species are the major drawbacks of conventional control strategies. Carabid beetles are potential B. oleae pupae predators, but their predation on field still need to be assessed. We tested adult Pseudoophonus rufipes, a species known to be active in olive orchard when pest pupae are abundant in the soil, in order to detect B. oleae pupae consumption at different post feeding times for both male and female carabids. An already existing protocol was used for detecting B. oleae mtDNA sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene in carabids’ gut, and its versatility improved. B. oleae mtDNA was detected up to 20 h after pupa ingestion with a high percentage of success, without significant differences between sexes and pair primers used. Prey DNA extraction was tested from both dissected and non-dissected carabids, obtaining comparable results. The trapping system used to collect carabids for molecular assays and the new elements introduced in the protocol represent cost-effective solutions that may be beneficial for future laboratory trials and, mostly, for the analysis of field-collected predators. Fostering the investigation of soil predators in olive orchard may increase the design of conservation control strategies against B. oleae.

scholarly journals Vpliv namakanja v kombinaciji s tehnologijo nege ledine na razporeditev, migracijo ter vsebnost nitrata in bakra v tleh oljčnih nasadov

2018 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 393
Author(s):  
Maja PODGORNIK
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Applied Water ◽  
Soil Cultivation ◽  
Technical Management ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Decomposition Of Organic Matter ◽  
Olive Groves

The more frequent and intense extreme weather events (higher temperatures – the intensity and frequency of heat weaves, more and longer periods of drought) and weather-related diseases and pests, that have caused the greatest damage to olive production in the recent years, are a warning that urgent changes to Slovenian olive culture are needed. Due to the realisation that adaptations of agricultural production to climatic changes can have negative effects on the environment (water, soil), we conducted an experiment to determine the actual effect of adaptations of agro-technical management on the dynamics of nitrate and copper in the soil. The results of the study have shown that irrigation in combination with the technology of soil cultivation have effect on the allocation, migration and content of nitrate and copper in the soil of olive groves. Along with the fact that applied water allows the undisturbed absorption of nutrients into the plant, it can also improve the conditions for mineralisation and decomposition of organic matter, which is heavily dependent on the type of soil cultivation.

scholarly journals The Effect of Fertilizer Regime on Soil Fauna

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Mignon Sandor ◽  
Traian Brad ◽  
Aurel Maxim ◽  
Valentina Sandor ◽  
Bogdan Onica
Keyword(s):  
Green Manure ◽  
Soil Fauna ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Lumbricus Terrestris ◽  
Animal Manure ◽  
Folsomia Candida ◽  
Aporrectodea Caliginosa ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Key Factor

Soil fauna activity in agricultural soil is a key factor to maintain soil fertility and to assure soil ecosystem services. It is now accepted that agricultural practices like tillage and pesticide use can harm soil organisms including earthworms and springtails. Other practices like the use of green manure or animal manure have been considered as being beneficial to these soil invertebrates. To deepen our knowledge on the effect of fertilizers (mineral and organic) on earthworms (Aporrectodea caliginosa and Lumbricus terrestris) and springtails  (Folsomia candida) 56 microcosm experiments were made with two soil types and two hydric regimes. The microcosms were amended with four fertilizers: ammonium nitrate, mustard as green manure, cow manure and slurry. The results emphasize that mustard use had beneficial effect on Folsomia candida abundance and Aporrectodea caliginosa biomass, while mineral fertilizer had negative effects for all species used in the experiment.

Competition in Plant Communities

Ecology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Keddy ◽  
James Cahill
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Managed Forests ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Choice Of Species ◽  
Intensity Of Competition ◽  
Plant Coexistence ◽  
Growth And Reproduction

Competition is generally understood to refer to the negative effects on plant growth or fitness caused by the presence of neighbors, usually by reducing the availability of resources. Competition can be an important factor controlling plant communities, along with resources, disturbance, herbivory, and mutualisms. Since all plants require a few basic elements, the resource involved is generally light, water, nitrogen, or phosphorus, depending upon the species and the location. The effects of competition are widespread and easily observed in mixtures of crops and managed forests, which is why weeding and thinning are practiced. Competition is also widespread in native habitats, from deserts to wetlands, and is known to have important—indeed crucial—effects upon recruitment, growth, and reproduction. In the late 1800s, Darwin wrote extensively about the importance of competition in nature, particularly its role in driving natural selection. Thereafter, interest in the phenomenon grew. Many experiments with both crops and wild species were conducted. Models of competitive interactions were also constructed, with the number and size of the models increasing rapidly with the advent of computers in the 1970s. Because the word competition has a common usage in English, what it represents in biological systems is frequently assumed, rather than explicitly stated, leading to misunderstanding. Care must be taken in using or interpreting the word without specifying what kind of competition is being investigated, as different forms of competition can have different types of consequences. For example, competition may be looked at from the perspective of an individual, a population, or a species, it may be symmetric or asymmetric, and it can occur among single or multiple species simultaneously. Experimental design carries its own assumptions, which are often not stated in published articles. One of the most difficult tasks in exploring published studies is the need to sift through large numbers of experiments in which investigators have haphazardly selected (a pair of) species and grown them in mixture, without adequately justifying their choice of species or the experimental design. Another difficult task is distinguishing between models that, at least in principle, have measurable inputs or make measurable predictions (or both) and those that do not and cannot be tested. Overall, the very ease of growing plants in mixture, as well as the ease of making new models, may have made some people careless, with the result that basic questions are remaining unaddressed. Ongoing issues of importance include mechanisms of competition, types of competition, effects of competition on plant coexistence, and the intensity of competition under different sets of conditions.

Paradigm Shifts of the African Worldview

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 343-361
Author(s):  
Michael Adetunji Ahove ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Paradigm Shifts ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
African Worldview ◽  
High Level ◽  
Adaptation And Mitigation

Africa is the most vulnerable region of the world due to anthropogenic climate change challenges on account of dependence on nature for the sustenance of agriculture as her main source of income, high level of poverty, and low level of literacy. Climate change adaptation involves strategies of adjusting to the negative effects of climate change, while climate change mitigation involves techniques that help to reduce production of greenhouse gases through burning fossil fuels. The African worldview from the frontier of Nigerian epistemological and ontological perspectives as it finds expression in climate change adaptation and mitigation is built on the foundations of its relationship with nature, traditional religion and belief systems, agricultural practices, and some other day-to-day practices. Worldview analysis of the contemporary Nigerian has been conducted and classified into Original African, Westernized African, and Little Here-and-There African, a paradigm existing in Nigerians irrespective of level of Western education. What will be the fate of the younger Nigerian climate scientist in a globalized and technologically competitive world? This question gives rise to further discussion on the principles and application of the theory of Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach as postulated by Peter A. Okebukola and applied to creating an environment for meaningful learning on climate change adaptation and mitigation for the future generations of Nigerians.

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