Global gap-analysis of amphipod barcode library

In the age of global climate change and biodiversity loss there is an urgent need to provide effective and robust tools for diversity monitoring. One of the promising techniques for species identification is the use of DNA barcoding, that in Metazoa utilizes the so called ‘gold-standard’ gene of cytochrome c oxidase (COI). However, the success of this method relies on the existence of trustworthy barcode libraries of the species. The Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) aims to provide barcodes for all existing organisms, and is complemented by the Barcode Index Number (BIN) system serving as a tool for potential species recognition. Here we provide an analysis of all public COI sequences available in BOLD of the diverse and ubiquitous crustacean order Amphipoda, to identify the barcode library gaps and provide recommendations for future barcoding studies. Our gap analysis of 25,702 records has shown that although 3,835 BINs (indicating putative species) were recognised by BOLD, only 10% of known amphipod species are represented by barcodes. We have identified almost equal contribution of both records (sequences) and BINs associated with freshwater and with marine realms. Three quarters of records have a complete species-level identification provided, while BINs have just 50%. Large disproportions between identification levels of BINs coming from freshwaters and the marine environment were observed, with three quarters of the former possessing a species name, and less than 40% for the latter. Moreover, the majority of BINs are represented by a very low number of sequences rendering them unreliable according to the quality control system. The geographical coverage is poor with vast areas of Africa, South America and the open ocean acting as “white gaps”. Several, of the most species rich and highly abundant families of Amphipoda (e.g., Phoxocephalidae, Ampeliscidae, Caprellidae), have very poor representation in the BOLD barcode library. As a result of our study we recommend stronger effort in identification of already recognised BINs, prioritising the studies of families that are known to be important and abundant components of particular communities, and targeted sampling programs for taxa coming from geographical regions with the least knowledge.

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The Biology of Lakes and Ponds

10.1093/oso/9780198713593.001.0001 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Christer Brönmark ◽

Lars-Anders Hansson

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Ecology ◽

Global Climate ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Environmental Threats ◽

Freshwater Organisms ◽

Abiotic Constraints ◽

Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽

The Individual ◽

Degraded Ecosystems ◽

Behavioural Adaptations

The Biology of Lakes and Ponds focuses on the interactions between the abiotic frame, such as turbulence, temperature, pH and nutrients, and the organisms, including interactions with and among organisms at the individual, population and community level. The book fills this niche between traditional limnology and evolutionary ecology by focusing on physiological, morphological and behavioural adaptations among organisms to abiotic and biotic factors and how interactions between biotic processes and abiotic constraints determine the structure and dynamics of lake and pond systems. In addition, the book describes and analyses the causes and consequences of human activities on freshwater organisms and ecosystems and covers longstanding environmental threats, such as eutrophication and acidification, as well as novel threats, such as biodiversity loss, use of everyday chemicals and global climate change. However, also signs of improvement and the possibilities to restore degraded ecosystems are discussed and provide hope for future generations.

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Situating Indigenous Resilience: Climate Change and Tayal’s “Millet Ark” Action in Taiwan

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su122410676 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (24) ◽

pp. 10676

Author(s):

Yih-Ren Lin ◽

Pagung Tomi ◽

Hsinya Huang ◽

Chia-Hua Lin ◽

Ysanne Chen

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Cultural Diversity ◽

Indigenous People ◽

Social Life ◽

Cultural Practices ◽

Global Climate ◽

Collaborative Work ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Cultural Knowledge ◽

Global Environmental

Whereas indigenous people are on the frontlines of global environmental challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and numerous other forms of critical planetary deterioration, the indigenous experiences, responses, and cultural practices have been underestimated in the mainstream frameworks of environmental studies. This paper aims to articulate a meaningful response to recent calls to indigenous and local knowledge on food as a source of resilience in the face of global climate change. By retrieving the values and practices indigenous people of Taiwan, specifically Tayal women, associate with human and non-human ecologies, our collaborative work with the indigenous community explores indigenous resilience and its relevance to indigenous cultural knowledge and global environmental concerns. Pivoting on the “Millet Ark” action, a Tayal conservation initiative of the bio-cultural diversity of millets, this study revolves around issues of how Tayal communities adapt to the climate change, how to reclaim their voice, heritage, knowledge, place, and land through food, and how to narrate indigenous “counter-stories” of resilience and sustainability. The cultural narrative of “Millet Ark” investigates indigenous way of preserving millet bio-cultural diversity and restoring the land and community heritage, inquiring into how Tayal people are adaptive and resilient to change and therefore sustainable through the cultural and social life of millets.

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EVALUATION OF SEMANTIC SEGMENTATION METHODS FOR DEFORESTATION DETECTION IN THE AMAZON

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ◽

10.5194/isprs-archives-xliii-b3-2020-1497-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol XLIII-B3-2020 ◽

pp. 1497-1505

Author(s):

R. B. Andrade ◽

G. A. O. P. Costa ◽

G. L. A. Mota ◽

M. X. Ortega ◽

R. Q. Feitosa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Global Climate ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Semantic Segmentation ◽

Training Sample ◽

Training Data ◽

Detection Methods ◽

Amazon Forest ◽

Convolutional Network ◽

Detection Approach ◽

Segmentation Methods

Abstract. Deforestation is a wide-reaching problem, responsible for serious environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss and global climate change. Containing approximately ten percent of all biomass on the planet and home to one tenth of the known species, the Amazon biome has faced important deforestation pressure in the last decades. Devising efficient deforestation detection methods is, therefore, key to combat illegal deforestation and to aid in the conception of public policies directed to promote sustainable development in the Amazon. In this work, we implement and evaluate a deforestation detection approach which is based on a Fully Convolutional, Deep Learning (DL) model: the DeepLabv3+. We compare the results obtained with the devised approach to those obtained with previously proposed DL-based methods (Early Fusion and Siamese Convolutional Network) using Landsat OLI-8 images acquired at different dates, covering a region of the Amazon forest. In order to evaluate the sensitivity of the methods to the amount of training data, we also evaluate them using varying training sample set sizes. The results show that all tested variants of the proposed method significantly outperform the other DL-based methods in terms of overall accuracy and F1-score. The gains in performance were even more substantial when limited amounts of samples were used in training the evaluated methods.

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Arboreal spiders in coffee agroecosystems: Untangling the web of local and landscape influences driving diversity

10.7287/peerj.preprints.151v1 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Zachary Hajian-Forooshani ◽

David Gonthier ◽

Linda Marín ◽

Aaron L Iverson ◽

Ivette Perfecto

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Intensification ◽

Global Climate ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Important Variable ◽

Point Of View ◽

Suitable Habitat ◽

Shade Trees ◽

Coffee Plantations ◽

Landscape Scales ◽

Coffee Cultivation

Agricultural intensification is implicated as a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Local management and landscape scale factors both influence biodiversity in agricultural systems, but there are relatively few studies to date looking at how local and landscape scales influence biodiversity in tropical agroecosystems. Understanding what drives the diversity of groups of organisms such as spiders is important from a pragmatic point of view because of the important biocontrol services they offer to agriculture. Spiders in coffee are somewhat enigmatic because of their positive or lack of response to agricultural intensification. In this study, we provide the first analysis, to our knowledge, of the arboreal spiders in the shade trees of coffee plantations. In the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico we sampled across 38 sites on 9 coffee plantations. Tree and canopy connectedness were found to positively influence overall arboreal spider richness and abundance. We found that different functional groups of spiders are responding to different local and landscape factors, but overall elevation was most important variable influencing arboreal spider diversity. Our study has practical management applications that suggest having shade grown coffee offers more suitable habitat for arboreal spiders due to a variety of the characteristics of the shade trees. Our results which show consistently more diverse arboreal spider communities in lower elevations are important in light of looming global climate change. As the range of suitable elevations for coffee cultivation shrinks promoting arboreal spider diversity will be important in sustaining the viability of coffee.

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Acciones en el cuidado del medio ambiente en la escuela de bachilleres “salvador allende” plantel San Juan Del Río, U.A.Q

Latin American Journal of Development ◽

10.46814/lajdv3n5-044 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 3288-3301

Author(s):

Cypatly Rojas Miranda ◽

Yolanda Cortés Alvarez ◽

Rafael Estrella Velázquez

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Global Climate ◽

Collaborative Work ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Training Course ◽

Calidad De Vida ◽

Toma De Decisiones ◽

Baccalaureate Curriculum ◽

Del Rio

Se ha escrito mucho en relación al tema ambiental y hemos escuchado innumerables discursos políticos en los que se dice demasiado y poco se lleva a la práctica. En nuestro país, la legislación ambiental se transgrede, la gente permanece indiferente ante la destrucción de su entorno, contribuyendo a empeorar la situación; por ello, urge un cambio de actitud a través de la educación, brindando la oportunidad de informar y desarrollar acciones ambientales concretas en donde la participación sea de manera inmediata, activa y asertiva. El Plan de Estudios del Bachillerato de la Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro incluye la asignatura de Formación Ambiental impartida en el sexto semestre, cuyo contenido programático permite desarrollar habilidades, actitudes y valores que contribuyen al desarrollo sustentable de manera crítica, con acciones responsables en la identificación y análisis de los problemas reales del entorno, con el enfoque de formar profesionistas capacitados en la solución de problemas ambientales. Actualmente se confronta la amenaza ambiental más crítica de la historia: deterioro del suelo, del agua y de los recursos marinos, esenciales para la producción alimentaria, contaminación atmosférica, pérdida de biodiversidad, daño a la capa de ozono y al cambio climático global. La sustentabilidad ambiental se refiere a la administración racional de los recursos naturales, de manera que sea posible mejorar el bienestar de la población actual sin comprometer la calidad de vida de las generaciones futuras[1]; permitiendo que desde el interior del plantel educativo se generen acciones a través del trabajo colaborativo para lograr un ambiente integral, limpio, sano y armónico. En los últimos tres años el abordaje de los contenidos de la asignatura de Formación Ambiental se realiza conformando brigadas de trabajo que permiten ejecutar acciones inmediatas, en colaboración del personal administrativo, alumnos, maestros y padres de familia, en el cuidado de las áreas verdes, recolección de PET, ahorro de energía eléctrica y agua, contaminación visual y auditiva, reciclaje de papel, elaboración de composta, cultivo hidropónico, divulgación ecológica y supresión del tabaquismo; con el objetivo de formar individuos competentes en la toma de decisiones a problemas urgentes como es el Desarrollo Sustentable. [1] Méndez, J., (2008) Problemas Económicos de México,Mc. Graw Hill, Ed. 6ª. México. p. 48 Much has been written in relation to environmental issues and has heard countless political speeches in which he says too little is put into practice. In our country, environmental regulations are violated and people are indifferent to the destruction of their environment and contribute to worsening the situation. Faced with this problem it is necessary to achieve a change in attitudes through education, to give our students the opportunity to develop specific environmental actions in which they participate in immediate, active and assertive, with this, in the Baccalaureate curriculum at the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro includes Environmental Training course that is taught in the sixth semester, containing program that allows the development of skills, attitudes and values that contribute to sustainable development in a critical way, with responsible actions enabling the identification and analysis of the real problems of environment, so as to obtain the foundation for a future that integrates the student as a professional in solving many environmental problems. Currently facing the most critical environmental threat in history, ground deterioration , water and marine resources essential to food production rising, air pollution, biodiversity loss, but not less important damage to the ozone layer and global climate change. Talk of environmental sustainability refers to the efficient and rational management of natural resources, so it is possible to improve the welfare of the people today without compromising the quality of life of future generations, allowing it from inside the campus generate strategies through the collaborative work environment that may lead to a comprehensive, clean, healthy and harmonious. In our institution we have done in the past three years' experience in dealing with the contents of the Environmental Training course, forming work teams that can implement immediate actions with the participation of administrative staff, students, teachers and parents, in the care of green areas, collection of PET, saving electricity and water pollution, visual and auditory, paper recycling, composting, hydroponics, organic outreach, collection of batteries and elimination of smoking, with the aim of contribute to the formation of competent individuals in making decisions to urgent problems such as Sustainable Development.

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Uphill Battle: Forest Rights and Restoration on Podu Landscapes in Keonjhar, Odisha

Journal of South Asian Development ◽

10.1177/09731741211057333 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 097317412110573

Author(s):

Laura M. Valencia

Keyword(s):

Political Ecology ◽

Forest Restoration ◽

Global Climate ◽

Forest Policy ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Plantation Forest ◽

Tree Plantation ◽

Middle Income ◽

Forest Landscape Restoration ◽

Forest Tenure

In response to the global climate emergency and biodiversity loss, environmental advocates promote ecological restoration of millions of hectares of the world’s degraded forest lands. Lands of high value to restoration are home to nearly 300 million people, including 12% of low- and middle-income country populations. In this article, I respond to calls for greater empirical investigation into the social impacts of forest landscape restoration. Through spatial and ethnographic analysis of forest restoration in Keonjhar, Odisha (India), I show that state-led afforestation efforts contradict a decade of forest tenure reform which sought to decentralize and decolonize forest governance. I explore how state-led efforts ignore (and inhibit) the continued protagonism of forest-dwelling communities in forest regeneration on their customary lands. Weaving accounts from 1992 onwards across six villages and 22 plantations, I characterize state strategies as an ‘uphill battle’: by systematically selecting shifting cultivation (podu) uplands for enclosure and tree plantation, forest agencies contribute to a lose-lose situation where neither forest restoration nor forest rights are realized. Investigating this process from colonial forest policy to the present, I leverage a critical political ecology perspective that supports calls for rights-based restoration.

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Using reference radiosondes to characterise NWP model uncertainty for improved satellite calibration and validation

Atmospheric Measurement Techniques ◽

10.5194/amt-12-83-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 83-106 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Fabien Carminati ◽

Stefano Migliorini ◽

Bruce Ingleby ◽

William Bell ◽

Heather Lawrence ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brightness Temperature ◽

Gap Analysis ◽

Global Climate ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Temperature Sensitive ◽

Mathematical Framework ◽

Night Time ◽

Microwave Frequencies ◽

Nwp Model ◽

Infrared Frequencies

Abstract. The characterisation of errors and uncertainties in numerical weather prediction (NWP) model fields is a major challenge that is addressed as part of the Horizon 2020 Gap Analysis for Integrated Atmospheric ECV CLImate Monitoring (GAIA-CLIM) project. In that regard, observations from the GCOS (Global Climate Observing System) Reference Upper-Air Network (GRUAN) radiosondes are being used at the Met Office and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) to assess errors and uncertainties associated with model data. The software introduced in this study and referred to as the GRUAN processor has been developed to collocate GRUAN radiosonde profiles and NWP model fields, simulate top-of-atmosphere brightness temperature at frequencies used by space-borne instruments, and propagate GRUAN uncertainties in that simulation. A mathematical framework used to estimate and assess the uncertainty budget of the comparison of simulated brightness temperature is also proposed. A total of 1 year of GRUAN radiosondes and matching NWP fields from the Met Office and ECMWF have been processed and analysed for the purposes of demonstration of capability. We present preliminary results confirming the presence of known biases in the temperature and humidity profiles of both NWP centres. The night-time difference between GRUAN and Met Office (ECMWF) simulated brightness temperature at microwave frequencies predominantly sensitive to temperature is on average smaller than 0.1 K (0.4 K). Similarly, this difference is on average smaller than 0.5 K (0.4 K) at microwave frequencies predominantly sensitive to humidity. The uncertainty estimated for the Met Office–GRUAN difference ranges from 0.08 to 0.13 K for temperature-sensitive frequencies and from 1.6 to 2.5 K for humidity-sensitive frequencies. From the analysed sampling, 90 % of the comparisons are found to be in statistical agreement. This initial study has the potential to be extended to a larger collection of GRUAN profiles, covering multiple sites and years, with the aim of providing a robust estimation of both errors and uncertainties of NWP model fields in radiance space for a selection of key microwave and infrared frequencies.

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Predicting biodiversity richness in rapidly changing landscapes: climate, low human pressure or protection as salvation?

Biodiversity and Conservation ◽

10.1007/s10531-020-02062-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (14) ◽

pp. 4035-4057

Author(s):

David W. Macdonald ◽

Luca Chiaverini ◽

Helen M. Bothwell ◽

Żaneta Kaszta ◽

Eric Ash ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Gap Analysis ◽

Current System ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Single Species ◽

Central China ◽

Area Network ◽

Biodiversity Hotspots ◽

South Central

Abstract Rates of biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia are among the highest in the world, and the Indo-Burma and South-Central China Biodiversity Hotspots rank among the world’s most threatened. Developing robust multi-species conservation models is critical for stemming biodiversity loss both here and globally. We used a large and geographically extensive remote-camera survey and multi-scale, multivariate optimization species distribution modelling to investigate the factors driving biodiversity across these two adjoining biodiversity hotspots. Four major findings emerged from the work. (i) We identified clear spatial patterns of species richness, with two main biodiverse centres in the Thai-Malay Peninsula and in the mountainous region of Southwest China. (ii) Carnivores in particular, and large ungulates to a lesser degree, were the strongest indicators of species richness. (iii) Climate had the largest effect on biodiversity, followed by protected status and human footprint. (iv) Gap analysis between the biodiversity model and the current system of protected areas revealed that the majority of areas supporting the highest predicted biodiversity are not protected. Our results highlighted several key locations that should be prioritized for expanding the protected area network to maximize conservation effectiveness. We demonstrated the importance of switching from single-species to multi-species approaches to highlight areas of high priority for biodiversity conservation. In addition, since these areas mostly occur over multiple countries, we also advocate for a paradigmatic focus on transboundary conservation planning.

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STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE AND THREATS IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY

Economics & Education ◽

10.30525/2500-946x/2021-2-14 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 79-83

Author(s):

Lyudmila Levkovska ◽

Alla Omelchenko

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Systems Approach ◽

Global Climate ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Environmental Security ◽

Adaptation Measures ◽

Impact Of Climate Change ◽

Climate Risks ◽

Global Environmental ◽

The Impact

It is substantiated that the development of scientific and technological progress since the middle of the last century has led to intensive industrialization that, together with globalization processes, has resulted in global climate change. Nowadays, combating global warming is one of the most challenging and urgent tasks of humanity. Sweeping changes in natural systems, primarily an increase in the frequency and duration of droughts, floods, melting glaciers and rising water in the seven seas, biodiversity loss, etc., are the effect of global temperature rise. There is also a deterioration of living conditions and standards of the public, declining food security, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The research outlines the main trends in climate change. It is clarified the impact of climate change on the environment, man, society, and economy. The authors emphasize the significance and role of local actions towards adapting to the effects of climate change, which may become a tool for reducing climate risks in a global environment. It is justified that the challenge of climate change is addressed by joint efforts of each state of the world economic space. The effects of climate change and adaptation measures within economic realms are regarded by relying on global experience. The purpose of the article is to determine strategic guidelines for implementing adaptation measures to the impact of climate change to guarantee global environmental security. The research is based on a systems approach to solving the issue of guaranteeing global environmental security. In this context, it refers to the stimulation of constant economic modernization and the development of a new economic structure of the 21st century aimed at searching for effective mechanisms and tools promoting the measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. First of all, this means the implementation of energy-saving technologies, which will reduce the energy intensity of production and thus, increase economic energy efficiency and enhance global environmental security.

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Using reference radiosondes to characterise NWP model uncertainty for improved satellite calibration and validation

10.5194/amt-2018-219 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Fabien Carminati ◽

Stefano Migliorini ◽

Bruce Ingleby ◽

William Bell ◽

Heather Lawrence ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brightness Temperature ◽

Gap Analysis ◽

Global Climate ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Temperature Sensitive ◽

Mathematical Framework ◽

Night Time ◽

Microwave Frequencies ◽

Nwp Model ◽

Infrared Frequencies

Abstract. The characterisation of errors and uncertainties in numerical weather prediction (NWP) model fields is a major challenge that is addressed as part of the Horizon 2020 Gap Analysis for Integrated Atmospheric ECV CLImate Monitoring (GAIA-CLIM) project. In that regard, observations from the GCOS (Global Climate Observing System) Reference Upper-Air Network (GRUAN) radiosondes are being used at the Met Office and European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) to assess errors and uncertainties associated with model data. The software introduced in this study and referred to as the GRUAN Processor has been developed to collocate GRUAN radiosonde profiles and NWP model fields, simulate top-of-atmosphere brightness temperature at frequencies used by space-borne instruments, and propagate GRUAN uncertainties in that simulation. A mathematical framework used to estimate and assess the uncertainty budget of the comparison of simulated brightness temperature is also proposed. One year of GRUAN radiosondes and matching NWP fields from the Met Office and ECMWF have been processed and analysed for the purposes of demonstration of capability. We present preliminary results confirming the presence of known biases in the temperature and humidity profiles of both NWP centres. The night-time difference between GRUAN and Met Office (ECMWF) simulated brightness temperature at microwave frequencies predominantly sensitive to temperature is on average smaller than 0.1 K (0.4 K). Similarly, this difference is on average smaller than 0.5 K (0.4 K) at microwave frequencies predominantly sensitive to humidity. The uncertainty estimated for the Met Office – GRUAN difference ranges from 0.08 to 0.13 K for temperature sensitive frequencies and from 1.6 to 2.5 K for humidity sensitive frequencies. From the analysed sampling, 90 % of the comparisons are found to be in statistical agreement. This initial study has the potential to be extended to a larger collection of GRUAN profiles, covering multiple sites and years, with the aim of providing a robust estimation of both errors and uncertainties of NWP model fields in radiance space for a selection of key microwave and infrared frequencies.

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