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2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua W. Lambert ◽  
Pedro Santos Neves ◽  
Richel Bilderbeek ◽  
Luis Valente ◽  
Rampal S. Etienne

Understanding macroevolution on islands requires knowledge of the closest relatives of island species on the mainland. The evolutionary relationships between island and mainland species can be reconstructed using phylogenies, to which models can be fitted to understand the dynamical processes of colonisation and diversification. But how much information on the mainland is needed to gain insight into macroevolution on islands? Here we first test whether species turnover on the mainland and incomplete mainland sampling leave recognisable signatures in community phylogenetic data. We find predictable phylogenetic patterns: colonisation times become older and the perceived proportion of endemic species increases as mainland turnover and incomplete knowledge increase. We then analyse the influence of these factors on the inference performance of the island biogeography model DAISIE, a whole-island community phylogenetic model that assumes that mainland species do not diversify, and that the mainland is fully sampled in the phylogeny. We find that colonisation and diversification rate are estimated with little bias in the presence of mainland extinction and incomplete sampling. By contrast, the rate of anagenesis is overestimated under high levels of mainland extinction and incomplete sampling, because these increase the perceived level of island endemism. We conclude that community-wide phylogenetic and endemism datasets of island species carry a signature of mainland extinction and sampling. The robustness of parameter estimates suggests that island diversification and colonisation can be studied even with limited knowledge of mainland dynamics.


Author(s):  
Hannes Korjus

The Lutsis, a historically South Estonian-speaking language island community located near the town of Ludza in southeastern Latvia, have come increasingly into public awareness in Latvia over the last decade with the release of books on Lutsi history and language suitable for both professional and lay audiences as well as other new works relating to Lutsi folk culture. However, even before this recent burst of activity, the Lutsis have been mentioned in the Latvian and Estonian press and have also appeared in the field notes of researchers whose work was connected with the Lutsis. This article traces the descriptions of the Lutsis in a variety of sources from the first descriptions in the mid-19th century, through the interwar independence of Latvia, and as late as the 1970s when important expeditions by Latvian researchers documented the impressions of the last Lutsi speakers on the state of their language and culture. Kokkuvõte. Hannes Korjus: Sementovskijst 20. sajandisse. Märkmeid lutsidest Läti ajakirjanduses. Kunagine lõunaeestikeelne lutside kogukond elas Kagu-Lätis Ludza linna ümbruses. Lätis on nad saanud suurema avaliku tähelepanu osalisteks alles viimastel kümnenditel, kui on ilmunud raamatuid nende ajaloo ja keele kohta nii asjatundjatele kui ka laiemale huvirühmale ning on hakatud elavdama lutsi rahvakultuuri. Siiski ka enne seda viimast aktiivsuse tõusu on lutsidest kirjutatud Läti ja Eesti ajakirjanduses ja on ilmunud välitööde märkmeid lutsidega seotud uurimuste tegijatelt. Antud artikkel jälgib lutside kirjeldusi erinevates allikates alates varastest mainimistest 19. sajandi keskel, jätkates maailmasõdadevahelise perioodiga ning jõudes viimaks 1970. aastateni, kui Läti uurijad dokumenteerisid oma ekspeditsioonidel viimaste lutsi kõnelejate keelelist ja kultuurilist olukorda.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Willcock ◽  
Gregory Cooper ◽  
John Addy ◽  
John Dearing

Abstract The world’s ecosystems are undergoing unprecedented changes due to the impact of climate change and local human activities. A major concern is the possibility of tipping points where ecosystems and landscapes change abruptly to undesirable states. We consider what happens to the timing of tipping points when current stresses strengthen whilst systems experience additional stresses and/or extreme events. We run experiments on four mathematical models that simulate tipping points in lake water quality, the Easter Island community, the Chilika lagoon fishery, and forest dieback. We show that the strongest impacts occur under increasing levels of primary stress, but additional and more extreme stresses in all four models bring the tipping points significantly closer to today. Translating the results to the real world underlines the need for humanity to reduce damaging disturbances and global warming, and to be vigilant for signs that natural systems are degrading more rapidly than previously thought.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 999
Author(s):  
James Moore ◽  
Sarah Jane Gibbon

In this article, we respond to the Special Issue theme by addressing the complexities of religious identities in archipelagic communities where the dual role of the sea as conduit and barrier has impacted the parish system, farming estates and community life. The focus is primarily on nineteenth and twentieth century testimonies and material evidence, approached within a broader chronological context going back to the Middle Ages. Using qualitative GIS mapping of the habitations of the people memorialised in two burial grounds in Orkney, we visualise the active role of the islander in constructing identities linking people and place at parish, community and personal levels. The results show that the people with memorial stones were buried within a long-established parochial structure but did not adhere to ecclesiastical norms, with district burial grounds being favoured over a single parish churchyard. We conclude that this approach demonstrates the complexities of identities within an island community and identify its applicability in other contexts combining material culture and historical documentation to investigate religious island identities.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Roger James Lawrence

<p>This thesis is an exploration of the factors which give the tiny reef island of Tamana, in what is today the nation of Kiribati, its particular character. The research falls into three main sections. The first reviews the available documentary sources in order to build up an understanding of the settlement of the region by Micronesian peoples, the character of the island environment they encountered and the economy and society that developed. The changes resulting from the expansion of western capitalism into the region are then described. This material provides the context for the contemporary household-based study presented in the second section. This presents the findings of twelve month's field study of sixteen Tamana households. It considers household structure and, organisation, access to resources, patterns of tine allocation as well as the character of the subsistence and cash economies, their relationship to each other and the extent to which the household economy has become incorporated into the market economy of the outside world. The third section draws both sets of material together to consider issues of change and development and the likely future character of Tamana. The initial settlement of Tamana by Micronesian people led to some environmental modification and the introduction of new plant species. However, the system that evolved could be considered an autarkic man/environment system where a fluctuating balance between man and resources was maintained through drought-associated mortality. With the arrival of the whalers, traders, missionaries and colonial officials Tamana ceased to operate as an isolated entity and the changes which ensued resulted in the external relationships, through trade, employment and aid becoming increasingly important in determining the character of economic life on Tamana. In several important respects the process of incorporation into the market economy evident on Tamana differs from that encounted in other subsistence economies subject to similar influences. Colonial policy, in recognition of the high population densities and, obviously limited resources, discouraged the establishment of a plantation economy. The limiting atoll environment restricted the choice of cash crops to the coconut which was already an important element in the vegetation and whose productivity could be maintained with little intensification of labour inputs. The subsistence economy thus was able to maintain its vitality and enabled the islanders to oscillate between the subsistence and market economy as market conditions dictated. This is reinforced by the fact that some 45 percent of household income comes from outside the village economy through remittances and gifts, thus underlining the significance of Tamana as a "straddled economy" where the household depends on local production and wages earned in employment in either the phosphate workings or urban employment away from the island. For these reasons the commitment to the cash economy on Tamana is not strong. Because of the heavy emphasis of government spending on welfare and service spending and the emergence of a large, aid-dependent bureaucracy at the administrative centre on Tarawa, the aspirations of most Tamana peoples are towards wage employment which implies migration to the urban centre as an alternative to rural life. Unless these trends are rectified rural outmigration can be expected, to increase.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Roger James Lawrence

<p>This thesis is an exploration of the factors which give the tiny reef island of Tamana, in what is today the nation of Kiribati, its particular character. The research falls into three main sections. The first reviews the available documentary sources in order to build up an understanding of the settlement of the region by Micronesian peoples, the character of the island environment they encountered and the economy and society that developed. The changes resulting from the expansion of western capitalism into the region are then described. This material provides the context for the contemporary household-based study presented in the second section. This presents the findings of twelve month's field study of sixteen Tamana households. It considers household structure and, organisation, access to resources, patterns of tine allocation as well as the character of the subsistence and cash economies, their relationship to each other and the extent to which the household economy has become incorporated into the market economy of the outside world. The third section draws both sets of material together to consider issues of change and development and the likely future character of Tamana. The initial settlement of Tamana by Micronesian people led to some environmental modification and the introduction of new plant species. However, the system that evolved could be considered an autarkic man/environment system where a fluctuating balance between man and resources was maintained through drought-associated mortality. With the arrival of the whalers, traders, missionaries and colonial officials Tamana ceased to operate as an isolated entity and the changes which ensued resulted in the external relationships, through trade, employment and aid becoming increasingly important in determining the character of economic life on Tamana. In several important respects the process of incorporation into the market economy evident on Tamana differs from that encounted in other subsistence economies subject to similar influences. Colonial policy, in recognition of the high population densities and, obviously limited resources, discouraged the establishment of a plantation economy. The limiting atoll environment restricted the choice of cash crops to the coconut which was already an important element in the vegetation and whose productivity could be maintained with little intensification of labour inputs. The subsistence economy thus was able to maintain its vitality and enabled the islanders to oscillate between the subsistence and market economy as market conditions dictated. This is reinforced by the fact that some 45 percent of household income comes from outside the village economy through remittances and gifts, thus underlining the significance of Tamana as a "straddled economy" where the household depends on local production and wages earned in employment in either the phosphate workings or urban employment away from the island. For these reasons the commitment to the cash economy on Tamana is not strong. Because of the heavy emphasis of government spending on welfare and service spending and the emergence of a large, aid-dependent bureaucracy at the administrative centre on Tarawa, the aspirations of most Tamana peoples are towards wage employment which implies migration to the urban centre as an alternative to rural life. Unless these trends are rectified rural outmigration can be expected, to increase.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amanda Leathers

<p>Vanuatu's common property natural resources provide essential ecological services for the global community and sustain the livelihoods of 80% of the Vanuatu population. Sustainable management of natural resources is dependent on locally developed systems that govern common property resources. Understanding the drivers of commons management problems from local resource-users' perspectives is essential to know how local governance systems can be supported and strengthened. I explore locally identified drivers of commons management problems using a case study of the Tangoa Island community of South Santo, Vanuatu. Methods include participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques and 31 interviews with local people. Literature from Vanuatu as well as 18 interviews with Vanuatu government departments, NGOs, and aid donors informs how relevant the issues identified in the case study are for other communities across Vanuatu. I found that drivers at different contextual scales, from local to global, affect two main elements of a community's cooperative capacity for commons management - social cohesion and governance systems. The issues identified by the Tangoa Island community affect many Vanuatu communities because they are driven by wider processes of social, cultural, economic, and institutional change. Approaches to support and strengthen local social and governance systems can target drivers at multiple contextual scales.</p>


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