Low- to Moderate-Level Forest Disturbance Effects on Plant Functional Traits and Associated Soil Microbial Diversity in Western Himalaya

This study quantifies the effect of low- to moderate-intensity anthropogenic activities and natural activities affecting less than 40% of the canopy cover on major plant functional traits and associated soil microbial diversity in western Himalayan temperate forests. Plots of 0.1 ha were placed in the temperate forests along disturbance gradient and were categorized based on lopping intensity, deadwood counts, grazing, and litter removal. Plots were classified into three classes, i.e., low disturbance intensity (LDI) and moderate disturbance intensities (MDI1 and MDI2) based on lopping activities and canopy cover. The study was conducted on functional traits related to growth and survival strategies of a species in a complex forest ecosystem. Furthermore, DNA was extracted and metagenome of soil samples was performed using Illumina MiSeq platform from three disturbance classes to study the effect of disturbance and plant traits on microbial diversity. Tree basal area was found to be most significantly affected by disturbance intensity. Total density was found to be greater for the LDI site. Specific leaf area (SLA) and crown cover (CC) were the most affected traits in the moderately disturbed sites, whereas maximum plant height (HT) and seed mass (SM) were least affected by disturbance. Soil microbial diversity was found to be negatively associated with disturbance index. Microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) were found to be significantly higher in LDI sites. Disturbance level elicited variation in microbial community composition. Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum and Phenylobacterium, DA101, and Candidatus solibacter were mainly abundant at the genus level. A decreasing level of disturbance due to the absence of human residences in the LDI site led to the dominance of Phenylobacterium (27%) which reduced to 18% in MDI1 site. Shannon alpha bacterial diversity and plant species diversity (H′) were found to be greatest for MDI2 site. In forests with varying levels of management, treefall gaps due to low levels of logging intensity might have a similar effect to those of reduced lopping intensities and deadwood count (due to natural disturbances) in the study sites. The study concludes that moderate disturbance is important for promoting species diversity and species richness (SR), but species having conservative ecological strategies would be more prone to continued disturbance intensity. Therefore, low- to moderate-level disturbance in such forests can be used as a model for natural treefall gaps, and moderate-level disturbance intensity plays a powerful role in buffering ecosystem processes.

Effects of Native Tree Planting on Soil Recovery in Tropical Montane Cloud Forests

The tropical montane cloud forest is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth and is one of the areas most threatened by anthropogenic disturbance. This study assessed the temporal impact on soil properties (organic carbon, total nitrogen, cation exchange capacity, bulk density) following establishment of native tree species in two degraded tropical montane cloud forest areas with different soil types and land-use intensities in south-east Mexico. In Pueblo Nuevo, Chiapas, Pinus chiapensis and Alnus spp. were established at two sites with humic Nitisols with low and moderate disturbance levels, respectively. In Xalapa, Veracruz, plum pine (Podocarpus matudae), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), Oaxaca walnut (Juglans pyriformis Liebm.), and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) were established on a grassland-covered humic Andosol with a high level of disturbance. After 16 years, soil properties had generally improved, although in the initial years after planting, the values declined, indicating a possible negative impact because of disturbance during tree establishment. Land-use intensity prior to tree establishment influenced the level of recovery in soil properties. The Pueblo Nuevo sites, with low to moderate disturbance levels, regained soil quality faster than the highly disturbed Xalapa site, despite better initial soil quality in the latter.

A comparative study on the bryophyte and lichen flora for monitoring the conservation status of protected areas of Sicily (Italy)

A comparative analysis of the bryophytes and lichens used as environmental bioindicators of three Oriented Nature Reserves of the Ionian coast of Sicily (Italy) is presented. For this purpose, ecological and bio-ecological indices (Ellenberg indices, life form, life strategy, human impact, poleotolerance) were considered. Comparing the ecological data, the bryophytes result more tolerant than lichens of shaded condition, moist substrate, conversely, lichens reveal higher resistance to xericity and eutrophication and a preference towards the conditions of photophily. Relating to the bio-ecological parameters, bryophytes and lichens agree in revealing a more marked anthropic disturbance in the ONR Oasi del Simeto, a moderate disturbance in the ONR Fiume Fiumefreddo and even more moderate in the ONR La Timpa, the best preserved Reserve.

The Association between Menstrual Disorder and Work Disturbance among Employees

Objective: To investigate the association between menstrualdisorders including each menstrual cycle disorder, durationand volume of menstrual bleeding disorder, menstrual intervaldisorder, and another disorder that related to menstruationagainst disruption of work among employees.Methods: This study used a cross sectional design. Samplerandomization with winpepi® software for Windows 7®. Dataanalysis using SPSS 24® software for Windows 7®.Results: A total of 150 subjects were recruited in this study. Theprevalence of menstrual disorder was 87%, menstrual cycledisorder 3%. Menstrual volume disorder 31%, 15% menstrualabnormalities, 83% menstrual pain disorder and premenstrualsyndrome 71%. Prevalence of work disturbance was 49% formild disturbance, 47% for moderate disturbance and severework disturbance by 4%. There was a relationship betweenmenstrual volume disorder, hypermenorrhoea, and menstrual /dysmenorrhoea pain to occupational disruption among theemployee at RSCM (p <0.001). The submission of the proposedleaves due to menstrual disorder in the proposed permit for1 day by 73%.Conclusion: The prevalence of severe work disturbance due tomenstruation is not high but can lead to disruption in runningjobs and activities. However, it is important to be a concern so thatthe employees get good management and care.Keywords: employee, menstrual leave, menstrual disorder, prevalence,work disturbance

MAPPING TROPICAL FOREST FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT USING SPOT 5 SATELLITE IMAGE

This paper describes the combination of multi-data in stratifying the natural evergreen broadleaved tropical forest of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The forests were stratified using both unsupervised and supervised classification methods based on SPOT5 and field data. The forests were classified into 3 and 4 strata separably. Correlation between stratified forest classes and forest variables was analyzed in order to find out 1) how many classes is suitable to stratify for the forest in this area and 2) how closely the forest variables are related with forest classes. The correlation coefficient shows although all forest variables did have a significant correlation with the forest classes, stand volume appeared to have the strongest correlation with forest classes. These are 0.64 and 0.59 for four and three strata respectively. The results of supervised classification also show the four strata of heavily degraded forest, moderate disturbance, insignificant disturbance, and dense forest were discriminated more clearly comparing to the forest stratified into three classes. The proof is that overall accuracy of supervised classification was 86% with Kappa of 0.8 for four classes, meanwhile, these are 77% and 0.62 respectively for forest area classified into 3 classes.

MAPPING TROPICAL FOREST FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT USING SPOT 5 SATELLITE IMAGE

This paper describes the combination of multi-data in stratifying the natural evergreen broadleaved tropical forest of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The forests were stratified using both unsupervised and supervised classification methods based on SPOT5 and field data. The forests were classified into 3 and 4 strata separably. Correlation between stratified forest classes and forest variables was analyzed in order to find out 1) how many classes is suitable to stratify for the forest in this area and 2) how closely the forest variables are related with forest classes. The correlation coefficient shows although all forest variables did have a significant correlation with the forest classes, stand volume appeared to have the strongest correlation with forest classes. These are 0.64 and 0.59 for four and three strata respectively. The results of supervised classification also show the four strata of heavily degraded forest, moderate disturbance, insignificant disturbance, and dense forest were discriminated more clearly comparing to the forest stratified into three classes. The proof is that overall accuracy of supervised classification was 86% with Kappa of 0.8 for four classes, meanwhile, these are 77% and 0.62 respectively for forest area classified into 3 classes.