Biodiversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Bulgaria Related to Human Migrations or Ecological Adaptation

Bulgaria is among the 18 high-priority countries of the WHO European Region with high rates of tuberculosis. The causative agent of tuberculosis is thought to have emerged in Africa 70,000 years ago, or during the Neolithic age, and colonized the world through human migrations. The established main lineages of tuberculosis correlate highly with geography. The goal of our study was to investigate the biodiversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Bulgaria in association with human migration history during the last 10 centuries. We analyzed spoligotypes and MIRU-VNTR genotyping data of 655 drug-sensitive and 385 multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains collected in Bulgaria from 2008 to 2018. We assigned the genotype of all isolates using SITVITWEB and MIRU-VNTRplus databases and software. We investigated the major well-documented historical events of immigration to Bulgaria that occurred during the last millennium. Genetic profiles demonstrated that, with the exceptions of 3 strains of Mycobacterium bovis and 18 strains of Lineage 2 (W/Beijing spoligotype), only Lineage 4 (Euro-American) was widely diffused in Bulgaria. Analysis of well-documented immigrations of Roma from the Indian subcontinent during the 10th to the 12th centuries, Turkic peoples from Central Asia in the medieval centuries, and more recently Armenians, Russians, and Africans in the 20th century influenced the biodiversity of M. tuberculosis in Bulgaria but only with genotypes of sublineages within the L4. We hypothesize that these sublineages were more virulent, or that ecological adaptation of imported M. tuberculosis genotypes was the main driver contributing to the current genetic biodiversity of M. tuberculosis in Bulgaria. We also hypothesize that some yet unknown local environmental factors may have been decisive in the success of imported genotypes. The ecological factors leading to local genetic biodiversity in M. tuberculosis are multifactorial and have not yet been fully clarified. The coevolution of long-lasting pathogen hosts should be studied, taking into account environmental and ecological changes.

The Need to Establish a Long-Term Ecological Research Network in Morocco as a Tool to Monitor Ecosystems Under Climate Change

Several countries are associated with the long-term ecological research (LTER) program, while others are in the process of joining the network. In Morocco, there is an urgent need to be a member of this network because the diversity of challenges associated with the various ecosystems requires multidisciplinary long-term studies. The chapter discusses this need by assessing the environmental vulnerability of Morocco basing on data from the environmental vulnerability index profile. Ecosystem change and vulnerability were investigated at the sites within the LTER program by exploring the criteria of the selected sites. The driving forces, pressures, states, impacts, responses framework would be a useful approach to study and explain the ecological changes of each selected site. The chapter highlights the purpose, significance, the mission, objectives, and the international cooperation of the proposed LTER network called Mo-LTER.

Management of Maritime Tourism of the Kei Indigenous Peoples of Southeast Maluku Regency as an Economic Driver Based on Environmental Sustainability

The development of marine tourism in the Kei community of Southeast Maluku Regency has a very important role both in terms of economic law and environmental law. In terms of economic law, the development of marine tourism plays a role in increasing the country's foreign exchange income and improving the economy of the Kei people of Southeast Maluku Regency. This research was conducted using an empirical juridical approach which is a descriptive qualitative analysis research. This study tries to describe what happens in the management of marine tourism in the Kei Indigenous community as an environmentally friendly economic driver based on environmental sustainability. The answers found from this research are: 1. Factors that affect environmental damage caused by: a. anthropogenic (human activities), b. non-anthropogenic (ecological changes, natural factors), c. Awareness of people living around marine tourism areas in Southeast Maluku Regency. 2. The factors that influence the level of community income in marine tourism locations are business capital variables that have a strong or significant effect on people's income in Kei Indigenous Maritime Tourism, Southeast Maluku Regency. In addition to the factors above, there are also several influencing factors, namely: 1) The Effect of Business Length on Community Income on Marine Tourism 2) The Effect of Education Level, 3 The Effect of the Number of Visitors.

Waiora: the importance of Indigenous worldviews and spirituality to inspire and inform Planetary Health Promotion in the Anthropocene

We now live in a new geological age, the Anthropocene – the age of humans – the start of which coincides with the founding of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) 70 years ago. In this article, we address the fundamental challenge facing health promotion in its next 70 years, which takes us almost to 2100: how do we achieve planetary health? We begin with a brief overview of the massive and rapid global ecological changes we face, the social, economic and technological driving forces behind those changes, and their health implications. At the heart of these driving forces lie a set of core values that are incompatible with planetary health. Central to our argument is the need for a new set of values, which heed and privilege the wisdom of Indigenous worldviews, as well as a renewed sense of spirituality that can re-establish a reverence for nature. We propose an Indigenous-informed framing to inspire and inform what we call planetary health promotion so that, as the United Nations Secretary General wrote recently, we can make peace with nature.

A Regional Review of Marine and Coastal Impacts of Climate Change on the ROPME Sea Area

The Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME) Sea Area (RSA) in the northern Indian Ocean, which comprises the Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the northern Arabian Sea, already experiences naturally extreme environmental conditions and incorporates one of the world’s warmest seas. There is growing evidence that climate change is already affecting the environmental conditions of the RSA, in areas including sea temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and sea level, which are set to continue changing over time. The cumulative impacts of these changes on coastal and marine ecosystems and dependent societies are less well documented, but are likely to be significant, especially in the context of other human stressors. This review represents the first regional synthesis of observed and predicted climate change impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems across the ROPME Sea Area and their implications for dependent societies. Climate-driven ecological changes include loss of coral reefs due to bleaching and the decline of fish populations, while socio-economic impacts include physical impacts from sea-level rise and cyclones, risk to commercial wild capture fisheries, disruption to desalination systems and loss of tourism. The compilation of this review is aimed to support the development of targeted adaptation actions and to direct future research within the RSA.

Supplemental Material: Two-pronged kill mechanism at the end-Triassic mass extinction

Details of the methodology, biomarker data, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, episodic versus persistent PZE, and full ecological changes relative to biomarker distributions.<br>

Supplemental Material: Two-pronged kill mechanism at the end-Triassic mass extinction

Details of the methodology, biomarker data, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, episodic versus persistent PZE, and full ecological changes relative to biomarker distributions.<br>

Ecological changes have driven biotic exchanges across the Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean has a complex geological history that has drawn the attention of naturalists for almost a century now. Due to its tectonic history, many geological elements and processes have been evoked to explain the exchange of species between landmasses. Here, we revisited previous studies on twenty-three taxa to investigate trends across time since the Gondwana breakup. We investigated these datasets by applying a time-calibrated Bayesian framework to them and reconstructing their ancestral ranges. We conclude that ecological transformations have presented opportunities for the establishment of migrants. The role of donating and receiving migrants has shifted several times according to these transformations. Time-specific trends show weak evidence for the stepping-stones commonly suggested as physical routes between landmasses. However, before its collision with Asia, India may have served as an intermediary for such exchanges.

Exploitation de l’espece Anadara Senilis (Arches) dans le Parc National de la Langue de Barbarie (PNLB), Gandiol (Senegal)

Dans l’espace du Gandiol, les activités économiques traditionnelles étaient la pêche et l’agriculture avec lesquelles la population a une longue tradition. En 2003, les fortes pluies enregistrées dans le Haut bassin du fleuve Sénégal expliquent l’augmentation massive du débit du fleuve consécutivement à l’addition des ondes de crue. Pour empêcher des inondations dans la ville de Saint-Louis, une brèche a été ouverte. Cependant, cette brèche a eu des effets négatifs sur l’agriculture et beaucoup d’espèces de poissons. Elle a, aussi, entrainé des modifications écologiques se manifestant par l’apparition de certaines espèces aquatiques : Anadara Senilis, Carasostrea Gasar. Dès lors, l’étude de l’exploitation de l’espèce Anadara senilis dans le parc national de la langue de Barbarie (commune de Ndiebène Gandiol) fait l’objet de cette contribution. La méthodologie adoptée intègre les enquêtes de terrain sous forme de questionnaires et de guides d’entretien et le traitement des données quantitatives et qualitatives. Les résultats montrent que la collecte des coquillages est progressivement devenue la principale activité des femmes. Cette activité est pratiquée dans un but essentiellement lucratif et a eu des impacts considérables tant au niveau socioéconomique qu’environnemental. C’est pourquoi, l’encadrement des exploitants est souhaitable pour une gestion durable de cette ressource renouvelable. In the Gandiol area, the traditional economic activities were fishing and agriculture, with which the population has a long tradition. In 2003, the heavy rains recorded in the upper Senegal River basin explain the massive increase in the river's flow following the addition of flood waves. To prevent flooding in the city of Saint-Louis, a breach was opened. However, this breach had negative effects on agriculture and many fish species. It has also caused ecological changes manifested by the appearance of certain aquatic species: Anadara Senilis, Carasostrea Gasar. Therefore, the study of the exploitation of the species Anadara senilis in the National Park of the Langue de Barbarie (municipality of Ndiebène Gandiol) is the subject of this contribution. The methodology adopted integrates field surveys in the form of questionnaires and interview guides and the processing of quantitative and qualitative data. The results show that shellfish collection has gradually become the main activity of women. This activity is practiced essentially for profit and has had considerable impacts at both the socio-economic and environmental levels. This is why the supervision of the operators is desirable for a sustainable management of this renewable resource.