A new species and a new combination for the subfamily Cunaxinae (Acari: Cunaxidae)

A new species of Cunaxidae, namely Cunaxa bagualensis Wurlitzer & Ferla sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on females and males collected in soil and leaf litter in the Atlantic rainforest biome in a rural forest fragment in Mormaço county, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Additionally, Armascirus livingstoni Laniecka & Kazmierski, 2021 is transferred to Dactyloscirus based on some observations.

LANDSCAPE, COLORED PASSION IN THE CREATION OF ARCHITECT EUGEN BOGNIBOV

The landscape genre is painting and contemplation through the creation of the architect and professor, doctor of architecture, associate professor Eugen Bognibov, from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Urbanism and Architecture, Technical University of Moldova. The landscape was certainly one of the favorite types of painting of professional artists, but also for lovers of beauty. The predilection of the architect and painter Eugen Bognibov for the landscape genre can be explained by the fact that the Moldovan lands offer an enormous variety of views and possibilities to practice the landscape: reliefs, forested hills, hills, steppes, roads winding through vineyards, and orchards, cities and villages, water pools, architectural monuments of stone and wood, a true cultural heritage of the country. And the author remarks that the painting dedicated to the architect and professor Eugen Bognibov represents the state of lyricism and harmony, is the link between man and nature, which is distinguished by the colorful freshness of urban, rural, forest landscapes, etc. Various painted views of the historical area of his hometown, Chisinau, images of the morning city bathed in the rays of the generous sun or landscapes near the village of Butuceni, etc. Therefore, the motivation for painting and landscape became for the architect Eugen Bognibov, a free manifestation of his creation through paintings with saturated colors, works presented in various exhibitions

Seasonal patterns and related microclimatic drivers of soil inorganic nitrogen in an urban montane cloud forest

Understanding the matter and energy dynamics in environments with strong human influence is essential since it allows us to know relevant ecological drivers in urban green land areas. It has been hypothesized that biogeochemical cycles in urban forests are more open (susceptible to nutrients soil losses) with respect to rural forests near cities. However, it is not clear if this ecosystem function occurs in the same way in systems from different latitudes. Soil nutrient dynamics and microclimatic conditions of an urban and a nearby rural montane cloud forest were registered from January 2016 to July 2017. Our objective was to compare edaphic and micro-climatic factors that drive soil inorganic N dynamics in these forests. Climate was slightly cooler and drier, and soil C, N, P and organic matter were lower in the urban than the rural forest. Seasonal soil inorganic N forms were related to above ground conditions in the urban forest, but to the belowground conditions in the rural forest. Consistently low NH4:NO3 ratio indicated high susceptibility to N soil loss in the urban forest. Our results support the hypothesis that urban cloud forests are functioning as open ecosystems in contrast to the rural forests.

Assessment of Forestry Laws Compliance among Farmers in Rural Forest Communities of Plateau State, Nigeria

The study assessed compliance with forestry laws among rural farmers in rural forest communities of Plateau State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of this study were to; describe the socio-economic characteristics of the rural forest farm families in the study area, examine the level of awareness of forestry laws in the study area, ascertain the level of compliance with forestry laws in the study area and identify the perceived constraints to forestry laws compliance in the study area. The population of the study consists of all the farmers in the rural forest communities of Plateau State. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a total number of 216 respondents for the study. Data for the study was garnered using structured questionnaire designed in line with objectives of the study. Analysis of the data was done using descriptive statistics and five point likert rating scale. Log it regression was used to test the hypothesis of the study. Findings revealed that the mean age of the farmers was 39 years with majority (61.0%) of them being male. The result also revealed that 85.0% of the respondents were married with majority (57.0%) of the respondents having non-formal education. The average household size of the respondents was 7 persons and average farm size of 2.5 hectares. The result further shows that only 49.0% of the farmers had contact with extension agents between 1 and 5 times in the last one year. Results indicate that farmers’ level of compliance with forestry laws in the study area was poor. The few forestry laws complied with in the study area were: law prohibiting the pasturing or grazing of cattle in the forest reserve (X=3.02), law prohibiting the erection of buildings or roads in the forest reserve (X=3.85) and law prohibiting kindling of fire in the forest reserve (X=3.54).Constraints to compliance with forestry laws includes; Perceived lack of fairness of tree tenure (79%), lack of alternative economic opportunities (87%), as a constraint to forest law compliance in the study area, lack of awareness of forest laws (71%), increased demand for agricultural land (42%), general lack of perceived legitimacy (33%), Corruption in government institutions (28%) and weak law enforcement (5%). The null hypothesis was rejected. The study recommends that, a zero tolerance policy on non-compliance with forestry laws should be put in place to checkmate indiscriminate exploitation of forest resources.