Monitoring the Characteristics of Ecological Cumulative Effect Due to Mining Disturbance Utilizing Remote Sensing

This study conducted land cover classification and inversion analysis to estimate land surface temperature, soil moisture, specific humidity, atmospheric water vapor density, and relative humidity using remote sensing and multi-source mining data. Using 1990–2020 data from the Shendong mining area in Inner Mongolia, China, the eco-environmental evolution and the ecological cumulative effects (ECE) of mining operations were characterized and analyzed at a long-term scale. The results show that while the eco-environment was generally stable, mining activities affected the eco-environment at the initial stage (1990–2000) to a certain degree. During the rapid development stage of coal mining, the eco-environment was severely damaged, and the ECE were significant at the temporal scale. The absolute value of the change rate of ecological parameters was increasing. Due to an increased focus on ecological restoration, starting in 2010, the environmental indicators gradually stabilized and the eco-environment improved considerably, ushering in a period of stability for coal mining activities. The absolute value of the change rate of ecological parameters became stable. Analysis of the change in eco-environmental indicators with distance and comparison to the contrast area showed the ECE characteristics from mining disturbance at the spatial scale. This study shows that remote sensing technology can be used to characterize the ECE from mining operations and analyze eco-environmental indicators, providing crucial information in support of ecological protection and restoration, particularly in coal mining areas.

Updating Ecological and Behavioral Aspects of the Sandfly Fauna in the Vale do Ribeira Region, São Paulo State, Brazil

Some ecological parameters and the distribution of vectors in the municipality of Eldorado, Vale do Ribeira Region, São Paulo, were studied. Entomological surveys were carried out from September 2019 to March 2021. It was observed that a few ecological parameters, including richness, abundance, diversity, and equitability, were typical of a modified environment, where artificial ecotopes maintain the presence of sandflies throughout the year. A total of 11,668 sandflies were captured. The presence of five taxa were observed in Eldorado, with low diversity and high dominance of Nyssomyia intermedia next to Ny. neivai, which are sympatric species. The results presented reinforce the importance of these species in anthropized areas in the transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) agents and the need for entomological monitoring. Psathyromyia pascalei was encountered for the first time in the municipality, expanding the known area of distribution of this species in a modified environment.

Discrimination of Geographical Origin of Unroasted Kernels Argan Oil (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels) Using Tocopherols and Chemometrics

Valorisation of Argan oil requires the precise identification of different provenances markers. The concentration of tocopherol is regarded as one of the essential parameters that certifies the quality and purity of Argan oil. In this study, 39 Argan samples from six different geographical origins (Safi, Essaouira, Agadir, Taroudant, Tiznit, and Sidi Ifni) from the central west of Morocco were collected and extracted using cold pressing. The total tocopherol amount was found to range from 783.23 to 1,271.68 mg/kg. Generally, γ-tocopherol has the highest concentration in Argan oil. It should also be noted that the geographical origin was found to have a strong effect on the amounts of all tocopherol homologues studied. Principal component analysis of tocopherol concentrations highlighted a significant difference between the different provenances. The content of tocopherol has also been found to be strongly influenced by the distance from the coast and altitude, whereas no significant effect was found regarding other ecological parameters. The prediction ability of the LDA models was 87.2%. The highest correct classification was revealed in coastal provenances (100%), and the lowest values were from the continental ones (71.4%). These results provide the basis for determining the geographical origins of Argan oil production with well-defined characteristics to increase the product’s value and the income of local populations. In addition, this study provides a very promising basis for developing Argan varieties with a high content of tocopherol homologues, as well as contributing to the traceability and protection of Argan oil’s geographical indication.

An interpersonal framework of international ecological discourse

This paper explores an interpersonal framework for international ecological discourse analysis using systemic functional linguistics. It shows that the sub-categories of the functional interpersonal framework need to be extended in terms of delicacy along the ecological cline to construe the ecological features in the context under investigation. The extension can be achieved through an integration of the following ecological parameters into a functional framework: a system of international ecological factors, a system of international ecological environment, and the international ecosophy “多元和谐, 交互共生” (duoyuan hexie, jiaohu gongsheng, ‘diversity and harmony, interaction and co-existence’). This integration builds an “ecological” interpersonal framework for international ecological discourse analysis, which is composed of an “ecological” Mood system, an “ecological” Modality system, and an “ecological” Appraisal system. The construction of an ecological interpersonal framework is accompanied by specific case analysis.

Ostracods in the sediments of the Arctic shelf seas of Eurasia (stratigraphy and paleoreconstruction)

We present data on ostracod assemblage analysis from the Laptev, Kara and White Seas in the Arctic Ocean. We established the relationship between modern ostracod distribution and environmental parameters and applied this knowledge to interpret fossil Quaternary ostracod assemblages. Data on distribution and ecological parameters for different modern Arctic and Boreal species give us an opportunity to interpret even taxonomically poor samples. Late Pleistocene-Holocene ostracod assemblages from the eastern Arctic shelves and their stratigraphic succession in the studied cores reflect the environmental transition during the gradual deepening of the sites and distance increase from the coastline during the Postglacial sea-level rise. Variations in fossil ostracod assemblages at the continental slope location suggest temporal increases in modified Atlantic water inflow, as well as point to periods of glacier meltwater and freshwater input. Late Saalian-Eemian assemblages from the White Sea area contain typical Arctic representatives as well as taxa inhabiting boreal and more southern locations and the majority of species present are known to tolerate decreased salinities. Assemblage changes reflect the transition from the initial stage of inundation, with active hydrodynamics, to stable marine conditions with subsequent warming and shallowing of the basin.

Ciliate SSU-rDNA reference alignments and trees for phylogenetic placements of metabarcoding data

Although ciliates are one of the most dominant microbial eukaryotic groups in many environments, there is a lack of updated global ciliate alignments and reference trees that can be used for phylogenetic placement methods to analyze environmental metabarcoding data. Here we fill this gap by providing reference alignments and trees for those ciliates taxa with available SSU-rDNA sequences derived from identified species. Each alignment contains 478 ciliate and six outgroup taxa, and they were made using different masking strategies for alignment positions (unmasked, masked and masked except the hypervariable V4 region). We constrained the monophyly of the major ciliate groups based on the recently updated classification of protists and based on phylogenomic data. Taxa of uncertain phylogenetic position were kept unconstrained, except for Mesodinium species that we constrained to form a clade with the Litostomatea. These ciliate reference alignments and trees can be used to perform taxonomic assignments of metabarcoding data, discover novel ciliate clades, estimate species richness, and overlay measured ecological parameters onto the phylogenetic placements.

Short Communication: Using ecological parameters to assess the sustainability of mangrove ecotourism in Jeneponto, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Askar H, Tahang H, Sutinah S, Fakhriyyah S, Bahar A, Tresnati J, Tuwo A. 2021. Short Communication: Using ecological parameters to assess the sustainability of mangrove ecotourism in Jeneponto, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 3571-3577. Mangrove forest is an essential ecosystem that provides various ecosystem services. Among various land use management in mangrove areas, ecotourism is considered as a sustainable economic activity that can improve socio-economic benefits while conserving the mangrove ecosystem. Therefore, ecotourism management must refer to sustainable development principles. This study aims to assess the sustainability status of mangrove forests in Idaman Mangrove Ecotourism in Balang Baru Village, Tarowang Sub-district, Jeneponto District, South Sulawesi, Indonesia using some parameters including the extent, density and diversity of mangrove vegetation, tidal height and animal biota that occurred in the mangroves. The study used line transect method and quadrat transect, and the data were analyzed using Rapfish (Rapid Appraisal for Fisheries) method. The study indicated that the sustainability status of IME for the ecological dimension was in the entirely sustainable category with an ecological dimension value was 58.50. While the mangrove is currently managed sustainably, to go further, it requires all stakeholders' cooperation in improving the dimensions of sustainability, which had a low value, especially the mangrove trees thickness.