Characterization of Ancient Mortars from Minoan City of Kommos in Crete

This work characterizes ancient mortars used in construction of the Bronze Age Minoan port at Kommos in Crete. The port dates from c. 1850 BCE with port facilities at the harbor and residences on the Central hillside and the Hilltop. A Greek, Phoenician, and Roman sanctuary overlies the administrative center. The first step collected representative samples from the different construction phases, previous conservation interventions, exposure to different environmental factors, and different material composition. From these 10 mortar samples were analyzed using stereo- and digital microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to determine texture, morphology, mineralogical, and physico-chemical properties. The physico-chemical and mineralogical analyses divided the samples into two groups: lime binder mortars and earthen binder mortars. The main minerals identified in the samples are calcite, quartz, dolomite, illite, albite, kaolinite, and vermiculite. Analysis of local clay showed that local materials were used in the production of these mortars. The analysis of mortar samples with stereomicroscopy, XRF, and FTIR showed that the samples are mainly composed of calcite and silicates in major quantities along with aluminum, magnesium, and iron oxide in minor quantities. A wide variety of local aggregates and ceramic fragments were used in the production of these ancient mortars. The mortar condition resulted in a decay state that needs conservation interventions. This characterization of the ancient mortars was important for the design of compatible restoration mortars.

Varietal Threat Index for Monitoring Crop Diversity on Farms in Five Agro-Ecological Regions in India

Our knowledge about the status of agrobiodiversity on farms is still very limited. While several studies to assess the crop genetic diversity on farms have been undertaken, there are no systematic documentation and monitoring practices for varietal diversity in space and time. Achievement of the agrobiodiversity Aichi Target 13, established under the Biodiversity Strategy Plan 2011–2020, have failed due to the lack of existing data on varietal diversity at country, regional and global levels. Here, we propose a method for calculating the Varietal Threat Index using the four-cell analysis (FCA) participatory methodology at different geographical scales to monitor changes in the varietal diversity on farms and to compare between areas. We tested the method with datasets collected from the UN-Environment GEF project implemented in India, in which data on crop and varietal diversity were collected across seven states in India, covering five agroecological regions. Results showed that landraces are still commonly grown in the study sites, especially in the central and western regions, and that more than 50% of landraces are considered threatened, suggesting that conservation interventions are required to prevent large-scale genetic erosion. A long-term monitoring framework for varietal diversity in India is proposed.

Census of heat tolerance among Florida's threatened staghorn corals finds resilient individuals throughout existing nursery populations

The rapid loss of reef-building corals owing to ocean warming is driving the development of interventions such as coral propagation and restoration, selective breeding and assisted gene flow. Many of these interventions target naturally heat-tolerant individuals to boost climate resilience, but the challenges of quickly and reliably quantifying heat tolerance and identifying thermotolerant individuals have hampered implementation. Here, we used coral bleaching automated stress systems to perform rapid, standardized heat tolerance assays on 229 colonies of Acropora cervicornis across six coral nurseries spanning Florida's Coral Reef, USA. Analysis of heat stress dose–response curves for each colony revealed a broad range in thermal tolerance among individuals (approx. 2.5°C range in F v /F m ED50), with highly reproducible rankings across independent tests ( r = 0.76). Most phenotypic variation occurred within nurseries rather than between them, pointing to a potentially dominant role of fixed genetic effects in setting thermal tolerance and widespread distribution of tolerant individuals throughout the population. The identification of tolerant individuals provides immediately actionable information to optimize nursery and restoration programmes for Florida's threatened staghorn corals. This work further provides a blueprint for future efforts to identify and source thermally tolerant corals for conservation interventions worldwide.

Reducing publication delay to improve the efficiency and impact of conservation science

Evidence-based decision-making is most effective with comprehensive access to scientific studies. If studies face significant publication delays or barriers, the useful information they contain may not reach decision-makers in a timely manner. This represents a potential problem for mission-oriented disciplines where access to the latest data is required to ensure effective actions are undertaken. We sought to analyse the severity of publication delay in conservation science—a field that requires urgent action to prevent the loss of biodiversity. We used the Conservation Evidence database to assess the length of publication delay (time from finishing data collection to publication) in the literature that tests the effectiveness of conservation interventions. From 7,447 peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed studies of conservation interventions published over eleven decades, we find that the raw mean publication delay was 3.2 years (±2SD = 0.1) and varied by conservation subject. A significantly shorter delay was observed for studies focused on Bee Conservation, Sustainable Aquaculture, Management of Captive Animals, Amphibian Conservation, and Control of Freshwater Invasive Species (Estimated Marginal Mean range from 1.4–1.9 years). Publication delay was significantly shorter for the non-peer-reviewed literature (Estimated Marginal Mean delay of 1.9 years ± 0.2) compared to the peer-reviewed literature (i.e., scientific journals; Estimated Marginal Mean delay of 3.0 years ± 0.1). We found publication delay has significantly increased over time (an increase of ~1.2 years from 1912 (1.4 years ± 0.2) to 2020 (2.6 years ± 0.1)), but this change was much weaker and non-significant post-2000s; we found no evidence for any decline. There was also no evidence that studies on more threatened species were subject to a shorter delay—indeed, the contrary was true for mammals, and to a lesser extent for birds. We suggest a range of possible ways in which scientists, funders, publishers, and practitioners can work together to reduce delays at each stage of the publication process.

Tapping into non-English-language science for the conservation of global biodiversity

The widely held assumption that any important scientific information would be available in English underlies the underuse of non-English-language science across disciplines. However, non-English-language science is expected to bring unique and valuable scientific information, especially in disciplines where the evidence is patchy, and for emergent issues where synthesising available evidence is an urgent challenge. Yet such contribution of non-English-language science to scientific communities and the application of science is rarely quantified. Here, we show that non-English-language studies provide crucial evidence for informing global biodiversity conservation. By screening 419,679 peer-reviewed papers in 16 languages, we identified 1,234 non-English-language studies providing evidence on the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation interventions, compared to 4,412 English-language studies identified with the same criteria. Relevant non-English-language studies are being published at an increasing rate in 6 out of the 12 languages where there were a sufficient number of relevant studies. Incorporating non-English-language studies can expand the geographical coverage (i.e., the number of 2° × 2° grid cells with relevant studies) of English-language evidence by 12% to 25%, especially in biodiverse regions, and taxonomic coverage (i.e., the number of species covered by the relevant studies) by 5% to 32%, although they do tend to be based on less robust study designs. Our results show that synthesising non-English-language studies is key to overcoming the widespread lack of local, context-dependent evidence and facilitating evidence-based conservation globally. We urge wider disciplines to rigorously reassess the untapped potential of non-English-language science in informing decisions to address other global challenges. Please see the Supporting information files for Alternative Language Abstracts.

Analysis of Seismic Retrofitting in Heritage Buildings: Techniques and Conservation Interventions

Earthquakes result in major structural damage or outright collapse of buildings. Recent earthquakes have shown that historic buildings retrofitted to withstand earthquakes survive better than those that have not been upgraded. India is a country with a rich architectural and cultural heritage with a large number of religious and secular buildings dating back to the 2nd century BC. Heritage buildings are especially vulnerable in case of an earthquake. If once they are lost a part of our history is lost forever. Although heritage buildings can be retrofitted to survive earthquakes, many retrofit practices damage or destroy the very features that make such buildings significant. So there is a need to conserve these buildings following the International Venice Charter issued in 1966 to regulate the conservation and restoration of monuments and sites worldwide. This paper studies the various aspects of seismic retrofitting of heritage buildings, new techniques being evolved worldwide, and also discusses preservation issues and scenarios of heritage conservation in India.

Using a Conflict Framework Analysis to Help Beekeepers and Giant Armadillos (Priodontes maximus) Coexist

Damage caused by wildlife is one reason preventing peaceful coexistence between humans and wildlife. To identify the complexity and scope of human-wildlife interactions and to guide conservation interventions, a theoretical framework has been recently proposed, based on the field of conflict analysis and peacebuilding. Despite its importance, to our knowledge, there are no studies yet testing the framework. We therefore adapted and expanded the framework to investigate a wildlife-people interaction scenario, involving damage by giant armadillos (Priodontes maximus) to apiaries in the Brazilian Cerrado biome of Mato Grosso do Sul state. From August to November 2018, we interviewed 111 beekeepers identified through a mixed random and snowball sampling design to assess at which level of conflict this interaction could be framed, and to identify strategies able to promote coexistence. Analysis of the five key areas of the framework suggested the current human-wildlife interaction is a level one conflict. This means the negative relation between beekeepers and giant armadillos is still not rooted in less visible, more complex social disagreements, but founded in a material dispute: destruction of beehives. We used the findings to create an intervention strategy which involves: (i) the implementation of mitigation strategies that prevent giant armadillos from predating beehives; (ii) a certification scheme to acknowledge beekeepers' efforts to implement the mitigation strategies, and (iii) a Citizen Science Program using an app that enables data gathering for adaptive management, as well as maintains beekeeper engagement. We hope beekeepers-giant armadillos' coexistence will become beneficial rather than a challenge with the novel interventions.