Youssef Gharnit, Aboubakre Outourakhte, Abdelaziz Moujane
et al.
The Moroccan High Atlas ecosystems, particularly the Geopark M’goun, face increasing threats from demographic and environmental pressures, necessitating urgent assessment. The habitat mapping is carried out using remote sensing and GIS techniques, along with fieldwork and Google Earth records. Habitat ecology is established using climate data, bioclimatic levels, vegetation levels, substrate types, and elevation data. Additionally, NDVI, change detection, and supervised classification are combined to assess habitat change. As a result, the M’goun Geopark exhibits an outstinding habitat diversity; Quercus ilex (27.53%) dominates up to 3000 m, favoring limestone and dolomites in subhumid zones, while Juniperus phoenicea (14.78%) occupies lower altitudes (up to 2000 m) and semi-arid regions. Pinus halepensis (1.38%) flourishes between 1100 and 2000 m, mainly in detrital formations and limestone, adaptable to semi-arid and subhumid bioclimates. Juniperus thurifera (1.33%) and xerophyte cushions (6.84%) thrive at high elevations in limestone terrains within subhumid cold bioclimate variants. Secondary habitats, including Chamaerops humilis, Buxus, and Euphorbia resinifera, thrive within the primary habitats. Furthermore, Juniperus thurifera and Pinus halepensis forests are severely degraded, while Quercus ilex and Juniperus phoenicea forests, though degraded, are more resilient. This funding supports conservation initiatives in Mediterranean ecosystems, addressing the urgent preservation and restoration policies.
ABSTRACT Canopy structure plays a critical role in regulating forest regeneration and soil nutrient dynamics, yet its specific effects remain insufficiently understood in the subtropical forests of Nepal. This study investigates the impact of canopy openness on forest regeneration and soil nutrients in six Shorea robusta‐dominated mixed community forests within the Chure region of Makawanpur District, Nepal. A total of 90 sample plots for regeneration assessment and 45 soil samples were systematically distributed across three canopy classes—dense (70%–100%), moderate (40%–70%), and open (10%–40%) to evaluate seedling and sapling density, species diversity, and key soil nutrients (N, P, K, SOM, and SOC). The results revealed a distinct trade‐off between regeneration density and species diversity. Seedling density was significantly higher in open canopies, following a clear gradient (open > moderate > dense, p < 0.001), whereas sapling density showed no significant difference among canopy classes. In contrast, biodiversity indices (Shannon–Wiener, Simpson's, and equitability) were consistently highest in dense canopies for both seedlings and saplings. Canopy openness also had a strong influence on soil fertility: soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (SOC), and total nitrogen (N) were all significantly higher in open canopies, supported by positive Spearman correlations (e.g., SOM, ρ = 0.51). Phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) levels were unaffected. These findings highlight a trade‐off between regeneration density and diversity, emphasizing the importance of balanced canopy management to sustain both species diversity and soil fertility. The study provides valuable ecological insights for optimizing canopy interventions and promoting sustainable forest management in Nepal's community forests.
Hsi-Lung Hsieh, Ming-Chin Yu, Yu-Chia Chang
et al.
Gastric inflammation-related disorders are commonly observed digestive system illnesses characterized by the activation of proinflammatory cytokines, particularly tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). This results in the induction of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)/prostaglandin E<sub>2</sub> (PEG<sub>2</sub>) and matrix metallopeptidase-9 (MMP-9). These factors contribute to the pathogenesis of gastric inflammation disorders. We examined the preventive effects of <i>Lonicera japonica</i> Thunb. ethanol extract (Lj-EtOH) on gastric inflammation induced by TNF-α in normal human gastric mucosa epithelial cells (GES-1). The GES-1 cell line was used to establish a model that simulated the overexpression of COX-2/PGE<sub>2</sub> and MMP-9 proteins induced by TNF-α to examine the anti-inflammatory properties of Lj extracts. The results indicated that Lj-EtOH exhibits significant inhibitory effects on COX-2/PEG<sub>2</sub> and MMP-9 activity, attenuates cell migration, and provides protection against TNF-α-induced gastric inflammation. The protective effects of Lj-EtOH are associated with the modulation of COX-2/PEG<sub>2</sub> and MMP-9 through the activation of TNFR–ERK 1/2 signaling pathways as well as the involvement of c-Fos and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathways. Based on our findings, Lj-EtOH exhibits a preventive effect on human gastric epithelial cells. Consequently, it may represent a novel treatment for the management of gastric inflammation.
Atieh Alipour, Farnaz Yarveysi, Hamed Moftakhari
et al.
Abstract The current Tropical Cyclones (TCs) scaling system, Saffir‐Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS), characterizes the hazardousness of these events solely based on wind speed. This is despite the fact that TCs are classic examples of compound hazards during which multiple hazard drivers that are wind, storm surge, and intense rainfall interact and yield in impacts greater than the sum of individuals. Studies have shown that people's decision to evacuate is highly related to the estimated SSHWS category. Thus, the current SSHWS ‐based classification of TCs yields an underestimation of the hazardousness of TCs and so may misguide the threatened communities. Here, we propose a new scaling system that uses Copulas for categorizing TCs based on the likelihood of a given set of severity for rainfall, surge, and wind speed. We use a variety of data sources to obtain the timing and intensity of wind speed, rainfall along the track, and the associated maximum surge for 102 TCs that have made landfall in the United States' Atlantic and Gulf coasts between 1979 and 2020. Comparing the outputs of our scaling system with official damage reporting for the costliest TCs in the history of the United States, we show that the proposed approach significantly improves TC hazard communication and can be useful for informing decision makers and emergency responders.
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The gall midges, Janetiella convolvuli Mirumyan & Skuhravá, 2017 and Orseolia cynodontis Kieffer & Massalongo, 1902 are discovered in Iran for the first time based on adult specimens reared from galls on Convolvulus arvensis L. (Convolvulaceae) and Cynodon dactylon (L.) Persoon (Poaceae), respectively. The galls of J. convolvuli and O. cynodontis were previously recorded only in Armenia and European/African sections of the western part of the Palaearctic region, respectively. Some relevant diagnostic characters, photographs, ecological and biological notes, and distributional data for the newly recorded species are provided.
Silicon (Si) is a ubiquitous element in soil with well-known beneficial effects under certain conditions, in several plant species, if supplied in available form for uptake. It may alleviate damage in various stress situations and may also promote growth when no obvious stressors are applied. Effects of Si are often linked to mitigation of oxidative stress, in particular to the induction of antioxidant defense mechanisms. In the work presented, the impact of silicon provision on pro-oxidant systems was investigated in cucumber. Plants of the F1 cultivar hybrid ‘Joker’ were grown under in vitro conditions in the absence of any applied external stressor. Silicon provision decreased H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> content and lowered lipid peroxidation in the leaves of the treated plants. This was paralleled by declining polyamine oxidase (PAO) and diamine oxidase (DAO) activities. Several PAO as well as lipoxygenase (LOX) genes were coordinately downregulated in Si-treated plants. Unlike in similar systems studied earlier, the Si effect was not associated with an increased transcript level of gene coding for antioxidant enzymes. These results suggest an inhibitory effect of Si provision on pro-oxidant amine oxidases, which may decrease the level of reactive oxygen species by retarding their production. This extends the molecular mechanisms linked to silicon effects onto redox balance in plants.
World-systems scholars are increasingly engaged in issues at the intersection of ecological and economic concerns since the proliferation of debates on the Anthropocene. Recently, the alternative concept of Capitalocene—age of Capital—has emerged to draw attention to the world-ecological disruption of capitalism founded on cheap nature appropriation at ever-emerging extraction zones. This paper extends these discussions to the oceanic frontier, as the latest trend in the abstraction of value from the environment. Based on original archival research conducted in the context of a larger ethnographic project on the politics of industrial desalination—creating potable water from the sea—the article analyzes how this practice emerged in two phases. First, the Cold War opened the ocean as a commodity frontier during the pax Americana. Then, when this technopolitical agenda stagnated, financialization techniques were deployed to appropriate seawater, utilizing a mode of financial engineering—desalination via financialization reinstates the cultural hegemony of the Capitalocene that privileges infrastructure for water supply management solutions. As such, the article highlights the co-production of nature with financial capitalism.
Machiko Minatoya, Sachiko Itoh, Keiko Yamazaki
et al.
Abstract Background Studies reported adverse behavioral development including internalizing and externalizing problems in association with prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates; however, findings were not sufficient due to using different assessment tools and child ages among studies. This study aimed to examine associations between maternal serum levels of BPA and phthalate metabolites and behavioral problems at preschool age. Methods The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess behavioral problems at 5 years of age. BPA and phthalate metabolite levels in the first trimester maternal serum was determined by LC-MS/MS for 458 children. Variables used for adjustment were parental ages, maternal cotinine levels, family income during pregnancy, child sex, birth order, and age at SDQ completed. Results The median concentrations of BPA, MnBP, MiBP, MEHP, and MECPP, primary and secondary metabolites of phthalates, were 0.062, 26.0, 7.0, 1.40, and 0.20 ng/ml, respectively. MECPP level was associated with increase conduct problem risk (OR = 2.78, 95% CI 1.36–5.68) overall and the association remained after child sex stratification, and odds ratios were increased with wider confidence interval (OR = 2.85, 95% CI 1.07–7.57 for boys, OR = 4.04, 95% CI 1.31–12.5 for girls, respectively). BPA, ∑DBPm (MnBP + MiBP), and ∑DEHPm (MEHP+MECPP) levels were not associated with any of the child behavioral problems. Conclusions Our analyses found no significant association between BPA or summation of phthalate metabolite levels and any of the behavioral problems at 5 years of age but suggested possible association between MECPP levels and increased risk of conduct problems.
Kwasi M. Connor, Aaron Sung, Nathan S. Garcia
et al.
The intertidal mussel Mytilus californianus is a critical foundation species that is exposed to fluctuations in the environment along tidal- and wave-exposure gradients. We investigated feeding and digestion in mussels under laboratory conditions and across environmental gradients in the field. We assessed whether mussels adopt a rate-maximization (higher ingestion and lower assimilation) or a yield-maximization acquisition (lower ingestion and higher assimilation) strategy under laboratory conditions by measuring feeding physiology and digestive enzyme activities. We used digestive enzyme activity to define resource acquisition strategies in laboratory studies, then measured digestive enzyme activities in three microhabitats at the extreme ends of the tidal- and wave-exposure gradients within a stretch of shore (<20 m) projected sea-ward. Our laboratory results indicated that mussels benefit from a high assimilation efficiency when food concentration is low and have a low assimilation efficiency when food concentration is high. Additionally, enzyme activities of carbohydrases amylase, laminarinase and cellulase were elevated when food concentration was high. The protease trypsin, however, did not increase with increasing food concentration. In field conditions, low-shore mussels surprisingly did not have high enzyme activities. Rather, high-shore mussels exhibited higher cellulase activities than low-shore mussels. Similarly, trypsin activity in the high-shore-wave-sheltered microhabitat was higher than that in high-shore-wave-exposed. As expected, mussels experienced increasing thermal stress as a function of reduced submergence from low to high shore and shelter from wave-splash. Our findings suggest that mussels compensate for limited feeding opportunities and thermal stress by modulating digestive enzyme activities.
The purpose of this study is exploring the role of some chemicals, namely magnetic iron (Fe3O4) and sodium selenate (Na2SeO4) on avoiding or minimizing soil salt hazards on growth and quality of Jacaranda acutifolia Humb. & Bonpl. seedlings. Thus, a pot experiment was conducted under the full sun at the nursery of Hort. Res. Inst., ARC, Giza, Egypt during 2011 and 2012 seasons, where one-year-old seedlings of Jacaranda were planted in 30 cm diameter plastic pots filled with about 7 kg of sand and clay mixture (1:1, v:v) salinized with an equal mixture of NaCl and CaCl2 pure salts (1:1, w:w) at the concentrations of 0, 1000, 2000 and 4000 ppm. Magnetic iron was applied three times as soil drench at the rate of 4 g/pot, while sodium selenate was added 3 times as foliar spray at 2 ppm. The effect of a combination between Fe3O4 at 4 g/pot and Na2SeO4 at 2 ppm was also studied. The obtained results revealed that means of vegetative and root growth characters were progressively decreased with increasing soil salinity level with significant differences relative to control means in the two seasons, but they were significantly increased as a result of applying magnetic iron, selenate or both in the combined treatment. The best vegetative and root growth, however was attained by planting in unsalinized soil mixture with the addition of both Fe3O4 (4 g/pot) and Na2SeO4 (2 ppm), as this interaction treatment gave the tallest plants, the longest root, the highest number of leaves and the heaviest fresh and dry weights of aerial parts and roots compared to all other interactions in both seasons. It was also noticed that leaf content of chlorophyll a and b and percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were gradually decreased as the soil salinity level was increased, while they were significantly increased by drenching the soil with magnetic iron or spraying the foliage with the sodium selenate solution, or by adding these two chemicals in together. The opposite was the right regarding leaf content of carotenoids, sodium %, chloride % and free proline, as these constituents were progressively increased with rising salinity level, but were decreased by the two used chemicals when applied either individually or in combination. In general, applying magnetic iron alone or combining with Naselenate gave better results than the sole application of Na-selenate, whereas the mastery in all previous measurements was for the interaction of planting in unsalinized soil plus application of Fe3O4 (4 g/pot) + Na2SeO4 (2 ppm) that recorded the utmost high means in both seasons. From these results, it is recommended to drench the soil mixture with 4 g/pot of magnetic iron, alone or plus spraying of Na-selenate 2 ppm on the foliage to get the best growth and quality of Jacaranda acutifolia seedlings planted in either salinized or unsalinized soil.
A. S. Abdusamadov, G. M. Abdurahmanov, A. M. Dohtukaeva
et al.
The article presents Hydrobiological characterization of marine, brackish water and freshwater fisheries reservoirs of the West-Caspian region and the development of phytoplankton in them.
Due to the paucity of suitable habitat, hippos are very rare in the Congo Bassin. Compared to East-African populations, Central African populations of hippos have been less studied. Information found in the literature regarding the animal's basic ecology is limited. This study focuses on the description of the diet of an isolated hippo population in Loango National Park (Gabon), comparing faecal analysis with a reference collection of herbaceous species from the savannas. The effectiveness of using faecal analysis versus using the floristic description of hippos' pastures was demonstrated. The most frequent herbaceous species identified in faeces samples were Paspalum vaginatum, Axonopus compressus, Stenotaphrum secundatum (Poaceae) and Desmodium triflorum (Fabaceae). The voluntary consumption of a dicotyledonous species (Desmodium triflorum) is novel for this species.
Lucie Raymond, Manuel Plantegenest, Bertrand Gauffre
et al.
Winter ecology of natural enemies has a great influence on the level and efficiency of biological control at spring. The hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus (DeGeer) (Diptera: Syrphidae) is one of the most important natural predators of crop aphids in Europe. Three different overwintering strategies coexist in this species which makes it a good model in order to study ecologically-based speciation processes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether E. balteatus populations with alternative overwintering strategies are genetically differentiated. To that aim, we developed 12 specific microsatellite markers and evaluated the level of neutral genetic differentiation between E. balteatus field populations that overwinter in the three different ways described in this species (i.e. migration, local overwintering at a pre-imaginal stage, and local overwintering at adult stage). Results showed a lack of neutral genetic differentiation between individuals with different overwintering strategies although there are strong ecological differences between them. All pair-wise FST values are below 0.025 and non-significant, and Bayesian clustering showed K=1 was the most likely number of genetic clusters throughout our sample. The three overwintering strategies form one unique panmictic population. This suggests that all the individuals may have genetic material for the expression of different overwintering phenotypes, and that their commitment in one particular overwintering strategy may depend on environmental and individual factors. Consequently, the prevalence of the different overwintering strategies would be potentially modified by landscape engineering and habitat management which could have major implications for biological control.
The article brings a particular reflection on centrality as a network of urban places. A decisive change in contemporary urbanization has been the creation of new places in cities –places configured in various settings such as “shopping malls”, revamped historic areas, sports arenas, multiplexes, museums, libraries– which try to “clone” qualities found elsewhere, or that create what is believed to assign quality to an urban space. The article acknowledges there are good possibilities for the issuing of human existential experiences in those places, contemplating them from the perspective of an increase in richer and more varied centralities stimulating social contacts. To demonstrate this it brings a selection of exemplary cities that count with off-center-centers. The paper brings advancements in the understanding of the concept of place; addresses the persistent concept of centrality and its new spatial correlations; and elaborates on centrality configured by excentric centers.
The freezing point (FP) was established in 48 bulk tank samples of raw and 48 samples of pasteurized goat milk that were collected in the course of lactation. Alongside, non-fat solids (NFS) content was monitored. Milk freezing point measurements were carried out using the thermistor cryoscope method in compliance with the standard CTS 570538 (1998). The mean freezing point of raw milk was found to be in an interval of -0.5513 ± 0.0046°C, variation ranged from -0.5466°C to -0.5567°C, with higher values in the spring months and a drop at the end of lactation. FP corresponded to the NFS content. The average freezing point of goat milk heat-treated on the farm to the temperature of 72°C over a period of 20 s was -0.5488 ± 0.0046°C, pasteurisation brought an average increase in FP by 0.0025°C.