Scientific approach as an understanding and applications of hydrological concepts of tropical rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haryanto, Z.; Setyasih, I.

2018-04-01

East Kalimantan has a variety of biomes, one of which is tropical rain forests. Tropical rain forests have enormous hydrological potential, so it is necessary to provide understanding to prospective teachers. Hydrology material cannot be separated from the concept of science, for it is needed the right way of learning so students easily understand the material. This research uses descriptive method with research subject is geography education students taking hydrology course at Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Mulawarman University. The results showed that the students were able to observe, ask question, collect data, give reason, and communicate the hydrological conditions of tropical rain forest biomes, especially related to surface ground water and groundwater conditions. Tropical rainforests are very influenced by the hydrological conditions of the region and the availability of water is affected by the forest area as a catchment area. Therefore, the tropical rainforest must be maintained in condition and its duration, so that there is no water crisis and hydrological related disasters.

Water, land, fire, and forest: Multi-scale determinants of rainforests in the Australian monsoon tropics.

PubMed

Ondei, Stefania; Prior, Lynda D; Williamson, Grant J; Vigilante, Tom; Bowman, David M J S

2017-03-01

The small rainforest fragments found in savanna landscapes are powerful, yet often overlooked, model systems to understand the controls of these contrasting ecosystems. We analyzed the relative effect of climatic variables on rainforest density at a subcontinental level, and employed high-resolution, regional-level analyses to assess the importance of landscape settings and fire activity in determining rainforest density in a frequently burnt Australian savanna landscape. Estimates of rainforest density (ha/km 2 ) across the Northern Territory and Western Australia, derived from preexisting maps, were used to calculate the correlations between rainforest density and climatic variables. A detailed map of the northern Kimberley (Western Australia) rainforests was generated and analyzed to determine the importance of geology and topography in controlling rainforests, and to contrast rainforest density on frequently burnt mainland and nearby islands. In the northwestern Australian, tropics rainforest density was positively correlated with rainfall and moisture index, and negatively correlated with potential evapotranspiration. At a regional scale, rainforests showed preference for complex topographic positions and more fertile geology. Compared with mainland areas, islands had significantly lower fire activity, with no differences between terrain types. They also displayed substantially higher rainforest density, even on level terrain where geomorphological processes do not concentrate nutrients or water. Our multi-scale approach corroborates previous studies that suggest moist climate, infrequent fires, and geology are important stabilizing factors that allow rainforest fragments to persist in savanna landscapes. These factors need to be incorporated in models to predict the future extent of savannas and rainforests under climate change.

Impacts of warming on tropical lowland rainforests.

PubMed

Corlett, Richard T

2011-11-01

Before the end of this century, tropical rainforests will be subject to climatic conditions that have not existed anywhere on Earth for millions of years. These forests are the most species-rich ecosystems in the world and play a crucial role in regulating carbon and water feedbacks in the global climate system; therefore, it is important that the probable impacts of anthropogenic climate change are understood. However, the recent literature shows a striking range of views on the vulnerability of tropical rainforests, from least to most concern among major ecosystems. This review, which focuses on the impact of rising temperatures, examines the evidence for and against high vulnerability, identifies key research needs for resolving current differences and suggests ways of mitigating or adapting to potential impacts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

To Tip or Not to Tip: The Case of the Congo Basin Rainforest Realm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pietsch, S.; Bednar, J. E.; Fath, B. D.; Winter, P. A.

2017-12-01

The future response of the Congo basin rainforest, the second largest tropical carbon reservoir, to climate change is still under debate. Different Climate projections exist stating increase and decrease in rainfall and different changes in rainfall patterns. Within this study we assess all options of climate change possibilities to define the climatic thresholds of Congo basin rainforest stability and assess the limiting conditions for rainforest persistence. We use field data from 199 research plots from the Western Congo basin to calibrate and validate a complex BioGeoChemistry model (BGC-MAN) and assess model performance against an array of possible future climates. Next, we analyze the reasons for the occurrence of tipping points, their spatial and temporal probability of occurrence, will present effects of hysteresis and derive probabilistic spatial-temporal resilience landscapes for the region. Additionally, we will analyze attractors of forest growth dynamics and assess common linear measures for early warning signals of sudden shifts in system dynamics for their robustness in the context of the Congo Basin case, and introduce the correlation integral as a nonlinear measure of risk assessment.

Researching the Rain Forest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chazdon, Robin L.

1995-01-01

An autobiography of a female ecologist working in the Costa Rican rainforest is provided as an inspiration for girls. The scientist briefly tells her life story and describes her research activities. (LZ)

Leaf and whole-tree water use relations of Australian rainforest species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishida, Yoko; Laurance, Susan; Liddell, Michael; Lloyd, Jonathan

2015-04-01

Climate change induces drought events and may therefore cause significant impact on tropical rainforests, where most plants are reliant on high water availability - potentially affecting the distribution, composition and abundance of plant species. Using an experimental approach, we are studying the effects of a simulated drought on lowland rainforest plants at the Daintree Rainforest Observatory (DRO), in tropical northern Australia. Before to build up the rainout infrastructure, we installed sap flow meters (HRM) on 62 rainforest trees. Eight tree species were selected with diverse ecological strategies including wood density values ranging from 0.34 to 0.88 g/cm3 and could be replicated within a 1ha plot: Alstonia scholaris (Apocynaceae), Argyrondendron peralatum (Malvaceae), Elaeocarpus angustifolius (Elaeocarpaceae), Endiandra microneura (Lauraceae), Myristica globosa (Myristicaceae), Syzygium graveolens (Myrtaceae), Normanbya normanbyi (Arecaceae), and Castanospermum australe (Fabaceae). Our preliminary results from sap flow data obtained from October 2013 to December of 2014 showed differences in the amount of water used by our trees varied in response to species, size and climate. For example Syzygium graveolens has used a maximum of 60 litres/day while Argyrondendrum peralatum used 13 litres/day. Other potential causes for differential water-use between species and the implications of our research will be discussed. We will continue to monitor sap flow during the rainfall exclusion (2014 to 2016) to determine the effects of plant physiological traits on water use strategies.

State and evolution of the African rainforests between 1990 and 2010

PubMed Central

Mayaux, Philippe; Pekel, Jean-François; Desclée, Baudouin; Donnay, François; Lupi, Andrea; Achard, Frédéric; Clerici, Marco; Bodart, Catherine; Brink, Andreas; Nasi, Robert; Belward, Alan

2013-01-01

This paper presents a map of Africa's rainforests for 2005. Derived from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer data at a spatial resolution of 250 m and with an overall accuracy of 84%, this map provides new levels of spatial and thematic detail. The map is accompanied by measurements of deforestation between 1990, 2000 and 2010 for West Africa, Central Africa and Madagascar derived from a systematic sample of Landsat images—imagery from equivalent platforms is used to fill gaps in the Landsat record. Net deforestation is estimated at 0.28% yr−1 for the period 1990–2000 and 0.14% yr−1 for the period 2000–2010. West Africa and Madagascar exhibit a much higher deforestation rate than the Congo Basin, for example, three times higher for West Africa and nine times higher for Madagascar. Analysis of variance over the Congo Basin is then used to show that expanding agriculture and increasing fuelwood demands are key drivers of deforestation in the region, whereas well-controlled timber exploitation programmes have little or no direct influence on forest-cover reduction at present. Rural and urban population concentrations and fluxes are also identified as strong underlying causes of deforestation in this study. PMID:23878331

Recently evolved diversity and convergent radiations of rainforest mahoganies (Meliaceae) shed new light on the origins of rainforest hyperdiversity.

PubMed

Koenen, Erik J M; Clarkson, James J; Pennington, Terence D; Chatrou, Lars W

2015-07-01

Tropical rainforest hyperdiversity is often suggested to have evolved over a long time-span (the 'museum' model), but there is also evidence for recent rainforest radiations. The mahoganies (Meliaceae) are a prominent plant group in lowland tropical rainforests world-wide but also occur in all other tropical ecosystems. We investigated whether rainforest diversity in Meliaceae has accumulated over a long time or has more recently evolved. We inferred the largest time-calibrated phylogeny for the family to date, reconstructed ancestral states for habitat and deciduousness, estimated diversification rates and modeled potential shifts in macro-evolutionary processes using a recently developed Bayesian method. The ancestral Meliaceae is reconstructed as a deciduous species that inhabited seasonal habitats. Rainforest clades have diversified from the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene onwards. Two contemporaneous Amazonian clades have converged on similar ecologies and high speciation rates. Most species-level diversity of Meliaceae in rainforest is recent. Other studies have found steady accumulation of lineages, but the large majority of plant species diversity in rainforests is recent, suggesting (episodic) species turnover. Rainforest hyperdiversity may best be explained by recent radiations from a large stock of higher level taxa. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

New Reasons to Preserve the Amazon Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costa, M. H.

2014-12-01

Historically, preservation of the rainforest was justified in terms of conservation of biodiversity, protection of indigenous people habitats and maintenance of carbon stocks. Most of these arguments are based on the direct effect of rainforest removal, and ignore second order effects of the presence of the rainforest, such as modulation of regional climate patterns. The rainforest helps define the regional climate of the region, in particular the regional temperature and precipitation patterns. Of course, any activity that depends on the local climate may be affected by changes in the rainforest. Recent evidence in the literature presented enough arguments to believe that the widespread removal of the rainforest will have economic consequences at least in agriculture output and hydroelectric power generation. Economic impacts may affect not only the agriculture and energy sectors, but also several other economic activities that are related to climate. As a country, we are counting with the climate of Amazonia as fixed, but if the present climate needs the presence of the rainforest, we need to quantify the economic value of the climate regulation service provided by the rainforest. Important questions to be answered: How much of the rainforest is needed to conserve the present climate? Where it should stand for best climate regulation? Answer to these questions may affect Brazil´s large-scale policy on land use.

Genomic divergence across ecological gradients in the Central African rainforest songbird (Andropadus virens).

PubMed

Zhen, Ying; Harrigan, Ryan J; Ruegg, Kristen C; Anderson, Eric C; Ng, Thomas C; Lao, Sirena; Lohmueller, Kirk E; Smith, Thomas B

2017-10-01

The little greenbul, a common rainforest passerine from sub-Saharan Africa, has been the subject of long-term evolutionary studies to understand the mechanisms leading to rainforest speciation. Previous research found morphological and behavioural divergence across rainforest-savannah transition zones (ecotones), and a pattern of divergence with gene flow suggesting divergent natural selection has contributed to adaptive divergence and ecotones could be important areas for rainforests speciation. Recent advances in genomics and environmental modelling make it possible to examine patterns of genetic divergence in a more comprehensive fashion. To assess the extent to which natural selection may drive patterns of differentiation, here we investigate patterns of genomic differentiation among populations across environmental gradients and regions. We find compelling evidence that individuals form discrete genetic clusters corresponding to distinctive environmental characteristics and habitat types. Pairwise F ST between populations in different habitats is significantly higher than within habitats, and this differentiation is greater than what is expected from geographic distance alone. Moreover, we identified 140 SNPs that showed extreme differentiation among populations through a genomewide selection scan. These outliers were significantly enriched in exonic and coding regions, suggesting their functional importance. Environmental association analysis of SNP variation indicates that several environmental variables, including temperature and elevation, play important roles in driving the pattern of genomic diversification. Results lend important new genomic evidence for environmental gradients being important in population differentiation. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Direct evidence for human reliance on rainforest resources in late Pleistocene Sri Lanka.

PubMed

Roberts, Patrick; Perera, Nimal; Wedage, Oshan; Deraniyagala, Siran; Perera, Jude; Eregama, Saman; Gledhill, Andrew; Petraglia, Michael D; Lee-Thorp, Julia A

2015-03-13

Human occupation of tropical rainforest habitats is thought to be a mainly Holocene phenomenon. Although archaeological and paleoenvironmental data have hinted at pre-Holocene rainforest foraging, earlier human reliance on rainforest resources has not been shown directly. We applied stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to human and faunal tooth enamel from four late Pleistocene-to-Holocene archaeological sites in Sri Lanka. The results show that human foragers relied primarily on rainforest resources from at least ~20,000 years ago, with a distinct preference for semi-open rainforest and rain forest edges. Homo sapiens' relationship with the tropical rainforests of South Asia is therefore long-standing, a conclusion that indicates the time-depth of anthropogenic reliance and influence on these habitats. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Mapping Biodiversity and Setting Conservation Priorities for SE Queensland’s Rainforests Using DNA Barcoding

PubMed Central

Shapcott, Alison; Forster, Paul I.; Guymer, Gordon P.; McDonald, William J. F.; Faith, Daniel P.; Erickson, David; Kress, W. John

2015-01-01

Australian rainforests have been fragmented due to past climatic changes and more recently landscape change as a result of clearing for agriculture and urban spread. The subtropical rainforests of South Eastern Queensland are significantly more fragmented than the tropical World Heritage listed northern rainforests and are subject to much greater human population pressures. The Australian rainforest flora is relatively taxonomically rich at the family level, but less so at the species level. Current methods to assess biodiversity based on species numbers fail to adequately capture this richness at higher taxonomic levels. We developed a DNA barcode library for the SE Queensland rainforest flora to support a methodology for biodiversity assessment that incorporates both taxonomic diversity and phylogenetic relationships. We placed our SE Queensland phylogeny based on a three marker DNA barcode within a larger international rainforest barcode library and used this to calculate phylogenetic diversity (PD). We compared phylo- diversity measures, species composition and richness and ecosystem diversity of the SE Queensland rainforest estate to identify which bio subregions contain the greatest rainforest biodiversity, subregion relationships and their level of protection. We identified areas of highest conservation priority. Diversity was not correlated with rainforest area in SE Queensland subregions but PD was correlated with both the percent of the subregion occupied by rainforest and the diversity of regional ecosystems (RE) present. The patterns of species diversity and phylogenetic diversity suggest a strong influence of historical biogeography. Some subregions contain significantly more PD than expected by chance, consistent with the concept of refugia, while others were significantly phylogenetically clustered, consistent with recent range expansions. PMID:25803607

Mapping biodiversity and setting conservation priorities for SE Queensland's rainforests using DNA barcoding.

PubMed

Shapcott, Alison; Forster, Paul I; Guymer, Gordon P; McDonald, William J F; Faith, Daniel P; Erickson, David; Kress, W John

2015-01-01

Australian rainforests have been fragmented due to past climatic changes and more recently landscape change as a result of clearing for agriculture and urban spread. The subtropical rainforests of South Eastern Queensland are significantly more fragmented than the tropical World Heritage listed northern rainforests and are subject to much greater human population pressures. The Australian rainforest flora is relatively taxonomically rich at the family level, but less so at the species level. Current methods to assess biodiversity based on species numbers fail to adequately capture this richness at higher taxonomic levels. We developed a DNA barcode library for the SE Queensland rainforest flora to support a methodology for biodiversity assessment that incorporates both taxonomic diversity and phylogenetic relationships. We placed our SE Queensland phylogeny based on a three marker DNA barcode within a larger international rainforest barcode library and used this to calculate phylogenetic diversity (PD). We compared phylo- diversity measures, species composition and richness and ecosystem diversity of the SE Queensland rainforest estate to identify which bio subregions contain the greatest rainforest biodiversity, subregion relationships and their level of protection. We identified areas of highest conservation priority. Diversity was not correlated with rainforest area in SE Queensland subregions but PD was correlated with both the percent of the subregion occupied by rainforest and the diversity of regional ecosystems (RE) present. The patterns of species diversity and phylogenetic diversity suggest a strong influence of historical biogeography. Some subregions contain significantly more PD than expected by chance, consistent with the concept of refugia, while others were significantly phylogenetically clustered, consistent with recent range expansions.

Vegetation and floristics of a lowland tropical rainforest in northeast Australia

PubMed Central

Apgaua, Deborah M. G.; Campbell, Mason J; Cox, Casey J; Crayn, Darren M; Ishida, Françoise Y; Laidlaw, Melinda J; Liddell, Michael J; Seager, Michael; Laurance, Susan G. W.

2016-01-01

Abstract Background Full floristic data, tree demography, and biomass estimates incorporating non-tree lifeforms are seldom collected and reported for forest plots in the tropics. Established research stations serve as important repositories of such biodiversity and ecological data. With a canopy crane setup within a tropical lowland rainforest estate, the 42-ha Daintree Rainforest Observatory (DRO) in Cape Tribulation, northern Australia is a research facility of international significance. We obtained an estimate of the vascular plant species richness for the site, by surveying all vascular plant species from various mature-phase, remnant and open vegetation patches within the site. We also integrate and report the demography and basal areas of trees ≥ 10 cm diameter at breast height (dbh) in a new 1-ha core plot, an extension to the pre-existing forest 1-ha plot under the canopy crane. In addition, we report for the canopy crane plot new demography and basal areas for smaller-size shrubs and treelets subsampled from nine 20 m2 quadrats, and liana basal area and abundance from the whole plot. The DRO site has an estimated total vascular plant species richness of 441 species, of which 172 species (39%) are endemic to Australia, and 4 species are endemics to the Daintree region. The 2 x 1-ha plots contains a total of 262 vascular plant species of which 116 (1531 individuals) are tree species ≥ 10 cm dbh. We estimate a stem basal area of 34.9 m2 ha-1, of which small stems (tree saplings and shrubs <10cm dbh) and lianas collectively contribute c.4.2%. Comparing the stem density-diversity patterns of the DRO forest with other tropical rainforests globally, our meta-analysis shows that DRO forests has a comparatively high stem density and moderate species diversity, due to the influence of cyclones. These data will provide an important foundation for ecological and conservation studies in lowland tropical forest. New information We present a floristic checklist, a lifeform breakdown, and demography data from two 1-ha rainforest plots from a lowland tropical rainforest study site. We also present a meta-analysis of stem densities and species diversity from comparable-sized plots across the tropics. PMID:27099552

(En)Countering Social and Environmental Messages in the Rainforest Cafe [sic], Children's Picturebooks, and Other Visual Culture Sites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reisberg, Mira; Han, Sandrine

2009-01-01

Our study critically examines social and environmental messages in a range of visual sites educating about rainforest environments. We focus primarily on the Rainforest Cafe, an international series of rainforest-themed edutainment restaurant/stores, whose inherent contradictions between consumption and conservation are quite disturbing when…

Tropical Rainforests: A Case Study of UK, 13-Year-Olds' Knowledge and Understanding of These Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dove, Jane

2012-01-01

Tropical rainforests are biologically rich ecosystems, which are threatened by a variety of different human activities. This study focuses on students' knowledge and understanding of rainforest locations, their reasons for protecting these environments and their familiarity with selected concepts about rainforest vegetation and soil. These…

Modeling the effects of anthropogenic habitat change on savanna snake invasions into African rainforest.

PubMed

Freedman, Adam H; Buermann, Wolfgang; Lebreton, Matthew; Chirio, Laurent; Smith, Thomas B

2009-02-01

We used a species-distribution modeling approach, ground-based climate data sets, and newly available remote-sensing data on vegetation from the MODIS and Quick Scatterometer sensors to investigate the combined effects of human-caused habitat alterations and climate on potential invasions of rainforest by 3 savanna snake species in Cameroon, Central Africa: the night adder (Causus maculatus), olympic lined snake (Dromophis lineatus), and African house snake (Lamprophis fuliginosus). Models with contemporary climate variables and localities from native savanna habitats showed that the current climate in undisturbed rainforest was unsuitable for any of the snake species due to high precipitation. Limited availability of thermally suitable nest sites and mismatches between important life-history events and prey availability are a likely explanation for the predicted exclusion from undisturbed rainforest. Models with only MODIS-derived vegetation variables and savanna localities predicted invasion in disturbed areas within the rainforest zone, which suggests that human removal of forest cover creates suitable microhabitats that facilitate invasions into rainforest. Models with a combination of contemporary climate, MODIS- and Quick Scatterometer-derived vegetation variables, and forest and savanna localities predicted extensive invasion into rainforest caused by rainforest loss. In contrast, a projection of the present-day species-climate envelope on future climate suggested a reduction in invasion potential within the rainforest zone as a consequence of predicted increases in precipitation. These results emphasize that the combined responses of deforestation and climate change will likely be complex in tropical rainforest systems.

Patterns of Phylogenetic Diversity of Subtropical Rainforest of the Great Sandy Region, Australia Indicate Long Term Climatic Refugia.

PubMed

Howard, Marion G; McDonald, William J F; Forster, Paul I; Kress, W John; Erickson, David; Faith, Daniel P; Shapcott, Alison

2016-01-01

Australia's Great Sandy Region is of international significance containing two World Heritage areas and patches of rainforest growing on white sand. Previous broad-scale analysis found the Great Sandy biogeographic subregion contained a significantly more phylogenetically even subset of species than expected by chance contrasting with rainforest on white sand in Peru. This study aimed to test the patterns of rainforest diversity and relatedness at a finer scale and to investigate why we may find different patterns of phylogenetic evenness compared with rainforests on white sands in other parts of the world. This study focussed on rainforest sites within the Great Sandy and surrounding areas in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. We undertook field collections, expanded our three-marker DNA barcode library of SEQ rainforest plants and updated the phylogeny to 95% of the SEQ rainforest flora. We sampled species composition of rainforest in fixed area plots from 100 sites. We calculated phylogenetic diversity (PD) measures as well as species richness (SR) for each rainforest community. These combined with site variables such as geology, were used to evaluate patterns and relatedness. We found that many rainforest communities in the Great Sandy area were significantly phylogenetically even at the individual site level consistent with a broader subregion analysis. Sites from adjacent areas were either not significant or were significantly phylogenetically clustered. Some results in the neighbouring areas were consistent with historic range expansions. In contrast with expectations, sites located on the oldest substrates had significantly lower phylogenetic diversity (PD). Fraser Island was once connected to mainland Australia, our results are consistent with a region geologically old enough to have continuously supported rainforest in refugia. The interface of tropical and temperate floras in part also explains the significant phylogenetic evenness and higher than expected phylogenetic diversity.

Patterns of Phylogenetic Diversity of Subtropical Rainforest of the Great Sandy Region, Australia Indicate Long Term Climatic Refugia

PubMed Central

Howard, Marion G.; McDonald, William J. F.; Forster, Paul I.; Kress, W. John; Erickson, David; Faith, Daniel P.; Shapcott, Alison

2016-01-01

Australia’s Great Sandy Region is of international significance containing two World Heritage areas and patches of rainforest growing on white sand. Previous broad-scale analysis found the Great Sandy biogeographic subregion contained a significantly more phylogenetically even subset of species than expected by chance contrasting with rainforest on white sand in Peru. This study aimed to test the patterns of rainforest diversity and relatedness at a finer scale and to investigate why we may find different patterns of phylogenetic evenness compared with rainforests on white sands in other parts of the world. This study focussed on rainforest sites within the Great Sandy and surrounding areas in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. We undertook field collections, expanded our three-marker DNA barcode library of SEQ rainforest plants and updated the phylogeny to 95% of the SEQ rainforest flora. We sampled species composition of rainforest in fixed area plots from 100 sites. We calculated phylogenetic diversity (PD) measures as well as species richness (SR) for each rainforest community. These combined with site variables such as geology, were used to evaluate patterns and relatedness. We found that many rainforest communities in the Great Sandy area were significantly phylogenetically even at the individual site level consistent with a broader subregion analysis. Sites from adjacent areas were either not significant or were significantly phylogenetically clustered. Some results in the neighbouring areas were consistent with historic range expansions. In contrast with expectations, sites located on the oldest substrates had significantly lower phylogenetic diversity (PD). Fraser Island was once connected to mainland Australia, our results are consistent with a region geologically old enough to have continuously supported rainforest in refugia. The interface of tropical and temperate floras in part also explains the significant phylogenetic evenness and higher than expected phylogenetic diversity. PMID:27119149

Culture or climate? The relative influences of past processes on the composition of the lowland Congo rainforest.

PubMed

Brncic, Terry M; Willis, Katherine J; Harris, David J; Washington, Richard

2007-02-28

This paper presents the results from a palaeoecological study to establish the impact of prehistoric human activity and climate change on the vegetation and soils of the Goualougo area of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, in the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). This is a region that is known from previous work (through evidence of pottery, furnaces and charcoal layers beneath the present day rainforest vegetation) to have had prehistoric settlement dating back to at least 2000 calibrated years before present. In addition, there is climatic evidence to suggest that significant variations in precipitation have occurred in central Africa over the last few millennia. Presently, the region is covered in uninhabited moist semi-evergreen rainforest. Key research questions addressed in this paper include the extent to which the present-day composition of rainforest in this region is as a result of processes of the past (climate change and/or human activity), and the resilience of the rainforest to these perturbations. Statistical analyses of pollen, microscopic charcoal and geochemical data are used to determine the relationship over time between vegetation dynamics and climate change, anthropogenic burning and metal smelting. Significant changes in forest composition are linked to burning and climate change but not metallurgy. The strongest influence on the present day composition appears to be related to the increased anthropogenic burning that started approximately 1000 years ago. Results from this study are discussed in terms of their implications for the present and future management of this globally important forested region.

Measurements of OH and HO2 Radicals and OH Reactivity at Tropical Locations Using Laser-Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furneaux, K. L.; Whalley, L. K.; Edwards, P.; Goddard, A.; Ingham, T.; Evans, M. J.; Heard, D. E.

2009-04-01

The OH radical is the dominant daytime oxidant in the atmosphere. Together with the closely coupled HO2 radical, these two species (termed HOx) play an important role in determining the composition of the atmosphere. Tropical latitudes are active regions of atmospheric chemistry due to high solar radiation, humidity and temperature. For these reasons, field measurements of HOx in the tropics are crucial to improve understanding of atmospheric chemistry through model - measurement comparisons. Due to the low number of HOx measurements in the tropics, these comparisons are sparse. An aircraft campaign over the pristine Amazon rainforest found HOx concentrations to be high1,2. It has been proposed that this is due to a previously overlooked OH recycling mechanism via the oxidation of isoprene1,2. The need to determine if this is ubiquitous across tropical rainforest regions is necessary. The Leeds FAGE instrument was deployed at the Bukit Atur Global Atmospheric Watch Station, Borneo (5.0N, 117.8E) from April - July 2008 as part of the OP3 project (Oxidant and Particle Photochemical Processes above a South-East Asian tropical rainforest) to measure OH and HO2 concentrations and the OH chemical lifetime by Fluorescence Assay by Gas Expansion (FAGE). These measurements represent the first ground based [HOx] measurements in a tropical rainforest. Chemical activity differed significantly throughout the measurement period. HOx concentrations were elevated in July (average peak [OH] = 5.3 ×106 molecule cm-3) compared to April (average peak [OH] = 2.5 ×106 molecule cm-3), attributed to higher OH sinks in April. Measurements of the OH chemical lifetime can be used to quantify unknown OH sinks. The OH chemical lifetime displayed a diurnal cycle that correlated with isoprene concentrations. At this site isoprene represents the major OH loss route but there are significant unknown fractions. Model calculations result in an under prediction of HOx when measured sinks are included, indicating a missing HOx source. Both OH and HO2 were observed at night. Measurements of HOx at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory (16.9N, 24.9W) were made from May - June 2007 as part of the RHaMBLe (Reactive Halogens in the Marine Boundary Layer) programme. The site is located adjacent to the ocean with an absence of macro algae, providing conditions analogous to open ocean, clean marine air. However, background tropical conditions were not dictated by simple chemistry. Peak OH and HO2 concentrations were 9 × 106 molecule cm-3 and 6 ×108 molecule cm-3, respectively. HO2 was observed at night between 5 - 20 × 106 molecule cm-3. Modelling studies determined oxygenated-VOCs and halogen chemistry to play an important role in HOx chemistry. A comparison of HOx measurements at tropical open ocean and tropical rainforest locations shows that HOx chemistry varies greatly throughout the tropics. Higher HOx sinks in tropical rainforest environments result in a decrease of HOx compared to the tropical open ocean. 1. Lelieveld, J., T. M. Butler, et al. (2008). Atmospheric oxidation capacity sustained by a tropical forest, Nature, 452(7188): 737-740. 2. Martinez, M., Harder, H., et al. (2008). Hydroxyl radicals in the tropical troposphere over the Suriname rainforest: airborne measurements, ACPD, 8, 15491-15536.

Changes in Structure and Functioning of Protist (Testate Amoebae) Communities Due to Conversion of Lowland Rainforest into Rubber and Oil Palm Plantations.

PubMed

Krashevska, Valentyna; Klarner, Bernhard; Widyastuti, Rahayu; Maraun, Mark; Scheu, Stefan

2016-01-01

Large areas of tropical rainforest are being converted to agricultural and plantation land uses, but little is known of biodiversity and ecological functioning under these replacement land uses. We investigated the effects of conversion of rainforest into jungle rubber, intensive rubber and oil palm plantations on testate amoebae, diverse and functionally important protists in litter and soil. Living testate amoebae species richness, density and biomass were all lower in replacement land uses than in rainforest, with the impact being more pronounced in litter than in soil. Similar abundances of species of high and low trophic level in rainforest suggest that trophic interactions are more balanced, with a high number of functionally redundant species, than in rubber and oil palm. In contrast, plantations had a low density of high trophic level species indicating losses of functions. This was particularly so in oil palm plantations. In addition, the relative density of species with siliceous shells was >50% lower in the litter layer of oil palm and rubber compared to rainforest and jungle rubber. This difference suggests that rainforest conversion changes biogenic silicon pools and increases silicon losses. Overall, the lower species richness, density and biomass in plantations than in rainforest, and the changes in the functional composition of the testate amoebae community, indicate detrimental effects of rainforest conversion on the structure and functioning of microbial food webs.

Plant traits demonstrate that temperate and tropical giant eucalypt forests are ecologically convergent with rainforest not savanna.

PubMed

Tng, David Y P; Jordan, Greg J; Bowman, David M J S

2013-01-01

Ecological theory differentiates rainforest and open vegetation in many regions as functionally divergent alternative stable states with transitional (ecotonal) vegetation between the two forming transient unstable states. This transitional vegetation is of considerable significance, not only as a test case for theories of vegetation dynamics, but also because this type of vegetation is of major economic importance, and is home to a suite of species of conservation significance, including the world's tallest flowering plants. We therefore created predictions of patterns in plant functional traits that would test the alternative stable states model of these systems. We measured functional traits of 128 trees and shrubs across tropical and temperate rainforest - open vegetation transitions in Australia, with giant eucalypt forests situated between these vegetation types. We analysed a set of functional traits: leaf carbon isotopes, leaf area, leaf mass per area, leaf slenderness, wood density, maximum height and bark thickness, using univariate and multivariate methods. For most traits, giant eucalypt forest was similar to rainforest, while rainforest, particularly tropical rainforest, was significantly different from the open vegetation. In multivariate analyses, tropical and temperate rainforest diverged functionally, and both segregated from open vegetation. Furthermore, the giant eucalypt forests overlapped in function with their respective rainforests. The two types of giant eucalypt forests also exhibited greater overall functional similarity to each other than to any of the open vegetation types. We conclude that tropical and temperate giant eucalypt forests are ecologically and functionally convergent. The lack of clear functional differentiation from rainforest suggests that giant eucalypt forests are unstable states within the basin of attraction of rainforest. Our results have important implications for giant eucalypt forest management.

Plant Traits Demonstrate That Temperate and Tropical Giant Eucalypt Forests Are Ecologically Convergent with Rainforest Not Savanna

PubMed Central

Tng, David Y. P.; Jordan, Greg J.; Bowman, David M. J. S.

2013-01-01

Ecological theory differentiates rainforest and open vegetation in many regions as functionally divergent alternative stable states with transitional (ecotonal) vegetation between the two forming transient unstable states. This transitional vegetation is of considerable significance, not only as a test case for theories of vegetation dynamics, but also because this type of vegetation is of major economic importance, and is home to a suite of species of conservation significance, including the world’s tallest flowering plants. We therefore created predictions of patterns in plant functional traits that would test the alternative stable states model of these systems. We measured functional traits of 128 trees and shrubs across tropical and temperate rainforest – open vegetation transitions in Australia, with giant eucalypt forests situated between these vegetation types. We analysed a set of functional traits: leaf carbon isotopes, leaf area, leaf mass per area, leaf slenderness, wood density, maximum height and bark thickness, using univariate and multivariate methods. For most traits, giant eucalypt forest was similar to rainforest, while rainforest, particularly tropical rainforest, was significantly different from the open vegetation. In multivariate analyses, tropical and temperate rainforest diverged functionally, and both segregated from open vegetation. Furthermore, the giant eucalypt forests overlapped in function with their respective rainforests. The two types of giant eucalypt forests also exhibited greater overall functional similarity to each other than to any of the open vegetation types. We conclude that tropical and temperate giant eucalypt forests are ecologically and functionally convergent. The lack of clear functional differentiation from rainforest suggests that giant eucalypt forests are unstable states within the basin of attraction of rainforest. Our results have important implications for giant eucalypt forest management. PMID:24358359

Changes in Structure and Functioning of Protist (Testate Amoebae) Communities Due to Conversion of Lowland Rainforest into Rubber and Oil Palm Plantations

PubMed Central

Krashevska, Valentyna; Klarner, Bernhard; Widyastuti, Rahayu; Maraun, Mark; Scheu, Stefan

2016-01-01

Large areas of tropical rainforest are being converted to agricultural and plantation land uses, but little is known of biodiversity and ecological functioning under these replacement land uses. We investigated the effects of conversion of rainforest into jungle rubber, intensive rubber and oil palm plantations on testate amoebae, diverse and functionally important protists in litter and soil. Living testate amoebae species richness, density and biomass were all lower in replacement land uses than in rainforest, with the impact being more pronounced in litter than in soil. Similar abundances of species of high and low trophic level in rainforest suggest that trophic interactions are more balanced, with a high number of functionally redundant species, than in rubber and oil palm. In contrast, plantations had a low density of high trophic level species indicating losses of functions. This was particularly so in oil palm plantations. In addition, the relative density of species with siliceous shells was >50% lower in the litter layer of oil palm and rubber compared to rainforest and jungle rubber. This difference suggests that rainforest conversion changes biogenic silicon pools and increases silicon losses. Overall, the lower species richness, density and biomass in plantations than in rainforest, and the changes in the functional composition of the testate amoebae community, indicate detrimental effects of rainforest conversion on the structure and functioning of microbial food webs. PMID:27463805

Microbial drivers of spatial heterogeneity of nitrous oxide pulse dynamics following drought in an experimental tropical rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, J. C.; Sengupta, A.; U'Ren, J.; Van Haren, J. L. M.; Meredith, L. K.

2017-12-01

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a long-lived, potent greenhouse gas with increasing atmospheric concentrations. Soil microbes in agricultural and natural ecosystems are the dominant source of N2O, which involves complex interactions between N-cycling microbes, metabolisms, soil properties, and plants. Tropical rainforests are the largest natural source of N2O, however the microbial and environmental drivers are poorly understood as few studies have been performed in these environments. Thus, there is an urgent need for further research to fill in knowledge gaps regarding tropical N-cycling, and the response of soil microbial communities to changes in precipitation patterns, temperature, nitrogen deposition, and land use. To address this data gap, we performed a whole-forest drought in the tropical rainforest biome in Biosphere 2 (B2) and analyzed connections between soil microbes, forest heterogeneity, and N2O emissions. The B2 rainforest is the hottest tropical rainforest on Earth, and is an important model system for studying the response of tropical forests to warming with controlled experimentation. In this study, we measured microbial community abundance and diversity profiles (16S rRNA and ITS2 amplicon sequencing) along with their association with soil properties (e.g. pH, C, N) during the drought and rewetting at five locations (3 depths), including regions that have been previously characterized with high and low N2O drought pulse dynamics (van Haren et al., 2005). In this study, we present the spatial distribution of soil microbial communities within the rainforest at Biosphere 2 and their correlations with edaphic factors. In particular, we focus on microbial, soil, and plant factors that drive high and low N2O pulse zones. As in the past, we found that N2O emissions were highest in response to rewetting in a zone hypothesized to be rich in nutrients from a nearby sugar palm. We will characterize microbial indicator species and nitrogen cycling genes to better resolve N cycling across the forest. Understanding how N2O formation is mediated by soil microbes in response to drought in tropical rainforests is challenging given the great diversity of microbial communities and metabolisms involved, but is critical for understanding the source of global increases in atmospheric N2O.

The changing role of fire in conifer-dominated temperate rainforest through the last 14,000 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fletcher, M.-S.; Bowman, D. M. J. S.; Whitlock, C.; Mariani, M.; Stahle, L.

2018-02-01

Climate, fire and vegetation dynamics are often tightly coupled through time. Here, we use a 14 kyr sedimentary charcoal and pollen record from Lake Osborne, Tasmania, Australia, to explore how this relationship changes under varying climatic regimes within a temperate rainforest ecosystem. Superposed epoch analysis reveals a significant relationship between fire and vegetation change throughout the Holocene at our site. Our data indicates an initial resilience of the rainforest system to fire under a stable cool and humid climate regime between ca. 12-6 ka. In contrast, fires that occurred after 6 ka, under an increasingly variable climate regime wrought by the onset of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), resulted in a series of changes within the local rainforest vegetation that culminated in the replacement of rainforest by fire-promoted Eucalypt forest. We suggest that an increasingly variable ENSO-influenced climate regime inhibited rainforest recovery from fire because of slower growth, reduced fecundity and increased fire frequency, thus contributing to the eventual collapse of the rainforest system.

A new skink (Scincidae: Carlia) from the rainforest uplands of Cape Melville, north-east Australia.

PubMed

Hoskin, Conrad J

2014-10-01

Carlia skinks are widespread in New Guinea, Wallacea, and northern and eastern Australia. Most Australian species occur in dry woodlands and savannas or marginal rainforest habitats associated with these. There are two rainforest species, parapatrically distributed in coastal mid-eastern Queensland (C. rhomboidalis) and the Wet Tropics of north-eastern Queensland (C. rubrigularis). These two sister species share a diagnostic morphological trait in having the interparietal scale fused to the frontoparietal. Here I describe a third species in this group, Carlia wundalthini sp. nov., from rainforest uplands of the Melville Range, a rainforest isolate 170 km north of the Wet Tropics. This species is diagnosable on male breeding colouration, morphometrics and scalation. The description of C. wundalthini sp. nov. brings the number of vertebrate species known to be endemic to the rainforest and boulder-fields of Cape Melville to seven. Carlia wundalthini sp. nov. is distinct among these endemics in being the only one that does not appear to be directly associated with rock, being found in rainforest leaf-litter. 

Water-carbon Links in a Tropical Forest: How Interbasin Groundwater Flow Affects Carbon Fluxes and Ecosystem Carbon Budgets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Genereux, David; Osburn, Christopher; Oberbauer, Steven

This report covers the outcomes from a quantitative, interdisciplinary field investigation of how carbon fluxes and budgets in a lowland tropical rainforest are affected by the discharge of old regional groundwater into streams, springs, and wetlands in the forest. The work was carried out in a lowland rainforest of Costa Rica, at La Selva Biological Station. The research shows that discharge of regional groundwater high in dissolved carbon dioxide represents a significant input of carbon to the rainforest "from below", an input that is on average larger than the carbon input "from above" from the atmosphere. A stream receiving dischargemore » of regional groundwater had greatly elevated emissions of carbon dioxide (but not methane) to the overlying air, and elevated downstream export of carbon from its watershed with stream flow. The emission of deep geological carbon dioxide from stream water elevates the carbon dioxide concentrations in air above the streams. Carbon-14 tracing revealed the presence of geological carbon in the leaves and stems of some riparian plants near streams that receive inputs of regional groundwater. Also, discharge of regional groundwater is responsible for input of dissolved organic matter with distinctive chemistry to rainforest streams and wetlands. The discharge of regional groundwater in lowland surface waters has a major impact on the carbon cycle in this and likely other tropical and non-tropical forests.« less

High endemism and stem density distinguish New Caledonian from other high-diversity rainforests in the Southwest Pacific.

PubMed

Ibanez, Thomas; Blanchard, E; Hequet, V; Keppel, G; Laidlaw, M; Pouteau, R; Vandrot, H; Birnbaum, P

2018-01-25

The biodiversity hotspot of New Caledonia is globally renowned for the diversity and endemism of its flora. New Caledonia's tropical rainforests have been reported to have higher stem densities, higher concentrations of relictual lineages and higher endemism than other rainforests. This study investigates whether these aspects differ in New Caledonian rainforests compared to other high-diversity rainforests in the Southwest Pacific. Plants (with a diameter at breast height ≥10 cm) were surveyed in nine 1-ha rainforest plots across the main island of New Caledonia and compared with 14 1-ha plots in high-diversity rainforests of the Southwest Pacific (in Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands). This facilitated a comparison of stem densities, taxonomic composition and diversity, and species turnover among plots and countries. The study inventoried 11 280 stems belonging to 335 species (93 species ha-1 on average) in New Caledonia. In comparison with other rainforests in the Southwest Pacific, New Caledonian rainforests exhibited higher stem density (1253 stems ha-1 on average) including abundant palms and tree ferns, with the high abundance of the latter being unparalleled outside New Caledonia. In all plots, the density of relictual species was ≥10 % for both stems and species, with no discernible differences among countries. Species endemism, reaching 89 % on average, was significantly higher in New Caledonia. Overall, species turnover increased with geographical distance, but not among New Caledonian plots. High stem density, high endemism and a high abundance of tree ferns with stem diameters ≥10 cm are therefore unique characteristics of New Caledonian rainforests. High endemism and high spatial species turnover imply that the current system consisting of a few protected areas is inadequate, and that the spatial distribution of plant species needs to be considered to adequately protect the exceptional flora of New Caledonian rainforests. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Effects of land use on surface–atmosphere exchanges of trace gases and energy in Borneo: comparing fluxes over oil palm plantations and a rainforest

PubMed Central

Fowler, David; Nemitz, Eiko; Misztal, Pawel; Di Marco, Chiara; Skiba, Ute; Ryder, James; Helfter, Carole; Cape, J. Neil; Owen, Sue; Dorsey, James; Gallagher, Martin W.; Coyle, Mhairi; Phillips, Gavin; Davison, Brian; Langford, Ben; MacKenzie, Rob; Muller, Jennifer; Siong, Jambery; Dari-Salisburgo, Cesare; Di Carlo, Piero; Aruffo, Eleonora; Giammaria, Franco; Pyle, John A.; Hewitt, C. Nicholas

2011-01-01

This paper reports measurements of land–atmosphere fluxes of sensible and latent heat, momentum, CO2, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), NO, NO2, N2O and O3 over a 30 m high rainforest canopy and a 12 m high oil palm plantation in the same region of Sabah in Borneo between April and July 2008. The daytime maximum CO2 flux to the two canopies differs by approximately a factor of 2, 1200 mg C m−2 h−1 for the oil palm and 700 mg C m−2 h−1 for the rainforest, with the oil palm plantation showing a substantially greater quantum efficiency. Total VOC emissions are also larger over the oil palm than over the rainforest by a factor of 3. Emissions of isoprene from the oil palm canopy represented 80 per cent of the VOC emissions and exceeded those over the rainforest in similar light and temperature conditions by on average a factor of 5. Substantial emissions of estragole (1-allyl-4-methoxybenzene) from the oil palm plantation were detected and no trace of this VOC was detected in or above the rainforest. Deposition velocities for O3 to the rainforest were a factor of 2 larger than over oil palm. Emissions of nitrous oxide were larger from the soils of the oil palm plantation than from the soils of the rainforest by approximately 25 per cent. It is clear from the measurements that the large change in the species composition generated by replacing rainforest with oil palm leads to profound changes in the net exchange of most of the trace gases measured, and thus on the chemical composition of the boundary layer over these surfaces. PMID:22006962

Effects of land use on surface-atmosphere exchanges of trace gases and energy in Borneo: comparing fluxes over oil palm plantations and a rainforest.

PubMed

Fowler, David; Nemitz, Eiko; Misztal, Pawel; Di Marco, Chiara; Skiba, Ute; Ryder, James; Helfter, Carole; Cape, J Neil; Owen, Sue; Dorsey, James; Gallagher, Martin W; Coyle, Mhairi; Phillips, Gavin; Davison, Brian; Langford, Ben; MacKenzie, Rob; Muller, Jennifer; Siong, Jambery; Dari-Salisburgo, Cesare; Di Carlo, Piero; Aruffo, Eleonora; Giammaria, Franco; Pyle, John A; Hewitt, C Nicholas

2011-11-27

This paper reports measurements of land-atmosphere fluxes of sensible and latent heat, momentum, CO(2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), NO, NO(2), N(2)O and O(3) over a 30 m high rainforest canopy and a 12 m high oil palm plantation in the same region of Sabah in Borneo between April and July 2008. The daytime maximum CO(2) flux to the two canopies differs by approximately a factor of 2, 1200 mg C m(-2) h(-1) for the oil palm and 700 mg C m(-2) h(-1) for the rainforest, with the oil palm plantation showing a substantially greater quantum efficiency. Total VOC emissions are also larger over the oil palm than over the rainforest by a factor of 3. Emissions of isoprene from the oil palm canopy represented 80 per cent of the VOC emissions and exceeded those over the rainforest in similar light and temperature conditions by on average a factor of 5. Substantial emissions of estragole (1-allyl-4-methoxybenzene) from the oil palm plantation were detected and no trace of this VOC was detected in or above the rainforest. Deposition velocities for O(3) to the rainforest were a factor of 2 larger than over oil palm. Emissions of nitrous oxide were larger from the soils of the oil palm plantation than from the soils of the rainforest by approximately 25 per cent. It is clear from the measurements that the large change in the species composition generated by replacing rainforest with oil palm leads to profound changes in the net exchange of most of the trace gases measured, and thus on the chemical composition of the boundary layer over these surfaces.

Ecohydrology: When will the jungle burn?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowman, David

2017-06-01

Fire weather indices are unsuited to forecast fire in tropical rainforests. Now research shows the area burnt across Borneo is related to drought-depleted water tables, presenting the opportunity to predict fire danger in these environments.

Structure, Function and Floristic Relationships of Plant Communities in Stressful Habitats Marginal to the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest

PubMed Central

SCARANO, FABIO R.

2002-01-01

The Brazilian Atlantic rainforest consists of a typical tropical rainforest on mountain slopes, and stands out as a biodiversity hotspot for its high species richness and high level of species endemism. This forest is bordered by plant communities with lower species diversity, due mostly to more extreme environmental conditions than those found in the mesic rainforest. Between the mountain slopes and the sea, the coastal plains have swamp forests, dry semi‐deciduous forests and open thicket vegetation on marine sand deposits. At the other extreme, on top of the mountains (>2000 m a.s.l.), the rainforest is substituted by high altitude fields and open thicket vegetation on rocky outcrops. Thus, the plant communities that are marginal to the rainforest are subjected either to flooding, drought, oceanicity or cold winter temperatures. It was found that positive interactions among plants play an important role in the structuring and functioning of a swamp forest, a coastal sandy vegetation and a cold, high altitude vegetation in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Moreover, only a few species seem to adopt this positive role and, therefore, the functioning of these entire systems may rely on them. Curiously, these nurse plants are often epiphytes in the rainforest, and at the study sites are typically terrestrial. Many exhibit crassulacean acid metabolism. Conservation initiatives must treat the Atlantic coastal vegetation as a complex rather than a rainforest alone. PMID:12324276

Rainforest Conversion to Rubber Plantation May Not Result in Lower Soil Diversity of Bacteria, Fungi, and Nematodes.

PubMed

Kerfahi, Dorsaf; Tripathi, Binu M; Dong, Ke; Go, Rusea; Adams, Jonathan M

2016-08-01

Large areas of rainforest in Asia have been converted to plantations, with uncertain effects on soil biodiversity. Using standard metagenetic methods, we compared the soil biota of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes at three rainforest sites in Malaysia with two rubber plantation sites with similar soils and geology. We predicted the following: (1) that the rubber sites would have a lower α- and β-diversity than the rainforest sites, due to the monospecific canopy cover and intensive management with herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers, and (2) that due to differences in the physical and biotic environment associated with cultivation, there would be distinct communities of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes. However, regarding (1), the results showed no consistent difference in α- and β-diversity of bacteria, fungi, or nematodes between rainforest and rubber plantation sites. It appears that conversion of rainforest to rubber plantations does not necessarily result in a decrease in diversity of soil biota. It may be that heterogeneity associated with the cultivation regimen compensates for loss of biotically imposed heterogeneity of the original rainforest. Regarding (2), as predicted there were statistically significant differences in community composition between rainforest and rubber plantation for bacteria, fungi, and nematodes. These differences could be related to a range of factors including light level, litter fall composition, pH, C and N, selecting a distinct set of soil taxa, and it is possible that this in itself would affect long-term soil function.

The Origins of Tropical Rainforest Hyperdiversity.

PubMed

Pennington, R Toby; Hughes, Mark; Moonlight, Peter W

2015-11-01

Traditional models for tropical species richness contrast rainforests as "museums" of old species or "cradles" of recent speciation. High plant species diversity in rainforests may be more likely to reflect high episodic evolutionary turnover of species--a scenario implicating high rates of both speciation and extinction through geological time.

On interception modelling of a lowland coastal rainforest in northern Queensland, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, Jim; McJannet, Dave

2006-10-01

SummaryRecent studies of the water balance of tropical rainforests in northern Queensland have revealed that large fractions of rainfall, up to 30%, are intercepted by the canopy and lost as evaporation. These loss rates are much higher than those reported for continental rainforests, for example, in the Amazon basin, where interception is around 9% of rainfall. Higher interception losses have been found in coastal and mountain rainforests and substantial advection of energy during rainfall is proposed to account for these results. This paper uses a process based model of interception to analyse the interception losses at Oliver Creek, a lowland coastal rainforest site in northern Queensland with a mean annual rainfall of 3952 mm. The observed interception loss of 25% of rainfall for the period August 2001 to January 2004 can be reproduced by the model with a suitable choice of the three key controlling variables, the canopy storage capacity, mean rainfall rate and mean wet canopy evaporation rate. Our analyses suggest that the canopy storage capacity of the Oliver Creek rainforest is between 3.0 and 3.5 mm, higher than reported for most other rainforests. Despite the high canopy capacity at our site, the interception losses can only be accounted for with energy advection during rainfall in the range 40-70% of the incident energy.

A new skink (Scincidae: Saproscincus) from rocky rainforest habitat on Cape Melville, north-east Australia.

PubMed

Hoskin, Conrad J

2013-01-01

Saproscincus skinks are restricted to wet forest habitats of eastern Australia. Eleven species have previously been described, with most having small distributions in disjunct areas of subtropical and tropical rainforest. The localized distributions and specific habitat requirements of Saproscincus have made them a key group for understanding the biogeographic history of Australia's rainforests. Here I describe a new species of Saproscincus from the Melville Range on Cape Melville, north-east Australia. The Melville Range is composed of boulder-fields and areas of rainforest in the uplands, and is highly isolated from other areas of elevated rainforest. All individuals of the new species were found on a moist ridgeline, active on boulders under a rainforest canopy or on boulder-field immediately adjacent to rainforest. Saproscincus saltus sp. nov. is highly distinct in morphology and colour pattern. Of particular interest are its long limbs and digits compared to congeners, which in conjunction with the observed ecology, suggest a long history of association with rock. The discovery of S. saltus sp. nov. extends the distribution of the genus over 100 km north from the nearest congeners in the Wet Tropics region. This species brings the number of vertebrates known to be endemic to the Melville Range to six, which is remarkable for such a small area.

Children's Perceptions of Rainforest Biodiversity: Which Animals Have the Lion's Share of Environmental Awareness?

PubMed Central

Foster, William A.

2008-01-01

Globally, natural ecosystems are being lost to agricultural land at an unprecedented rate. This land-use often results in significant reductions in abundance and diversity of the flora and fauna as well as alterations in their composition. Despite this, there is little public perception of which taxa are most important in terms of their total biomass, biodiversity or the ecosystem services they perform. Such awareness is important for conservation, as without appreciation of their value and conservation status, species are unlikely to receive adequate conservation protection. We investigated children's perceptions of rainforest biodiversity by asking primary-age children, visiting the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge to draw their ideal rainforest. By recording the frequency at which children drew different climatic, structural, vegetative and faunal components of the rainforest, we were able to quantify children's understanding of a rainforest environment. We investigated children's perceptions of rainforest biodiversity by comparing the relative numbers of the taxa drawn with the actual contributions made by these taxa to total rainforest biomass and global biodiversity. We found that children have a sophisticated view of the rainforest, incorporating many habitat features and a diverse range of animals. However, some taxa were over-represented (particularly mammals, birds and reptiles) and others under-represented (particularly insects and annelids) relative to their contribution to total biomass and species richness. Scientists and naturalists must continue to emphasise the diversity and functional importance of lesser-known taxa through public communication and outdoor events to aid invertebrate conservation and to ensure that future generations are inspired to become naturalists themselves. PMID:18596931

 Climate change may trigger broad shifts in North America's Pacific Coastal rainforests

Treesearch

Dominick A. DellaSala; Patric Brandt; Marni   Koopman; Jessica Leonard; Claude Meisch; Patrick Herzog; Paul Alaback; Michael I. Goldstein; Sarah Jovan; Andy MacKinnon; Henrik von Wehrden

2015-01-01

Climate change poses significant threats to Pacific coastal rainforests of North America. Land managers currently lack a coordinated climate change adaptation approach with which to prepare the region's globally outstanding biodiversity for accelerating change. We provided analyses intended to inform coordinated adaptation for eight focal rainforest tree species...

Polycyclic selection system for the tropical rainforests of northern Australia

Treesearch

Glen T. Dale; Grahame B. Applegate

1992-01-01

The polycyclic selection logging system developed and practiced for many years in the tropical rainforests of north Queensland has been successful in integrating timber production with the protection of conservation values. The system has been used by the Queensland Forest Service to manage north Queensland rainforests. The Queensland system has considerable potential...

Rainforest Depiction in Children's Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dove, Jane

2011-01-01

This article analyses how rainforests are portrayed in children's resources. Twenty books and 12 websites on rainforests, designed for pupils aged between 9 and 14 years, were examined to determine the types and range of animals depicted and how plant life in general is portrayed. The most commonly depicted animal was the orang-utan and other…

Helmdon's First Rainforest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackburn, Sue

2003-01-01

This article describes how Helmdon Primary School is transformed in a memorable learning experience. It started out as a simple idea, a whole-school art exhibition centred on the theme of a tropical rainforest. The focal point was to be a life-sized rainforest created using a variety of media in the school hall. The school wanted the children to…

Investigation of Propagation in Foliage Using Simulation Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

simulation models provide a rough approximation to radiowave propagation in an actual rainforest environment. Based on the simulated results, the...simulation models provide a rough approximation to radiowave propagation in an actual rainforest environment. Based on the simulated results, the path... Rainforest ...............................2 2. Electrical Properties of a Forest .........................................................3 B. OBJECTIVES OF

Discovering the Ancient Temperate Rainforest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsay, Anne

1997-01-01

Two activities for grades 3 through 8 explore species adaptation and forestry issues in the North American rainforests. In one activity, students create imaginary species of plants or animals that are adapted for life in an ancient temperate rainforest. In the second activity, students role play groups affected by plans to log an area of the…

New species of Austropurcellia, cryptic short-range endemic mite harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) from Australia’s Wet Tropics biodiversity hotspot

PubMed Central

Jay, Katya R.; Popkin-Hall, Zachary R.; Coblens, Michelle J.; Oberski, Jill T.; Sharma, Prashant P.; Boyer, Sarah L.

2016-01-01

Abstract The genus Austropurcellia is a lineage of tiny leaf-litter arachnids that inhabit tropical rainforests throughout the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. The majority of their diversity is found within the Wet Tropics rainforests of northeast Queensland, an area known for its exceptionally high levels of biodiversity and endemism. Studying the biogeographic history of limited-dispersal invertebrates in the Wet Tropics can provide insight into the role of climatic changes such as rainforest contraction in shaping rainforest biodiversity patterns. Here we describe six new species of mite harvestmen from the Wet Tropics rainforests, identified using morphological data, and discuss the biogeography of Austropurcellia with distributions of all known species. With this taxonomic contribution, the majority of the known diversity of the genus has been documented. PMID:27199608

Landscape patterns in rainforest phylogenetic signal: isolated islands of refugia or structured continental distributions?

PubMed

Kooyman, Robert M; Rossetto, Maurizio; Sauquet, Hervé; Laffan, Shawn W

2013-01-01

Identify patterns of change in species distributions, diversity, concentrations of evolutionary history, and assembly of Australian rainforests. We used the distribution records of all known rainforest woody species in Australia across their full continental extent. These were analysed using measures of species richness, phylogenetic diversity (PD), phylogenetic endemism (PE) and phylogenetic structure (net relatedness index; NRI). Phylogenetic structure was assessed using both continental and regional species pools. To test the influence of growth-form, freestanding and climbing plants were analysed independently, and in combination. Species richness decreased along two generally orthogonal continental axes, corresponding with wet to seasonally dry and tropical to temperate habitats. The PE analyses identified four main areas of substantially restricted phylogenetic diversity, including parts of Cape York, Wet Tropics, Border Ranges, and Tasmania. The continental pool NRI results showed evenness (species less related than expected by chance) in groups of grid cells in coastally aligned areas of species rich tropical and sub-tropical rainforest, and in low diversity moist forest areas in the south-east of the Great Dividing Range and in Tasmania. Monsoon and drier vine forests, and moist forests inland from upland refugia showed phylogenetic clustering, reflecting lower diversity and more relatedness. Signals for evenness in Tasmania and clustering in northern monsoon forests weakened in analyses using regional species pools. For climbing plants, values for NRI by grid cell showed strong spatial structuring, with high diversity and PE concentrated in moist tropical and subtropical regions. Concentrations of rainforest evolutionary history (phylo-diversity) were patchily distributed within a continuum of species distributions. Contrasting with previous concepts of rainforest community distribution, our findings of continuous distributions and continental connectivity have significant implications for interpreting rainforest evolutionary history and current day ecological processes, and for managing rainforest diversity in changing circumstances.

Diversity of Platygastridae in Leaf Litter and Understory Layers of Tropical Rainforests of the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, India.

PubMed

Manoj, K; Rajesh, T P; Prashanth Ballullaya, U; Meharabi, K M; Shibil, V K; Rajmohana, K; Sinu, Palatty Allesh

2017-06-01

Platygastridae is the third largest family of parasitic Hymenoptera in the world. It includes important egg and larval parasitoids of insects and spiders. Therefore, Platygastridae is functionally important in maintaining the stability of tropical rainforests and agroecosystems. Although the diversity of Platygastridae is relatively well-known in agroecosystems, we know little about their diversity in tropical rainforests, and particularly about that of the leaf litter layer. Here, we address the importance of monitoring Platygastridae in tropical rainforests, using data from the relic primary forests of the sacred groves of the Western Ghats. First, we demonstrate that pitfall traps allow us to catch a wide array of representative diversity of Platygastridae of the tropical rainforests, and we establish an efficient collection method to study Platygastridae of leaf litter layer. Second, we demonstrate that the community structure and composition of Platygastridae of the leaf litter layer is different from that seen in the understory of the forests. This indirectly informs us that the Malaise traps capture only a minor subset of the species active in the rainforests. Third, we find that the dry and wet seasons captured dissimilar community of Platygastridae, suggesting that the season might alter the potential host species or host stages. We conclude that monitoring parasitic Hymenoptera in the leaf litter layer of tropical rainforests can provide fresh insights on the species distribution of both the parasitoids and their hosts, and allows us to examine the current state of the tropical rainforests from a functional point of view. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Rainforest metropolis casts 1,000-km defaunation shadow.

PubMed

Tregidgo, Daniel J; Barlow, Jos; Pompeu, Paulo S; de Almeida Rocha, Mayana; Parry, Luke

2017-08-08

Tropical rainforest regions are urbanizing rapidly, yet the role of emerging metropolises in driving wildlife overharvesting in forests and inland waters is unknown. We present evidence of a large defaunation shadow around a rainforest metropolis. Using interviews with 392 rural fishers, we show that fishing has severely depleted a large-bodied keystone fish species, tambaqui ( Colossoma macropomum ), with an impact extending over 1,000 km from the rainforest city of Manaus (population 2.1 million). There was strong evidence of defaunation within this area, including a 50% reduction in body size and catch rate (catch per unit effort). Our findings link these declines to city-based boats that provide rural fishers with reliable access to fish buyers and ice and likely impact rural fisher livelihoods and flooded forest biodiversity. This empirical evidence that urban markets can defaunate deep into rainforest wilderness has implications for other urbanizing socioecological systems.

Biodiversity and Peace: Where Technology and Montessori Come Together in the Children's Eternal Rainforest, Costa Rica

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norris, Jeff

2016-01-01

Jeff Norris, initially shocked by the Montessorians who are calling technology into question, states that technology can offer a means of development for the child who is concurrently supporting and learning from the rich and overpowering biodiversity of the rainforest. He speaks for the Children's Eternal Rainforest citizen's science as well as…

Increasing arboreality with altitude: a novel biogeographic dimension

PubMed Central

Scheffers, Brett R.; Phillips, Ben L.; Laurance, William F.; Sodhi, Navjot S.; Diesmos, Arvin; Williams, Stephen E.

2013-01-01

Biodiversity is spatially organized by climatic gradients across elevation and latitude. But do other gradients exist that might drive biogeographic patterns? Here, we show that rainforest's vertical strata provide climatic gradients much steeper than those offered by elevation and latitude, and biodiversity of arboreal species is organized along this gradient. In Philippine and Singaporean rainforests, we demonstrate that rainforest frogs tend to shift up in the rainforest strata as altitude increases. Moreover, a Philippine-wide dataset of frog distributions shows that frog assemblages become increasingly arboreal at higher elevations. Thus, increased arboreality with elevation at broad biogeographic scales mirrors patterns we observed at local scales. Our proposed ‘arboreality hypothesis’ suggests that the ability to exploit arboreal habitats confers the potential for larger geographical distributions because species can shift their location in the rainforest strata to compensate for shifts in temperature associated with elevation and latitude. This novel finding may help explain patterns of species richness and abundance wherever vegetation produces a vertical microclimatic gradient. Our results further suggest that global warming will ‘flatten’ the biodiversity in rainforests by pushing arboreal species towards the cooler and wetter ground. This ‘flattening’ could potentially have serious impacts on forest functioning and species survival. PMID:24026817

Understanding changes of stomatal conductance under different atmospheric humidity levels for different tropical rainforest species in Biosphere 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tornito, A. J. G.

2016-12-01

Understanding the dynamics of climate change is one of the biggest questions that scientists across the globe ask today. With understanding climate change comes the need to understand the ecological systems and how their biological and chemical processes contribute to climate change. As ocean ecosystems, rainforests are very productive systems and are responsible for most of the world's carbon budget. To maintain cooler conditions, tropical forests mitigate warming through evapotranspiration. The purpose of this project was to measure short-term plasticity by looking at stomatal conductance levels of different tropical rainforest species of plants in the rainforest, savannah, and desert habitats in the Biosphere 2 facility in Oracle, Arizona. It is known that stomatal conductance is affected by CO2, H2O, and light availability. It has been observed that temperature levels may not affect stomatal conductance because of the variability associated with it. Results indicated that there is a potential trend amongst these rainforest species when placed in different humidity percentage areas. By understanding stomatal conductance in response to humidity, we can better understand how productive rainforest systems are when humidity levels decrease, which may potentially occur as Earth undergoes global climate change.

Increasing arboreality with altitude: a novel biogeographic dimension.

PubMed

Scheffers, Brett R; Phillips, Ben L; Laurance, William F; Sodhi, Navjot S; Diesmos, Arvin; Williams, Stephen E

2013-11-07

Biodiversity is spatially organized by climatic gradients across elevation and latitude. But do other gradients exist that might drive biogeographic patterns? Here, we show that rainforest's vertical strata provide climatic gradients much steeper than those offered by elevation and latitude, and biodiversity of arboreal species is organized along this gradient. In Philippine and Singaporean rainforests, we demonstrate that rainforest frogs tend to shift up in the rainforest strata as altitude increases. Moreover, a Philippine-wide dataset of frog distributions shows that frog assemblages become increasingly arboreal at higher elevations. Thus, increased arboreality with elevation at broad biogeographic scales mirrors patterns we observed at local scales. Our proposed 'arboreality hypothesis' suggests that the ability to exploit arboreal habitats confers the potential for larger geographical distributions because species can shift their location in the rainforest strata to compensate for shifts in temperature associated with elevation and latitude. This novel finding may help explain patterns of species richness and abundance wherever vegetation produces a vertical microclimatic gradient. Our results further suggest that global warming will 'flatten' the biodiversity in rainforests by pushing arboreal species towards the cooler and wetter ground. This 'flattening' could potentially have serious impacts on forest functioning and species survival.

Nematode Spatial and Ecological Patterns from Tropical and Temperate Rainforests

PubMed Central

Porazinska, Dorota L.; Giblin-Davis, Robin M.; Powers, Thomas O.; Thomas, W. Kelley

2012-01-01

Large scale diversity patterns are well established for terrestrial macrobiota (e.g. plants and vertebrates), but not for microscopic organisms (e.g. nematodes). Due to small size, high abundance, and extensive dispersal, microbiota are assumed to exhibit cosmopolitan distributions with no biogeographical patterns. This assumption has been extrapolated from local spatial scale studies of a few taxonomic groups utilizing morphological approaches. Recent molecularly-based studies, however, suggest something quite opposite. Nematodes are the most abundant metazoans on earth, but their diversity patterns are largely unknown. We conducted a survey of nematode diversity within three vertical strata (soil, litter, and canopy) of rainforests at two contrasting latitudes in the North American meridian (temperate: the Olympic National Forest, WA, U.S.A and tropical: La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica) using standardized sampling designs and sample processing protocols. To describe nematode diversity, we applied an ecometagenetic approach using 454 pyrosequencing. We observed that: 1) nematode communities were unique without even a single common species between the two rainforests, 2) nematode communities were unique among habitats in both rainforests, 3) total species richness was 300% more in the tropical than in the temperate rainforest, 4) 80% of the species in the temperate rainforest resided in the soil, whereas only 20% in the tropics, 5) more than 90% of identified species were novel. Overall, our data provided no support for cosmopolitanism at both local (habitats) and large (rainforests) spatial scales. In addition, our data indicated that biogeographical patterns typical of macrobiota also exist for microbiota. PMID:22984536

Two new skinks (Scincidae: Glaphyromorphus) from rainforest habitats in north-eastern Australia.

PubMed

Hoskin, Conrad J; Couper, Patrick J

2014-09-29

Tropical rainforest is largely restricted in Australia to the fairly continuous Wet Tropics region and disconnected patches to the north on Cape York. The Wet Tropics is relatively well explored and studied, whereas the rainforests of Cape York have received less attention due to their remoteness. Here we describe two new species of Glaphyromorphus skinks from rainforest areas on Cape York. The two new species are most similar to each other and to G. fuscicaudis and G. nigricaudis, but both are readily diagnosed on numerous traits. Glaphyromorphus othelarrni sp. nov. is diagnosed from all similar species by its supralabial count (typically 8 vs 7), high number of subdigital lamellae beneath the 4th finger (14-15 vs < 14), and its relatively longer limbs. Glaphyromorphus nyanchupinta sp. nov. is diagnosed from all similar species by its small body size (max SVL = ~ 54 mm vs > 85 mm) and slender body shape, low number of subdigital lamellae beneath the 4th toe (17-20 vs generally 20 or more), and head and body pattern. Both species also differ from each other and similar congeners in other aspects of body shape, scalation and colour pattern. Glaphyromorphus othelarrni sp. nov. is restricted to boulder-strewn rainforest of the Melville Range, whilst Glaphyromorphus nyanchupinta sp. nov. is known only from upland rainforest in the McIlwraith Range. We discuss patterns of rainforest vertebrate endemism on Cape York, and the importance of lithorefugia in generating these.

BVOC fluxes from oil palm canopies in South East Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misztal, P. K.; Cape, J. N.; Langford, B.; Nemitz, E.; Helfter, C.; Owen, S.; Heal, M. R.; Hewitt, C. N.; Fowler, D.

2009-04-01

Fluxes by virtual disjunct eddy covariance were measured for the first time in South-East Asia in 2008 from an oil palm plantation. Malaysia and Indonesia account for more than 80% of world oil palm production. Our in situ findings suggest much higher isoprene emissions from oil palms than from rainforest, which is consistent with earlier lab-based predictions of emissions from oil palms (Wilkinson et al., 2006). 50% of global biogenic VOC emissions are estimated to derive from tropical rainforests (Guenther et al., 1995) although in fact a large portion of the emission may derive from oil palms in the tropics. Isoprene and monoterpenes are regarded as the most important biogenic VOCs for the atmospheric chemistry. Overall, maximum isoprene emissions from oil palms were recorded at 11:00 local time, with a mean value of 13 mg m-2 h-1. At the rainforest, the maximum fluxes of isoprene were observed later in the day, at about 13:00 with an average of 2.5 mg m-2 h-1. Initial flux results for total monoterpenes indicate that their mass emission ratio with respect to isoprene was about 1:9 at the rainforest and 1:18 at the oil palm plantation. The results are presented with reference to temperature, photosynthetic radiation and meteorological drivers as well as in comparison with CO2 and H2O fluxes. Empirical parameters in the Guenther algorithm for MEGAN (Guenther et al, 2006), which was originally designed for the Amazon region, have been optimised for this oil palm study. The emission factor obtained from eddy covariance measurements was 18.8 mg m-2 h-1, while the one obtained from leaf level studies at the site was 19.5 mg m-2 h-1. Isoprene fluxes from both Amazonia (Karl et al., 2007) and from rainforest in Borneo 2008 seem to be much lower than from oil palms. This can have consequences for atmospheric chemistry of land use change from rainforest to oil palm plantation, including formation of ozone, SOA and particles and indirect effects on the removal rate of greenhouse gases and pollutants by decreasing OH budgets. Global models predicting atmospheric changes and bottom-up estimates from the tropics must be constrained by direct measurements such as presented here, taking separate account of these major contributions from oil palm plantations and tropical rainforests. References: Guenther, A., C.N. Hewitt, D. Erickson, R. Fall, C. Geron, T.E. Graedel, P. Harley, L. Klinger, M. Lerdau, W.A. McKay, T. Pierce, B. Scholes, R. Steinbrecher, R. Tallamraju, J. Taylor and P. Zimmerman, 1995: A global model of natural volatile organic compound emissions. Journal of Geophysical Research 100, 8873-8892. Guenther, A., T. Karl, P. Harley, C. Wiedinmyer, P. I. Palmer, and C. Geron, 2006: Estimates of global terrestrial isoprene emissions using MEGAN (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature). Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 6, 107-173. Karl, T., A. Guenther, R. J. Yokelson, J. Greenberg, M. Potosnak, D. R. Blake, and P. Artaxo, 2007: The tropical forest and fire emissions experiment: Emission, chemistry, and transport of biogenic volatile organic compounds in the lower atmosphere over Amazonia. Journal of Geophysical Research 112, D18302. Wilkinson, M. J., S. M. Owen, M. Possell, J. Hartwell, P. Gould, A. Hall, C. Vickers, and C. N. Hewitt, 2006: Circadian control of isoprene emissions from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). Plant Journal 47, 960-968.

Degraded tropical rain forests possess valuable carbon storage opportunities in a complex, forested landscape.

PubMed

Alamgir, Mohammed; Campbell, Mason J; Turton, Stephen M; Pert, Petina L; Edwards, Will; Laurance, William F

2016-07-20

Tropical forests are major contributors to the terrestrial global carbon pool, but this pool is being reduced via deforestation and forest degradation. Relatively few studies have assessed carbon storage in degraded tropical forests. We sampled 37,000 m(2) of intact rainforest, degraded rainforest and sclerophyll forest across the greater Wet Tropics bioregion of northeast Australia. We compared aboveground biomass and carbon storage of the three forest types, and the effects of forest structural attributes and environmental factors that influence carbon storage. Some degraded forests were found to store much less aboveground carbon than intact rainforests, whereas others sites had similar carbon storage to primary forest. Sclerophyll forests had lower carbon storage, comparable to the most heavily degraded rainforests. Our findings indicate that under certain situations, degraded forest may store as much carbon as intact rainforests. Strategic rehabilitation of degraded forests could enhance regional carbon storage and have positive benefits for tropical biodiversity.

Degraded tropical rain forests possess valuable carbon storage opportunities in a complex, forested landscape

PubMed Central

Alamgir, Mohammed; Campbell, Mason J.; Turton, Stephen M.; Pert, Petina L.; Edwards, Will; Laurance, William F.

2016-01-01

Tropical forests are major contributors to the terrestrial global carbon pool, but this pool is being reduced via deforestation and forest degradation. Relatively few studies have assessed carbon storage in degraded tropical forests. We sampled 37,000 m2 of intact rainforest, degraded rainforest and sclerophyll forest across the greater Wet Tropics bioregion of northeast Australia. We compared aboveground biomass and carbon storage of the three forest types, and the effects of forest structural attributes and environmental factors that influence carbon storage. Some degraded forests were found to store much less aboveground carbon than intact rainforests, whereas others sites had similar carbon storage to primary forest. Sclerophyll forests had lower carbon storage, comparable to the most heavily degraded rainforests. Our findings indicate that under certain situations, degraded forest may store as much carbon as intact rainforests. Strategic rehabilitation of degraded forests could enhance regional carbon storage and have positive benefits for tropical biodiversity. PMID:27435389

Degraded tropical rain forests possess valuable carbon storage opportunities in a complex, forested landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alamgir, Mohammed; Campbell, Mason J.; Turton, Stephen M.; Pert, Petina L.; Edwards, Will; Laurance, William F.

2016-07-01

Tropical forests are major contributors to the terrestrial global carbon pool, but this pool is being reduced via deforestation and forest degradation. Relatively few studies have assessed carbon storage in degraded tropical forests. We sampled 37,000 m2 of intact rainforest, degraded rainforest and sclerophyll forest across the greater Wet Tropics bioregion of northeast Australia. We compared aboveground biomass and carbon storage of the three forest types, and the effects of forest structural attributes and environmental factors that influence carbon storage. Some degraded forests were found to store much less aboveground carbon than intact rainforests, whereas others sites had similar carbon storage to primary forest. Sclerophyll forests had lower carbon storage, comparable to the most heavily degraded rainforests. Our findings indicate that under certain situations, degraded forest may store as much carbon as intact rainforests. Strategic rehabilitation of degraded forests could enhance regional carbon storage and have positive benefits for tropical biodiversity.

Yeasts dominate soil fungal communities in three lowland Neotropical rainforests.

PubMed

Dunthorn, Micah; Kauserud, Håvard; Bass, David; Mayor, Jordan; Mahé, Frédéric

2017-10-01

Forest soils typically harbour a vast diversity of fungi, but are usually dominated by filamentous (hyphae-forming) taxa. Compared to temperate and boreal forests, though, we have limited knowledge about the fungal diversity in tropical rainforest soils. Here we show, by environmental metabarcoding of soil samples collected in three Neotropical rainforests, that Yeasts dominate the fungal communities in terms of the number of sequencing reads and OTUs. These unicellular forms are commonly found in aquatic environments, and their hyperdiversity may be the result of frequent inundation combined with numerous aquatic microenvironments in these rainforests. Other fungi that are frequent in aquatic environments, such as the abundant Chytridiomycotina, were also detected. While there was low similarity in OTU composition within and between the three rainforests, the fungal communities in Central America were more similar to each other than the communities in South America, reflecting a general biogeographic pattern also seen in animals, plants and protists. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Analysis and Evaluation of the Reconfigured Exponential Troposphere Model (ETM)

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-10

Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, Amazon Rainforest , Sahara Desert, and Australia) have been selected for comparison based on their climate extremes, such as...of Appendix B Appendix B presents angle errors for the Middle East, the Amazon Rainforest , Northeast Asia, and Southeast Asia using the ETM Monthly...and calibration should be carefully implemented in this region for RF communication, application, and operation. For the Amazon Rainforest region, data

Human impacts flatten rainforest-savanna gradient and reduce adaptive diversity in a rainforest bird.

PubMed

Freedman, Adam H; Buermann, Wolfgang; Mitchard, Edward T A; Defries, Ruth S; Smith, Thomas B

2010-09-30

Ecological gradients have long been recognized as important regions for diversification and speciation. However, little attention has been paid to the evolutionary consequences or conservation implications of human activities that fundamentally change the environmental features of such gradients. Here we show that recent deforestation in West Africa has homogenized the rainforest-savanna gradient, causing a loss of adaptive phenotypic diversity in a common rainforest bird, the little greenbul (Andropadus virens). Previously, this species was shown to exhibit morphological and song divergence along this gradient in Central Africa. Using satellite-based estimates of forest cover, recent morphological data, and historical data from museum specimens collected prior to widespread deforestation, we show that the gradient has become shallower in West Africa and that A. virens populations there have lost morphological variation in traits important to fitness. In contrast, we find no loss of morphological variation in Central Africa where there has been less deforestation and gradients have remained more intact. While rainforest deforestation is a leading cause of species extinction, the potential of deforestation to flatten gradients and inhibit rainforest diversification has not been previously recognized. More deforestation will likely lead to further flattening of the gradient and loss of diversity, and may limit the ability of species to persist under future environmental conditions.

Human Impacts Flatten Rainforest-Savanna Gradient and Reduce Adaptive Diversity in a Rainforest Bird

PubMed Central

Freedman, Adam H.; Buermann, Wolfgang; Mitchard, Edward T. A.; DeFries, Ruth S.; Smith, Thomas B.

2010-01-01

Ecological gradients have long been recognized as important regions for diversification and speciation. However, little attention has been paid to the evolutionary consequences or conservation implications of human activities that fundamentally change the environmental features of such gradients. Here we show that recent deforestation in West Africa has homogenized the rainforest-savanna gradient, causing a loss of adaptive phenotypic diversity in a common rainforest bird, the little greenbul (Andropadus virens). Previously, this species was shown to exhibit morphological and song divergence along this gradient in Central Africa. Using satellite-based estimates of forest cover, recent morphological data, and historical data from museum specimens collected prior to widespread deforestation, we show that the gradient has become shallower in West Africa and that A. virens populations there have lost morphological variation in traits important to fitness. In contrast, we find no loss of morphological variation in Central Africa where there has been less deforestation and gradients have remained more intact. While rainforest deforestation is a leading cause of species extinction, the potential of deforestation to flatten gradients and inhibit rainforest diversification has not been previously recognized. More deforestation will likely lead to further flattening of the gradient and loss of diversity, and may limit the ability of species to persist under future environmental conditions. PMID:20941360

Paleo-Antarctic rainforest into the modern Old World tropics: the rich past and threatened future of the "southern wet forest survivors".

PubMed

Kooyman, Robert M; Wilf, Peter; Barreda, Viviana D; Carpenter, Raymond J; Jordan, Gregory J; Sniderman, J M Kale; Allen, Andrew; Brodribb, Timothy J; Crayn, Darren; Feild, Taylor S; Laffan, Shawn W; Lusk, Christopher H; Rossetto, Maurizio; Weston, Peter H

2014-12-01

• Have Gondwanan rainforest floral associations survived? Where do they occur today? Have they survived continuously in particular locations? How significant is their living floristic signal? We revisit these classic questions in light of significant recent increases in relevant paleobotanical data.• We traced the extinction and persistence of lineages and associations through the past across four now separated regions-Australia, New Zealand, Patagonia, and Antarctica-using fossil occurrence data from 63 well-dated Gondwanan rainforest sites and 396 constituent taxa. Fossil sites were allocated to four age groups: Cretaceous, Paleocene-Eocene, Neogene plus Oligocene, and Pleistocene. We compared the modern and ancient distributions of lineages represented in the fossil record to see if dissimilarity increased with time. We quantified similarity-dissimilarity of composition and taxonomic structure among fossil assemblages, and between fossil and modern assemblages.• Strong similarities between ancient Patagonia and Australia confirmed shared Gondwanan rainforest history, but more of the lineages persisted in Australia. Samples of ancient Australia grouped with the extant floras of Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Mt. Kinabalu. Decreasing similarity through time among the regional floras of Antarctica, Patagonia, New Zealand, and southern Australia reflects multiple extinction events.• Gondwanan rainforest lineages contribute significantly to modern rainforest community assembly and often co-occur in widely separated assemblages far from their early fossil records. Understanding how and where lineages from ancient Gondwanan assemblages co-occur today has implications for the conservation of global rainforest vegetation, including in the Old World tropics. © 2014 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

4,300-Year-old chimpanzee sites and the origins of percussive stone technology

PubMed Central

Mercader, Julio; Barton, Huw; Gillespie, Jason; Harris, Jack; Kuhn, Steven; Tyler, Robert; Boesch, Christophe

2007-01-01

Archaeological research in the African rainforest reveals unexpected results in the search for the origins of hominoid technology. The ancient Panin sites from Côte d'Ivoire constitute the only evidence of prehistoric ape behavior known to date anywhere in the world. Recent archaeological work has yielded behaviorally modified stones, dated by chronometric means to 4,300 years of age, lodging starch residue suggestive of prehistoric dietary practices by ancient chimpanzees. The “Chimpanzee Stone Age” pre-dates the advent of settled farming villages in this part of the African rainforest and suggests that percussive material culture could have been inherited from an common human–chimpanzee clade, rather than invented by hominins, or have arisen by imitation, or resulted from independent technological convergence. PMID:17360606

Comparative evaluation of Amblyomma ovale ticks infected and noninfected by Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest, the agent of an emerging rickettsiosis in Brazil.

PubMed

Krawczak, Felipe S; Agostinho, Washington C; Polo, Gina; Moraes-Filho, Jonas; Labruna, Marcelo B

2016-04-01

In 2010, a novel spotted fever group rickettsiosis was reported in the Atlantic rainforest coast of Brazil. The etiological agent was identified as Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest, and the tick Amblyomma ovale was incriminated as the presumed vector. The present study evaluated under laboratory conditions four colonies of A. ovale: two started from engorged females that were naturally infected by Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest (designated as infected groups); the two others started from noninfected females (designated as control groups). All colonies were reared in parallel from F0 engorged female to F2 unfed nymphs. Tick-naïve vesper mice (Calomys callosus) or domestic rabbits were used for feeding of each tick stage. Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest was preserved by transstadial maintenance and transovarial transmission in A. ovale ticks for at least 2 generations (from F0 females to F2 nymphs), because nearly 100% of the tested larvae, nymphs, and adults from the infected groups were shown by PCR to contain rickettsial DNA. All vesper mice and rabbits infested by larvae and nymphs, and 50% of the rabbits infested by adults from the infected groups seroconverted, indicating that these tick stages were vector competent for Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest. Expressive differences in mortality rates and reproductive performance were observed between engorged females from the infected and control groups, as indicated by 75.0% and 97.1% oviposition success, respectively, and significantly lower egg mass weight, conversion efficiency index, and percentage of egg hatching for the infected groups. Our results indicate that A. ovale can act as a natural reservoir for Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest. However, due to deleterious effect caused by this rickettsial agent on engorged females, amplifier vertebrate hosts might be necessary for persistent perpetuation of Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest in A. ovale under natural conditions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Impact of Lowland Rainforest Transformation on Diversity and Composition of Soil Prokaryotic Communities in Sumatra (Indonesia)

PubMed Central

Schneider, Dominik; Engelhaupt, Martin; Allen, Kara; Kurniawan, Syahrul; Krashevska, Valentyna; Heinemann, Melanie; Nacke, Heiko; Wijayanti, Marini; Meryandini, Anja; Corre, Marife D.; Scheu, Stefan; Daniel, Rolf

2015-01-01

Prokaryotes are the most abundant and diverse group of microorganisms in soil and mediate virtually all biogeochemical cycles in terrestrial ecosystems. Thereby, they influence aboveground plant productivity and diversity. In this study, the impact of rainforest transformation to intensively managed cash crop systems on soil prokaryotic communities was investigated. The studied managed land use systems comprised rubber agroforests (jungle rubber), rubber plantations and oil palm plantations within two Indonesian landscapes Bukit Duabelas and Harapan. Soil prokaryotic community composition and diversity were assessed by pyrotag sequencing of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes. The curated dataset contained 16,413 bacterial and 1679 archaeal operational taxonomic units at species level (97% genetic identity). Analysis revealed changes in indigenous taxon-specific patterns of soil prokaryotic communities accompanying lowland rainforest transformation to jungle rubber, and intensively managed rubber and oil palm plantations. Distinct clustering of the rainforest soil communities indicated that these are different from the communities in the studied managed land use systems. The predominant bacterial taxa in all investigated soils were Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria. Overall, the bacterial community shifted from proteobacterial groups in rainforest soils to Acidobacteria in managed soils. The archaeal soil communities were mainly represented by Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota. Members of the Terrestrial Group and South African Gold Mine Group 1 (Thaumarchaeota) dominated in the rainforest and members of Thermoplasmata in the managed land use systems. The alpha and beta diversity of the soil prokaryotic communities was higher in managed land use systems than in rainforest. In the case of bacteria, this was related to soil characteristics such as pH value, exchangeable Ca and Fe content, C to N ratio, and extractable P content. Archaeal community composition and diversity were correlated to pH value, exchangeable Fe content, water content, and total N. The distribution of bacterial and archaeal taxa involved in biological N cycle indicated functional shifts of the cycle during conversion of rainforest to plantations. PMID:26696965

Landscape Patterns in Rainforest Phylogenetic Signal: Isolated Islands of Refugia or Structured Continental Distributions?

PubMed Central

Kooyman, Robert M.; Rossetto, Maurizio; Sauquet, Hervé; Laffan, Shawn W.

2013-01-01

Objectives Identify patterns of change in species distributions, diversity, concentrations of evolutionary history, and assembly of Australian rainforests. Methods We used the distribution records of all known rainforest woody species in Australia across their full continental extent. These were analysed using measures of species richness, phylogenetic diversity (PD), phylogenetic endemism (PE) and phylogenetic structure (net relatedness index; NRI). Phylogenetic structure was assessed using both continental and regional species pools. To test the influence of growth-form, freestanding and climbing plants were analysed independently, and in combination. Results Species richness decreased along two generally orthogonal continental axes, corresponding with wet to seasonally dry and tropical to temperate habitats. The PE analyses identified four main areas of substantially restricted phylogenetic diversity, including parts of Cape York, Wet Tropics, Border Ranges, and Tasmania. The continental pool NRI results showed evenness (species less related than expected by chance) in groups of grid cells in coastally aligned areas of species rich tropical and sub-tropical rainforest, and in low diversity moist forest areas in the south-east of the Great Dividing Range and in Tasmania. Monsoon and drier vine forests, and moist forests inland from upland refugia showed phylogenetic clustering, reflecting lower diversity and more relatedness. Signals for evenness in Tasmania and clustering in northern monsoon forests weakened in analyses using regional species pools. For climbing plants, values for NRI by grid cell showed strong spatial structuring, with high diversity and PE concentrated in moist tropical and subtropical regions. Conclusions/Significance Concentrations of rainforest evolutionary history (phylo-diversity) were patchily distributed within a continuum of species distributions. Contrasting with previous concepts of rainforest community distribution, our findings of continuous distributions and continental connectivity have significant implications for interpreting rainforest evolutionary history and current day ecological processes, and for managing rainforest diversity in changing circumstances. PMID:24312493

The Matses Inventory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Henry S. F., Jr.

2000-01-01

In northeastern Peru, U.S. mammalogists are tapping the knowledge of the indigenous Matses people to catalog the fauna of the rainforest. One zoologist turned linguist has recruited Matses research assistants; together they are creating a classroom text on mammals in Matses, which will help preserve both local ethnobiological knowledge and the…

Strengthening the Scientific Capacity Available to Serve the Nation

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

motivating and engaging ways. In 2005, the JASON Project traveled to the Panamanian rainforest and Mr. Phillips introduced his class to the project by reading...The Great Kapok Tree.22 Mr. Phillips had his students compare the rainforest in Panama with their local forest in Plymouth and discussions and debate...filled cover about the project.25 Mr. Phillips’ students then constructed a web page and populated it with rainforest and Plymouth vernal pool

Carbon stock and turnover in riparian soils under lowland rainforest transformation systems on Sumatra, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hennings, Nina; Kuzyakov, Yakov

2017-04-01

In many tropical areas, rainforests are being cleared in order to exploit timber and other forest products as well as plant crops for food, feed and fuel use. The determinants of different patterns of deforestation and the roles of resulting transformation systems of tropical riparian rainforests for ecological functions have yet received little attention in scientific research. Especially C stocks in riparian zones are strongly affected by climate and land use changes that lead to changes in water regime and ground water level drops. We investigated the effects of land transformations in riparian ecosystems of Sumatra, on soil C content, stocks and decomposability at the landscape scale. We compare C losses in transformation systems and rainforests and estimate the contribution of soil erosion and organic matter mineralization. Further, these losses are related to changing water level and temperature increase along increasing distance to the stream. This approach is based on changing δ13C values of SOC in the topsoil as compared to those in subsoil. The shift of δ13C of SOC in the topsoil from the linear regression calculated by δ13C value with log(SOC) in the topsoil represents the modification of the C turnover rate in the top soil. Erosion is estimated by the shift of the δ13C value of SOC in the subsoil under plantations. Further, the δ13C and δ15N soil profiles and their comparison with litter of local vegetation, can be used to estimate the contribution of autochthonous and allochthonous organics to soil C stocks. Preliminary results show strong increase of erosive losses, increased decomposition with land-use transformation and decrease of C stocks with decreasing water table.

Estimating drought induced tree mortality in the Amazon rainforest: A simulation study with a focus on plant hydraulic processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papastefanou, P.; Fleischer, K.; Hickler, T.; Grams, T.; Lapola, D.; Quesada, C. A.; Zang, C.; Rammig, A.

2017-12-01

The Amazon basin was recently hit by severe drought events that were unprecedented in their severity and spatial extent, e.g. during 2005, 2010 and 2015/2016. Significant amounts of biomass were lost, turning large parts of the rainforest from a carbon sink into a carbon source. It is assumed that drought-induced tree mortality from hydraulic failure played an important role during these events and may become more frequent in the Amazon region in the future. Many state-of-the-art dynamic vegetation models do not include plant hydraulic processes and fail to reproduce observed rainforest responses to drought events, such as e.g. increased tree mortality. We address this research gap by developing a simple plant-hydraulic module for the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. This plant-hydraulic module uses leaf water potential and cavitation as baseline processes to simulate tree mortality under drought stress. Furthermore, we introduce different plant strategies in the model, which describe e.g. differences in the stomatal regulation under drought stress. To parameterize and evaluate our hydraulic module, we use a set of available observational data from the Amazon region. We apply our model to the Amazon Basin and highlight similarities and differences across other measured and predicted drought responses, e.g. extrapolated observations and data derived from satellite measurements. Our results highlight the importance of including plant hydraulic processes in dynamic vegetation models to correctly predict vegetation dynamics under drought stress and show major differences on the vegetation dynamics depending on the selected plant strategies. We also identify gaps in process understanding of the triggering factors, the extent and the consequences of drought responses that hampers our ability to predict potential impact of future drought events on the Amazon rainforest.

How does the human impact of footpaths affect flora biodiversity in the rainforest?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, J. H. F.

2017-12-01

Tioman Island is the largest Island in the Pahang region in Malaysia, known for its biodiverse reefs and dense rainforests, making it a popular tourist site. Over the course of two weeks, I was able to collect data on how the heavy development of Tioman Island's tourist industry was affecting the biodiversity of the region, specifically the implementation of infrastructure like footpaths. Tioman was an excellent setting for my research as it provided both primary and secondary rainforest with varying amounts of developments, allowing me to draw parallels between the data of the two distinct footpaths. To measure biodiversity against the prevalence of footpaths in forests, I set up 10 adjacent two by one meter quadrats perpendicular to the path, the first being on the path, and counted the quantities of different species within each quadrat. This process was repeated three times with five meter spacings between the various transects to better represent biodiversity in the region. Those three trials were then repeated at a site of contrasting human impact to come up with 60 quadrats' worth of data. Individually, each quadrat's biodiversity was then quantified using the Simpson's Diversity Index, which was then given a Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient before being compared with one another. The results of my research showed a general increase in biodiversity levels the further away it was from the path, until a certain point where it dropped and displayed a steady state, which did not fulfill the linear trend I was expecting in my hypothesis.

Late Paleocene fossils from the Cerrejón Formation, Colombia, are the earliest record of Neotropical rainforest

PubMed Central

Wing, Scott L.; Herrera, Fabiany; Jaramillo, Carlos A.; Gómez-Navarro, Carolina; Wilf, Peter; Labandeira, Conrad C.

2009-01-01

Neotropical rainforests have a very poor fossil record, making hypotheses concerning their origins difficult to evaluate. Nevertheless, some of their most important characteristics can be preserved in the fossil record: high plant diversity, dominance by a distinctive combination of angiosperm families, a preponderance of plant species with large, smooth-margined leaves, and evidence for a high diversity of herbivorous insects. Here, we report on an ≈58-my-old flora from the Cerrejón Formation of Colombia (paleolatitude ≈5 °N) that is the earliest megafossil record of Neotropical rainforest. The flora has abundant, diverse palms and legumes and similar family composition to extant Neotropical rainforest. Three-quarters of the leaf types are large and entire-margined, indicating rainfall >2,500 mm/year and mean annual temperature >25 °C. Despite modern family composition and tropical paleoclimate, the diversity of fossil pollen and leaf samples is 60–80% that of comparable samples from extant and Quaternary Neotropical rainforest from similar climates. Insect feeding damage on Cerrejón fossil leaves, representing primary consumers, is abundant, but also of low diversity, and overwhelmingly made by generalist feeders rather than specialized herbivores. Cerrejón megafossils provide strong evidence that the same Neotropical rainforest families have characterized the biome since the Paleocene, maintaining their importance through climatic phases warmer and cooler than present. The low diversity of both plants and herbivorous insects in this Paleocene Neotropical rainforest may reflect an early stage in the diversification of the lineages that inhabit this biome, and/or a long recovery period from the terminal Cretaceous extinction. PMID:19833876

Designing Schools Based on Brain Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chermayeff, Peter; Townsend, Ted

An audiotape explains an Iowa rainforest project that promotes experiential learning for children, and explores the effects of the physical environment on the brain. The project is a one-of-a-kind private/partnership that has created a fully integrated, seamless educational facility that combines a public school (prekindergarten through fifth…

The atmospheric chemistry of trace gases and particulate matter emitted by different land uses in Borneo

PubMed Central

MacKenzie, A. R.; Langford, B.; Pugh, T. A. M.; Robinson, N.; Misztal, P. K.; Heard, D. E.; Lee, J. D.; Lewis, A. C.; Jones, C. E.; Hopkins, J. R.; Phillips, G.; Monks, P. S.; Karunaharan, A.; Hornsby, K. E.; Nicolas-Perea, V.; Coe, H.; Gabey, A. M.; Gallagher, M. W.; Whalley, L. K.; Edwards, P. M.; Evans, M. J.; Stone, D.; Ingham, T.; Commane, R.; Furneaux, K. L.; McQuaid, J. B.; Nemitz, E.; Seng, Yap Kok; Fowler, D.; Pyle, J. A.; Hewitt, C. N.

2011-01-01

We report measurements of atmospheric composition over a tropical rainforest and over a nearby oil palm plantation in Sabah, Borneo. The primary vegetation in each of the two landscapes emits very different amounts and kinds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), resulting in distinctive VOC fingerprints in the atmospheric boundary layer for both landscapes. VOCs over the Borneo rainforest are dominated by isoprene and its oxidation products, with a significant additional contribution from monoterpenes. Rather than consuming the main atmospheric oxidant, OH, these high concentrations of VOCs appear to maintain OH, as has been observed previously over Amazonia. The boundary-layer characteristics and mixing ratios of VOCs observed over the Borneo rainforest are different to those measured previously over Amazonia. Compared with the Bornean rainforest, air over the oil palm plantation contains much more isoprene, monoterpenes are relatively less important, and the flower scent, estragole, is prominent. Concentrations of nitrogen oxides are greater above the agro-industrial oil palm landscape than over the rainforest, and this leads to changes in some secondary pollutant mixing ratios (but not, currently, differences in ozone). Secondary organic aerosol over both landscapes shows a significant contribution from isoprene. Primary biological aerosol dominates the super-micrometre aerosol over the rainforest and is likely to be sensitive to land-use change, since the fungal source of the bioaerosol is closely linked to above-ground biodiversity. PMID:22006961

Cloudiness over the Amazon rainforest: Meteorology and thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collow, Allison B. Marquardt; Miller, Mark A.; Trabachino, Lynne C.

2016-07-01

Comprehensive meteorological observations collected during GOAmazon2014/15 using the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility no. 1 and assimilated observations from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 are used to document the seasonal cycle of cloudiness, thermodynamics, and precipitation above the Amazon rainforest. The reversal of synoptic-scale vertical motions modulates the transition between the wet and dry seasons. Ascending moist air during the wet season originates near the surface of the Atlantic Ocean and is advected into the Amazon rainforest, where it experiences convergence and, ultimately, precipitates. The dry season is characterized by weaker winds and synoptic-scale subsidence with little or no moisture convergence accompanying moisture advection. This combination results in the drying of the midtroposphere during June through October as indicated by a decrease in liquid water path, integrated water, and the vertical profile of water vapor mixing ratio. The vertical profile of cloud fraction exhibits a relatively consistent decline in cloud fraction from the lifting condensation level (LCL) to the freezing level where a minimum is observed, unlike many other tropical regions. Coefficients of determination between the LCL and cloud fractional coverage suggest a relatively robust relationship between the LCL and cloudiness beneath 5 km during the dry season (R2 = 0.42) but a weak relationship during the wet season (0.12).

Hurricanes, coral reefs and rainforests: resistance, ruin and recovery in the Caribbean

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lugo, Ariel E.; Rogers, Caroline S.; Nixon, Scott W.

2000-01-01

The coexistence of hurricanes, coral reefs, and rainforests in the Caribbean demonstrates that highly structured ecosystems with great diversity can flourish in spite of recurring exposure to intense destructive energy. Coral reefs develop in response to wave energy and resist hurricanes largely by virtue of their structural strength. Limited fetch also protects some reefs from fully developed hurricane waves. While storms may produce dramatic local reef damage, they appear to have little impact on the ability of coral reefs to provide food or habitat for fish and other animals. Rainforests experience an enormous increase in wind energy during hurricanes with dramatic structural changes in the vegetation. The resulting changes in forest microclimate are larger than those on reefs and the loss of fruit, leaves, cover, and microclimate has a great impact on animal populations. Recovery of many aspects of rainforest structure and function is rapid, though there may be long-term changes in species composition. While resistance and repair have maintained reefs and rainforests in the past, human impacts may threaten their ability to survive.

Alkaloid diversity in the leaves of Australian Flindersia (Rutaceae) species driven by adaptation to aridity.

PubMed

Robertson, Luke P; Hall, Casey R; Forster, Paul I; Carroll, Anthony R

2018-05-04

The genus Flindersia (Rutaceae) comprises 17 species of mostly Australian endemic trees. Although most species are restricted to rainforests, four have evolved to grow in semi-arid and arid environments. In this study, the leaf alkaloid diversity of rainforest and semi-arid/arid zone adapted Australian Flindersia were compared by LC/MS-MS and NMR spectroscopy. Contrary to expectations, Flindersia alkaloid diversity was strongly correlated with environmental aridity, where species predominating in drier regions produced more alkaloids than their wet rainforest congenerics. Rainforest species were also more chemically similar to each other than were the four semi-arid/arid zone species. There was a significant relationship between the presence of alkaloid structural classes and phylogenetic distance, suggesting that alkaloid profiles are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. The results suggest that the radiation of Flindersia species out of the rainforest and into drier environments has promoted the evolution of unique alkaloid diversity. Plants growing in arid and semi-arid regions of Australia may represent an untapped source of undescribed specialised metabolites. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Carbon and Nitrogen Metabolism in Mycorrhizal Networks and Mycoheterotrophic Plants of Tropical Forests: A Stable Isotope Analysis1[W

PubMed Central

Courty, Pierre-Emmanuel; Walder, Florian; Boller, Thomas; Ineichen, Kurt; Wiemken, Andres; Rousteau, Alain; Selosse, Marc-André

2011-01-01

Most achlorophyllous mycoheterotrophic (MH) plants obtain carbon (C) from mycorrhizal networks and indirectly exploit nearby autotrophic plants. We compared overlooked tropical rainforest MH plants associating with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to well-reported temperate MH plants associating with ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes. We investigated 13C and 15N abundances of MH plants, green plants, and AMF spores in Caribbean rainforests. Whereas temperate MH plants and fungi have higher δ13C than canopy trees, these organisms displayed similar δ13C values in rainforests, suggesting differences in C exchanges. Although temperate green and MH plants differ in δ15N, they display similar 15N abundances, and likely nitrogen (N) sources, in rainforests. Contrasting with the high N concentrations shared by temperate MH plants and their fungi, rainforest MH plants had lower N concentrations than AMF, suggesting differences in C/N of exchanged nutrients. We provide a framework for isotopic studies on AMF networks and suggest that MH plants in tropical and temperate regions evolved different physiologies to adapt in diverging environments. PMID:21527422

Two common species dominate the species-rich Euglossine bee fauna of an Atlantic Rainforest remnant in Pernambuco, Brazil.

PubMed

Oliveira, R; Pinto, C E; Schlindwein, C

2015-11-01

Nowadays, the northern part of the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil is largely destroyed and forest remnants rarely exceed 100 ha. In a 118 ha forest fragment within a state nature reserve of Pernambuco (Reserva Ecológica Gurjaú), we surveyed the orchid bee fauna (Apidae, Euglossini) using eight different scent baits to attract males. Once a month during one year, the bees were actively collected with entomological nets, from November 2002 to October 2003 by two collectors. We collected 2,908 orchid bee males belonging to 23 species, one of the highest richness values of the Northern Atlantic Rainforest. Bees of only two species, Euglossa carolina (50%) and Eulaema nigrita (25%), which occurred throughout the year, accounted for three quarter of the collected individuals. Both species are typical for open or disturbed areas. Rainforest remnants like those of Gurjaú within the predominant sugar cane monocultures in the coastal plains of the northern Atlantic Rainforest play an important role in orchid bee conservation and maintenance of biodiversity.

Mechanisms for retention of bioavailable nitrogen in volcanic rainforest soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huygens, Dries; Boeckx, Pascal; Templer, Pamela; Paulino, Leandro; van Cleemput, Oswald; Oyarzún, Carlos; Müller, Christoph; Godoy, Roberto

2008-08-01

Nitrogen cycling is an important aspect of forest ecosystem functioning. Pristine temperate rainforests have been shown to produce large amounts of bioavailable nitrogen, but despite high nitrogen turnover rates, loss of bioavailable nitrogen is minimal in these ecosystems. This tight nitrogen coupling is achieved through fierce competition for bioavailable nitrogen by abiotic processes, soil microbes and plant roots, all of which transfer bioavailable nitrogen to stable nitrogen sinks, such as soil organic matter and above-ground forest vegetation. Here, we use a combination of in situ 15N isotope dilution and 15N tracer techniques in volcanic soils of a temperate evergreen rainforest in southern Chile to further unravel retention mechanisms for bioavailable nitrogen. We find three processes that contribute significantly to nitrogen bioavailability in rainforest soils: heterotrophic nitrate production, nitrate turnover into ammonium and into a pool of dissolved organic nitrogen that is not prone to leaching loss, and finally, the decoupling of dissolved inorganic nitrogen turnover and leaching losses of dissolved organic nitrogen. Identification of these biogeochemical processes helps explain the retention of bioavailable nitrogen in pristine temperate rainforests.

Resilience landscapes for Congo basin rainforests vs. climate and management impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pietsch, Stephan Alexander; Gautam, Sishir; Elias Bednar, Johannes; Stanzl, Patrick; Mosnier, Aline; Obersteiner, Michael

2015-04-01

Past climate change caused severe disturbances of the Central African rainforest belt, with forest fragmentation and re-expansion due to drier and wetter climate conditions. Besides climate, human induced forest degradation affected biodiversity, structure and carbon storage of Congo basin rainforests. Information on climatically stable, mature rainforest, unaffected by human induced disturbances, provides means of assessing the impact of forest degradation and may serve as benchmarks of carbon carrying capacity over regions with similar site and climate conditions. BioGeoChemical (BGC) ecosystem models explicitly consider the impacts of site and climate conditions and may assess benchmark levels over regions devoid of undisturbed conditions. We will present a BGC-model validation for the Western Congolian Lowland Rainforest (WCLRF) using field data from a recently confirmed forest refuge, show model - data comparisons for disturbed und undisturbed forests under different site and climate conditions as well as for sites with repeated assessment of biodiversity and standing biomass during recovery from intensive exploitation. We will present climatic thresholds for WCLRF stability, and construct resilience landscapes for current day conditions vs. climate and management impacts.

Hysteresis in the Central African Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pietsch, Stephan Alexander; Elias Bednar, Johannes; Gautam, Sishir; Petritsch, Richard; Schier, Franziska; Stanzl, Patrick

2014-05-01

Past climate change caused severe disturbances of the Central African rainforest belt, with forest fragmentation and re-expansion due to drier and wetter climate conditions. Besides climate, human induced forest degradation affected biodiversity, structure and carbon storage of Congo basin rainforests. Information on climatically stable, mature rainforest, unaffected by human induced disturbances, provides means of assessing the impact of forest degradation and may serve as benchmarks of carbon carrying capacity over regions with similar site and climate conditions. BioGeoChemical (BGC) ecosystem models explicitly consider the impacts of site and climate conditions and may assess benchmark levels over regions devoid of undisturbed conditions. We will present a BGC-model validation for the Western Congolian Lowland Rainforest (WCLRF) using field data from a recently confirmed forest refuge, show model - data comparisons for disturbed und undisturbed forests under different site and climate conditions as well as for sites with repeated assessment of biodiversity and standing biomass during recovery from intensive exploitation. We will present climatic thresholds for WCLRF stability, analyse the relationship between resilience, standing C-stocks and change in climate and finally provide evidence of hysteresis.

CO2 fertilization stimulates vegetation productivity but has little impact on hydrology in tropical rainforests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yuting; Donohue, Randall; McVicar, Tim; Roderick, Michael; Beck, Hylke

2016-04-01

Tropical rainforests contribute to ~52% of the terrestrial biomass carbon and more than one-third of global terrestrial net primary production. Thus, understanding how tropical rainforests respond to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2) is essential for predicting Earth's carbon, water and energy budgets under future climate change. While the Free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) technique has greatly advanced our understanding of how boreal and temperate ecosystems respond to eCO2, there are currently no FACE sites available in tropical rainforest ecosystems. Here we firstly examine the trend in long-term (1982-2010) satellite-observed leaf area index and fraction of vegetation light absorption and find only minor changes in these variables in tropical rainforests over years, suggesting that eCO2 has not increased vegetation leaf area in tropical rainforests and therefore any plant response to eCO2 occurs at the leaf-level. Following that, we investigate the long-term physiological response (i.e., leaf-level) of tropical rainforests to eCO2 from three different perspectives by: (1) analyzing long-term runoff and precipitation records in 18 unimpaired tropical rainforest catchments to provide observational evidence on the eCO2 effect from an eco-hydrological perspective; (2) developing an analytical model using gas-exchange theory to predict the effect of eCO2 from a top-down perspective; and (3) interpreting outputs from 10 process-oriented ecosystem models to examine the effect of eCO2 from a bottom-up perspective. Our results show that the observed runoff coefficient (the ratio of runoff over precipitation) and ecosystem evapotranspiration (calculated from catchment water balance) remain relatively constant in 18 unimpaired tropical catchments over 1982-2010, implying an unchanged hydrological partitioning and thus conserved transpiration under eCO2. For the same period, using 'top-down' model based on gas-exchange theory, we predict an increase in plant assimilation (A) driven directly by an enhanced light use efficiency (ɛ) at the leaf-level in response to eCO2, the magnitude of which is about the same as that of eCO2 (i.e., ~12% over 1982-2010). Simulations from ten state-of-the-art 'bottom-up' ecosystem models also confirm that in tropical rainforests, direct effect of eCO2 mainly increases A and ɛ but does not change E. Our findings add to the current limited pool of knowledge regarding the long-term eCO2 impacts in tropical rainforests and provide important scientific guidance for future ecophysiology / ecohydrology modelling and field activities conducted in the area.

The shrinking rainforest, and the need for accurate data a satellite radar approach to quantifying Indonesia's palm oil obsession

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trischan, John

Rapid deforestation has been occurring in Southeast Asia for majority of the last quarter century. This is due in large by the expansion of oil palm plantations. These plantations fill the need globally for the palm oil they provide. On the other hand, they are removing some of the last remaining primary rainforests on the planet. The issue concerning the ongoing demise of rainforests in the region involves the availability of data in order to monitor the expansion of palm, at the cost of rainforest. Providing a simplified approach to mapping oil palm plantations in hopes of spreading palm analysis regionally in an effort to obtain a better grasp on the land use dynamics. Using spatial filtering techniques, the complexity of radar data are simplified in order to use for palm detection.

Droughts threaten Bornean rainforests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharya, Atreyee

2012-08-01

At 130 million years old, the rainforests of Southeast Asia are the oldest in the world and home to thousands of species of plants and animals, some endemic to these forests. The rainforests also play important roles in modulating regional rainfall and in the global carbon cycle. However, since the 1960s, increased warming in the Indian Ocean and frequent El Niño events have reduced rainfall in the region by approximately 1.0% per decade. Furthermore, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change predicts that over the 21st century, Southeast Asia will experience higher land temperatures, more droughts, and increased seasonality; that is, wet seasons during the fall will get wetter, and dry seasons during the spring will get drier. However, few studies in the past have investigated how trees in the southeastern Asian rainforests respond to droughts and climate change.

Early anthropogenic impact on Western Central African rainforests 2,600 y ago

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcin, Yannick; Deschamps, Pierre; Ménot, Guillemette; de Saulieu, Geoffroy; Schefuß, Enno; Sebag, David; Dupont, Lydie M.; Oslisly, Richard; Brademann, Brian; Mbusnum, Kevin G.; Onana, Jean-Michel; Ako, Andrew A.; Epp, Laura S.; Tjallingii, Rik; Strecker, Manfred R.; Brauer, Achim; Sachse, Dirk

2018-03-01

A potential human footprint on Western Central African rainforests before the Common Era has become the focus of an ongoing controversy. Between 3,000 y ago and 2,000 y ago, regional pollen sequences indicate a replacement of mature rainforests by a forest–savannah mosaic including pioneer trees. Although some studies suggested an anthropogenic influence on this forest fragmentation, current interpretations based on pollen data attribute the ‘‘rainforest crisis’’ to climate change toward a drier, more seasonal climate. A rigorous test of this hypothesis, however, requires climate proxies independent of vegetation changes. Here we resolve this controversy through a continuous 10,500-y record of both vegetation and hydrological changes from Lake Barombi in Southwest Cameroon based on changes in carbon and hydrogen isotope compositions of plant waxes. δ13C-inferred vegetation changes confirm a prominent and abrupt appearance of C4 plants in the Lake Barombi catchment, at 2,600 calendar years before AD 1950 (cal y BP), followed by an equally sudden return to rainforest vegetation at 2,020 cal y BP. δD values from the same plant wax compounds, however, show no simultaneous hydrological change. Based on the combination of these data with a comprehensive regional archaeological database we provide evidence that humans triggered the rainforest fragmentation 2,600 y ago. Our findings suggest that technological developments, including agricultural practices and iron metallurgy, possibly related to the large-scale Bantu expansion, significantly impacted the ecosystems before the Common Era.

Early anthropogenic impact on Western Central African rainforests 2,600 y ago.

PubMed

Garcin, Yannick; Deschamps, Pierre; Ménot, Guillemette; de Saulieu, Geoffroy; Schefuß, Enno; Sebag, David; Dupont, Lydie M; Oslisly, Richard; Brademann, Brian; Mbusnum, Kevin G; Onana, Jean-Michel; Ako, Andrew A; Epp, Laura S; Tjallingii, Rik; Strecker, Manfred R; Brauer, Achim; Sachse, Dirk

2018-03-27

A potential human footprint on Western Central African rainforests before the Common Era has become the focus of an ongoing controversy. Between 3,000 y ago and 2,000 y ago, regional pollen sequences indicate a replacement of mature rainforests by a forest-savannah mosaic including pioneer trees. Although some studies suggested an anthropogenic influence on this forest fragmentation, current interpretations based on pollen data attribute the ''rainforest crisis'' to climate change toward a drier, more seasonal climate. A rigorous test of this hypothesis, however, requires climate proxies independent of vegetation changes. Here we resolve this controversy through a continuous 10,500-y record of both vegetation and hydrological changes from Lake Barombi in Southwest Cameroon based on changes in carbon and hydrogen isotope compositions of plant waxes. [Formula: see text] 13 C-inferred vegetation changes confirm a prominent and abrupt appearance of C 4 plants in the Lake Barombi catchment, at 2,600 calendar years before AD 1950 (cal y BP), followed by an equally sudden return to rainforest vegetation at 2,020 cal y BP. [Formula: see text]D values from the same plant wax compounds, however, show no simultaneous hydrological change. Based on the combination of these data with a comprehensive regional archaeological database we provide evidence that humans triggered the rainforest fragmentation 2,600 y ago. Our findings suggest that technological developments, including agricultural practices and iron metallurgy, possibly related to the large-scale Bantu expansion, significantly impacted the ecosystems before the Common Era.

Hunting in the Rainforest and Mayaro Virus Infection: An emerging Alphavirus in Ecuador.

PubMed

Izurieta, Ricardo O; Macaluso, Maurizio; Watts, Douglas M; Tesh, Robert B; Guerra, Bolivar; Cruz, Ligia M; Galwankar, Sagar; Vermund, Sten H

2011-10-01

The objectives of this report were to document the potential presence of Mayaro virus infection in Ecuador and to examine potential risk factors for Mayaro virus infection among the personnel of a military garrison in the Amazonian rainforest. The study population consisted of the personnel of a garrison located in the Ecuadorian Amazonian rainforest. The cross-sectional study employed interviews and seroepidemiological methods. Humoral immune response to Mayaro virus infection was assessed by evaluating IgM- and IgG-specific antibodies using ELISA. Of 338 subjects studied, 174 were from the Coastal zone of Ecuador, 73 from Andean zone, and 91 were native to the Amazonian rainforest. Seroprevalence of Mayaro virus infection was more than 20 times higher among Amazonian natives (46%) than among subjects born in other areas (2%). Age and hunting in the rainforest were significant predictors of Mayaro virus infection overall and among Amazonian natives. The results provide the first demonstration of the potential presence of Mayaro virus infection in Ecuador and a systematic evaluation of risk factors for the transmission of this alphavirus. The large difference in prevalence rates between Amazonian natives and other groups and between older and younger natives suggest that Mayaro virus is endemic and enzootic in the rainforest, with sporadic outbreaks that determine differences in risk between birth cohorts of natives. Deep forest hunting may selectively expose native men, descendants of the Shuar and Huaronai ethnic groups, to the arthropod vectors of Mayaro virus in areas close to primate reservoirs.

Immersive Simulations for Smart Classrooms: Exploring Evolutionary Concepts in Secondary Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lui, Michelle; Slotta, James D.

2014-01-01

This article presents the design of an immersive simulation and inquiry activity for technology-enhanced classrooms. Using a co-design method, researchers worked with a high school biology teacher to create a rainforest simulation, distributed across several large displays in the room to immerse students in the environment. The authors created and…

Hyperspectral remote sensing of canopy biodiversity in Hawaiian lowland rainforests

Treesearch

Kimberly M. Carlson; Gregory P. Asner; R. Flint Hughes; Rebecca Ostertag; Roberta E. Martin

2007-01-01

Mapping biological diversity is a high priority for conservation research, management and policy development, but few studies have provided diversity data at high spatial resolution from remote sensing. We used airborne imaging spectroscopy to map woody vascular plant species richness in lowland tropical forest ecosystems in Hawaii. Hyperspectral signatures spanning...

Scientists as citizens and knowers in the detection of deforestation in the Amazon.

PubMed

Monteiro, Marko; Rajão, Raoni

2017-08-01

This paper examines how scientists deal with tensions emerging from their role as providers of objective knowledge and as citizens concerned with how their research influences policy and politics in Brazil. This is accomplished through an ethnographic account of scientists using remote sensing technology, of their knowledge-making activities and of the broader socio-political controversies that permeate the detection of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Strategies for mitigating uncertainty are central aspects of the knowledge practices analyzed, bringing controversies 'external' to the laboratory 'into' the lab, making these boundaries conceptually problematic. In particular, the anticipation of alternative interpretations of rainforest cover is a crucial way that scientists bring the world into the lab, helping to shed light on how scientists, usually seen and analyzed as isolated, are in fact often in constant dialogue with the broader political controversies related to their work. These insights help question the idea that the monitoring of deforestation through remote sensing is a form of secluded research, drawing a more complex picture of the dual role of scientists as knowledge producers and concerned citizens.

African rainforests: past, present and future

PubMed Central

Malhi, Yadvinder; Adu-Bredu, Stephen; Asare, Rebecca A.; Lewis, Simon L.; Mayaux, Philippe

2013-01-01

The rainforests are the great green heart of Africa, and present a unique combination of ecological, climatic and human interactions. In this synthesis paper, we review the past and present state processes of change in African rainforests, and explore the challenges and opportunities for maintaining a viable future for these biomes. We draw in particular on the insights and new analyses emerging from the Theme Issue on ‘African rainforests: past, present and future’ of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. A combination of features characterize the African rainforest biome, including a history of climate variation; forest expansion and retreat; a long history of human interaction with the biome; a relatively low plant species diversity but large tree biomass; a historically exceptionally high animal biomass that is now being severely hunted down; the dominance of selective logging; small-scale farming and bushmeat hunting as the major forms of direct human pressure; and, in Central Africa, the particular context of mineral- and oil-driven economies that have resulted in unusually low rates of deforestation and agricultural activity. We conclude by discussing how this combination of factors influences the prospects for African forests in the twenty-first century. PMID:23878339

Disentangling the relative effects of bushmeat availability on human nutrition in central Africa.

PubMed

Fa, John E; Olivero, Jesús; Real, Raimundo; Farfán, Miguel A; Márquez, Ana L; Vargas, J Mario; Ziegler, Stefan; Wegmann, Martin; Brown, David; Margetts, Barrie; Nasi, Robert

2015-02-02

We studied links between human malnutrition and wild meat availability within the Rainforest Biotic Zone in central Africa. We distinguished two distinct hunted mammalian diversity distributions, one in the rainforest areas (Deep Rainforest Diversity, DRD) containing taxa of lower hunting sustainability, the other in the northern rainforest-savanna mosaic, with species of greater hunting potential (Marginal Rainforest Diversity, MRD). Wild meat availability, assessed by standing crop mammalian biomass, was greater in MRD than in DRD areas. Predicted bushmeat extraction was also higher in MRD areas. Despite this, stunting of children, a measure of human malnutrition, was greater in MRD areas. Structural equation modeling identified that, in MRD areas, mammal diversity fell away from urban areas, but proximity to these positively influenced higher stunting incidence. In DRD areas, remoteness and distance from dense human settlements and infrastructures explained lower stunting levels. Moreover, stunting was higher away from protected areas. Our results suggest that in MRD areas, forest wildlife rational use for better human nutrition is possible. By contrast, the relatively low human populations in DRD areas currently offer abundant opportunities for the continued protection of more vulnerable mammals and allow dietary needs of local populations to be met.

Disentangling the relative effects of bushmeat availability on human nutrition in central Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fa, John E.; Olivero, Jesús; Real, Raimundo; Farfán, Miguel A.; Márquez, Ana L.; Vargas, J. Mario; Ziegler, Stefan; Wegmann, Martin; Brown, David; Margetts, Barrie; Nasi, Robert

2015-02-01

We studied links between human malnutrition and wild meat availability within the Rainforest Biotic Zone in central Africa. We distinguished two distinct hunted mammalian diversity distributions, one in the rainforest areas (Deep Rainforest Diversity, DRD) containing taxa of lower hunting sustainability, the other in the northern rainforest-savanna mosaic, with species of greater hunting potential (Marginal Rainforest Diversity, MRD). Wild meat availability, assessed by standing crop mammalian biomass, was greater in MRD than in DRD areas. Predicted bushmeat extraction was also higher in MRD areas. Despite this, stunting of children, a measure of human malnutrition, was greater in MRD areas. Structural equation modeling identified that, in MRD areas, mammal diversity fell away from urban areas, but proximity to these positively influenced higher stunting incidence. In DRD areas, remoteness and distance from dense human settlements and infrastructures explained lower stunting levels. Moreover, stunting was higher away from protected areas. Our results suggest that in MRD areas, forest wildlife rational use for better human nutrition is possible. By contrast, the relatively low human populations in DRD areas currently offer abundant opportunities for the continued protection of more vulnerable mammals and allow dietary needs of local populations to be met.

Biodiversity hanging by a thread: the importance of fungal litter-trapping systems in tropical rainforests

PubMed Central

Snaddon, Jake L.; Turner, Edgar C.; Fayle, Tom M.; Khen, Chey V.; Eggleton, Paul; Foster, William A.

2012-01-01

The exceptionally high species richness of arthropods in tropical rainforests hinges on the complexity of the forest itself: that is, on features such as the high plant diversity, the layered nature of the canopy and the abundance and the diversity of epiphytes and litter. We here report on one important, but almost completely neglected, piece of this complex jigsaw—the intricate network of rhizomorph-forming fungi that ramify through the vegetation of the lower canopy and intercept falling leaf litter. We show that this litter-trapping network is abundant and intercepts substantial amounts of litter (257.3 kg ha−1): this exceeds the amount of material recorded in any other rainforest litter-trapping system. Experimental removal of this fungal network resulted in a dramatic reduction in both the abundance (decreased by 70.2 ± 4.1%) and morphospecies richness (decreased by 57.4 ± 5.1%) of arthropods. Since the lower canopy levels can contain the highest densities of arthropods, the proportion of the rainforest fauna dependent on the fungal networks is likely to be substantial. Fungal litter-trapping systems are therefore a crucial component of habitat complexity, providing a vital resource that contributes significantly to rainforest biodiversity. PMID:22188674

Are lowland rainforests really evolutionary museums? Phylogeography of the green hylia (Hylia prasina) in the Afrotropics.

PubMed

Marks, Ben D

2010-04-01

A recent trend in the literature highlights the special role that tropical montane regions and habitat transitions peripheral to large blocks of lowland rainforest play in the diversification process. The emerging view is one of lowland rainforests as evolutionary 'museums'; where biotic diversity is maintained over evolutionary time, and additional diversity is accrued from peripheral areas, but where there has been little recent diversification. This leads to the prediction of genetic diversity without geographic structure in widespread taxa. Here, I assess the notion of the lowland rainforest 'museum' with a phylogeographic study of the green hylia (Aves: Sylviidae: Hylia prasina) using 1132 bp of mtDNA sequence data. The distribution of genetic diversity within the mainland subspecies of Hylia reveals five highly divergent haplotype groups distributed in accordance with broad-scale areas of endemism in the Afrotropics. This pattern of genetic diversity within a currently described subspecies refutes the characterization of lowland forests as evolutionary museums. If the pattern of geographic variation in Hylia occurs broadly in widespread rainforest species, conservation policy makers may need to rethink their priorities for conservation in the Afrotropics. (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

People, Parks and Rainforests.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singer, Judith Y.

1992-01-01

The MLE Learning Center, a publicly funded day care center and after-school program in Brooklyn, New York, helps children develop awareness of a global community by using local resources to teach the children about the rainforest. (LB)

Initial Design and Concept of Operations for a Clandestine Data Relay UUV To Circumvent Jungle Canopy Effects on Satellite Communications

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

rainforests are the darkest areas, corresponding to on average of 7 m2 of leaves per m2 of ground. (From ) ......3 Figure 2. A picture of the Niger River...eastern India, or cartels and narco-terrorists of the Amazon river valley, they all share a number of things in common, number one among them being...synonymous with rainforest , and will be used interchangeably. By definition, the rainforest is one of the 2 Earth’s major biomes, and is further

Impacts of Land use and Cover Change on Soil Hydraulic Properties, Rondonia, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultz, K. J.; McGlynn, B. L.; Elsenbeer, H.

2004-05-01

There is a great deal of concern in the scientific community and the popular media about the global impacts of tropical rainforest deforestation. Soil quality does not receive that same media coverage but is greatly affected by deforestation and is a major concern in the tropics, especially in areas undergoing rapid land use and land cover change. Deforestation can lead to changes in the hydrologic regime, loss of topsoil, increased sediment and nutrient loads in waterways, and decreased soil fertility. These impacts are often related to a soil's infiltration capacity and hydraulic conductivity (Ksat). Our research site, Rancho Grande, Rondonia, Brazil, lies in the heart of the most rapid tropical rainforest deforestation in the world. Two watersheds of similar size, comparable topographic relief, and same soil type, were tested for differences in hydraulic conductivity. The two watersheds are differentiated by land use and land cover; one in a primary forest and the other in an actively grazed pasture. We measured infiltration capacity at 13 locations in the primary forest watershed and at 24 locations in the actively grazed pasture. Approximately 150 measurements of Ksat were made at regular depth intervals in both watersheds. Our research focuses on assessing the impact of land use and land cover change (primary rainforest to pasture/grazing) on soil infiltration capacity and subsurface saturated hydraulic conductivity. Statistically significant differences in infiltration capacity and hydraulic conductivity were detected between the pasture and forest sites at depths of 0, 12.5, and 20 cm. Differences between the two sites at depths of 50 and 90cm were not significant. These results demonstrate that the affect of land cover and land use change on soil hydraulic conductivity was confined to shallower depths in the soil profile. Coupled with ongoing watershed runoff studies at Rancho Grande, this research will help clarify how land cover change affects soil hydraulic properties and resulting runoff dynamics.

Patterns and watershed controls of dissolved nitrogen in temperate rainforest streams, southeast Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kreitinger, E.; D'Amore, D. V.; Walter, M. T.

2016-12-01

The Alaskan perhumid coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) is part of the largest expanse of temperate rainforest in the world. Steep topography in this region characterizes thousands of small watersheds, from which more than 760 km3 y-1 of freshwater is exported from terrestrial systems to the nearshore estuary. This hydrologic flux carries large amounts of carbon and nutrients, which are believed to drive important bottom-up controls on ecosystem productivity. In recent years, carbon has been the focus of biogeochemical research in the PCTR, while nitrogen (N) dynamics remain relatively unstudied. We analyzed water chemistry from streams at the outflow points of discrete coastal watersheds in the region and developed predictive models for N flux across varying physiographic features. Predictive variables tested for this nutrient model were derived from regional geographic data to improve scalability. These include topography, wetland extent, forest type, harvest history and other variables related to ecosystem state-factor controls. Results indicate distinct patterns of nitrogen loss across the landscape. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was the dominant form of N in nearly all samples across seasons (range 34.01-351.90 ppb, mean 154.30 ppb). The mean ratio of dissolved inorganic nitrogen as nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4+) to total dissolved nitrogen (DIN:TDN) was .30 in spring and .13 in fall (SE ± .03 at both times). Overall trends in stream N concentrations are such that DON>>NO3>NH3. Results from this research improve our ability to predict dissolved N concentrations using landscape patterns in unsampled watersheds, where accessibility and cost pose hurdles to sampling. The model provides a basis for developing regional nitrogen budgets, which are fundamental to our understanding of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems' response to management practices and climate change.

Lack of genetic structure among ecologically adapted populations of an Australian rainforest Drosophila species as indicated by microsatellite markers and mitochondrial DNA sequences.

PubMed

Schiffer, Michele; Kennington, W J; Hoffmann, A A; Blacket, M J

2007-04-01

Although fragmented rainforest environments represent hotspots for invertebrate biodiversity, few genetic studies have been conducted on rainforest invertebrates. Thus, it is not known if invertebrate species in rainforests are highly genetically fragmented, with the potential for populations to show divergent selection responses, or if there are low levels of gene flow sufficient to maintain genetic homogeneity among fragmented populations. Here we use microsatellite markers and DNA sequences from the mitochondrial ND5 locus to investigate genetic differences among Drosophila birchii populations from tropical rainforests in Queensland, Australia. As found in a previous study, mitochondrial DNA diversity was low with no evidence for population differentiation among rainforest fragments. The pattern of mitochondrial haplotype variation was consistent with D. birchii having undergone substantial past population growth. Levels of nuclear genetic variation were high in all populations while F(ST) values were very low, even for flies from geographically isolated areas of rainforest. No significant differentiation was observed between populations on either side of the Burdekin Gap (a long-term dry corridor), although there was evidence for higher gene diversity in low-latitude populations. Spatial autocorrelation coefficients were low and did not differ significantly from random, except for one locus which revealed a clinal-like pattern. Comparisons of microsatellite differentiation contrasted with previously established clinal patterns in quantitative traits in D. birchii, and indicate that the patterns in quantitative traits are likely to be due to selection. These results suggest moderate gene flow in D. birchii over large distances. Limited population structure in this species appears to be due to recent range expansions or cycles of local extinctions followed by recolonizations/expansions. Nevertheless, patterns of local adaptation have developed in D. birchii that may result in populations showing different selection responses when faced with environmental change.

Simulation of Drought-induced Tree Mortality Using a New Individual and Hydraulic Trait-based Model (S-TEDy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha, T.; Gangodagamage, C.; Ale, S.; Frazier, A. G.; Giambelluca, T. W.; Kumagai, T.; Nakai, T.; Sato, H.

2017-12-01

Drought-related tree mortality at a regional scale causes drastic shifts in carbon and water cycling in Southeast Asian tropical rainforests, where severe droughts are projected to occur more frequently, especially under El Niño conditions. To provide a useful tool for projecting the tropical rainforest dynamics under climate change conditions, we developed the Spatially Explicit Individual-Based (SEIB) Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (DGVM) applicable to simulating mechanistic tree mortality induced by the climatic impacts via individual-tree-scale ecophysiology such as hydraulic failure and carbon starvation. In this study, we present the new model, SEIB-originated Terrestrial Ecosystem Dynamics (S-TEDy) model, and the computation results were compared with observations collected at a field site in a Bornean tropical rainforest. Furthermore, after validating the model's performance, numerical experiments addressing a future of the tropical rainforest were conducted using some global climate model (GCM) simulation outputs.

A Multiscale Simulation Framework to Investigate Hydrobiogeochemical Processes in the Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheibe, T. D.; Yang, X.; Song, X.; Chen, X.; Hammond, G. E.; Song, H. S.; Hou, Z.; Murray, C. J.; Tartakovsky, A. M.; Tartakovsky, G.; Yang, X.; Zachara, J. M.

2016-12-01

Drought-related tree mortality at a regional scale causes drastic shifts in carbon and water cycling in Southeast Asian tropical rainforests, where severe droughts are projected to occur more frequently, especially under El Niño conditions. To provide a useful tool for projecting the tropical rainforest dynamics under climate change conditions, we developed the Spatially Explicit Individual-Based (SEIB) Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (DGVM) applicable to simulating mechanistic tree mortality induced by the climatic impacts via individual-tree-scale ecophysiology such as hydraulic failure and carbon starvation. In this study, we present the new model, SEIB-originated Terrestrial Ecosystem Dynamics (S-TEDy) model, and the computation results were compared with observations collected at a field site in a Bornean tropical rainforest. Furthermore, after validating the model's performance, numerical experiments addressing a future of the tropical rainforest were conducted using some global climate model (GCM) simulation outputs.

Logging cuts the functional importance of invertebrates in tropical rainforest

PubMed Central

Ewers, Robert M.; Boyle, Michael J. W.; Gleave, Rosalind A.; Plowman, Nichola S.; Benedick, Suzan; Bernard, Henry; Bishop, Tom R.; Bakhtiar, Effendi Y.; Chey, Vun Khen; Chung, Arthur Y. C.; Davies, Richard G.; Edwards, David P.; Eggleton, Paul; Fayle, Tom M.; Hardwick, Stephen R.; Homathevi, Rahman; Kitching, Roger L.; Khoo, Min Sheng; Luke, Sarah H.; March, Joshua J.; Nilus, Reuben; Pfeifer, Marion; Rao, Sri V.; Sharp, Adam C.; Snaddon, Jake L.; Stork, Nigel E.; Struebig, Matthew J.; Wearn, Oliver R.; Yusah, Kalsum M.; Turner, Edgar C.

2015-01-01

Invertebrates are dominant species in primary tropical rainforests, where their abundance and diversity contributes to the functioning and resilience of these globally important ecosystems. However, more than one-third of tropical forests have been logged, with dramatic impacts on rainforest biodiversity that may disrupt key ecosystem processes. We find that the contribution of invertebrates to three ecosystem processes operating at three trophic levels (litter decomposition, seed predation and removal, and invertebrate predation) is reduced by up to one-half following logging. These changes are associated with decreased abundance of key functional groups of termites, ants, beetles and earthworms, and an increase in the abundance of small mammals, amphibians and insectivorous birds in logged relative to primary forest. Our results suggest that ecosystem processes themselves have considerable resilience to logging, but the consistent decline of invertebrate functional importance is indicative of a human-induced shift in how these ecological processes operate in tropical rainforests. PMID:25865801

Logging cuts the functional importance of invertebrates in tropical rainforest.

PubMed

Ewers, Robert M; Boyle, Michael J W; Gleave, Rosalind A; Plowman, Nichola S; Benedick, Suzan; Bernard, Henry; Bishop, Tom R; Bakhtiar, Effendi Y; Chey, Vun Khen; Chung, Arthur Y C; Davies, Richard G; Edwards, David P; Eggleton, Paul; Fayle, Tom M; Hardwick, Stephen R; Homathevi, Rahman; Kitching, Roger L; Khoo, Min Sheng; Luke, Sarah H; March, Joshua J; Nilus, Reuben; Pfeifer, Marion; Rao, Sri V; Sharp, Adam C; Snaddon, Jake L; Stork, Nigel E; Struebig, Matthew J; Wearn, Oliver R; Yusah, Kalsum M; Turner, Edgar C

2015-04-13

Invertebrates are dominant species in primary tropical rainforests, where their abundance and diversity contributes to the functioning and resilience of these globally important ecosystems. However, more than one-third of tropical forests have been logged, with dramatic impacts on rainforest biodiversity that may disrupt key ecosystem processes. We find that the contribution of invertebrates to three ecosystem processes operating at three trophic levels (litter decomposition, seed predation and removal, and invertebrate predation) is reduced by up to one-half following logging. These changes are associated with decreased abundance of key functional groups of termites, ants, beetles and earthworms, and an increase in the abundance of small mammals, amphibians and insectivorous birds in logged relative to primary forest. Our results suggest that ecosystem processes themselves have considerable resilience to logging, but the consistent decline of invertebrate functional importance is indicative of a human-induced shift in how these ecological processes operate in tropical rainforests.

Icefield-to-ocean linkages across the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest ecosystem

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Neel, Shad; Hood, Eran; Bidlack, Allison L.; Fleming, Sean W.; Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Arendt, Anthony; Burgess, Evan W.; Sergeant, Christopher J.; Beaudreau, Anne E.; Timm, Kristin; Hayward, Gregory D.; Reynolds, Joel H.; Pyare, Sanjay

2015-01-01

Rates of glacier mass loss in the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) are among the highest on Earth, and changes in glacier volume and extent will affect the flow regime and chemistry of coastal rivers, as well as the nearshore marine ecosystem of the Gulf of Alaska. Here we synthesize physical, chemical and biological linkages that characterize the northern PCTR ecosystem, with particular emphasis on the potential impacts of glacier change in the coastal mountain ranges on the surface–water hydrology, biogeochemistry, coastal oceanography and aquatic ecology. We also evaluate the relative importance and interplay between interannual variability and long-term trends in key physical drivers and ecological responses. To advance our knowledge of the northern PCTR, we advocate for cross-disciplinary research bridging the icefield-to-ocean ecosystem that can be paired with long-term scientific records and designed to inform decisionmakers.

Spatial modeling of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Andean region of Colombia.

PubMed

Pérez-Flórez, Mauricio; Ocampo, Clara Beatriz; Valderrama-Ardila, Carlos; Alexander, Neal

2016-06-27

The objective of this research was to identify environmental risk factors for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Colombia and map high-risk municipalities. The study area was the Colombian Andean region, comprising 715 rural and urban municipalities. We used 10 years of CL surveillance: 2000-2009. We used spatial-temporal analysis - conditional autoregressive Poisson random effects modelling - in a Bayesian framework to model the dependence of municipality-level incidence on land use, climate, elevation and population density. Bivariable spatial analysis identified rainforests, forests and secondary vegetation, temperature, and annual precipitation as positively associated with CL incidence. By contrast, livestock agroecosystems and temperature seasonality were negatively associated. Multivariable analysis identified land use - rainforests and agro-livestock - and climate - temperature, rainfall and temperature seasonality - as best predictors of CL. We conclude that climate and land use can be used to identify areas at high risk of CL and that this approach is potentially applicable elsewhere in Latin America.

Airborne observations of IEPOX-derived isoprene SOA in the Amazon during SAMBBA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allan, J. D.; Morgan, W. T.; Darbyshire, E.; Flynn, M. J.; Williams, P. I.; Oram, D. E.; Artaxo, P.; Brito, J.; Lee, J. D.; Coe, H.

2014-10-01

Isoprene is a potentially highly significant but currently poorly quantified source of secondary organic aerosols (SOA). This is especially important in the tropics, where large rainforests act as significant sources of isoprene. Methylfuran, produced through thermal decomposition during analysis, has recently been suggested as a marker for isoprene SOA formation through the isoprene epoxydiol (IEPOX) route, which mostly occurs under low NOx conditions. This is manifested as a peak at m/z=82 in Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) data. Here we present a study of this marker measured during five flights over the Amazon rainforest on board the UK Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurement (FAAM) BAe-146 research aircraft during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) campaign. Cases where this marker is and is not present are contrasted and linked to the presence of acidic seed particles, lower NOx concentrations and higher humidities. There are also data to suggest a role of organic nitrogen in the particulate composition. Furthermore, an inspection of the vertical trends of the marker indicates that concentrations are highest at the top of the boundary layer (possibly due to semivolatile repartitioning) and that upwards through the free troposphere, the mass spectral profile evolves towards that of low volatility oxygenated aerosol. These observations offer insights into the behaviour of IEPOX-derived SOA formation above the Amazon rainforest and the suitability of methylfuran as a marker for this process.

Tracing an invasion: landbridges, refugia, and the phylogeography of the Neotropical rattlesnake (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalus durissus).

PubMed

Wüster, Wolfgang; Ferguson, Julia E; Quijada-Mascareñas, J Adrian; Pook, Catharine E; Salomão, Maria da Graça; Thorpe, Roger S

2005-04-01

Abstract Pleistocene fragmentation of the Amazonian rainforest has been hypothesized to be a major cause of Neotropical speciation and diversity. However, the role and even the reality of Pleistocene forest refugia have attracted much scepticism. In Amazonia, previous phylogeographical studies have focused mostly on organisms found in the forests themselves, and generally found speciation events to have predated the Pleistocene. However, molecular studies of open-formation taxa found both north and south of the Amazonian forests, probably because of vicariance resulting from expansion of the rainforests, may provide novel insights into the age of continuous forest cover across the Amazon basin. Here, we analyse three mitochondrial genes to infer the phylogeography of one such trans-Amazonian vicariant, the Neotropical rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus), which occupies primarily seasonal formations from Mexico to Argentina, but avoids the rainforests of Central and tropical South America. The phylogeographical pattern is consistent with gradual dispersal along the Central American Isthmus, followed by more rapid dispersal into and across South America after the uplift of the Isthmus of Panama. Low sequence divergence between populations from north and south of the Amazon rainforest is consistent with mid-Pleistocene divergence, approximately 1.1 million years ago (Ma). This suggests that the Amazonian rainforests must have become fragmented or at least shrunk considerably during that period, lending support to the Pleistocene refugia theory as an important cause of distribution patterns, if not necessarily speciation, in Amazonian forest organisms. These results highlight the potential of nonforest species to contribute to an understanding of the history of the Amazonian rainforests themselves.

Hunting in the Rainforest and Mayaro Virus Infection: An emerging Alphavirus in Ecuador

PubMed Central

Izurieta, Ricardo O; Macaluso, Maurizio; Watts, Douglas M; Tesh, Robert B; Guerra, Bolivar; Cruz, Ligia M; Galwankar, Sagar; Vermund, Sten H

2011-01-01

Objectives: The objectives of this report were to document the potential presence of Mayaro virus infection in Ecuador and to examine potential risk factors for Mayaro virus infection among the personnel of a military garrison in the Amazonian rainforest. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of the personnel of a garrison located in the Ecuadorian Amazonian rainforest. The cross-sectional study employed interviews and seroepidemiological methods. Humoral immune response to Mayaro virus infection was assessed by evaluating IgM- and IgG-specific antibodies using ELISA. Results: Of 338 subjects studied, 174 were from the Coastal zone of Ecuador, 73 from Andean zone, and 91 were native to the Amazonian rainforest. Seroprevalence of Mayaro virus infection was more than 20 times higher among Amazonian natives (46%) than among subjects born in other areas (2%). Conclusions: Age and hunting in the rainforest were significant predictors of Mayaro virus infection overall and among Amazonian natives. The results provide the first demonstration of the potential presence of Mayaro virus infection in Ecuador and a systematic evaluation of risk factors for the transmission of this alphavirus. The large difference in prevalence rates between Amazonian natives and other groups and between older and younger natives suggest that Mayaro virus is endemic and enzootic in the rainforest, with sporadic outbreaks that determine differences in risk between birth cohorts of natives. Deep forest hunting may selectively expose native men, descendants of the Shuar and Huaronai ethnic groups, to the arthropod vectors of Mayaro virus in areas close to primate reservoirs. PMID:22223990

Measuring volatile organic compounds and stable isotopes emitted from trees and soils of the Biosphere 2 Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meraz, J. C.; Meredith, L. K.; Van Haren, J. L. M.; Volkmann, T. H. M.

2017-12-01

Rainforest trees and soils play an important role in volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. It is known that many rainforest tree species emit these organic compounds, such as terpenes, which can have an impact on the atmosphere and can be indicative of their metabolic functions. Some VOCs also absorb infrared radiation at wavelengths at which water isotopes are measured with laser spectrometers. Normal concentrations are not high enough for ambient sampling, but increased concentrations resulting from soil and plant samples extracted using equilibrium methods affect observed isotope ratios. There is thus a need to characterize volatile emissions from soil and plant samples, and to develop better methods to account for VOC interference during water isotope measurements. In this study, we collected soil and leaf samples from plants of the Biosphere 2 Rainforest Biome, a mesocosm system created to stimulate natural tropical rainforest habitats . Volatile concentrations were measured using a Gasmet DX4015 FTIR analyzer and a custom sampling system with sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) used as a tracer gas to test for leakage, and a commercial laser spectrometer was used for isotopic analysis. We determined that the different types of tree species emit different kinds of VOCs, such as isoprenes, alcohols, and aldehydes, that will potentially have to be accounted for. This study will help build the understanding of which organic compounds are emitted and develop new methods to test for water isotopes and gas fluxes in clear and precise measures. Such measures can help characterize the functioning of environmental systems such as the Biosphere 2 Rainforest Biome.

Improving Agricultural Extension Services through University Outreach Initiatives: A Case of Farmers in Model Villages in Ogun State, Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oloruntoba, Abayomi; Adegbite, Dorcas A.

2006-01-01

University outreach is an educational and research-based information source enabling farmers to make decisions that improve the quality of their lives. This paper explores how collaborative efforts between the university and farmers have directly impacted in albeit Striga ("noxious witch weed") ravaged maize farms in rainforest farming…

The relationship between climate change and the endangered rainforest shrub Triunia robusta (Proteaceae) endemic to southeast Queensland, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu-Kimura, Yoko; Accad, Arnon; Shapcott, Alison

2017-04-01

Threatened species in rainforests may be vulnerable to climate change, because of their potentially narrow thermal tolerances, small population sizes and restricted distributions. This study modelled climate induced changes on the habitat distribution of the endangered rainforest plant Triunia robusta, endemic to southeast Queensland, Australia. Species distribution models were developed for eastern Australia at 250 m grids and southeast Queensland at 25 m grids using ground-truthed presence records and environmental predictor data. The species’ habitat distribution under the current climate was modelled, and the future potential habitat distributions were projected for the epochs 2030, 2050 and 2070. The eastern Australia model identified several spatially disjunct, broad habitat areas of coastal eastern Australia consistent with the current distribution of rainforests, and projected a southward and upslope contraction driven mainly by average temperatures exceeding current range limits. The southeast Queensland models suggest a dramatic upslope contraction toward locations where the majority of known populations are found. Populations located in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, consistent with past rainforest refugia, are likely to persist long-term. Upgrading the level of protection for less formal nature reserves containing viable populations is a high priority to better protect refugial T. robusta populations with respect to climate change.

Seven hundred years of human-driven and climate-influenced fire activity in a British Columbia coastal temperate rainforest

PubMed Central

Gavin, Daniel G.; Starzomski, Brian M.

2016-01-01

While wildland fire is globally most common at the savannah-grassland ecotone, there is little evidence of fire in coastal temperate rainforests. We reconstructed fire activity with a ca 700-year fire history derived from fire scars and stand establishment from 30 sites in a very wet (up to 4000 mm annual precipitation) temperate rainforest in coastal British Columbia, Canada. Drought and warmer temperatures in the year prior were positively associated with fire events though there was little coherence of climate indices on the years of fires. At the decadal scale, fires were more likely to occur after positive El Niño-Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation phases and exhibited 30-year periods of synchrony with the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation. Fire frequency was significantly inversely correlated with the distance from former Indigenous habitation sites and fires ceased following cultural disorganization caused by disease and other European impacts in the late nineteenth century. Indigenous people were likely to have been the primary ignition source in this and many coastal temperate rainforest settings. These data are directly relevant to contemporary forest management and discredit the myth of coastal temperate rainforests as pristine landscapes. PMID:27853581

Phthalate pollution in an Amazonian rainforest.

PubMed

Lenoir, Alain; Boulay, Raphaël; Dejean, Alain; Touchard, Axel; Cuvillier-Hot, Virginie

2016-08-01

Phthalates are ubiquitous contaminants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can become trapped in the cuticles of insects, including ants which were recognized as good bioindicators for such pollution. Because phthalates have been noted in developed countries and because they also have been found in the Arctic, a region isolated from direct anthropogenic influence, we hypothesized that they are widespread. So, we looked for their presence on the cuticle of ants gathered from isolated areas of the Amazonian rainforest and along an anthropogenic gradient of pollution (rainforest vs. road sides vs. cities in French Guiana). Phthalate pollution (mainly di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)) was higher on ants gathered in cities and along road sides than on those collected in the pristine rainforest, indicating that it follows a human-mediated gradient of disturbance related to the use of plastics and many other products that contain phthalates in urban zones. Their presence varied with the ant species; the cuticle of Solenopsis saevissima traps higher amount of phthalates than that of compared species. However, the presence of phthalates in isolated areas of pristine rainforests suggests that they are associated both with atmospheric particles and in gaseous form and are transported over long distances by wind, resulting in a worldwide diffusion. These findings suggest that there is no such thing as a "pristine" zone.

Assessing tropical rainforest growth traits: Data - Model fusion in the Congo basin and beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pietsch, Stephan

2017-04-01

Virgin forest ecosystems resemble the key reference level for natural tree growth dynamics. The mosaic cycle concept describes such dynamics as local disequilibria driven by patch level succession cycles of breakdown, regeneration, juvenescence and old growth. These cycles, however, may involve different traits of light demanding and shade tolerant species assemblies. In this work a data model fusion concept will be introduced to assess the differences in growth dynamics of the mosaic cycle of the Western Congolian Lowland Rainforest ecosystem. Field data from 34 forest patches located in an ice age forest refuge, recently pinpointed to the ground and still devoid of direct human impact up to today - resemble the data base. A 3D error assessment procedure versus BGC model simulations for the 34 patches revealed two different growth dynamics, consistent with observed growth traits of pioneer and late succession species assemblies of the Western Congolian Lowland rainforest. An application of the same procedure to Central American Pacific rainforests confirms the strength of the 3D error field data model fusion concept to Central American Pacific rainforests confirms the strength of the 3D error field data model fusion concept to assess different growth traits of the mosaic cycle of natural forest dynamics.

Ecological and socio-economic functions across tropical land use systems after rainforest conversion.

PubMed

Drescher, Jochen; Rembold, Katja; Allen, Kara; Beckschäfer, Philip; Buchori, Damayanti; Clough, Yann; Faust, Heiko; Fauzi, Anas M; Gunawan, Dodo; Hertel, Dietrich; Irawan, Bambang; Jaya, I Nengah S; Klarner, Bernhard; Kleinn, Christoph; Knohl, Alexander; Kotowska, Martyna M; Krashevska, Valentyna; Krishna, Vijesh; Leuschner, Christoph; Lorenz, Wolfram; Meijide, Ana; Melati, Dian; Nomura, Miki; Pérez-Cruzado, César; Qaim, Matin; Siregar, Iskandar Z; Steinebach, Stefanie; Tjoa, Aiyen; Tscharntke, Teja; Wick, Barbara; Wiegand, Kerstin; Kreft, Holger; Scheu, Stefan

2016-05-19

Tropical lowland rainforests are increasingly threatened by the expansion of agriculture and the extraction of natural resources. In Jambi Province, Indonesia, the interdisciplinary EFForTS project focuses on the ecological and socio-economic dimensions of rainforest conversion to jungle rubber agroforests and monoculture plantations of rubber and oil palm. Our data confirm that rainforest transformation and land use intensification lead to substantial losses in biodiversity and related ecosystem functions, such as decreased above- and below-ground carbon stocks. Owing to rapid step-wise transformation from forests to agroforests to monoculture plantations and renewal of each plantation type every few decades, the converted land use systems are continuously dynamic, thus hampering the adaptation of animal and plant communities. On the other hand, agricultural rainforest transformation systems provide increased income and access to education, especially for migrant smallholders. Jungle rubber and rubber monocultures are associated with higher financial land productivity but lower financial labour productivity compared to oil palm, which influences crop choice: smallholders that are labour-scarce would prefer oil palm while land-scarce smallholders would prefer rubber. Collecting long-term data in an interdisciplinary context enables us to provide decision-makers and stakeholders with scientific insights to facilitate the reconciliation between economic interests and ecological sustainability in tropical agricultural landscapes. © 2016 The Authors.

Ecological and socio-economic functions across tropical land use systems after rainforest conversion

PubMed Central

Rembold, Katja; Allen, Kara; Beckschäfer, Philip; Buchori, Damayanti; Clough, Yann; Faust, Heiko; Fauzi, Anas M.; Gunawan, Dodo; Hertel, Dietrich; Irawan, Bambang; Jaya, I. Nengah S.; Klarner, Bernhard; Kleinn, Christoph; Knohl, Alexander; Kotowska, Martyna M.; Krashevska, Valentyna; Krishna, Vijesh; Leuschner, Christoph; Lorenz, Wolfram; Meijide, Ana; Melati, Dian; Nomura, Miki; Pérez-Cruzado, César; Qaim, Matin; Siregar, Iskandar Z.; Steinebach, Stefanie; Tjoa, Aiyen; Tscharntke, Teja; Wick, Barbara; Wiegand, Kerstin; Kreft, Holger; Scheu, Stefan

2016-01-01

Tropical lowland rainforests are increasingly threatened by the expansion of agriculture and the extraction of natural resources. In Jambi Province, Indonesia, the interdisciplinary EFForTS project focuses on the ecological and socio-economic dimensions of rainforest conversion to jungle rubber agroforests and monoculture plantations of rubber and oil palm. Our data confirm that rainforest transformation and land use intensification lead to substantial losses in biodiversity and related ecosystem functions, such as decreased above- and below-ground carbon stocks. Owing to rapid step-wise transformation from forests to agroforests to monoculture plantations and renewal of each plantation type every few decades, the converted land use systems are continuously dynamic, thus hampering the adaptation of animal and plant communities. On the other hand, agricultural rainforest transformation systems provide increased income and access to education, especially for migrant smallholders. Jungle rubber and rubber monocultures are associated with higher financial land productivity but lower financial labour productivity compared to oil palm, which influences crop choice: smallholders that are labour-scarce would prefer oil palm while land-scarce smallholders would prefer rubber. Collecting long-term data in an interdisciplinary context enables us to provide decision-makers and stakeholders with scientific insights to facilitate the reconciliation between economic interests and ecological sustainability in tropical agricultural landscapes. PMID:27114577

The relationship between climate change and the endangered rainforest shrub Triunia robusta (Proteaceae) endemic to southeast Queensland, Australia

PubMed Central

Shimizu-Kimura, Yoko; Accad, Arnon; Shapcott, Alison

2017-01-01

Threatened species in rainforests may be vulnerable to climate change, because of their potentially narrow thermal tolerances, small population sizes and restricted distributions. This study modelled climate induced changes on the habitat distribution of the endangered rainforest plant Triunia robusta, endemic to southeast Queensland, Australia. Species distribution models were developed for eastern Australia at 250 m grids and southeast Queensland at 25 m grids using ground-truthed presence records and environmental predictor data. The species’ habitat distribution under the current climate was modelled, and the future potential habitat distributions were projected for the epochs 2030, 2050 and 2070. The eastern Australia model identified several spatially disjunct, broad habitat areas of coastal eastern Australia consistent with the current distribution of rainforests, and projected a southward and upslope contraction driven mainly by average temperatures exceeding current range limits. The southeast Queensland models suggest a dramatic upslope contraction toward locations where the majority of known populations are found. Populations located in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, consistent with past rainforest refugia, are likely to persist long-term. Upgrading the level of protection for less formal nature reserves containing viable populations is a high priority to better protect refugial T. robusta populations with respect to climate change. PMID:28422136

Population genetic analysis of a medicinally significant Australian rainforest tree, Fontainea picrosperma C.T. White (Euphorbiaceae): biogeographic patterns and implications for species domestication and plantation establishment.

PubMed

Lamont, R W; Conroy, G C; Reddell, P; Ogbourne, S M

2016-02-29

Fontainea picrosperma, a subcanopy tree endemic to the rainforests of northeastern Australia, is of medicinal significance following the discovery of the novel anti-cancer natural product, EBC-46. Laboratory synthesis of EBC-46 is unlikely to be commercially feasible and consequently production of the molecule is via isolation from F. picrosperma grown in plantations. Successful domestication and plantation production requires an intimate knowledge of a taxon's life-history attributes and genetic architecture, not only to ensure the maximum capture of genetic diversity from wild source populations, but also to minimise the risk of a detrimental loss in genetic diversity via founder effects during subsequent breeding programs designed to enhance commercially significant agronomic traits. Here we report the use of eleven microsatellite loci (PIC = 0.429; P ID  = 1.72 × 10(-6)) to investigate the partitioning of genetic diversity within and among seven natural populations of F. picrosperma. Genetic variation among individuals and within populations was found to be relatively low (A = 2.831; H E  = 0.407), although there was marked differentiation among populations (PhiPT = 0.248). Bayesian, UPGMA and principal coordinates analyses detected three main genotypic clusters (K = 3), which were present at all seven populations. Despite low levels of historical gene flow (N m  = 1.382), inbreeding was negligible (F = -0.003); presumably due to the taxon's dioecious breeding system. The data suggests that F. picrosperma was previously more continuously distributed, but that rainforest contraction and expansion in response to glacial-interglacial cycles, together with significant anthropogenic effects have resulted in significant fragmentation. This research provides important tools to support plantation establishment, selection and genetic improvement of this medicinally significant Australian rainforest species.

Ecotourism: The Santa Elena Rainforest Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wearing, Stephen

1993-01-01

Describes an ecotourism project in which the community of Santa Elena, Costa Rica, are developing a rainforest reserve on government land leased permanently to the local high school. Discusses the impact of the project on the community's economy and environment. (Contains 30 references.) (MDH)

Educational Biography of an Arakmbut.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sueyo, Hector

2003-01-01

An indigenous Peruvian sociologist of the Arakmbut people describes his educational experiences, including Harakmbut education for survival in the Peruvian rainforest, primary education in a village school with a national "Spanified" curriculum, scholarships that enabled an academic secondary and higher education outside the rainforest,…

Negative Impacts of Human Land Use on Dung Beetle Functional Diversity

PubMed Central

Barragán, Felipe; Moreno, Claudia E.; Escobar, Federico; Halffter, Gonzalo; Navarrete, Dario

2011-01-01

The loss of biodiversity caused by human activity is assumed to alter ecosystem functioning. However our understanding of the magnitude of the effect of these changes on functional diversity and their impact on the dynamics of ecological processes is still limited. We analyzed the functional diversity of copro-necrophagous beetles under different conditions of land use in three Mexican biosphere reserves. In Montes Azules pastures, forest fragments and continuous rainforest were analyzed, in Los Tuxtlas rainforest fragments of different sizes were analyzed and in Barranca de Metztitlán two types of xerophile scrub with different degrees of disturbance from grazing were analyzed. We assigned dung beetle species to functional groups based on food relocation, beetle size, daily activity period and food preferences, and as measures of functional diversity we used estimates based on multivariate methods. In Montes Azules functional richness was lower in the pastures than in continuous rainforest and rainforest fragments, but fragments and continuous forest include functionally redundant species. In small rainforest fragments (<5 ha) in Los Tuxtlas, dung beetle functional richness was lower than in large rainforest fragments (>20 ha). Functional evenness and functional dispersion did not vary among habitat types or fragment size in these reserves. In contrast, in Metztitlán, functional richness and functional dispersion were different among the vegetation types, but differences were not related to the degree of disturbance by grazing. More redundant species were found in submontane than in crassicaule scrub. For the first time, a decrease in the functional diversity in communities of copro-necrophagous beetles resulting from changes in land use is documented, the potential implications for ecosystem functioning are discussed and a series of variables that could improve the evaluation of functional diversity for this biological group is proposed. PMID:21448292

Overview of the Distribution, Habitat Association and Impact of Exotic Ants on Native Ant Communities in New Caledonia

PubMed Central

Berman, Maïa; Andersen, Alan N.; Hély, Christelle; Gaucherel, Cédric

2013-01-01

Ants are among the most ubiquitous and harmful invaders worldwide, but there are few regional studies of their relationships with habitat and native ant communities. New Caledonia has a unique and diverse ant fauna that is threatened by exotic ants, but broad-scale patterns of exotic and native ant community composition in relation to habitat remain poorly documented. We conducted a systematic baiting survey of 56 sites representing the main New Caledonian habitat types: rainforest on ultramafic soils (15 sites), rainforest on volcano-sedimentary soils (13), maquis shrubland (15), Melaleuca-dominated savannas (11) and Acacia spirorbis thickets (2). We collected a total of 49 species, 13 of which were exotic. Only five sites were free of exotic species, and these were all rainforest. The five most abundant exotic species differed in their habitat association, with Pheidole megacephala associated with rainforests, Brachymyrmex cf. obscurior with savanna, and Wasmannia auropunctata and Nylanderia vaga present in most habitats. Anoplolepis gracilipes occurred primarily in maquis-shrubland, which contrasts with its rainforest affinity elsewhere. Multivariate analysis of overall ant species composition showed strong differentiation of sites according to the distribution of exotic species, and these patterns were maintained at the genus and functional group levels. Native ant composition differed at invaded versus uninvaded rainforest sites, in the absence of differences in habitat variables. Generalised Myrmicinae and Forest Opportunists were particularly affected by invasion. There was a strong negative relationship between the abundance of W. auropunctata and native ant abundance and richness. This emphasizes that, in addition to dominating many ant communities numerically, some exotic species, and in particular W. auropunctata, have a marked impact on native ant communities. PMID:23840639

Negative impacts of human land use on dung beetle functional diversity.

PubMed

Barragán, Felipe; Moreno, Claudia E; Escobar, Federico; Halffter, Gonzalo; Navarrete, Dario

2011-03-23

The loss of biodiversity caused by human activity is assumed to alter ecosystem functioning. However our understanding of the magnitude of the effect of these changes on functional diversity and their impact on the dynamics of ecological processes is still limited. We analyzed the functional diversity of copro-necrophagous beetles under different conditions of land use in three Mexican biosphere reserves. In Montes Azules pastures, forest fragments and continuous rainforest were analyzed, in Los Tuxtlas rainforest fragments of different sizes were analyzed and in Barranca de Metztitlán two types of xerophile scrub with different degrees of disturbance from grazing were analyzed. We assigned dung beetle species to functional groups based on food relocation, beetle size, daily activity period and food preferences, and as measures of functional diversity we used estimates based on multivariate methods. In Montes Azules functional richness was lower in the pastures than in continuous rainforest and rainforest fragments, but fragments and continuous forest include functionally redundant species. In small rainforest fragments (<5 ha) in Los Tuxtlas, dung beetle functional richness was lower than in large rainforest fragments (>20 ha). Functional evenness and functional dispersion did not vary among habitat types or fragment size in these reserves. In contrast, in Metztitlán, functional richness and functional dispersion were different among the vegetation types, but differences were not related to the degree of disturbance by grazing. More redundant species were found in submontane than in crassicaule scrub. For the first time, a decrease in the functional diversity in communities of copro-necrophagous beetles resulting from changes in land use is documented, the potential implications for ecosystem functioning are discussed and a series of variables that could improve the evaluation of functional diversity for this biological group is proposed.

Spatial patterns and recent trends in the climate of tropical rainforest regions.

PubMed

Malhi, Yadvinder; Wright, James

2004-03-29

We present an analysis of the mean climate and climatic trends of tropical rainforest regions over the period 1960-1998, with the aid of explicit maps of forest cover and climatological databases. Until the mid-1970s most regions showed little trend in temperature, and the western Amazon experienced a net cooling probably associated with an interdecadal oscillation. Since the mid-1970s, all tropical rainforest regions have experienced a strong warming at a mean rate of 0.26 +/- 0.05 degrees C per decade, in synchrony with a global rise in temperature that has been attributed to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect. Over the study period, precipitation appears to have declined in tropical rainforest regions at a rate of 1.0 +/- 0.8% per decade (p < 5%), declining sharply in northern tropical Africa (at 3-4% per decade), declining marginally in tropical Asia and showing no significant trend in Amazonia. There is no evidence so far of a decline in precipitation in eastern Amazonia, a region thought vulnerable to climate-change-induced drying. The strong drying trend in Africa suggests that this should be a priority study region for understanding the impact of drought on tropical rainforests. We develop and use a dry-season index to study variations in the length and intensity of the dry season. Only African and Indian tropical rainforests appear to have seen a significant increase in dry-season intensity. In terms of interannual variability, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the primary driver of temperature variations across the tropics and of precipitation fluctuations for large areas of the Americas and southeast Asia. The relation between ENSO and tropical African precipitation appears less direct.

The Effect of Drought on Stomatal Conductance in the Biosphere 2 Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gay, J. D.; Van Haren, J. L. M.

2015-12-01

Drought is a major climate change concern for the Earth's rainforests; however little is currently known about how these forests and individual plants will respond to water stress. At the individual level, the ability of plants to regulate their stomatal conductance is an important preservation mechanism that helps to cool leaves, regulate water loss, and uptake carbon dioxide. At the ecosystem level, transpiration in rainforests is a major contributor to the positive feedback loop that returns moisture to the atmosphere for continued precipitation cycles. Nearly 60% of atmospheric moisture in the Amazon rain forests has been traced back to origins of transpiration from its plants. In relation to current climatic conditions, stomatal conductance rates are highly variable across rainforest species and environmental conditions. It is still unknown to what extent these rates will decrease at leaf and forest level in response to periods of drought. The University of Arizona's Biosphere 2 (B2) served as the study site for a simulated 4-week long drought because of its ability to mimic the micrometeorology of an Amazonian rainforest. Three species of plants were chosen at various levels in the canopy: Clitoria racemosa, Cissus sicyoides, and Hibiscus elatus. These plants were selected based on their relative abundance and distribution in the B2 forest. It was revealed that two out of the three species exhibited decreases in H20 efflux at each elevation, while one species (C. racemosa) proved much more resistant, at each elevation, to H20 loss. These results may be useful for future integrative modeling of how individual leaf level responses extend to entire ecosystem scales. It will be important to better understand how rainforests conserve, recycle, and lose water to gauge their response to warming climate, and increased periods of drought in the tropics.

Loa loa vectors Chrysops spp.: perspectives on research, distribution, bionomics, and implications for elimination of lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis.

PubMed

Kelly-Hope, Louise; Paulo, Rossely; Thomas, Brent; Brito, Miguel; Unnasch, Thomas R; Molyneux, David

2017-04-05

Loiasis is a filarial disease caused Loa loa. The main vectors are Chrysops silacea and C. dimidiata which are confined to the tropical rainforests of Central and West Africa. Loiasis is a mild disease, but individuals with high microfilaria loads may suffer from severe adverse events if treated with ivermectin during mass drug administration campaigns for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. This poses significant challenges for elimination programmes and alternative interventions are required in L. loa co-endemic areas. The control of Chrysops has not been considered as a viable cost-effective intervention; we reviewed the current knowledge of Chrysops vectors to assess the potential for control as well as identified areas for future research. We identified 89 primary published documents on the two main L. loa vectors C. silacea and C dimidiata. These were collated into a database summarising the publication, field and laboratory procedures, species distributions, ecology, habitats and methods of vector control. The majority of articles were from the 1950-1960s. Field studies conducted in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Sudan highlighted that C. silacea is the most important and widespread vector. This species breeds in muddy streams or swampy areas of forests or plantations, descends from forest canopies to feed on humans during the day, is more readily adapted to human dwellings and attracted to wood fires. Main vector targeted measures proposed to impact on L. loa transmission included personal repellents, household screening, indoor residual spraying, community-based environmental management, adulticiding and larviciding. This is the first comprehensive review of the major L. loa vectors for several decades. It highlights key vector transmission characteristics that may be targeted for vector control providing insights into the potential for integrated vector management, with multiple diseases being targeted simultaneously, with shared human and financial resources and multiple impact. Integrated vector management programmes for filarial infections, especially in low transmission areas of onchocerciasis, require innovative approaches and alternative strategies if the elimination targets established by the World Health Organization are to be achieved.

South-East Asia's Trembling Rainforests.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laird, John

1991-01-01

This discussion focuses on potential solutions to the degradation of rainforests in Southeast Asia caused by indiscriminate logging, inappropriate road-construction techniques, forest fires, and the encroachment upon watersheds by both agricultural concerns and peasant farmers. Vignettes illustrate the impact of this degradation upon the animals,…

Light, temperature, and leaf nitrogen distribution in the tropical rain forest of Biosphere 2 and their importance in the mathematical models for global environmental changes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tohda, Motofumi

1997-01-01

As the environmental changes occur throughout the world in rapid rate, we need to have further understandings for our planet. Since the ecosystems are so complex, it is almost impossible for us to integrate every factor. However, mathematical models are powerful tools which can be used to simulate those ecosystems with limited data. In this project, I collected light intensity, canopy leaf temperature and Air Handler (AHU) temperature, and nitrogen concentration in the leaves for different profiles in the rainforest mesocosm. These data will later be put into mathematical models such as "big-leaf" and "sun/shade" models to determine how these factors will affect CO2 exchange in the rainforest. As rainforests are diminishing from our planet and their existence is very important for all living things on earth, it is necessary for us to learn more about the unique system of rainforests and how we can co-exist rather than destroy.

Unexpected seasonality in quantity and composition of Amazon rainforest air reactivity

PubMed Central

Nölscher, A. C.; Yañez-Serrano, A. M.; Wolff, S.; de Araujo, A. Carioca; Lavrič, J. V.; Kesselmeier, J.; Williams, J.

2016-01-01

The hydroxyl radical (OH) removes most atmospheric pollutants from air. The loss frequency of OH radicals due to the combined effect of all gas-phase OH reactive species is a measureable quantity termed total OH reactivity. Here we present total OH reactivity observations in pristine Amazon rainforest air, as a function of season, time-of-day and height (0–80 m). Total OH reactivity is low during wet (10 s−1) and high during dry season (62 s−1). Comparison to individually measured trace gases reveals strong variation in unaccounted for OH reactivity, from 5 to 15% missing in wet-season afternoons to mostly unknown (average 79%) during dry season. During dry-season afternoons isoprene, considered the dominant reagent with OH in rainforests, only accounts for ∼20% of the total OH reactivity. Vertical profiles of OH reactivity are shaped by biogenic emissions, photochemistry and turbulent mixing. The rainforest floor was identified as a significant but poorly characterized source of OH reactivity. PMID:26797390

Unexpected seasonality in quantity and composition of Amazon rainforest air reactivity.

PubMed

Nölscher, A C; Yañez-Serrano, A M; Wolff, S; de Araujo, A Carioca; Lavrič, J V; Kesselmeier, J; Williams, J

2016-01-22

The hydroxyl radical (OH) removes most atmospheric pollutants from air. The loss frequency of OH radicals due to the combined effect of all gas-phase OH reactive species is a measureable quantity termed total OH reactivity. Here we present total OH reactivity observations in pristine Amazon rainforest air, as a function of season, time-of-day and height (0-80 m). Total OH reactivity is low during wet (10 s(-1)) and high during dry season (62 s(-1)). Comparison to individually measured trace gases reveals strong variation in unaccounted for OH reactivity, from 5 to 15% missing in wet-season afternoons to mostly unknown (average 79%) during dry season. During dry-season afternoons isoprene, considered the dominant reagent with OH in rainforests, only accounts for ∼20% of the total OH reactivity. Vertical profiles of OH reactivity are shaped by biogenic emissions, photochemistry and turbulent mixing. The rainforest floor was identified as a significant but poorly characterized source of OH reactivity.

Trampling resistance of tropical rainforest soils and vegetation in the wet tropics of north east Australia.

PubMed

Talbot, L M; Turton, S M; Graham, A W

2003-09-01

Controlled trampling was conducted to investigate the trampling resistance of contrasting high fertility basaltic and low fertility rhyolitic soils and their associated highland tropical rainforest vegetation in north east Australia's Wet Tropics. Although this approach has been taken in numerous studies of trampling in a variety of ecosystem types (temperate and subtropical forest, alpine shrubland, coral reef and seagrass beds), the experimental method does not appear to have been previously applied in a tropical rainforest context. Ground vegetation cover and soil penetration resistance demonstrated variable responses to trampling. Trampling, most noticeably after 200 and 500 passes reduced organic litter cover. Bulk density increased with trampling intensity, particularly on basalt soils as rhyolite soils appeared somewhat resistant to the impacts of trampling. The permeability of the basalt and rhyolite soils decreased markedly with increased trampling intensity, even after only 75 passes. These findings suggest physical and hydrological changes may occur rapidly in tropical rainforest soils following low levels of trampling, particularly on basalt soils.

Unrealized diversity in an urban rainforest: A new species of Lygosoma (Squamata: Scincidae) from western Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).

PubMed

Karin, Benjamin R; Freitas, Elyse S; Shonleben, Samuel; Grismer, L Lee; Bauer, Aaron M; Das, Indraneil

2018-01-12

We collected two specimens of an undescribed species of Lygosoma from pitfall traps in an urban rainforest in Kuching and from the base of a forested hill in western Sarawak, East Malaysia. The new species is diagnosable from all south-east Asian congeners by morphological characters, and most closely resembles Lygosoma herberti from the Thai-Malay Peninsula. The new species shows substantial molecular divergence from its closest relatives in two protein-coding genes, one mitochondrial (ND1) and one nuclear (R35) that we sequenced for several south-east Asian congeners. We describe the new species on the basis of this distinct morphology and genetic divergence. It is the third species of Lygosoma known from Borneo, and highlights the continuing rise in lizard species diversity on the island. In addition, the discovery of this species from a small urban rainforest underscores the importance of preserving intact rainforest areas of any size in maintaining species diversity.

Doubling the estimate of invertebrate biomass in a rainforest canopy.

PubMed

Ellwood, Martin D F; Foster, William A

2004-06-03

Forest canopies represent the functional interface between 90% of the Earth's terrestrial biomass and the atmosphere and include some of the most threatened of all terrestrial ecosystems. However, we lack even a basic understanding of how the biomass of plants and animals is distributed throughout forest canopies, even though this information is vital for estimating energy flow, carbon cycling, resource use and the transfer of materials within this ecosystem. Here we measure the biomass of invertebrates living in a common rainforest epiphyte, describe a striking relationship between fern size and the biomass of animals within the ferns, and reveal that one large epiphyte may contain an invertebrate biomass similar to that found in the whole of the rest of the tree crown on which it is growing. Using these data, we show that including the fauna of these epiphytes--a neglected component in rainforest ecosystems--can more than double our estimate of the total invertebrate biomass in an entire rainforest canopy.

Attribution of changes in precipitation patterns in African rainforests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otto, F. E.; Jones, R. G.; Halladay, K.; Allen, M. R.

2013-12-01

The effects of projected future global and regional climate change on the water cycle and thus on global water security are amongst the most economically and politically important challenges that society faces in the 21st century. The provision of secure access to water resources and the protection of communities from water-related risks have emerged as top priorities amongst policymakers within the public and private sectors alike. Investment decisions on water infrastructure rely heavily on quantitative assessments of risks and uncertainties associated with future changes in water-related threats. Especially with the introduction of loss and damages on the agenda of the UNFCCC additionally the attribution of such changes to anthropogenic climate change and other external climate drivers is crucial. Probabilistic event attribution (PEA) provides a method of evaluating the extent to which human-induced climate change is affecting localised weather events and impacts of such events that relies on good observations as well as climate modelling. The overall approach is to simulate both, the statistics of observed weather, and the statistics of the weather that would have occurred had specific external drivers of climate change been absent. The majority of studies applying PEA have focused on quantifying attributable risk, with changes in risk depending on an assumption of 'all other things being equal', including natural drivers of climate change and vulnerability. Most previous attribution studies have focused on European extreme weather events, but the most vulnerable regions to climate change are in Asia and Africa. One of the most complex hydrological systems is the tropical rainforest, with the rainforests in tropical Africa being some of the most under-researched regions in the world. Research in the Amazonian rainforest suggests potential vulnerability to climate change. We will present results from using the large ensemble of atmosphere-only general circulation model (AGCM) simulations within the weather@home project, and analysing statistics of precipitation in the dry season of the Congo Basin rainforests. Because observed data sets in that region are of very poor quality we show how validation methods not only relying on such data have been used to investigate the applicability of PEA analysis from large model ensembles to this tropical region. Additionally we will present results for the same region but generated with a very large ensemble of regional climate simulations which allows analysing the importance of a realistic simulation of small scale precipitation processes for attribution studies in a tropical climate. We highlight that PEA analysis has the potential to provide valuable scientific evidence of recent or anticipated climatological changes in the water cycle, especially in regions with sparse observational data and unclear projections of future changes. However, the strong influence of SST tele-connection patterns on tropical precipitation provides more challenges in the set-up of attribution studies than studies on mid-latitude rainfall.

Making Rainforests Relevant.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lustbader, Sara

1995-01-01

Describes a program for teaching about tropical rainforests in a concrete way using what's outside the door. This activity uses an eastern deciduous hardwood forest as an example. Step-by-step instructions include introductory activities, plus descriptions of stations in the forest to be visited. Resources include books, audio-visual materials,…

Sympatric bromeliad species (Pitcairnia spp.) facilitate tests of mechanisms involved in species cohesion and reproductive isolation in Neotropical inselbergs.

PubMed

Palma-Silva, C; Wendt, T; Pinheiro, F; Barbará, T; Fay, Michael F; Cozzolino, S; Lexer, C

2011-08-01

The roles of intra- and interspecific gene flow in speciation and species evolution are topics of great current interest in molecular ecology and evolutionary biology. Recent modelling studies call for new empirical data to test hypotheses arising from the recent shift from a 'whole-genome reproductive isolation' view to a 'genic' view of species and speciation. Particularly scarce (and thus of particular interest) are molecular genetic data on recently radiated, naturally hybridizing species in strongly structured and species-rich environments. Here, we studied four sympatric plant species (Pitcairnia spp.; Bromeliaceae) adapted to Neotropical inselbergs (isolated outcrops resembling habitat 'islands' in tropical rainforests) using nuclear and plastid DNA. Patterns of plastid DNA haplotype sharing and nuclear genomic admixture suggest the presence of both, incomplete lineage sorting and interspecific gene flow over extended periods of time. Integrity and cohesion of inselberg species of Pitcairnia are maintained despite introgression and in the face of extremely low within-species migration rates (N(e)m < 1 migrant per generation). Cross-evaluation of our genetic data against published pollination experiments indicate that species integrity is maintained by the simultaneous action of multiple prezygotic barriers, including flowering phenology, pollinator isolation and divergent mating systems. Postzygotic Bateson-Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibilities appear to contribute to isolation, as suggested by asymmetric introgression rates of single loci. Our results suggest that incomplete lineage sorting, hybridization and introgression form integral aspects of adaptive radiation in Neotropical inselberg 'archipelagos'. Inselbergs with multiple closely related co-occurring species should be of special interest to students of speciation in mountain systems, and to ongoing conservation programmes in the Atlantic Rainforest biodiversity hotspot. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The economic value of the climate regulation ecosystem service provided by the Amazon rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heil Costa, Marcos; Pires, Gabrielle; Fontes, Vitor; Brumatti, Livia

2017-04-01

The rainy Amazon climate allowed important activities to develop in the region as large rainfed agricultural lands and hydropower plants. The Amazon rainforest is an important source of moisture to the regional atmosphere and helps regulate the local climate. The replacement of forest by agricultural lands decreases the flux of water vapor into the atmosphere and changes the precipitation patterns, which may severely affect such economic activities. Assign an economic value to this ecosystem service may emphasize the significance to preserve the Amazon rainforest. In this work, we provide a first approximation of the quantification of the climate regulation ecosystem service provided by the Amazon rainforest using the marginal production method. We use climate scenarios derived from Amazon deforestation scenarios as input to crop and runoff models to assess how land use change would affect agriculture and hydropower generation. The effects of forest removal on soybean production and on cattle beef production can both be as high as US 16 per year per ha deforested, and the effects on hydropower generation can be as high as US 8 per year per ha deforested. We consider this as a conservative estimate of a permanent service provided by the rainforest. Policy makers and other Amazon agriculture and energy businesses must be aware of these numbers, and consider them while planning their activities.

Terrestrial Water Flux Responses to Global Warming in Tropical Rainforest Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lan, C. W.; Lo, M. H.; Kumar, S.

2016-12-01

Precipitation extremes are expected to become more frequent in the changing global climate, which may considerably affect the terrestrial hydrological cycle. In this study, Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) archives have been examined to explore the changes in normalized terrestrial water fluxes (TWFn) (precipitation minus evapotranspiration minus total runoff, divided by the precipitation climatology) in three tropical rainforest areas: Maritime Continent, Congo, and Amazon. Results reveal that a higher frequency of intense precipitation events is predicted for the Maritime Continent in the future climate than in the present climate, but not for the Amazon or Congo rainforests. Nonlinear responses to extreme precipitation lead to a reduced groundwater recharge and a proportionately greater amount of direct runoff, particularly for the Maritime Continent, where both the amount and intensity of precipitation increase under global warming. We suggest that the nonlinear response is related to the existence of a higher near-surface soil moisture over the Maritime Continent than that over the Amazon and Congo rainforests. The wetter soil over the Maritime Continent also leads to an increased subsurface runoff. Thus, increased precipitation extremes and concomitantly reduced terrestrial water fluxes (TWF) lead to an intensified hydrological cycle for the Maritime Continent. This has the potential to result in a strong temporal heterogeneity in soil water distribution affecting the ecosystem of the rainforest region and increasing the risk of flooding and/or landslides.

Terrestrial water flux responses to global warming in tropical rainforest areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lan, Chia-Wei; Lo, Min-Hui; Chou, Chia; Kumar, Sanjiv

2016-05-01

Precipitation extremes are expected to become more frequent in the changing global climate, which may considerably affect the terrestrial hydrological cycle. In this study, Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 archives have been examined to explore the changes in normalized terrestrial water fluxes (precipitation minus evapotranspiration minus total runoff, divided by the precipitation climatology) in three tropical rainforest areas: Maritime Continent, Congo, and Amazon. Results show that a higher frequency of intense precipitation events is predicted for the Maritime Continent in the future climate than in the present climate, but not for the Amazon or Congo rainforests. Nonlinear responses to extreme precipitation lead to a reduced groundwater recharge and a proportionately greater amount of direct runoff, particularly for the Maritime Continent, where both the amount and intensity of precipitation increase under global warming. We suggest that the nonlinear response is related to the existence of a higher near-surface soil moisture over the Maritime Continent than that over the Amazon and Congo rainforests. The wetter soil over the Maritime Continent also leads to an increased subsurface runoff. Thus, increased precipitation extremes and concomitantly reduced terrestrial water fluxes lead to an intensified hydrological cycle for the Maritime Continent. This has the potential to result in a strong temporal heterogeneity in soil water distribution affecting the ecosystem of the rainforest region and increasing the risk of flooding and/or landslides.

Population structure and demographic history of a tropical lowland rainforest tree species Shorea parvifolia (Dipterocarpaceae) from Southeastern Asia.

PubMed

Iwanaga, Hiroko; Teshima, Kosuke M; Khatab, Ismael A; Inomata, Nobuyuki; Finkeldey, Reiner; Siregar, Iskandar Z; Siregar, Ulfah J; Szmidt, Alfred E

2012-07-01

Distribution of tropical rainforests in Southeastern Asia has changed over geo-logical time scale, due to movement of tectonic plates and/or global climatic changes. Shorea parvifolia is one of the most common tropical lowland rainforest tree species in Southeastern Asia. To infer population structure and demographic history of S. parvifolia, as indicators of temporal changes in the distribution and extent of tropical rainforest in this region, we studied levels and patterns of nucleotide polymorphism in the following five nuclear gene regions: GapC, GBSSI, PgiC, SBE2, and SODH. Seven populations from peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and eastern Borneo were included in the analyses. STRUCTURE analysis revealed that the investigated populations are divided into two groups: Sumatra-Malay and Borneo. Furthermore, each group contained one admixed population. Under isolation with migration model, divergence of the two groups was estimated to occur between late Pliocene (2.6 MYA) and middle Pleistocene (0.7 MYA). The log-likelihood ratio tests of several demographic models strongly supported model with population expansion and low level of migration after divergence of the Sumatra-Malay and Borneo groups. The inferred demographic history of S. parvifolia suggested the presence of a scarcely forested land bridge on the Sunda Shelf during glacial periods in the Pleistocene and predominance of tropical lowland rainforest at least in Sumatra and eastern Borneo.

Modelling the Spread of Farming in the Bantu-Speaking Regions of Africa: An Archaeology-Based Phylogeography

PubMed Central

Russell, Thembi; Silva, Fabio; Steele, James

2014-01-01

We use archaeological data and spatial methods to reconstruct the dispersal of farming into areas of sub-Saharan Africa now occupied by Bantu language speakers, and introduce a new large-scale radiocarbon database and a new suite of spatial modelling techniques. We also introduce a method of estimating phylogeographic relationships from archaeologically-modelled dispersal maps, with results produced in a format that enables comparison with linguistic and genetic phylogenies. Several hypotheses are explored. The ‘deep split’ hypothesis suggests that an early-branching eastern Bantu stream spread around the northern boundary of the equatorial rainforest, but recent linguistic and genetic work tends not to support this. An alternative riverine/littoral hypothesis suggests that rivers and coastlines facilitated the migration of the first farmers/horticulturalists, with some extending this to include rivers through the rainforest as conduits to East Africa. More recently, research has shown that a grassland corridor opened through the rainforest at around 3000–2500 BP, and the possible effect of this on migrating populations is also explored. Our results indicate that rivers and coasts were important dispersal corridors, but do not resolve the debate about a ‘Deep Split’. Future work should focus on improving the size, quality and geographical coverage of the archaeological 14C database; on augmenting the information base to establish descent relationships between archaeological sites and regions based on shared material cultural traits; and on refining the associated physical geographical reconstructions of changing land cover. PMID:24498213

Soil biogeochemical and fungal patterns across a precipitation gradient in the lowland tropical rainforests of French Guiana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soong, J.; Verbruggen, E.; Janssens, I.

2016-12-01

The Guyafor network contains over 12 pristine tropical rainforest long-term research sites throughout French Guiana, with a focus on vegetation and environmental monitoring at regular intervals. However, biogeochemical and belowground insights are needed to complete the picture of ecosystem functioning in these lowland tropical rainforests, which are critical to Earth's water and energy balance. Improving our biogeochemical understanding of these ecosystems is needed to improve Earth System Models, which poorly represent tropical systems. In July 2015 we sampled soils and litter from 12 of the Guyafor permanent plots in French Guiana spanning a mean annual precipitation gradient of over 2000 mm per year. We measured soil texture, pH, C, N and available P stocks in the top 30 cm, and fungal biodiversity using ITS DNA sequencing and characterized soil organic matter (SOM) C, N and P distribution among physically defined SOM fractions. We also measured litter layer standing stocks and CNP stoichiometry. We found significant stocks of SOM in the top 30 cm of the soil varying by a factor of 4 in the top 30 cm of soil with a negative correlation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and soil C and N with available P. Available P was also a strong predictor of fungal community composition. Furthermore there is evidence for precipitation and mineralogical influences on leaf litter and SOM dynamics highlighting the importance of heterogeneity in tropical soil substrates and sub-climates in better understanding the biogeochemistry of tropical ecosystems.

ATLANTIC RAIN FOREST AND CAATINGA VEGETATION DYNAMICS EXPLAIN PHYLOGEOGRAPHICAL PATTERN OF AN ENDEMIC BRAZILIAN PALM

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Technical Abstract Occurrence of a wetter and cooler climate associated with humid vegetation had been inferred for the Caatinga region during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. The existence of rainforest migration routes in northeastern Brazil is widely recognized. Present-day rainforest nat...

Road-edge effects on herpetofauna in a lowland Amazonian rainforest

Treesearch

Ross J. Maynard; Nathalie C. Aall; Daniel Saenz; Paul S. Hamilton; Matthew A. Kwiatkowski

2016-01-01

The impact of roads on the flora and fauna of Neotropical rainforest is perhaps the single biggest driver of habitat modification and population declines in these ecosystems. We investigated the road-edge effect of a low-use dirt road on amphibian and reptile abundance, diversity, and...

Further comments on oral transmission of Chagas' disease in Brazil: epidemiology, geographical distribution and viability of the infective parasite.

PubMed

Benchimol-Barbosa, Paulo R

2010-05-28

In 2006, Brazilian government received the international certificate of interruption of the vectorial transmission of Chagas' disease. However, outbreaks reported in Brazilian Amazon rainforest bear a regular occurrence and represents a relevant regional epidemiological gauge. The wild life cycle of the Chagas' disease transmission (i.e., triatomine-marsupial cycle) is present outside the previously reported endemic belt, ubiquitously, as infective triatomines can be demonstrated in Palm trees widespread all over the Amazon rainforest. As humans invade the rainforest, one is incidentally caught up and further becomes' an active part of American trypanosomiasis wild life cycle. Copyright 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The nematode community in the Atlantic rainforest lizard Enyalius perditus Jackson, from south-eastern Brazil.

PubMed

Barreto-Lima, A F; Toledo, G M; Anjos, L A

2012-12-01

Studies focusing on communities of helminths from Brazilian lizards are increasing, but there are many blanks in the knowledge of parasitic fauna of wild fauna. This lack of knowledge hampers understanding of ecological and parasitological aspects of involved species. Moreover, the majority of research has focused on parasitic fauna of lizards from families Tropiduridae and Scincidae. Only a few studies have looked at lizards from the family Leiosauridae, including some species of Enyalius. This study presents data on the gastrointestinal parasite fauna of Enyalius perditus and their relationships with ecological aspects of hosts in a disturbed Atlantic rainforest area in the state of Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil. Two nematode species, Oswaldocruzia burseyi [(Molineidae) and Strongyluris oscari (Heterakidae) were found. Nematode species showed an aggregated distribution in this host population, with O. burseyi being more aggregated than S. oscari. The present study extends the range of occurrence of O. burseyi to the Brazilian continental area.

Spatial modeling of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Andean region of Colombia

PubMed Central

Pérez-Flórez, Mauricio; Ocampo, Clara Beatriz; Valderrama-Ardila, Carlos; Alexander, Neal

2016-01-01

The objective of this research was to identify environmental risk factors for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Colombia and map high-risk municipalities. The study area was the Colombian Andean region, comprising 715 rural and urban municipalities. We used 10 years of CL surveillance: 2000-2009. We used spatial-temporal analysis - conditional autoregressive Poisson random effects modelling - in a Bayesian framework to model the dependence of municipality-level incidence on land use, climate, elevation and population density. Bivariable spatial analysis identified rainforests, forests and secondary vegetation, temperature, and annual precipitation as positively associated with CL incidence. By contrast, livestock agroecosystems and temperature seasonality were negatively associated. Multivariable analysis identified land use - rainforests and agro-livestock - and climate - temperature, rainfall and temperature seasonality - as best predictors of CL. We conclude that climate and land use can be used to identify areas at high risk of CL and that this approach is potentially applicable elsewhere in Latin America. PMID:27355214

Ecological correlates of flying squirrel microhabitat use and density in temperate rainforests of southeastern Alaska

Treesearch

Winston P. Smith; Scott M. Gende; Jeffrey V. Nichols

2004-01-01

We studied habitat relations of the Prince of Wales flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus griseifrons), an endemic of the temperate, coniferous rainforest of southeastern Alaska, because of concerns over population viability from extensive clear-cut logging in the region. We used stepwise logistic regression to examine relationships between...

A new genus of predatory katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Listroscelidinae) from the Amazonian Rainforest.

PubMed

Mendes, Diego Matheus De Mello; Chamorro-Rengifo, Juliana; Rafael, José Albertino

2016-09-12

Most of the predatory katydids Listroscelidini species known were described from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Here a new genus and species from the Amazonian Rainforest is described. Based on its morphological characteristics, this new genus represents an intermediate form between two closely related genera, Listroscelis Serville and Monocerophora Walker.

Using Simulations To Improve Cognitive Reasoning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGee, Steven; Corriss, Darlene; Shia, Regina

This study investigated changes in students' cognitive reasoning as they analyzed the dynamics of a rainforest ecosystem (El Yunque) in the aftermath of a hurricane in Puerto Rico. Students explore the virtual rainforest to study what happened to a type of frog after the hurricane. The culminating event is a simulation in which students manipulate…

Rainforest: Reptiles and Amphibians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olson, Susanna

2006-01-01

Rainforest reptiles and amphibians are a vibrantly colored, multimedia art experience. To complete the entire project one may need to dedicate many class periods to production, yet in each aspect of the project a new and important skill, concept, or element is being taught or reinforced. This project incorporates the study of warm and cool color…

What Have You Got To Lose? New World Tropical Rainforests. Grades 3-8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphey, Carol E.

In this unit, designed for use with grades three through eight, students explore the biology and peoples of Latin American rainforests and the problems caused by the interactions of people with this environment. The featured activities integrate art, science, language, and social studies. Fourteen lessons, arranged in sequential order, comprise…

Assessing self-organization of plant communities--A thermodynamic approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, H.; Cao, M.; Stoy, P.; Zhang, Y.

2013-12-01

Thermodynamics is a powerful tool for the study of system development and has the potential to be applied to studies of ecological complexity. Here, we develop a set of thermodynamic indicators including energy capture and energy dissipation to quantify plant community self-organization. The study ecosystems included a tropical seasonal rainforest, an artificial tropical rainforest, a rubber plantation, and two Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King & H. Robinson communities aged 13 years and 1 year. The communities represent a complexity transect from primary vegetation, to transitional community, economic plantation, and fallows and are typical for Xishuangbanna, southwestern China. The indicators of ecosystem self-organization are sensitive to plant community type and seasonality, and demonstrate that the tropical seasonal rainforest is highly self-organized and plays an important role in local environmental stability via the land surface thermal regulation. The rubber plantation is at a very low level of self-organization as quantified by the thermodynamic indicators, especially during the dry season. The expansion of the area of rubber plantation and shrinkage of tropical seasonal rainforest would likely induce local surface warming and a larger daily temperature range.

Litter mercury deposition in the Amazonian rainforest.

PubMed

Fostier, Anne Hélène; Melendez-Perez, José Javier; Richter, Larissa

2015-11-01

The objective of this work was to assess the flux of atmospheric mercury transferred to the soil of the Amazonian rainforest by litterfall. Calculations were based on a large survey of published and unpublished data on litterfall and Hg concentrations in litterfall samples from the Amazonian region. Litterfall based on 65 sites located in the Amazon rainforest averaged 8.15 ± 2.25 Mg ha(-1) y(-1). Average Hg concentrations were calculated from nine datasets for fresh tree leaves and ten datasets for litter, and a median concentration of 60.5 ng Hg g(-1) was considered for Hg deposition in litterfall, which averaged 49 ± 14 μg m(-2) yr(-1). This value was used to estimate that in the Amazonian rainforest, litterfall would be responsible for the annual removing of 268 ± 77 Mg of Hg, approximately 8% of the total atmospheric Hg deposition to land. The impact of the Amazon deforestation on the Hg biogeochemical cycle is also discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulating tropical carbon stocks and fluxes in a changing world using an individual-based forest model.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Rico; Huth, Andreas

2014-05-01

Large areas of tropical forests are disturbed due to climate change and human influence. Experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be destroyed in less than 100 years with strong consequences for both developing and industrial countries. Using a modelling approach we analyse how disturbances modify carbon stocks and carbon fluxes of African rainforests. In this study we use the process-based, individual-oriented forest model FORMIND. The main processes of this model are tree growth, mortality, regeneration and competition. The study regions are tropical rainforests in the Kilimanjaro region and Madagascar. Modelling above and below ground carbon stocks, we analyze the impact of disturbances and climate change on forest dynamics and forest carbon stocks. Droughts and fire events change the structure of tropical rainforests. Human influence like logging intensify this effect. With the presented results we could establish new allometric relationships between forest variables and above ground carbon stocks in tropical regions. Using remote sensing techniques, these relationships would offer the possibility for a global monitoring of the above ground carbon stored in the vegetation.

Identification and dynamics of a cryptic suture zone in tropical rainforest

PubMed Central

Moritz, C.; Hoskin, C.J.; MacKenzie, J.B.; Phillips, B.L.; Tonione, M.; Silva, N.; VanDerWal, J.; Williams, S.E.; Graham, C.H.

2009-01-01

Suture zones, shared regions of secondary contact between long-isolated lineages, are natural laboratories for studying divergence and speciation. For tropical rainforest, the existence of suture zones and their significance for speciation has been controversial. Using comparative phylogeographic evidence, we locate a morphologically cryptic suture zone in the Australian Wet Tropics rainforest. Fourteen out of 18 contacts involve morphologically cryptic phylogeographic lineages, with mtDNA sequence divergences ranging from 2 to 15 per cent. Contact zones are significantly clustered in a suture zone located between two major Quaternary refugia. Within this area, there is a trend for secondary contacts to occur in regions with low environmental suitability relative to both adjacent refugia and, by inference, the parental lineages. The extent and form of reproductive isolation among interacting lineages varies across species, ranging from random admixture to speciation, in one case via reinforcement. Comparative phylogeographic studies, combined with environmental analysis at a fine-scale and across varying climates, can generate new insights into suture zone formation and to diversification processes in species-rich tropical rainforests. As arenas for evolutionary experimentation, suture zones merit special attention for conservation. PMID:19203915

Landscape Variation in Plant Defense Syndromes across a Tropical Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McManus, K. M.; Asner, G. P.; Martin, R.; Field, C. B.

2014-12-01

Plant defenses against herbivores shape tropical rainforest biodiversity, yet community- and landscape-scale patterns of plant defense and the phylogenetic and environmental factors that may shape them are poorly known. We measured foliar defense, growth, and longevity traits for 345 canopy trees across 84 species in a tropical rainforest and examined whether patterns of trait co-variation indicated the existence of plant defense syndromes. Using a DNA-barcode phylogeny and remote sensing and land-use data, we investigated how phylogeny and topo-edaphic properties influenced the distribution of syndromes. We found evidence for three distinct defense syndromes, characterized by rapid growth, growth compensated by defense, or limited palatability/low nutrition. Phylogenetic signal was generally lower for defense traits than traits related to growth or longevity. Individual defense syndromes were organized at different taxonomic levels and responded to different spatial-environmental gradients. The results suggest that a diverse set of tropical canopy trees converge on a limited number of strategies to secure resources and mitigate fitness losses due to herbivory, with patterns of distribution mediated by evolutionary histories and local habitat associations. Plant defense syndromes are multidimensional plant strategies, and thus are a useful means of discerning ecologically-relevant variation in highly diverse tropical rainforest communities. Scaling this approach to the landscape level, if plant defense syndromes can be distinguished in remotely-sensed data, they may yield new insights into the role of plant defense in structuring diverse tropical rainforest communities.

Effects of avian mobbing on roost use and diet of powerful owls, Ninox strenua

PubMed

Pavey; Smyth

1998-02-01

We observed the species and numbers of mobbing birds and their effects on a large, nocturnal, bird-eating predator, the powerful owl, together with the pattern of owl predation on mobbing and non-mobbing species. Owls were mobbed on 35 occasions by seven of 44 species of forest birds at a site composed of open forest (88% by area) and rainforest (12%). The majority of bouts involved individuals of a single species, although mixed groups were observed on nine occasions. Regular mobbers were between 4 and 26% of the owls' body weight. Owls abandoned their daytime roosts during 20% of bouts and responded by calling or actively monitoring mobbers during 54% of bouts. Mobbing appeared to explain why owls roosted in rainforest significantly more often than expected by its availability, mobbing being significantly less frequent in rainforest than in open forest. Only one mobbing species regularly occupied rainforest and the canopy of roosts in rainforest was denser than that in open forest, thus reducing the chances of an owl being detected by potential mobbers. Twelve species of forest birds were within the range of prey size of the powerful owl (75-800 g): six were mobbers and six non-mobbers. The frequency of owl predation on non-mobbers was 8.75 times that on mobbers. The species in this study took a high risk by mobbing a very large predator, but benefited by greatly reducing their chances of predation.Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Interannual and seasonal variability of water use efficiency in a tropical rainforest: Results from a 9 year eddy flux time series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Zheng-Hong; Zhang, Yi-Ping; Deng, Xiao-Bao; Song, Qing-Hai; Liu, Wen-Jie; Deng, Yun; Tang, Jian-Wei; Liao, Zhi-Yong; Zhao, Jun-Fu; Song, Liang; Yang, Lian-Yan

2015-01-01

used a continuous 9 year (2003-2011) eddy flux time series with 30 min resolution to examine water use efficiency in a tropical rainforest and determine its environmental controls. The multiyear mean water use efficiency (Wue) of this rainforest was 3.16 ± 0.33 gC per kg H2O, which is close to that of boreal forests, but higher than subtropical forests, and lower than temperate forests. The water vapor deficit (VPD) had a strong impact on instantaneous Wue, in the manner predicted by stomatal optimization theory. At the seasonal scale, temperature was the dominant controller of Wue. The negative correlation between temperature and Wue was probably caused by high continuous photosynthesis during low-temperature periods. The VPD did not correlate with Wue at the interannual scale. No interannual trend was detected in Wue or inherent water use efficiency (Wei), either annually or seasonally. The fact that no increasing trend of Wei was found in the studied tropical rainforest, along with other evidence of CO2 stimulation in tropical rainforests, requires special attention and data validation. There was no significant difference between Wue during a drought and the 9 year mean values in the forest we studied, but we found that dry season transpiration (Tr) was consistently lower during the drought compared to the mean values. Finally, whether Wue increases or decreases during a drought is determined by the drought sensitivity of gross primary production (GPP).

N2-fixing legumes are linked to enhanced mineral dissolution and microbiome modulations in Neotropical rainforests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Epihov, Dimitar; Batterman, Sarah; Hedin, Lars; Saltonstall, Kristin; Hall, Jefferson; Leake, Jonathan; Beerling, David

2017-04-01

Legumes represent the dominant family of many tropical forests with estimates of 120 billion legume trees in the Amazon basin alone. Many rainforest legume trees form symbioses with N2-fixing bacteria. In the process of atmospheric N2-fixation large amounts of nitrogen-rich litter are generated, supplying half of all nitrogen required to support secondary rainforest succession. However, it is unclear how N2-fixers affect the biogeochemical cycling of other essential nutrients by affecting the rates of mineral dissolution and rock weathering. Here we show that N2-fixing legumes in young Panamanian rainforests promote acidification and enhance silicate rock weathering by a factor of 2 compared to non-fixing trees. We report that N2-fixers also associate with enhanced dissolution of Al- and Fe-bearing secondary minerals native to tropical oxisols. In legume-rich neighbourhoods, non-fixers benefited from raised weathering rates relative to those of legume-free zones thus suggesting a positive community effect driven by N2-fixers. These changes in weathering potential were tracked by parallel functional and structural changes in the soil and rock microbiomes. Our findings support the view that N2-fixing legumes are central components of biogeochemical cycling, associated with enhanced release of Fe- and Al-bound P and primary mineral products (Mg, Mo). Rainforest legume services therefore bear important implications to short-term C cycling related to forest growth and the long-term C cycle related to marine carbonate deposition fuelled by silicate weathering.

Early recovery of a Hawaiian lowland rainforest following clearcutting at Kalapana on the Island of Hawaii

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grossman, D.H.

The recovery of lowland rainforest vegetation on the Island of Hawaii was evaluated 2 years after clearcutting. Rainforest quality was assessed with regeneration success associated with the environmental changes. Sixty-three percent of the 57 vascular species in the forest were native to the Hawaiian rainforest. Phanerophytes were the most important life form. The presence of Psidium cattleianum and other alien species demonstrated disturbances had occurred in selected areas prior to the clearcutting. Two years after clearcutting (1987), only 24% of the 101 species coming into the clearcut area were native. The shrubs, micro- and nano-phanerophyte, were the dominant life forms,more » represented by Pipturus albidus, a native rainforest shrub or tree, and four non-native shrub species. Metrosideros polymorpha, the dominant tree in the native forest, was successfully regenerating from seed across the clear-cut area. The forest seedbank analysis also demonstrated that Metrosideros, along with the seeds of important exotic species colonizing the clearcut area were presented in the forest soils. The forest and clearcut species had a high rate of correlation with the elevation gradient. The underlying lava flows strong influenced past and present vegetation associations. In the clearcut area, the degree of compaction and distance from the forest were critical factors determining the composition of recovering vegetation. The microclimate variables of soils, significantly altered due to the effects of clearcutting, and competition from weeds probably lead to poor germination and growth of native rainforest species. This native forest is not pristine, but unique in stature, in complex of cohort stands, and in position on the landscape. It is extremely prone to species composition shift following perturbation, due to the presence of the weed seedbank in the forest seedbank as demonstrated in the dominance of these species across the clearcut area.« less

Available nitrogen is the key factor influencing soil microbial functional gene diversity in tropical rainforest.

PubMed

Cong, Jing; Liu, Xueduan; Lu, Hui; Xu, Han; Li, Yide; Deng, Ye; Li, Diqiang; Zhang, Yuguang

2015-08-20

Tropical rainforests cover over 50% of all known plant and animal species and provide a variety of key resources and ecosystem services to humans, largely mediated by metabolic activities of soil microbial communities. A deep analysis of soil microbial communities and their roles in ecological processes would improve our understanding on biogeochemical elemental cycles. However, soil microbial functional gene diversity in tropical rainforests and causative factors remain unclear. GeoChip, contained almost all of the key functional genes related to biogeochemical cycles, could be used as a specific and sensitive tool for studying microbial gene diversity and metabolic potential. In this study, soil microbial functional gene diversity in tropical rainforest was analyzed by using GeoChip technology. Gene categories detected in the tropical rainforest soils were related to different biogeochemical processes, such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling. The relative abundance of genes related to C and P cycling detected mostly derived from the cultured bacteria. C degradation gene categories for substrates ranging from labile C to recalcitrant C were all detected, and gene abundances involved in many recalcitrant C degradation gene categories were significantly (P < 0.05) different among three sampling sites. The relative abundance of genes related to N cycling detected was significantly (P < 0.05) different, mostly derived from the uncultured bacteria. The gene categories related to ammonification had a high relative abundance. Both canonical correspondence analysis and multivariate regression tree analysis showed that soil available N was the most correlated with soil microbial functional gene structure. Overall high microbial functional gene diversity and different soil microbial metabolic potential for different biogeochemical processes were considered to exist in tropical rainforest. Soil available N could be the key factor in shaping the soil microbial functional gene structure and metabolic potential.

Stock, turnover and functions of carbon in heavily weathered soils under lowland rainforest transformation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guillaume, Thomas; Kuzyakov, Yakov

2013-04-01

Tropical rainforest are experiencing worldwide a strong lost through deforestation and transformation into agricultural systems. Land use changes in such ecosystems leads to major modifications of soils properties and processes. One indication of it are the losses of organic carbon content (Corg); an important soil fertility parameter in heavily weathered soil. Between 1985 and 2007, Sumatra (Indonesia) has lost half of his remaining natural rainforest, which currently covers only 30% the island. The deforestation is still ongoing and the main drivers of deforestation are oil palm, rubber and timber industries. Our study aims to identify and quantify the impacts of lowland rainforest transformation systems (TS): oil palm, rubber and jungle rubber plantations on soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (SON) quality, turnover and stocks and so, on soil fertility and functions. We hypothesize that transformation of natural lowland rainforest changes not only C stock and budget throughout quantity and quality of C input, but also DOM production and water consumption by vegetation, leading to a relocation of C in the subsoil. This should be reflected in C and N content in soil profile horizons as well as their δ13C and δ15N isotopic signatures. We will evaluate also C stability through biological, thermal and chemical stability in bulk soil and aggregate fractions. The TS investigated, including lowland rainforest as reference sites, are located in Jambi Province (Sumatra). Soil has been described and sampled per horizon on 4 replicates of each TS in 2 different regions (32 sites) in Autumn 2012. As hypothesized, first results show strong effects of forest transformation on C and N content, as well as on isotopic signatures of soil. Those results will also be used further to select DOM sampling depths and adequate horizons to perform sorption and incubation experiments.

Extinction risks forced by climatic change and intraspecific variation in the thermal physiology of a tropical lizard.

PubMed

Pontes-da-Silva, Emerson; Magnusson, William E; Sinervo, Barry; Caetano, Gabriel H; Miles, Donald B; Colli, Guarino R; Diele-Viegas, Luisa M; Fenker, Jessica; Santos, Juan C; Werneck, Fernanda P

2018-04-01

Temperature increases can impact biodiversity and predicting their effects is one of the main challenges facing global climate-change research. Ectotherms are sensitive to temperature change and, although predictions indicate that tropical species are highly vulnerable to global warming, they remain one of the least studied groups with respect to the extent of physiological variation and local extinction risks. We model the extinction risks for a tropical heliothermic teiid lizard (Kentropyx calcarata) integrating previously obtained information on intraspecific phylogeographic structure, eco-physiological traits and contemporary species distributions in the Amazon rainforest and its ecotone to the Cerrado savannah. We also investigated how thermal-biology traits vary throughout the species' geographic range and the consequences of such variation for lineage vulnerability. We show substantial variation in thermal tolerance of individuals among thermally distinct sites. Thermal critical limits were highly correlated with operative environmental temperatures. Our physiological/climatic model predicted relative extinction risks for local populations within clades of K. calcarata for 2050 ranging between 26.1% and 70.8%, while for 2070, extinction risks ranged from 52.8% to 92.8%. Our results support the hypothesis that tropical-lizard taxa are at high risk of local extinction caused by increasing temperatures. However, the thermo-physiological differences found across the species' distribution suggest that local adaptation may allow persistence of this tropical ectotherm in global warming scenarios. These results will serve as basis to further research to investigate the strength of local adaptation to climate change. Persistence of Kentropyx calcarata also depends on forest preservation, but the Amazon rainforest is currently under high deforestation rates. We argue that higher conservation priority is necessary so the Amazon rainforest can fulfill its capacity to absorb the impacts of temperature increase on tropical ectotherms during climate change. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regional Impacts of Climate Change on the Amazon Rainforest: 2080-2100

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, K. H.; Vizy, E. K.

2006-12-01

A regional climate model with resolution of 60 km is coupled with a potential vegetation model to simulate future climate over South America. The following steps are taken to effectively communicate the results across disciplines and to make them useful to the policy and impacts communities: the simulation is aimed at a particular time period (2081-2100), the climate change results are translated into changes in vegetation distribution, and the results are reported on regional space scales relative to political boundaries. In addition, the model validation in clearly presented to provide perspective on uncertainty for the prognosis. The model reproduces today's climate and vegetation over tropical and subtropical South America accurately. In simulations of the future, the model is forced by the IPCC's A2 scenario of future emissions, which assumes that CO2 emissions continue to grow at essentially today's rate throughout the 21st century, reaching 757 ppmv averaged over 2081-2100. The model is constrained on its lateral boundaries by atmospheric conditions simulated by a global climate model, applied as anomalies to present day conditions, and predicted changes in sea surface temperatures. The extent of the Amazon rainforest is reduced by about 70 per cent in the simulation, and the shrubland (caatinga) vegetation of Brazil's Nordeste region spreads westward and southward well into the continental interior. Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina lose all of their rainforest vegetation, and Brazil and Peru lose most of it. The surviving rain forest is concentrated near the equator. Columbia's rainforest survives largely intact and, along the northern coast, Venezuela and French Guiana suffer relatively small reductions. The loss in Guyana and Surinam is 30-50 per cent. Much of the rainforest in the central Amazon north of about 15S is replaced by savanna vegetation, but in southern Bolivia, northern Paraguay, and southern Brazil, grasslands take the place of the rainforest. Over a large portion of eastern Brazil, present day savanna is replaced by shrubland as the so-called caatinga vegetation of the Nordeste region spreads, and the present day caatinga vegetation is replaced by barren land. The simulated changes in vegetation are caused by changes in moisture, not temperature. Reductions in annual mean precipitation are widespread and rainfall becomes insufficient to support the rainforest in these regions, but some areas receive more precipitation. The length of the dry season increases in the central and southern Amazon in association with changes in the global-scale tropical Hadley circulation. Without this change in seasonality, local "refugia" of Amazon vegetation would be preserved and the retreat of the rainforest would be somewhat less extensive.

Reading, Learning and Enacting: Interpretation at Visitor Sites in the Wet Tropics Rainforest of Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNamara, Karen Elizabeth; Prideaux, Bruce

2010-01-01

The northern Wet Tropics rainforest of Australia was declared a world heritage site in 1988 and now supports an extensive tourism industry that attracts an estimated 2.5 million local and international visits annually. As part of the visitor experience, many sites include both environmental and cultural interpretation experiences, which range from…

Leaf hydraulic architecture correlates with regeneration irradiance in tropical rainforest trees

Treesearch

Lawren Sack; Melvin T. Tyree; N. Michele Holbrook; N. Michele Holbrook

2005-01-01

The leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf)s a major determinant of plant water transport capacity. Here, we measured Kleaf, and its basis in the resistances of leaf components, for fully illuminated leaves of five tree species that regenerate in deep shade, and five that regenerate in gaps or clearings, in Panamanian lowland tropical rainforest. We also determined...

Hurricanes, Coral Reefs and Rainforests: Resistance, Ruin and Recovery in the Caribbean

Treesearch

A. E. Lugo; C. S. Rogers; S. W Nixon

2000-01-01

The coexistence of hurricanes, coral reefs, and rainforests in the Caribbean demonstrates that highly structured ecosystems with great diversity can flourish in spite of recurring exposure to intense destructive energy. Coral reefs develop in response to wave energy and resist hurricanes largely by virtue of their structural strength. Limited fetch also protects some...

Children's Perceptions and Learning about Tropical Rainforests: An Analysis of Their Drawings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowker, Rob

2007-01-01

This study analysed 9 to 11 year old children's drawings of tropical rainforests immediately before and after a visit to the Humid Tropics Biome at the Eden Project, Cornwall, UK. A theoretical framework derived from considerations of informal learning and constructivism was used as a basis to develop a methodology to interpret the children's…

The Tropical Rainforest: A Valuable Natural History Resource for Students in Singapore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chin, Christine; bin Rajib, Tayeb

2010-01-01

Students living in cities seldom experience the rural outdoors when learning science. This lack of first-hand experience with nature is of concern, especially when they are learning about animals, plants and ecosystems. This study investigated how a teacher in Singapore organised a field trip to the rainforest to help his students bridge the gap…

Linking LiDAR with streamwater biogeochemistry in coastal temperate rainforest watersheds

Treesearch

Jason B. Fellman; Brian Buma; Eran Hood; Richard T. Edwards; David V. D’Amore

2017-01-01

The goal of this study was to use watershed characteristics derived from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to predict stream biogeochemistry in Perhumid Coastal Temperate Rainforest (PCTR) watersheds. Over a 2-day period, we sampled 37 streams for concentrations of dissolved C, N, P, major cations, and measures of dissolved organic matter quality (specific...

Darwin's Doodles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkman, Robbie

2016-01-01

The Eden Project, an educational charity based in Cornwall, is home to the largest rainforest in captivity and is a unique and awe-inspiring destination. It is one thing to talk about the idea of adaptation to environment but quite another to actually go into the rainforest and use your senses to explore up close living examples of ingenious plant…

Biogenic Potassium Salt Particles as Seeds for Secondary Organic Aerosol in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pöhlker, Christopher; Wiedemann, Kenia T.; Sinha, Bärbel; Shiraiwa, Manabu; Gunthe, Sachin S.; Smith, Mackenzie; Su, Hang; Artaxo, Paulo; Chen, Qi; Cheng, Yafang; Elbert, Wolfgang; Gilles, Mary K.; Kilcoyne, Arthur L. D.; Moffet, Ryan C.; Weigand, Markus; Martin, Scot T.; Pöschl, Ulrich; Andreae, Meinrat O.

2012-08-01

The fine particles serving as cloud condensation nuclei in pristine Amazonian rainforest air consist mostly of secondary organic aerosol. Their origin is enigmatic, however, because new particle formation in the atmosphere is not observed. Here, we show that the growth of organic aerosol particles can be initiated by potassium-salt-rich particles emitted by biota in the rainforest. These particles act as seeds for the condensation of low- or semi-volatile organic compounds from the atmospheric gas phase or multiphase oxidation of isoprene and terpenes. Our findings suggest that the primary emission of biogenic salt particles directly influences the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei and affects the microphysics of cloud formation and precipitation over the rainforest.

Turbulent transport and chemistry of isoprene and monoterpenes within and above tropical forest canopies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerken, T.; Chamecki, M.; Fuentes, J. D.; Stoy, P. C.; Trowbridge, A.; Wei, D.

2016-12-01

The Amazon rainforest and other rainforests emit large quantities of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), including isoprene and monoterpenes, which react with and produce atmospheric oxidants such as ozone and the hydroxyl radical. Some of the resulting reaction products condense to form secondary organic aerosols, which due to the typically clean tropical air can make up a large portion of the total atmospheric aerosols and may thus impact cloud development and regional climate. To better understand the role of tropical forests on cloud development and climate, it is necessary to quantify not only BVOC emissions, but also turbulent transport and the resulting atmospheric chemistry within both the forest canopy and atmospheric boundary-layer. To date, most research has ignored within-canopy chemical processes that are typically not resolved in regional models that treat the forest as a lower boundary condition. We use canopy-resolving Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to study the role of turbulence and chemistry in the isoprene lifetime under conditions observed during a 2014 field campaign in central Amazonia. The LES includes a simple chemical mechanism for the oxidation of isoprene and aggregated monoterpenes (34 reactions), which we use to quantify the impact of within-canopy and boundary-layer processes on the transport and air chemistry of isoprene, monoterpenes, and primary reaction products on their export at the top of the boundary layer. LES results show air parcel residence times in the dense Amazon rainforest, which govern the time available for in-canopy reactions, to range from a few seconds near the canopy top to 30 minutes near the ground. Such residence times are comparable to chemical lifetimes of many reactive species and the convective eddy turnover timescale. Additionally, monoterpene oxidation with ambient ozone levels can increase within-canopy hydroxyl radical concentrations from 5 x 104 to 3 x 105 radicals cm-3, thus greatly increasing the oxidative capacity of the near surface air; within-canopy oxidation is significant for isoprene (5%) and monoterpene chemistry (25%). Results demonstrate that monoterpene chemistry - in addition to isoprene chemistry - needs to be considered when investigating the role of BVOCs to surface-atmosphere interactions in tropical rainforests.

An investigation of the auditory perception of western lowland gorillas in an enrichment study.

PubMed

Brooker, Jake S

2016-09-01

Previous research has highlighted the varied effects of auditory enrichment on different captive animals. This study investigated how manipulating musical components can influence the behavior of a group of captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at Bristol Zoo. The gorillas were observed during exposure to classical music, rock-and-roll music, and rainforest sounds. The two music conditions were modified to create five further conditions: unmanipulated, decreased pitch, increased pitch, decreased tempo, and increased tempo. We compared the prevalence of activity, anxiety, and social behaviors between the standard conditions. We also compared the prevalence of each of these behaviors across the manipulated conditions of each type of music independently and collectively. Control observations with no sound exposure were regularly scheduled between the observations of the 12 auditory conditions. The results suggest that naturalistic rainforest sounds had no influence on the anxiety of captive gorillas, contrary to past research. The tempo of music appears to be significantly associated with activity levels among this group, and social behavior may be affected by pitch. Low tempo music also may be effective at reducing anxiety behavior in captive gorillas. Regulated auditory enrichment may provide effective means of calming gorillas, or for facilitating active behavior. Zoo Biol. 35:398-408, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Tank bromeliad water: Similar or distinct environments for research of bacterial bioactives?

PubMed Central

Carmo, F.L.; Santos, H.F.; Peixoto, R.S.; Rosado, A.S.; Araujo, F.V.

2014-01-01

The Atlantic Rainforest does not have a uniform physiognomy, its relief determines different environmental conditions that define the composition of its flora and fauna. Within this ecosystem, bromeliads that form tanks with their leaves hold water reservoirs throughout the year, maintaining complex food chains, based mainly on autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria. Some works concluded that the water held by tank bromeliads concentrate the microbial diversity of their ecosystem. To investigate the bacterial diversity and the potential biotechnology of these ecosystems, tank bromeliads of the Neoregelia cruenta species from the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil were used as models for this research. Bacteria isolated from these models were tested for production of bioactive compounds. DGGE of the water held by tank bromeliads was performed in different seasons, locations and sun exposure to verify whether these environmental factors affect bacterial communities. The DGGE bands profile showed no grouping of bacterial community by the environmental factors tested. Most of the isolates demonstrated promising activities in the tests performed. Collectively, these results suggest that tank bromeliads of the N. cruenta species provide important habitats for a diverse microbial community, suggesting that each tank forms a distinct micro-habitat. These tanks can be considered excellent sources for the search for new enzymes and/or new bioactive composites of microbial origin. PMID:24948929

Tank bromeliad water: similar or distinct environments for research of bacterial bioactives?

PubMed

Carmo, F L; Santos, H F; Peixoto, R S; Rosado, A S; Araujo, F V

2014-01-01

The Atlantic Rainforest does not have a uniform physiognomy, its relief determines different environmental conditions that define the composition of its flora and fauna. Within this ecosystem, bromeliads that form tanks with their leaves hold water reservoirs throughout the year, maintaining complex food chains, based mainly on autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria. Some works concluded that the water held by tank bromeliads concentrate the microbial diversity of their ecosystem. To investigate the bacterial diversity and the potential biotechnology of these ecosystems, tank bromeliads of the Neoregelia cruenta species from the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil were used as models for this research. Bacteria isolated from these models were tested for production of bioactive compounds. DGGE of the water held by tank bromeliads was performed in different seasons, locations and sun exposure to verify whether these environmental factors affect bacterial communities. The DGGE bands profile showed no grouping of bacterial community by the environmental factors tested. Most of the isolates demonstrated promising activities in the tests performed. Collectively, these results suggest that tank bromeliads of the N. cruenta species provide important habitats for a diverse microbial community, suggesting that each tank forms a distinct micro-habitat. These tanks can be considered excellent sources for the search for new enzymes and/or new bioactive composites of microbial origin.

Recruitment dynamics in a rainforest seedling community: context-independent impact of a keystone consumer.

PubMed

Green, Peter T; O'Dowd, Dennis J; Lake, P S

2008-05-01

The influence of keystone consumers on community structure is frequently context-dependent; the same species plays a central organising role in some situations, but not others. On Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, a single species of omnivorous land crab, Gecarcoidea natalis, dominates the forest floor across intact rainforest. We hypothesised that this consumer plays a key role in regulating seedling recruitment and in controlling litter dynamics on the island, independent of the type of vegetation in which it occurred. To test this hypothesis, we conducted crab exclusion experiments in two forest types on the island and followed the dynamics of seedling recruitment and litter processing for six years. To determine if these effects were likely to be general across the island, we compared land crab densities and seedling abundance and diversity at ten sites across island rainforest. Surveys across island rainforest showed that seedlings of species susceptible to predation by land crabs are consistently rare. Abundance and diversity of these species were negatively correlated to red crab abundance. Although red land crabs may be important determinants of seedling recruitment to the overstorey, differences in overstorey and seedling composition at the sites suggests that recruitment of vulnerable trees still occurs at a temporal scale exceeding that of this study. These "windows" of recruitment may be related to infrequent events that reduce the effects of land crabs. Our results suggest that unlike the context dependence of most keystone consumers in continental systems, a single consumer, the red land crab, consistently controls the dynamics of seedling recruitment across this island rainforest.

Combined effects of climate change and forest clearing on the Amazon vegetation: Projections for 2080-2100

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, K. H.; Vizy, E. K.

2007-05-01

A regional climate model with resolution of 60 km coupled with a potential vegetation model is used to simulate future vegetation distributions over South America. The coupled model, which produces an accurate representation of today's climate and vegetation, is forced with increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, sea surface temperature from a global model, and scenarios of future land use practices to predict climate and vegetation distributions for the last 2 decades of the 21st century. When only climate change is considered, under a business-as-usual scenario for global emissions, the extent of the Amazon rainforest is reduced by about 70 per cent by the end of this century, and the shrubland (caatinga) vegetation of Brazil's Nordeste region spreads westward and southward. Reductions in annual mean precipitation are widespread and rainfall becomes insufficient to support the rainforest in these regions, but some areas receive more precipitation. The length of the dry season increases in the central and southern Amazon in association with changes in the large-scale tropical circulation. Without this change in seasonality, local refugia of Amazon vegetation would be preserved and the retreat of the rainforest would be somewhat less extensive. Including various projections of future land use practices in addition to climate change may accelerate the unrecoverable demise of the rainforest and feedback to modify climate on regional space scales. The portions of the rainforest that are most vulnerable to climate change are the same as those that are under the most pressure from human activity, presenting a remarkable competition.

Foraging ecology and occurrence of 7 sympatric babbler species (Timaliidae) in the lowland rainforest of Borneo and peninsular Malaysia.

PubMed

Styring, Alison R; Ragai, Roslina; Zakaria, Mohamed; Sheldon, Frederick H

2016-08-01

Understanding foraging strategies of birds is essential to understanding mechanisms of their community assembly. To provide such information on a key Southeast Asian rainforest family, the babblers (Timaliidae), we evaluated foraging behavior and abundance in 7 morphologically and behaviorally similar sympatric species ( Cyanoderma erythropterum , C. rufifrons , Stachyris maculata , S. nigricollis, S. poliocephala , Macronus ptilosus , and Mixornis gularis ) in 5 habitats defined by structural complexity: (1) continuous native rainforest, (2) logged native rainforest fragments, (3) mature industrial tree plantation, (4) young industrial plantation, and (5) oil palm plantation. Enough data were obtained to compare abundance in all 7 species and foraging behavior in 5. All species were common in forest fragments and mature industrial tree plantations and less so in continuous rainforest and young industrial plantations; only M. gularis occurred in oil palm. In terms of foraging, M. gularis was the greatest generalist; C. rufifrons foraged mainly on live leaves in the forest midstory; and S. maculata , C. erythropterum , and M. ptilosus foraged mainly on dead leaves suspended in understory vegetation at significantly different heights. The dead-leaf substrate depends on a rich supply of falling leaves and extensive understory structure, conditions most common in native forest and old industrial plantations, and less so in mature forest, young plantations, and oil palm. Because of the importance of foraging data to understanding and managing biodiversity, we encourage the development of foraging fields in eBird (ebird.org), so that birdwatchers may help collect these relatively rare data.

Using a rainforest-flame forest mosaic to test the hypothesis that leaf and litter fuel flammability is under natural selection.

PubMed

Clarke, Peter J; Prior, Lynda D; French, Ben J; Vincent, Ben; Knox, Kirsten J E; Bowman, David M J S

2014-12-01

We used a mosaic of infrequently burnt temperate rainforest and adjacent, frequently burnt eucalypt forests in temperate eastern Australia to test whether: (1) there were differences in flammability of fresh and dried foliage amongst congeners from contrasting habitats, (2) habitat flammability was related to regeneration strategy, (3) litter fuels were more flammable in frequently burnt forests, (4) the severity of a recent fire influenced the flammability of litter (as this would suggest fire feedbacks), and (5) microclimate contributed to differences in fire hazard amongst habitats. Leaf-level comparisons were made among 11 congeneric pairs from rainforest and eucalypt forests. Leaf-level ignitability, combustibility and sustainability were not consistently higher for taxa from frequently burnt eucalypt forests, nor were they higher for species with fire-driven recruitment. The bulk density of litter-bed fuels strongly influenced flammability, but eucalypt forest litter was not less dense than rainforest litter. Ignitability, combustibility and flame sustainability of community surface fuels (litter) were compared using fuel arrays with standardized fuel mass and moisture content. Forests previously burned at high fire severity did not have consistently higher litter flammability than those burned at lower severity or long unburned. Thus, contrary to the Mutch hypothesis, there was no evidence of higher flammability of litter fuels or leaves from frequently burnt eucalypt forests compared with infrequently burnt rainforests. We suggest the manifest pyrogenicity of eucalypt forests is not due to natural selection for more flammable foliage, but better explained by differences in crown openness and associated microclimatic differences.

Foraging ecology and occurrence of 7 sympatric babbler species (Timaliidae) in the lowland rainforest of Borneo and peninsular Malaysia

PubMed Central

Ragai, Roslina; Zakaria, Mohamed; Sheldon, Frederick H.

2016-01-01

Abstract Understanding foraging strategies of birds is essential to understanding mechanisms of their community assembly. To provide such information on a key Southeast Asian rainforest family, the babblers (Timaliidae), we evaluated foraging behavior and abundance in 7 morphologically and behaviorally similar sympatric species (Cyanoderma erythropterum, C. rufifrons, Stachyris maculata, S. nigricollis, S. poliocephala, Macronus ptilosus, and Mixornis gularis) in 5 habitats defined by structural complexity: (1) continuous native rainforest, (2) logged native rainforest fragments, (3) mature industrial tree plantation, (4) young industrial plantation, and (5) oil palm plantation. Enough data were obtained to compare abundance in all 7 species and foraging behavior in 5. All species were common in forest fragments and mature industrial tree plantations and less so in continuous rainforest and young industrial plantations; only M. gularis occurred in oil palm. In terms of foraging, M. gularis was the greatest generalist; C. rufifrons foraged mainly on live leaves in the forest midstory; and S. maculata, C. erythropterum, and M. ptilosus foraged mainly on dead leaves suspended in understory vegetation at significantly different heights. The dead-leaf substrate depends on a rich supply of falling leaves and extensive understory structure, conditions most common in native forest and old industrial plantations, and less so in mature forest, young plantations, and oil palm. Because of the importance of foraging data to understanding and managing biodiversity, we encourage the development of foraging fields in eBird (ebird.org), so that birdwatchers may help collect these relatively rare data. PMID:29491923

Development of silvicultural systems for maintaining old-growth conditions in the temperate rainforest of southeast Alaska.

Treesearch

Michael H. McClellan

2004-01-01

In the old-growth temperate rainforests of southeast Alaska, concerns over clearcutting effects on habitat, visual quality, slope stability, and biodiversity have created a demand for the use of other silvicultural systems. The forest vegetation and animal taxa of southeast Alaska appear to be well adapted to frequent, widespread, small-scale disturbance, suggesting...

The role of windstorm exposure and yellow cedar decline on landslide susceptibility in southeast Alaskan temperate rainforests

Treesearch

Brian Buma; Adelaide C. Johnson

2015-01-01

Interactions between ecological disturbances have the potential to alter other disturbances and their associated regimes, such as the likelihood, severity, and extent of events. The influence of exposure to wind and yellow cedar decline on the landslide regime of Alaskan temperate rainforests was explored using presence-only modeling techniques. The wind regime was...

A new species of Acroleptus Bourgeois (Coleoptera: Lycidae) from the Brazilian Amazonian rainforest, with a note on its homonymy with Acroleptus Cabanis (Aves).

PubMed

Ferreira, Vinicius S

2015-04-24

Acroleptus costae sp. nov. is described from the Brazilian Amazonian rainforest, raising the diversity of the formerly monotypic genus to two known species. The validity of Acroleptus Bourgeois, 1886 (Insecta) is maintained while Acroleptus Cabanis, 1861 (Aves) is considered to be an incorrect subsequent spelling.

Vulnerability of wetland soil carbon stocks to climate warming in the perhumid coastal temperate rainforest

Treesearch

Jason B. Fellman; David V. D’Amore; Eran Hood; Pat Cunningham

2017-01-01

The perhumid coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) of southeast Alaska has some of the densest soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in the world (>300 Mg C ha-1) but the fate of this SOC with continued warming remains largely unknown. We quantified dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and carbon dioxide (CO2) yields from four...

A new species of Tropidopedia from the Amazon rainforest, Brazil (Hymenoptera: Apidae), with a revised phylogenetic overview of the genus.

PubMed

Mahlmann, Thiago; De Oliveira, Marcio L

2015-10-15

We describe a new species of the bee tribe Tapinotaspidini, Tropidopedia guaranae Mahlmann & Oliveira sp. n. from the Amazon rainforest, Amazonas, Brazil. We emend the phylogenetic tree of Aguiar & Melo (2007) to include the new species and comment upon some characters presented by those authors.

The Rainforest Still Needs Us: The Forman School's 20 Years in the Mountains of Costa Rica

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawson, Leesa

2013-01-01

The search for solutions to protect the rainforest, while offering local farmers a sustainable means of making a living, started at The Forman School as a search to fully engage its students in learning. The Forman School is an independent college preparatory school for students with language-based learning differences (LD). This article discusses…

Rainforests and Rousseau

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rohrbach, Marla

2012-01-01

One of the fifth-grade art-curriculum objectives is to create a relief print. In this era of budget cuts, the author was looking for a way for her students to meet this objective by making colorful prints without using a lot of expensive printing ink. She knew she wanted to use a rainforest animal theme, as well as share the colorful art of Henri…

Rain Forest: The Latest Information and Hands-on Activities To Explore Animals, Plants, and Geography. Grades 2-5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernard, Robin

This book contains information and activities to help make the study of rainforests an exciting exploration for teachers and students. Students explore the animals, plants, and geography of the rainforest by completing hands-on activities from various disciplines. This book contains five units: (1) "Living Layers"; (2) "Animals, Animals, Animals";…

A deforestation-induced tipping point for the South American monsoon system.

PubMed

Boers, Niklas; Marwan, Norbert; Barbosa, Henrique M J; Kurths, Jürgen

2017-01-25

The Amazon rainforest has been proposed as a tipping element of the earth system, with the possibility of a dieback of the entire ecosystem due to deforestation only of parts of the rainforest. Possible physical mechanisms behind such a transition are still subject to ongoing debates. Here, we use a specifically designed model to analyse the nonlinear couplings between the Amazon rainforest and the atmospheric moisture transport from the Atlantic to the South American continent. These couplings are associated with a westward cascade of precipitation and evapotranspiration across the Amazon. We investigate impacts of deforestation on the South American monsoonal circulation with particular focus on a previously neglected positive feedback related to condensational latent heating over the rainforest, which strongly enhances atmospheric moisture inflow from the Atlantic. Our results indicate the existence of a tipping point. In our model setup, crossing the tipping point causes precipitation reductions of up to 40% in non-deforested parts of the western Amazon and regions further downstream. The responsible mechanism is the breakdown of the aforementioned feedback, which occurs when deforestation reduces transpiration to a point where the available atmospheric moisture does not suffice anymore to release the latent heat needed to maintain the feedback.

A deforestation-induced tipping point for the South American monsoon system

PubMed Central

Boers, Niklas; Marwan, Norbert; Barbosa, Henrique M. J.; Kurths, Jürgen

2017-01-01

The Amazon rainforest has been proposed as a tipping element of the earth system, with the possibility of a dieback of the entire ecosystem due to deforestation only of parts of the rainforest. Possible physical mechanisms behind such a transition are still subject to ongoing debates. Here, we use a specifically designed model to analyse the nonlinear couplings between the Amazon rainforest and the atmospheric moisture transport from the Atlantic to the South American continent. These couplings are associated with a westward cascade of precipitation and evapotranspiration across the Amazon. We investigate impacts of deforestation on the South American monsoonal circulation with particular focus on a previously neglected positive feedback related to condensational latent heating over the rainforest, which strongly enhances atmospheric moisture inflow from the Atlantic. Our results indicate the existence of a tipping point. In our model setup, crossing the tipping point causes precipitation reductions of up to 40% in non-deforested parts of the western Amazon and regions further downstream. The responsible mechanism is the breakdown of the aforementioned feedback, which occurs when deforestation reduces transpiration to a point where the available atmospheric moisture does not suffice anymore to release the latent heat needed to maintain the feedback. PMID:28120928

Photosynthetic temperature responses of tree species in Rwanda: evidence of pronounced negative effects of high temperature in montane rainforest climax species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vårhammar, Angelica; Wallin, Göran; McLean, Christopher M.; Dusenge, Mirindi Eric; Medlyn, Belinda E.; Hasper, Thomas B.; Nsabimana, Donat; Uddling, Johan

2015-04-01

The sensitivity of photosynthetic metabolism to temperature has been identified as a key uncertainty for projecting the magnitude of the terrestrial feedback on future climate change. While temperature responses of photosynthetic capacities have been comparatively well investigated in temperate species, the responses of tropical tree species remain unexplored. We compared the responses of seedlings of native cold-adapted tropical montane rainforest tree species to exotic warm-adapted plantation species, all growing in an intermediate temperature common garden in Rwanda. Leaf gas exchange responses to CO2 at different temperatures (20 - 40 C) were used to assess the temperature responses of biochemical photosynthetic capacities. Analyses revealed a lower optimum temperature for photosynthetic electron transport rates than for Rubisco carboxylation rates, along with lower electron transport optima in the native cold-adapted than in the exotic warm-adapted species. The photosynthetic optimum temperatures were generally exceeded by daytime peak leaf temperatures, in particular in the native montane rainforest climax species. This study thus provides evidence of pronounced negative effects of high temperature in tropical trees and indicates high susceptibility of montane rainforest climax species to future global warming. (Reference: New Phytologist, in press)

Ant diversity as a direct and indirect driver of pselaphine rove beetle (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) functional diversity in tropical rainforests, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

PubMed

Psomas, Elizabeth; Holdsworth, Sholto; Eggleton, Paul

2018-04-20

Pselaphinae is a species-rich beetle subfamily found globally, with many exhibiting myrmecophily-a symbiotic association with ants. Pselaphine-ant associations vary from facultative to obligate, but direct behavioral observations still remain scarce. Pselaphines are speciose and ecologically abundant within tropical leaf litter invertebrate communities where ants dominate, implying a potentially important ecological role that may be affected by habitat disturbances that impact ants. In this study, we measured and analyzed putative functional traits of leaf litter pselaphines associated with myrmecophily through morphometric analysis. We calculated "myrmecophile functional diversity" of pselaphines at different sites and examined this measure's relationship with ant abundance, in both old growth and logged rainforest sites in Sabah, Borneo. We show that myrmecophile functional diversity of pselaphine beetles increases as ant abundance increases. Old growth rainforest sites support a high abundance of ants, which is associated with a high abundance of probable myrmecophilous pselaphines. These results suggest a potential link between adult morphological characters and the functional role these beetles play in rainforest litter as ecological interaction partners with ants. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Natural disturbance reduces disease risk in endangered rainforest frog populations

PubMed Central

Roznik, Elizabeth A.; Sapsford, Sarah J.; Pike, David A.; Schwarzkopf, Lin; Alford, Ross A.

2015-01-01

Natural disturbances can drive disease dynamics in animal populations by altering the microclimates experienced by hosts and their pathogens. Many pathogens are highly sensitive to temperature and moisture, and therefore small changes in habitat structure can alter the microclimate in ways that increase or decrease infection prevalence and intensity in host populations. Here we show that a reduction of rainforest canopy cover caused by a severe tropical cyclone decreased the risk of endangered rainforest frogs (Litoria rheocola) becoming infected by a fungal pathogen (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis). Reductions in canopy cover increased the temperatures and rates of evaporative water loss in frog microhabitats, which reduced B. dendrobatidis infection risk in frogs by an average of 11–28% in cyclone-damaged areas, relative to unaffected areas. Natural disturbances to the rainforest canopy can therefore provide an immediate benefit to frogs by altering the microclimate in ways that reduce infection risk. This could increase host survival and reduce the probability of epidemic disease outbreaks. For amphibian populations under immediate threat from this pathogen, targeted manipulation of canopy cover could increase the availability of warmer, drier microclimates and therefore tip the balance from host extinction to coexistence. PMID:26294048

Natural disturbance reduces disease risk in endangered rainforest frog populations.

PubMed

Roznik, Elizabeth A; Sapsford, Sarah J; Pike, David A; Schwarzkopf, Lin; Alford, Ross A

2015-08-21

Natural disturbances can drive disease dynamics in animal populations by altering the microclimates experienced by hosts and their pathogens. Many pathogens are highly sensitive to temperature and moisture, and therefore small changes in habitat structure can alter the microclimate in ways that increase or decrease infection prevalence and intensity in host populations. Here we show that a reduction of rainforest canopy cover caused by a severe tropical cyclone decreased the risk of endangered rainforest frogs (Litoria rheocola) becoming infected by a fungal pathogen (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis). Reductions in canopy cover increased the temperatures and rates of evaporative water loss in frog microhabitats, which reduced B. dendrobatidis infection risk in frogs by an average of 11-28% in cyclone-damaged areas, relative to unaffected areas. Natural disturbances to the rainforest canopy can therefore provide an immediate benefit to frogs by altering the microclimate in ways that reduce infection risk. This could increase host survival and reduce the probability of epidemic disease outbreaks. For amphibian populations under immediate threat from this pathogen, targeted manipulation of canopy cover could increase the availability of warmer, drier microclimates and therefore tip the balance from host extinction to coexistence.

Assessing tropical rainforest growth traits: Data - Model fusion in the Congo basin and beyond.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pietsch, S.

2016-12-01

Virgin forest ecosystems resemble the key reference level for natural tree growth dynamics. The mosaic cycle concept describes such dynamics as local disequilibria driven by patch level succession cycles of breakdown, regeneration, juvenescence and old growth. These cycles, however, may involve different traits of light demanding and shade tolerant species assemblies. In this work a data model fusion concept will be introduced to assess the differences in growth dynamics of the mosaic cycle of the Western Congolian Lowland Rainforest ecosystem. Field data from 34 forest patches located in an ice age forest refuge, recently pinpointed to the ground and still devoid of direct human impact up to today - resemble the data base. A 3D error assessment procedure versus BGC model simulations for the 34 patches revealed two different growth dynamics, consistent with observed growth traits of pioneer and late succession species assemblies of the Western Congolian Lowland rainforest. An application of the same procedure to Central American Pacific rainforests confirms the strength of the 3D error field data model fusion concept to assess different growth traits of the mosaic cycle of natural forest dynamics.

A deforestation-induced tipping point for the South American monsoon system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boers, Niklas; Marwan, Norbert; Barbosa, Henrique M. J.; Kurths, Jürgen

2017-01-01

The Amazon rainforest has been proposed as a tipping element of the earth system, with the possibility of a dieback of the entire ecosystem due to deforestation only of parts of the rainforest. Possible physical mechanisms behind such a transition are still subject to ongoing debates. Here, we use a specifically designed model to analyse the nonlinear couplings between the Amazon rainforest and the atmospheric moisture transport from the Atlantic to the South American continent. These couplings are associated with a westward cascade of precipitation and evapotranspiration across the Amazon. We investigate impacts of deforestation on the South American monsoonal circulation with particular focus on a previously neglected positive feedback related to condensational latent heating over the rainforest, which strongly enhances atmospheric moisture inflow from the Atlantic. Our results indicate the existence of a tipping point. In our model setup, crossing the tipping point causes precipitation reductions of up to 40% in non-deforested parts of the western Amazon and regions further downstream. The responsible mechanism is the breakdown of the aforementioned feedback, which occurs when deforestation reduces transpiration to a point where the available atmospheric moisture does not suffice anymore to release the latent heat needed to maintain the feedback.

Functional decay in tree community within tropical fragmented landscapes: Effects of landscape-scale forest cover.

PubMed

Rocha-Santos, Larissa; Benchimol, Maíra; Mayfield, Margaret M; Faria, Deborah; Pessoa, Michaele S; Talora, Daniela C; Mariano-Neto, Eduardo; Cazetta, Eliana

2017-01-01

As tropical rainforests are cleared, forest remnants are increasingly isolated within agricultural landscapes. Understanding how forest loss impacts on species diversity can, therefore, contribute to identifying the minimum amount of habitat required for biodiversity maintenance in human-modified landscapes. Here, we evaluate how the amount of forest cover, at the landscape scale, affects patterns of species richness, abundance, key functional traits and common taxonomic families of adult trees in twenty Brazilian Atlantic rainforest landscapes. We found that as forest cover decreases, both tree community richness and abundance decline, without exhibiting a threshold. At the family-level, species richness and abundance of the Myrtaceae and Sapotaceae were also negatively impacted by the percent forest remaining at the landscape scale. For functional traits, we found a reduction in shade-tolerant, animal-dispersed and small-seeded species following a decrease in the amount of forest retained in landscapes. These results suggest that the amount of forest in a landscape is driving non-random losses in phylogenetic and functional tree diversity in Brazil's remaining Atlantic rainforests. Our study highlights potential restraints on the conservation value of Atlantic rainforest remnants in deforested landscapes in the future.

Functional decay in tree community within tropical fragmented landscapes: Effects of landscape-scale forest cover

PubMed Central

Benchimol, Maíra; Mayfield, Margaret M.; Faria, Deborah; Pessoa, Michaele S.; Talora, Daniela C.; Mariano-Neto, Eduardo; Cazetta, Eliana

2017-01-01

As tropical rainforests are cleared, forest remnants are increasingly isolated within agricultural landscapes. Understanding how forest loss impacts on species diversity can, therefore, contribute to identifying the minimum amount of habitat required for biodiversity maintenance in human-modified landscapes. Here, we evaluate how the amount of forest cover, at the landscape scale, affects patterns of species richness, abundance, key functional traits and common taxonomic families of adult trees in twenty Brazilian Atlantic rainforest landscapes. We found that as forest cover decreases, both tree community richness and abundance decline, without exhibiting a threshold. At the family-level, species richness and abundance of the Myrtaceae and Sapotaceae were also negatively impacted by the percent forest remaining at the landscape scale. For functional traits, we found a reduction in shade-tolerant, animal-dispersed and small-seeded species following a decrease in the amount of forest retained in landscapes. These results suggest that the amount of forest in a landscape is driving non-random losses in phylogenetic and functional tree diversity in Brazil’s remaining Atlantic rainforests. Our study highlights potential restraints on the conservation value of Atlantic rainforest remnants in deforested landscapes in the future. PMID:28403166

Infection of Amblyomma ovale with Rickettsia species Atlantic rainforest in Serra do Mar, São Paulo State, Brazil.

PubMed

Luz, Hermes Ribeiro; McIntosh, Douglas; Furusawa, Guilherme P; Flausino, Walter; Rozental, Tatiana; Lemos, Elba R S; Landulfo, Gabriel A; Faccini, João Luiz H

2016-10-01

Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest, that is considered to represent a genetic variant of Rickettsia parkeri, are confirmed as being capable of infecting humans in Brazil. This study reports the detection and characterization, by PCR and nucleotide sequencing, of Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rain forest in Amblyomma ovale parasitizing a human, in ticks infesting dogs and in free-living ticks collected from the environment where the human infestation was recorded. The data contribute to our knowledge of infection rates in A. ovale with Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest and identified an additional location in the state of São Paulo populated with ticks infected with this emerging pathogen. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffmann, Constanze; Zimmermann, Fee; Biek, Roman; Kuehl, Hjalmar; Nowak, Kathrin; Mundry, Roger; Agbor, Anthony; Angedakin, Samuel; Arandjelovic, Mimi; Blankenburg, Anja; Brazolla, Gregory; Corogenes, Katherine; Couacy-Hymann, Emmanuel; Deschner, Tobias; Dieguez, Paula; Dierks, Karsten; Düx, Ariane; Dupke, Susann; Eshuis, Henk; Formenty, Pierre; Yuh, Yisa Ginath; Goedmakers, Annemarie; Gogarten, Jan F.; Granjon, Anne-Céline; McGraw, Scott; Grunow, Roland; Hart, John; Jones, Sorrel; Junker, Jessica; Kiang, John; Langergraber, Kevin; Lapuente, Juan; Lee, Kevin; Leendertz, Siv Aina; Léguillon, Floraine; Leinert, Vera; Löhrich, Therese; Marrocoli, Sergio; Mätz-Rensing, Kerstin; Meier, Amelia; Merkel, Kevin; Metzger, Sonja; Murai, Mizuki; Niedorf, Svenja; de Nys, Hélène; Sachse, Andreas; van Schijndel, Joost; Thiesen, Ulla; Ton, Els; Wu, Doris; Wieler, Lothar H.; Boesch, Christophe; Klee, Silke R.; Wittig, Roman M.; Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien; Leendertz, Fabian H.

2017-08-01

Anthrax is a globally important animal disease and zoonosis. Despite this, our current knowledge of anthrax ecology is largely limited to arid ecosystems, where outbreaks are most commonly reported. Here we show that the dynamics of an anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, in a tropical rainforest have severe consequences for local wildlife communities. Using data and samples collected over three decades, we show that rainforest anthrax is a persistent and widespread cause of death for a broad range of mammalian hosts. We predict that this pathogen will accelerate the decline and possibly result in the extirpation of local chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) populations. We present the epidemiology of a cryptic pathogen and show that its presence has important implications for conservation.

Saving the rainforest through health care: medicine as conservation in Borneo.

PubMed

Ali, Robbie; Jacobs, Sonja M

2007-01-01

This article gives an overview of rainforest conservation as it relates to human health and describes the context, design, and implementation of the Kelay Conservation Health Program (KCHP). The KCHP is a health program for indigenous people living in a critical area of orangutan rainforest habitat in Indonesian Borneo also developed to aid conservation efforts there. Program design included consideration of both health and conservation goals, participatory planning in collaboration with the government health system, a focus on community managed health, capacity building, and adaptive management. After two years the program had, at relatively low cost, already had positive impacts on both human health (e.g., child immunization rates) and conservation (e.g., local forest protection measures, attitudes of villagers and government officials towards the implementing conservation agency).

Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest.

PubMed

Hoffmann, Constanze; Zimmermann, Fee; Biek, Roman; Kuehl, Hjalmar; Nowak, Kathrin; Mundry, Roger; Agbor, Anthony; Angedakin, Samuel; Arandjelovic, Mimi; Blankenburg, Anja; Brazolla, Gregory; Corogenes, Katherine; Couacy-Hymann, Emmanuel; Deschner, Tobias; Dieguez, Paula; Dierks, Karsten; Düx, Ariane; Dupke, Susann; Eshuis, Henk; Formenty, Pierre; Yuh, Yisa Ginath; Goedmakers, Annemarie; Gogarten, Jan F; Granjon, Anne-Céline; McGraw, Scott; Grunow, Roland; Hart, John; Jones, Sorrel; Junker, Jessica; Kiang, John; Langergraber, Kevin; Lapuente, Juan; Lee, Kevin; Leendertz, Siv Aina; Léguillon, Floraine; Leinert, Vera; Löhrich, Therese; Marrocoli, Sergio; Mätz-Rensing, Kerstin; Meier, Amelia; Merkel, Kevin; Metzger, Sonja; Murai, Mizuki; Niedorf, Svenja; De Nys, Hélène; Sachse, Andreas; van Schijndel, Joost; Thiesen, Ulla; Ton, Els; Wu, Doris; Wieler, Lothar H; Boesch, Christophe; Klee, Silke R; Wittig, Roman M; Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien; Leendertz, Fabian H

2017-08-02

Anthrax is a globally important animal disease and zoonosis. Despite this, our current knowledge of anthrax ecology is largely limited to arid ecosystems, where outbreaks are most commonly reported. Here we show that the dynamics of an anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, in a tropical rainforest have severe consequences for local wildlife communities. Using data and samples collected over three decades, we show that rainforest anthrax is a persistent and widespread cause of death for a broad range of mammalian hosts. We predict that this pathogen will accelerate the decline and possibly result in the extirpation of local chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) populations. We present the epidemiology of a cryptic pathogen and show that its presence has important implications for conservation.

Water Catchment and Storage Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruenig, Michael; Dunbabin, Matt; Moore, Darren

2010-05-01

Sensors and Sensor Networks technologies provide the means for comprehensive understanding of natural processes in the environment by radically increasing the availability of empirical data about the natural world. This step change is achieved through a dramatic reduction in the cost of data acquisition and many orders of magnitude increase in the spatial and temporal granularity of measurements. Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is undertaking a strategic research program developing wireless sensor network technology for environmental monitoring. As part of this research initiative, we are engaging with government agencies to densely monitor water catchments and storages, thereby enhancing understanding of the environmental processes that affect water quality. In the Gold Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia, we are building sensor networks to monitor restoration of rainforest within the catchment, and to monitor methane flux release and water quality in the water storages. This poster will present our ongoing work in this region of eastern Australia. The Springbrook plateau in the Gold Coast hinterland lies within a World Heritage listed area, has uniquely high rainfall, hosts a wide range of environmental gradients, and forms part of the catchment for Gold Coast's water storages. Parts of the plateau are being restored from agricultural grassland to native rainforest vegetation. Since April 2008, we have had a 10-node, multi-hop sensor network deployed there to monitor microclimate variables. This network will be expanded to 50-nodes in February 2010, and to around 200-nodes and 1000 sensors by mid-2011, spread over an area of approximately 0.8 square kilometers. The extremely dense microclimate sensing will enhance knowledge of the environmental factors that enhance or inhibit the regeneration of native rainforest. The final network will also include nodes with acoustic and image sensing capability for monitoring higher level parameters such as fauna diversity. The regenerating rainforest environment presents a number of interesting challenges for wireless sensor networks related to energy harvesting and to reliable low-power wireless communications through dense and wet vegetation. Located downstream from the Springbrook plateau, the Little Nerang and Hinze dams are the two major water supply storages for the Gold Coast region. In September 2009 we fitted methane, light, wind, and sonar sensors to our autonomous electric boat platform and successfully demonstrated autonomous collection of methane flux release data on Little Nerang Dam. Sensor and boat status data were relayed back to a human operator on the shore of the dam via a small network of our Fleck™ nodes. The network also included 4 floating nodes each fitted with a string of 6 temperature sensors for profiling temperature at different water depths. We plan to expand the network further during 2010 to incorporate floating methane nodes, additional temperature sensing nodes, as well as land-based microclimate nodes. The overall monitoring system will provide significant data to understand the connected catchment-to-storage system and will provide continuous data to monitor and understand change trends within this world heritage area.

Soil methane and CO2 fluxes in rainforest and rubber plantations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lang, Rong; Blagodatsky, Sergey; Goldberg, Stefanie; Xu, Jianchu

2017-04-01

Expansion of rubber plantations in South-East Asia has been a land use transformation trend leading to losses of natural forest cover in the region. Besides impact on ecosystem carbon stocks, this conversion influences the dynamics of greenhouse gas fluxes from soil driven by microbial activity, which has been insufficiently studied. Aimed to understand how land use change affects the soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes, we measured surface gas fluxes, gas concentration gradient, and 13C signature in CH4 and soil organic matter in profiles in a transect in Xishuangbanna, including a rainforest site and three rubber plantation sites with age gradient. Gas fluxes were measured by static chamber method and open chamber respiration system. Soil gases were sampled from installed gas samplers at 5, 10, 30, and 75cm depth at representative time in dry and rainy season. The soil CO2 flux was comparable in rainforest and old rubber plantations, while young rubber plantation had the lowest rate. Total carbon content in the surface soil well explained the difference of soil CO2 flux between sites. All sites were CH4 sinks in dry season and uptake decreased in the order of rainforest, old rubber plantations and young rubber plantation. From dry season to rainy season, CH4 consumption decreased with increasing CH4 concentration in the soil profile at all depths. The enrichment of methane by 13CH4 shifted towards to lowerδ13C, being the evidence of enhanced CH4 production process while net surface methane flux reflected the consumption in wet condition. Increment of CH4 concentration in the profile from dry to rainy season was higher in old rubber plantation compared to rainforest, while the shifting of δ13CH4 was larger in rainforest than rubber sites. Turnover rates of soil CO2 and CH4 suggested that the 0-5 cm surface soil was the most active layer for gaseous carbon exchange. δ13C in soil organic matter and soil moisture increased from rainforest, young rubber plantation to old rubber plantations. Conversion the forest into rubber plantation decreased soil respiration in young plantation and it recovered during rubber development. However, the CH4consumption by tropical upland forest soil decreased in converted rubber plantations of all ages, with more decrement in old plantation. Change forest into rubber plantations weakened the soil function as CH4 sink.

Evaluating a Research Training Programme for People with Intellectual Disabilities Participating in Inclusive Research: The Views of Participants.

PubMed

Fullana, Judit; Pallisera, Maria; Català, Elena; Puyalto, Carolina

2017-07-01

This article presents the results of evaluating a research training programme aimed at developing the skills of people with intellectual disabilities to actively participate in inclusive research. The present authors opted for a responsive approach to evaluation, using a combination of interviews, questionnaires and focus groups to gather information on the views of students, trainers and members of the research team regarding how the programme progressed, the learning achieved and participants' satisfaction with the programme. The evaluation showed that most of the participants were satisfied with the programme and provided guidelines for planning contents and materials, demonstrating the usefulness of these types of programme in constructing the research group and empowering people with intellectual disabilities to participate in research. The evaluation revealed that the programme had been a positive social experience that fostered interest in lifelong learning for people with intellectual disabilities. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Building a discovery partnership with Sarawak Biodiversity Centre: a gateway to access natural products from the rainforests.

PubMed

Yeo, Tiong Chia; Naming, Margarita; Manurung, Rita

2014-03-01

The Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) is a state government agency which regulates research and promotes the sustainable use of biodiversity. It has a program on documentation of traditional knowledge (TK) and is well-equipped with facilities for natural product research. SBC maintains a Natural Product Library (NPL) consisting of local plant and microbial extracts for bioprospecting. The NPL is a core discovery platform for screening of bioactive compounds by researchers through a formal agreement with clear benefit sharing obligations. SBC aims to develop partnerships with leading institutions and the industries to explore the benefits of biodiversity.

Vegetation changes along gradients of long-term soil development in the Hawaiian montane rainforest zone11-219.

Treesearch

Kanehiro Kitayama; Dieter Mueller-Dombois

1995-01-01

The development of the Hawaiian montane rainforest was investigated along a 4.1-million-year soil age gradient at 1200 m elevation under two levels of precipitation, the mesic (c. 2500 mm annual rainfall) vs. wet (> 4000 mm)age gradient. Earlier analyses suggested that soil fertility and foliar nutrient concentrations of common canopy species changed unimodally on...

Holocene rain-forest wilderness: a neotropical perspective on humans as an exotic, invasive species

Treesearch

Robert L. Sanford; Sally P. Horn

2000-01-01

Large areas of lowland tropical rain-forests in the neotropics have been burned over the past 6,000 years, mostly by pre-Colombian agriculturists. This paper presents additional evidence of fires and other human impacts in neotropical forests, and considers the opportunities and limitations of different approaches to determining past land-use “signatures.” Knowledge of...

Science, Technology, and the Quest for International Influence

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

accept technical arguments on sensitive issues like protection of the Amazon rainforest . In 2009, non- governmental organizations, a primary channel of...biodiversity in the Amazon , or petroleum in the pre-salt layer off Brazil‘s coast complicated matters. After all, Richard Feynman, before visiting...defended its sovereign right to utilize its natural resources, including its enormous tropical rainforest , for natural development.79 Even as Brazil

Holocene soil-geomorphic surfaces influence the role of salmon-derived nutrients in the coastal temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska

Treesearch

David V. D' Amore; Nicholas S. Bonzey; Jacob Berkowitz; Janine Rüegg; Scott Bridgham

2011-01-01

The influence of salmon-derived nutrients (SDN) is widely accepted as a potential factor in the maintenance of aquatic and terrestrial productivity in North American Coastal rainforests. Holocene alluvial landforms are intimately connected with the return of anadromous salmon, but the influence of the soils that occupy these landforms and support this important...

Post-Hurricane Successional Dynamics in Abundance and Diversity of Canopy Arthropods in a Tropical Rainforest

Treesearch

T. D. Schowalter; M. R. Willig; S. J. Presley

2017-01-01

We quantified long-term successional trajectories of canopy arthropods on six tree species in a tropical rainforest ecosystem in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico that experienced repeated hurricane-induced disturbances during the 19-yr study (1991–2009). We expected: 1) differential performances of arthropod species to result in taxon- or guild-specific responses...

Evidence of climate change impact on stream low flow from the tropical mountain rainforest watershed in Hainan Island, China

Treesearch

Z. Zhou; Y. Ouyang; Z. Qiu; G. Zhou; M. Lin; Y. Li

2017-01-01

Stream low flow estimates are central to assessing climate change impact, water resource management, and ecosystem restoration. This study investigated the impacts of climate change upon stream low flows from a rainforest watershed in Jianfengling (JFL) Mountain, Hainan Island, China, using the low flow selection method as well as the frequency and probability analysis...

Forest dynamics in the temperate rainforests of Alaska: from individual tree to regional scales

Treesearch

Tara M. Barrett

2015-01-01

Analysis of remeasurement data from 1079 Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots revealed multi-scale change occurring in the temperate rainforests of southeast Alaska. In the western half of the region, including Prince William Sound, aboveground live tree biomass and carbon are increasing at a rate of 8 ( ± 2 ) percent per decade, driven by an increase in Sitka...

Understory fern community structure, growth and spore production responses to a large-scale hurricane experiment in a Puerto Rico rainforest

Treesearch

Joanne M. Sharpe; Aaron B. Shiels

2014-01-01

Ferns are abundant in most rainforest understories yet their responses to hurricanes have not been well studied. Fern community structure, growth and spore production were monitored for two years before and five years after a large-scale experiment that simulated two key components of severe hurricane disturbance: canopy openness and debris deposition. The canopy was...

Adult Learning in New Social Movements: Environmental Protest and the Struggle for the Clayoquot Sound Rainforest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walter, Pierre

2007-01-01

During the summer of 1993, some 10,000 people, young and old, joined logging road blockades to protest the clear-cutting of old-growth temperate rainforest in Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada. By the end of the summer, more than 900 protestors had been arrested for acts of civil disobedience in refusing to leave the road. In subsequent…

Old Groundwater, Interbasin Groundwater Flow, Magmatic Solutes, and Hydrologic Fluxes of Carbon in a Lowland Costa Rican Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Genereux, D. P.; Webb, M.; Solomon, D. K.

2009-04-01

Carbon (C), helium (He), and chloride (Cl) concentrations and isotopes were measured in groundwater and surface-water in a lowland Costa Rican rainforest at the foot of Volcan Barva (a 2900 m peak that is one of the largest in the Cordillera Central of Costa Rica). Results are consistent with the presence and mixing of two distinct groundwaters: (1) high-solute bedrock groundwater representing interbasin groundwater flow (IGF) into the rainforest watersheds, and (2) low-solute local groundwater recharged within the lowland rainforest watersheds. In bedrock groundwater, high ^13C (-4.89 o/oo), low 14C (7.98 pmC), high R/RA for He (6.88), and low 36Cl/Cl (17x10-15) suggest that elevated DIC, He, and Cl concentrations are derived from magmatic outgassing and/or weathering of volcanic rock beneath nearby Volcan Barva. In local groundwater, the magmatic signature is absent and data suggest atmospheric sources for He and Cl and a biogenic soil-gas CO2 source for DIC. 14C dating suggests the age of bedrock groundwater is 2700-4300 years (most likely at the lower end of the range). Local groundwater has 14C>100 pmC, indicating the presence of "bomb carbon" and thus ages less than ~50 years for these samples collected in 2006. Overall, the C, He, and Cl data are consistent with a prior conceptual hydrologic model developed with major ion and water-balance data from this tropical rainforest: (1) the large variation in solute concentrations can be explained by mixing of the two distinct groundwaters, (2) bedrock groundwater is much older than local water, (3) elevated solute concentrations in bedrock groundwater are derived from volcanic fluids and/or rock, and (4) local water has not had significant interaction with volcanic rock. Tracers with different behaviors and capabilities converge on the same hydrologic interpretation. Also, transport of magmatic CO2 into the lowland rainforest (as DIC in the IGF) seems to be significant relative to other large ecosystem-level carbon fluxes. Dissolved carbon export from the watersheds via streamflow is dominated by DIC (DOC accounts for

Effects of growth form and functional traits on response of woody plants to clearing and fragmentation of subtropical rainforest.

PubMed

Kooyman, R M; Zanne, A E; Gallagher, R V; Cornwell, W; Rossetto, M; O'Connor, P; Parkes, E A; Catterall, C F; Laffan, S W; Lusk, C H

2013-12-01

The conservation implications of large-scale rainforest clearing and fragmentation on the persistence of functional and taxonomic diversity remain poorly understood. If traits represent adaptive strategies of plant species to particular circumstances, the expectation is that the effect of forest clearing and fragmentation will be affected by species functional traits, particularly those related to dispersal. We used species occurrence data for woody plants in 46 rainforest patches across 75,000 ha largely cleared of forest by the early 1900s to determine the combined effects of area reduction, fragmentation, and patch size on the taxonomic structure and functional diversity of subtropical rainforest. We compiled species trait values for leaf area, seed dry mass, wood density, and maximum height and calculated species niche breadths. Taxonomic structure, trait values (means, ranges), and the functional diversity of assemblages of climbing and free-standing plants in remnant patches were quantified. Larger rainforest patches had higher species richness. Species in smaller patches were taxonomically less related than species in larger patches. Free-standing plants had a high percentage of frugivore dispersed seeds; climbers had a high proportion of small wind-dispersed seeds. Connections between the patchy spatial distribution of free-standing species, larger seed sizes, and dispersal syndrome were weak. Assemblages of free-standing plants in patches showed more taxonomic and spatial structuring than climbing plants. Smaller isolated patches retained relatively high functional diversity and similar taxonomic structure to larger tracts of forest despite lower species richness. The response of woody plants to clearing and fragmentation of subtropical rainforest differed between climbers and slow-growing mature-phase forest trees but not between climbers and pioneer trees. Quantifying taxonomic structure and functional diversity provides an improved basis for conservation planning and management by elucidating the effects of forest-area reduction and fragmentation. Efectos de la Forma de Crecimiento y Atributos Funcionales en la Respuesta de Plantas Leñosas al Desmonte y Fragmentación de Bosque Lluvioso Subtropical. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Origin of the Hawaiian rainforest and its transition states in long-term primary succession

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller-Dombois, D.; Boehmer, H. J.

2013-07-01

This paper addresses the question of transition states in the Hawaiian rainforest ecosystem with emphasis on their initial developments. Born among volcanoes in the north central Pacific about 4 million years ago, the Hawaiian rainforest became assembled from spores of algae, fungi, lichens, bryophytes, ferns and from seeds of about 275 flowering plants that over the millennia evolved into ca. 1000 endemic species. Outstanding among the forest builders were the tree ferns (Cibotium spp.) and the 'ōhi'a lehua trees (Metrosideros spp.), which still dominate the Hawaiian rainforest ecosystem today. The structure of this forest is simple. The canopy in closed mature rainforests is dominated by cohorts of Metrosideros polymorpha and the undergrowth by tree fern species of Cibotium. When a new lava flow cuts through this forest, kipuka are formed, i.e., islands of remnant vegetation. On the new volcanic substrate, the assemblage of plant life forms is similar to the assemblage during the evolution of this system. In open juvenile forests, a mat-forming fern, the uluhe fern (Dicranopteris linearis), becomes established. It inhibits further regeneration of the dominant 'ōhi'a tree, thereby reinforcing the cohort structure of the canopy guild. In the later part of its life cycle, the canopy guild breaks down often in synchrony. The trigger is hypothesized to be a climatic perturbation. After the disturbance, the forest becomes reestablished in about 30-40 yr. As the volcanic surfaces age, they go from a mesotrophic to a eutrophic phase, reaching a biophilic nutrient climax by about 1-25 K yr. Thereafter, a regressive oligotrophic phase follows; the soils become exhausted of nutrients. The shield volcanoes break down. Marginally, forest habitats change into bogs and stream ecosystems. The broader 'ōhi'a rainforest redeveloping in the more dissected landscapes of the older islands loses stature, often forming large gaps that are invaded by the aluminum tolerant uluhe fern. The 'ōhi'a trees still thrive on soils rejuvenated from landslides and from Asian dust on the oldest (5 million years old) island Kaua'i but their stature and living biomass is greatly diminished.

Novel diesel-oil-degrading bacteria and fungi from the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest.

PubMed

Maddela, N R; Masabanda, M; Leiva-Mora, M

2015-01-01

Isolating new diesel-oil-degrading microorganisms from crude-oil contaminated sites and evaluating their degradation capacities are vitally important in the remediation of oil-polluted environments and crude-oil exploitation. In this research, new hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and fungi were isolated from the crude-oil contaminated soil of the oil-fields in the Amazon rainforest of north-east Ecuador by using a soil enrichment technique. Degradation analysis was tracked by gas chromatography and a flame ionization detector. Under laboratory conditions, maximum degradability of the total n-alkanes reached up to 77.34 and 62.62 removal ratios after 30 days of incubation for the evaporated diesel oil by fungi (isolate-1) and bacteria (isolate-1), respectively. The 16S/18S rDNA sequence analysis indicated that the microorganisms were most closely (99-100%) related to Bacillus cereus (isolate-1), Bacillus thuringiensis (isolate-2), Geomyces pannorum (isolate-1), and Geomyces sp. (isolate-2). Therefore, these strains enable the degradation of hydrocarbons as the sole carbon source, and these findings will benefit these strains in the remediation of oil-polluted environments and oil exploitation.

Developing Researching Managers and Relevant Research--The "Executive Research Programme"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Werr, Andreas; Strannegård, Lars

2014-01-01

The current paper argues for bridging the "relevance gap" in management research and education by creating educational programmes that bring together experienced managers and management researchers. In the "Executive Research Programme" discussed in this paper, managers were paired up with researchers to conduct a collaborative…

Trophic niches, diversity and community composition of invertebrate top predators (Chilopoda) as affected by conversion of tropical lowland rainforest in Sumatra (Indonesia).

PubMed

Klarner, Bernhard; Winkelmann, Helge; Krashevska, Valentyna; Maraun, Mark; Widyastuti, Rahayu; Scheu, Stefan

2017-01-01

Conversion of tropical rainforests into plantations fundamentally alters ecological niches of animal species. Generalist predators such as centipedes (Chilopoda) may be able to persist in converted ecosystems due to their ability to adapt and switch to alternative prey populations. We investigated variations in community composition and trophic niches of soil and litter living centipedes in a range of ecosystems including rainforests, jungle rubber agroforests, and rubber and oil palm monocultures in two landscapes in Sumatra, Indonesia. Including information on environmental factors in the soil and litter habitat, we explored drivers shaping ecological niches of soil living invertebrate predators in one of the world's hotspots of rainforest conversion. Conversion of rainforests into agroforests and plantations was associated with a marked change in the composition of centipede communities. However, irrespective of major differences in habitat characteristics, changes in total abundances were small and the overall diversity and biomass of centipedes was similar in each of the systems investigated, suggesting that the number of ecological niches for this group of predators remains unchanged. By using stable isotope analysis (15N and 13C), we investigated trophic niche shifts of the centipede community; lower δ13C values of centipedes in oil palm plantations as compared to other ecosystems suggests that centipedes switch from decomposer prey to other prey, presumably understory associated herbivores, due to reduced availability of litter associated prey species. The results suggest that the ability to utilize alternative prey is a key feature enabling invertebrate predators to persist in ecosystems undergoing major structural changes due to anthropogenic land use change.

Epidemiology of Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest in a spotted fever-endemic area of southern Brazil.

PubMed

Barbieri, Amalia R M; Filho, Jonas M; Nieri-Bastos, Fernanda A; Souza, Julio C; Szabó, Matias P J; Labruna, Marcelo B

2014-10-01

The present study was performed in Vila Itoupava, an area of the state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, in which a tick-borne spotted fever illness has been endemic since 2003. Notably, both the etiological agent and the vector of these spotted fever cases remain unknown. During January 2011, humans, domestic dogs, and their ticks were sampled in households that are typically surrounded by highly preserved Atlantic rainforest fragments. Ticks collected from dogs were Amblyomma ovale (34% prevalence), Amblyomma aureolatum (18.9%), and Rhipicephalus sanguineus (3.8%). A total of 7.8% (6/77) A. ovale and 9.3% (4/43) A. aureolatum were infected by Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest, a Rickettsia parkeri-like agent recently shown to cause spotted fever illness in southeastern Brazil. Overall, 67.3% (35/52) of the dogs were seroreactive to spotted fever group rickettsiae, mostly with highest endpoint titers to R. parkeri. Among humans, 46.7% (7/15) reacted serologically to rickettsiae at low to moderate endpoint titers. Because canine seroreactivity to R. parkeri was strongly associated with frequent contact with forests (the preferred habitat for A. ovale and A. aureolatum), it is concluded that sampled dogs have been infected by strain Atlantic rainforest through the parasitism of these tick species. The present study provides epidemiological evidence that the spotted fever in the study area has been caused by Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest, transmitted to humans by either A. ovale or A. aureolatum. Further studies encompassing direct diagnostic methods on clinical specimens from patients are needed to confirm the above epidemiological evidence. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Trophic niches, diversity and community composition of invertebrate top predators (Chilopoda) as affected by conversion of tropical lowland rainforest in Sumatra (Indonesia)

PubMed Central

Winkelmann, Helge; Krashevska, Valentyna; Maraun, Mark; Widyastuti, Rahayu; Scheu, Stefan

2017-01-01

Conversion of tropical rainforests into plantations fundamentally alters ecological niches of animal species. Generalist predators such as centipedes (Chilopoda) may be able to persist in converted ecosystems due to their ability to adapt and switch to alternative prey populations. We investigated variations in community composition and trophic niches of soil and litter living centipedes in a range of ecosystems including rainforests, jungle rubber agroforests, and rubber and oil palm monocultures in two landscapes in Sumatra, Indonesia. Including information on environmental factors in the soil and litter habitat, we explored drivers shaping ecological niches of soil living invertebrate predators in one of the world’s hotspots of rainforest conversion. Conversion of rainforests into agroforests and plantations was associated with a marked change in the composition of centipede communities. However, irrespective of major differences in habitat characteristics, changes in total abundances were small and the overall diversity and biomass of centipedes was similar in each of the systems investigated, suggesting that the number of ecological niches for this group of predators remains unchanged. By using stable isotope analysis (15N and 13C), we investigated trophic niche shifts of the centipede community; lower δ13C values of centipedes in oil palm plantations as compared to other ecosystems suggests that centipedes switch from decomposer prey to other prey, presumably understory associated herbivores, due to reduced availability of litter associated prey species. The results suggest that the ability to utilize alternative prey is a key feature enabling invertebrate predators to persist in ecosystems undergoing major structural changes due to anthropogenic land use change. PMID:28763453

Mosquito communities and disease risk influenced by land use change and seasonality in the Australian tropics.

PubMed

Meyer Steiger, Dagmar B; Ritchie, Scott A; Laurance, Susan G W

2016-07-07

Anthropogenic land use changes have contributed considerably to the rise of emerging and re-emerging mosquito-borne diseases. These diseases appear to be increasing as a result of the novel juxtapositions of habitats and species that can result in new interchanges of vectors, diseases and hosts. We studied whether the mosquito community structure varied between habitats and seasons and whether known disease vectors displayed habitat preferences in tropical Australia. Using CDC model 512 traps, adult mosquitoes were sampled across an anthropogenic disturbance gradient of grassland, rainforest edge and rainforest interior habitats, in both the wet and dry seasons. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordinations were applied to examine major gradients in the composition of mosquito and vector communities. We captured ~13,000 mosquitoes from 288 trap nights across four study sites. A community analysis identified 29 species from 7 genera. Even though mosquito abundance and richness were similar between the three habitats, the community composition varied significantly in response to habitat type. The mosquito community in rainforest interiors was distinctly different to the community in grasslands, whereas forest edges acted as an ecotone with shared communities from both forest interiors and grasslands. We found two community patterns that will influence disease risk at out study sites, first, that disease vectoring mosquito species occurred all year round. Secondly, that anthropogenic grasslands adjacent to rainforests may increase the probability of novel disease transmission through changes to the vector community on rainforest edges, as most disease transmitting species predominantly occurred in grasslands. Our results indicate that the strong influence of anthropogenic land use change on mosquito communities could have potential implications for pathogen transmission to humans and wildlife.

Long-term CO2 fertilization increases vegetation productivity and has little effect on hydrological partitioning in tropical rainforests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yuting; Donohue, Randall J.; McVicar, Tim R.; Roderick, Michael L.; Beck, Hylke E.

2016-08-01

Understanding how tropical rainforests respond to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2) is essential for predicting Earth's carbon, water, and energy budgets under future climate change. Here we use long-term (1982-2010) precipitation (P) and runoff (Q) measurements to infer runoff coefficient (Q/P) and evapotranspiration (E) trends across 18 unimpaired tropical rainforest catchments. We complement that analysis by using satellite observations coupled with ecosystem process modeling (using both "top-down" and "bottom-up" perspectives) to examine trends in carbon uptake and relate that to the observed changes in Q/P and E. Our results show there have been only minor changes in the satellite-observed canopy leaf area over 1982-2010, suggesting that eCO2 has not increased vegetation leaf area in tropical rainforests and therefore any plant response to eCO2 occurs at the leaf level. Meanwhile, observed Q/P and E also remained relatively constant in the 18 catchments, implying an unchanged hydrological partitioning and thus approximately conserved transpiration under eCO2. For the same period, using a top-down model based on gas exchange theory, we predict increases in plant assimilation (A) and light use efficiency (ɛ) at the leaf level under eCO2, the magnitude of which is essentially that of eCO2 (i.e., 12% over 1982-2010). Simulations from 10 state-of-the-art bottom-up ecosystem models over the same catchments also show that the direct effect of eCO2 is to mostly increase A and ɛ with little impact on E. Our findings add to the current limited pool of knowledge regarding the long-term eCO2 impacts in tropical rainforests.

Loss of frugivore seed dispersal services under climate change.

PubMed

Mokany, Karel; Prasad, Soumya; Westcott, David A

2014-05-27

The capacity of species to track shifting climates into the future will strongly influence outcomes for biodiversity under a rapidly changing climate. However, we know remarkably little about the dispersal abilities of most species and how these may be influenced by climate change. Here we show that climate change is projected to substantially reduce the seed dispersal services provided by frugivorous vertebrates in rainforests across the Australian Wet Tropics. Our model projections show reductions in both median and long-distance seed dispersal, which may markedly reduce the capacity of many rainforest plant species to track shifts in suitable habitat under climate change. However, our analyses suggest that active management to maintain the abundances of a small set of important frugivores under climate change could markedly reduce the projected loss of seed dispersal services and facilitate shifting distributions of rainforest plant species.

Structural attributes of individual trees for identifying homogeneous patches in a tropical rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexander, Cici; Korstjens, Amanda H.; Hill, Ross A.

2017-03-01

Mapping and monitoring tropical rainforests and quantifying their carbon stocks are important, both for devising strategies for their conservation and mitigating the effects of climate change. Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) has advantages over other remote sensing techniques for describing the three-dimensional structure of forests. This study identifies forest patches using ALS-based structural attributes in a tropical rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia. A method to group trees with similar attributes into forest patches based on Thiessen polygons and k-medoids clustering is developed, combining the advantages of both raster and individual tree-based methods. The structural composition of the patches could be an indicator of habitat type and quality. The patches could also be a basis for developing allometric models for more accurate estimation of carbon stock than is currently possible with generalised models.

Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Nitrate and Sulfate in Fog and River water in Podocarpus National Forest, Ecuador

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brothers, L. A.; Fabian, P.; Thiemens, M. H.

2006-12-01

The eastern slopes of the Andean rainforests of Ecuador possess some of the highest plant biodiversity found on the planet; however, these ecosystems are in jeopardy because region is experiences one of the highest deforestation rates in South America. This rainforest characterized by high acidity and low nutrient soils and experiences natural process which are both destabilizing and stabilizing to biodiversity rendering this a unique, though sensitive environment. There is increased concern that anthropogenic activities are affecting rainforests and could lead to higher extinction rates, changes in the biodiversity and far reaching effects on the global troposphere. Measurements of nitrate and sulfate in rain and fog water have shown periods of elevated concentrations in the Podocarpus National Park near Loja, Ecuador. These high episodes contribute to annual deposition rates that are comparable to polluted central Europe. Significant anthropogenic sources near this region are lacking and it is believed that the majority of the nitrate and sulfate pollution can be attributed to biomass burning in the Amazon basin. Concentration measurements do not elucidate the source of high nitrate and sulfate pollution; however, by measuring all three stable isotopes of oxygen in nitrate and sulfate from fog and river water provides a new way to examine the impacts of biomass burning on the region. By using stable isotope techniques atmospheric nitrate and sulfate can be resolved from terrestrial sources. This provides an unique way to trace the contributions from the biomass burning and farming sources. Current research at the field station monitors sulfate and nitrate concentrations in rain and fog water by standard methods to investigate water and nutrient pathways along with data from satellite and ground based remote sensing, in-situ observations and numerical models.

Ecology, biology and distribution of spotted-fever tick vectors in Brazil.

PubMed

Szabó, Matias P J; Pinter, Adriano; Labruna, Marcelo B

2013-01-01

Spotted-fever-caused Rickettsia rickettsii infection is in Brazil the major tick-borne zoonotic disease. Recently, a second and milder human rickettsiosis caused by an agent genetically related to R. parkeri was discovered in the country (Atlantic rainforest strain). Both diseases clearly have an ecological background linked to a few tick species and their environment. Capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and Amblyomma cajennense ticks in urban and rural areas close to water sources are the main and long-known epidemiological feature behind R. rickettsii-caused spotted-fever. Unfortunately, this ecological background seems to be increasing in the country and disease spreading may be foreseen. Metropolitan area of São Paulo, the most populous of the country, is embedded in Atlantic rainforest that harbors another important R. rickettsii vector, the tick Amblyomma aureolatum. Thus, at the city-forest interface, dogs carry infected ticks to human dwellings and human infection occurs. A role for R. rickettsii vectoring to humans of a third tick species, Rhipicephalus sanguineus in Brazil, has not been proven; however, there is circumstantial evidence for that. A R. parkeri-like strain was found in A. ovale ticks from Atlantic rainforest and was shown to be responsible for a milder febrile human disease. Rickettsia-infected A. ovale ticks are known to be spread over large areas along the Atlantic coast of the country, and diagnosis of human infection is increasing with awareness and proper diagnostic tools. In this review, ecological features of the tick species mentioned, and that are important for Rickettsia transmission to humans, are updated and discussed. Specific knowledge gaps in the epidemiology of such diseases are highlighted to guide forthcoming research.

Ecology, biology and distribution of spotted-fever tick vectors in Brazil

PubMed Central

Szabó, Matias P. J.; Pinter, Adriano; Labruna, Marcelo B.

2013-01-01

Spotted-fever-caused Rickettsia rickettsii infection is in Brazil the major tick-borne zoonotic disease. Recently, a second and milder human rickettsiosis caused by an agent genetically related to R. parkeri was discovered in the country (Atlantic rainforest strain). Both diseases clearly have an ecological background linked to a few tick species and their environment. Capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and Amblyomma cajennense ticks in urban and rural areas close to water sources are the main and long-known epidemiological feature behind R. rickettsii-caused spotted-fever. Unfortunately, this ecological background seems to be increasing in the country and disease spreading may be foreseen. Metropolitan area of São Paulo, the most populous of the country, is embedded in Atlantic rainforest that harbors another important R. rickettsii vector, the tick Amblyomma aureolatum. Thus, at the city–forest interface, dogs carry infected ticks to human dwellings and human infection occurs. A role for R. rickettsii vectoring to humans of a third tick species, Rhipicephalus sanguineus in Brazil, has not been proven; however, there is circumstantial evidence for that. A R. parkeri-like strain was found in A. ovale ticks from Atlantic rainforest and was shown to be responsible for a milder febrile human disease. Rickettsia-infected A. ovale ticks are known to be spread over large areas along the Atlantic coast of the country, and diagnosis of human infection is increasing with awareness and proper diagnostic tools. In this review, ecological features of the tick species mentioned, and that are important for Rickettsia transmission to humans, are updated and discussed. Specific knowledge gaps in the epidemiology of such diseases are highlighted to guide forthcoming research. PMID:23875178

Peru: Current Conditions and U.S. Relations

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-21

to development and poverty reduction. Of Peru’s 173 million acres of rainforest in the Amazon basin, about 70% has been granted or offered as...investment that will benefit the country as a whole. Indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest counter that the government is ignoring and/or...sent police to break up blockades set up by thousands of indigenous protesters in the Amazon . The deadly clash between the indigenous protesters and

Global Physiographic and Climatic Maps to Support Revision of Environmental Testing Guidelines

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-06

precipitation and boarded by High and Low Relief Mountains or Interior Plains and Plateaus, such as the Amazon River Basin in South America and the Congo...taxonomy system. These form in hot climates with continual moisture availability, typically thought to occur only beneath tropical rainforests , though...Montane Tropical Forest Tropical Degraded Forest Seasonal Tropical Forest Rain Green Tropical Forest Tropical Rainforest FIGURE 6-1 DATE: 6-02

Long-term landscape change and bird abundance in Amazonian rainforest fragments.

PubMed

Stouffer, Philip C; Bierregaard, Richard O; Strong, Cheryl; Lovejoy, Thomas E

2006-08-01

The rainforests of the Amazon basin are being cut by humans at a rate >20,000 km2/year leading to smaller and more isolated patches of forest, with remaining fragments often in the range of 1-100 ha. We analyzed samples of understory birds collected over 20 years from a standardized mist-netting program in 1- to 100-ha rainforest fragments in a dynamic Amazonian landscape near Manaus, Brazil. Across bird guilds, the condition of second growth immediately surrounding fragments was often as important as fragment size or local forest cover in explaining variation in abundance. Some fragments surrounded by 100 m of open pasture showed reductions in insectivorous bird abundance of over 95%, even in landscapes dominated by continuous forest and old second growth. These extreme reductions may be typical throughout Amazonia in small (< or =10 ha), isolated fragments of rainforest. Abundance for some guilds returned to preisolation levels in 10- and 100-ha fragments connected to continuous forest by 20-year-old second growth. Our results show that the consequences of Amazonian forest loss cannot be accurately described without explicit consideration of vegetation dynamics in matrix habitat. Any dichotomous classification of the landscape into 'forest" and "nonforest" misses essential information about the matrix.

Conversion of Amazon rainforest to agriculture alters community traits of methane-cycling organisms.

PubMed

Meyer, Kyle M; Klein, Ann M; Rodrigues, Jorge L M; Nüsslein, Klaus; Tringe, Susannah G; Mirza, Babur S; Tiedje, James M; Bohannan, Brendan J M

2017-03-01

Land use change is one of the greatest environmental impacts worldwide, especially to tropical forests. The Amazon rainforest has been subject to particularly high rates of land use change, primarily to cattle pasture. A commonly observed response to cattle pasture establishment in the Amazon is the conversion of soil from a methane sink in rainforest, to a methane source in pasture. However, it is not known how the microorganisms that mediate methane flux are altered by land use change. Here, we use the deepest metagenomic sequencing of Amazonian soil to date to investigate differences in methane-cycling microorganisms and their traits across rainforest and cattle pasture soils. We found that methane-cycling microorganisms responded to land use change, with the strongest responses exhibited by methane-consuming, rather than methane-producing, microorganisms. These responses included a reduction in the relative abundance of methanotrophs and a significant decrease in the abundance of genes encoding particulate methane monooxygenase. We also observed compositional changes to methanotroph and methanogen communities as well as changes to methanotroph life history strategies. Our observations suggest that methane-cycling microorganisms are vulnerable to land use change, and this vulnerability may underlie the response of methane flux to land use change in Amazon soils. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Photosynthetic temperature responses of tree species in Rwanda: evidence of pronounced negative effects of high temperature in montane rainforest climax species.

PubMed

Vårhammar, Angelica; Wallin, Göran; McLean, Christopher M; Dusenge, Mirindi Eric; Medlyn, Belinda E; Hasper, Thomas B; Nsabimana, Donat; Uddling, Johan

2015-05-01

The sensitivity of photosynthetic metabolism to temperature has been identified as a key uncertainty for projecting the magnitude of the terrestrial feedback on future climate change. While temperature responses of photosynthetic capacities have been comparatively well investigated in temperate species, the responses of tropical tree species remain unexplored. We compared the responses of seedlings of native cold-adapted tropical montane rainforest tree species with those of exotic warm-adapted plantation species, all growing in an intermediate temperature common garden in Rwanda. Leaf gas exchange responses to carbon dioxide (CO2 ) at different temperatures (20-40°C) were used to assess the temperature responses of biochemical photosynthetic capacities. Analyses revealed a lower optimum temperature for photosynthetic electron transport rates than for Rubisco carboxylation rates, along with lower electron transport optima in the native cold-adapted than in the exotic warm-adapted species. The photosynthetic optimum temperatures were generally exceeded by daytime peak leaf temperatures, in particular in the native montane rainforest climax species. This study thus provides evidence of pronounced negative effects of high temperature in tropical trees and indicates high susceptibility of montane rainforest climax species to future global warming. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

Linking biogenic hydrocarbons to biogenic aerosol in the Borneo rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, J. F.; Alfarra, M. R.; Robinson, N.; Ward, M. W.; Lewis, A. C.; McFiggans, G. B.; Coe, H.; Allan, J. D.

2013-11-01

Emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds are though to contribute significantly to secondary organic aerosol formation in the tropics, but understanding these transformation processes has proved difficult, due to the complexity of the chemistry involved and very low concentrations. Aerosols from above a Southeast Asian tropical rainforest in Borneo were characterised using liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry, high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometry and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS) techniques. Oxygenated compounds were identified in ambient organic aerosol that could be directly traced back to isoprene, monoterpenes and sesquiterpene emissions, by combining field data on chemical structures with mass spectral data generated from synthetically produced products created in a simulation chamber. Eighteen oxygenated species of biogenic origin were identified in the rainforest aerosol from the precursors isoprene, α-pinene, limonene, α-terpinene and β-caryophyllene. The observations provide the unambiguous field detection of monoterpene and sesquiterpene oxidation products in SOA above a pristine tropical rainforest. The presence of 2-methyl tetrol organosulfates and an associated sulfated dimer provides direct evidence that isoprene in the presence of sulfate aerosol can make a contribution to biogenic organic aerosol above tropical forests. High-resolution mass spectrometry indicates that sulfur can also be incorporated into oxidation products arising from monoterpene precursors in tropical aerosol.

Linking biogenic hydrocarbons to biogenic aerosol in the Borneo rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, J. F.; Alfarra, M. R.; Robinson, N.; Ward, M. W.; Lewis, A. C.; McFiggans, G. B.; Coe, H.; Allan, J. D.

2013-07-01

Emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds are though to contribute significantly to secondary organic aerosol formation in the tropics, but understanding the process of these transformations has proved difficult, due to the complexity of the chemistry involved and very low concentrations. Aerosols from above a South East Asian tropical rainforest in Borneo were characterised using liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry, high resolution aerosol mass spectrometry and fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS) techniques. Oxygenated compounds were identified in ambient organic aerosol that could be directly traced back to isoprene, monoterpenes and sesquiterpene emissions, by combining field data on chemical structures with mass spectral data generated from synthetically produced products created in a simulation chamber. Eighteen oxygenated species of biogenic origin were identified in the rainforest aerosol from the precursors isoprene, α-pinene, limonene, α-terpinene and β-caryophyllene. The observations provide the unambiguous field detection of monoterpene and sesquiterpene oxidation products in SOA above a pristine tropical rainforest. The presence of 2-methyltetrol organosulfates and an associated sulfated dimer provides direct evidence that isoprene in the presence of sulfate aerosol can make a contribution to biogenic organic aerosol above tropical forests. High-resolution mass spectrometry indicates that sulfur can also be incorporated into oxidation products arising from monoterpene precursors in tropical aerosol.

Converging migration routes of Eurasian hobbies Falco subbuteo crossing the African equatorial rain forest.

PubMed

Strandberg, Roine; Klaassen, Raymond H G; Hake, Mikael; Olofsson, Patrik; Alerstam, Thomas

2009-02-22

Autumn migration of adult Eurasian hobbies Falco subbuteo from Europe to southern Africa was recorded by satellite telemetry and observed routes were compared with randomly simulated routes. Two non-random features of observed routes were revealed: (i) shifts to more westerly longitudes than straight paths to destinations and (ii) strong route convergence towards a restricted area close to the equator (1 degree S, 15 degrees E). The birds migrated south or southwest to approximately 10 degrees N, where they changed to south-easterly courses. The maximal spread between routes at 10 degrees N (2134 km) rapidly decreased to a minimum (67 km) close to the equator. We found a striking relationship between the route convergence and the distribution of continuous rainforest, suggesting that hobbies minimize flight distance across the forest, concentrating in a corridor where habitat may be more suitable for travelling and foraging. With rainforest forming a possible ecological barrier, many migrants may cross the equator either at 15 degrees E, similar to the hobbies, or at 30-40 degrees E, east of the rainforest where large-scale migration is well documented. Much remains to be understood about the role of the rainforest for the evolution and future of the trans-equatorial Palaearctic-African bird migration systems.

Neoendemism in Madagascan scaly tree ferns results from recent, coincident diversification bursts.

PubMed

Janssen, Thomas; Bystriakova, Nadia; Rakotondrainibe, France; Coomes, David; Labat, Jean-Noël; Schneider, Harald

2008-08-01

More than 80% of Madagascar's 12,000 plant species are endemic with the degree of endemism reaching as much as 95% in the scaly tree ferns, an important species rich component of Madagascar's evergreen rainforests. Predominantly African or Asian ancestry and divergence times usually postdating the separation of Madagascar from the Gondwanan landmasses have been demonstrated for several Madagascan animal and angiosperm groups. However, evolutionary studies of rainforest-specific lineages are scarce and the ecological context of radiation events has rarely been investigated. Here, we examine the evolution of Madagascan tree ferns as a rainforest-specific model family, integrate results from bioclimatic niche analysis with a dated phylogenetic framework, and propose an evolutionary scenario casting new light on our knowledge of the evolution of large island endemic clades. We show that Madagascar's extant tree fern diversity springs from three distinct ancestors independently colonizing Madagascar in the Miocene and that these three monophyletic clades diversified in three coincident radiation bursts during the Pliocene, reaching exceptionally high diversification rates and most likely responding to a common climatic trigger. Recent diversification bursts may thus have played a major role in the evolution of the extant Madagascan rainforest biome, which hence contains a significant number of young, neoendemic taxa.

A test of alternative models of diversification in tropical rainforests: Ecological gradients vs. rainforest refugia

PubMed Central

Schneider, Christopher J.; Smith, Thomas B.; Larison, Brenda; Moritz, Craig

1999-01-01

Comparison of mitochondrial and morphological divergence in eight populations of a widespread leaf-litter skink is used to determine the relative importance of geographic isolation and natural selection in generating phenotypic diversity in the Wet Tropics Rainforest region of Australia. The populations occur in two geographically isolated regions, and within each region, in two different habitats (closed rainforest and tall open forest) that span a well characterized ecological gradient. Morphological differences among ancient geographic isolates (separated for several million years, judging by their mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence) were slight, but morphological and life history differences among habitats were large and occurred despite moderate to high levels of mitochondrial gene flow. A field experiment identified avian predation as one potential agent of natural selection. These results indicate that natural selection operating across ecological gradients can be more important than geographic isolation in similar habitats in generating phenotypic diversity. In addition, our results indicate that selection is sufficiently strong to overcome the homogenizing effects of gene flow, a necessary first step toward speciation in continuously distributed populations. Because ecological gradients may be a source of evolutionary novelty, and perhaps new species, their conservation warrants greater attention. This is particularly true in tropical regions, where most reserves do not include ecological gradients and transitional habitats. PMID:10570165

Tropical rainforests dominate multi-decadal variability of the global carbon cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Wang, Y. P.; Peng, S.; Rayner, P. J.; Silver, J.; Ciais, P.; Piao, S.; Zhu, Z.; Lu, X.; Zheng, X.

2017-12-01

Recent studies find that inter-annual variability of global atmosphere-to-land CO2 uptake (NBP) is dominated by semi-arid ecosystems. However, the NBP variations at decadal to multi-decadal timescales are still not known. By developing a basic theory for the role of net primary production (NPP) and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) on NBP and applying it to 100-year simulations of terrestrial ecosystem models forced by observational climate, we find that tropical rainforests dominate the multi-decadal variability of global NBP (48%) rather than the semi-arid lands (35%). The NBP variation at inter-annual timescales is almost 90% contributed by NPP, but across longer timescales is progressively controlled by Rh that constitutes the response from the NPP-derived soil carbon input (40%) and the response of soil carbon turnover rates to climate variability (60%). The NBP variations of tropical rainforests is modulated by the ENSO and the PDO through their significant influences on temperature and precipitation at timescales of 2.5-7 and 25-50 years, respectively. This study highlights the importance of tropical rainforests on the multi-decadal variability of global carbon cycle, suggesting that we need to carefully differentiate the effect of NBP long-term fluctuations associated with ocean-related climate modes on the long-term trend in land sink.

Tropical rainforests that persisted: inferences from the Quaternary demographic history of eight tree species in the Guiana shield.

PubMed

Barthe, Stéphanie; Binelli, Giorgio; Hérault, Bruno; Scotti-Saintagne, Caroline; Sabatier, Daniel; Scotti, Ivan

2017-02-01

How Quaternary climatic and geological disturbances influenced the composition of Neotropical forests is hotly debated. Rainfall and temperature changes during and/or immediately after the last glacial maximum (LGM) are thought to have strongly affected the geographical distribution and local abundance of tree species. The paucity of the fossil records in Neotropical forests prevents a direct reconstruction of such processes. To describe community-level historical trends in forest composition, we turned therefore to inferential methods based on the reconstruction of past demographic changes. In particular, we modelled the history of rainforests in the eastern Guiana Shield over a timescale of several thousand generations, through the application of approximate Bayesian computation and maximum-likelihood methods to diversity data at nuclear and chloroplast loci in eight species or subspecies of rainforest trees. Depending on the species and on the method applied, we detected population contraction, expansion or stability, with a general trend in favour of stability or expansion, with changes presumably having occurred during or after the LGM. These findings suggest that Guiana Shield rainforests have globally persisted, while expanding, through the Quaternary, but that different species have experienced different demographic events, with a trend towards the increase in frequency of light-demanding, disturbance-associated species. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Research capacity building in midwifery: Case study of an Australian Graduate Midwifery Research Intern Programme.

PubMed

Hauck, Yvonne L; Lewis, Lucy; Bayes, Sara; Keyes, Louise

2015-09-01

Having the research capacity to identify problems, create new knowledge and most importantly translate this knowledge into practice is essential within health care. Midwifery, as well as other health professions in Australia, is challenged in building its research capacity to contribute evidence to inform clinical practice. The aim of this project was to evaluate an innovative Graduate Midwifery Research Intern Programme offered at a tertiary obstetric hospital in Western Australia, to determine what was working well and how the programme could be improved. A case study approach was used to gain feedback from graduate midwives within a Graduate Research Intern (GRI) Programme. In addition outcomes were compiled of all projects the GRI midwives contributed to. Six GRI midwives participated in a survey comprising of four open ended questions to provide feedback about the programme. Findings confirm that the GRI programme increased the graduates understanding of how research works, its capacity to define a problem, generate new knowledge and inform clinical practice. The GRI midwives' feedback suggested the programme opened their thinking to future study and gave them enhanced insight into women's experiences around childbirth. To grow our knowledge as a professional group, midwives must develop and promote programmes to build our pool of research capable midwives. By sharing our programme evaluation we hope to entice other clinical settings to consider the value in replicating such a programme within their context. Copyright © 2015 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The impact of the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme, 2003-13: a multimethod evaluation.

PubMed

Guthrie, Susan; Bienkowska-Gibbs, Teresa; Manville, Catriona; Pollitt, Alexandra; Kirtley, Anne; Wooding, Steven

2015-08-01

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme supports research tailored to the needs of NHS decision-makers, patients and clinicians. This study reviewed the impact of the programme, from 2003 to 2013, on health, clinical practice, health policy, the economy and academia. It also considered how HTA could maintain and increase its impact. Interviews (n = 20): senior stakeholders from academia, policy-making organisations and the HTA programme. Bibliometric analysis: citation analysis of publications arising from HTA programme-funded research. Researchfish survey: electronic survey of all HTA grant holders. Payback case studies (n = 12): in-depth case studies of HTA programme-funded research. We make the following observations about the impact, and routes to impact, of the HTA programme: it has had an impact on patients, primarily through changes in guidelines, but also directly (e.g. changing clinical practice); it has had an impact on UK health policy, through providing high-quality scientific evidence - its close relationships with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the National Screening Committee (NSC) contributed to the observed impact on health policy, although in some instances other organisations may better facilitate impact; HTA research is used outside the UK by other HTA organisations and systematic reviewers - the programme has an impact on HTA practice internationally as a leader in HTA research methods and the funding of HTA research; the work of the programme is of high academic quality - the Health Technology Assessment journal ensures that the vast majority of HTA programme-funded research is published in full, while the HTA programme still encourages publication in other peer-reviewed journals; academics agree that the programme has played an important role in building and retaining HTA research capacity in the UK; the HTA programme has played a role in increasing the focus on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in medicine - it has also contributed to increasingly positive attitudes towards HTA research both within the research community and the NHS; and the HTA focuses resources on research that is of value to patients and the UK NHS, which would not otherwise be funded (e.g. where there is no commercial incentive to undertake research). The programme should consider the following to maintain and increase its impact: providing targeted support for dissemination, focusing resources when important results are unlikely to be implemented by other stakeholders, particularly when findings challenge vested interests; maintaining close relationships with NICE and the NSC, but also considering other potential users of HTA research; maintaining flexibility and good relationships with researchers, giving particular consideration to the Technology Assessment Report (TAR) programme and the potential for learning between TAR centres; maintaining the academic quality of the work and the focus on NHS need; considering funding research on the short-term costs of the implementation of new health technologies; improving the monitoring and evaluation of whether or not patient and public involvement influences research; improve the transparency of the priority-setting process; and continuing to monitor the impact and value of the programme to inform its future scientific and administrative development.

IN11B-1621: Quantifying How Climate Affects Vegetation in the Amazon Rainforest

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Das, Kamalika; Kodali, Anuradha; Szubert, Marcin; Ganguly, Sangram; Bongard, Joshua

2016-01-01

Amazon droughts in 2005 and 2010 have raised serious concern about the future of the rainforest. Amazon forests are crucial because of their role as the largest carbon sink in the world which would effect the global warming phenomena with decreased photosynthesis activity. Especially, after a decline in plant growth in 1.68 million km2 forest area during the once-in-a-century severe drought in 2010, it is of primary importance to understand the relationship between different climatic variables and vegetation. In an earlier study, we have shown that non-linear models are better at capturing the relation dynamics of vegetation and climate variables such as temperature and precipitation, compared to linear models. In this research, we learn precise models between vegetation and climatic variables (temperature, precipitation) for normal conditions in the Amazon region using genetic programming based symbolic regression. This is done by removing high elevation and drought affected areas and also considering the slope of the region as one of the important factors while building the model. The model learned reveals new and interesting ways historical and current climate variables affect the vegetation at any location. MAIAC data has been used as a vegetation surrogate in our study. For temperature and precipitation, we have used TRMM and MODIS Land Surface Temperature data sets while learning the non-linear regression model. However, to generalize the model to make it independent of the data source, we perform transfer learning where we regress a regularized least squares to learn the parameters of the non-linear model using other data sources such as the precipitation and temperature from the Climatic Research Center (CRU). This new model is very similar in structure and performance compared to the original learned model and verifies the same claims about the nature of dependency between these climate variables and the vegetation in the Amazon region. As a result of this study, we are able to learn, for the very first time how exactly different climate factors influence vegetation at any location in the Amazon rainforests, independent of the specific sources from which the data has been obtained.

Quantifying How Climate Affects Vegetation in the Amazon Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, K.; Kodali, A.; Szubert, M.; Ganguly, S.; Bongard, J.

2016-12-01

Amazon droughts in 2005 and 2010 have raised serious concern about the future of the rainforest. Amazon forests are crucial because of their role as the largest carbon sink in the world which would effect the global warming phenomena with decreased photosynthesis activity. Especially, after a decline in plant growth in 1.68 million km2 forest area during the once-in-a-century severe drought in 2010, it is of primary importance to understand the relationship between different climatic variables and vegetation. In an earlier study, we have shown that non-linear models are better at capturing the relation dynamics of vegetation and climate variables such as temperature and precipitation, compared to linear models. In this research, we learn precise models between vegetation and climatic variables (temperature, precipitation) for normal conditions in the Amazon region using genetic programming based symbolic regression. This is done by removing high elevation and drought affected areas and also considering the slope of the region as one of the important factors while building the model. The model learned reveals new and interesting ways historical and current climate variables affect the vegetation at any location. MAIAC data has been used as a vegetation surrogate in our study. For temperature and precipitation, we have used TRMM and MODIS Land Surface Temperature data sets while learning the non-linear regression model. However, to generalize the model to make it independent of the data source, we perform transfer learning where we regress a regularized least squares to learn the parameters of the non-linear model using other data sources such as the precipitation and temperature from the Climatic Research Center (CRU). This new model is very similar in structure and performance compared to the original learned model and verifies the same claims about the nature of dependency between these climate variables and the vegetation in the Amazon region. As a result of this study, we are able to learn, for the very first time how exactly different climate factors influence vegetation at any location in the Amazon rainforests, independent of the specific sources from which the data has been obtained.

Studying the Effects of Amazonian Land Cover Change on Glacier Mass Balance in the Tropical Andes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mark, B. G.; Fernandez, A.; Gabrielli, P.; Montenegro, A.; Postigo, J.; Hellstrom, R. A.

2017-12-01

Recent research has highlighted several ongoing environmental changes occurring across Tropical South America, including Andean glacier retreat, drought, as well as changes in land-use and land-cover. As the regional climate of the area is mostly characterized by land-ocean interactions, the atmospheric convection in the Amazon, and the effect of the Andes on circulation patterns, it follows that changes in one of those regions may affect the other. Most scholars who have studied the causes of tropical glaciers' fluctuations have not analyzed the linkages with changes in the Amazon with the same attention paid to the influence of Pacific sea surface temperature. Here we study the response of glacier surface mass balance in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru (10°S), to a scenario where the Amazonian rainforest is replaced by savannas. We ran climatic simulations at 2-km spatial resolution utilizing the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model considering two scenarios: (a) control (CRTL), with today's rainforest extent; and (b) land cover change (LCC), where all the rainforest was replaced by savanna. WRF output was in turn ingested into a glacier energy and mass balance (GEMB) model that we validate by reconstructing both the accumulated mass balance from available observations, and the altitudinal distribution of mass balance in the region. Seasonal comparison between CRTL and LCC scenarios indicates that forest replacement by savanna results in more positive glacier mass balance. This shift to more positive mass balance contrasts with a (WRF) modeled rise in the elevation of the freezing line (0°C) between 30 to 120 m for the LCC scenario. Our results are surprising because most previous studies have shown that reducing Amazon forest cover diminishes rainfall and increases temperature, suggesting that glaciers should lose mass. We hypothesize and discuss implications of possible land-atmospheric processes that might drive this tropical glacier response to Amazonian forest change, including: the large-scale influence of Amazonian albedo change on the interaction between the Walker and Hadley cells and the effect of mountain meteorology dynamics.

Reconstructing Fire Disturbances in Coastal Temperate Rainforests on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffman, Kira; Smith, Dan; Lertzman, Ken; Starzomski, Brian

2015-04-01

The coastal temperate rainforests of British Columbia's Central Coast are comprised of old growth, mixed-age stands and a mosaic of non-forested bogs. This region receives approximately 4000 mm of annual rainfall, and fire disturbances caused by lightning are thought to be very rare. Because of the late successional characteristics of these forests and the presumed lack of visible fire evidence, fires have been estimated to occur at up to 6000-year return intervals. We attempt to distinguish the roles of natural and cultural (First Nations) fires using multiple lines of evidence from tree ring records, fire-scarred trees, soil charcoal and archaeological evidence from First Nations settlement areas. To reconstruct the Holocene fire history of the study area located on Hecate Island (N 51 38 W -128 05), thirty 400m2 forest mensuration plots were systematically established in a 287-hectare area burned in 1893. Analyses focused on the relationship between fire events and climate recorded in tree rings and instrumental records, as well as nutrient concentrations and pH of soils and plant community characteristics. Four fire events (1893, 1776, 1525, 1372) were recorded in forty-five living, fire-scarred western redcedar (Thuja plicata), yellow cedar (Xanthocyparis nootkatensis) and shore pine (Pinus contorta var. contorta) trees. Five additional fire events (1785 Cal BP, 2760 Cal BP, 3355 Cal BP, 4735 Cal BP, 7740 Cal BP) were dated with accelerated mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of in situ macro charcoal (> 5mm) buried in stratigraphy in both organic and mineral soils. The short intervals between fire events, coupled with the long history of First Nations settlement and land use in the study area, suggest purposeful and repeated low-intensity ground fires. Our research demonstrates that fires are more widespread and common than previously recorded on the very wet Central Coast of British Columbia. It is important to incorporate cultural fires into fire history research to better understand the ecological legacies associated with repeat fire disturbances in coastal temperate rainforests.

Amazon rain-forest fires.

PubMed

Sanford, R L; Saldarriaga, J; Clark, K E; Uhl, C; Herrera, R

1985-01-04

Charcoal is common in the soils of mature rain forests within 75 kilometers of San Carlos de Rio Negro in the north central Amazon Basin. Carbon-14 dates of soil charcoal from this region indicate that numerous fires have occurred since the mid-Holocene epoch. Charcoal is most common in tierra firme forest Oxisols and Ultisols and less common in caatinga and igapo forest soils. Climatic changes or human activities, or both, have caused rain-forest fires.

New species and new behavioral data of Phlugiola Karny, 1907 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Meconematinae) from the Brazilian Amazonian Rainforest.

PubMed

Mendes, Diego Matheus DE Mello; Oliveira, Jomara Cavalcante DE; Alves-Oliveira, João Rafael; Rafael, José Albertino

2017-03-16

Phlugiola Karny, 1907 is a genus of small predatory katydids with six included species distributed in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Suriname. In this paper two new Brazilian species are described, Phlugiola longipedes sp. nov. (type locality: Amazonas, Tefé) and Phlugiola igarape sp. nov., (type locality: Acre, Bujari) both from tropical rainforests. Behavioral data and natural history notes are provided.

An autogamous rainforest species of Schiedea (Caryophyllaceae) from East Maui, Hawaiian Islands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wagner, W.L.; Weller, S.G.; Sakai, A.K.; Medeiros, A.C.

1999-01-01

A new autogamous species of Schiedea is described and illustrated. It is known only from cliff habitat in rainforest on a single ridge in the Natural Area Reserve, Hanawi, East Maui. With the addition of this species there are 28 species in this endemic Hawaiian genus. The new species appears to be most closely related to Schiedea nuttallii, a species of mesic habitats on O'ahu, Moloka'i, and Maui.

Mapping Deforestation and Land Use in Amazon Rainforest Using SAR-C Imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saatchi, Sasan S.; Soares, Joao Vianei; Alves, Diogenes Salas

1996-01-01

Land use changes and deforestation in tropical rainforests are among the major factors affecting the overall function of the global environment. To routinely assess the spatial extend and temporal dynamics of these changes has become an important challenge in several scientific disciplines such as climate and environmental studies. In this paper, the feasibility of using polarimetric spaceborne SAR data in mapping land cover types in the Amazon is studied.

Tropical rainforest response to marine sky brightening climate engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muri, Helene; Niemeier, Ulrike; Kristjánsson, Jón Egill

2015-04-01

Tropical forests represent a major atmospheric carbon dioxide sink. Here the gross primary productivity (GPP) response of tropical rainforests to climate engineering via marine sky brightening under a future scenario is investigated in three Earth system models. The model response is diverse, and in two of the three models, the tropical GPP shows a decrease from the marine sky brightening climate engineering. Partial correlation analysis indicates precipitation to be important in one of those models, while precipitation and temperature are limiting factors in the other. One model experiences a reversal of its Amazon dieback under marine sky brightening. There, the strongest partial correlation of GPP is to temperature and incoming solar radiation at the surface. Carbon fertilization provides a higher future tropical rainforest GPP overall, both with and without climate engineering. Salt damage to plants and soils could be an important aspect of marine sky brightening.

Phylogenetic Evidence for the Existence of Multiple Strains of Rickettsia parkeri in the New World.

PubMed

Nieri-Bastos, Fernanda A; Marcili, Arlei; De Sousa, Rita; Paddock, Christopher D; Labruna, Marcelo B

2018-04-15

The bacterium Rickettsia parkeri has been reported to infect ticks of the " Amblyomma maculatum species complex" in the New World, where it causes spotted fever illness in humans. In South America, three additional rickettsial strains, namely, Atlantic rainforest, NOD, and Parvitarsum, have been isolated from the ticks Amblyomma ovale , Amblyomma nodosum , and Amblyomma parvitarsum , respectively. These three strains are phylogenetically closely related to R. parkeri , Rickettsia africae , and Rickettsia sibirica Herein, we performed a robust phylogenetic analysis encompassing 5 genes ( gltA , ompA , virB4 , dnaA , and dnaK ) and 3 intergenic spacers ( mppE-pur , rrl-rrf -ITS, and rpmE -tRNA fMet ) from 41 rickettsial isolates, including different isolates of R. parkeri , R. africae , R. sibirica , Rickettsia conorii , and strains Atlantic rainforest, NOD, and Parvitarsum. In our phylogenetic analyses, all New World isolates grouped in a major clade distinct from the Old World Rickettsia species ( R. conorii , R. sibirica , and R. africae ). This New World clade was subdivided into the following 4 clades: the R. parkeri sensu stricto clade, comprising the type strain Maculatum 20 and all other isolates of R. parkeri from North and South America, associated with ticks of the A. maculatum species complex; the strain NOD clade, comprising two South American isolates from A. nodosum ticks; the Parvitarsum clade, comprising two South American isolates from A. parvitarsum ticks; and the strain Atlantic rainforest clade, comprising six South American isolates from the A. ovale species complex ( A. ovale or Amblyomma aureolatum ). Under such evidences, we propose that strains Atlantic rainforest, NOD, and Parvitarsum are South American strains of R. parkeri IMPORTANCE Since the description of Rickettsia parkeri infecting ticks of the " Amblyomma maculatum species complex" and humans in the New World, three novel phylogenetic close-related rickettsial isolates were reported in South America. Herein, we provide genetic evidence that these novel isolates, namely, strains Atlantic rainforest, NOD, and Parvitarsum, are South American strains of R. parkeri. Interestingly, each of these R. parkeri strains seems to be primarily associated with a tick species group, namely, R. parkeri sensu stricto with the " Amblyomma maculatum species group," R. parkeri strain NOD with Amblyomma nodosum , R. parkeri strain Parvitarsum with Amblyomma parvitarsum , and R. parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest with the " Amblyomma ovale species group." Such rickettsial strain-tick species specificity suggests a coevolution of each tick-strain association. Finally, because R. parkeri sensu stricto and R. parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest are human pathogens, the potential of R. parkeri strains NOD and Parvitarsum to be human pathogens cannot be discarded. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

Simulating carbon, water and energy fluxes of a rainforest and an oil palm plantation using the Community Land Model (CLM4.5)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Yuanchao; Bernoux, Martial; Roupsard, Olivier; Panferov, Oleg; Le Maire, Guerric; Tölle, Merja; Knohl, Alexander

2014-05-01

Deforestation and forest degradation driven by the expansion of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations has become the major source of GHG emission in Indonesia. Changes of land surface properties (e.g. vegetation composition, soil property, surface albedo) associated with rainforest to oil palm conversion might alter the patterns of land-atmosphere energy, water and carbon cycles and therefore affect local or regional climate. Land surface modeling has been widely used to characterize the two-way interactions between climate and human disturbances on land surface. The Community Land Model (CLM) is a third-generation land model that simulates a wide range of biogeophysical and biogeochemical processes. This project utilizes the land-cover/land-use change (LCLUC) capability of the latest CLM versions 4/4.5 to characterize quantitatively how anthropogenic land surface dynamics in Indonesia affect land-atmosphere carbon, water and energy fluxes. Before simulating land use changes, the first objective is to parameterize and validate the CLM model at local rainforest and oil palm plantation sites through separate point simulations. This entails creation and parameterization of a new plant functional type (PFT) for oil palm, as well as sensitivity analysis and adaptation of model parameters for the rainforest PFTs. CLM modelled fluxes for the selected sites are to be compared with field observations from eddy covariance (EC) flux towers (e.g. a rainforest site in Bariri, Sulawesi; an oil palm site in Jambi, Sumatra). After validation, the project will proceed to parameterize land-use transformation system using remote sensing data and to simulate the impacts of historical LUCs on carbon, water and energy fluxes. Last but not least, the effects of future LUCs in Indonesia on the fluxes and carbon sequestration capacity will be investigated through scenario study. Historical land cover changes, especially oil palm coverage, are retrieved from Landsat or MODIS archival images. Oil palm concession boundaries are used to define and project future land use scenarios. Initial results include outputs from a single-point simulation for the Bariri rainforest site forced with locally measured meteorological data which already showed significant advantage over global forcing data in predicting net ecosystem exchange and latent and sensible heat fluxes. Modeled fluxes are being compared with EC flux observations and with Mixfor-SVAT model outputs from another project at the same site. In the next few months, focus will be on sensitivity analyses of model parameters including PFT optical, morphological and physiological parameters that are necessary to configure the new oil palm PFT and represent rainforest to oil palm conversion. The new parameterization will contribute to the development of the CLM model and its implementation in the modelling of LUC effects in tropical regions will help understanding land-climate interactions.

Anthropogenic Effects on the Mixing State of Aerosols over Manaus during the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon) Campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraund, M. W.; Pham, D.; Harder, T.; O'Brien, R.; Wang, B.; Laskin, A.; Gilles, M. K.; Moffet, R.

2015-12-01

The role that anthropogenic aerosols play in cloud formation is uncertain and contributes largely to the uncertainty in predicting future climate. One region of particular importance is the Amazon rainforest, which accounts for over half of the world's rainforest. During GoAmazon2014/15 IOP2, aerosol samples were collected at multiple sites in and around the rapidly growing industrial city of Manaus in the Amazon basin. Manaus is of scientific interest due to the pristine nature of the surrounding rainforest and the high levels of pollution coming from the city in the form of SO2, NOx, and soot. Some sites, such as the Terrestrial Ecosystem Science center (TES, also designated ZF2) located to the north of Manaus, represent air masses which have not interacted with emissions from the city. The comparison of pristine atmosphere with heavy pollution allows both for the determination of a natural baseline level of pollutants, as well as the study of pollutant's impact on the conversion of biogenic volatile organic compounds to secondary organic aerosols. Towards this goal, samples from ZF2 and other unpolluted sites will be compared to samples from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) climate research facility in Manacapuru (T3), which is southwest (downwind) of Manaus. Spatially resolved spectra were recorded at the sub-particle level using scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) at the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen K-absorption edges. Scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) was also performed on to characterize higher Z elements. These two techniques together will allow for the mass fraction of atmospherically relevant elements to be determined on a per-particle basis. We will apply established procedures to determine the mixing state index for samples collected at ZF2 and T3 using elemental mass fractions. Preliminary results will be presented which focus on investigating the difference between mixing state indices of aerosol samples collected at these two sites, due to anthropogenic emissions. The ultimate goal is to use the mixing state index as a parameter which enables changes in the composition of aerosols to be modeled with more certainty as well enabling a quantification of the anthropogenic effects on natural rainforest atmosphere.

Improving Physics Teaching through Action Research: The Impact of a Nationwide Professional Development Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grace, Marcus; Rietdijk, Willeke; Garrett, Caro; Griffiths, Janice

2015-01-01

This article presents an independent evaluation of the Action Research for Physics (ARP) programme, a nationwide professional development programme which trains teachers to use action research to increase student interest in physics and encourage them to take post-compulsory physics. The impact of the programme was explored from the perspective of…

Creating an effective physical activity-based health promotion programme for adults with a brain injury.

PubMed

Driver, Simon; Irwin, Kelley; Woolsey, Anne; Pawlowski, Jill

2012-01-01

To describe the processes involved with developing and implementing a physical activity-based health promotion programme for people with a brain injury, summarize previous health promotion research efforts and provide an actual example of a programme entitled P.A.C.E, a 'Physical Activity Centred Education' programme. REASONING BEHIND LITERATURE SELECTION: Brain injury is a serious public health issue due to the incidence, complexity and high healthcare costs. Health promotion programmes that incorporate physical activity have been shown to improve the health of people with a disability. However, if programmes are to be successful they have to be appropriately designed, otherwise individuals will not adopt and maintain the desired health behaviours. Readers will have an understanding of (1) how a theoretical framework drives programme development, (2) the strategies required to facilitate behaviour change, (3) how previous research supports the use of a physical activity-based health promotion programme and (4) how to implement a programme. Future research ideas are provided so as to stimulate research in the area of physical activity-based health promotion programmes for people with a brain injury.

Chilean and Southeast Pacific paleoclimate variations during the last glacial cycle: directly correlated pollen and δ18O records from ODP Site 1234

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heusser, Linda; Heusser, Cal; Mix, Alan; McManus, Jerry

2006-12-01

Joint pollen and oxygen isotope data from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1234 in the southeast Pacific provide the first, continuous record of temperate South American vegetation and climate from the last 140 ka. Located at ˜36°S, ˜65 km offshore of Concepcion, Chile, Site 1234 monitors the climatic transition zone between northern semi-arid, summer dry-winter wet climate and southern year-round, rainy, cool temperate climate. Dominance of onshore winds suggests that pollen preserved here reflects transport to the ocean via rivers that drain the region and integrate conditions from the coastal mountains to the Andean foothills. Down-hole changes in diagnostic pollen assemblages from xeric lowland deciduous forest (characterized by grasses, herbs, ferns, and trees such as deciduous beech, Nothofagus obliqua), mesic Valdivian Evergreen Forest (including conifers such as the endangered Prumnopitys andina), and Subantarctic Evergreen Rainforest (comprised primarily of southern beech, N. dombeyi) reveal large rapid shifts that likely reflect latitudinal movements in atmospheric circulation and storm tracks associated with the southern westerly winds. During glacial intervals (MIS 2-4, and 6), rainforests and parkland dominated by Nothofagus moved northward into the region. At the MIS 6/5e transition, coeval with the rapid shift to lower isotopic values, rainforest vegetation was rapidly replaced by xeric plant communities associated with Mediterranean-type climate. An increased prominence of halophytic vegetation suggests that MIS 5e was more arid and possibly warmer than MIS 1. Although rainforest pollen rises again at the end of MIS 5e, lowland deciduous forest pollen persists through MIS 5d and 5c, into MIS 5b. Substantial millennial-scale variations occur in both interglacial and glacial regimes, attesting to the sensitivity of the southern westerly belt to climate change. Comparison of the cool, mesic N. dombeyi rainforest assemblage from Site 1234 with δ18O in the Byrd Ice core shows that on time scales longer than ˜10 ka, cool-moist conditions in central Chile were coherent with and occurred in phase with Antarctic cooling. This is also likely at millennial scales, although rainforest pollen lags Antarctic cooling with exponential response times of about 1000 years, which plausibly reflects the ecological response time to regional climate change.

The National Institute for Health Research Leadership Programme

PubMed Central

Jones, Molly Morgan; Wamae, Watu; Fry, Caroline Viola; Kennie, Tom; Chataway, Joanna

2012-01-01

Abstract RAND Europe evaluated the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leadership Programme in an effort to help the English Department of Health consider the extent to which the programme has helped to foster NIHR's aims, extract lessons for the future, and develop plans for the next phase of the leadership programme. Successful delivery of high-quality health research requires not only an effective research base, but also a system of leadership supporting it. However, research leaders are not often given the opportunity, nor do they have the time, to attend formal leadership or management training programmes. This is unfortunate because research has shown that leadership training can have a hugely beneficial effect on an organisation. Therefore, the evaluation has a particular interest in understanding the role of the programme as a science policy intervention and will use its expertise in science policy analysis to consider this element alongside other, more traditional, measures of evaluation. PMID:28083231

[The SGO Health Research Promotion Program. XIII. Evaluation of the section 'Addiction Research'].

PubMed

van Rees-Wortelboer, M M

1999-01-02

As a part of the SGO Health Research Promotion Programme a research programme on addiction research was realized. Aim of the programme was to strengthen and concentrate the Dutch research into addiction. Within the Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research (AIAR), a structural collaboration between the Jellinek Treatment Centre for Addiction, the University of Amsterdam and the Academic Hospital of the University of Amsterdam, strategic research programmes were developed on the borderland of addiction and psychiatry, notably 'Clinical epidemiology addiction' and 'Developmental disorders, addiction and psychotraumas'. The institution of a co-ordinating platform of research groups conducting socio-epidemiological addiction research improved the co-ordination of research lines in this field.

Characterization of the Infrasound Field in the Central Pacific

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

Treaty (CTBT) in December 2001. The array site is in a tropical rainforest on the slopes of Hualalai Volcano , Hawaii Island, Hawaii . Per IMS...Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in December 2001. ’The array site is in a tropical rainforest on the slopes of Hualalai Volcano , Hawaii Island, Hawaii . Per IMS...general direction of Kilauea Volcano . These signals are tentatively assigned to the "iv" phase. To date the majority of these events have featured

Dry habitats were crucibles of domestication in the evolution of agriculture in ants.

PubMed

Branstetter, Michael G; Ješovnik, Ana; Sosa-Calvo, Jeffrey; Lloyd, Michael W; Faircloth, Brant C; Brady, Seán G; Schultz, Ted R

2017-04-12

The evolution of ant agriculture, as practised by the fungus-farming 'attine' ants, is thought to have arisen in the wet rainforests of South America about 55-65 Ma. Most subsequent attine agricultural evolution, including the domestication event that produced the ancestor of higher attine cultivars, is likewise hypothesized to have occurred in South American rainforests. The 'out-of-the-rainforest' hypothesis, while generally accepted, has never been tested in a phylogenetic context. It also presents a problem for explaining how fungal domestication might have occurred, given that isolation from free-living populations is required. Here, we use phylogenomic data from ultra-conserved element (UCE) loci to reconstruct the evolutionary history of fungus-farming ants, reduce topological uncertainty, and identify the closest non-fungus-growing ant relative. Using the phylogeny we infer the history of attine agricultural systems, habitat preference and biogeography. Our results show that the out-of-the-rainforest hypothesis is correct with regard to the origin of attine ant agriculture; however, contrary to expectation, we find that the transition from lower to higher agriculture is very likely to have occurred in a seasonally dry habitat, inhospitable to the growth of free-living populations of attine fungal cultivars. We suggest that dry habitats favoured the isolation of attine cultivars over the evolutionary time spans necessary for domestication to occur. © 2017 The Authors.

Bacillus spp. from rainforest soil promote plant growth under limited nitrogen conditions.

PubMed

Huang, X-F; Zhou, D; Guo, J; Manter, D K; Reardon, K F; Vivanco, J M

2015-03-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of PGPR (plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria) isolated from rainforest soil on different plants under limited nitrogen conditions. Bacterial isolates from a Peruvian rainforest soil were screened for plant growth-promoting effects on Arabidopsis (Col-0). Four selected isolates including one Bacillus subtilis, two B. atrophaeus and one B. pumilus significantly promoted growth of Zea mays L. and Solanum lycopersicum under greenhouse conditions. Moreover, the PGPRs significantly promoted growth of S. lycopersicum in both low and nitrogen-amended soil conditions. These PGPR strains were further studied to obtain insights into possible mechanisms of plant growth promotion. Volatile chemicals from those isolates promoted Arabidopsis growth, and the expression of genes related to IAA production was induced in the Arabidopsis plants treated with PGPRs. Further, selected PGPR strains triggered induced systemic resistance (ISR) against Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 in Arabidopsis. PGPR strains isolated from the rainforest soil promoted the plant growth of Arabidopsis, corn and tomato. New PGPR that have wider adaptability to different crops, soils and environmental conditions are needed to decrease our reliance on agricultural amendments derived from fossil-based fuels. The PGPRs isolated from a nonagricultural site constitute new plant growth-promoting strains that could be developed for agricultural uses. © 2014 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Antitumour and antimicrobial activities of endophytic streptomycetes from pharmaceutical plants in rainforest.

PubMed

Li, J; Zhao, G-Z; Chen, H-H; Wang, H-B; Qin, S; Zhu, W-Y; Xu, L-H; Jiang, C-L; Li, W-J

2008-12-01

The aim of this study was to screen antitumour and antimicrobial activities of endophytic actinomycetes isolated from pharmaceutical plants in rainforest in Yunnan province, China. Antitumour activity was studied by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and antimicrobial activity was determined by agar well diffusion method. The high bioactive endophytic isolates were identified and further investigated for the presence of polyketide synthases (PKS-I, PKS-II) and nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) sequences by specific amplification. The molecular identification confirmed that the 41 isolates showed significant activities were members of the genus Streptomyces. Among them, 31.7% of endophytic streptomycete cultures were cytotoxic against A549 cells, 29.3% against HL-60 cells, 85.4% against BEL-7404 cells, 90.2% against P388D1 cells, 65.9% were active against Escherichia coli, 24.4% against Staphylococcus aureus, 31.7% against Staphylococcus epidermidis, 12.2% against Candida albicans and no strain displayed antagonistic activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae. High frequencies of positive PCR amplification were obtained for PKS-I (34.1%), PKS-II (63.4%) and NRPS (61.0%) biosynthetic systems. Many endophytic streptomycetes isolated from pharmaceutical plants in rainforest possess remarkable and diverse antitumour and antimicrobial bioactivities. These endophytic streptomycetes are precious resources obtained from rainforests, and they could be a promising source for bioactive agents.

Ecological studies of Eastern Australian fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in their endemic habitat : II. The spatial pattern of abundance.

PubMed

Zalucki, M P; Drew, R A I; Hooper, G H S

1984-10-01

11 fruit fly species captured at 47 sites in a natural forest area at Cooloola (south-east Queensland) revealed specific patterns of spatial abundance. Although all species were collected throughout the study area, D. bryoniae, D. mayi, D. neohumeralis and D. tryoni were more prevalent (average number caught per trap) in the open Eucalypt forest than the rainforest, whereas C. aequalis, D. absonifacies and D. endiandrae were more prevalent in the rainforest. D. cacuminatus, D. choristus, D. quadratus and D. signatifrons were equally prevalent throughout both forest types. Fly numbers were not distributed randomly throughout the trap sites. The clumped dispersion patterns seemed to be species specific as assessed and summarised by Taylor's Power Law. The exponent (b) relating mean spatial abundance to its variance ranged from 1.6-5.11 for the 11 species captured. Changing patterns of trap catches from one sampling period to another were analysed using correlograms for the 6 most abundant species (D. tryoni, D. neohumeralis, D. endiandrae, C. aequalis, D. cacuminatus and D. mayi). These revealed changing patterns of relative spatial abundance which can be related, in part, to changing population abundance levels. The various spatial patterns recognised are related to each species movement, breeding and feeding behaviour. It is proposed that flies migrate into the rainforest area from distant locations and that the rainforest habitat is an important adult feeding site.

Converging migration routes of Eurasian hobbies Falco subbuteo crossing the African equatorial rain forest

PubMed Central

Strandberg, Roine; Klaassen, Raymond H.G.; Hake, Mikael; Olofsson, Patrik; Alerstam, Thomas

2008-01-01

Autumn migration of adult Eurasian hobbies Falco subbuteo from Europe to southern Africa was recorded by satellite telemetry and observed routes were compared with randomly simulated routes. Two non-random features of observed routes were revealed: (i) shifts to more westerly longitudes than straight paths to destinations and (ii) strong route convergence towards a restricted area close to the equator (1° S, 15° E). The birds migrated south or southwest to approximately 10° N, where they changed to south-easterly courses. The maximal spread between routes at 10° N (2134 km) rapidly decreased to a minimum (67 km) close to the equator. We found a striking relationship between the route convergence and the distribution of continuous rainforest, suggesting that hobbies minimize flight distance across the forest, concentrating in a corridor where habitat may be more suitable for travelling and foraging. With rainforest forming a possible ecological barrier, many migrants may cross the equator either at 15° E, similar to the hobbies, or at 30–40° E, east of the rainforest where large-scale migration is well documented. Much remains to be understood about the role of the rainforest for the evolution and future of the trans-equatorial Palaearctic-African bird migration systems. PMID:18986977

[Canopy rainfall storage capacity of tropical seasonal rainforest and rubber plantation in Xishuangbanna].

PubMed

Wang, Xin; Zhang, Yiping

2006-10-01

Based on the 2003-2004 laboratory and field observation data, and with scaling-up method, this paper studied the canopy rainfall storage capacity of tropical seasonal rainforest and rubber plantation in Xishuangbanna. The results showed that the canopy rainfall storage capacity was 0.45-0.79 mm for tropical seasonal rainforest and 0.48-0.71 mm for rubber plantation, and that of the branch and bark accounted for >50 % of the total. For these two forests, the canopy rainfall storage capacity was much higher in foggy season (from November to February) and dry-hot season (from March to April) than in rainy season (from May to October), and the duration needed to reach water saturation was about 5 min for leaf, 2-3 h for bark, and 2. 5-4 h for branch. During the processes of wetting and air-drying, leaf was easier while branch and bark were somewhat difficult to hold water and then be air-dried, suggesting that leaf played an important role in intercepting rainfall in short-duration rainfall events, while branch and bark could work much better in doing this in long-duration or high-intensity rainfall events. Compared with rubber plantation, tropical seasonal rainforest had a stronger rainfall-storage capacity due to its multi-layer structure of canopy and excellent water-holding performance.

Land Surface Modeling of an Enclosed Ecosystem: Vegetation Response to Short-Term Perturbations Inside Biosphere 2 Tropical Rainforest Biome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosolem, R.; Zeng, X.; Shuttleworth, W. J.; Saleska, S. R.; Huxman, T. E.

2009-12-01

Biosphere 2 (B2) is a large-scale Earth science facility near Tucson (Arizona) that encompasses about 3.15 acres of land and houses five natural biomes. Sealed off to the outside world, B2 allows scientists to exert precise climate and mass balance control at large scales. The tropical rainforest (TRF) mesocosm area is about 1900 sq. meters and contains plant species from different tropical regions. B2 provides a unique controlled laboratory for carrying out experiments to investigate rainforest biome behavior in response to imposed environmental stresses at plot-scales (e.g., temperature, rainfall, humidity, and CO2 levels), providing the missing link between the laboratory scale and the real world. However, lack of repetitions (the facility contains only a single mesocosm for each biome) poses limitations to the analysis of the results. A well-established land surface parameterization scheme (LSP) may overcome this lack of repetitions by providing a reliable assessment of the biome under a variety of conditions. Modeling approaches can also facilitate and improve future experimental designs in B2. Here we challenge a LSP, the Simple Biosphere 3 (SiB3) model, to simulate the main aspects of the biosphere-atmosphere exchanges inside B2-TRF biome. Model simulations include B2-TRF under normal (i.e., operational) conditions, and during short-term perturbations, such as drought conditions and different treatments of CO2 concentration. A hypothetical simulation which combines both drought and high CO2 levels is performed with SiB3 and analyzed on the basis of future predictions of tropical rainforest under climate change. The main objectives of this study is to determine whether or not SiB3 is capable of representing B2-TRF at a wide range of conditions, and if we can use the combination of past field experiments and modeling to improve our understanding on how tropical rainforests may respond to these changes. Results show that our modified version of SiB3 is capable of reproducing the characteristics of B2-TRF remarkably well. Net photosynthesis is reduced quite substantially during drought periods, followed by a recovery period when the biome is re-watered. Increase in CO2 levels tends to enhance net photosynthesis, but soil respiration remains fairly unchanged, similarly to what past B2-TRF studies suggested. When CO2 levels are increased in combination with drought periods (hypothetical experiment), the vegetation response in SiB3 is quite different depending on the available Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR). At relatively lower PAR levels, vegetation response to drought conditions is minimal. However, at relatively high PAR, drought effects offset any response to CO2 fertilization. We recognize that the combination of modeling and field experiments is beneficial in both ways, so that advancing of research inside B2 may be expanded to improve in situ experiments as well as future parameterizations in land surface models.

Biomass burning aerosol over the Amazon during SAMBBA: impact of chemical composition on radiative properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, William; Allan, James; Flynn, Michael; Darbyshire, Eoghan; Hodgson, Amy; Liu, Dantong; O'shea, Sebastian; Bauguitte, Stephane; Szpek, Kate; Langridge, Justin; Johnson, Ben; Haywood, Jim; Longo, Karla; Artaxo, Paulo; Coe, Hugh

2014-05-01

Biomass burning represents one of the largest sources of particulate matter to the atmosphere, resulting in a significant perturbation to the Earth's radiative balance coupled with serious impacts on public health. Globally, biomass burning aerosols are thought to exert a small warming effect but with the uncertainty being 4 times greater than the central estimate. On regional scales, the impact is substantially greater, particularly in areas such as the Amazon Basin where large, intense and frequent burning occurs on an annual basis for several months. Absorption by atmospheric aerosols is underestimated by models over South America, which points to significant uncertainties relating to Black Carbon (BC) aerosol properties. Initial results from the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment, which took place during September and October 2012 over Brazil on-board the UK Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurement (FAAM) BAe-146 research aircraft, are presented here. Aerosol chemical composition was measured by an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and a DMT Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2). The physical, chemical and optical properties of the aerosols across the region will be characterized in order to establish the impact of biomass burning on regional air quality, weather and climate. The aircraft sampled a range of conditions including sampling of pristine Rainforest, fresh biomass burning plumes, regional haze and elevated biomass burning layers within the free troposphere. The aircraft sampled biomass burning aerosol across the southern Amazon in the states of Rondonia and Mato Grosso, as well as in a Cerrado (Savannah-like) region in Tocantins state. This presented a range of fire conditions, both in terms of their number, intensity, vegetation-type and their combustion efficiencies. Near-source sampling of fires in Rainforest environments suggested that smouldering combustion dominated, while flaming combustion dominated in the Cerrado. This led to significant differences in aerosol chemical composition, particularly in terms of the BC content, with BC being enhanced in the Cerrado region compared with the Rainforest environment. This was reflected in the single scattering albedo of the regional smoke haze, with values of 0.9 observed in the Rainforest environments compared with a value of 0.8 in the Cerrado region. This contrast results in a net cooling and warming respectively in terms of the aerosol direct radiative effect. BC-containing particles were found to be rapidly coated in the near-field, while the organic aerosol component was observed to oxidise rapidly upon advection and dilution downwind of major smoke plumes. Significant differences in the coating thickness of the BC-containing particles were observed when comparing the Rainforest and Cerrado environments. Such properties have important implications for the life cycle and formation of particulate material, as well as their optical and radiative properties. The results presented enhance our knowledge of biomass burning aerosol in a sensitive region of the globe, where relatively few measurement campaigns have taken place previously.

JPL-20171011-OCOf-0002-NASA Pinpoints Cause of Earths Recent CO2 Spike

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-10-12

Video File: New research from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite shows that the impacts of heat and drought during the 2015-16 El Niño on Earth's tropical regions were responsible for the largest increase in atmospheric CO2 in at least 2,000 years. Animations showing change from 2014-2017, summertime changes in CO2, OCO-2 spacecraft. Footage of Amazon rainforest. Interview with Annemarie Eldering, OCO-2 Deputy Project Scientist, JPL.

Evaluation of the medical student research programme in Norwegian medical schools. A survey of students and supervisors

PubMed Central

Hunskaar, Steinar; Breivik, Jarle; Siebke, Maje; Tømmerås, Karin; Figenschau, Kristian; Hansen, John-Bjarne

2009-01-01

Background The Medical Student Research Programme is a national education and grant scheme for medical students who wish to carry out research in parallel with their studies. The purpose of the programme is to increase recruitment of people with a standard medical degree to medical research. The Research Programme was established in 2002 and underwent a thorough evaluation during the spring of 2007. The evaluation should investigate if the programme had fulfilled its objectives of increased recruitment to medical research, in addition to the students' and supervisors' satisfaction of the programme, and unwanted differences between the universities. Methods Data was collected from students, supervisors and administrative staff via web-based questionnaires. Information about admission, implementation, results achieved and satisfaction was analysed and compared between the four Norwegian medical schools. In addition, the position of the scheme in relation to the national Quality Reform of Higher Education was analysed. Results At the end of 2006, the Medical Student Research Programme had recruited 265 medical students to research. These consisted of 214 active students, 35 who had completed their studies and only 17 who had dropped out. Both students and supervisors were generally very satisfied with the scheme, including the curriculum, the results achieved and the administrative service. The majority of students wanted to continue their research towards a PhD and, of those who had completed the Medical Student Research Programme, practically all had published one or several scientific papers. The survey showed only small differences between the four medical schools, despite their choice of somewhat different solutions in terms of administration and organisation. The Medical Student Research Programme satisfies the majority of the demands of the Quality Reform, however as an integrated research programme aimed at a PhD it presupposes access to PhD courses before the completion of medical studies, as well as the ability to include undergraduate scientific work in a PhD thesis. Conclusion The Medical Student Research Programme has led to an increase in the recruitment of graduated physicians to medical research in Norway. It will only be possible to evaluate whether this in turn will result in a larger number of PhDs in 3–5 years; this will also depend on the access to grants and fellowships. PMID:19602226

Effects of Honours Programme Participation in Higher Education: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kool, Ada; Mainhard, Tim; Jaarsma, Debbie; van Beukelen, Peter; Brekelmans, Mieke

2017-01-01

Honours programmes have become part of higher education systems around the globe, and an increasing number of students are enrolled in such programmes. So far, effects of these programmes are largely under-researched. Two gaps in previous research on the effects of such programmes were addressed: (1) most studies lack a comparable control group of…

Ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types: understanding the interactions and suggesting pathways for sustaining multiple ecosystem services.

PubMed

Alamgir, Mohammed; Turton, Stephen M; Macgregor, Colin J; Pert, Petina L

2016-10-01

As ecosystem services supply from tropical forests is declining due to deforestation and forest degradation, much effort is essential to sustain ecosystem services supply from tropical forested landscapes, because tropical forests provide the largest flow of multiple ecosystem services among the terrestrial ecosystems. In order to sustain multiple ecosystem services, understanding ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types and identifying certain ecosystem services that could be managed to leverage positive effects across the wider bundle of ecosystem services are required. We sampled three forest types, tropical rainforests, sclerophyll forests, and rehabilitated plantation forests, over an area of 32,000m(2) from Wet Tropics bioregion, Australia, aiming to compare supply and evaluate interactions and patterns of eight ecosystem services (global climate regulation, air quality regulation, erosion regulation, nutrient regulation, cyclone protection, habitat provision, energy provision, and timber provision). On average, multiple ecosystem services were highest in the rainforests, lowest in sclerophyll forests, and intermediate in rehabilitated plantation forests. However, a wide variation was apparent among the plots across the three forest types. Global climate regulation service had a synergistic impact on the supply of multiple ecosystem services, while nutrient regulation service was found to have a trade-off impact. Considering multiple ecosystem services, most of the rehabilitated plantation forest plots shared the same ordination space with rainforest plots in the ordination analysis, indicating that rehabilitated plantation forests may supply certain ecosystem services nearly equivalent to rainforests. Two synergy groups and one trade-off group were identified. Apart from conserving rainforests and sclerophyll forests, our findings suggest two additional integrated pathways to sustain the supply of multiple ecosystem services from a heterogeneous tropical forest landscape: (i) rehabilitation of degraded forests aiming to provide global climate regulation and habitat provision ecosystem services and (ii) management intervention to sustain global climate regulation and habitat provision ecosystem services. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of different crops on soil organic matter and biological activity in Oxisols under three different crops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toledo, Diana Marcela; Arzuaga, Silvia; Dalurzo, Humberto; Zornoza, Raúl; Vazquez, Sara

2015-04-01

The objective of this work was to evaluate changes in soil organic matter in Oxisols under different crops compared to native rainforest, and to assess if acid phosphatase activity (APA) could be a good indicator for SOC changes and soil quality. The experimental design consisted of four completely randomized blocks with four treatments: subtropical rainforest (F); yerba mate crop (I) (Ilex paraguariensis SH.); citrus crop (C) (Citrus unshiu Marc); and tobacco crop (T) (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Soil samples were taken at 0-10; 10-20 and 20-30 cm depths. The variables measured were soil organic carbon (SOC), APA, clay content, pH, total nitrogen (Nt), available phosphorus (P) and CO2 emissions. All data were analyzed by ANOVA to assess the effects of land-use changes. The treatment means were compared through Duncan's multiple range tests (p<0.05). The relationship between variables was determined with a simple correlation analysis and with a multiple linear regression analysis through the stepwise method. These soils showed an acid reaction and their clay content was over 650 g kg-1 for the three depths. SOC and N contents were higher in native soils, intermediate for the citrus crop, and lower under both tobacco and yerba mate crops. CO2 emissions were higher in the rainforest (47.32 kg ha-1 of CO2) than in cultivated soils, which indicates that biological activity is enhanced in rainforest soils where substrates for soil biota and fauna are more readily available. The variability of 76% in APA was explained by total nitrogen, which is closely related to soil organic matter, and by available P. Conversion of subtropical rainforests into agricultural lands reduced SOC content and acid phosphatase activity, thereby lowering soil quality. In this study, acid phosphatase activity proved to be a sensitive indicator to detect changes from pristine to cropped soils, but it failed to distinguish differences among crop systems.

Lineage range estimation method reveals fine-scale endemism linked to Pleistocene stability in Australian rainforest herpetofauna.

PubMed

Rosauer, Dan F; Catullo, Renee A; VanDerWal, Jeremy; Moussalli, Adnan; Moritz, Craig

2015-01-01

Areas of suitable habitat for species and communities have arisen, shifted, and disappeared with Pleistocene climate cycles, and through this shifting landscape, current biodiversity has found paths to the present. Evolutionary refugia, areas of relative habitat stability in this shifting landscape, support persistence of lineages through time, and are thus crucial to the accumulation and maintenance of biodiversity. Areas of endemism are indicative of refugial areas where diversity has persisted, and endemism of intraspecific lineages in particular is strongly associated with late-Pleistocene habitat stability. However, it remains a challenge to consistently estimate the geographic ranges of intraspecific lineages and thus infer phylogeographic endemism, because spatial sampling for genetic analyses is typically sparse relative to species records. We present a novel technique to model the geographic distribution of intraspecific lineages, which is informed by the ecological niche of a species and known locations of its constituent lineages. Our approach allows for the effects of isolation by unsuitable habitat, and captures uncertainty in the extent of lineage ranges. Applying this method to the arc of rainforest areas spanning 3500 km in eastern Australia, we estimated lineage endemism for 53 species of rainforest dependent herpetofauna with available phylogeographic data. We related endemism to the stability of rainforest habitat over the past 120,000 years and identified distinct concentrations of lineage endemism that can be considered putative refugia. These areas of lineage endemism are strongly related to historical stability of rainforest habitat, after controlling for the effects of current environment. In fact, a dynamic stability model that allows movement to track suitable habitat over time was the most important factor in explaining current patterns of endemism. The techniques presented here provide an objective, practical method for estimating geographic ranges below the species level, and including them in spatial analyses of biodiversity.

Lineage Range Estimation Method Reveals Fine-Scale Endemism Linked to Pleistocene Stability in Australian Rainforest Herpetofauna

PubMed Central

Rosauer, Dan F.; Catullo, Renee A.; VanDerWal, Jeremy; Moussalli, Adnan; Moritz, Craig

2015-01-01

Areas of suitable habitat for species and communities have arisen, shifted, and disappeared with Pleistocene climate cycles, and through this shifting landscape, current biodiversity has found paths to the present. Evolutionary refugia, areas of relative habitat stability in this shifting landscape, support persistence of lineages through time, and are thus crucial to the accumulation and maintenance of biodiversity. Areas of endemism are indicative of refugial areas where diversity has persisted, and endemism of intraspecific lineages in particular is strongly associated with late-Pleistocene habitat stability. However, it remains a challenge to consistently estimate the geographic ranges of intraspecific lineages and thus infer phylogeographic endemism, because spatial sampling for genetic analyses is typically sparse relative to species records. We present a novel technique to model the geographic distribution of intraspecific lineages, which is informed by the ecological niche of a species and known locations of its constituent lineages. Our approach allows for the effects of isolation by unsuitable habitat, and captures uncertainty in the extent of lineage ranges. Applying this method to the arc of rainforest areas spanning 3500 km in eastern Australia, we estimated lineage endemism for 53 species of rainforest dependent herpetofauna with available phylogeographic data. We related endemism to the stability of rainforest habitat over the past 120,000 years and identified distinct concentrations of lineage endemism that can be considered putative refugia. These areas of lineage endemism are strongly related to historical stability of rainforest habitat, after controlling for the effects of current environment. In fact, a dynamic stability model that allows movement to track suitable habitat over time was the most important factor in explaining current patterns of endemism. The techniques presented here provide an objective, practical method for estimating geographic ranges below the species level, and including them in spatial analyses of biodiversity. PMID:26020936

Evolutionary consequences of human disturbance in a rainforest bird species from Central Africa.

PubMed

Smith, Thomas B; Milá, Borja; Grether, Gregory F; Slabbekoorn, Hans; Sepil, Irem; Buermann, Wolfgang; Saatchi, Sassan; Pollinger, John P

2008-01-01

Relatively little attention has been directed towards understanding the impacts of human disturbance on evolutionary processes that produce and maintain biodiversity. Here, we examine the influence of anthropogenic habitat changes on traits typically associated with natural and sexual selection in the little greenbul (Andropadus virens), an African rainforest bird species. Using satellite remote-sensing and field survey data, we classified habitats into nonhuman-altered mature and human-altered secondary forest. Mature rainforest consisted of pristine rainforest, with little or no human influence, and secondary forest was characterized by plantations of coffee and cacao and high human impacts. Andropadus virens abundance was higher in secondary forest, and populations inhabiting mature rainforest were significantly larger in wing and tarsus length and bill size; characters often correlated with fitness. To assess the extent to which characters important in sexual section and mate choice might be influenced by habitat change, we also examined differences in plumage colour and song. Plumage colour and the variance in plumage luminance were found to differ between forest types, and song duration was found to be significantly longer in mature forest. The possible adaptive significance of these differences in traits is discussed. Despite relatively high levels of gene flow across habitats, amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis revealed that a small proportion of high-F(ST) loci differentiated mature from secondary forest populations. These loci were significant outliers against neutral expectations in a simulation analysis, suggesting a role for divergent selection in differentiation across habitats. A distance-based redundancy analysis further showed that forest type as defined by remote-sensing variables was significantly associated with genetic dissimilarities between habitats, even when controlling for distance. The observed shifts in morphology, plumage and song were consistent with divergent selection on heritable variation, but a role for plasticity cannot be ruled out. Results suggest that anthropogenic habitat changes may have evolutionary consequences, with implications for conservation and restoration.

Saharan Dust Fertilizing Atlantic Ocean and Amazon Rainforest via Long-range Transport and Deposition: A Perspective from Multiyear Satellite Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, H.; Chin, M.; Yuan, T.; Bian, H.; Remer, L. A.; Prospero, J. M.; Omar, A. H.; Winker, D. M.; Yang, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Zhao, C.

2015-12-01

Massive dust emitted from Sahara desert is carried by trade winds across the tropical Atlantic Ocean, reaching the Amazon Rainforest and Caribbean Sea. Airborne dust degrades air quality and interacts with radiation and clouds. Dust falling to land and ocean adds essential nutrients that could increase the productivity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and modulate the biogeochemical cycles and climate. The resultant climate change will feed back on the production of dust in Sahara desert and its subsequent transport and deposition. Understanding the connections among the remote ecosystems requires an accurate quantification of dust transport and deposition flux on large spatial and temporal scales, in which satellite remote sensing can play an important role. We provide the first multiyear satellite-based estimates of altitude-resolved across-Atlantic dust transport and deposition based on eight-year (2007-2014) record of aerosol three-dimensional distributions from the CALIPSO lidar. On a basis of the 8-year average, 179 Tg (million tons) of dust leaves the coast of North Africa and is transported across Atlantic Ocean, of which 102, 20, and 28 Tg of dust is deposited into the tropical Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Amazon Rainforest, respectively. The dust deposition adds 4.3 Tg of iron and 0.1 Tg of phosphorus to the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea where the productivity of marine ecosystem depends on the availability of these nutrients. The 28 Tg of dust provides about 0.022 Tg of phosphorus to Amazon Rainforest yearly that replenishes the leak of this plant-essential nutrient by rains and flooding, suggesting an important role of Saharan dust in maintaining the productivity of Amazon rainforest on timescales of decades or centuries. We will also discuss seasonal and interannual variations of the dust transport and deposition, and comparisons of the CALIOP-based estimates with model simulations.

Are tree ontogenetic structure and allometric relationship independent of vegetation formation type? A case study with Cordia oncocalyx in the Brazilian caatinga

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silveira, Andréa P.; Martins, Fernando R.; Araújo, Francisca S.

2012-08-01

In temperate and tropical rainforests, ontogenetic structure and allometry during tree ontogeny are often associated with light gradients. Light is not considered a limiting resource in deciduous thorny woodland (DTW), but establishment and growth occur during a short rainy period, when the canopy is fully leaved and light in the understory may be modified. Our aim was to investigate whether the light gradient in DTW and the biomechanical limitations of tree growth would be enough to produce an ontogenetic structure and allometric growth similar to rainforest canopy trees. We investigated the ontogenetic stages and diameter-height relationship of Cordia oncocalyx (Boraginaceae), a dominant canopy tree of the DTW of semiarid northeastern Brazil. We tagged, measured and classified the ontogenetic stages of 2.895 individuals in a 1 ha area (5°6'58.1″S and 40°52'19.4″W). In the rainy season only 4.7% of the light falling on the canopy reached the ground. Initial ontogenetic stages, mainly infant (50.9%) and seedling (42.1%), were predominant in the population, with the remaining 7% distributed among juvenile, immature, virginile and reproductive. The ontogenetic structure was similar to that of rainforest tree species, but the population formed both permanent seed and infant banks in response to long dry periods and erratic rainy spells. Like many other Boraginaceae tree species in tropical rainforests, C. oncocalyx has a Prévost architectural model, but allometric growth was quite different from rainforest trees. C. oncocalyx invested slightly more in diameter at first, then in height and finally invested greatly in diameter and attained an asymptotic height. The continued high investment in diameter growth at late stages and the asymptotic height point to low tree density and more frequent xylem embolism as the main drivers of tree allometric shape in DTW. This indicates that tree ontogenetic structure and allometric relationships depend on vegetation formation type.

Slipping through the Cracks: Rubber Plantation Is Unsuitable Breeding Habitat for Frogs in Xishuangbanna, China

PubMed Central

Behm, Jocelyn E.; Yang, Xiaodong; Chen, Jin

2013-01-01

Conversion of tropical forests into agriculture may present a serious risk to amphibian diversity if amphibians are not able to use agricultural areas as habitat. Recently, in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province – a hotspot of frog diversity within China – two-thirds of the native tropical rainforests have been converted into rubber plantation agriculture. We conducted surveys and experiments to quantify habitat use for breeding and non-breeding life history activities of the native frog species in rainforest, rubber plantation and other human impacted sites. Rubber plantation sites had the lowest species richness in our non-breeding habitat surveys and no species used rubber plantation sites as breeding habitat. The absence of breeding was likely not due to intrinsic properties of the rubber plantation pools, as our experiments indicated that rubber plantation pools were suitable for tadpole growth and development. Rather, the absence of breeding in the rubber plantation was likely due to a misalignment of breeding and non-breeding habitat preferences. Analyses of our breeding surveys showed that percent canopy cover over pools was the strongest environmental variable influencing breeding site selection, with species exhibiting preferences for pools under both high and low canopy cover. Although rubber plantation pools had high canopy cover, the only species that bred in high canopy cover sites used the rainforest for both non-breeding and breeding activities, completing their entire life cycle in the rainforest. Conversely, the species that did use the rubber plantation for non-breeding habitat preferred to breed in low canopy sites, also avoiding breeding in the rubber plantation. Rubber plantations are likely an intermediate habitat type that ‘slips through the cracks’ of species habitat preferences and is thus avoided for breeding. In summary, unlike the rainforests they replaced, rubber plantations alone may not be able to support frog populations. PMID:24040026

Origin of the Hawaiian rainforest ecosystem and its evolution in long-term primary succession

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller-Dombois, D.; Boehmer, H. J.

2013-02-01

Born among volcanoes in the north central Pacific about 4 million years ago, the Hawaiian rainforest became assembled from spores of algae, fungi, lichens, bryophytes, ferns and from seeds of about 275 flowering plants that over the millenia evolved into ca. 1000 endemic species. Outstanding among the forest builders were the tree ferns (Cibotium spp.) and the 'Ōhi'a lehua trees (Metrosideros spp.), which still dominate the Hawaiian rainforest ecosystem today. The structure of this forest is simple. The canopy in closed mature rainforests is dominated by cohorts of Metrosideros polymorpha and the undergrowth by tree fern species of Cibotium. When a new lava flow cuts through this forest, kipuka are formed, i.e. islands of remnant vegetation. On the new volcanic substrate, the assemblage of plant life-forms is similar as during the evolution of this system. In open juvenile forests, a mat-forming fern, the uluhe fern (Dicranopteris lineraris) becomes established. It inhibits further regeneration of the dominant 'Ōhi'a tree, thereby reinforcing the cohort structure of the canopy guild. In the later part of its life cycle, the canopy guild breaks down often in synchrony. The trigger is hypothesized to be a climatic perturbation. After that disturbance the forest becomes reestablished in about 30-40 yr. As the volcanic surfaces age, they go from a mesotrophic to a eutrophic phase, reaching a biophilic nutrient climax by about 1-25 K yr. Thereafter, a regressive oligotrophic phase follows; the soils become exhausted of nutrients. The shield volcanoes break down. Marginally, forest habitats change into bogs and stream ecosystems. The broader 'Ōhi'a rainforest redeveloping in the more dissected landscapes of the older islands looses stature, often forming large gaps that are invaded by the aluminum tolerant uluhe fern. The 'Ōhi'a trees still thrive on soils rejuvenated from landslides and from Asian dust on the oldest (5 million year old) island Kaua'i but their stature and living biomass is greatly diminished.

OH radical "life expectancy" within and above the Amazon rainforest: vertical, diel and seasonal variations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nölscher, A.; Yanez-Serrano, A. M.; Kesselmeier, J.; Artaxo, P. P.; Wolff, S.; Trebs, I.; Williams, J.

2013-12-01

The Amazon rainforest forest is the world's largest contiguous ecosystem. Being about 6 million km2 it is around two thirds the area of the United States. The Amazon forest plays an important part of the Earth's hydrological, energy and carbon cycles. Photosynthetic uptake of CO2 by the rainforest affects the global radiative budget and concomitant release of reactive biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) can directly impact the atmosphere's primary oxidant, the hydroxyl (OH) radical as well as aerosol production and growth. Direct measurement of the total atmospheric OH reactivity (or inverse OH lifetime), in parallel with the individual BVOC can reveal insights into the coupling between biogenic emissions, atmospheric oxidation processes, canopy transport, and the OH budget. In this study we present for the first time, vertical profiles of total OH reactivity and biogenic VOCs that were monitored simultaneously throughout dry season, wet season and transition periods, from a remote tropical rainforest site in the Amazon (Amazonian Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), S 02°08'38.8'', W 58°59'59.5'', 120 m above sea level, 150 km NE of the city of Manaus, Brazil). The profiles consisted of sequential measurements at 0.05m, 0.5m, 4 m, 12m, 24m, 38m, 53m and 79m, a single profile taking 16 minutes to complete. The measurements were made using Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS), directly in the case of BVOC and using the Comparative Reactivity Method pre-reactor for total OH reactivity. The vertical, diel and seasonal variations in total OH reactivity will be discussed. Total OH reactivity and isoprene profiles were observed to vary strongly between the seasons. Biogenic emissions from the canopy impacted the measurements as well as photo-oxidation, turbulent mixing, and deposition. Tower in the Amazon rainforest for measurements of vertical profiles of BVOCs and total OH reactivity from the forest floor, through the canopy, up to 80m.

Risk factors for cutaneous leishmaniasis in the rainforest of Bolivia: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Eid, Daniel; Guzman-Rivero, Miguel; Rojas, Ernesto; Goicolea, Isabel; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; Illanes, Daniel; San Sebastian, Miguel

2018-01-01

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic disease in Bolivia, particularly in the rainforest of Cochabamba, in the municipality of Villa Tunari. The precarious, dispersed, and poorly accessible settlements in these farming communities make it difficult to study them, and there are no epidemiological studies in the area. The aim of the present study was to identify the risk factors associated with cutaneous leishmaniasis. A cross-sectional study was conducted in August 2015 and August 2016 in two communities of Villa Tunari, Cochabamba. The cases were diagnosed through clinical examinations, identification of the parasite by microscopic examination, and the Montenegro skin test. Risk factors were identified through logistic regression. A total of 274 participants (40.9% female and 59.1% male) were surveyed, of which 43% were CL positive. Sex was the only factor associated with CL with three times more risk for men than for women; this finding suggests a sylvatic mechanism of transmission in the area. It is advisable to focus on education and prevention policies at an early age for activities related to either leisure or work. Further research is needed to assess the influence of gender-associated behavior for the risk of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Geophysical and botanical monitoring of simulated graves in a tropical rainforest, Colombia, South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molina, Carlos Martin; Pringle, Jamie K.; Saumett, Miguel; Evans, Gethin T.

2016-12-01

In most Latin American countries there are significant numbers of missing people and forced disappearances, currently 80,000 only in Colombia. Successful detection of shallow buried human remains by forensic search teams is currently difficult in varying terrain and climates. Within this research we built four simulated clandestine burial styles in tropical rainforests, as this is a common scenario and depositional environment encountered in Latin America, to gain knowledge of optimum forensic geophysics detection techniques. The results of geophysically monitoring these burials using ground penetrating radar, magnetic susceptibility, bulk ground conductivity and electrical resistivity are presented from one to forty three weeks post-burial. Radar survey results with both the 250 MHz and 500 MHz frequency antennae showed good detection of modern simulated burials on 2D profiles and horizontal time slices but poor detection on the other simulated graves. Magnetic susceptibility, bulk ground conductivity and electrical resistivity results were generally poor at detecting the simulated targets. Observations of botanical variations on the test site show rapid regrowth of Malvaceae and Petiveria alliacea vegetation over all burials that are common in these forests, which can make detection more difficult.

C4 Photosynthesis in Tree Form Euphorbia Species from Hawaiian Rainforest Sites 1

PubMed Central

Pearcy, Robert W.; Troughton, John

1975-01-01

The 13C 12C isotope ratios and the leaf anatomy of 18 species and varieties of Euphorbia native to the Hawaian Islands indicated that all possess C4 photosynthesis. These species range from small prostrate coastal strand shrubs to shrubs and trees in rainforest and bog habitats. The results show that C4 photosynthesis occurs in plants from a much wider range of habitats and life-forms than has been previously reported. PMID:16659208

Negotiating new literacies in science: An examination of at-risk and average-achieving ninth-grade readers' online reading comprehension strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sevensma, Kara

In today's digital world the Internet is becoming an increasingly predominant resource for science information, rapidly eclipsing the traditional science textbook in content area classrooms (Lawless & Schrader, 2008). The shift challenges researchers, educators, administrators, and policy makers to reconsider what it means to read and comprehend online science information. The research on digital literacy is still in its infancy and little is known about the strategies and processes students use when reading science content on the Internet. Even less is known about how at-risk readers comprehend digital science content. Therefore, this study addresses three research questions: (1) What strategies and processes do at-risk and average-achieving readers use as they locate information and generate meaning from science websites? (2) What navigational profiles emerge as at-risk and average-achieving readers construct traversals (unique online paths of information) they locate information and generate meaning from science websites? (3) What individual characteristics influenced students' strategies as they locate information and generate meaning from science websites? Participants were six ninth-grade students in general education biology classrooms. Three were average-achieving readers and three were at-risk readers based on assessments of reading comprehension in traditional print-based texts. The students engaged in a three-day research project about the rainforest biome, locating information online, taking notes, and constructing an information brochure about the rainforest for peers. Data measures prior to and during the research included an Internet use survey, verbal protocols, screen captures of online activity, oral reading fluency assessments, and prior knowledge and topic engagement surveys. Quantitative descriptive and univariate analyses as well as qualitative abductive coding were employed over multiple phases to analyze the data. First, the results suggest that students employed a variety of online reading comprehension strategies in complex and dynamic ways. Among the many strategies revealed, the group of self-regulatory strategies (planning, predicting, monitoring, and evaluating) played a significant role, influencing students' use of all other strategies for locating and generating meaning from science websites. Second, the results also suggested that patterns of strategy use could be examined as unique navigational profiles. Rather than remaining fixed, the navigational profiles of each student altered in response to tasks and research methods. Importantly, all at-risk readers revealed more effective navigational profiles on Day 3 when they were forced by design of the task to attend to project goals and employ more self-regulatory strategies. Third, the results revealed that traditional reading comprehension strategies and prior knowledge of the rainforest also influenced online reading comprehension. Specifically, the at-risk readers with the lowest reading comprehension, oral reading fluency, and prior knowledge scores were more likely than the average-achieving readers to encounter issues in online texts that resulted in constructing ineffective traversals, or online reading paths, and spending significant time investing in online reading that was irrelevant to the research project. Ultimately, this study advanced the understanding about online reading comprehension for average-achieving and at-risk readers in science classrooms, contributing to a gap in the research, suggesting implications for practice, and promoting future research questions.

Determining the Carbon Transport Rate of an Enclosed Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem in Biosphere 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takagi, Y. A.; Van Haren, J. L.

2013-12-01

Determining how carbon moves through a tropical rainforest ecosystem is an important step towards understanding its role as a carbon sink system in the global carbon cycle. The paths by which carbon moves through forest ecosystems are reasonably well known. However, very little is known about how quickly this happens. We will present data from experiments where we isotopically pulse label the atmospheric carbon dioxide within the Biosphere 2 tropical rainforest biome with natural gas derived CO2 (∂13C ~ -40‰ vs. ~ -8.5‰ for ambient air). We are continually monitoring the CO2 concentration and isotope composition of the ambient air along a vertical profile to measure ecosystem gas exchange, and that of six branch-bag and five soil-chamber locations within the Biosphere 2 tropical rainforest, with an Aerodyne Quantum Cascade Laser to trace the labeled carbon (precision for ∂13C = 0.02‰ and CO2 = 0.07ppm, calibrated to NOAA air standards). Environmental parameters such as light, relative humidity, soil moisture, and temperature are monitored at fifteen-minute intervals. We have selected one vine species and three different tree species for branch bag enclosures at two canopy heights that we expect represent the bulk photosynthetic biomass of the rainforest. The soil chambers are distributed randomly. By treating the Biosphere 2 tropical rainforest biome, a glass enclosed ecosystem with 1900m2 of ground, 26700m3 of air, and 92 different plant species, as a model ecosystem, we anticipate to determine carbon transport rates that would otherwise be practically impossible to determine in the real world due to the difficulty of isotopically labeling and monitoring entire canopies or even individual trees, which can reach heights over 60m. The data we have collected thus far will provide a baseline comparison for the labeling data. Comparing the branch bag data with the ecosystem data has helped us determine how well small branches represent the canopy and whole ecosystem behavior. We have also determined the natural abundance ∂13C isotope fractionation rates of photosynthesis (ranging from -14‰ to -20‰, depending on the species, location within the canopy, and environmental conditions) and respiration (ranging from -25‰ to -29‰). From the lag time in the isotope signal at each location, we will derive the carbon transport rate: the time it takes for carbon to travel from the atmosphere through the carbon cycle pathways to these locations. We intend to present data from several labeling runs, which will last a week to several weeks each, depending on the lag times, especially in the soil chambers. At the conclusion of these runs, we expect to be able to propose the first experimentally derived model for tropical rainforest carbon transport rates.

ESF EUROCORES Programmes In Geosciences And Environmental Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jonckheere, I. G.

2007-12-01

In close cooperation with its Member Organisations, the European Science Foundation (ESF) has launched since late 2003 a series of European Collaborative Research (EUROCORES) Programmes. Their aim is to enable researchers in different European countries to develop cooperation and scientific synergy in areas where European scale and scope are required in a global context. The EUROCORES Scheme provides an open, flexible and transparent framework that allows national science funding and science performing agencies to join forces to support excellent European-led research, following a selection among many science-driven suggestions for new Programmes themes submitted by the scientific community. The EUROCORES instrument represents the first large scale attempt of national research (funding) agencies to act together against fragmentation, asynchronicity and duplication of research (funding) within Europe. There are presently 7 EUROCORES Programmes specifically dealing with cutting edge science in the fields of Earth, Climate and Environmental Sciences. The EUROCORES Programmes consist of a number of international, multidisciplinary collaborative research projects running for 3-4 years, selected through independent peer review. Under the overall responsibility of the participating funding agencies, those projects are coordinated and networked together through the scientific guidance of a Scientific Committee, with the support of a Programme Coordinator, responsible at ESF for providing planning, logistics, and the integration and dissemination of science. Strong links are aimed for with other major international programmes and initiatives worldwide. In this framework, linkage to IYPE would be of major interest for the scientific communities involved. Each Programme mobilises 5 to 13 million Euros in direct science funding from 9 to 27 national agencies from 8 to 20 countries. Additional funding for coordination, networking and dissemination is allocated by the ESF through these distinctive research initiatives, to build on the national research efforts and contribute to the capacity building, in relation with typically about 15-20 post-doc positions and/or PhD studentships supported nationally within each Programme. Typical networking activities are topical workshops, open sessions in a larger conference, Programme conference, (summer / winter) schools, exchange visits across projects or programmes. Overall, EUROCORES Programmes are supported by more than 60 national agencies from 30 countries and by the European Science Foundation (ESF) with support by the European Commission, DG Research (Sixth Framework Programme, contract ERAS-CT-2003-980409). In the framework of AGU, a series of present EUROCORES Programmes in the field of Geosciences and Environmental Sciences are presented (e.g., EuroDIVERSITY, EuroDEEP, EUROMARGINS, EuroCLIMATE, and EuroMinScI).

A connection to deep groundwater alters ecosystem carbon fluxes and budgets: Example from a Costa Rican rainforest

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Genereux, David P.; Nagy, Laura A.; Osburn, Christopher L.

Field studies of watershed carbon fluxes and budgets are critical for understanding the carbon cycle, but the role of deep regional groundwater is poorly known and field examples are lacking. Here we show that discharge of regional groundwater into a lowland Costa Rican rainforest has a major influence on ecosystem carbon fluxes. Furthermore, this influence is observable through chemical, isotopic, and flux signals in groundwater, surface water, and air. Not addressing the influence of regional groundwater in the field measurement program and data analysis would give a misleading impression of the overall carbon source or sink status of the rainforest.more » In quantifying a carbon budget with the traditional "small watershed" mass-balance approach, it would be critical at this site and likely many others to consider watershed inputs or losses associated with exchange between the ecosystem and the deeper hydrogeological system on which it sits.« less

Rickettsia sp. Strain Atlantic Rainforest Infection in a Patient from a Spotted Fever-Endemic Area in Southern Brazil

PubMed Central

Krawczak, Felipe S.; Muñoz-Leal, Sebastián; Guztzazky, Ana Carolina; Oliveira, Stefan V.; Santos, Fabiana C. P.; Angerami, Rodrigo N.; Moraes-Filho, Jonas; de Souza, Julio C.; Labruna, Marcelo B.

2016-01-01

Santa Catarina State in southern Brazil is the state with the second highest number of laboratory-confirmed cases of spotted fever illness in Brazil. However, all these cases were confirmed solely by serological analysis (seroconversion to spotted fever group rickettsiae), which has not allowed identification of the rickettsial agent. Here, a clinical case of spotted fever illness from Santa Catarina is shown by seroconversion and molecular analysis to be caused by Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest. This is the third confirmed clinical case due to this emerging rickettsial agent in Brazil. Like the previous two cases, the patient presented an inoculation eschar at the tick bite site. Our molecular diagnosis was performed on DNA extracted from the crust removed from the eschar. These results are supported by previous epidemiological studies in Santa Catarina, which showed that nearly 10% of the most common human-biting ticks were infected by Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest. PMID:27325804

Rickettsia sp. Strain Atlantic Rainforest Infection in a Patient from a Spotted Fever-Endemic Area in Southern Brazil.

PubMed

Krawczak, Felipe S; Muñoz-Leal, Sebastián; Guztzazky, Ana Carolina; Oliveira, Stefan V; Santos, Fabiana C P; Angerami, Rodrigo N; Moraes-Filho, Jonas; de Souza, Julio C; Labruna, Marcelo B

2016-09-07

Santa Catarina State in southern Brazil is the state with the second highest number of laboratory-confirmed cases of spotted fever illness in Brazil. However, all these cases were confirmed solely by serological analysis (seroconversion to spotted fever group rickettsiae), which has not allowed identification of the rickettsial agent. Here, a clinical case of spotted fever illness from Santa Catarina is shown by seroconversion and molecular analysis to be caused by Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest. This is the third confirmed clinical case due to this emerging rickettsial agent in Brazil. Like the previous two cases, the patient presented an inoculation eschar at the tick bite site. Our molecular diagnosis was performed on DNA extracted from the crust removed from the eschar. These results are supported by previous epidemiological studies in Santa Catarina, which showed that nearly 10% of the most common human-biting ticks were infected by Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Record-breaking warming and extreme drought in the Amazon rainforest during the course of El Niño 2015–2016

PubMed Central

Jiménez-Muñoz, Juan C.; Mattar, Cristian; Barichivich, Jonathan; Santamaría-Artigas, Andrés; Takahashi, Ken; Malhi, Yadvinder; Sobrino, José A.; Schrier, Gerard van der

2016-01-01

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main driver of interannual climate extremes in Amazonia and other tropical regions. The current 2015/2016 EN event was expected to be as strong as the EN of the century in 1997/98, with extreme heat and drought over most of Amazonian rainforests. Here we show that this protracted EN event, combined with the regional warming trend, was associated with unprecedented warming and a larger extent of extreme drought in Amazonia compared to the earlier strong EN events in 1982/83 and 1997/98. Typical EN-like drought conditions were observed only in eastern Amazonia, whilst in western Amazonia there was an unusual wetting. We attribute this wet-dry dipole to the location of the maximum sea surface warming on the Central equatorial Pacific. The impacts of this climate extreme on the rainforest ecosystems remain to be documented and are likely to be different to previous strong EN events. PMID:27604976

A connection to deep groundwater alters ecosystem carbon fluxes and budgets: Example from a Costa Rican rainforest

DOE PAGES

Genereux, David P.; Nagy, Laura A.; Osburn, Christopher L.; ...

2013-05-28

Field studies of watershed carbon fluxes and budgets are critical for understanding the carbon cycle, but the role of deep regional groundwater is poorly known and field examples are lacking. Here we show that discharge of regional groundwater into a lowland Costa Rican rainforest has a major influence on ecosystem carbon fluxes. Furthermore, this influence is observable through chemical, isotopic, and flux signals in groundwater, surface water, and air. Not addressing the influence of regional groundwater in the field measurement program and data analysis would give a misleading impression of the overall carbon source or sink status of the rainforest.more » In quantifying a carbon budget with the traditional "small watershed" mass-balance approach, it would be critical at this site and likely many others to consider watershed inputs or losses associated with exchange between the ecosystem and the deeper hydrogeological system on which it sits.« less

Molecular detection of the human pathogenic Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest in Amblyomma dubitatum ticks from Argentina.

PubMed

Monje, Lucas D; Nava, Santiago; Eberhardt, Ayelen T; Correa, Ana I; Guglielmone, Alberto A; Beldomenico, Pablo M

2015-02-01

To date, three tick-borne pathogenic Rickettsia species have been reported in different regions of Argentina, namely, R. rickettsii, R. parkeri, and R. massiliae. However, there are no reports available for the presence of tick-borne pathogens from the northeastern region of Argentina. This study evaluated the infection with Rickettsia species of Amblyomma dubitatum ticks collected from vegetation and feeding from capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) in northeastern Argentina. From a total of 374 A. dubitatum ticks collected and evaluated by PCR for the presence of rickettsial DNA, 19 were positive for the presence of Rickettsia bellii DNA, two were positive for Rickettsia sp. strain COOPERI, and one was positive for the pathogenic Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest. To our knowledge, this study is the first report of the presence of the human pathogen Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest and Rickettsia sp. strain COOPERI in Argentina. Moreover, our findings posit A. dubitatum as a potential vector for this pathogenic strain of Rickettsia.

The role of immigrants in the assembly of the South American rainforest tree flora.

PubMed Central

Pennington, R Toby; Dick, Christopher W

2004-01-01

The Amazon lowland rainforest flora is conventionally viewed as comprising lineages that evolved in biogeographic isolation after the split of west Gondwana (ca. 100 Myr ago). Recent molecular phylogenies, however, identify immigrant lineages that arrived in South America during its period of oceanic isolation (ca. 100-3 Myr ago). Long-distance sweepstakes dispersal across oceans played an important and possibly predominant role. Stepping-stone migration from Africa and North America through hypothesized Late Cretaceous and Tertiary island chains may have facilitated immigration. An analysis of inventory plot data suggests that immigrant lineages comprise ca. 20% of both the species and individuals of an Amazon tree community in Ecuador. This is more than an order of magnitude higher than previous estimates. We also present data on the community-level similarity between South American and palaeotropical rainforests, and suggest that most taxonomic similarity derives from trans-oceanic dispersal, rather than a shared Gondwanan history. PMID:15519976

Carbon costs and benefits of Indonesian rainforest conversion to plantations.

PubMed

Guillaume, Thomas; Kotowska, Martyna M; Hertel, Dietrich; Knohl, Alexander; Krashevska, Valentyna; Murtilaksono, Kukuh; Scheu, Stefan; Kuzyakov, Yakov

2018-06-19

Land-use intensification in the tropics plays an important role in meeting global demand for agricultural commodities but generates high environmental costs. Here, we synthesize the impacts of rainforest conversion to tree plantations of increasing management intensity on carbon stocks and dynamics. Rainforests in Sumatra converted to jungle rubber, rubber, and oil palm monocultures lost 116 Mg C ha -1 , 159 Mg C ha -1 , and 174 Mg C ha -1 , respectively. Up to 21% of these carbon losses originated from belowground pools, where soil organic matter still decreases a decade after conversion. Oil palm cultivation leads to the highest carbon losses but it is the most efficient land use, providing the lowest ratio between ecosystem carbon storage loss or net primary production (NPP) decrease and yield. The imbalanced sharing of NPP between short-term human needs and maintenance of long-term ecosystem functions could compromise the ability of plantations to provide ecosystem services regulating climate, soil fertility, water, and nutrient cycles.

Record-breaking warming and extreme drought in the Amazon rainforest during the course of El Niño 2015-2016

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiménez-Muñoz, Juan C.; Mattar, Cristian; Barichivich, Jonathan; Santamaría-Artigas, Andrés; Takahashi, Ken; Malhi, Yadvinder; Sobrino, José A.; Schrier, Gerard Van Der

2016-09-01

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main driver of interannual climate extremes in Amazonia and other tropical regions. The current 2015/2016 EN event was expected to be as strong as the EN of the century in 1997/98, with extreme heat and drought over most of Amazonian rainforests. Here we show that this protracted EN event, combined with the regional warming trend, was associated with unprecedented warming and a larger extent of extreme drought in Amazonia compared to the earlier strong EN events in 1982/83 and 1997/98. Typical EN-like drought conditions were observed only in eastern Amazonia, whilst in western Amazonia there was an unusual wetting. We attribute this wet-dry dipole to the location of the maximum sea surface warming on the Central equatorial Pacific. The impacts of this climate extreme on the rainforest ecosystems remain to be documented and are likely to be different to previous strong EN events.

Record-breaking warming and extreme drought in the Amazon rainforest during the course of El Niño 2015-2016.

PubMed

Jiménez-Muñoz, Juan C; Mattar, Cristian; Barichivich, Jonathan; Santamaría-Artigas, Andrés; Takahashi, Ken; Malhi, Yadvinder; Sobrino, José A; Schrier, Gerard van der

2016-09-08

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main driver of interannual climate extremes in Amazonia and other tropical regions. The current 2015/2016 EN event was expected to be as strong as the EN of the century in 1997/98, with extreme heat and drought over most of Amazonian rainforests. Here we show that this protracted EN event, combined with the regional warming trend, was associated with unprecedented warming and a larger extent of extreme drought in Amazonia compared to the earlier strong EN events in 1982/83 and 1997/98. Typical EN-like drought conditions were observed only in eastern Amazonia, whilst in western Amazonia there was an unusual wetting. We attribute this wet-dry dipole to the location of the maximum sea surface warming on the Central equatorial Pacific. The impacts of this climate extreme on the rainforest ecosystems remain to be documented and are likely to be different to previous strong EN events.

Functional trait differences influence neighbourhood interactions in a hyperdiverse Amazonian forest.

PubMed

Fortunel, Claire; Valencia, Renato; Wright, S Joseph; Garwood, Nancy C; Kraft, Nathan J B

2016-09-01

As distinct community assembly processes can produce similar community patterns, assessing the ecological mechanisms promoting coexistence in hyperdiverse rainforests remains a considerable challenge. We use spatially explicit neighbourhood models of tree growth to quantify how functional trait and phylogenetic similarities predict variation in growth and crowding effects for the 315 most abundant tree species in a 25-ha lowland rainforest plot in Ecuador. We find that functional trait differences reflect variation in (1) species maximum potential growth, (2) the intensity of interspecific interactions for some species, and (3) species sensitivity to neighbours. We find that neighbours influenced tree growth in 28% of the 315 focal tree species. Neighbourhood effects are not detected in the remaining 72%, which may reflect the low statistical power to model rare taxa and/or species insensitivity to neighbours. Our results highlight the spectrum of ways in which functional trait differences can shape community dynamics in highly diverse rainforests. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Comparison of carbon uptake estimates from forest inventory and Eddy-Covariance for a montane rainforest in central Sulawesi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heimsch, Florian; Kreilein, Heiner; Rauf, Abdul; Knohl, Alexander

2016-04-01

Rainforests in general and montane rainforests in particular have rarely been studied over longer time periods. We aim to provide baseline information of a montane tropical forest's carbon uptake over time in order to quantify possible losses through land-use change. Thus we conducted a re-inventory of 22 10-year old forest inventory plots, giving us a rare opportunity to quantify carbon uptake over such a long time period by traditional methods. We discuss shortfalls of such techniques and why our estimate of 1.5 Mg/ha/a should be considered as the lower boundary and not the mean carbon uptake per year. At the same location as the inventory, CO2 fluxes were measured with the Eddy-Covariance technique. Measurements were conducted at 48m height with an LI 7500 open-path infrared gas analyser. We will compare carbon uptake estimates from these measurements to those of the more conventional inventory method and discuss, which factors are probably responsible for differences.

Does environmental certification in coffee promote "business as usual"? A case study from the Western Ghats, India.

PubMed

Bose, Arshiya; Vira, Bhaskar; Garcia, Claude

2016-12-01

Conservation initiatives are designed to address threats to forests and biodiversity, often through partnerships with natural-resource users who are incentivized to change their land-use and livelihood practices to avoid further biodiversity loss. In particular, direct incentives programmes that provide monetary benefits are commended for being effective in achieving conservation across short timescales. In biodiversity-rich areas, outside protected areas, such as coffee agroforestry systems, direct incentives, such as certification schemes, are used to motivate coffee producers to maintain native tree species, natural vegetation, restrict wildlife hunting, and conserve soil and water, in addition to encouraging welfare of workers. However, despite these claims, there is a lack of strong evidence of the on-ground impact of such schemes. To assess the conservation importance of certification, we describe a case study in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot of India, in which coffee growers are provided price incentives to adopt Rainforest Alliance certification standards. We analyse the conservation and social outcomes of this programme by studying peoples' experiences of participating in certification. Despite high compliance and effective implementation, we find a strong case for the endorsement of 'business as usual' with no changes in farm management as a result of certification. We find that such 'business as usual' participation in certification creates grounds for diminishing credibility and local support for conservation efforts. Working towards locally relevant conservation interventions, rather than implementing global blueprints, may lead to more meaningful biodiversity conservation and increased community support for conservation initiatives in coffee landscapes.

Depth of soil water uptake by tropical rainforest trees during dry periods: does tree dimension matter?

PubMed

Stahl, Clément; Hérault, Bruno; Rossi, Vivien; Burban, Benoit; Bréchet, Claude; Bonal, Damien

2013-12-01

Though the root biomass of tropical rainforest trees is concentrated in the upper soil layers, soil water uptake by deep roots has been shown to contribute to tree transpiration. A precise evaluation of the relationship between tree dimensions and depth of water uptake would be useful in tree-based modelling approaches designed to anticipate the response of tropical rainforest ecosystems to future changes in environmental conditions. We used an innovative dual-isotope labelling approach (deuterium in surface soil and oxygen at 120-cm depth) coupled with a modelling approach to investigate the role of tree dimensions in soil water uptake in a tropical rainforest exposed to seasonal drought. We studied 65 trees of varying diameter and height and with a wide range of predawn leaf water potential (Ψpd) values. We confirmed that about half of the studied trees relied on soil water below 100-cm depth during dry periods. Ψpd was negatively correlated with depth of water extraction and can be taken as a rough proxy of this depth. Some trees showed considerable plasticity in their depth of water uptake, exhibiting an efficient adaptive strategy for water and nutrient resource acquisition. We did not find a strong relationship between tree dimensions and depth of water uptake. While tall trees preferentially extract water from layers below 100-cm depth, shorter trees show broad variations in mean depth of water uptake. This precludes the use of tree dimensions to parameterize functional models.

Phylogeography of Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Macropus giganteus, Suggests a Mesic Refugium in Eastern Australia.

PubMed

Coghlan, Brett A; Goldizen, Anne W; Thomson, Vicki A; Seddon, Jennifer M

2015-01-01

Phylogeographic studies around the world have identified refugia where fauna were able to persist during unsuitable climatic periods, particularly during times of glaciation. In Australia the effects of Pleistocene climate oscillations on rainforest taxa have been well studied but less is known about the effects on mesic-habitat fauna, such as the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus). The eastern grey kangaroo is a large mammal that is common and widespread throughout eastern Australia, preferring dry mesic habitat, rather than rainforest. As pollen evidence suggests that the central-eastern part of Australia (southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales) experienced cycles of expansion in mesic habitat with contraction in rainforests, and vice versa during glacial and interglacial periods, respectively, we hypothesise that the distribution of the eastern grey kangaroo was affected by these climate oscillations and may have contracted to mesic habitat refugia. From 375 mitochondrial DNA control region sequences from across the distribution of eastern grey kangaroos we obtained 108 unique haplotypes. Phylogenetic analysis identified two clades in Queensland, one of which is newly identified and restricted to a small coastal region in southern Queensland north of Brisbane, known as the Sunshine Coast. The relatively limited geographic range of this genetically isolated clade suggests the possibility of a mesic habitat refugium forming during rainforest expansion during wetter climate cycles. Other potential, although less likely, reasons for the genetic isolation of the highly distinct clade include geographic barriers, separate northward expansions, and strong local adaptation.

Contrasting Diversity and Host Association of Ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycetes versus Root-Associated Ascomycetes in a Dipterocarp Rainforest

PubMed Central

Sato, Hirotoshi; Tanabe, Akifumi S.; Toju, Hirokazu

2015-01-01

Root-associated fungi, including ectomycorrhizal and root-endophytic fungi, are among the most diverse and important belowground plant symbionts in dipterocarp rainforests. Our study aimed to reveal the biodiversity, host association, and community structure of ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycota and root-associated Ascomycota (including root-endophytic Ascomycota) in a lowland dipterocarp rainforest in Southeast Asia. The host plant chloroplast ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit (rbcL) region and fungal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region were sequenced using tag-encoded, massively parallel 454 pyrosequencing to identify host plant and root-associated fungal taxa in root samples. In total, 1245 ascomycetous and 127 putative ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetous taxa were detected from 442 root samples. The putative ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycota were likely to be associated with closely related dipterocarp taxa to greater or lesser extents, whereas host association patterns of the root-associated Ascomycota were much less distinct. The community structure of the putative ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycota was possibly more influenced by host genetic distances than was that of the root-associated Ascomycota. This study also indicated that in dipterocarp rainforests, root-associated Ascomycota were characterized by high biodiversity and indistinct host association patterns, whereas ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycota showed less biodiversity and a strong host phylogenetic preference for dipterocarp trees. Our findings lead to the working hypothesis that root-associated Ascomycota, which might be mainly represented by root-endophytic fungi, have biodiversity hotspots in the tropics, whereas biodiversity of ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycota increases with host genetic diversity. PMID:25884708

Pollen dispersal of tropical trees (Dinizia excelsa: Fabaceae) by native insects and African honeybees in pristine and fragmented Amazonian rainforest.

PubMed

Dick, Christopher W; Etchelecu, Gabriela; Austerlitz, Frédéric

2003-03-01

Tropical rainforest trees typically occur in low population densities and rely on animals for cross-pollination. It is of conservation interest therefore to understand how rainforest fragmentation may alter the pollination and breeding structure of remnant trees. Previous studies of the Amazonian tree Dinizia excelsa (Fabaceae) found African honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata) as the predominant pollinators of trees in highly disturbed habitats, transporting pollen up to 3.2 km between pasture trees. Here, using microsatellite genotypes of seed arrays, we compare outcrossing rates and pollen dispersal distances of (i) remnant D. excelsa in three large ranches, and (ii) a population in undisturbed forest in which African honeybees were absent. Self-fertilization was more frequent in the disturbed habitats (14%, n = 277 seeds from 12 mothers) than in undisturbed forest (10%, n = 295 seeds from 13 mothers). Pollen dispersal was extensive in all three ranches compared to undisturbed forest, however. Using a twogener analysis, we estimated a mean pollen dispersal distance of 1509 m in Colosso ranch, assuming an exponential dispersal function, and 212 m in undisturbed forest. The low effective density of D. excelsa in undisturbed forest (approximately 0.1 trees/ha) indicates that large areas of rainforest must be preserved to maintain minimum viable populations. Our results also suggest, however, that in highly disturbed habitats Apis mellifera may expand genetic neighbourhood areas, thereby linking fragmented and continuous forest populations.

Soil phosphorus heterogeneity promotes tree species diversity and phylogenetic clustering in a tropical seasonal rainforest.

PubMed

Xu, Wumei; Ci, Xiuqin; Song, Caiyun; He, Tianhua; Zhang, Wenfu; Li, Qiaoming; Li, Jie

2016-12-01

The niche theory predicts that environmental heterogeneity and species diversity are positively correlated in tropical forests, whereas the neutral theory suggests that stochastic processes are more important in determining species diversity. This study sought to investigate the effects of soil nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) heterogeneity on tree species diversity in the Xishuangbanna tropical seasonal rainforest in southwestern China. Thirty-nine plots of 400 m 2 (20 × 20 m) were randomly located in the Xishuangbanna tropical seasonal rainforest. Within each plot, soil nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) availability and heterogeneity, tree species diversity, and community phylogenetic structure were measured. Soil phosphorus heterogeneity and tree species diversity in each plot were positively correlated, while phosphorus availability and tree species diversity were not. The trees in plots with low soil phosphorus heterogeneity were phylogenetically overdispersed, while the phylogenetic structure of trees within the plots became clustered as heterogeneity increased. Neither nitrogen availability nor its heterogeneity was correlated to tree species diversity or the phylogenetic structure of trees within the plots. The interspecific competition in the forest plots with low soil phosphorus heterogeneity could lead to an overdispersed community. However, as heterogeneity increase, more closely related species may be able to coexist together and lead to a clustered community. Our results indicate that soil phosphorus heterogeneity significantly affects tree diversity in the Xishuangbanna tropical seasonal rainforest, suggesting that deterministic processes are dominant in this tropical forest assembly.

Measuring interdisciplinary research and education outcomes in the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carr, Gemma; Loucks, Daniel Pete; Blaschke, Alfred Paul; Bucher, Christian; Farnleitner, Andreas; Fürnkranz-Prskawetz, Alexia; Parajka, Juraj; Pfeifer, Norbert; Rechberger, Helmut; Wagner, Wolfgang; Zessner, Matthias; Blöschl, Günter

2015-04-01

The interdisciplinary postgraduate research and education programme - the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems - was initiated in 2009. To date, 35 research students, three post-docs and ten faculty members have been engaged in the Programme, from ten research fields (aquatic microbiology, hydrology, hydro-climatology, hydro-geology, mathematical economics, photogrammetry, remote sensing, resource management, structural mechanics, and water quality). The Programme aims to develop research students with the capacity to work across the disciplines, to conduct cutting edge research and foster an international perspective. To do this, a variety of mechanisms are adopted that include research cluster groups, joint study sites, joint supervision, a basic study programme and a research semester abroad. The Programme offers a unique case study to explore if and how these mechanisms lead to research and education outcomes. Outcomes are grouped according to whether they are tangible (publications with co-authors from more than one research field, analysis of graduate profiles and career destinations) or non-tangible (interaction between researchers, networks and trust). A mixed methods approach that includes bibliometric analysis combined with interviews with students is applied. Bibliometric analysis shows that as the Programme has evolved the amount of multi-disciplinary work has increased (32% of the 203 full papers produced by the programme's researchers have authors from more than one research field). Network analysis to explore which research fields collaborate most frequently show that hydrology plays a significant role and has collaborated with seven of the ten research fields. Hydrology researchers seem to interact the most strongly with other research fields as they contribute understanding on water system processes. Network analysis to explore which individuals collaborate shows that much joint work takes place through the five research cluster groups (water resource management, land-surface processes, Hydrological Open Air Laboratory, water and health, modelling and risk). Student interviews highlight that trust between colleagues and supervisors, and the role of spaces for interaction (joint study sites, cluster group meetings, shared offices etc.) are important for joint work. Graduate analysis shows that students develop skills and confidence to work across disciplines through collaborating on their doctoral research. Working collaboratively during the doctorate appears to be strongly correlated with continuing to work in this way after graduation.

Contextualising impacts of logging on tropical rainforest catchment sediment dynamics using the stratigraphic record of in-channel bench deposits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blake, Will; Walsh, Rory; Bidin, Kawi; Annammala, Kogila

2015-04-01

It is widely recognised that commercial logging and conversion of tropical rainforest to oil palm plantation leads to enhanced fluvial sediment flux to the coastal zone but the dynamics of delivery and mechanisms that act to retain sediment and nutrients within rainforest ecosystems, e.g. riparian zone and floodplain storage, are poorly understood and underexploited as a management tool. While accretion of lateral in-channel bench deposits in response to forest clearance has been demonstrated in temperate landscapes, their development and value as sedimentary archives of catchment response to human disturbance remains largely unexplored in tropical rainforest river systems. Working within the Segama River basin, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, this study aimed to test the hypothesis that (1) lateral bench development in tropical rainforest rivers systems is enhanced by upstream catchment disturbance and that (2) the sedimentary record of these deposits can be used to infer changes in sediment provenance and intensification of sediment flux associated with logging activities. Sediment cores were taken from in-channel bench deposits with upstream catchment contributing areas of 721 km2 and 2800 km2 respectively. Accretion rates were determined using fallout 210Pb and 137Cs and the timing of peak accumulation was shown to correspond exactly with the known temporal pattern of logging and associated fluvial sediment response over the period 1980 to present following low pre-logging rates. Major and minor element geochemistry of deposits was used to assess the degree of weathering that deposited sediment had experienced. This was linked to surface (heavily weathered) and subsurface (less weathered) sediment sources relating to initial disturbance by logging and post-logging landsliding responses respectively. A shift in the dominant source of deposited material from surface (i.e. topsoil) to subsurface (i.e. relatively unweathered subsoil close to bedrock) origin was observed to coincide with the increase in accretion rates following logging of steep headwater slopes. Coherence of sedimentary, monitoring and observational evidence demonstrates that in-channel bench deposits offer a previously unexplored sedimentary archive of catchment response to logging in tropical rainforest systems and a tool for evaluating the erosional responses of ungauged basins. In-channel bench development due to catchment disturbance may augment ecosystem services provided by the riparian corridors of larger rivers and process knowledge gained from sedimentary archives can be used to underpin future riparian and catchment forest management strategies.

The hyper-diverse ant genus Tetramorium Mayr (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Malagasy region taxonomic revision of the T. naganum, T. plesiarum, T. schaufussii, and T. severini species groups

PubMed Central

Hita Garcia, Francisco; Fisher, Brian L.

2014-01-01

Abstract The taxonomy of the Tetramorium naganum, T. plesiarum, T. schaufussii, and T. severini species groups are revised for the Malagasy region. A total of 31 species are treated, of which 22 are newly described and nine redescribed. This increases the richness of the hyper-diverse genus Tetramorium in the Malagasy region to 106 species, which makes it the most species-rich genus in the region. Twenty-nine of the treated species are endemic to Madagascar, one is endemic to the Comoros, and one species is found predominantly in Madagascar but also on the island of Reunion. The T. naganum species group contains five species, which are mainly distributed in the rainforests and montane rainforests of eastern and northern Madagascar: T. alperti sp. n., T. dalek sp. n., T. enkidu sp. n., T. gilgamesh sp. n., and T. naganum Bolton, 1979. The T. plesiarum species group holds five species: T. bressleri sp. n., T. hobbit sp. n., T. gollum sp. n., T. mars sp. n., and T. plesiarum Bolton, 1979. All five are arid-adapted species occurring in the southwest and west of Madagascar. The second-most species-rich group in the region is the T. schaufussii species group with 20 species, most of which inhabit rainforests or montane rainforests of eastern and northern Madagascar. This group includes two species complexes each containing ten species: the T. cognatum complex with the species T. aspis sp. n., T. camelliae sp. n., T. cognatum Bolton, 1979, T. freya sp. n., T. gladius sp. n., T. karthala sp. n., T. myrmidon sp. n., T. proximum Bolton, 1979, T. rumo sp. n., and T. tenuinode sp. n.; and the T. schaufussii complex with the species T. merina sp. n., T. monticola sp. n., T. nassonowii Forel, 1892 stat. n., T. obiwan sp. n., T. pseudogladius sp. n., T. rala sp. n., T. schaufussii Forel, 1891, T. sikorae Forel, 1892 (= T. latior (Santschi, 1926)), T. scutum sp. n., T. xanthogaster Santschi, 1911. The last group treated in this study is the T. severini species group, which contains only the species T. severini (Emery, 1895). This very conspicuous species is widely distributed in the rainforests and montane rainforests of eastern and northern Madagascar. All four groups are fully revised with group diagnoses, illustrated species-level identification keys, and detailed descriptions for all species that include multifocused montage images and distribution maps. PMID:25009414

Wine biotechnology in South Africa: towards a systems approach to wine science.

PubMed

Moore, John P; Divol, Benoit; Young, Philip R; Nieuwoudt, Hélène H; Ramburan, Viresh; du Toit, Maret; Bauer, Florian F; Vivier, Melané A

2008-11-01

The wine industry in South Africa is over three centuries old and over the last decade has reemerged as a significant competitor in world wine markets. The Institute for Wine Biotechnology (IWBT) was established in partnership with the Department of Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University to foster basic fundamental research in the wine sciences leading to applications in the broader wine and grapevine industries. This review focuses on the different research programmes of the Institute (grapevine, yeast and bacteria biotechnology programmes, and chemical-analytical research), commercialisation activities (SunBio) and new initiatives to integrate the various research disciplines. An important focus of future research is the Wine Science Research Niche Area programme, which connects the different research thrusts of the IWBT and of several research partners in viticulture, oenology, food science and chemistry. This 'Functional Wine-omics' programme uses a systems biology approach to wine-related organisms. The data generated within the programme will be integrated with other data sets from viticulture, oenology, analytical chemistry and the sensory sciences through chemometrics and other statistical tools. The aim of the programme is to model aspects of the wine making process, from the vineyard to the finished product.

Evaluating the Success of a Science Academic Development Programme at a Research-Intensive University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engelbrecht, Johann; Harding, Ansie; Potgieter, Marietjie

2014-01-01

Academic development (AD) programmes for students not complying with the entrance requirements of mainstream programmes in science have been running at a number of universities in South Africa. In this study we contribute to the debate on criteria for the success of AD programmes, specifically in the context of research-intensive universities in…

Real-time DNA barcoding in a rainforest using nanopore sequencing: opportunities for rapid biodiversity assessments and local capacity building.

PubMed

Pomerantz, Aaron; Peñafiel, Nicolás; Arteaga, Alejandro; Bustamante, Lucas; Pichardo, Frank; Coloma, Luis A; Barrio-Amorós, César L; Salazar-Valenzuela, David; Prost, Stefan

2018-04-01

Advancements in portable scientific instruments provide promising avenues to expedite field work in order to understand the diverse array of organisms that inhabit our planet. Here, we tested the feasibility for in situ molecular analyses of endemic fauna using a portable laboratory fitting within a single backpack in one of the world's most imperiled biodiversity hotspots, the Ecuadorian Chocó rainforest. We used portable equipment, including the MinION nanopore sequencer (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) and the miniPCR (miniPCR), to perform DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction amplification, and real-time DNA barcoding of reptile specimens in the field. We demonstrate that nanopore sequencing can be implemented in a remote tropical forest to quickly and accurately identify species using DNA barcoding, as we generated consensus sequences for species resolution with an accuracy of >99% in less than 24 hours after collecting specimens. The flexibility of our mobile laboratory further allowed us to generate sequence information at the Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica in Quito for rare, endangered, and undescribed species. This includes the recently rediscovered Jambato toad, which was thought to be extinct for 28 years. Sequences generated on the MinION required as few as 30 reads to achieve high accuracy relative to Sanger sequencing, and with further multiplexing of samples, nanopore sequencing can become a cost-effective approach for rapid and portable DNA barcoding. Overall, we establish how mobile laboratories and nanopore sequencing can help to accelerate species identification in remote areas to aid in conservation efforts and be applied to research facilities in developing countries. This opens up possibilities for biodiversity studies by promoting local research capacity building, teaching nonspecialists and students about the environment, tackling wildlife crime, and promoting conservation via research-focused ecotourism.

Building capacity for medical education research in family medicine: the Program for Innovation in Medical Education (PIME).

PubMed

Archibald, Douglas; Hogg, William; Lemelin, Jacques; Dahrouge, Simone; St Jean, Mireille; Boucher, François

2017-10-23

Despite the apparent benefits to teaching, many faculty members are reluctant to participate in medical education research (MER) for a variety of reasons. In addition to the further demand on their time, physicians often lack the confidence to initiate MER projects and require more support in the form of funding, structure and guidance. These obstacles have contributed to a decline in physician participation in MER as well as to a perceived decay in its quality. As a countermeasure to encourage physicians to undertake research, the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa implemented a programme in which physicians receive the funding, coaching and support staff necessary to complete a 2-year research project. The programme is intended primarily for first-time researchers and is meant to serve as a gateway to a research career funded by external grants. Since its inception in 2010, the Program for Innovation in Medical Education (PIME) has supported 16 new clinician investigators across 14 projects. We performed a programme evaluation 3 years after the programme launched to assess its utility to participants. This evaluation employed semi-structured interviews with physicians who performed a research project within the programme. Programme participants stated that their confidence in conducting research had improved and that they felt well supported throughout their project. They appreciated the collaborative nature of the programme and remarked that it had improved their willingness to solicit the expertise of others. Finally, the programme allowed participants to develop in the scholarly role expected by family physicians in Canada. The PIME may serve as a helpful model for institutions seeking to engage faculty physicians in Medical Education Research and to thereby enhance the teaching received by their medical learners.

Vegetation and climate variability in tropical and subtropical South America during the late Quaternary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behling, H.

2013-05-01

Detailed palynological studies from different ecosystems in tropical and subtropical South America reflect interesting vegetation and climate dynamics, in particular during glacial and late glacial times. Records from ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest, savanna, Caatinga, Atlantic rainforest, Araucaria forest and grasslands provide interesting insight of past climate variability. The influence of events such as Dansgaard-Oeschger, Heinnrich stadials, changes in the thermohaline circulation (THC) will be discussed. In particular the Younger Dryas (YD) period shows at different places distinct vegetational changes, revealing unexpected past climatic conditions.

A new species of Phyllodytes (Anura: Hylidae) from the Atlantic Rainforest of southern Bahia, Brazil.

PubMed

Vörös, Judit; Dias, Iuri Ribeiro; Solé, Mirco

2017-10-20

We describe Phyllodytes amadoi sp. nov., a species of treefrog from the Atlantic Rainforest of southern Bahia, Brazil. The new species can be diagnosed by its small body size (SVL 15.6-23.0 mm) and advertisement call with high dominant frequency (3.789-4.306 Hz). It is known from one locality in the Private Reserve of Natural Heritage Ararauna, in the municipality of Una (15° 18' 38.3" S, 39° 9' 55.9" W, 96 m a.s.l.).

New species of Microcentrum Scudder, 1862 (Orthoptera: Tettigonioidea: Phaneropteridae) from Amazon rainforest.

PubMed

Da Silva Sovano, Rafael S; Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J

2015-03-26

A regional study is performed for the Amazonian species of the genus Microcentrum Scudder, 1862, its proposed Microcentrum punctifrons Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891 as nomen dubium n. stat. and two new species are described: Microcentrum amacayacu Cadena-Casteñada, Sovano n. sp. and Microcentrum xavieri Sovano, Cadena-Casteñada n. sp. the Colombian and Brazilian Amazon, respectively. A list and a key to the Amazonian species are also provided, along with a discussion on their distribution, according to endemism areas established to Amazon rainforest.

Incidence of Fusarium moniliforme Sheld. in Zea mays L. in the rainforest zone of Nigeria.

PubMed

Iloba, C

1979-01-01

45 seed samples from 7 states of the rainforest zone of Nigeria (Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Bendel, Anambra, Imo, and Cross River) were screened for phytopathogen incidence. Whereas Drechslera maydis was found in 30 and Cephalosporium maydis in 79% of the samples were infected by Fusarium moniliforme, with 70% of the samples showing heavy infection. In view of the widespread nature of this economically important fungus on maize in the main cultivation area of Nigeria, the necessity for routine laboratory seed health tests is clearly indicated.

Effects of moisture content on coarse woody debris respiration in a tropical rainforest of Brunei Darussalam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roh, Y.; Li, G.; Han, S. H.; Abu Salim, K.; Son, Y.

2017-12-01

Since coarse woody debris (CWD) respiration (Rcwd) has an important role in carbon (C) cycling in forest ecosystems, it is a significant parameter in an investigation of CWD decomposition rate. Rcwd is known as to be influenced not only by environmental factors but also by CWD properties (e.g., moisture content). This study investigated the effects of CWD moisture content on Rcwd in a lowland mixed Dipterocarp tropical rainforest of Brunei Darussalam. CWDs in the forest were selected and categorized into two decay classes (sound and partially decomposed), and three diameter classes (10-20 cm, 20-30 cm, more than 30 cm). Samplings of CWDs were conducted in February and October, 2016. The fresh weight and Rcwd of the samples were measured within 24 h of sampling. Rcwd measurements were conducted using a closed chamber system with a diffusion-type, non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensor. In February, the fresh weight and Rcwd of the samples were remeasured, after submerging them in the fresh water for 24, 48, and 72 h. The Rcwd increased significantly with moisture content in February (r2=0.25, p<0.01). During the study period from February to October, 2016, the mean value of Rcwd (±SE) decreased from 18.26 (3.45) to 14.92 (2.67) mg C kg-1 h-1 (p<0.05), although the moisture content did not change significantly (p>0.05). Rcwd was lowest in the largest diameter class (p<0.01), and not significantly different between the decay classes (p>0.05). On the basis of these results, the Rcwd in this site was in the range of Rcwd in previous studies conducted in other tropical rainforests. Rcwd increased with moisture content, however, the contribution of moisture content to changes in Rcwd might not be influential during the eight months study period.*Supported by research grants from the Korea Forest Service (2017044B10-1719-BB01).

The Seasonal Cycle of the Radiation Budget and Cloud Radiative Effect in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collow, A.; Miller, M. A.

2015-12-01

The Amazon Rainforest of Brazil is a region with potential climate sensitivities, especially with ongoing land surface changes and biomass burning aerosols due to deforestation. Ubiquitous moisture in the area make clouds a common feature over the Amazon Rainforest and along with the influences from deforestation have a significant impact on the radiation budget. This region experiences a seasonal contrast in clouds, precipitation, and aerosols making it an ideal location to study the relationship between these variables and the radiation budget. An internationally sponsored campaign entitled GOAmazon2014/15 included a deployment of an Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility, which collected comprehensive measurements using in situ and remote sensors. Observations of clouds, aerosols, and radiative fluxes from the first year of the deployment are analyzed in conjunction with top of the atmosphere (TOA) observations from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and analyses from the newly released Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version-2 (MERRA-2). The combination of surface and TOA observations allows for the calculation of radiative flux divergence and cloud radiative effect (CRE) within the column, while the comparison to MERRA-2 enables the verification of a new reanalysis product and a view of the spatial variation of the radiation budget. Clouds are very reflective in the area, creating a cooling effect in the shortwave (SW) at the surface, with some seasonality present due to the reduction of optically thick clouds in the dry season. Clouds have little effect on the column itself in the SW due to the balance between the reflective and absorbing properties of the clouds with the majority of the impact on the atmosphere from clouds warming in the longwave. Influences of aerosols are seen in the dry season, and an increase in moisture above the Amazon River and its tributaries enhance the CRE.

Transforming research for food and health in Europe.

PubMed

McCarthy, M

2012-10-01

Eating causes up to a quarter of premature deaths from chronic diseases in Europe through poor diet and excess consumption. FAHRE (Food and Health Research in Europe) was funded to determine needs and gaps in research structures and programmes. Most food research links towards agriculture and the environmental sciences, whereas most health research links towards clinical diseases, biochemical pathways and biology. Research on food and health together includes food safety research addressing biological and chemical contaminants, and biotechnology research supporting clinical nutrition. Research for healthy eating must draw on social and behavioural sciences for studies of policy, regulation and interventions. The food industry, across production, retail and catering, must be part of the research programme, and civil society. Better coordination and improved levels of funding are needed in the coming European research programme 'Horizon 2020', and national programmes linked in the Joint Programming Initiative. Transforming the research agenda can give great benefits to Europe's citizens.

Hydrogel research in Germany: the priority programme, Intelligent Hydrogels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallmersperger, Thomas; Sadowski, Gabriele

2009-03-01

The priority programme "Intelligent Hydrogels" was established by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in 2006 in order to strengthen the hydrogel-related research in Germany. The programme is being coordinated by Gabriele Sadowski, Technische Universität Dortmund. The aim of this priority programme is to develop new methods for the synthesis and characterization of smart hydrogels and to develop new modelling strategies in order to a) prepare the hydrogels for special applications and/or b) to develop and extend their capabilities for any desired use. In this programme, 73 scientists (36 professors and 37 scientific assistants/PhD students) from all over Germany are involved, working in 23 projects.

Research Capacity Strengthening in Low and Middle Income Countries - An Evaluation of the WHO/TDR Career Development Fellowship Programme.

PubMed

Käser, Michael; Maure, Christine; Halpaap, Beatrice M M; Vahedi, Mahnaz; Yamaka, Sara; Launois, Pascal; Casamitjana, Núria

2016-05-01

Between August 2012 and April 2013 the Career Development Fellowship programme of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (World Health Organization) underwent an external evaluation to assess its past performance and determine recommendations for future programme development and continuous performance improvement. The programme provides a year-long training experience for qualified researchers from low and middle income countries at pharmaceutical companies or product development partnerships. Independent evaluators from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health used a results-based methodology to review the programme. Data were gathered through document review, surveys, and interviews with a range of programme participants. The final evaluation report found the Career Development Fellowship to be relevant to organizers' and programme objectives, efficient in its operations, and effective in its training scheme, which was found to address needs and gaps for both fellows and their home institutions. Evaluators found that the programme has the potential for impact and sustainability beyond the programme period, especially with the successful reintegration of fellows into their home institutions, through which newly-developed skills can be shared at the institutional level. Recommendations included the development of a scheme to support the re-integration of fellows into their home institutions post-fellowship and to seek partnerships to facilitate the scaling-up of the programme. The impact of the Professional Membership Scheme, an online professional development tool launched through the programme, beyond the scope of the Career Development Fellowship programme itself to other applications, has been identified as a positive unintended outcome. The results of this evaluation may be of interest for other efforts in the field of research capacity strengthening in LMICs or, generally, to other professional development schemes of a similar structure.

An international survey of cerebral palsy registers and surveillance systems

PubMed Central

Goldsmith, Shona; McIntyre, Sarah; Smithers-Sheedy, Hayley; Blair, Eve; Cans, Christine; Watson, Linda; Yeargin-Allsopp, Marshalyn

2016-01-01

AIM To describe cerebral palsy (CP) surveillance programmes and identify similarities and differences in governance and funding, aims and scope, definition, inclusion/exclusion criteria, ascertainment and data collection, to enhance the potential for research collaboration. METHOD Representatives from 38 CP surveillance programmes were invited to participate in an online survey and submit their data collection forms. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize information submitted. RESULTS Twenty-seven surveillance programmes participated (25 functioning registers, two closed owing to lack of funding). Their aims spanned five domains: resource for CP research, surveillance, aetiology/prevention, service planning, and information provision (in descending order of frequency). Published definitions guided decision making for the definition of CP and case eligibility for most programmes. Consent, case identification, and data collection methods varied widely. Ten key data items were collected by all programmes and a further seven by at least 80% of programmes. All programmes reported an interest in research collaboration. INTERPRETATION Despite variability in methodologies, similarities exist across programmes in terms of their aims, definitions, and data collected. These findings will facilitate harmonization of data and collaborative research efforts, which are so necessary on account of the heterogeneity and relatively low prevalence of CP. PMID:26781543

Ozone measurements in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirchhoff, V. W. J. H.

Several scientists of the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (Instituto de Pesquisas Espacias, or INPE; headquarters at Sāo Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo) went to Manaus (3°S, 60°W), in the central region of the Amazon forest during July-August 1985 to study the atmosphere of the equatorial rainforest. The expedition to the Amazon was part of a large binational atmospheric chemistry field campaign that was organized to measure several atmospheric gases of the forest environment. This was definitely the largest scientific field expedition in this field ever performed on Brazilian territory.

Classification of JERS-1 Image Mosaic of Central Africa Using A Supervised Multiscale Classifier of Texture Features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saatchi, Sassan; DeGrandi, Franco; Simard, Marc; Podest, Erika

1999-01-01

In this paper, a multiscale approach is introduced to classify the Japanese Research Satellite-1 (JERS-1) mosaic image over the Central African rainforest. A series of texture maps are generated from the 100 m mosaic image at various scales. Using a quadtree model and relating classes at each scale by a Markovian relationship, the multiscale images are classified from course to finer scale. The results are verified at various scales and the evolution of classification is monitored by calculating the error at each stage.

A new framework for designing programmes of assessment

PubMed Central

Van der Vleuten, C. P. M.; Schuwirth, L. W. T.

2009-01-01

Research on assessment in medical education has strongly focused on individual measurement instruments and their psychometric quality. Without detracting from the value of this research, such an approach is not sufficient to high quality assessment of competence as a whole. A programmatic approach is advocated which presupposes criteria for designing comprehensive assessment programmes and for assuring their quality. The paucity of research with relevance to programmatic assessment, and especially its development, prompted us to embark on a research project to develop design principles for programmes of assessment. We conducted focus group interviews to explore the experiences and views of nine assessment experts concerning good practices and new ideas about theoretical and practical issues in programmes of assessment. The discussion was analysed, mapping all aspects relevant for design onto a framework, which was iteratively adjusted to fit the data until saturation was reached. The overarching framework for designing programmes of assessment consists of six assessment programme dimensions: Goals, Programme in Action, Support, Documenting, Improving and Accounting. The model described in this paper can help to frame programmes of assessment; it not only provides a common language, but also a comprehensive picture of the dimensions to be covered when formulating design principles. It helps identifying areas concerning assessment in which ample research and development has been done. But, more importantly, it also helps to detect underserved areas. A guiding principle in design of assessment programmes is fitness for purpose. High quality assessment can only be defined in terms of its goals. PMID:19821042

A new framework for designing programmes of assessment.

PubMed

Dijkstra, J; Van der Vleuten, C P M; Schuwirth, L W T

2010-08-01

Research on assessment in medical education has strongly focused on individual measurement instruments and their psychometric quality. Without detracting from the value of this research, such an approach is not sufficient to high quality assessment of competence as a whole. A programmatic approach is advocated which presupposes criteria for designing comprehensive assessment programmes and for assuring their quality. The paucity of research with relevance to programmatic assessment, and especially its development, prompted us to embark on a research project to develop design principles for programmes of assessment. We conducted focus group interviews to explore the experiences and views of nine assessment experts concerning good practices and new ideas about theoretical and practical issues in programmes of assessment. The discussion was analysed, mapping all aspects relevant for design onto a framework, which was iteratively adjusted to fit the data until saturation was reached. The overarching framework for designing programmes of assessment consists of six assessment programme dimensions: Goals, Programme in Action, Support, Documenting, Improving and Accounting. The model described in this paper can help to frame programmes of assessment; it not only provides a common language, but also a comprehensive picture of the dimensions to be covered when formulating design principles. It helps identifying areas concerning assessment in which ample research and development has been done. But, more importantly, it also helps to detect underserved areas. A guiding principle in design of assessment programmes is fitness for purpose. High quality assessment can only be defined in terms of its goals.

Initiating an Action Research Programme for University EFL Teachers: Early Experiences and Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Anne; Westmacott, Anne; Ferrer, Antonieta Hidalgo

2016-01-01

Accounts of how teacher educators begin to plan, develop, and support action research programmes for language teachers are rare, as are descriptions of the responses of the teachers who participate. This article documents and analyses the initial processes of introducing and supporting a new programme of action research for language teachers at…

Researching the Impact of Teacher Professional Development Programmes Based on Action Research, Constructivism, and Systems Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zehetmeier, Stefan; Andreitz, Irina; Erlacher, Willibald; Rauch, Franz

2015-01-01

This paper deals with the topic of professional development programmes' impact. Concepts and ideas of action research, constructivism, and systems theory are used as a theoretical framework and are combined to describe and analyse an exemplary professional development programme in Austria. Empirical findings from both quantitative and qualitative…

Redeveloping a Business Undergraduate Honours Research Degree to Improve Educational Outcomes: Implications for PhD Supervision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitsis, Ann

2015-01-01

There are many challenges that undergraduate students face when studying an honours research degree. Honours programmes though traditionally considered within the business discipline as a loss leader, nevertheless, form a direct entry requirement for PhD programmes. The honours degree can be considered a formative research programme for student…

Simulating Forest Dynamics of Lowland Rainforests in Eastern Madagascar

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, Amanda; Fischer, Rico; Huth, Andreas; Shugart, Herman; Fatoyinbo, Temilola

2018-01-01

Ecological modeling and forecasting are essential tools for the understanding of complex vegetation dynamics. The parametric demands of some of these models are often lacking or scant for threatened ecosystems, particularly in diverse tropical ecosystems. One such ecosystem and also one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, Madagascar's lowland rainforests, have disappeared at an alarming rate. The processes that drive tree species growth and distribution remain as poorly understood as the species themselves. We investigated the application of the process-based individual-based FORMIND model to successfully simulate a Madagascar lowland rainforest using previously collected multi-year forest inventory plot data. We inspected the model's ability to characterize growth and species abundance distributions over the study site, and then validated the model with an independently collected forest-inventory dataset from another lowland rainforest in eastern Madagascar. Following a comparative analysis using inventory data from the two study sites, we found that FORMIND accurately captures the structure and biomass of the study forest, with r(squared) values of 0.976, 0.895, and 0.995 for 1:1 lines comparing observed and simulated values across all plant functional types for aboveground biomass (tonnes/ha), stem numbers, and basal area (m(squared)/ha), respectively. Further, in validation with a second study forest site, FORMIND also compared well, only slightly over-estimating shade-intermediate species as compared to the study site, and slightly under-representing shade-tolerant species in percentage of total aboveground biomass. As an important application of the FORMIND model, we measured the net ecosystem exchange (NEE, in tons of carbon per hectare per year) for 50 ha of simulated forest over a 1000-year run from bare ground. We found that NEE values ranged between 1 and -1 t Cha(exp -1)year(exp -1), consequently the study forest can be considered as a net neutral or a very slight carbon sink ecosystem, after the initial 130 years of growth. Our study found that FORMIND represents a valuable tool toward simulating forest dynamics in the immensely diverse Madagascar rainforests.

Contribution of aboveground plant respiration to carbon cycling in a Bornean tropical rainforet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katayama, Ayumi; Tanaka, Kenzo; Ichie, Tomoaki; Kume, Tomonori; Matsumoto, Kazuho; Ohashi, Mizue; Kumagai, Tomo'omi

2014-05-01

Bornean tropical rainforests have a different characteristic from Amazonian tropical rainforests, that is, larger aboveground biomass caused by higher stand density of large trees. Larger biomass may cause different carbon cycling and allocation pattern. However, there are fewer studies on carbon allocation and each component in Bornean tropical rainforests, especially for aboveground plant respiration, compared to Amazonian forests. In this study, we measured woody tissue respiration and leaf respiration, and estimated those in ecosystem scale in a Bornean tropical rainforest. Then, we examined carbon allocation using the data of soil respiration and aboveground net primary production obtained from our previous studies. Woody tissue respiration rate was positively correlated with diameter at breast height (dbh) and stem growth rate. Using the relationships and biomass data, we estimated woody tissue respiration in ecosystem scale though methods of scaling resulted in different estimates values (4.52 - 9.33 MgC ha-1 yr-1). Woody tissue respiration based on surface area (8.88 MgC ha-1 yr-1) was larger than those in Amazon because of large aboveground biomass (563.0 Mg ha-1). Leaf respiration rate was positively correlated with height. Using the relationship and leaf area density data at each 5-m height, leaf respiration in ecosystem scale was estimated (9.46 MgC ha-1 yr-1), which was similar to those in Amazon because of comparable LAI (5.8 m2 m-2). Gross primary production estimated from biometric measurements (44.81 MgC ha-1 yr-1) was much higher than those in Amazon, and more carbon was allocated to woody tissue respiration and total belowground carbon flux. Large tree with dbh > 60cm accounted for about half of aboveground biomass and aboveground biomass increment. Soil respiration was also related to position of large trees, resulting in high soil respiration rate in this study site. Photosynthesis ability of top canopy for large trees was high and leaves for the large trees accounted for 30% of total, which can lead high GPP. These results suggest that large trees play considerable role in carbon cycling and make a distinctive carbon allocation in the Bornean tropical rainforest.

Public health research systems in the European union

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Strengthening health research is an important objective for international health organisations, but there has been less attention to support for health research in Europe. We describe the public-health (population and organisational level) research systems in the 27 European Union countries. Methods We developed a typology for describing health research structures based on funding streams and strategies. We drew data from internet sources and asked country informants to review these for consistency and completeness. The structures were described as organograms and narratives in country profiles for each of the 27 EU member states. National public-health research structures included public and independent funding organisations, 'mixed' institutions (which receive funds, and both use and allocate them) and provider institutions. Results Most health research is funded through ministries of science or science councils (and sometimes foundations), while parliaments and regions may also contribute. National institutes of public health are usually funded by ministries of health. Many national research organisations both determine research programmes and undertake health research, but there is a move towards public-health sciences within the universities, and a transition from internal grants to competitive funding. Of 27 national research strategies, 17 referred to health and 11 to public health themes. Although all countries had strategies for public health itself, we found little coherence in public-health research programmes. The European Commission has country contact points for both EU research and health programmes, but they do not coordinate with national health-research programmes. Conclusions Public-health research is broadly distributed across programmes in EU countries. Better understanding of research structures, programmes and results would improve recognition for public health in Europe, and contribute to practice. EU ministries of health should give greater attention to national public-health research strategies and programmes, and the European Union and the World Health Organisation can provide coordination and support. PMID:21970897

The effects of placing an operational research fellow within the Viet Nam National Tuberculosis Programme.

PubMed

Hoa, N B; Nhung, N V; Kumar, A M V; Harries, A D

2016-12-21

In April 2009, an operational research fellow was placed within the Viet Nam National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP). Over the 6 years from 2010 to 2015, the OR fellow co-authored 21 tuberculosis research papers (as principal author in 15 [71%]). This constituted 23% of the 91 tuberculosis papers published in Viet Nam during this period. Of the 21 published papers, 16 (76%) contributed to changes in policy ( n = 8) and practice ( n = 8), and these in turn improved programme performance. Many papers also contributed important evidence for better programme planning. Highly motivated OR fellows embedded within NTPs can facilitate high-quality research and research uptake.

Leadership as a Health Research Policy Intervention: An Evaluation of the NIHR Leadership Programme (Phase 2).

PubMed

Marjanovic, Sonja; Cochrane, Gavin; Manville, Catriona; Harte, Emma; Chataway, Joanna; Jones, Molly Morgan

2016-01-29

In early 2012, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) leadership programme was re-commissioned for a further three years following an evaluation by RAND Europe. During this new phase of the programme, we conducted a real-time evaluation, the aim of which was to allow for reflection on and adjustment of the programme on an on-going basis as events unfold. This approach also allowed for participants on the programme to contribute to and positively engage in the evaluation. The study aimed to understand the outputs and impacts from the programme, and to test the underlying assumptions behind the NIHR Leadership Programme as a science policy intervention. Evidence on outputs and impacts of the programme were collected around the motivations and expectations of participants, programme design and individual-, institutional- and system-level impacts.

Past Human Disturbance Effects upon Biodiversity are Greatest in the Canopy; A Case Study on Rainforest Butterflies.

PubMed

Whitworth, Andrew; Villacampa, Jaime; Brown, Alice; Huarcaya, Ruthmery Pillco; Downie, Roger; MacLeod, Ross

2016-01-01

A key part of tropical forest spatial complexity is the vertical stratification of biodiversity, with widely differing communities found in higher rainforest strata compared to terrestrial levels. Despite this, our understanding of how human disturbance may differentially affect biodiversity across vertical strata of tropical forests has been slow to develop. For the first time, how the patterns of current biodiversity vary between three vertical strata within a single forest, subject to three different types of historic anthropogenic disturbance, was directly assessed. In total, 229 species of butterfly were detected, with a total of 5219 individual records. Butterfly species richness, species diversity, abundance and community evenness differed markedly between vertical strata. We show for the first time, for any group of rainforest biodiversity, that different vertical strata within the same rainforest, responded differently in areas with different historic human disturbance. Differences were most notable within the canopy. Regenerating forest following complete clearance had 47% lower canopy species richness than regenerating forest that was once selectively logged, while the reduction in the mid-storey was 33% and at ground level, 30%. These results also show for the first time that even long term regeneration (over the course of 30 years) may be insufficient to erase differences in biodiversity linked to different types of human disturbance. We argue, along with other studies, that ignoring the potential for more pronounced effects of disturbance on canopy fauna, could lead to the underestimation of the effects of habitat disturbance on biodiversity, and thus the overestimation of the conservation value of regenerating forests more generally.

Past Human Disturbance Effects upon Biodiversity are Greatest in the Canopy; A Case Study on Rainforest Butterflies

PubMed Central

Whitworth, Andrew; Villacampa, Jaime; Brown, Alice; Huarcaya, Ruthmery Pillco; Downie, Roger; MacLeod, Ross

2016-01-01

A key part of tropical forest spatial complexity is the vertical stratification of biodiversity, with widely differing communities found in higher rainforest strata compared to terrestrial levels. Despite this, our understanding of how human disturbance may differentially affect biodiversity across vertical strata of tropical forests has been slow to develop. For the first time, how the patterns of current biodiversity vary between three vertical strata within a single forest, subject to three different types of historic anthropogenic disturbance, was directly assessed. In total, 229 species of butterfly were detected, with a total of 5219 individual records. Butterfly species richness, species diversity, abundance and community evenness differed markedly between vertical strata. We show for the first time, for any group of rainforest biodiversity, that different vertical strata within the same rainforest, responded differently in areas with different historic human disturbance. Differences were most notable within the canopy. Regenerating forest following complete clearance had 47% lower canopy species richness than regenerating forest that was once selectively logged, while the reduction in the mid-storey was 33% and at ground level, 30%. These results also show for the first time that even long term regeneration (over the course of 30 years) may be insufficient to erase differences in biodiversity linked to different types of human disturbance. We argue, along with other studies, that ignoring the potential for more pronounced effects of disturbance on canopy fauna, could lead to the underestimation of the effects of habitat disturbance on biodiversity, and thus the overestimation of the conservation value of regenerating forests more generally. PMID:26950438

Kerteszia Theobald (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes and bromeliads: A landscape ecology approach regarding two species in the Atlantic rainforest.

PubMed

Chaves, Leonardo Suveges Moreira; Rodrigues de Sá, Ivy Luizi; Bergamaschi, Denise Pimentel; Sallum, Maria Anice Mureb

2016-12-01

On the ecological scale of an organism, a homogeneous geographical landscape can represent a mosaic of heterogeneous landscapes. The bionomy of Kerteszia mosquitoes can contribute to foundation landscape ecology by virtue of in the role of the configuration and composition of the habitat played in the distribution of mosquito species. Thus, this study aimed: to compare the abundance of Kerteszia in dense tropical rainforest, restinga and rural area, to assess the bioecological characteristics of the main bromeliads hosting Kerteszia, and to associate the bioecological arrangement of the bromeliads with Kerteszia distribution. Field collections were conducted in a monthly schedule from December of 2010 to November 2011. The vegetation of landscapes was characterized on the basis of a digital cartographic database, the manual of the Brazilian vegetation, environmental atlas information, satellite images and visits to the sites. Multivariate generalized linear models were employed using the R-project statistical program. The results were: Anopheles cruzii was the most frequent species in dense tropical rainforest (67.42%), with a positive association (deviance=25.8; P=0.002). Anopheles bellator was more abundant in the Restinga area (78.97%), with a positive association (deviance=10.4, P=0.018). There was a positive aggregation of Restinga with An. bellator (RR=2.42) but a lower level with An. cruzii (RR=0.31). Thus we can conclude that landscape characteristics influence the distribution of Kerteszia mosquitoes. An. bellator has a higher prevalence in Restinga areas, whereas An. cruzii was the most prevalent in the dense tropical rainforest. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

How might Australian rainforest cloud interception respond to climate change?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, Jim; McJannet, Dave

2013-02-01

SummaryThe lower and upper montane rainforests in northern Queensland receive significant amounts of cloud interception that affect both in situ canopy wetness and downstream runoff. Cloud interception contributes 5-30% of the annual water input to the canopy and this increases to 40-70% of the monthly water input during the dry season. This occult water is therefore an important input to the canopy, sustaining the epiphytes, mosses and other species that depend on wet canopy conditions. The potential effect of climate change on cloud interception was examined using the relationship between cloud interception and cloud frequency derived from measurements made at four different rainforest locations. Any given change in cloud frequency produces a greater change in cloud interception and this 'amplification' increases from 1.1 to 1.7 as cloud frequency increases from 5% to 70%. This means that any changes in cloud frequency will have the greatest relative effects at the higher altitude sites where cloud interception is greatest. As cloud frequency is also a major factor affecting canopy wetness, any given change in cloud frequency will therefore have a greater impact on canopy wetness at the higher altitude sites. These changes in wetness duration will augment those due to changes in rainfall and may have important implications for the fauna and flora that depend on wet canopy conditions. We also found that the Australian rainforests may be more efficient (by ˜50% on average) in intercepting cloud water than American coniferous forests, which may be due to differences in canopy structure and exposure at the different sites.

Fluxes of isoprene and monoterpenes emitted by Tapajos National Forest, eastern central Amazonian rainforest, Santarem-PA, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alves, E. G.; Batalha, S. S. A.; Park, J. H.; Seco, R.; Tota, J.; Santana, R. A. S. D.; Guenther, A. B.; Kim, S.; Smith, J. N.; Souza, R. A. F. D.

2014-12-01

Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs) play an important role in atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemical cycles. It is known that tropical forests are the biggest source of the dominant BVOCs (i.e. isoprene and monoterpenes) emitted to the atmosphere. Nevertheless, Amazonian rainforest, the world's largest tropical rainforest, has been poorly explored for isoprene and monoterpene emissions. Recently (June and July 2014), we deployed a PTR-TOF-MS (Proton Transfer Reaction - Time of Flight - Mass Spectrometer) to quantify isoprene and monoterpene emissions using the eddy covariance flux method at the FLONA Tapajos (Floresta Nacional do Tapajos; Tapajos National Forest) in the eastern central Amazon rainforest, Santarem-PA, Brazil. The sample inlet and a 3D-sonic anemometer were located above the forest canopy (~65m), and the air was sampled through a long Teflon tube (100m) with high flow rate (40L/min) to the PTR-TOF-MS. From preliminary results for the first 3 days, concentrations and fluxes of m/z 69 (isoprene; C5H8-H+) and m/z 137 (total monoterpenes; C10H16-H+) showed a clear circadian cycle (high during daytime and low at nighttime), suggesting the emissions of these compounds are light and temperature dependent. Our study provides the first PTR-TOF-MS flux observations of isoprene and total monoterpenes at the Flona Tapajos. Moreover, since there are variations on the emissions, when comparing different environments of the huge Amazon basin, these results from eastern central Amazonia will contribute to improving regional and global BVOC emission model estimates.

Unveiling the diet of elusive rainforest herbivores in next generation sequencing era? The tapir as a case study.

PubMed

Hibert, Fabrice; Taberlet, Pierre; Chave, Jérôme; Scotti-Saintagne, Caroline; Sabatier, Daniel; Richard-Hansen, Cécile

2013-01-01

Characterizing the trophic relationships between large herbivores and the outstanding plant diversity in rainforest is a major challenge because of their elusiveness. This is crucial to understand the role of these herbivores in the functioning of the rainforest ecosystems. We tested a non-invasive approach based on the high-throughput sequencing of environmental samples using small plant plastid sequences (the trnL P6 loop) and ribosomal ITS1 primers, referred to as DNA metabarcoding, to investigate the diet of the largest neotropical herbivore, the lowland tapir. Sequencing was performed on plant DNA extracted from tapir faeces collected at the Nouragues station, a protected area of French Guiana. In spite of a limited sampling, our approach reliably provided information about the lowland tapir's diet at this site. Indeed, 95.1% and 74.4% of the plant families and genera identified thanks to the trnL P6 loop, respectively, matched with taxa already known to be consumed by tapirs. With this approach we were able to show that two families and eight new genera are also consumed by the lowland tapir. The taxonomic resolution of this method is limited to the plant family and genera. Complementary barcodes, such as a small portion of ITS1, can be used to efficiently narrow identifications down to the species in some problematic families. We will discuss the remaining limitations of this approach and how useful it is at this stage to unravel the diet of elusive rainforest herbivores and better understand their role as engineers of the ecosystem.

Unveiling the Diet of Elusive Rainforest Herbivores in Next Generation Sequencing Era? The Tapir as a Case Study

PubMed Central

Hibert, Fabrice; Taberlet, Pierre; Chave, Jérôme; Scotti-Saintagne, Caroline; Sabatier, Daniel; Richard-Hansen, Cécile

2013-01-01

Characterizing the trophic relationships between large herbivores and the outstanding plant diversity in rainforest is a major challenge because of their elusiveness. This is crucial to understand the role of these herbivores in the functioning of the rainforest ecosystems. We tested a non-invasive approach based on the high-throughput sequencing of environmental samples using small plant plastid sequences (the trnL P6 loop) and ribosomal ITS1 primers, referred to as DNA metabarcoding, to investigate the diet of the largest neotropical herbivore, the lowland tapir. Sequencing was performed on plant DNA extracted from tapir faeces collected at the Nouragues station, a protected area of French Guiana. In spite of a limited sampling, our approach reliably provided information about the lowland tapir's diet at this site. Indeed, 95.1% and 74.4% of the plant families and genera identified thanks to the trnL P6 loop, respectively, matched with taxa already known to be consumed by tapirs. With this approach we were able to show that two families and eight new genera are also consumed by the lowland tapir. The taxonomic resolution of this method is limited to the plant family and genera. Complementary barcodes, such as a small portion of ITS1, can be used to efficiently narrow identifications down to the species in some problematic families. We will discuss the remaining limitations of this approach and how useful it is at this stage to unravel the diet of elusive rainforest herbivores and better understand their role as engineers of the ecosystem. PMID:23560107

Estimate of fine root production including the impact of decomposed roots in a Bornean tropical rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katayama, Ayumi; Khoon Koh, Lip; Kume, Tomonori; Makita, Naoki; Matsumoto, Kazuho; Ohashi, Mizue

2016-04-01

Considerable carbon is allocated belowground and used for respiration and production of roots. It is reported that approximately 40 % of GPP is allocated belowground in a Bornean tropical rainforest, which is much higher than those in Neotropical rainforests. This may be caused by high root production in this forest. Ingrowth core is a popular method for estimating fine root production, but recent study by Osawa et al. (2012) showed potential underestimates of this method because of the lack of consideration of the impact of decomposed roots. It is important to estimate fine root production with consideration for the decomposed roots, especially in tropics where decomposition rate is higher than other regions. Therefore, objective of this study is to estimate fine root production with consideration of decomposed roots using ingrowth cores and root litter-bag in the tropical rainforest. The study was conducted in Lambir Hills National Park in Borneo. Ingrowth cores and litter bags for fine roots were buried in March 2013. Eighteen ingrowth cores and 27 litter bags were collected in May, September 2013, March 2014 and March 2015, respectively. Fine root production was comparable to aboveground biomass increment and litterfall amount, and accounted only 10% of GPP in this study site, suggesting most of the carbon allocated to belowground might be used for other purposes. Fine root production was comparable to those in Neotropics. Decomposed roots accounted for 18% of fine root production. This result suggests that no consideration of decomposed fine roots may cause underestimate of fine root production.

A process-based investigation into the impact of the Congo basin deforestation on surface climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, Jean P.; Tompkins, Adrian M.; Bouka-Biona, Clobite; Sanda, I. Seidou

2015-06-01

The sensitivity of climate to the loss of the Congo basin rainforest through changes in land cover properties is examined using a regional climate model. The complete removal of the Congo basin rainforest results in a dipole rainfall anomaly pattern, characterized by a decrease (˜-42%) in rainfall over the western Congo and an increase (˜10%) in the basin's eastern part. Three further experiments systematically examine the individual response to the changes in albedo, surface roughness, and evapotranspiration efficiency that accompany deforestation. The increased albedo (˜) caused by the Congo basin rainforest clearance results in cooler and drier climate conditions over the entire basin. The drying is accompanied with a reduction in available surface energy. Reducing evapotranspiration efficiency or roughness length produces similar positive air temperature anomaly patterns. The decreased evapotranspiration efficiency leads to a dipole response in rainfall, similar to that resulting from a reduced surface roughness following Congo basin rainforest clearance. This precipitation anomaly pattern is strongly linked to the change in low-level water vapor transport, the influence of the Rift valley highlands, and the spatial pattern of water recycling activity. The climate responds linearly to the separate albedo, surface roughness, and evapotranspiration efficiency changes, which can be summed to produce a close approximation to the impact of the full deforestation experiment. It is suggested that the widely contrasting climate responses to deforestation in the literature could be partly due to the relative magnitude of change of the radiative and nonradiative parameterizations in their respective land surface schemes.

Ecological legacies of Indigenous fire management in high-latitude coastal temperate rainforests, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffman, K.; Lertzman, K. P.; Starzomski, B. M.

2016-12-01

Anthropogenic burning is considered to have little impact on coastal temperate rainforest fire regimes in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of North America, yet few long-term fire histories have been reconstructed in these forests. We use a multidisciplinary approach to reconstruct the ecological impact, scale, and legacies of historic fire regime variability in high-latitude coastal temperate rainforests located in British Columbia, Canada. We map seven centuries of fire activity with fire scars and records of stand establishment, and examine patterns in the distribution and composition of vegetation to assess whether fire was historically used as a tool for resource management. We conduct a paired study of 20 former Indigenous habitation and control sites across a 100 km2 island group to relate historic fire activity with long-term patterns of human land use and contemporary lightning strike densities. Fires were significantly associated with the locations of former Indigenous habitation sites, low and mixed in severity, and likely intentionally used to influence the composition and structure of vegetation, thus increasing the productivity of culturally important plants such as western redcedar, berry-producing shrubs, and bracken fern. Centuries of repeated anthropogenic burning have resulted in a mosaic of vegetation types in different stages of succession. These data are directly relevant to the management of contemporary forests as they do not support the widespread contention that old growth coastal temperate rainforests in this region are pristine landscapes where fire is rare, but more likely the result of long-term human land use practices.

Environmental impact of geometric earthwork construction in pre-Columbian Amazonia.

PubMed

Carson, John Francis; Whitney, Bronwen S; Mayle, Francis E; Iriarte, José; Prümers, Heiko; Soto, J Daniel; Watling, Jennifer

2014-07-22

There is considerable controversy over whether pre-Columbian (pre-A.D. 1492) Amazonia was largely "pristine" and sparsely populated by slash-and-burn agriculturists, or instead a densely populated, domesticated landscape, heavily altered by extensive deforestation and anthropogenic burning. The discovery of hundreds of large geometric earthworks beneath intact rainforest across southern Amazonia challenges its status as a pristine landscape, and has been assumed to indicate extensive pre-Columbian deforestation by large populations. We tested these assumptions using coupled local- and regional-scale paleoecological records to reconstruct land use on an earthwork site in northeast Bolivia within the context of regional, climate-driven biome changes. This approach revealed evidence for an alternative scenario of Amazonian land use, which did not necessitate labor-intensive rainforest clearance for earthwork construction. Instead, we show that the inhabitants exploited a naturally open savanna landscape that they maintained around their settlement despite the climatically driven rainforest expansion that began ∼2,000 y ago across the region. Earthwork construction and agriculture on terra firme landscapes currently occupied by the seasonal rainforests of southern Amazonia may therefore not have necessitated large-scale deforestation using stone tools. This finding implies far less labor--and potentially lower population density--than previously supposed. Our findings demonstrate that current debates over the magnitude and nature of pre-Columbian Amazonian land use, and its impact on global biogeochemical cycling, are potentially flawed because they do not consider this land use in the context of climate-driven forest-savanna biome shifts through the mid-to-late Holocene.

Environmental impact of geometric earthwork construction in pre-Columbian Amazonia

PubMed Central

Carson, John Francis; Whitney, Bronwen S.; Mayle, Francis E.; Iriarte, José; Prümers, Heiko; Soto, J. Daniel; Watling, Jennifer

2014-01-01

There is considerable controversy over whether pre-Columbian (pre-A.D. 1492) Amazonia was largely “pristine” and sparsely populated by slash-and-burn agriculturists, or instead a densely populated, domesticated landscape, heavily altered by extensive deforestation and anthropogenic burning. The discovery of hundreds of large geometric earthworks beneath intact rainforest across southern Amazonia challenges its status as a pristine landscape, and has been assumed to indicate extensive pre-Columbian deforestation by large populations. We tested these assumptions using coupled local- and regional-scale paleoecological records to reconstruct land use on an earthwork site in northeast Bolivia within the context of regional, climate-driven biome changes. This approach revealed evidence for an alternative scenario of Amazonian land use, which did not necessitate labor-intensive rainforest clearance for earthwork construction. Instead, we show that the inhabitants exploited a naturally open savanna landscape that they maintained around their settlement despite the climatically driven rainforest expansion that began ∼2,000 y ago across the region. Earthwork construction and agriculture on terra firme landscapes currently occupied by the seasonal rainforests of southern Amazonia may therefore not have necessitated large-scale deforestation using stone tools. This finding implies far less labor—and potentially lower population density—than previously supposed. Our findings demonstrate that current debates over the magnitude and nature of pre-Columbian Amazonian land use, and its impact on global biogeochemical cycling, are potentially flawed because they do not consider this land use in the context of climate-driven forest–savanna biome shifts through the mid-to-late Holocene. PMID:25002502

The impact on healthcare, policy and practice from 36 multi-project research programmes: findings from two reviews.

PubMed

Hanney, Steve; Greenhalgh, Trisha; Blatch-Jones, Amanda; Glover, Matthew; Raftery, James

2017-03-28

We sought to analyse the impacts found, and the methods used, in a series of assessments of programmes and portfolios of health research consisting of multiple projects. We analysed a sample of 36 impact studies of multi-project research programmes, selected from a wider sample of impact studies included in two narrative systematic reviews published in 2007 and 2016. We included impact studies in which the individual projects in a programme had been assessed for wider impact, especially on policy or practice, and where findings had been described in such a way that allowed them to be collated and compared. Included programmes were highly diverse in terms of location (11 different countries plus two multi-country ones), number of component projects (8 to 178), nature of the programme, research field, mode of funding, time between completion and impact assessment, methods used to assess impact, and level of impact identified. Thirty-one studies reported on policy impact, 17 on clinician behaviour or informing clinical practice, three on a combined category such as policy and clinician impact, and 12 on wider elements of impact (health gain, patient benefit, improved care or other benefits to the healthcare system). In those multi-programme projects that assessed the respective categories, the percentage of projects that reported some impact was policy 35% (range 5-100%), practice 32% (10-69%), combined category 64% (60-67%), and health gain/health services 27% (6-48%). Variations in levels of impact achieved partly reflected differences in the types of programme, levels of collaboration with users, and methods and timing of impact assessment. Most commonly, principal investigators were surveyed; some studies involved desk research and some interviews with investigators and/or stakeholders. Most studies used a conceptual framework such as the Payback Framework. One study attempted to assess the monetary value of a research programme's health gain. The widespread impact reported for some multi-project programmes, including needs-led and collaborative ones, could potentially be used to promote further research funding. Moves towards greater standardisation of assessment methods could address existing inconsistencies and better inform strategic decisions about research investment; however, unresolved issues about such moves remain.

Conversion of the Amazon rainforest to agriculture results in biotic homogenization of soil bacterial communities

PubMed Central

Rodrigues, Jorge L. M.; Pellizari, Vivian H.; Mueller, Rebecca; Baek, Kyunghwa; Jesus, Ederson da C.; Paula, Fabiana S.; Mirza, Babur; Hamaoui, George S.; Tsai, Siu Mui; Feigl, Brigitte; Tiedje, James M.; Bohannan, Brendan J. M.; Nüsslein, Klaus

2013-01-01

The Amazon rainforest is the Earth’s largest reservoir of plant and animal diversity, and it has been subjected to especially high rates of land use change, primarily to cattle pasture. This conversion has had a strongly negative effect on biological diversity, reducing the number of plant and animal species and homogenizing communities. We report here that microbial biodiversity also responds strongly to conversion of the Amazon rainforest, but in a manner different from plants and animals. Local taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of soil bacteria increases after conversion, but communities become more similar across space. This homogenization is driven by the loss of forest soil bacteria with restricted ranges (endemics) and results in a net loss of diversity. This study shows homogenization of microbial communities in response to human activities. Given that soil microbes represent the majority of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and are intimately involved in ecosystem functions, we argue that microbial biodiversity loss should be taken into account when assessing the impact of land use change in tropical forests. PMID:23271810

The elytra-to-body binding mechanism of the flightless rainforest species Tabarus montanus Kaszab (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidea).

PubMed

Bouchard, P; Gorb, S N

2000-01-01

The elytra-to-body binding mechanism of the flightless rainforest species Tabarus montanus Kaszab (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidea) is described. Previously, studies on this complex character system in tenebrionids have focused mostly on either fully-winged or flightless, desert-dwelling species with a hermetically sealed subelytral cavity. Data presented here show that the rainforest species Ta. montanus has permanently joined interlocking macrostructures between the two elytra along the midline and between the elytral epipleuron and the sides of the body. These are very similar adaptations to ones found in flightless desert tenebrionids. Frictional patches of microtrichia, previously reported in all wing-folding beetle suborders including flightless taxa, are completely absent in Ta. montanus. This constitutes the first report of the complete loss of frictional microtrichia patches in a beetle with fully-developed elytra. Sensory organs (hair sensilla), usually involved in the correct positioning of the elytra over the beetles' body at rest are also absent in Ta. montanus. The significance of these results relating to the evolution of the tenebrionid subelytral cavity is discussed.

Genetic identification of Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest in an endemic area of a mild spotted fever in Rio Grande do Sul state, Southern Brazil.

PubMed

Figueiredo Voizzoni, Vinicius; Barbosa Silva, Arannadia; Medeiros Cardoso, Karen; Barbosa Dos Santos, Fernanda; Stenzel, Barbara; Amorim, Marinete; Vilges de Oliveira, Stefan; Salles Gazeta, Gilberto

2016-10-01

Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest causes a less severe rickettsiosis, with two cases confirmed until now. The tick species Amblyomma ovale is appointed as the main vector of this bacterium. The southern region of Brazil has reported patients with spotted fever who have milder symptoms. In 2013, during an investigation of rickettsiosis cases, an A. ovale tick was found attached to a man in an area where there were two cases. The parasite was processed for molecular analysis and the rickettsial infection was confirmed based on phylogenetic analysis of genes ompA, ompB and geneD (sca4). In the present study the human pathogenic Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest was identified in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil. Since A. ovale, its main vector, is found frequently parasitizing dogs, animals that can cross international borders freely in southern Brazil, this bacteria can bring major concerns in terms of public health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Attraction of Chagas disease vectors (Triatominae) to artificial light sources in the canopy of primary Amazon rainforest.

PubMed

Castro, Marcelo C M; Barrett, Toby V; Santos, Walter S; Abad-Franch, Fernando; Rafael, José A

2010-12-01

Adult triatomines occasionally fly into artificially lit premises in Amazonia. This can result in Trypanosoma cruzi transmission to humans either by direct contact or via foodstuff contamination, but the frequency of such behaviour has not been quantified. To address this issue, a light-trap was set 45 m above ground in primary rainforest near Manaus, state of Amazonas, Brazil and operated monthly for three consecutive nights over the course of one year (432 trap-hours). The most commonly caught reduviids were triatomines, including 38 Panstrongylus geniculatus, nine Panstrongylus lignarius, three Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus, five Rhodnius robustus, two Rhodnius pictipes, one Rhodnius amazonicus and 17 Eratyrus mucronatus. Males were collected more frequently than females. The only month without any catches was May. Attraction of most of the known local T. cruzi vectors to artificial light sources is common and year-round in the Amazon rainforest, implying that they may often invade premises built near forest edges and thus become involved in disease transmission. Consequently, effective Chagas disease prevention in Amazonia will require integrating entomological surveillance with the currently used epidemiological surveillance.

Conversion of the Amazon rainforest to agriculture results in biotic homogenization of soil bacterial communities.

PubMed

Rodrigues, Jorge L M; Pellizari, Vivian H; Mueller, Rebecca; Baek, Kyunghwa; Jesus, Ederson da C; Paula, Fabiana S; Mirza, Babur; Hamaoui, George S; Tsai, Siu Mui; Feigl, Brigitte; Tiedje, James M; Bohannan, Brendan J M; Nüsslein, Klaus

2013-01-15

The Amazon rainforest is the Earth's largest reservoir of plant and animal diversity, and it has been subjected to especially high rates of land use change, primarily to cattle pasture. This conversion has had a strongly negative effect on biological diversity, reducing the number of plant and animal species and homogenizing communities. We report here that microbial biodiversity also responds strongly to conversion of the Amazon rainforest, but in a manner different from plants and animals. Local taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of soil bacteria increases after conversion, but communities become more similar across space. This homogenization is driven by the loss of forest soil bacteria with restricted ranges (endemics) and results in a net loss of diversity. This study shows homogenization of microbial communities in response to human activities. Given that soil microbes represent the majority of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and are intimately involved in ecosystem functions, we argue that microbial biodiversity loss should be taken into account when assessing the impact of land use change in tropical forests.

Climate change in Australian tropical rainforests: an impending environmental catastrophe.

PubMed

Williams, Stephen E; Bolitho, Elizabeth E; Fox, Samantha

2003-09-22

It is now widely accepted that global climate change is affecting many ecosystems around the globe and that its impact is increasing rapidly. Many studies predict that impacts will consist largely of shifts in latitudinal and altitudinal distributions. However, we demonstrate that the impacts of global climate change in the tropical rainforests of northeastern Australia have the potential to result in many extinctions. We develop bioclimatic models of spatial distribution for the regionally endemic rainforest vertebrates and use these models to predict the effects of climate warming on species distributions. Increasing temperature is predicted to result in significant reduction or complete loss of the core environment of all regionally endemic vertebrates. Extinction rates caused by the complete loss of core environments are likely to be severe, nonlinear, with losses increasing rapidly beyond an increase of 2 degrees C, and compounded by other climate-related impacts. Mountain ecosystems around the world, such as the Australian Wet Tropics bioregion, are very diverse, often with high levels of restricted endemism, and are therefore important areas of biodiversity. The results presented here suggest that these systems are severely threatened by climate change.

Habitat history improves prediction of biodiversity in rainforest fauna

PubMed Central

Graham, Catherine H.; Moritz, Craig; Williams, Stephen E.

2006-01-01

Patterns of biological diversity should be interpreted in light of both contemporary and historical influences; however, to date, most attempts to explain diversity patterns have largely ignored history or have been unable to quantify the influence of historical processes. The historical effects on patterns of diversity have been hypothesized to be most important for taxonomic groups with poor dispersal abilities. We quantified the relative stability of rainforests over the late Quaternary period by modeling rainforest expansion and contraction in 21 biogeographic subregions in northeast Australia across four time periods. We demonstrate that historical habitat stability can be as important, and in endemic low-dispersal taxa even more important, than current habitat area in explaining spatial patterns of species richness. In contrast, patterns of endemic species richness for taxa with high dispersal capacity are best predicted by using current environmental parameters. We also show that contemporary patterns of species turnover across the region are best explained by historical patterns of habitat connectivity. These results clearly demonstrate that spatially explicit analyses of the historical processes of persistence and colonization are both effective and necessary for understanding observed patterns of biodiversity. PMID:16407139

Evaluation of quality improvement programmes

PubMed Central

Ovretveit, J; Gustafson, D

2002-01-01



 In response to increasing concerns about quality, many countries are carrying out large scale programmes which include national quality strategies, hospital programmes, and quality accreditation, assessment and review processes. Increasing amounts of resources are being devoted to these interventions, but do they ensure or improve quality of care? There is little research evidence as to their effectiveness or the conditions for maximum effectiveness. Reasons for the lack of evaluation research include the methodological challenges of measuring outcomes and attributing causality to these complex, changing, long term social interventions to organisations or health systems, which themselves are complex and changing. However, methods are available which can be used to evaluate these programmes and which can provide decision makers with research based guidance on how to plan and implement them. This paper describes the research challenges, the methods which can be used, and gives examples and guidance for future research. It emphasises the important contribution which such research can make to improving the effectiveness of these programmes and to developing the science of quality improvement. PMID:12486994

Side effects of problem-solving strategies in large-scale nutrition science: towards a diversification of health.

PubMed

Penders, Bart; Vos, Rein; Horstman, Klasien

2009-11-01

Solving complex problems in large-scale research programmes requires cooperation and division of labour. Simultaneously, large-scale problem solving also gives rise to unintended side effects. Based upon 5 years of researching two large-scale nutrigenomic research programmes, we argue that problems are fragmented in order to be solved. These sub-problems are given priority for practical reasons and in the process of solving them, various changes are introduced in each sub-problem. Combined with additional diversity as a result of interdisciplinarity, this makes reassembling the original and overall goal of the research programme less likely. In the case of nutrigenomics and health, this produces a diversification of health. As a result, the public health goal of contemporary nutrition science is not reached in the large-scale research programmes we studied. Large-scale research programmes are very successful in producing scientific publications and new knowledge; however, in reaching their political goals they often are less successful.

Programme Recruitment and Evaluation: The Effect of an Employability Enhancement Programme on the General Self-Efficacy Levels of Unemployed Graduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazenberg, R.; Seddon, F.; Denny, S.

2015-01-01

This paper reports research that engaged in the evaluation of an intervention programme designed to enhance the employability of a group of unemployed graduates. The evaluation adopted a quasi-experimental intervention research method employing a general self-efficacy scale, which had been validated in prior research. Results revealed that…

Insider Research as Part of a Master's Programme: Opportunities Lost and Found within Action Learning Sets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milano, Chloe; Lawless, Aileen; Eades, Elaine

2015-01-01

This account explores the role of action learning during and after an educational programme. We focus on the final stage of a master's programme and the insider research that is a key feature in many UK universities. Researching within one's own organization should lead to individual and organizational learning. However, there is relatively little…

Mentoring health researchers globally: Diverse experiences, programmes, challenges and responses.

PubMed

Cole, Donald C; Johnson, Nancy; Mejia, Raul; McCullough, Hazel; Turcotte-Tremblay, Anne-Marie; Barnoya, Joaquin; Falabella Luco, María Soledad

2016-10-01

Mentoring experiences and programmes are becoming increasingly recognised as important by those engaged in capacity strengthening in global health research. Using a primarily qualitative study design, we studied three experiences of mentorship and eight mentorship programmes for early career global health researchers based in high-income and low- and middle-income countries. For the latter, we drew upon programme materials, existing unpublished data and more formal mixed-method evaluations, supplemented by individual email questionnaire responses. Research team members wrote stories, and the team assembled and analysed them for key themes. Across the diverse experiences and programmes, key emergent themes included: great mentors inspire others in an inter-generational cascade, mentorship is transformative in personal and professional development and involves reciprocity, and finding the right balance in mentoring relationships and programmes includes responding creatively to failure. Among the challenges encountered were: struggling for more level playing fields for new health researchers globally, changing mindsets in institutions that do not have a culture of mentorship and building collaboration not competition. Mentoring networks spanning institutions and countries using multiple virtual and face-to-face methods are a potential avenue for fostering organisational cultures supporting quality mentorship in global health research.

Mentoring health researchers globally: Diverse experiences, programmes, challenges and responses

PubMed Central

Cole, Donald C.; Johnson, Nancy; Mejia, Raul; McCullough, Hazel; Turcotte-Tremblay, Anne-Marie; Barnoya, Joaquin; Falabella Luco, (María) Soledad

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Mentoring experiences and programmes are becoming increasingly recognised as important by those engaged in capacity strengthening in global health research. Using a primarily qualitative study design, we studied three experiences of mentorship and eight mentorship programmes for early career global health researchers based in high-income and low- and middle-income countries. For the latter, we drew upon programme materials, existing unpublished data and more formal mixed-method evaluations, supplemented by individual email questionnaire responses. Research team members wrote stories, and the team assembled and analysed them for key themes. Across the diverse experiences and programmes, key emergent themes included: great mentors inspire others in an inter-generational cascade, mentorship is transformative in personal and professional development and involves reciprocity, and finding the right balance in mentoring relationships and programmes includes responding creatively to failure. Among the challenges encountered were: struggling for more level playing fields for new health researchers globally, changing mindsets in institutions that do not have a culture of mentorship and building collaboration not competition. Mentoring networks spanning institutions and countries using multiple virtual and face-to-face methods are a potential avenue for fostering organisational cultures supporting quality mentorship in global health research. PMID:26234691

A global climate niche for giant trees.

PubMed

Scheffer, Marten; Xu, Chi; Hantson, Stijn; Holmgren, Milena; Los, Sietse O; van Nes, Egbert H

2018-04-15

Rainforests are among the most charismatic as well as the most endangered ecosystems of the world. However, although the effects of climate change on tropical forests resilience is a focus of intense research, the conditions for their equally impressive temperate counterparts remain poorly understood, and it remains unclear whether tropical and temperate rainforests have fundamental similarities or not. Here we use new global data from high precision laser altimetry equipment on satellites to reveal for the first time that across climate zones 'giant forests' are a distinct and universal phenomenon, reflected in a separate mode of canopy height (~40 m) worldwide. Occurrence of these giant forests (cutoff height > 25 m) is negatively correlated with variability in rainfall and temperature. We also demonstrate that their distribution is sharply limited to situations with a mean annual precipitation above a threshold of 1,500 mm that is surprisingly universal across tropical and temperate climates. The total area with such precipitation levels is projected to increase by ~4 million km 2 globally. Our results thus imply that strategic management could in principle facilitate the expansion of giant forests, securing critically endangered biodiversity as well as carbon storage in selected regions. © 2018 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Contributions of mobile, stationary and biogenic sources to air pollution in the Amazon rainforest: a numerical study with the WRF-Chem model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abou Rafee, Sameh A.; Martins, Leila D.; Kawashima, Ana B.; Almeida, Daniela S.; Morais, Marcos V. B.; Souza, Rita V. A.; Oliveira, Maria B. L.; Souza, Rodrigo A. F.; Medeiros, Adan S. S.; Urbina, Viviana; Freitas, Edmilson D.; Martin, Scot T.; Martins, Jorge A.

2017-06-01

This paper evaluates the contributions of the emissions from mobile, stationary and biogenic sources on air pollution in the Amazon rainforest by using the Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model. The analyzed air pollutants were CO, NOx, SO2, O3, PM2. 5, PM10 and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Five scenarios were defined in order to evaluate the emissions by biogenic, mobile and stationary sources, as well as a future scenario to assess the potential air quality impact of doubled anthropogenic emissions. The stationary sources explain the highest concentrations for all air pollutants evaluated, except for CO, for which the mobile sources are predominant. The anthropogenic sources considered resulted an increasing in the spatial peak-temporal average concentrations of pollutants in 3 to 2780 times in relation to those with only biogenic sources. The future scenario showed an increase in the range of 3 to 62 % in average concentrations and 45 to 109 % in peak concentrations depending on the pollutant. In addition, the spatial distributions of the scenarios has shown that the air pollution plume from the city of Manaus is predominantly transported west and southwest, and it can reach hundreds of kilometers in length.

Clarification of the katydid genus Uchuca Giglio-tos, 1898 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae): A new species in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest.

PubMed

Tavares, Gustavo Costa; Sovano, Rafael Segtowick Da Silva; Gutjahr, Ana Lúcia Nunes

2016-07-22

This paper accomplishes three tasks: Firstly, description of a new species, Uchuca almeirina sp. nov., from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, specifically from Monte Dourado, Almeirim, Pará. Secondly, it is proposed that Uchuca macroptera Montealegre-Z & Morris, 2003 be made a synonym of Uchuca ferreirai (Piza, 1976). Thirdly, a compilation of the generic distribution is presented, which includes new records of Uchuca amacayaca Montealegre-Z & Morris (2003) in Brazil and Uchuca similis Montealegre-Z & Morris (2003) in Colombia and Brazil, and the amplification of the occurrences of U. ferreirai.

Bridging Policy Implementation Gaps in Nigerian Education System: A Case Study of Universal Basic Education Programme in Cross River State, Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ogbiji, Joseph Etiongbie; Ogbiji, Sylvanus Achua

2016-01-01

This research focuses on identifying policy gaps in the implementation of Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme in Nigeria, with Cross River State being the study area. The three research questions used for the research center on the extent of the freeness of the UBE, the extent to which the programme has stimulated educational consciousness…

Embedding operational research into national disease control programme: lessons from 10 years of experience in Indonesia

PubMed Central

Mahendradhata, Yodi; Probandari, Ari; Widjanarko, Bagoes; Riono, Pandu; Mustikawati, Dyah; Tiemersma, Edine W.; Alisjahbana, Bachti

2014-01-01

There is growing recognition that operational research (OR) should be embedded into national disease control programmes. However, much of the current OR capacity building schemes are still predominantly driven by international agencies with limited integration into national disease control programmes. We demonstrated that it is possible to achieve a more sustainable capacity building effort across the country by establishing an OR group within the national tuberculosis (TB) control programme in Indonesia. Key challenges identified include long-term financial support, limited number of scientific publications, and difficulties in documenting impact on programmatic performance. External evaluation has expressed concerns in regard to utilisation of OR in policy making. Efforts to address this concern have been introduced recently and led to indications of increased utilisation of research evidence in policy making by the national TB control programme. Embedding OR in national disease control programmes is key in establishing an evidence-based disease control programme. PMID:25361728

The Scottish Government's Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Strategic Research Progamme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawson, Lorna; Bestwick, Charles

2013-04-01

The Strategic Research Programme focuses on the delivery of outputs and outcomes within the major policy agenda areas of climate change, land use and food security, and to impact on the 'Wealthier', 'Healthier' and 'Greener' strategic objectives of the Scottish Government. The research is delivered through two programmes: 'Environmental Change' and 'Food, Land and People'; the core strength of which is the collaboration between the Scottish Government's Main Research Providers-The James Hutton Institute, the Moredun Research Institute, Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health University of Aberdeen, Scotland's Rural College, Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland and The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. The research actively seeks to inform and be informed by stakeholders from policy, farming, land use, water and energy supply, food production and manufacturing, non-governmental organisations, voluntary organisations, community groups and general public. This presentation will provide an overview of the programme's interdisciplinary research, through examples from across the programme's themes. Examples will exemplify impact within the Strategic Programme's priorities of supporting policy and practice, contributing to economic growth and innovation, enhancing collaborative and multidisciplinary research, growing scientific resilience and delivering scientific excellence. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/About/EBAR/StrategicResearch/future-research-strategy/Themes/ http://www.knowledgescotland.org/news.php?article_id=295

Teaching and Learning National Transformation Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Browne, Liz

2006-01-01

This article reports on a research project undertaken on behalf of the Standards Unit to research the impact of the Teaching and Learning National Transformation Programme for the Learning and Skills sector. The transformational programme is best described as having three enablers, namely teaching and learning resources to support practitioners,…

HIV-Stigma in Nigeria: Review of Research Studies, Policies, and Programmes

PubMed Central

Odimegwu, Clifford O.; Alabi, Olatunji O.

2017-01-01

Nigeria has about 3.8 million people living with HIV, the second largest globally. Stigma and discrimination are major barriers to testing, treatment uptake, and adherence. In this review, we synthesized information on research studies, policies, and programmes related to HIV-stigma in Nigeria. This was with a view to identify critical areas that research and programmes must address in order to accelerate the progress towards zero (new infections, discrimination, and death) target by year 2030. Existing studies were mostly devoted to stigma assessment using varieties of measures. Research, policies, and programmes in the past two decades have made very useful contributions to stigma reduction. We identified the need for a consistent, valid, and objective measure of stigma at different levels of the HIV response. Nigeria does not lack relevant policies; what needs to be strengthened are design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of context-specific stigma reduction programmes. PMID:29445545

Research monitoring by US medical institutions to protect human subjects: compliance or quality improvement?

PubMed

de Jong, Jean Philippe; van Zwieten, Myra C B; Willems, Dick L

2013-04-01

In recent years, to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects, institutions in the USA have begun to set up programmes to monitor ongoing medical research. These programmes provide routine, onsite oversight, and thus go beyond existing oversight such as investigating suspected misconduct or reviewing paperwork provided by investigators. However, because of a lack of guidelines and evidence, institutions have had little guidance in setting up their programmes. To help institutions make the right choices, we used interviews and document analysis to study how and why 11 US institutions have set up their monitoring programmes. Although these programmes varied considerably, we were able to distinguish two general types. 'Compliance' programmes on the one hand were part of the institutional review board office and set up to ensure compliance with regulations. Investigators' participation was mandatory. Monitors focused on documentation. Investigators could be disciplined, and could be obliged to take corrective actions. 'Quality-improvement' programmes on the other hand were part of a separate office. Investigators requested to be monitored. Monitors focused more on actual research conduct. Investigators and other parties received feedback on how to improve the research process. Although both types of programmes have their drawbacks and advantages, we argue that if institutions want to set up monitoring programmes, quality improvement is the better choice: it can help foster an atmosphere of trust between investigators and the institutional review board, and can help raise the standards for the protection of human subjects.

Building capacity in Clinical Epidemiology in Africa: experiences from Masters programmes.

PubMed

Young, Taryn; Naude, Celeste; Brodovcky, Tania; Esterhuizen, Tonya

2017-02-27

To describe and contrast programmatic offering of Clinical Epidemiology Masters programmes in Africa, to evaluate experiences of graduates and faculty, and assess if graduates are playing roles in research, practice and teaching of Clinical Epidemiology. We searched and identified relevant programmes, reviewed programmatic documentation, interviewed convenors and surveyed graduates. Participants provided informed consent, interviews with faculty were recorded and transcribed for analysis purposes, and graduates participated in an online survey. Five structured Masters programmes requiring health science professionals to complete modules and research projects were assessed. Demand for programmes was high. Graduates enjoyed the variety of modules, preferred blended teaching, and regarded assessments as fair. Graduates felt that career paths were not obvious after graduating. Despite this, some have gone on to promote and teach evidence-based health care, and conduct and disseminate research. Areas of concern raised by faculty were quality assurance; research project initiation, implementation and supervisory capacity; staff availability; funding to support implementation and lack of experiential learning. Although faced with challenges, these programmes build capacity of health professionals to practice in an evidence-informed way, and conduct rigorous research, which are central to advancing the practice of Clinical Epidemiology in Africa.

A vicious circle of fire, deforestation and climate change: an integrative study for the Amazon region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thonicke, K.; Rammig, A.; Gumpenberger, M.; Vohland, K.; Poulter, B.; Cramer, W.

2009-04-01

The Amazon rainforest is threatened by deforestation due to wood extraction and agricultural production leading to increasing forest fragmentation and forest degradation. These changes in land surface characteristics and water fluxes are expected to further reduce convective precipitation. Under future climate change the stability of the Amazon rainforest is likely to decrease thus leading to forest dieback (savannization) or forest degradation (secondarization). This puts the Amazon rainforest at risk to reduce the generation of precipitation, to act as a carbon sink and biodiversity hotspot. Fires increased in the past during drought years and in open vegetation thereby further accelerating forest degradation. Deforestation as a result of socioeconomic development in the Amazon basin is projected to further increase in the 21st century and brings climate-induced changes forward. Combined effects of deforestation vs. climate change on the stability of the Amazon rainforest and the role of fire in this system need to be quantified in an integrated study. We present simulation results from future climate (AR4) and deforestation (SimAmazon) experiments using the LPJmL-SPITFIRE vegetation model. Land use change is the main driving factor of forest degradation before 2050, whereas extreme climate change scenarios lead to forest degradation by the end of 2100. Forest fires increase with increasing drought conditions during the 21st century. The resulting effects on vegetation secondarization and savannization and their feedbacks on fire spread and emissions will be presented. The effect of wildfires and intentional burning on forest degradation under future climate and socioeconomic change will be discussed, and recommendations for an integrated land use and fire management are given.

Experimental infection in Cavia porcellus by infected Amblyomma ovale nymphs with Rickettsia sp. (Atlantic rainforest strain).

PubMed

Brustolin, Joice Magali; da Silva Krawczak, Felipe; Alves, Marta Elena Machado; Weiller, Maria Amélia; de Souza, Camila Lopes; Rosa, Fábio Brum; Cadore, Gustavo Cauduro; Dos Anjos Lopes, Sônia Terezinha; Labruna, Marcelo Bahia; Vogel, Fernanda Silveira Flores; de Avila Botton, Sônia; Sangioni, Luís Antônio

2018-03-01

This study describes experimental infection of guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) infested with naturally infected Amblyomma ovale nymphs with Rickettsia sp. (Atlantic rainforest strain), and the capacity of A. ovale nymphs to transmit this bacterium. Twenty-six guinea pigs were divided into the following groups: G1, 10 animals infested with uninfected A. ovale nymphs; G2, 10 animals infested with nymphs infected with Rickettsia sp. (Atlantic rainforest strain); and G3, 6 animals without tick infestation. Blood samples were taken 7, 14, 21, and 28 days post-infestation for serological and hematological tests. For histopathological analysis and rickettsial DNA detection, fragments of the spleen, lung, brain, and liver were harvested after euthanasia. The average feeding period for nymphs was 6.6 days for G1 and 6 days for G2. Hemolymph and PCR assays, performed to detect the causative agent in ticks, indicated that in G1, all ticks were negative, and in G2, all nymphs were positive by PCR and 80% (8/10) was positive by hemolymph tests. The only clinical change was skin scarring at the tick attachment site. Hematological parameters indicated leukopenia and total plasma protein (TPP) increased with decreased platelets in G1. In G2, leukocytosis, neutrophilia, monocytosis, an increase in platelets, and reduced TPP were observed. Only G2 guinea pigs were seroconverted (80%; 8/10). Histopathology tests indicated mild, diffuse hemosiderosis and mild, multifocal, follicular hyperplasia in the spleen. Molecular analysis did not detect Rickettsia sp. DNA in C. porcellus tissues. We demonstrated the capacity of A. ovale nymphs to transmit Rickettsia sp. (Atlantic rainforest strain) to guinea pigs.

How do beetle assemblages respond to cyclonic disturbance of a fragmented tropical rainforest landscape?

PubMed

Grimbacher, Peter S; Stork, Nigel E

2009-09-01

There are surprisingly few studies documenting effects of tropical cyclones (including hurricanes and typhoons) on rainforest animals, and especially insects, considering that many tropical forests are frequently affected by cyclonic disturbance. Consequently, we sampled a beetle assemblage inhabiting 18 upland rainforest sites in a fragmented landscape in north-eastern Queensland, Australia, using a standardised sampling protocol in 2002 and again 12 months after the passage of Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry (March 2006). The spatial configuration of sites allowed us to test if the effects of a cyclone and those from fragmentation interact. From all insect samples we extracted 12,568 beetles of 382 species from ten families. Beetle species composition was significantly different pre-and post-cyclone although the magnitude of faunal change was not large with 205 species, representing 96% of all individuals, present in both sampling events. Sites with the greatest changes to structure had the greatest changes in species composition. At the site level, increases in woody debris and wood-feeding beetle (Scolytinae) counts were significantly correlated but changes in the percent of ground vegetation were not mirrored by changes in the abundance of foliage-feeding beetles (Chrysomelidae). The overall direction of beetle assemblage change was consistent with increasing aridity, presumably caused by the loss of canopy cover. Sites with the greatest canopy loss had the strongest changes in the proportion of species previously identified in the pre-cyclone study as preferring arid or moist rainforest environments. The magnitude of fragmentation effects was virtually unaltered by the passage of Cyclone Larry. We postulate that in the short-term the effects of cyclonic disturbance and forest fragmentation both reduce the extent of moist, interior habitat.

Arthropod Distribution in a Tropical Rainforest: Tackling a Four Dimensional Puzzle.

PubMed

Basset, Yves; Cizek, Lukas; Cuénoud, Philippe; Didham, Raphael K; Novotny, Vojtech; Ødegaard, Frode; Roslin, Tomas; Tishechkin, Alexey K; Schmidl, Jürgen; Winchester, Neville N; Roubik, David W; Aberlenc, Henri-Pierre; Bail, Johannes; Barrios, Héctor; Bridle, Jonathan R; Castaño-Meneses, Gabriela; Corbara, Bruno; Curletti, Gianfranco; Duarte da Rocha, Wesley; De Bakker, Domir; Delabie, Jacques H C; Dejean, Alain; Fagan, Laura L; Floren, Andreas; Kitching, Roger L; Medianero, Enrique; Gama de Oliveira, Evandro; Orivel, Jérôme; Pollet, Marc; Rapp, Mathieu; Ribeiro, Sérvio P; Roisin, Yves; Schmidt, Jesper B; Sørensen, Line; Lewinsohn, Thomas M; Leponce, Maurice

2015-01-01

Quantifying the spatio-temporal distribution of arthropods in tropical rainforests represents a first step towards scrutinizing the global distribution of biodiversity on Earth. To date most studies have focused on narrow taxonomic groups or lack a design that allows partitioning of the components of diversity. Here, we consider an exceptionally large dataset (113,952 individuals representing 5,858 species), obtained from the San Lorenzo forest in Panama, where the phylogenetic breadth of arthropod taxa was surveyed using 14 protocols targeting the soil, litter, understory, lower and upper canopy habitats, replicated across seasons in 2003 and 2004. This dataset is used to explore the relative influence of horizontal, vertical and seasonal drivers of arthropod distribution in this forest. We considered arthropod abundance, observed and estimated species richness, additive decomposition of species richness, multiplicative partitioning of species diversity, variation in species composition, species turnover and guild structure as components of diversity. At the scale of our study (2 km of distance, 40 m in height and 400 days), the effects related to the vertical and seasonal dimensions were most important. Most adult arthropods were collected from the soil/litter or the upper canopy and species richness was highest in the canopy. We compared the distribution of arthropods and trees within our study system. Effects related to the seasonal dimension were stronger for arthropods than for trees. We conclude that: (1) models of beta diversity developed for tropical trees are unlikely to be applicable to tropical arthropods; (2) it is imperative that estimates of global biodiversity derived from mass collecting of arthropods in tropical rainforests embrace the strong vertical and seasonal partitioning observed here; and (3) given the high species turnover observed between seasons, global climate change may have severe consequences for rainforest arthropods.

Arthropod Distribution in a Tropical Rainforest: Tackling a Four Dimensional Puzzle

PubMed Central

Basset, Yves; Cizek, Lukas; Cuénoud, Philippe; Didham, Raphael K.; Novotny, Vojtech; Ødegaard, Frode; Roslin, Tomas; Tishechkin, Alexey K.; Schmidl, Jürgen; Winchester, Neville N.; Roubik, David W.; Aberlenc, Henri-Pierre; Bail, Johannes; Barrios, Héctor; Bridle, Jonathan R.; Castaño-Meneses, Gabriela; Corbara, Bruno; Curletti, Gianfranco; Duarte da Rocha, Wesley; De Bakker, Domir; Delabie, Jacques H. C.; Dejean, Alain; Fagan, Laura L.; Floren, Andreas; Kitching, Roger L.; Medianero, Enrique; Gama de Oliveira, Evandro; Orivel, Jérôme; Pollet, Marc; Rapp, Mathieu; Ribeiro, Sérvio P.; Roisin, Yves; Schmidt, Jesper B.; Sørensen, Line; Lewinsohn, Thomas M.; Leponce, Maurice

2015-01-01

Quantifying the spatio-temporal distribution of arthropods in tropical rainforests represents a first step towards scrutinizing the global distribution of biodiversity on Earth. To date most studies have focused on narrow taxonomic groups or lack a design that allows partitioning of the components of diversity. Here, we consider an exceptionally large dataset (113,952 individuals representing 5,858 species), obtained from the San Lorenzo forest in Panama, where the phylogenetic breadth of arthropod taxa was surveyed using 14 protocols targeting the soil, litter, understory, lower and upper canopy habitats, replicated across seasons in 2003 and 2004. This dataset is used to explore the relative influence of horizontal, vertical and seasonal drivers of arthropod distribution in this forest. We considered arthropod abundance, observed and estimated species richness, additive decomposition of species richness, multiplicative partitioning of species diversity, variation in species composition, species turnover and guild structure as components of diversity. At the scale of our study (2km of distance, 40m in height and 400 days), the effects related to the vertical and seasonal dimensions were most important. Most adult arthropods were collected from the soil/litter or the upper canopy and species richness was highest in the canopy. We compared the distribution of arthropods and trees within our study system. Effects related to the seasonal dimension were stronger for arthropods than for trees. We conclude that: (1) models of beta diversity developed for tropical trees are unlikely to be applicable to tropical arthropods; (2) it is imperative that estimates of global biodiversity derived from mass collecting of arthropods in tropical rainforests embrace the strong vertical and seasonal partitioning observed here; and (3) given the high species turnover observed between seasons, global climate change may have severe consequences for rainforest arthropods. PMID:26633187

Response of Tropical Forests to Intense Climate Variability and Rainfall Anomaly over the Last Decade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saatchi, S.; Asefi, S.

2012-04-01

During the last decade, strong precipitation anomalies resulted from increased sea surface temperature in the tropical Atlantic, have caused extensive drying trends in rainforests of western Amazonia, exerting water stress, tree mortality, biomass loss, and large-scale fire disturbance. In contrast, there have been no reports on large-scale disturbance in rainforests of west and central Africa, though being exposed to similar intensity of climate variability. Using data from Tropical Rainfall Mapping Mission (TRMM) (1999-2010), and time series of rainfall observations from meteorological stations (1971-2000), we show that both Amazonian and African rainforest experienced strong precipitation anomalies from 2005-2010. We monitored the response of forest to the climate variability by analyzing the canopy water content observed by SeaWinds Ku-band Scatterometer (QSCAT) (1999-2009) and found that more than 70 million ha of forests in western Amazonia experienced a strong water deficit during the dry season of 2005 and a closely corresponding decline in canopy backscatter that persisted until the next major drought in 2010. This decline in backscatter has been attributed to loss of canopy water content and large-scale tree mortality corroborated by ground and airborne observations. However, no strong impacts was observed on tropical forests of Africa, suggesting that the African rainforest may have more resilience to droughts. We tested this hypothesis by examining the seasonal rainfall patterns, maximum water deficit, and the surface temperature variations. Results show that there is a complex pattern of low annual rainfall, moderate seasonality, and lower surface temperature in Central Africa compared to Amazonia, indicating potentially a lower evapotranspiration circumventing strong water deficits

Response of Tropical Forests to Intense Climate Variability and Rainfall Anomaly of Last Decade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saatchi, S. S.; Asefi Najafabady, S.

2011-12-01

During the last decade, strong precipitation anomalies resulted from increased sea surface temperature in the tropical Atlantic, have caused extensive drying trends in rainforests of western Amazonia, exerting water stress, tree mortality, biomass loss, and large-scale fire disturbance. In contrast, there have been no reports on large-scale disturbance in rainforests of west and central Africa, though being exposed to similar intensity of climate variability. Using data from Tropical Rainfall Mapping Mission (TRMM) (1999-2010), and time series of rainfall observations from meteorological stations (1971-2000), we show that both Amazonian and African rainforest experienced strong precipitation anomalies from 2005-2010. We monitored the response of forest to the climate variability by analyzing the canopy water content observed by SeaWinds Ku-band Scatterometer (QSCAT) (1999-2009) and found that more than 70 million ha of forests in western Amazonia experienced a strong water deficit during the dry season of 2005 and a closely corresponding decline in canopy backscatter that persisted until the next major drought in 2010. This decline in backscatter has been attributed to loss of canopy water content and large-scale tree mortality corroborated by ground and airborne observations. However, no strong impacts was observed on tropical forests of Africa, suggesting that the African rainforest may have more resilience to droughts. We tested this hypothesis by examining the seasonal rainfall patterns, maximum water deficit, and the surface temperature variations. Results show that there is a complex pattern of low annual rainfall, moderate seasonality, and lower surface temperature in Central Africa compared to Amazonia, indicating potentially a lower evapotranspiration circumventing strong water deficits.

After more than a decade of soil moisture deficit, tropical rainforest trees maintain photosynthetic capacity, despite increased leaf respiration.

PubMed

Rowland, Lucy; Lobo-do-Vale, Raquel L; Christoffersen, Bradley O; Melém, Eliane A; Kruijt, Bart; Vasconcelos, Steel S; Domingues, Tomas; Binks, Oliver J; Oliveira, Alex A R; Metcalfe, Daniel; da Costa, Antonio C L; Mencuccini, Maurizio; Meir, Patrick

2015-12-01

Determining climate change feedbacks from tropical rainforests requires an understanding of how carbon gain through photosynthesis and loss through respiration will be altered. One of the key changes that tropical rainforests may experience under future climate change scenarios is reduced soil moisture availability. In this study we examine if and how both leaf photosynthesis and leaf dark respiration acclimate following more than 12 years of experimental soil moisture deficit, via a through-fall exclusion experiment (TFE) in an eastern Amazonian rainforest. We find that experimentally drought-stressed trees and taxa maintain the same maximum leaf photosynthetic capacity as trees in corresponding control forest, independent of their susceptibility to drought-induced mortality. We hypothesize that photosynthetic capacity is maintained across all treatments and taxa to take advantage of short-lived periods of high moisture availability, when stomatal conductance (gs ) and photosynthesis can increase rapidly, potentially compensating for reduced assimilate supply at other times. Average leaf dark respiration (Rd ) was elevated in the TFE-treated forest trees relative to the control by 28.2 ± 2.8% (mean ± one standard error). This mean Rd value was dominated by a 48.5 ± 3.6% increase in the Rd of drought-sensitive taxa, and likely reflects the need for additional metabolic support required for stress-related repair, and hydraulic or osmotic maintenance processes. Following soil moisture deficit that is maintained for several years, our data suggest that changes in respiration drive greater shifts in the canopy carbon balance, than changes in photosynthetic capacity. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Hydrologically transported dissolved organic carbon influences soil respiration in a tropical rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Wen-Jun; Lu, Hua-Zheng; Zhang, Yi-Ping; Sha, Li-Qing; Schaefer, Douglas Allen; Song, Qing-Hai; Deng, Yun; Deng, Xiao-Bao

2016-10-01

To better understand the effect of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) transported by hydrological processes (rainfall, throughfall, litter leachate, and surface soil water; 0-20 cm) on soil respiration in tropical rainforests, we detected the DOC flux in rainfall, throughfall, litter leachate, and surface soil water (0-20 cm), compared the seasonality of δ13CDOC in each hydrological process, and δ13C in leaves, litter, and surface soil, and analysed the throughfall, litter leachate, and surface soil water (0-20 cm) effect on soil respiration in a tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna, south-west China. Results showed that the surface soil intercepted 94.4 ± 1.2 % of the annual litter leachate DOC flux and is a sink for DOC. The throughfall and litter leachate DOC fluxes amounted to 6.81 and 7.23 % of the net ecosystem exchange respectively, indicating that the DOC flux through hydrological processes is an important component of the carbon budget, and may be an important link between hydrological processes and soil respiration in a tropical rainforest. Even the variability in soil respiration is more dependent on the hydrologically transported water than DOC flux insignificantly, soil temperature, and soil-water content (at 0-20 cm). The difference in δ13C between the soil, soil water (at 0-20 cm), throughfall, and litter leachate indicated that DOC is transformed in the surface soil and decreased the sensitivity indices of soil respiration of DOC flux to water flux, which suggests that soil respiration is more sensitive to the DOC flux in hydrological processes, especially the soil-water DOC flux, than to soil temperature or soil moisture.

Black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) activity, foraging and seed dispersal patterns in shaded cocoa plantations versus rainforest in southern Mexico.

PubMed

Zárate, Diego A; Andresen, Ellen; Estrada, Alejandro; Serio-Silva, Juan Carlos

2014-09-01

Recent evidence has shown that primates worldwide use agroecosystems as temporary or permanent habitats. Detailed information on how these primates are using these systems is scant, and yet their role as seed dispersers is often implied. The main objective of this study was to compare the activity, foraging patterns and seed dispersal role of black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) inhabiting shaded cocoa plantations and rainforest in southern Chiapas, Mexico. We gathered data on three monkey groups living in shaded cocoa plantations and three groups living in rainforest, using focal sampling, and collecting fecal samples. General activity and foraging patterns were similar in both habitats, with the exception that monkeys in the cocoa habitat spent more time feeding on petioles. Monkeys in shaded cocoa plantations dispersed 51,369 seeds (4% were seeds ≥3 mm width) of 16 plant species. Monkeys in the rainforest dispersed 6,536 seeds (78% were seeds ≥3 mm width) of 13 plant species. Our data suggest that the difference between habitats in the proportion of large versus small seeds dispersed reflects differences in fruit species abundance and availability in cocoa versus forest. Mean seed dispersal distances were statistically similar in both habitats (cocoa = 149 m, forest = 86 m). We conclude that the studied cocoa plantations provide all elements necessary to constitute a long-term permanent habitat for black howler monkeys. In turn, howler monkeys living in these plantations are able to maintain their functional role as seed dispersers for those native tree and liana species present within their areas of activities. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sensitivity to high temperature and water stress in recalcitrant Baccaurea ramiflora seeds.

PubMed

Wen, Bin; Liu, Minghang; Tan, Yunhong; Liu, Qiang

2016-07-01

Southeast Asia experiences one of the highest rates of deforestation in the tropics due to agricultural expansion, logging, habitat fragmentation and urbanization. As tropical rainforests harbour abundant recalcitrant-seeded species, it is important to understand how recalcitrant seeds respond to deforestation and fragmentation. Baccaurea ramiflora is a recalcitrant-seeded species, widely distributed in Southeast Asian tropical rainforest. In this study, B. ramiflora seeds were sown in three plots, one in a nature reserve and two in disturbed holy hill forests, to investigate seed germination and seedling establishment in the field, while laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of high temperature and water stress on germination. It was found that seed germination and seedling establishment in B. ramiflora were clearly reduced in holy hills compared to the nature reserve, although the seeds were only moderately to minimally recalcitrant. This was potentially caused by increased temperature and decreased moisture in holy hills, for laboratory experiments showed that seed germination was greatly inhibited by temperatures ≥35 °C or water potentials ≤-0.5 MPa, and depressed by heat treatment at 40 °C when the continuous heating period lasted for 240 h or daily periodic heating exceeded 10 h. Unlike orthodox seeds, which can endure much higher temperatures in the air-dried state than in the imbibed state, both blotted and immersed B. ramiflora seeds lost viability within a narrow temperature range between 50 and 60 °C. As recalcitrant seeds can be neither air-dried nor heated, species producing recalcitrant seeds will suffer more than those producing orthodox seeds in germination and seedling establishment from increased temperature and decreased moisture in fragmented rainforests, which results in sensitivity of recalcitrant-seeded species to rainforest fragmentation.

Biodiversity of mycobiota throughout the Brazil nut supply chain: From rainforest to consumer.

PubMed

Taniwaki, Marta H; Frisvad, Jens C; Ferranti, Larissa S; de Souza Lopes, Aline; Larsen, Thomas O; Fungaro, Maria Helena P; Iamanaka, Beatriz T

2017-02-01

A total of 172 Brazil nut samples (114 in shell and 58 shelled) from the Amazon rainforest region and São Paulo state, Brazil was collected at different stages of the Brazil nut production chain: rainforest, street markets, processing plants and supermarkets. The mycobiota of the Brazil nut samples were evaluated and also compared in relation to water activity. A huge diversity of Aspergillus and Penicillium species were found, besides Eurotium spp., Zygomycetes and dematiaceous fungi. A polyphasic approach using morphological and physiological characteristics, as well as molecular and extrolite profiles, were studied to distinguish species among the more important toxigenic ones in Aspergillus section Flavi and A. section Nigri. Several metabolites and toxins were found in these two sections. Ochratoxin A (OTA) was found in 3% of A. niger and 100% of A. carbonarius. Production of aflatoxins B and G were found in all isolates of A. arachidicola, A. bombycis, A. nomius, A. pseudocaelatus and A. pseudonomius, while aflatoxin B was found in 38% of A. flavus and all isolates of A. pseudotamarii. Cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) was found in A. bertholletius (94%), A. tamarii (100%), A. caelatus (54%) and A. flavus (41%). Tenuazonic acid, a toxin commonly found in Alternaria species was produced by A. bertholletius (47%), A. caelatus (77%), A. nomius (55%), A. pseudonomius (75%), A. arachidicola (50%) and A. bombycis (100%). This work shows the changes of Brazil nut mycobiota and the potential of mycotoxin production from rainforest to consumer, considering the different environments which exist until the nuts are consumed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rapid replacement of riparian rainforest habitat and the impacts on the meandering dynamics of the Kinabatangan River, Borneo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horton, Alexander J.; Constantine, José A.

2014-05-01

Meandering rivers are defined by their nature to migrate, remobilising floodplain sediment and constructing new surfaces for riparian vegetation to colonise. The presence of riparian vegetation has long been known to limit the ability of rivers to erode riverbanks, but it has remained unclear the principal means by which vegetation provides this function. As a result, most models that predict meandering behaviour do not fully incorporate vegetation, thereby limiting their utility where forest is rapidly replaced. The problem is particularly acute along the Kinabatangan River of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, where oil palm plantations are replacing one of the oldest riparian rainforests on the planet. The area of Sabah has seen rapid and extensive land use change in the last 40 years, as virgin rainforest has been systematically cleared for logging, and to make way for oil palm plantations. In the 18 years from 1990 to 2008, Sabah lost half of its intact rainforest, which equates to more than 1.85 million hectares. Using Landsat imagery dating back to 1973, we report here the impacts of this rapid land-use change on rates of meander migration on a 280-km reach of the Kinabatangan River. The river planform has been remarkably stable throughout the time period of study, but individual meanders show a rapid response to large discharge events, migrating over an order of magnitude faster than nearby reaches. Rapidly migrating meanders generally occur along portions of floodplain that have been artificially cleared of riparian vegetation, potentially resulting in significant increases in sediment load and within-channel bar development. A field campaign is planned to investigate the mechanisms by which riparian vegetation effect meander migration in these tropical regions.

The importance of forest structure for carbon fluxes of the Amazon rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rödig, Edna; Cuntz, Matthias; Rammig, Anja; Fischer, Rico; Taubert, Franziska; Huth, Andreas

2018-05-01

Precise descriptions of forest productivity, biomass, and structure are essential for understanding ecosystem responses to climatic and anthropogenic changes. However, relations between these components are complex, in particular for tropical forests. We developed an approach to simulate carbon dynamics in the Amazon rainforest including around 410 billion individual trees within 7.8 million km2. We integrated canopy height observations from space-borne LIDAR in order to quantify spatial variations in forest state and structure reflecting small-scale to large-scale natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Under current conditions, we identified the Amazon rainforest as a carbon sink, gaining 0.56 GtC per year. This carbon sink is driven by an estimated mean gross primary productivity (GPP) of 25.1 tC ha‑1 a‑1, and a mean woody aboveground net primary productivity (wANPP) of 4.2 tC ha‑1 a‑1. We found that successional states play an important role for the relations between productivity and biomass. Forests in early to intermediate successional states are the most productive, and woody above-ground carbon use efficiencies are non-linear. Simulated values can be compared to observed carbon fluxes at various spatial resolutions (>40 m). Notably, we found that our GPP corresponds to the values derived from MODIS. For NPP, spatial differences can be observed due to the consideration of forest successional states in our approach. We conclude that forest structure has a substantial impact on productivity and biomass. It is an essential factor that should be taken into account when estimating current carbon budgets or analyzing climate change scenarios for the Amazon rainforest.

Said another way: stroke, evolution, and the rainforests: an ancient approach to modern health care.

PubMed

Collins, Christopher

2007-01-01

The relatively new discipline of evolutionary medicine. To raise awareness among healthcare professionals that our modern view of illness and health care might be flawed. Published literature in CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane databases, and EMBASE. Our modern lifestyles and healthcare paradigms (using stroke as example), may be at odds with our palaeolithic genome. The dietary regimes of remaining hunter-gatherer communities merit attention and study in this regard. Time is running out as the rainforests dwindle and hunter-gatherer communities are acculturated. The selective forces that resulted in the evolution of the human species were mainly environmental. Our metabolism, physiology, and genome, therefore, are geared towards survival under certain environmental parameters. With the advent of agriculture, almost 11,000 years ago, those parameters changed. Our ancestors' lifestyles transformed from wandering hunter-gatherers to sedentary consumers of more than they needed to survive. Many studies link today's prevalence of metabolic syndrome (diabetes, obesity, and cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases) in developed countries with this historic change in human behavior. If this is a valid correlation to make, then the few remaining hunter-gatherer communities in today's rainforests must surely hold the key to human health. Certainly, physiological parameters in these people are impressive, but trends are worrying. There is clear derangement of these parameters when exposed to any degree of acculturated lifestyle. In addition, the natural homelands of these communities, the rainforests, are dwindling at an alarming rate in order to maintain our acculturated norms. The race is on, therefore, to learn what we can about diet, exercise, and natural medicine from the last few humans who live lifestyles that might be closest to our natural state.

Slow recovery of tropical old-field rainforest regrowth and the value and limitations of active restoration.

PubMed

Shoo, Luke P; Freebody, Kylie; Kanowski, John; Catterall, Carla P

2016-02-01

There is current debate about the potential for secondary regrowth to rescue tropical forests from an otherwise inevitable cascade of biodiversity loss due to land clearing and scant evidence to test how well active restoration may accelerate recovery. We used site chronosequences to compare developmental trajectories of vegetation between self-organized (i.e., spontaneous) forest regrowth and biodiversity plantings (established for ecological restoration, with many locally native tree species at high density) in the Australian wet tropics uplands. Across 28 regrowth sites aged 1-59 years, some structural attributes reached reference rainforest levels within 40 years, whereas wood volume and most tested components of native plant species richness (classified by species' origins, family, and ecological functions) reached less than 50% of reference rainforest values. Development of native tree and shrub richness was particularly slow among species that were wind dispersed or animal dispersed with large (>10 mm) seeds. Many species with animal-dispersed seeds were from near-basal evolutionary lineages that contribute to recognized World Heritage values of the study region. Faster recovery was recorded in 25 biodiversity plantings of 1-25 years in which wood volume developed more rapidly; native woody plant species richness reached values similar to reference rainforest and was better represented across all dispersal modes; and species from near-basal plant families were better (although incompletely) represented. Plantings and regrowth showed slow recovery in species richness of vines and epiphytes and in overall resemblance to forest in species composition. Our results can inform decision making about when and where to invest in active restoration and provide strong evidence that protecting old-growth forest is crucially important for sustaining tropical biodiversity. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

The EuroDIVERSITY Programme: Challenges of Biodiversity Science in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jonckheere, I.

2009-04-01

In close cooperation with its Member Organisations, the European Science Foundation (ESF) has launched since late 2003 a series of European Collaborative Research (EUROCORES) Programmes. Their aim is to enable researchers in different European countries to develop cooperation and scientific synergy in areas where European scale and scope are required in a global context. The EUROCORES instrument represents the first large scale attempt of national research (funding) agencies to act together against fragmentation, asynchronicity and duplication of research (funding) within Europe. Although covering all scientific fields, there are presently 13 EUROCORES Programmes dealing with cutting edge science in the fields of Earth, Climate and Environmental Sciences. The aim of the EuroDIVERSITY Programme is to support the emergence of an integrated biodiversity science based on an understanding of fundamental ecological and social processes that drive biodiversity changes and their impacts on ecosystem functioning and society. Ecological systems across the globe are being threatened or transformed at unprecedented rates from local to global scales due to the ever-increasing human domination of natural ecosystems. In particular, massive biodiversity changes are currently taking place, and this trend is expected to continue over the coming decades, driven by the increasing extension and globalisation of human affairs. The EuroDIVERSITY Programme meets the research need triggered by the increasing human footprint worldwide with a focus on generalisations across particular systems and on the generation and validation of theory relevant to experimental and empirical data. The EURODIVERSITY Programme tries to bridge the gaps between the natural and social sciences, between research work on terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, and between research work on plants, animals and micro-organisms. The Programme was launched in April 2006 and includes 10 international, multidisciplinary collaborative research projects, which are expected to contribute to this goal by initiating or strengthening major collaborative research efforts. Some projects are dealing primarily with microbial diversity (COMIX, METHECO, MiCROSYSTEMS), others try to investigate the biogeochemistry in grassland and forest ecosystems (BEGIN, BioCycle), the landscape and community ecology of biodiversity changes (ASSEMBLE, AGRIPOPES, EcoTRADE), and others focus on the diversity in freshwater (BIOPOOL, MOLARCH). In 2009, the EuroDIVERSITY Programme will integrate the different European research teams involved with collaborative field work campaigns over Europe, international workshops and conferences, as well as joint peer-review publications. For more information about the Programme and its activities, please check the Programme website: www.esf.org/eurodiversity

Assessing the role of prevention partnerships in STD prevention: a review of comprehensive STD prevention systems progress reports.

PubMed

Hogben, Matthew; Hood, Julia; Collins, Dayne; McFarlane, Mary

2013-11-01

Systematic analysis of STD programme data contributes to a national portrait of sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention activities, including research and evaluation specifically designed to optimise programme efficiency and impact. We analysed the narrative of the 2009 annual progress reports of the US Comprehensive STD Prevention Systems cooperative agreement for 58 STD programmes, concentrating on programme characteristics and partnerships. Programmes described 516 unique partnerships with a median of seven organisations cited per STD programme. Non-profit organisations (including service providers) were most frequently cited. Higher gonorrhoea morbidity was associated with reporting more partnerships; budget problems were associated with reporting fewer. Challenges to engaging in partnerships included budget constraints, staff turnover and low interest. Data provide a source of information for judging progress in programme collaboration and for informing a sustained programme-focused research and evaluation agenda.

Lessons learnt on implementing an interdisciplinary doctoral programme in water sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carr, Gemma; Loucks, Daniel Pete; Blaschke, Alfred Paul; Bucher, Christian; Farnleitner, Andreas; Fürnkranz-Prskawetz, Alexia; Parajka, Juraj; Pfeifer, Norbert; Rechberger, Helmut; Wagner, Wolfgang; Zessner, Matthias; Blöschl, Günter

2015-04-01

Using the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems as a case study, this work describes how the characteristics of the programme can be evaluated to identify which process features are important for developing interdisciplinary research at the doctoral level. The Programme has been running since 2009, and to date has engaged 35 research students, three post-docs and ten faculty members from ten research fields (aquatic microbiology, hydrology, hydro-climatology, hydro-geology, mathematical economics, photogrammetry, remote sensing, resource management, structural mechanics, and water quality). Collaborative, multi-disciplinary research is encouraged and supported through various mechanisms - shared offices, study programme, research cluster groups that hold regular meetings, joint study sites, annual and six-month symposia that bring all members of the programme together, seminar series, joint supervision, and social events. Interviews were conducted with 12 students and recent graduates to explore individual experiences of doing interdisciplinary research within the Programme, and to identify which mechanisms are perceived to be of the greatest benefit for collaborative work. Analysis revealed four important process features. Firstly, students noted that joint supervision and supervisors who are motivated to collaborate are essential for multi-disciplinary collaborative work. Secondly, interviewees described that they work with the people they sit close to or see most regularly. Physical places for collaboration between different discipline researchers such as shared offices and shared study sites are therefore important. Thirdly, the costs and benefits to doing interdisciplinary work were highlighted. Students make a trade-off when deciding if their time investment to develop their understanding of a new research field will support them in addressing their research question. The personal characteristics of the researcher seem to be particularly relevant to this decision making process and need to be considered during student selection. Finally, communication skills are critical. Students noted that they need to be able to understand what each other are doing in order to work together and the symposia and research cluster meetings are good places for developing these skills.

Mentees' Views of a Structured Mentoring Programme at Unisa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schulze, S.

2010-01-01

The Management of one college at Unisa initiated a structured mentoring programme to develop researchers, among others. This article reports the views of 43 mentees of the programme one year after implementation. The research design was a survey. The items in a questionnaire were influenced by the self-efficacy theory and the constructivist views…

Building leadership capacity and future leaders in operational research in low-income countries: why and how?

PubMed

Zachariah, R; Reid, T; Srinath, S; Chakaya, J; Legins, K; Karunakara, U; Harries, A D

2011-11-01

Very limited operational research (OR) emerges from programme settings in low-income countries where the greatest burden of disease lies. The price paid for this void includes a lack of understanding of how health systems are actually functioning, not knowing what works and what does not, and an inability to propose adapted and innovative solutions to programme problems. We use the National Tuberculosis Control Programme as an example to advocate for strong programme-level leadership to steer OR and build viable relationships between programme managers, researchers and policy makers. We highlight the need to create a stimulating environment for conducting OR and identify some of the main practical challenges and enabling factors at programme level. We focus on the important role of an OR focal point within programmes and practical approaches to training that can deliver timely and quantifiable outputs. Finally, we emphasise the need to measure successful OR leadership development at programme level and we propose parameters by which this can be assessed. This paper 1) provides reasons why programmes should take the lead in coordinating and directing OR, 2) identifies the practical challenges and enabling factors for implementing, managing and sustaining OR and 3) proposes parameters for measuring successful leadership capacity development in OR.

Studying policy implementation using a macro, meso and micro frame analysis: the case of the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research & Care (CLAHRC) programme nationally and in North West London.

PubMed

Caldwell, Sarah E M; Mays, Nicholas

2012-10-15

The publication of Best research for best health in 2006 and the "ring-fencing" of health research funding in England marked the start of a period of change for health research governance and the structure of research funding in England. One response to bridging the 'second translational gap' between research knowledge and clinical practice was the establishment of nine Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs). The goal of this paper is to assess how national-level understanding of the aims and objectives of the CLAHRCs translated into local implementation and practice in North West London. This study uses a variation of Goffman's frame analysis to trace the development of the initial national CLAHRC policy to its implementation at three levels. Data collection and analysis were qualitative through interviews, document analysis and embedded research. Analysis at the macro (national policy), meso (national programme) and micro (North West London) levels shows a significant common understanding of the aims and objectives of the policy and programme. Local level implementation in North West London was also consistent with these. The macro-meso-micro frame analysis is a useful way of studying the transition of a policy from high-level idea to programme in action. It could be used to identify differences at a local (micro) level in the implementation of multi-site programmes that would help understand differences in programme effectiveness.

Tree traits and canopy closure data from an experiment with 34 planted species native to Sabah, Borneo

PubMed Central

Gustafsson, Malin; Gustafsson, Lena; Alloysius, David; Falck, Jan; Yap, Sauwai; Karlsson, Anders; Ilstedt, Ulrik

2016-01-01

The data presented in this paper is supporting the research article “Life history traits predict the response to increased light among 33 tropical rainforest tree species” [3]. We show basic growth and survival data collected over the 6 years duration of the experiment, as well as data from traits inventories covering 12 tree traits collected prior to and after a canopy reduction treatment in 2013. Further, we also include canopy closure and forest light environment data from measurements with hemispherical photographs before and after the treatment. PMID:26900591

An examination of concussion education programmes: a scoping review methodology.

PubMed

Caron, Jeffrey G; Bloom, Gordon A; Falcão, William R; Sweet, Shane N

2015-10-01

The primary purpose was to review the literature on concussion education programmes. The secondary purpose was to inform knowledge translation strategies for concussion researchers and practitioners. Research on concussion education programmes is relatively new. As a result, the current study implemented a scoping review methodology, which is a type of literary search used to provide a preliminary assessment of the size and scope of a body of literature, as well as identify strengths, weaknesses and gaps in the research. A five-stage process for conducting a scoping review was followed for this study: (a) identifying the research questions, (b) identifying relevant studies, (c) identifying the study selection criteria, (d) charting the data and (e) reporting the results. Concussion education programmes have been developed and implemented with populations ranging in age from 9 to 49 years and have used interactive oral presentations, educational videos and computer-based learning programmes. Although the content of these programmes varied, the topics generally addressed salient aspects of concussion injury and recovery. Quantitative instruments have been the preferred methods for assessment. Education programmes aimed at improving participants' long-term concussion knowledge, behaviours and attitudes of concussions are needed. Researchers must consider using a knowledge translation framework to enhance concussion education programmes. The application of such a framework can lead to novel and interesting ways of disseminating information about concussive injury and recovery. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Process evaluation improves delivery of a nutrition-sensitive agriculture programme in Burkina Faso.

PubMed

Nielsen, Jennifer N; Olney, Deanna K; Ouedraogo, Marcellin; Pedehombga, Abdoulaye; Rouamba, Hippolyte; Yago-Wienne, Fanny

2017-12-26

Evidence is emerging from rigorous evaluations about the effectiveness of nutrition-sensitive agriculture programmes in improving nutritional outcomes. Additional evidence can elucidate how different programme components and pathways contribute and can be optimized for impact. The International Food Policy Research Institute, with Helen Keller International, designed a comprehensive framework to evaluate the delivery, utilization, and impact of Helen Keller International's enhanced homestead food production programme in Burkina Faso. After 18 months of implementation, a process evaluation was conducted to examine programme impact pathways, using key informant and semistructured interviews with implementing agents and beneficiaries, and with residents of control communities. Data were analyzed by International Food Policy Research Institute and reviewed with project managers and partners through multiple workshops to identify opportunities to strengthen implementation. Findings illuminated gaps between intended and actual delivery schemes, including input constraints, knowledge gaps among community agents in agriculture and young child nutrition practices, and lower than expected activity by community volunteers. In response, staff developed measures to overcome water constraints and expand vegetable and poultry production, retrained volunteers in certain techniques of food production and counselling for nutrition behaviour change, added small incentives to motivate volunteers, and shaped both immediate and long-term changes to the programme model. Working closely with International Food Policy Research Institute on the evaluation activities also expanded the repertoire of research methods and skills of Helen Keller International staff. Process evaluation can strengthen programme delivery, utilization, and design. Collaboration between researchers and implementers can improve programme effectiveness, project staff capacity, and advance delivery science. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Constitutive polymorphic cyanogenesis in the Australian rainforest tree, Ryparosa kurrangii (Achariaceae).

PubMed

Webber, Bruce L; Miller, Rebecca E; Woodrow, Ian E

2007-08-01

Cyanogenesis, the liberation of volatile hydrogen cyanide from endogenous cyanide-containing compounds, is a proven plant defence mechanism and the particular cyanogens involved have taxonomic utility. The cyclopentenoncyanhydrin glycoside gynocardin was the only cyanogen isolated from foliar tissue of the rare Australian rainforest tree, Ryparosa kurrangii (Achariaceae). Mechanical damage simulating foliar herbivory did not induce a significant increase in the expression of cyanogenesis over a 24h period, indicating cyanogenic herbivore defence in R. kurrangii is constitutive. The cyanogenic potential of mature leaves was quantitatively polymorphic between trees in a natural population, ranging from 0.54 to 4.77 mg CN g(-1) dry wt leaf tissue.

Four new species of Luciuranus fireflies from the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest (Coleoptera: Lampyridae).

PubMed

Silveira, Luiz F L da; Souto, Paula M; Mermudes, J R M

2018-04-20

Luciuranus Silveira, Khattar Mermudes, 2016 is a firefly genus whose species bear an intricate, species-specific lock-and-key mechanism of reproductive isolation. Here we propose four new species, Luciuranus magnoculus sp. nov., L. desideratus sp. nov., L. takiyae sp. nov. and L. carioca sp. nov., and provide illustrations of their diagnostic features and an updated key to species. As previously reported for their congenerics, each of the four new species have stereotypical morphology of both male and female terminalia, and are regarded as prima facie endemics of single massifs of the Serra da Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar, in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest.

Conserving Tropical Tree Diversity and Forest Structure: The Value of Small Rainforest Patches in Moderately-Managed Landscapes

PubMed Central

Hernández-Ruedas, Manuel A.; Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor; Meave, Jorge A.; Martínez-Ramos, Miguel; Ibarra-Manríquez, Guillermo; Martínez, Esteban; Jamangapé, Gilberto; Melo, Felipe P. L.; Santos, Bráulio A.

2014-01-01

Rainforests are undergoing severe deforestation and fragmentation worldwide. A huge amount of small forest patches are being created, but their value in conserving biodiversity and forest structure is still controversial. Here, we demonstrate that in a species-rich and moderately-managed Mexican tropical landscape small rainforest patches (<100 ha) can be highly valuable for the conservation of tree diversity and forest structure. These patches showed diverse communities of native plants, including endangered species, and a new record for the country. Although the number of logged trees increased in smaller patches, patch size was a poor indicator of basal area, stem density, number of species, genera and families, and community evenness. Cumulative species-area curves indicated that all patches had a similar contribution to the regional species diversity. This idea also was supported by the fact that patches strongly differed in floristic composition (high β-diversity), independently of patch size. Thus, in agreement with the land-sharing approach, our findings support that small forest patches in moderately-managed landscapes should be included in conservation initiatives to maintain landscape heterogeneity, species diversity, and ecosystem services. PMID:24901954

Predicting bird song from space

PubMed Central

Smith, Thomas B; Harrigan, Ryan J; Kirschel, Alexander N G; Buermann, Wolfgang; Saatchi, Sassan; Blumstein, Daniel T; de Kort, Selvino R; Slabbekoorn, Hans

2013-01-01

Environmentally imposed selection pressures are well known to shape animal signals. Changes in these signals can result in recognition mismatches between individuals living in different habitats, leading to reproductive divergence and speciation. For example, numerous studies have shown that differences in avian song may be a potent prezygotic isolating mechanism. Typically, however, detailed studies of environmental pressures on variation in animal behavior have been conducted only at small spatial scales. Here, we use remote-sensing data to predict animal behavior, in this case, bird song, across vast spatial scales. We use remotely sensed data to predict the song characteristics of the little greenbul (Andropadus virens), a widely distributed African passerine, found across secondary and mature rainforest habitats and the rainforest-savanna ecotone. Satellite data that captured ecosystem structure and function explained up to 66% of the variation in song characteristics. Song differences observed across habitats, including those between human-altered and mature rainforest, have the potential to lead to reproductive divergence, and highlight the impacts that both natural and anthropogenic change may have on natural populations. Our approach offers a novel means to examine the ecological correlates of animal behavior across large geographic areas with potential applications to both evolutionary and conservation biology. PMID:24062797

Conserving tropical tree diversity and forest structure: the value of small rainforest patches in moderately-managed landscapes.

PubMed

Hernández-Ruedas, Manuel A; Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor; Meave, Jorge A; Martínez-Ramos, Miguel; Ibarra-Manríquez, Guillermo; Martínez, Esteban; Jamangapé, Gilberto; Melo, Felipe P L; Santos, Bráulio A

2014-01-01

Rainforests are undergoing severe deforestation and fragmentation worldwide. A huge amount of small forest patches are being created, but their value in conserving biodiversity and forest structure is still controversial. Here, we demonstrate that in a species-rich and moderately-managed Mexican tropical landscape small rainforest patches (<100 ha) can be highly valuable for the conservation of tree diversity and forest structure. These patches showed diverse communities of native plants, including endangered species, and a new record for the country. Although the number of logged trees increased in smaller patches, patch size was a poor indicator of basal area, stem density, number of species, genera and families, and community evenness. Cumulative species-area curves indicated that all patches had a similar contribution to the regional species diversity. This idea also was supported by the fact that patches strongly differed in floristic composition (high β-diversity), independently of patch size. Thus, in agreement with the land-sharing approach, our findings support that small forest patches in moderately-managed landscapes should be included in conservation initiatives to maintain landscape heterogeneity, species diversity, and ecosystem services.

Parallel diversifications of Cremastosperma and Mosannona (Annonaceae), tropical rainforest trees tracking Neogene upheaval of South America

PubMed Central

Maas, Paul J. M.; Melchers-Sharrott, Heleen

2018-01-01

Much of the immense present day biological diversity of Neotropical rainforests originated from the Miocene onwards, a period of geological and ecological upheaval in South America. We assess the impact of the Andean orogeny, drainage of Lake Pebas and closure of the Panama isthmus on two clades of tropical trees (Cremastosperma, ca 31 spp.; and Mosannona, ca 14 spp.; both Annonaceae). Phylogenetic inference revealed similar patterns of geographically restricted clades and molecular dating showed diversifications in the different areas occurred in parallel, with timing consistent with Andean vicariance and Central American geodispersal. Ecological niche modelling approaches show phylogenetically conserved niche differentiation, particularly within Cremastosperma. Niche similarity and recent common ancestry of Amazon and Guianan Mosannona species contrast with dissimilar niches and more distant ancestry of Amazon, Venezuelan and Guianan species of Cremastosperma, suggesting that this element of the similar patterns of disjunct distributions in the two genera is instead a biogeographic parallelism, with differing origins. The results provide further independent evidence for the importance of the Andean orogeny, the drainage of Lake Pebas, and the formation of links between South and Central America in the evolutionary history of Neotropical lowland rainforest trees. PMID:29410860

Outbreaks of cholera-like diarrhoea caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest.

PubMed

Vicente, Ana C P; Teixeira, Luiz F M; Iniguez-Rojas, L; Luna, M G; Silva, L; Andrade, J R C; Guth, B E C

2005-09-01

The relationship between enteropathogens and severe diarrhoea in the Brazilian Amazon is poorly understood. In 1998, outbreaks of acute diarrhoea clinically diagnosed as cholera occurred in two small villages localized far from the main cholera route in the Brazilian rainforest. PCR was performed on some enteropathogens and heat-labile (LT) and/or heat-stable (STh) toxin genes, the virulence determinants of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), were detected. Further characterization of ETEC isolates revealed the presence of two clones, one from each outbreak. One presenting serotype O167:H5 harboured LT-I and STh toxin genes and expressed the CS5CS6 colonization factor. The other, a non-typeable serotype, was positive for the LT-I gene and expressed the CS7 colonization factor. The current study demonstrates the importance of molecular diagnosis in regions such as the Amazon basin, where the enormous distances and local support conditions make standard laboratory diagnosis difficult. Here we also show that the mis-identified cholera cases were in fact associated with ETEC strains. This is the first report of ETEC, molecularly characterized as the aetiological agent of severe diarrhoea in children and adults in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest.

Parallel diversifications of Cremastosperma and Mosannona (Annonaceae), tropical rainforest trees tracking Neogene upheaval of South America.

PubMed

Pirie, Michael D; Maas, Paul J M; Wilschut, Rutger A; Melchers-Sharrott, Heleen; Chatrou, Lars W

2018-01-01

Much of the immense present day biological diversity of Neotropical rainforests originated from the Miocene onwards, a period of geological and ecological upheaval in South America. We assess the impact of the Andean orogeny, drainage of Lake Pebas and closure of the Panama isthmus on two clades of tropical trees ( Cremastosperma , ca 31 spp.; and Mosannona , ca 14 spp.; both Annonaceae). Phylogenetic inference revealed similar patterns of geographically restricted clades and molecular dating showed diversifications in the different areas occurred in parallel, with timing consistent with Andean vicariance and Central American geodispersal. Ecological niche modelling approaches show phylogenetically conserved niche differentiation, particularly within Cremastosperma . Niche similarity and recent common ancestry of Amazon and Guianan Mosannona species contrast with dissimilar niches and more distant ancestry of Amazon, Venezuelan and Guianan species of Cremastosperma , suggesting that this element of the similar patterns of disjunct distributions in the two genera is instead a biogeographic parallelism, with differing origins. The results provide further independent evidence for the importance of the Andean orogeny, the drainage of Lake Pebas, and the formation of links between South and Central America in the evolutionary history of Neotropical lowland rainforest trees.

Morphological and molecular characterization and phylogenetic relationships of a new species of trypanosome in Tapirus terrestris (lowland tapir), Trypanosoma terrestris sp. nov., from Atlantic Rainforest of southeastern Brazi.

PubMed

Acosta, Igor da Cunha Lima; da Costa, Andrea Pereira; Nunes, Pablo Henrique; Gondim, Maria Fernanda Naegeli; Gatti, Andressa; Rossi, João Luiz; Gennari, Solange Maria; Marcili, Arlei

2013-12-11

The Lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) is the largest Brazilian mammal and despite being distributed in various Brazilian biomes, it is seriously endangered in the Atlantic Rainforest. These hosts were never evaluated for the presence of Trypanosoma parasites. The Lowland tapirs were captured in the Brazilian southeastern Atlantic Rainforest, Espírito Santo state. Trypanosomes were isolated by hemoculture, and the molecular phylogeny based on small subunit rDNA (SSU rDNA) and glycosomal-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) gene sequences and the ultrastructural features seen via light microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy are described. Phylogenetic trees using combined SSU rDNA and gGAPDH data sets clustered the trypanosomes of Lowland tapirs, which were highly divergent from other trypanosome species. The phylogenetic position and morphological discontinuities, mainly in epimastigote culture forms, made it possible to classify the trypanosomes from Lowland tapirs as a separate species. The isolated trypanosomes from Tapirus terrestris are a new species, Trypanosoma terrestris sp. n., and were positioned in a new Trypanosoma clade, named T. terrestris clade.

Morphological and molecular characterization and phylogenetic relationships of a new species of trypanosome in Tapirus terrestris (lowland tapir), Trypanosoma terrestris sp. nov., from Atlantic Rainforest of southeastern Brazi

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The Lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) is the largest Brazilian mammal and despite being distributed in various Brazilian biomes, it is seriously endangered in the Atlantic Rainforest. These hosts were never evaluated for the presence of Trypanosoma parasites. Methods The Lowland tapirs were captured in the Brazilian southeastern Atlantic Rainforest, Espírito Santo state. Trypanosomes were isolated by hemoculture, and the molecular phylogeny based on small subunit rDNA (SSU rDNA) and glycosomal-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) gene sequences and the ultrastructural features seen via light microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy are described. Results Phylogenetic trees using combined SSU rDNA and gGAPDH data sets clustered the trypanosomes of Lowland tapirs, which were highly divergent from other trypanosome species. The phylogenetic position and morphological discontinuities, mainly in epimastigote culture forms, made it possible to classify the trypanosomes from Lowland tapirs as a separate species. Conclusions The isolated trypanosomes from Tapirus terrestris are a new species, Trypanosoma terrestris sp. n., and were positioned in a new Trypanosoma clade, named T. terrestris clade. PMID:24330660

Detection and Distribution of Natural Gaps in Tropical Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goulamoussène, Y.; Linguet, L.; Hérault, B.

2014-12-01

Forest management is important to assess biodiversity and ecological processes. Requirements for disturbance information have also been motivated by the scientific community. Therefore, understanding and monitoring the distribution frequencies of treefall gaps is relevant to better understanding and predicting the carbon budget in response to global change and land use change. In this work we characterize and quantify the frequency distribution of natural canopy gaps. We observe then interaction between environment variables and gap formation across tropical rainforest of the French Guiana region by using high resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). We mapped gaps with canopy model distribution on 40000 ha of forest. We used a Bayesian modelling framework to estimate and select useful covariate model parameters. Topographic variables are included in a model to predict gap size distribution. We discuss results from the interaction between environment and gap size distribution, mainly topographic indexes. The use of both airborne and space-based techniques has improved our ability to supply needed disturbance information. This work is an approach at plot scale. The use of satellite data will allow us to work at forest scale. The inclusion of climate variables in our model will let us assess the impact of global change on tropical rainforest.

Following Saharan Dust Outbreak Toward The Amazon Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben Ami, Y.; Koren, I.; Rudich, Y.; Flores, M.

2008-12-01

The role of the Amazon rainforest on earth climatic system is well recognized. To keep forest wellbeing and the fragile balance between the rainforest and the atmosphere, the Amazon must contain a satisfactory amount of nutrients to support the plants. The extensive rain and floods wash most of the soluble nutrients from the rainforest soil, leaving behind acidic kaolinite clay or sandy soil, with limited minerals for plant growth. It was suggested that lack of mineral in the soil may be replenished by deposition of Saharan mineral dust. Using remote sensing data (from the A-train satellites constellation) following with in-situ measurements (as part of the AMazonian Aerosol CharacteriZation Experiment (AMZE) campaign), ground-based data (from AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET)) and back trajectory calculations, we analyzed Saharan dust transport toward the Amazon basin during the AMZE period (Feb 7 to Mar 14, 2008). Dust mass, sink, vertical distribution and surface wind speeds were analyzed over the Bodele depression (located in Chad), where most of the dust is emitted, along the Atlantic Ocean and near the Brazilian coastline. Using an integrated data analysis approach we followed dust packages from their emission in the Sahara to their sink in the Amazon forest.

Climate change in Australian tropical rainforests: an impending environmental catastrophe.

PubMed Central

Williams, Stephen E; Bolitho, Elizabeth E; Fox, Samantha

2003-01-01

It is now widely accepted that global climate change is affecting many ecosystems around the globe and that its impact is increasing rapidly. Many studies predict that impacts will consist largely of shifts in latitudinal and altitudinal distributions. However, we demonstrate that the impacts of global climate change in the tropical rainforests of northeastern Australia have the potential to result in many extinctions. We develop bioclimatic models of spatial distribution for the regionally endemic rainforest vertebrates and use these models to predict the effects of climate warming on species distributions. Increasing temperature is predicted to result in significant reduction or complete loss of the core environment of all regionally endemic vertebrates. Extinction rates caused by the complete loss of core environments are likely to be severe, nonlinear, with losses increasing rapidly beyond an increase of 2 degrees C, and compounded by other climate-related impacts. Mountain ecosystems around the world, such as the Australian Wet Tropics bioregion, are very diverse, often with high levels of restricted endemism, and are therefore important areas of biodiversity. The results presented here suggest that these systems are severely threatened by climate change. PMID:14561301

[Dynamics of Amomum villosum growth and its fruit yield cultivated under tropical forests].

PubMed

Zheng, Zheng; Gan, Jianmin; Feng, Zhili; Meng, Ying

2004-01-01

Investigations on the dynamics of Amomum villosum growth and its fruit yield cultivated under tropical ravine rainforest and secondary forest at different elevations in Xishuangbanna showed that the yield of A. villosum was influenced by the site age, sun light level of understorey, and water stress in dry season. The fruit yield and mature plant density decreased with increasing age of the A. villosum site. The fruit yield increased with sun light level when the light level in understorey was under 35% of full sun light (P < 0.05). The fruit yield at the lower site by stream was significantly higher than that at upper site (P < 0.05). The yield difference between ravine rainforest and secondary forest was not significant. Planned cultivation of A. villosum in the secondary forest of the shifting cultivation land by ravine from 800-1000 m elevation instead of customary cultivation in the ravine rainforest, could not only resolve the problem of the effect of light deficiency in understorey and water stress in the dry season on A. villosum fruit yield, but also be useful to protect the tropical ravine rain forest.

'Tales of Symphonia': extinction dynamics in response to past climate change in Madagascan rainforests.

PubMed

Virah-Sawmy, Malika; Bonsall, Michael B; Willis, Katherine J

2009-12-23

Madagascar's rainforests are among the most biodiverse in the world. Understanding the population dynamics of important species within these forests in response to past climatic variability provides valuable insight into current and future species composition. Here, we use a population-level approach to analyse palaeoecological records over the last 5300 years to understand how populations of Symphonia cf. verrucosa became locally extinct in some rainforest fragments along the southeast coast of Madagascar in response to rapid climate change, yet persisted in others. Our results indicate that regional (climate) variability contributed to synchronous decline of S. cf. verrucosa populations in these forests. Superimposed on regional fluctuations were local processes that could have contributed or mitigated extinction. Specifically, in the forest with low soil nutrients, population model predictions indicated that there was coexistence between S. cf. verrucosa and Erica spp., but in the nutrient-rich forest, interspecific effects between Symphonia and Erica spp. may have pushed Symphonia to extinction at the peak of climatic change. We also demonstrate that Symphonia is a good indicator of a threshold event, exhibiting erratic fluctuations prior to and long after the critical climatic point has passed.

A Computational Architecture for Programmable Automation Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Russell H.; Korein, James U.; Maier, Georg E.; Durfee, Lawrence F.

1987-03-01

This short paper describes recent work at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center directed at developing a highly flexible computational architecture for research on sensor-based programmable automation. The system described here has been designed with a focus on dynamic configurability, layered user inter-faces and incorporation of sensor-based real time operations into new commands. It is these features which distinguish it from earlier work. The system is cur-rently being implemented at IBM for research purposes and internal use and is an outgrowth of programmable automation research which has been ongoing since 1972 [e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] .

Programmes and calls for public health research in European countries.

PubMed

Conceição, Claudia; Grimaud, Olivier; McCarthy, Mark; Barnhoorn, Floris; Sammut, Marvic; Saliba, Amanda; Katreniakova, Zuzana; Narkauskaité, Laura

2013-11-01

Public health research, at population and organizational level, needs to be identified independently within 'health' research from biomedicine and life sciences. In PHIRE (Public Health Innovation and Research in Europe), we investigated the extent and character of public health research calls and programmes in European countries. Country respondents, identified through national member associations of the European Public Health Association completed a standardized recording instrument. Public health research was defined, and the call period limited to the latest full year (2010). Of the 30 countries included (EU 27 plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland), there were reports for 25 countries A simple classification of the calls was developed. There were 75 calls and programmes included. Of these, 41 (55%) together were in France and the UK, and 34 in a further 14 countries, while 9 countries reported there were no calls or programmes opened in 2010. Calls were categorized across diseases, behaviours, determinants, services and methodologies. Some calls were broad, while others--particularly in the countries with several calls--were more detailed towards specific issues. Levels of funding varied markedly and were difficult to define. Where stated, in 32 responses, 19 calls were only open to national applicants and 13 from abroad. Most European countries have competitive programmes and calls relevant for public health research, but they are poorly identified. Only a minority of countries present a wide range of topics and specific fields. Effort is needed to develop classifications for public health programmes and calls for public health research, improve information (including financial) collection to enable systematic comparisons and build greater recognition of public health research within research communities, with national and European research funding organizations, and for practitioners and policymakers.

Structured Doctoral Education in Hannover - Joint Programme IMPRS-GW and geo-Q RTG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawazoe, Fumiko; Bruns, Sandra

2018-02-01

Two structured doctoral programmes that we have in Hannover, the IMPRS on Gravitational Wave Astronomy and SFB on relativistic geodesy and gravimetry with quantum sensors geo-Q, have not only become major resources for education in each field but have also started to provide substantial synergy to members of both programmes. Our strong crossdisciplinary approach to create a joint programme has received excellent feedback not only from researchers inside the programme but also from various external committee. Building on experience that we have acquired over the last decade, we propose to set up a common doctoral programme within the international gravitational wave astronomy and physics. We envisage that with a common doctoral programme we will create a strong team of young researchers who will carry on building a strong network of third generation gravitational wave detectors and observatories.

A Research-Informed, School-Based Professional Development Workshop Programme to Promote Dialogic Teaching with Interactive Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hennessy, Sara; Dragovic, Tatjana; Warwick, Paul

2018-01-01

The study reported in this article investigated the influence of a research-informed, school-based, professional development workshop programme on the quality of classroom dialogue using the interactive whiteboard (IWB). The programme aimed to develop a dialogic approach to teaching and learning mediated through more interactive uses of the IWB,…

Community Capacity Development in Universities: Empowering Communities through Education Management Programmes in Strathmore University (A Pilot Study)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kitawi, Alfred Kirigha

2014-01-01

This research examined the issue of community capacity development in a university. The main way communities were empowered was through the education management programmes offered at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya. The research is among the first to examine the issue of community capacity development through university programmes. The…

The Evidence Base for Early Childhood Education and Care Programme Investment: What We Know, What We Don't Know

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Linda A.; Prentice, Susan; Perlman, Michal

2015-01-01

An expanding body of research demonstrates that high quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) programmes generate positive outcomes for children; in response, policy makers in a number of countries are making significant programme investments. No research consensus, however, has emerged around the specific types of policy intervention…

Foreign Language Teachers' Professional Development through Peer Observation Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dos Santos, Luis Miguel

2016-01-01

The purpose of the research is to explore the development of peer-observation programme for the use of an extension language school in Hong Kong. The research objectives were to explore teachers' perceptions on a peer observation programme as a means to improve teaching practice, examine how teachers make sense of the peer observation programme…

The Incredible Years Parent Training Programme in Tauranga: A Research Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamilton, Michelle; Litterick-Biggs, Angela

2008-01-01

The Incredible Years parent training programme is a research-based therapy which aims to help families improve the behaviour of children with conduct difficulties in the early years, while the behaviour is malleable (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2003). The short-term goals of the programme are to reduce conduct problems in children by increasing…

Perspectives for food research and European collaboration in the European Research Area and the new Framework Programme.

PubMed

Breslin, L

2001-08-01

Since 1987, successive framework programmes have contributed to strengthen European food research through the establishment of networks between research institutions, universities and companies from various European countries. In the FAIR programme (1994-1998), 118 research projects comprising nearly 1,000 participants from the European Union and Associated States have been supported in the food area with a European funding of about [symbol: see text] 108 million. Within the Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources programme (1998-2002), food research is mostly supported within the key action 'food, nutrition and health' with a budget of [symbol: see text] 290 million. After the first four deadlines, 735 eligible research proposals have already been received. Further to their evaluation by a panel of independent experts, 108 proposals have been funded or selected for funding representing a total contribution of about [symbol: see text] 168 million. Among those, several clusters of projects are now running on important topics such as probiotics, coeliac diseases, mycotoxins, GMO, safety and food for the elderly. In addition, technology stimulation measures are largely benefiting SMEs to foster their innovation potential. In January 2000, the European Commission adopted a Communication entitled "Towards the European Research Area (ERA)" with the objective to contribute to developing better framework conditions for research in Europe. On 21 February 2001, the Commission adopted proposals to be submitted to the European Parliament and Council for the next framework programme for research and innovation (2002-2006). The new framework programme that is becoming one of the financial instruments of the ERA aims at catalysing the integration of European research by: strengthening of links between the Community research effort and national and regional research policies; concentrating on a limited number of priority fields or research to which activities at the Union level can add real value. One of the seven priority areas, entitled 'food safety and health risks', is intended to help establish the integrated scientific and technological bases needed to develop a system of production and distribution of safe and healthy food and control food-related risks, relying in particular on biotechnology tools, as well as health risks associated with environmental changes. A total budget of [symbol: see text] 600 million is proposed for this priority. In the priority areas, the new framework programme will work mainly by supporting the development of cooperation within networks of excellence bringing together the best research capabilities in Europe's regions to conduct common research programmes and integrated projects involving public and private partners, with clearly stated scientific and technological objectives.

Selection of magister learners in nursing science at the Rand Afrikaans University.

PubMed

Botes, A

2001-05-01

Selection of learners implies that candidates are assessed according to criteria with the purpose of selecting the most suitable learners for the course. A magister qualification is on level 8A of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The purpose of a magister qualification in Nursing is the development of advanced research, clinical, professional, managerial, educational, leadership and consultative abilities (knowledge, skills, values and attitudes) for the promotion of individual, family, group and community health. From the above introduction it becomes clear that there is a high expectations of a person with a magister qualification. Such a person should be a specialist, scientist, leader and role model in the profession. A magister programme is human-power intensive as well as capital intensive for both the learner and higher education institutions. It is therefore important to select learners with the ability to achieve the outcomes of the programme. Limited research has been conducted on the selection of post graduate learners. This leads to the question whether the current selection criteria (undergraduate mark and the mark in Research Methodology) are reasonable predictors of success for the magister programmes. In order to answer this question, hypotheses with the following variables were formulated. Achievement/success in the magister programme as reflected by The mark for the dissertation or mini-dissertation. The level of input by the supervisor during the magister programme. The quality of the research article reflecting the research in the magister programme. Undergraduate mark Mark for Research Methodology In order to test the hypotheses a quantitative correlation design was used incorporating documented data of 74 magister graduates. Descriptive and inferential data analysis (Pearson's correlation coefficient, ANOVA and multivariate test) were used. The findings showed Research Methodology to be the best indicator of success in the magister programmes.

Beyond Constructivism: The Progressive Research Programme into Learning Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taber, Keith S.

2006-01-01

In this paper, it is suggested that while there are a variety of frames or perspectives that guide research into learning science, a pre-paradigmatic field need not be a "free-for-all". Lakatos suggested that academic research fields were characterised by research programmes (RP), which offered heuristic guidance to researchers, and which…

Lessons from the evaluation of the UK's NHS R&D Implementation Methods Programme

PubMed Central

Soper, Bryony; Hanney, Stephen R

2007-01-01

Background Concern about the effective use of research was a major factor behind the creation of the NHS R&D Programme in 1991. In 1994, an advisory group was established to identify research priorities in research implementation. The Implementation Methods Programme (IMP) flowed from this, and its commissioning group funded 36 projects. In 2000 responsibility for the programme passed to the National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation R&D, which asked the Health Economics Research Group (HERG), Brunel University, to conduct an evaluation in 2002. By then most projects had been completed. This evaluation was intended to cover: the quality of outputs, lessons to be learnt about the communication strategy and the commissioning process, and the benefits from the projects. Methods We adopted a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods. They included: documentary analysis, interviews with key actors, questionnaires to the funded lead researchers, questionnaires to potential users, and desk analysis. Results Quantitative assessment of outputs and dissemination revealed that the IMP funded useful research projects, some of which had considerable impact against the various categories in the HERG payback model, such as publications, further research, research training, impact on health policy, and clinical practice. Qualitative findings from interviews with advisory and commissioning group members indicated that when the IMP was established, implementation research was a relatively unexplored field. This was reflected in the understanding brought to their roles by members of the advisory and commissioning groups, in the way priorities for research were chosen and developed, and in how the research projects were commissioned. The ideological and methodological debates associated with these decisions have continued among those working in this field. The need for an effective communication strategy for the programme as a whole was particularly important. However, such a strategy was never developed, making it difficult to establish the general influence of the IMP as a programme. Conclusion Our findings about the impact of the work funded, and the difficulties faced by those developing the IMP, have implications for the development of strategic programmes of research in general, as well as for the development of more effective research in this field. PMID:17309803

Public engagement in Malawi through a health-talk radio programme ' Umoyo nkukambirana': A mixed-methods evaluation.

PubMed

Nyirenda, Deborah; Makawa, Tamara Chipasula; Chapita, Greyson; Mdalla, Chisomo; Nkolokosa, Mzati; O'byrne, Thomasena; Heyderman, Robert; Desmond, Nicola

2018-02-01

Radio is an effective source of health information in many resource poor countries. In Malawi, 53% of households own radios however few radio programmes in Malawi focus on health issues in the context of medical research. An interactive health-talk radio programme ' Umoyo nkukambirana' was introduced by Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme on a national radio station. The aim was to increase awareness of health and medical research, and improve engagement between researchers, healthcare workers and the public. The content and presentation were developed through participatory community consultations. Focus Group Discussions were conducted with established Radio Listening Clubs whilst quantitative data was collected using toll free FrontlineSMS to explore national response. A total of 277 to 695 SMS (Median: 477) were received per theme. The majority of SMS were received from men (64%) and mainly from rural areas (54%). The programme improved knowledge of medical research, health and dispelled misconceptions. This study suggests that the radio may be an effective means of increasing the exposure of men to health information in resource poor settings.

Public engagement in Malawi through a health-talk radio programme ‘Umoyo nkukambirana’: A mixed-methods evaluation

PubMed Central

Nyirenda, Deborah; Makawa, Tamara Chipasula; Chapita, Greyson; Mdalla, Chisomo; Nkolokosa, Mzati; O’byrne, Thomasena; Heyderman, Robert; Desmond, Nicola

2016-01-01

Radio is an effective source of health information in many resource poor countries. In Malawi, 53% of households own radios however few radio programmes in Malawi focus on health issues in the context of medical research. An interactive health-talk radio programme ‘Umoyo nkukambirana’ was introduced by Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme on a national radio station. The aim was to increase awareness of health and medical research, and improve engagement between researchers, healthcare workers and the public. The content and presentation were developed through participatory community consultations. Focus Group Discussions were conducted with established Radio Listening Clubs whilst quantitative data was collected using toll free FrontlineSMS to explore national response. A total of 277 to 695 SMS (Median: 477) were received per theme. The majority of SMS were received from men (64%) and mainly from rural areas (54%). The programme improved knowledge of medical research, health and dispelled misconceptions. This study suggests that the radio may be an effective means of increasing the exposure of men to health information in resource poor settings. PMID:27365364

Climate change, allergy and asthma, and the role of tropical forests.

PubMed

D'Amato, Gennaro; Vitale, Carolina; Rosario, Nelson; Neto, Herberto Josè Chong; Chong-Silva, Deborah Carla; Mendonça, Francisco; Perini, Josè; Landgraf, Loraine; Solé, Dirceu; Sánchez-Borges, Mario; Ansotegui, Ignacio; D'Amato, Maria

2017-01-01

Tropical forests cover less than 10 per cent of all land area (1.8 × 107 km 2 ) and over half of the tropical-forest area (1.1 × 107 Km 2 ) is represented by humid tropical forests (also called tropical rainforests). The Amazon basin contains the largest rainforest on Earth, almost 5.8 million km 2 , and occupies about 40% of South America; more than 60% of the basin is located in Brazil and the rest in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. Over the past decade the positive role of tropical rainforests in capturing large amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) has been demonstrated. In response to the increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration, tropical forests act as a global carbon sink. Accumulation of carbon in the tropical terrestrial biosphere strongly contributes to slowing the rate of increase of CO 2 into the atmosphere, thus resulting in the reduction of greenhouse gas effect. Tropical rainforests have been estimated to account for 32-36% of terrestrial Net Primary Productivity (NPP) that is the difference between total forest photosynthesis and plant respiration. Tropical rainforests have been acting as a strong carbon sink in this way for decades. However, over the past years, increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, and especially CO 2 , in the atmosphere have significantly affected the net carbon balance of tropical rainforests, and have warmed the planet substantially driving climate changes through more severe and prolonged heat waves, variability in temperature, increased air pollution, forest fires, droughts, and floods. The role of tropical forests in mitigating climate change is therefore critical. Over the past 30 years almost 600,000 km 2 have been deforested in Brazil alone due to the rapid development of Amazonia, this is the reason why currently the region is one of the 'hotspots' of global environmental change on the planet. Deforestation represents the second largest anthropogenic source of CO 2 to the atmosphere, after fossil fuel combustion. There are many causes of deforestation, including socioeconomic and natural factors, such as clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, as well as droughts, fires and degradation due to climate change. About natural causes of forest degradation, in the context of the Amazon, the major agent of change in the forest ecosystem would most likely be decreased dry-season precipitation. Of the 23 global climate models employed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in their 2007 report, 50-70% predict a substantial (above 20%) reduction of dry-season rainfall in eastern Amazonia under mid-range greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, 40% in central Amazonia and 20% in the west. While annual carbon emissions from fossil-fuel combustion have been continually increasing since 1960s, historical trends of deforestation and associated carbon emissions have remained poorly understood.

Supporting Policy In health with Research: an Intervention Trial (SPIRIT)—protocol for a stepped wedge trial

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Introduction Governments in different countries have committed to better use of evidence from research in policy. Although many programmes are directed at assisting agencies to better use research, there have been few tests of the effectiveness of such programmes. This paper describes the protocol for SPIRIT (Supporting Policy In health with Research: an Intervention Trial), a trial designed to test the effectiveness of a multifaceted programme to build organisational capacity for the use of research evidence in policy and programme development. The primary aim is to determine whether SPIRIT results in an increase in the extent to which research and research expertise is sought, appraised, generated and used in the development of specific policy products produced by health policy agencies. Methods and analysis A stepped wedge cluster randomised trial involving six health policy agencies located in Sydney, Australia. Policy agencies are the unit of randomisation and intervention. Agencies were randomly allocated to one of three start dates (steps) to receive the 1-year intervention programme, underpinned by an action framework. The SPIRIT intervention is tailored to suit the interests and needs of each agency and includes audit, feedback and goal setting; a leadership programme; staff training; the opportunity to test systems to assist in the use of research in policies; and exchange with researchers. Outcome measures will be collected at each agency every 6 months for 30 months (starting at the beginning of step 1). Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was granted by the University of Western Sydney Human Research and Ethics Committee HREC Approval H8855. The findings of this study will be disseminated broadly through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at conferences and used to inform future strategies. PMID:24989620

Evidence-based Practice Intentions and Long-term Behaviours of Physiotherapy Graduates Following an Intensive Education Programme.

PubMed

Perraton, L; Machotka, Z; Gibbs, C; Mahar, C; Kennedy, K; Grimmer, K

2017-07-01

Assisting physiotherapists to implement research evidence into clinical practice is essential to ensure the quality of practice and encourage lifelong learning and professional progression. However, many physiotherapists report barriers to implementing research, and there is little evidence regarding the sustainability of intended evidence-based practice (EBP) behaviours following EBP education programmes. This paper reports on intended and actual long-term EBP behaviours of physiotherapy students who completed an intensive EBP training programme embedded within a post-graduate coursework programme. An intensive 3-week course in quantitative health research methods and EBP was delivered annually from 2007 to 2014 as part of the programme to national and international students. Following the course, students were asked about their intention of using evidence to inform their future clinical practice. An online survey was used to evaluate EBP behaviours of graduates. Of a possible total of 202 students, contact details for 193 students were sourced, and 65 students responded to the survey (34% response rate). At course completion, 174 students (86%) indicated that they intended to use research to guide their clinical decisions at least once a week. At follow-up, most graduates reported frequently using research to inform their clinical practice; indicated by a mean score of 6.5 (±1.9) from a possible range of 0 (not at all) to 10 (all the time). On average, students reported spending 2.2 (±2.2) hours accessing and reading research evidence per week. The most common barriers to implementing evidence were lack of time, limited access to evidence sources and a perceived lack of generalizability of research findings to specific patient groups. Graduates of an intensive EBP training programme embedded within an existing post-graduate physiotherapy programme regularly implemented EBP in clinical practice. Barriers to evidence implementation were time, access to research and perceived lack of generalizability of research findings. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Time to publication for NIHR HTA programme-funded research: a cohort study

PubMed Central

Chinnery, Fay; Young, Amanda; Goodman, Jennie; Ashton-Key, Martin; Milne, Ruairidh

2013-01-01

Objective To assess the time to publication of primary research and evidence syntheses funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme published as a monograph in Health Technology Assessment and as a journal article in the wider biomedical literature. Study design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Primary research and evidence synthesis projects funded by the HTA Programme were included in the cohort if they were registered in the NIHR research programmes database and was planned to submit the draft final report for publication in Health Technology Assessment on or before 9 December 2011. Main outcome measures The median time to publication and publication at 30 months in Health Technology Assessment and in an external journal were determined by searching the NIHR research programmes database and HTA Programme website. Results Of 458 included projects, 184 (40.2%) were primary research projects and 274 (59.8%) were evidence syntheses. A total of 155 primary research projects had a completion date; the median time to publication was 23 months (26.5 and 35.5 months to publish a monograph and to publish in an external journal, respectively) and 69% were published within 30 months. The median time to publication of HTA-funded trials (n=126) was 24 months and 67.5% were published within 30 months. Among the evidence syntheses with a protocol online date (n=223), the median time to publication was 25.5 months (28 months to publication as a monograph), but only 44.4% of evidence synthesis projects were published in an external journal. 65% of evidence synthesis studies had been published within 30.0 months. Conclusions Research funded by the HTA Programme publishes promptly. The importance of Health Technology Assessment was highlighted as the median time to publication was 9 months shorter for a monograph than an external journal article. PMID:24285634

Towards an Ethics of "Research Programmes" in Special Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hausstatter, Rune Sarromaa; Connolley, Steven

2007-01-01

This article presents an analysis of the different perspectives and ideologies within the evolving field of special education research. This examination has claimed that Imre Lakatos' notion of "research programmes", which allows for a plurality of directions of research, provides a valuable guide for understanding the development and current…

Vocabulary Knowledge and Growth in Immersion and Regular Language-Learning Programmes in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lo, Yuen Yi; Murphy, Victoria A.

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate vocabulary knowledge and growth across two different language-learning programmes in Hong Kong. The two programmes compared were English immersion programmes (IM) and regular English second-language programmes (RL2). While previous research has identified an overall advantage to IM with respect to language…

Studying policy implementation using a macro, meso and micro frame analysis: the case of the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research & Care (CLAHRC) programme nationally and in North West London

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The publication of Best research for best health in 2006 and the “ring-fencing” of health research funding in England marked the start of a period of change for health research governance and the structure of research funding in England. One response to bridging the ‘second translational gap’ between research knowledge and clinical practice was the establishment of nine Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs). The goal of this paper is to assess how national-level understanding of the aims and objectives of the CLAHRCs translated into local implementation and practice in North West London. Methods This study uses a variation of Goffman’s frame analysis to trace the development of the initial national CLAHRC policy to its implementation at three levels. Data collection and analysis were qualitative through interviews, document analysis and embedded research. Results Analysis at the macro (national policy), meso (national programme) and micro (North West London) levels shows a significant common understanding of the aims and objectives of the policy and programme. Local level implementation in North West London was also consistent with these. Conclusions The macro-meso-micro frame analysis is a useful way of studying the transition of a policy from high-level idea to programme in action. It could be used to identify differences at a local (micro) level in the implementation of multi-site programmes that would help understand differences in programme effectiveness. PMID:23067208

The W(h)ine Club: Women Finding Joy in Academic Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Selepe, Mosa; Grobler, Christa; Dicks, Emsie; Oldewage-Theron, Wilna

2012-01-01

The W(h)ine Club is a multidisciplinary women's research team which has been working together for the past 10 years. The idea for this Viewpoint piece grew as we participated in a Women in Research programme. The aim of the programme was to improve academic publications among women. A group of us in the programme found ourselves repeatedly…

Law and Ethics: Problematising the Role of the Foundation Degree and Paralegal Education in English Post-Compulsory Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingleby, Ewan; Gibby, Caroline

2016-01-01

This article is based on research on a foundation degree programme in paralegal education in England. The content explores the pedagogical benefits of this academic programme with its work-related focus. The research has been completed with academic tutors and students who are associated with a foundation degree programme in paralegal education in…

Carbon sequestration potential of coastal wetland soils of Veracruz, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuentes-Romero, Elisabeth; García-Calderón, Norma Eugenia; Ikkonen, Elena; García-Varela, Kl

2014-05-01

Tropical coastal wetlands, including rainforests and mangrove ecosystems play an increasingly important ecological and economic role in the tropical coastal area of the State of Veracruz /Mexico. However, soil processes in these environments, especially C-turnover rates are largely unknown until today. Therefore, we investigated CO2 and CH4 emissions together with gains and losses of organic C in the soils of two different coastal ecosystems in the "Natural Protected Area Cienaga del Fuerte (NPACF)" near Tecolutla, in the State of Veracruz. The research areas were an artificially introduced grassland (IG) and a wetland rainforest (WRF). The gas emissions from the soil surfaces were measured by a static chamber array, the soil organic C was analysed in soil profiles distributed in the two areas, humic substances were characterized and C budget was calculated. The soils in both areas acted as carbon sinks, but the soils of the WRF sequestered more C than those of the IG, which showed a higher gas emission rate and produced more dissolved organic carbon. The gas emission measurements during the dry and the rainy seasons allowed for estimating the possible influence of global warming on gas fluxes from the soils of the two different ecological systems, which show in the WRF a quite complex spatial emission pattern during the rainy season in contrast to a more continuous emission pattern in the IG plots

Plant phylogeny as a window on the evolution of hyperdiversity in the tropical rainforest biome.

PubMed

Eiserhardt, Wolf L; Couvreur, Thomas L P; Baker, William J

2017-06-01

I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. References SUMMARY: Tropical rainforest (TRF) is the most species-rich terrestrial biome on Earth, harbouring just under half of the world's plant species in c. 7% of the land surface. Phylogenetic trees provide important insights into mechanisms underpinning TRF hyperdiversity that are complementary to those obtained from the fossil record. Phylogenetic studies of TRF plant diversity have mainly focused on whether this biome is an evolutionary 'cradle' or 'museum', emphasizing speciation and extinction rates. However, other explanations, such as biome age, immigration and ecological limits, must also be considered. We present a conceptual framework for addressing the drivers of TRF diversity, and review plant studies that have tested them with phylogenetic data. Although surprisingly few in number, these studies point to old age of TRF, low extinction and high speciation rates as credible drivers of TRF hyperdiversity. There is less evidence for immigration and ecological limits, but these cannot be dismissed owing to the limited number of studies. Rapid methodological developments in DNA sequencing, macroevolutionary analysis and the integration of phylogenetics with other disciplines may improve our grasp of TRF hyperdiversity in the future. However, such advances are critically dependent on fundamental systematic research, yielding numerous, additional, well-sampled phylogenies of TRF lineages. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Patents on periphery of the Amazon rainforest.

PubMed

de Moura, Emanoel G; Araújo, José R G; Monroe, Paulo H M; de O Nascimento, Ivaneide; Aguiar, Alana C F

2009-06-01

In the humid tropics, on the edges of the Amazon forest, the technological challenges to establishing and maintaining productive and sustainable agricultural systems have yet to be overcome. The groups involved in agriculture in the north of Brazil still engage in the practice of slash and burn in order to prepare and fertilize the soil. This produces negative effects for the local and global environment, without the counter-effect of providing social benefits to rural communities. Whether this process continues is of fundamental importance to many countries because it means that slash and burn agriculture is advancing on the Amazon rainforest, with a negative effect on every dimension of national policy. Beyond social political problems the biggest challenge for researchers in the field of tropical agriculture is to offer technological alternatives that can sustain agriculture in soils derived from sedimentary rocks that have been subjected to a high degree of weathering. In this article patented information is also discussed. Experiments undertaken in this region recommend taking advantage of the rapid growth of plants in the tropics. We aimed at proposing a suitable alternative system for a sustainable soil management in the particular conditions of humid tropics, named as "no-till in alley cropping using tree leguminous mulch." This system offers the advantages of: bringing together, in the same space and at the same time, the processes of cultivation and the regeneration of soil fertility.

Herbivores modify selection on plant functional traits in a temperate rainforest understory.

PubMed

Salgado-Luarte, Cristian; Gianoli, Ernesto

2012-08-01

There is limited evidence regarding the adaptive value of plant functional traits in contrasting light environments. It has been suggested that changes in these traits in response to light availability can increase herbivore susceptibility. We tested the adaptive value of plant functional traits linked with carbon gain in contrasting light environments and also evaluated whether herbivores can modify selection on these traits in each light environment. In a temperate rainforest, we examined phenotypic selection on functional traits in seedlings of the pioneer tree Aristotelia chilensis growing in sun (canopy gap) and shade (forest understory) and subjected to either natural herbivory or herbivore exclusion. We found differential selection on functional traits depending on light environment. In sun, there was positive directional selection on photosynthetic rate and relative growth rate (RGR), indicating that selection favors competitive ability in a high-resource environment. Seedlings with high specific leaf area (SLA) and intermediate RGR were selected in shade, suggesting that light capture and conservative resource use are favored in the understory. Herbivores reduced the strength of positive directional selection acting on SLA in shade. We provide the first demonstration that natural herbivory rates can change the strength of selection on plant ecophysiological traits, that is, attributes whose main function is resource uptake. Research addressing the evolution of shade tolerance should incorporate the selective role of herbivores.

Beyond Correlation: Do Color Features Influence Attention in Rainforest?

PubMed Central

Frey, Hans-Peter; Wirz, Kerstin; Willenbockel, Verena; Betz, Torsten; Schreiber, Cornell; Troscianko, Tomasz; König, Peter

2011-01-01

Recent research indicates a direct relationship between low-level color features and visual attention under natural conditions. However, the design of these studies allows only correlational observations and no inference about mechanisms. Here we go a step further to examine the nature of the influence of color features on overt attention in an environment in which trichromatic color vision is advantageous. We recorded eye-movements of color-normal and deuteranope human participants freely viewing original and modified rainforest images. Eliminating red–green color information dramatically alters fixation behavior in color-normal participants. Changes in feature correlations and variability over subjects and conditions provide evidence for a causal effect of red–green color-contrast. The effects of blue–yellow contrast are much smaller. However, globally rotating hue in color space in these images reveals a mechanism analyzing color-contrast invariant of a specific axis in color space. Surprisingly, in deuteranope participants we find significantly elevated red–green contrast at fixation points, comparable to color-normal participants. Temporal analysis indicates that this is due to compensatory mechanisms acting on a slower time scale. Taken together, our results suggest that under natural conditions red–green color information contributes to overt attention at a low-level (bottom-up). Nevertheless, the results of the image modifications and deuteranope participants indicate that evaluation of color information is done in a hue-invariant fashion. PMID:21519395

Space-Time Controls on Carbon Sequestration Over Large-Scale Amazon Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Eric A.; Cooper, Harry J.; Gu, Jiujing; Grose, Andrew; Norman, John; daRocha, Humberto R.; Starr, David O. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

A major research focus of the LBA Ecology Program is an assessment of the carbon budget and the carbon sequestering capacity of the large scale forest-pasture system that dominates the Amazonia landscape, and its time-space heterogeneity manifest in carbon fluxes across the large scale Amazon basin ecosystem. Quantification of these processes requires a combination of in situ measurements, remotely sensed measurements from space, and a realistically forced hydrometeorological model coupled to a carbon assimilation model, capable of simulating details within the surface energy and water budgets along with the principle modes of photosynthesis and respiration. Here we describe the results of an investigation concerning the space-time controls of carbon sources and sinks distributed over the large scale Amazon basin. The results are derived from a carbon-water-energy budget retrieval system for the large scale Amazon basin, which uses a coupled carbon assimilation-hydrometeorological model as an integrating system, forced by both in situ meteorological measurements and remotely sensed radiation fluxes and precipitation retrieval retrieved from a combination of GOES, SSM/I, TOMS, and TRMM satellite measurements. Brief discussion concerning validation of (a) retrieved surface radiation fluxes and precipitation based on 30-min averaged surface measurements taken at Ji-Parana in Rondonia and Manaus in Amazonas, and (b) modeled carbon fluxes based on tower CO2 flux measurements taken at Reserva Jaru, Manaus and Fazenda Nossa Senhora. The space-time controls on carbon sequestration are partitioned into sets of factors classified by: (1) above canopy meteorology, (2) incoming surface radiation, (3) precipitation interception, and (4) indigenous stomatal processes varied over the different land covers of pristine rainforest, partially, and fully logged rainforests, and pasture lands. These are the principle meteorological, thermodynamical, hydrological, and biophysical control paths which perturb net carbon fluxes and sequestration, produce time-space switching of carbon sources and sinks, undergo modulation through atmospheric boundary layer feedbacks, and respond to any discontinuous intervention on the landscape itself such as produced by human intervention in converting rainforest to pasture or conducting selective/clearcut logging operations.

Estimating rainforest biomass stocks and carbon loss from deforestation and degradation in Papua New Guinea 1972-2002: Best estimates, uncertainties and research needs.

PubMed

Bryan, Jane; Shearman, Phil; Ash, Julian; Kirkpatrick, J B

2010-01-01

Reduction of carbon emissions from tropical deforestation and forest degradation is being considered a cost-effective way of mitigating the impacts of global warming. If such reductions are to be implemented, accurate and repeatable measurements of forest cover change and biomass will be required. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), which has one of the world's largest remaining areas of tropical forest, we used the best available data to estimate rainforest carbon stocks, and emissions from deforestation and degradation. We collated all available PNG field measurements which could be used to estimate carbon stocks in logged and unlogged forest. We extrapolated these plot-level estimates across the forested landscape using high-resolution forest mapping. We found the best estimate of forest carbon stocks contained in logged and unlogged forest in 2002 to be 4770 Mt (+/-13%). Our best estimate of gross forest carbon released through deforestation and degradation between 1972 and 2002 was 1178 Mt (+/-18%). By applying a long-term forest change model, we estimated that the carbon loss resulting from deforestation and degradation in 2001 was 53 Mt (+/-18%), rising from 24 Mt (+/-15%) in 1972. Forty-one percent of 2001 emissions resulted from logging, rising from 21% in 1972. Reducing emissions from logging is therefore a priority for PNG. The large uncertainty in our estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes is primarily due to the dearth of field measurements in both logged and unlogged forest, and the lack of PNG logging damage studies. Research priorities for PNG to increase the accuracy of forest carbon stock assessments are the collection of field measurements in unlogged forest and more spatially explicit logging damage studies. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Can Work-Based Learning Add to the Research Inventory of Higher Education? The Case of Collaborative Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portwood, Derek

2007-01-01

Work-based learning's preoccupation with developing award-bearing programmes has affected the scope and style of work-based research. While offering development opportunities for work-based research, the emphasis of work-based learning programmes on the individual learner has curtailed the use of collaborative research. This article explores how…

Mentoring the Next Researcher Generation: Reflections on Three Years of Building VET Research Capacity and Infrastructure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barratt-Pugh, Llandis Gareth

2012-01-01

During 2008-2011, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) funded a programme to build Australian VET research capacity and rejuvenate what has been seen as the existing "greying" researcher pool. This paper is a reflective narrative about experiences of constructing the programme with a specific focus on the…

Promoting EFL Teacher Research Engagement through a Research Support Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Maamari, Faisal; Al-Aamri, Kamla; Khammash, Samar; Al-Wahaibi, Munira

2017-01-01

Existing initiatives purporting to promote teacher research are often found to be inadequate to encourage EFL teachers to engage in research due to the fact that they impose a top down, expert model approach to research engagement. This study reports on a pioneering programme at Sultan Qaboos University Language Centre in the Sultanate of Oman…

Real-time DNA barcoding in a rainforest using nanopore sequencing: opportunities for rapid biodiversity assessments and local capacity building

PubMed Central

Peñafiel, Nicolás; Arteaga, Alejandro; Bustamante, Lucas; Pichardo, Frank; Coloma, Luis A; Barrio-Amorós, César L; Salazar-Valenzuela, David; Prost, Stefan

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Advancements in portable scientific instruments provide promising avenues to expedite field work in order to understand the diverse array of organisms that inhabit our planet. Here, we tested the feasibility for in situ molecular analyses of endemic fauna using a portable laboratory fitting within a single backpack in one of the world's most imperiled biodiversity hotspots, the Ecuadorian Chocó rainforest. We used portable equipment, including the MinION nanopore sequencer (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) and the miniPCR (miniPCR), to perform DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction amplification, and real-time DNA barcoding of reptile specimens in the field. Findings We demonstrate that nanopore sequencing can be implemented in a remote tropical forest to quickly and accurately identify species using DNA barcoding, as we generated consensus sequences for species resolution with an accuracy of >99% in less than 24 hours after collecting specimens. The flexibility of our mobile laboratory further allowed us to generate sequence information at the Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica in Quito for rare, endangered, and undescribed species. This includes the recently rediscovered Jambato toad, which was thought to be extinct for 28 years. Sequences generated on the MinION required as few as 30 reads to achieve high accuracy relative to Sanger sequencing, and with further multiplexing of samples, nanopore sequencing can become a cost-effective approach for rapid and portable DNA barcoding. Conclusions Overall, we establish how mobile laboratories and nanopore sequencing can help to accelerate species identification in remote areas to aid in conservation efforts and be applied to research facilities in developing countries. This opens up possibilities for biodiversity studies by promoting local research capacity building, teaching nonspecialists and students about the environment, tackling wildlife crime, and promoting conservation via research-focused ecotourism. PMID:29617771

Gender equity programmes in academic medicine: a realist evaluation approach to Athena SWAN processes

PubMed Central

Caffrey, Louise; Mattingley, Helena; Williamson, Catherine; McKevitt, Christopher

2016-01-01

Objectives Gender inequity has persisted in academic medicine. Yet equity is vital for countries to achieve their full potential in terms of translational research and patient benefit. This study sought to understand how the gender equity programme, Athena SWAN, can be enabled and constrained by interactions between the programme and the context it is implemented into, and whether these interactions might produce unintended consequences. Design Multimethod qualitative case studies using a realist evaluation approach. Setting 5 departments from a university medical school hosting a Translational Research Organisation. Participants 25 hours of observations of gender equality committee meetings, 16 in-depth interviews with Heads of Departments, Committee Leads and key personnel involved in the initiative. 4 focus groups with 15 postdoctoral researchers, lecturers and senior lecturers. Results The implementation of Athena SWAN principles was reported to have created social space to address gender inequity and to have highlighted problematic practices to staff. However, a number of factors reduced the programme's potential to impact gender inequity. Gender inequity was reproduced in the programme's enactment as female staff was undertaking a disproportionate amount of Athena SWAN work, with potential negative impacts on individual women's career progression. Early career researchers experienced problems accessing Athena SWAN initiatives. Furthermore, the impact of the programme was perceived to be undermined by wider institutional practices, national policies and societal norms, which are beyond the programme's remit. Conclusions Gender equity programmes have the potential to address inequity. However, paradoxically, they can also unintentionally reproduce and reinforce gender inequity through their enactment. Potential programme impacts may be undermined by barriers to staff availing of career development and training initiatives, and by wider institutional practices, national policies and societal norms. PMID:27609850

A Rationale for Mixed Methods (Integrative) Research Programmes in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niaz, Mansoor

2008-01-01

Recent research shows that research programmes (quantitative, qualitative and mixed) in education are not displaced (as suggested by Kuhn) but rather lead to integration. The objective of this study is to present a rationale for mixed methods (integrative) research programs based on contemporary philosophy of science (Lakatos, Giere, Cartwright,…

A Summary of Research on the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: Perspectives of Students, Teachers, and University Admissions Offices in the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Culross, Rita; Tarver, Emily

2011-01-01

This is the summary of a series of research studies into the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) in the USA, beginning with the investigation of how the first class of IB DP graduates in an individual school perceived the impacts and benefits of the programme, through further investigations of teacher perceptions of the…

Intensifying weathering and land use in Iron Age Central Africa.

PubMed

Bayon, Germain; Dennielou, Bernard; Etoubleau, Joël; Ponzevera, Emmanuel; Toucanne, Samuel; Bermell, Sylvain

2012-03-09

About 3000 years ago, a major vegetation change occurred in Central Africa, when rainforest trees were abruptly replaced by savannas. Up to this point, the consensus of the scientific community has been that the forest disturbance was caused by climate change. We show here that chemical weathering in Central Africa, reconstructed from geochemical analyses of a marine sediment core, intensified abruptly at the same period, departing substantially from the long-term weathering fluctuations related to the Late Quaternary climate. Evidence that this weathering event was also contemporaneous with the migration of Bantu-speaking farmers across Central Africa suggests that human land-use intensification at that time had already made a major impact on the rainforest.

Denhaminols A-H, dihydro-β-agarofurans from the endemic Australian rainforest plant Denhamia celastroides.

PubMed

Levrier, Claire; Sadowski, Martin C; Nelson, Colleen C; Healy, Peter C; Davis, Rohan A

2015-01-23

Eight new dihydro-β-agarofurans, denhaminols A-H (1-8), were isolated from the leaves of the Australian rainforest tree Denhamia celastroides. The chemical structures of 1-8 were elucidated following analysis of 1D/2D NMR and MS data. The absolute configuration of denhaminol A (1) was determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. All compounds were evaluated for cytotoxic activity against the human prostate cancer cell line LNCaP, using live-cell imaging and metabolic assays. Denhaminols A (1) and G (7) were also tested for their effects on the lipid content of LNCaP cells. This is the first report of secondary metabolites from D. celastroides.

Lowland forest loss in protected areas of Indonesian Borneo.

PubMed

Curran, L M; Trigg, S N; McDonald, A K; Astiani, D; Hardiono, Y M; Siregar, P; Caniago, I; Kasischke, E

2004-02-13

The ecology of Bornean rainforests is driven by El Niño-induced droughts that trigger synchronous fruiting among trees and bursts of faunal reproduction that sustain vertebrate populations. However, many of these species- and carbon-rich ecosystems have been destroyed by logging and conversion, which increasingly threaten protected areas. Our satellite, Geographic Information System, and field-based analyses show that from 1985 to 2001, Kalimantan's protected lowland forests declined by more than 56% (>29,000 square kilometers). Even uninhabited frontier parks are logged to supply international markets. "Protected" forests have become increasingly isolated and deforested and their buffer zones degraded. Preserving the ecological integrity of Kalimantan's rainforests requires immediate transnational management.

Informationist programme in support of biomedical research: a programme description and preliminary findings of an evaluation

PubMed Central

Whitmore, Susan C.; Grefsheim, Suzanne F.; Rankin, Jocelyn A.

2008-01-01

Background The informationist programme at the Library of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, USA has grown to 14 informationists working with 40 clinical and basic science research teams. Purpose This case report, intended to contribute to the literature on informationist programmes, describes the NIH informationist programme including implementation experiences, the informationists' training programme, their job responsibilities and programme outcomes. Brief description The NIH informationist programme was designed to enhance the library's service capacity. Over time, the steps for introducing the service to new groups were formalized to ensure support by leadership, the team being served and the library. Job responsibilities also evolved from traditional library roles to a wide range of knowledge management activities. The commitment by the informationist, the team and the library to continuous learning is critical to the programme's success. Results/outcomes NIH scientists reported that informationists saved them time and contributed to teamwork with expert searching and point-of-need instruction. Process evaluation helped refine the programme. Evaluation method High-level, preliminary outcomes were identified from a survey of scientists receiving informationist services, along with key informant interviews. Process evaluation examined service implementation, informationists' training, and service components. Anecdotal evidence has also indicated a favorable response to the programme. PMID:18494648

Informationist programme in support of biomedical research: a programme description and preliminary findings of an evaluation.

PubMed

Whitmore, Susan C; Grefsheim, Suzanne F; Rankin, Jocelyn A

2008-06-01

The informationist programme at the Library of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, USA has grown to 14 informationists working with 40 clinical and basic science research teams. This case report, intended to contribute to the literature on informationist programmes, describes the NIH informationist programme, including implementation experiences, the informationists' training programme, their job responsibilities and programme outcomes. The NIH informationist programme was designed to enhance the library's service capacity. Over time, the steps for introducing the service to new groups were formalized to ensure support by leadership, the team being served and the library. Job responsibilities also evolved from traditional library roles to a wide range of knowledge management activities. The commitment by the informationist, the team and the library to continuous learning is critical to the programme's success. RESULTS / OUTCOMES: NIH scientists reported that informationists saved them time and contributed to teamwork with expert searching and point-of-need instruction. Process evaluation helped refine the programme. High-level, preliminary outcomes were identified from a survey of scientists receiving informationist services, along with key informant interviews. Process evaluation examined service implementation, informationists' training and service components. Anecdotal evidence has also indicated a favourable response to the programme.

PHIRE (Public Health Innovation and Research in Europe): methods, structures and evaluation.

PubMed

Barnhoorn, Floris; McCarthy, Mark; Devillé, Walter; Alexanderson, Kristina; Voss, Margaretha; Conceição, Claudia

2013-11-01

Public Health Innovation and Research in Europe (PHIRE), building on previous European collaborative projects, was developed to assess national uptake and impacts of European public health innovations, to describe national public health research programmes, strategies and structures and to develop participation of researchers through the organizational structures of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA). This article describes the methods used. PHIRE was led by EUPHA with seven partner organisations over 30 months. It was conceived to engage the organisation of EUPHA--working through its thematic Sections, and through its national public health associations--and assess innovation and research across 30 European countries. Public health research was defined broadly as health research at population and organisational level. There were seven Work Packages (three covering coordination and four for technical aspects) led by partners and coordinated through management meetings. Seven EUPHA Sections identified eight innovations within the projects funded by the Public Health Programme of the European Commission Directorate for Health and Consumers. Country informants, identified through EUPHA thematic Sections, reported on national uptake of the innovations in eight public health projects supported by the European Union Public Health Programme. Four PHIRE partners, each taking a regional sector of Europe, worked with the public health associations and other informants to describe public health research programmes, calls and systems. A classification was created for the national public health research programmes and calls in 2010. The internal and external evaluations were supportive. PHIRE described public health innovations and research across Europe through national experts. More work is needed to conceptualize and define public health 'innovations' and to develop theories and methods for the assessment of their uptake and impacts at country and cross-country levels. More attention to methods to describe and assess national public health research programmes, strategies and structures--contributing to development of the European Research Area.

A Teacher Competence Development Programme for Supporting Students' Reflection Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dekker-Groen, Agaath M.; van der Schaaf, Marieke F.; Stokking, Karel M.

2013-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate a training programme for Dutch teachers in six institutes for nursing education to support students' reflection skills. The research question was: what are the feasibility, quality and effects of the programme? The training programme focused on four competences of teachers regarding instructing, guiding, giving…

REBOUND: A Media-Based Life Skills and Risk Education Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kröninger-Jungaberle, Henrik; Nagy, Ede; von Heyden, Maximilian; DuBois, Fletcher

2015-01-01

Background: REBOUND is a novel media-based life skills and risk education programme developed for 14- to 25-year olds in school, university or youth group settings. This paper outlines the programme's rationale, curriculum and implementation. It provides information of relevance to researchers, programme developers and policymakers. Methods/design…

Stakeholder Perspectives: CLIL Programme Management in Estonia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mehisto, Peeter; Asser, Hiie

2007-01-01

In 2000, Estonia launched a voluntary Estonian language CLIL programme for seven year-olds in four Russian-medium schools. The programme has expanded rapidly to a total of 48 kindergartens and schools. This paper reports on research into stakeholder perspectives on programme management. In addition to surveying parents, teachers, vice-principals…

Using Bullying Incident Density to Evaluate the Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Sally A.; Jackson, Ericka

2007-01-01

Bullying negatively impacts the mental and physical health of student victims, bullies and bystanders. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme is an internationally recognized school based programme demonstrated effective in research. The purpose of this study was to determine if the Bullying Prevention Programme was effective for urban youth…

Silos to Symphonies? Hopes and Challenges Implementing Multicultural Programme Infusion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Laura B.; Milman, Natalie B.

2013-01-01

The need to infuse multicultural education (ME) across teacher preparation programmes is well documented by research, yet institutions are at very different stages in this endeavour. While most programmes demonstrate a segregated approach to ME, confining diversity to specialty courses, ME programme infusion places diversity, equity and social…

Sustainable Schools Programmes: What Influence on Schools and How Do We Know?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rickinson, Mark; Hall, Matthew; Reid, Alan

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on our experience of researching the influence of ResourceSmart Schools, a sustainable schools programme in Victoria, Australia. Drawing on ideas from programme theory and realist synthesis, we illustrate and reflect upon our approach to conceptualising, investigating and generating evidence about the programme's…

The Gates Malaria Partnership: a consortium approach to malaria research and capacity development.

PubMed

Greenwood, Brian; Bhasin, Amit; Targett, Geoffrey

2012-05-01

Recently, there has been a major increase in financial support for malaria control. Most of these funds have, appropriately, been spent on the tools needed for effective prevention and treatment of malaria such as insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying and artemisinin combination therapy. There has been less investment in the training of the scientists from malaria-endemic countries needed to support these large and increasingly complex malaria control programmes, especially in Africa. In 2000, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gates Malaria Partnership was established to support postgraduate training of African scientists wishing to pursue a career in malaria research. The programme had three research capacity development components: a PhD fellowship programme, a postdoctoral fellowship programme and a laboratory infrastructure programme. During an 8-year period, 36 African PhD students and six postdoctoral fellows were supported, and two research laboratories were built in Tanzania. Some of the lessons learnt during this project--such as the need to improve PhD supervision in African universities and to provide better support for postdoctoral fellows--are now being applied to a successor malaria research capacity development programme, the Malaria Capacity Development Consortium, and may be of interest to other groups involved in improving postgraduate training in health sciences in African universities. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

[Memorandum prevention research - research areas and methods].

PubMed

Walter, U; Nöcker, G; Plaumann, M; Linden, S; Pott, E; Koch, U; Pawils, S; Altgeld, T; Dierks, M L; Frahsa, A; Jahn, I; Krauth, C; Pomp, M; Rehaag, R; Robra, B P; Süß, W; Töppich, J; Trojan, A; von Unger, H; Wildner, M; Wright, M

2012-10-01

From 2004 to 2012, the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) established its first funding programme for the promotion of prevention research. 60 projects on primary prevention and health promotion and the meta-project entitled "Cooperation for Sustainable Prevention Research" (KNP) received BMBF grants under this programme during this period. The experience and knowledge gained and recommendations arising from the research funded under this programme are compiled in memorandum format. The "Memorandum on Prevention Research - Research Areas and Methods" highlights 5 research areas that are considered to be especially relevant from the perspective of the involved scientists and practice partners.The promotion of structural development and sustainability enhancement in disease prevention and health promotion are central areas that should branch out from existing nuclei of crystallization. Improving the health competence of the population and of specific subpopulations is another major area. Research in these areas should contribute to the development of theoretical concepts and to the empirical testing of these concepts. The transfer of knowledge for effective use of developed disease prevention and health promotion programmes and measures is still a scarcely researched area. Among other things, studies of the transfer of programmes from one context to another, analyses of the coop-eration between politics and science, and the continued theoretical and conceptual development of transfer research are needed. Long-term data on the effects of intervention studies are also needed for proper evaluation of sustainability. The latter dem-onstrates the importance of method development in disease prevention and health promotion research as an area that should receive separate funding and support. This research should include, in particular, studies of the efficacy of complex interventions, health economic analyses, and participative health research. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Identifying the Research Process to Analyse the Adoption of the International Baccalaureate's Diploma Programme in England

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Outhwaite, Deborah

2018-01-01

This article analyses the flow-line around the methodology used inside an educational research process that was originally established to examine the expansion of the International Baccalaureate's Diploma Programme (IBDP) in England. This article analyses the research question, then assesses the research focus, aims and objectives. The article…

The International School Effectiveness Research Programme ISERP. First Results of the Quantitative Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Creemers, Bert P. M.; And Others

The International School Effectiveness Research Programme (ISERP) is an example of the exchange of research and research results in the field of educational effectiveness. It aims to build on existing models of good practice and to avoid the variations in approach that limit the transferability of data within and between countries. A number of…

Evaluating a Research Training Programme for People with Intellectual Disabilities Participating in Inclusive Research: The Views of Participants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fullana, Judit; Pallisera, Maria; Català, Elena; Puyalto, Carolina

2017-01-01

Background: This article presents the results of evaluating a research training programme aimed at developing the skills of people with intellectual disabilities to actively participate in inclusive research. Methods: The present authors opted for a responsive approach to evaluation, using a combination of interviews, questionnaires and focus…

How Europe Shapes Academic Research: Insights from Participation in European Union Framework Programmes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Primeri, Emilia; Reale, Emanuela

2012-01-01

This article describes the effects of participating in European Union Framework Programmes (EUFPs) at the level of research units and researchers. We consider EUFPs as policy instruments that contribute to the Europeanisation of academic research and study the changes they produce with respect to: 1) the organisation and activities of Departments,…

Ancient charcoal as a natural archive for paleofire regime and vegetation change in the Mayumbe, Democratic Republic of the Congo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hubau, Wannes; Van den Bulcke, Jan; Kitin, Peter; Mees, Florias; Baert, Geert; Verschuren, Dirk; Nsenga, Laurent; Van Acker, Joris; Beeckman, Hans

2013-09-01

Charcoal was sampled in four soil profiles at the Mayumbe forest boundary (DRC). Five fire events were recorded and 44 charcoal types were identified. One stratified profile yielded charcoal assemblages around 530 cal yr BP and > 43.5 cal ka BP in age. The oldest assemblage precedes the period of recorded anthropogenic burning, illustrating occasional long-term absence of fire but also natural wildfire occurrences within tropical rainforest. No other charcoal assemblages older than 2500 cal yr BP were recorded, perhaps due to bioturbation and colluvial reworking. The recorded paleofires were possibly associated with short-lived climate anomalies. Progressively dry climatic conditions since ca. 4000 cal yr BP onward did not promote paleofire occurrence until increasing seasonality affected vegetation at the end of the third millennium BP, as illustrated by a fire occurring in mature rainforest that persisted until around 2050 cal yr BP. During a drought episode coinciding with the 'Medieval Climate Anomaly', mature rainforest was locally replaced by woodland savanna. Charcoal remains from pioneer forest indicate that fire hampered forest regeneration after climatic drought episodes. The presence of pottery shards and oil-palm endocarps associated with two relatively recent paleofires suggests that the effects of climate variability were amplified by human activities.

Extent and ecological consequences of hunting in Central African rainforests in the twenty-first century

PubMed Central

Abernethy, K. A.; Coad, L.; Taylor, G.; Lee, M. E.; Maisels, F.

2013-01-01

Humans have hunted wildlife in Central Africa for millennia. Today, however, many species are being rapidly extirpated and sanctuaries for wildlife are dwindling. Almost all Central Africa's forests are now accessible to hunters. Drastic declines of large mammals have been caused in the past 20 years by the commercial trade for meat or ivory. We review a growing body of empirical data which shows that trophic webs are significantly disrupted in the region, with knock-on effects for other ecological functions, including seed dispersal and forest regeneration. Plausible scenarios for land-use change indicate that increasing extraction pressure on Central African forests is likely to usher in new worker populations and to intensify the hunting impacts and trophic cascade disruption already in progress, unless serious efforts are made for hunting regulation. The profound ecological changes initiated by hunting will not mitigate and may even exacerbate the predicted effects of climate change for the region. We hypothesize that, in the near future, the trophic changes brought about by hunting will have a larger and more rapid impact on Central African rainforest structure and function than the direct impacts of climate change on the vegetation. Immediate hunting regulation is vital for the survival of the Central African rainforest ecosystem. PMID:23878333

From ratites to rats: the size of fleshy fruits shapes species' distributions and continental rainforest assembly

PubMed Central

Rossetto, Maurizio; Kooyman, Robert; Yap, Jia-Yee S.; Laffan, Shawn W.

2015-01-01

Seed dispersal is a key process in plant spatial dynamics. However, consistently applicable generalizations about dispersal across scales are mostly absent because of the constraints on measuring propagule dispersal distances for many species. Here, we focus on fleshy-fruited taxa, specifically taxa with large fleshy fruits and their dispersers across an entire continental rainforest biome. We compare species-level results of whole-chloroplast DNA analyses in sister taxa with large and small fruits, to regional plot-based samples (310 plots), and whole-continent patterns for the distribution of woody species with either large (more than 30 mm) or smaller fleshy fruits (1093 taxa). The pairwise genomic comparison found higher genetic distances between populations and between regions in the large-fruited species (Endiandra globosa), but higher overall diversity within the small-fruited species (Endiandra discolor). Floristic comparisons among plots confirmed lower numbers of large-fruited species in areas where more extreme rainforest contraction occurred, and re-colonization by small-fruited species readily dispersed by the available fauna. Species' distribution patterns showed that larger-fruited species had smaller geographical ranges than smaller-fruited species and locations with stable refugia (and high endemism) aligned with concentrations of large fleshy-fruited taxa, making them a potentially valuable conservation-planning indicator. PMID:26645199

Diversity and Structure of Fungal Communities in Neotropical Rainforest Soils: The Effect of Host Recurrence.

PubMed

Schimann, Heidy; Bach, Cyrille; Lengelle, Juliette; Louisanna, Eliane; Barantal, Sandra; Murat, Claude; Buée, Marc

2017-02-01

The patterns of the distribution of fungal species and their potential interactions with trees remain understudied in Neotropical rainforests, which harbor more than 16,000 tree species, mostly dominated by endomycorrhizal trees. Our hypothesis was that tree species shape the non-mycorrhizal fungal assemblages in soil and litter and that the diversity of fungal communities in these two compartments is partly dependent on the coverage of trees in the Neotropical rainforest. In French Guiana, a long-term plantation and a natural forest were selected to test this hypothesis. Fungal ITS1 regions were sequenced from soil and litter samples from within the vicinity of tree species. A broad range of fungal taxa was found, with 42 orders and 14 classes. Significant spatial heterogeneity in the fungal communities was found without strong variation in the species richness and evenness among the tree plots. However, tree species shaped the fungal assemblages in the soil and litter, explaining up to 18 % of the variation among the communities in the natural forest. These results demonstrate that vegetation cover has an important effect on the structure of fungal assemblages inhabiting the soil and litter in Amazonian forests, illustrating the relative impact of deterministic processes on fungal community structures in these highly diverse ecosystems.

Functional Traits and Water Transport Strategies in Lowland Tropical Rainforest Trees.

PubMed

Apgaua, Deborah M G; Ishida, Françoise Y; Tng, David Y P; Laidlaw, Melinda J; Santos, Rubens M; Rumman, Rizwana; Eamus, Derek; Holtum, Joseph A M; Laurance, Susan G W

2015-01-01

Understanding how tropical rainforest trees may respond to the precipitation extremes predicted in future climate change scenarios is paramount for their conservation and management. Tree species clearly differ in drought susceptibility, suggesting that variable water transport strategies exist. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, we examined the hydraulic variability in trees in a lowland tropical rainforest in north-eastern Australia. We studied eight tree species representing broad plant functional groups (one palm and seven eudicot mature-phase, and early-successional trees). We characterised the species' hydraulic system through maximum rates of volumetric sap flow and velocities using the heat ratio method, and measured rates of tree growth and several stem, vessel, and leaf traits. Sap flow measures exhibited limited variability across species, although early-successional species and palms had high mean sap velocities relative to most mature-phase species. Stem, vessel, and leaf traits were poor predictors of sap flow measures. However, these traits exhibited different associations in multivariate analysis, revealing gradients in some traits across species and alternative hydraulic strategies in others. Trait differences across and within tree functional groups reflect variation in water transport and drought resistance strategies. These varying strategies will help in our understanding of changing species distributions under predicted drought scenarios.

From ratites to rats: the size of fleshy fruits shapes species' distributions and continental rainforest assembly.

PubMed

Rossetto, Maurizio; Kooyman, Robert; Yap, Jia-Yee S; Laffan, Shawn W

2015-12-07

Seed dispersal is a key process in plant spatial dynamics. However, consistently applicable generalizations about dispersal across scales are mostly absent because of the constraints on measuring propagule dispersal distances for many species. Here, we focus on fleshy-fruited taxa, specifically taxa with large fleshy fruits and their dispersers across an entire continental rainforest biome. We compare species-level results of whole-chloroplast DNA analyses in sister taxa with large and small fruits, to regional plot-based samples (310 plots), and whole-continent patterns for the distribution of woody species with either large (more than 30 mm) or smaller fleshy fruits (1093 taxa). The pairwise genomic comparison found higher genetic distances between populations and between regions in the large-fruited species (Endiandra globosa), but higher overall diversity within the small-fruited species (Endiandra discolor). Floristic comparisons among plots confirmed lower numbers of large-fruited species in areas where more extreme rainforest contraction occurred, and re-colonization by small-fruited species readily dispersed by the available fauna. Species' distribution patterns showed that larger-fruited species had smaller geographical ranges than smaller-fruited species and locations with stable refugia (and high endemism) aligned with concentrations of large fleshy-fruited taxa, making them a potentially valuable conservation-planning indicator. © 2015 The Author(s).

Trophic flexibility and the persistence of understory birds in intensively logged rainforest.

PubMed

Edwards, David P; Woodcock, Paul; Newton, Rob J; Edwards, Felicity A; Andrews, David J R; Docherty, Teegan D S; Mitchell, Simon L; Ota, Takahiro; Benedick, Suzan; Bottrell, Simon H; Hamer, Keith C

2013-10-01

Effects of logging on species composition in tropical rainforests are well known but may fail to reveal key changes in species interactions. We used nitrogen stable-isotope analysis of 73 species of understory birds to quantify trophic responses to repeated intensive logging of rainforest in northern Borneo and to test 4 hypotheses: logging has significant effects on trophic positions and trophic-niche widths of species, and the persistence of species in degraded forest is related to their trophic positions and trophic-niche widths in primary forest. Species fed from higher up the food chain and had narrower trophic-niche widths in degraded forest. Species with narrow trophic-niche widths in primary forest were less likely to persist after logging, a result that indicates a higher vulnerability of dietary specialists to local extinction following habitat disturbance. Persistence of species in degraded forest was not related to a species' trophic position. These results indicate changes in trophic organization that were not apparent from changes in species composition and highlight the importance of focusing on trophic flexibility over the prevailing emphasis on membership of static feeding guilds. Our results thus support the notion that alterations to trophic organization and interactions within tropical forests may be a pervasive and functionally important hidden effect of forest degradation. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.