Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN)

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site. IABIN Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) OAS » SEDI » DSD » IABIN IABIN GEF Logo inbio natserve usgs polpar wcm The Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN , and use of biodiversity information relevant to policy and decision-making on natural resources

Compensation for biodiversity loss – Advice to the Netherlands' Taskforce on Biodiversity and Natural Resources

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bie, de S.; Dessel, van B.

2011-01-01

Compensation of damage to biodiversity is one of the mechanisms to settle environmental costs. It concerns creating new opportunities for biodiversity, which as a minimum equals the residual impact after a company or organization has attempted to avoid, prevent and mitigate that impact. In the

International Center for Himalayan Biodiversity (ICHB): Conserving Himalayan Biodiversity--A Global Responsibility

Science.gov (United States)

Ram Bhandari

2006-01-01

Biodiversity is a global endowment of nature. Conservation of biodiversity includes all species of plants, animals and other organisms, the range of genetic stocks within each species, and ecosystem diversity. Food, many types of medicine and industrial products are provided by the biological resources that are the basis of life on Earth. The value of the Earth’s...

Electronic Resource Management and Design

Science.gov (United States)

Abrams, Kimberly R.

2015-01-01

We have now reached a tipping point at which electronic resources comprise more than half of academic library budgets. Because of the increasing work associated with the ever-increasing number of e-resources, there is a trend to distribute work throughout the library even in the presence of an electronic resources department. In 2013, the author…

Evaluating Temporal Consistency in Marine Biodiversity Hotspots

OpenAIRE

Piacenza, Susan E.; Thurman, Lindsey L.; Barner, Allison K.; Benkwitt, Cassandra E.; Boersma, Kate S.; Cerny-Chipman, Elizabeth B.; Ingeman, Kurt E.; Kindinger, Tye L.; Lindsley, Amy J.; Nelson, Jake; Reimer, Jessica N.; Rowe, Jennifer C.; Shen, Chenchen; Thompson, Kevin A.; Heppell, Selina S.

2015-01-01

With the ongoing crisis of biodiversity loss and limited resources for conservation, the concept of biodiversity hotspots has been useful in determining conservation priority areas. However, there has been limited research into how temporal variability in biodiversity may influence conservation area prioritization. To address this information gap, we present an approach to evaluate the temporal consistency of biodiversity hotspots in large marine ecosystems. Using a large scale, public monito...

BioBarcode: a general DNA barcoding database and server platform for Asian biodiversity resources

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

Background DNA barcoding provides a rapid, accurate, and standardized method for species-level identification using short DNA sequences. Such a standardized identification method is useful for mapping all the species on Earth, particularly when DNA sequencing technology is cheaply available. There are many nations in Asia with many biodiversity resources that need to be mapped and registered in databases. Results We have built a general DNA barcode data processing system, BioBarcode, with open source software - which is a general purpose database and server. It uses mySQL RDBMS 5.0, BLAST2, and Apache httpd server. An exemplary database of BioBarcode has around 11,300 specimen entries (including GenBank data) and registers the biological species to map their genetic relationships. The BioBarcode database contains a chromatogram viewer which improves the performance in DNA sequence analyses. Conclusion Asia has a very high degree of biodiversity and the BioBarcode database server system aims to provide an efficient bioinformatics protocol that can be freely used by Asian researchers and research organizations interested in DNA barcoding. The BioBarcode promotes the rapid acquisition of biological species DNA sequence data that meet global standards by providing specialized services, and provides useful tools that will make barcoding cheaper and faster in the biodiversity community such as standardization, depository, management, and analysis of DNA barcode data. The system can be downloaded upon request, and an exemplary server has been constructed with which to build an Asian biodiversity system http://www.asianbarcode.org. PMID:19958506

Biodiversity influences plant productivity through niche-efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jingjing; Zhou, Mo; Tobin, Patrick C; McGuire, A David; Reich, Peter B

2015-05-05

The loss of biodiversity is threatening ecosystem productivity and services worldwide, spurring efforts to quantify its effects on the functioning of natural ecosystems. Previous research has focused on the positive role of biodiversity on resource acquisition (i.e., niche complementarity), but a lack of study on resource utilization efficiency, a link between resource and productivity, has rendered it difficult to quantify the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship. Here we demonstrate that biodiversity loss reduces plant productivity, other things held constant, through theory, empirical evidence, and simulations under gradually relaxed assumptions. We developed a theoretical model named niche-efficiency to integrate niche complementarity and a heretofore-ignored mechanism of diminishing marginal productivity in quantifying the effects of biodiversity loss on plant productivity. Based on niche-efficiency, we created a relative productivity metric and a productivity impact index (PII) to assist in biological conservation and resource management. Relative productivity provides a standardized measure of the influence of biodiversity on individual productivity, and PII is a functionally based taxonomic index to assess individual species' inherent value in maintaining current ecosystem productivity. Empirical evidence from the Alaska boreal forest suggests that every 1% reduction in overall plant diversity could render an average of 0.23% decline in individual tree productivity. Out of the 283 plant species of the region, we found that large woody plants generally have greater PII values than other species. This theoretical model would facilitate the integration of biological conservation in the international campaign against several pressing global issues involving energy use, climate change, and poverty.

The Biodiversity Informatics Potential Index

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

contribute to filling gaps in digitized biodiversity data; (b) assisting countries potentially in need (for example mega-diverse) to mobilize resources and collect data that could be used in decision-making; and (c) allowing identification of which biodiversity informatics-resourced countries could afford to assist countries lacking in biodiversity informatics capacity, and which data-rich countries should benefit most from such help. PMID:22373233

How Essential Biodiversity Variables and remote sensing can help national biodiversity monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petteri Vihervaara

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs have been suggested to harmonize biodiversity monitoring worldwide. Their aim is to provide a small but comprehensive set of monitoring variables that would give a balanced picture of the development of biodiversity and the reaching of international and national biodiversity targets. Globally, GEO BON (Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network has suggested 22 candidate EBVs to be monitored. In this article we regard EBVs as a conceptual tool that may help in making national scale biodiversity monitoring more robust by pointing out where to focus further development resources. We look at one country –Finland –with a relatively advanced biodiversity monitoring scheme and study how well Finland’s current biodiversity state indicators correspond with EBVs. In particular, we look at how national biodiversity monitoring could be improved by using available remote sensing (RS applications. Rapidly emerging new technologies from drones to airborne laser scanning and new satellite sensors providing imagery with very high resolution (VHR open a whole new world of opportunities for monitoring the state of biodiversity and ecosystems at low cost. In Finland, several RS applications already exist that could be expanded into national indicators. These include the monitoring of shore habitats and water quality parameters, among others. We hope that our analysis and examples help other countries with similar challenges. Along with RS opportunities, our analysis revealed also some needs to develop the EBV framework itself.

PEMBANGUNAN DATABASE MANGROVE UNTUK BIODIVERSITY INFORMATICS BIOFARMAKA IPB

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yeni Herdiyeni

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Mangroves are a source of traditional medicine that can be used as a source of bioactive compounds. With the conversion of mangrove ecosystem into another designation led to the extinction of mangrove ecosystems. Therefore we need a good management of natural resources. In natural resource management, biodiversity information is needed to sustain the species utilization, exploration potential of the species and their biological and ecological monitoring, policy making, and for the development of biotechnology innovation. Research center of IPB Biopharmaca (Institute for Research and Community Services of Bogor Agricultural University has the mandate to conduct research from upstream to downstream in the medicinal field. This study develops Indonesian mangrove biodiversity database for Biodiversity Informatics. Biodiversity informatics (BI is the development of computer-based technologies for the management of biodiversity information. BI can be used to improve the knowledge management (knowledge management, exploration, analysis, synthesis, and interpretation of data ranging from the level of genomic biodiversity, species level to the ecosystem level. From the results of this study are expected data, information and knowledge of natural wealth mangroves can be managed properly so that the preservation of natural resources can be properly maintained and can be used in particular to the field of medicinal studies.

Toward equality of biodiversity knowledge through technology transfer.

Science.gov (United States)

Böhm, Monika; Collen, Ben

2015-10-01

To help stem the continuing decline of biodiversity, effective transfer of technology from resource-rich to biodiversity-rich countries is required. Biodiversity technology as defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a complex term, encompassing a wide variety of activities and interest groups. As yet, there is no robust framework by which to monitor the extent to which technology transfer might benefit biodiversity. We devised a definition of biodiversity technology and a framework for the monitoring of technology transfer between CBD signatories. Biodiversity technology within the scope of the CBD encompasses hard and soft technologies that are relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, or make use of genetic resources, and that relate to all aspects of the CBD, with a particular focus on technology transfer from resource-rich to biodiversity-rich countries. Our proposed framework introduces technology transfer as a response indicator: technology transfer is increased to stem pressures on biodiversity. We suggest an initial approach of tracking technology flow between countries; charting this flow is likely to be a one-to-many relationship (i.e., the flow of a specific technology from one country to multiple countries). Future developments should then focus on integrating biodiversity technology transfer into the current pressure-state-response indicator framework favored by the CBD (i.e., measuring the influence of technology transfer on changes in state and pressure variables). Structured national reporting is important to obtaining metrics relevant to technology and knowledge transfer. Interim measures, that can be used to assess biodiversity technology or knowledge status while more in-depth indicators are being developed, include the number of species inventories, threatened species lists, or national red lists; databases on publications and project funding may provide measures of international cooperation. Such a

Biodiversity influences plant productivity through niche–efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jingjing; Zhou, Mo; Tobin, Patrick C.; McGuire, A. David; Reich, Peter B.

2015-01-01

The loss of biodiversity is threatening ecosystem productivity and services worldwide, spurring efforts to quantify its effects on the functioning of natural ecosystems. Previous research has focused on the positive role of biodiversity on resource acquisition (i.e., niche complementarity), but a lack of study on resource utilization efficiency, a link between resource and productivity, has rendered it difficult to quantify the biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationship. Here we demonstrate that biodiversity loss reduces plant productivity, other things held constant, through theory, empirical evidence, and simulations under gradually relaxed assumptions. We developed a theoretical model named niche–efficiency to integrate niche complementarity and a heretofore-ignored mechanism of diminishing marginal productivity in quantifying the effects of biodiversity loss on plant productivity. Based on niche–efficiency, we created a relative productivity metric and a productivity impact index (PII) to assist in biological conservation and resource management. Relative productivity provides a standardized measure of the influence of biodiversity on individual productivity, and PII is a functionally based taxonomic index to assess individual species’ inherent value in maintaining current ecosystem productivity. Empirical evidence from the Alaska boreal forest suggests that every 1% reduction in overall plant diversity could render an average of 0.23% decline in individual tree productivity. Out of the 283 plant species of the region, we found that large woody plants generally have greater PII values than other species. This theoretical model would facilitate the integration of biological conservation in the international campaign against several pressing global issues involving energy use, climate change, and poverty. PMID:25901325

Biodiversity influences plant productivity through niche–efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jingjing; Zhou, Mo; Tobin, Patrick C.; McGuire, A. David; Reich, Peter B.

2015-01-01

The loss of biodiversity is threatening ecosystem productivity and services worldwide, spurring efforts to quantify its effects on the functioning of natural ecosystems. Previous research has focused on the positive role of biodiversity on resource acquisition (i.e., niche complementarity), but a lack of study on resource utilization efficiency, a link between resource and productivity, has rendered it difficult to quantify the biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationship. Here we demonstrate that biodiversity loss reduces plant productivity, other things held constant, through theory, empirical evidence, and simulations under gradually relaxed assumptions. We developed a theoretical model named niche–efficiency to integrate niche complementarity and a heretofore-ignored mechanism of diminishing marginal productivity in quantifying the effects of biodiversity loss on plant productivity. Based on niche–efficiency, we created a relative productivity metric and a productivity impact index (PII) to assist in biological conservation and resource management. Relative productivity provides a standardized measure of the influence of biodiversity on individual productivity, and PII is a functionally based taxonomic index to assess individual species’ inherent value in maintaining current ecosystem productivity. Empirical evidence from the Alaska boreal forest suggests that every 1% reduction in overall plant diversity could render an average of 0.23% decline in individual tree productivity. Out of the 283 plant species of the region, we found that large woody plants generally have greater PII values than other species. This theoretical model would facilitate the integration of biological conservation in the international campaign against several pressing global issues involving energy use, climate change, and poverty.

The biodiversity conservation game with heterogeneous countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Winands, S.; Holm-Müller, K.; Weikard, H.P.

2013-01-01

Biodiversity is an essential resource, which we classify as conditionally-renewable. In order to achieve conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity virtually all nation states signed the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. In this paper we investigate how the heterogeneity of

The Custodians of Biodiversity : Sharing Access to and Benefits of ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

The Custodians of Biodiversity : Sharing Access to and Benefits of Genetic Resources. Couverture du livre The Custodians of Biodiversity : Sharing Access to and Benefits of Genetic Resources. Directeur(s) : Manuel Ruiz, Ronnie Vernooy. Maison(s) d'édition : Earthscan, CRDI. 15 décembre 2011. ISBN : 9781849714518.

Earth Observation for Biodiversity Assessment (EO-BA)

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Cho, Moses A

2012-10-01

Full Text Available in the Dukuduku coastal forest Earth Observation for Biodiversity Assessment (EO-BA) MA CHO, P DEBBA, R MATHIEU, A RAMOELO, L NAIDOO, H VAN DEVENTER, O MALAHLELA AND R MAIN CSIR Natural Resources and the Environment, Pretoria, South Africa PO Box 395... Observation for Biodiversity Assessment (EO-BA) programme is designed to enhance biodiversity assessment and conservation through the application of earth observation data, with particular focus on the African continent. MISSION To initiate and develop...

Electronic Resource Management Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Ellingsen

2004-10-01

Full Text Available Computer applications which deal with electronic resource management (ERM are quite a recent development. They have grown out of the need to manage the burgeoning number of electronic resources particularly electronic journals. Typically, in the early years of e-journal acquisition, library staff provided an easy means of accessing these journals by providing an alphabetical list on a web page. Some went as far as categorising the e-journals by subject and then grouping the journals either on a single web page or by using multiple pages. It didn't take long before it was recognised that it would be more efficient to dynamically generate the pages from a database rather than to continually edit the pages manually. Of course, once the descriptive metadata for an electronic journal was held within a database the next logical step was to provide administrative forms whereby that metadata could be manipulated. This in turn led to demands for incorporating more information and more functionality into the developing application.

Electronic Resources Management Project Presentation 2012

KAUST Repository

Ramli, Rindra M.

2012-11-05

This presentation describes the electronic resources management project undertaken by the KAUST library. The objectives of this project is to migrate information from MS Sharepoint to Millennium ERM module. One of the advantages of this migration is to consolidate all electronic resources into a single and centralized location. This would allow for better information sharing among library staff.

Essential Biodiversity Variables: A framework for communication between the biodiversity community and space agencies

Science.gov (United States)

Leidner, A. K.; Skidmore, A. K.; Turner, W. W.; Geller, G. N.

2017-12-01

The biodiversity community is working towards developing a consensus on a set of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) that can be used to measure and monitor biodiversity change over time. These EBVs will inform research, modeling, policy, and assessment efforts. The synoptic coverage provided by satellite data make remote sensing a particularly important observation tool to inform many EBVs. Biodiversity is a relatively new subject matter for space agencies, and thus the definition, description, and requirements of EBVs with a significant remote sensing component can foster ways for the biodiversity community to clearly and concisely communicate observational needs to space agencies and the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites (CEOS, the international coordinating body for civilian space agencies). Here, we present an overview of EBVs with a particular emphasis on those for which remote sensing will play a significant role and also report on the results of recent workshops to prioritize and refine EBVs. Our goal is to provide a framework for the biodiversity community to coalesce around a set of observational needs to convey to space agencies. Compared to many physical science disciplines, the biodiversity community represents a wide range of sub-disciplines and organizations (academia, non-governmental organizations, research institutes, national and local natural resource management agencies, etc.), which creates additional challenges when communicating needs to space agencies unfamiliar with the topic. EBVs thus offer a communication pathway that could increase awareness within space agencies of the uses of remote sensing for biodiversity research and applications, which in turn could foster greater use of remote sensing in the broader biodiversity community.

MCBS Sites of Biodiversity Significance

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — This data layer represents areas with varying levels of native biodiversity that may contain high quality native plant communities, rare plants, rare animals, and/or...

Economic tools for biodiversity. An elaboration of TEEB recommendations with regard to the Taskforce Biodiversity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, M.D.; Bergsma, G.C.; Blom, M.J.

2011-07-01

The working group on Economic Instruments of the Biodiversity and Natural Resources Task Force addressed the question how the recommendations of the report of the United Nations 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity' (TEEB) can be realized in the Netherlands. A selection of topics has been made for which policy proposals are developed which might be promising and can lead to a better protection of the biodiversity. The following proposals were investigated and/or elaborated: decrease of the social discount rate; further greening of the tax system; import levy on bulk commodities; taxes on non-sustainable wood; levy on the use of open space; differential tax on animal proteins; and a revision of biomass incentives. [nl

PRINCIPLES OF CONTENT FORMATION EDUCATIONAL ELECTRONIC RESOURCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

О Ю Заславская

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article considers modern possibilities of information and communication technologies for the design of electronic educational resources. The conceptual basis of the open educational multimedia system is based on the modular architecture of the electronic educational resource. The content of the electronic training module can be implemented in several versions of the modules: obtaining information, practical exercises, control. The regularities in the teaching process in modern pedagogical theory are considered: general and specific, and the principles for the formation of the content of instruction at different levels are defined, based on the formulated regularities. On the basis of the analysis, the principles of the formation of the electronic educational resource are determined, taking into account the general and didactic patterns of teaching.As principles of the formation of educational material for obtaining information for the electronic educational resource, the article considers: the principle of methodological orientation, the principle of general scientific orientation, the principle of systemic nature, the principle of fundamentalization, the principle of accounting intersubject communications, the principle of minimization. The principles of the formation of the electronic training module of practical studies in the article include: the principle of systematic and dose based consistency, the principle of rational use of study time, the principle of accessibility. The principles of the formation of the module for monitoring the electronic educational resource can be: the principle of the operationalization of goals, the principle of unified identification diagnosis.

Implementing CORAL: An Electronic Resource Management System

Science.gov (United States)

Whitfield, Sharon

2011-01-01

A 2010 electronic resource management survey conducted by Maria Collins of North Carolina State University and Jill E. Grogg of University of Alabama Libraries found that the top six electronic resources management priorities included workflow management, communications management, license management, statistics management, administrative…

Taxonomy, biodiversity and management of knowledge in Asia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ng, F.S.P.

2002-01-01

At the Biodiversity 2000 Kuching Conference in November 2000, I put forward the thesis that biodiversity is a knowledge resource, and that Asian societies have an attitude problem with respect to the management of knowledge (Ng, 2001). I offered the following evidence: In AD 304, Chi Han published

Warfare in biodiversity hotspots.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Thor; Brooks, Thomas M; Da Fonseca, Gustavo A B; Hoffmann, Michael; Lamoreux, John F; Machlis, Gary; Mittermeier, Cristina G; Mittermeier, Russell A; Pilgrim, John D

2009-06-01

Conservation efforts are only as sustainable as the social and political context within which they take place. The weakening or collapse of sociopolitical frameworks during wartime can lead to habitat destruction and the erosion of conservation policies, but in some cases, may also confer ecological benefits through altered settlement patterns and reduced resource exploitation. Over 90% of the major armed conflicts between 1950 and 2000 occurred within countries containing biodiversity hotspots, and more than 80% took place directly within hotspot areas. Less than one-third of the 34 recognized hotspots escaped significant conflict during this period, and most suffered repeated episodes of violence. This pattern was remarkably consistent over these 5 decades. Evidence from the war-torn Eastern Afromontane hotspot suggests that biodiversity conservation is improved when international nongovernmental organizations support local protected area staff and remain engaged throughout the conflict. With biodiversity hotspots concentrated in politically volatile regions, the conservation community must maintain continuous involvement during periods of war, and biodiversity conservation should be incorporated into military, reconstruction, and humanitarian programs in the world's conflict zones. ©2009 Society for Conservation Biology.

Managing electronic resources a LITA guide

CERN Document Server

Weir, Ryan O

2012-01-01

Informative, useful, current, Managing Electronic Resources: A LITA Guide shows how to successfully manage time, resources, and relationships with vendors and staff to ensure personal, professional, and institutional success.

Biodiversity, Extinction, and Humanity’s Future: The Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Human Population and Resource Use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick L. Hindmarsh

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Human actions have altered global environments and reduced biodiversity by causing extinctions and reducing the population sizes of surviving species. Increasing human population size and per capita resource use will continue to have direct and indirect ecological and evolutionary consequences. As a result, future generations will inhabit a planet with significantly less wildlife, reduced evolutionary potential, diminished ecosystem services, and an increased likelihood of contracting infectious disease. The magnitude of these effects will depend on the rate at which global human population and/or per capita resource use decline to sustainable levels and the degree to which population reductions result from increased death rates rather than decreased birth rates.

Geography of conservation spending, biodiversity, and culture.

Science.gov (United States)

McClanahan, T R; Rankin, P S

2016-10-01

We used linear and multivariate models to examine the associations between geography, biodiversity, per capita economic output, national spending on conservation, governance, and cultural traits in 55 countries. Cultural traits and social metrics of modernization correlated positively with national spending on conservation. The global distribution of this spending culture was poorly aligned with the distribution of biodiversity. Specifically, biodiversity was greater in the tropics where cultures tended to spend relatively less on conservation and tended to have higher collectivism, formalized and hierarchical leadership, and weaker governance. Consequently, nations lacking social traits frequently associated with modernization, environmentalism, and conservation spending have the largest component of Earth's biodiversity. This has significant implications for setting policies and priorities for resource management given that biological diversity is rapidly disappearing and cultural traits change slowly. Therefore, we suggest natural resource management adapt to and use characteristics of existing social organization rather than wait for or promote social values associated with conservation spending. Supporting biocultural traditions, engaging leaders to increase conservation commitments, cross-national efforts that complement attributes of cultures, and avoiding interference with nature may work best to conserve nature in collective and hierarchical societies. Spending in modernized nations may be a symbolic response to a symptom of economic development and environmental degradation, and here conservation actions need to ensure that biodiversity is not being lost. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Maximizing biodiversity co-benefits under REDD+: a decoupled approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potts, Matthew D; Kelley, Lisa C; Doll, Hannah M

2013-01-01

Current debates on biodiversity co-benefits under REDD+ are marked by considerable ambiguity and contention. Nevertheless, REDD+ continues to represent one of the most important opportunities for global biodiversity conservation, and the question of how best to achieve biodiversity co-benefits remains an important one. Thus far, most biodiversity conservation in the context of REDD+ is predicated on the notion that services are co-located on a landscape. In contrast, this letter argues that decoupling biodiversity and carbon services on a landscape through national-level planning is a better approach to biodiversity conservation under REDD+. We discuss the fundamental ecological differences between the two services and use principles of resource economics to demonstrate that a decoupled approach will be more efficient, more flexible, and better able to mobilize sufficient finance for biodiversity conservation than a coupled approach. (letter)

Maximizing biodiversity co-benefits under REDD+: a decoupled approach

Science.gov (United States)

Potts, Matthew D.; Kelley, Lisa C.; Doll, Hannah M.

2013-06-01

Current debates on biodiversity co-benefits under REDD+ are marked by considerable ambiguity and contention. Nevertheless, REDD+ continues to represent one of the most important opportunities for global biodiversity conservation, and the question of how best to achieve biodiversity co-benefits remains an important one. Thus far, most biodiversity conservation in the context of REDD+ is predicated on the notion that services are co-located on a landscape. In contrast, this letter argues that decoupling biodiversity and carbon services on a landscape through national-level planning is a better approach to biodiversity conservation under REDD+. We discuss the fundamental ecological differences between the two services and use principles of resource economics to demonstrate that a decoupled approach will be more efficient, more flexible, and better able to mobilize sufficient finance for biodiversity conservation than a coupled approach.

Biodiversity and the basic aspects of its preservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milošević Mirjana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Biodiversity, or diversity of plant resources in agriculture, is a biological basis of global food providing, directly or indirectly. Biodiversity implies diversity of genetic material contained in traditional and contemporary newly created genotypes. Mentioned resources could be the basis for the creation of new cultivars through conventional crossbreeding process or application of biotechnology. Plant resources include both wild relatives and other wild plant species that could be used as an energy source, for pharmaceutical purposes and as a source of beneficial genes. Genetic material is a reservoir of genetic adaptability that can prove to be a buffer against potentially harmful external or economic changes, regardless of the purpose and technology used. Erosion of plant resources could have serious and long-term effect on food supply.

Biodiversity as a multidimensional construct: a review, framework and case study of herbivory's impact on plant biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Naeem, S.; Prager, Case; Weeks, Brian; Varga, Alex; Flynn, Dan F. B.; Griffin, Kevin; Muscarella, Robert; Palmer, Matthew; Wood, Stephen; Schuster, William

2016-01-01

Biodiversity is inherently multidimensional, encompassing taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, genetic, landscape and many other elements of variability of life on the Earth. However, this fundamental principle of multidimensionality is rarely applied in research aimed at understanding biodiversity's value to ecosystem functions and the services they provide. This oversight means that our current understanding of the ecological and environmental consequences of biodiversity loss is limited primarily to what unidimensional studies have revealed. To address this issue, we review the literature, develop a conceptual framework for multidimensional biodiversity research based on this review and provide a case study to explore the framework. Our case study specifically examines how herbivory by whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus) alters the multidimensional influence of biodiversity on understory plant cover at Black Rock Forest, New York. Using three biodiversity dimensions (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity) to explore our framework, we found that herbivory alters biodiversity's multidimensional influence on plant cover; an effect not observable through a unidimensional approach. Although our review, framework and case study illustrate the advantages of multidimensional over unidimensional approaches, they also illustrate the statistical and empirical challenges such work entails. Meeting these challenges, however, where data and resources permit, will be important if we are to better understand and manage the consequences we face as biodiversity continues to decline in the foreseeable future. PMID:27928041

Biodiversity as a multidimensional construct: a review, framework and case study of herbivory's impact on plant biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Naeem, S; Prager, Case; Weeks, Brian; Varga, Alex; Flynn, Dan F B; Griffin, Kevin; Muscarella, Robert; Palmer, Matthew; Wood, Stephen; Schuster, William

2016-12-14

Biodiversity is inherently multidimensional, encompassing taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, genetic, landscape and many other elements of variability of life on the Earth. However, this fundamental principle of multidimensionality is rarely applied in research aimed at understanding biodiversity's value to ecosystem functions and the services they provide. This oversight means that our current understanding of the ecological and environmental consequences of biodiversity loss is limited primarily to what unidimensional studies have revealed. To address this issue, we review the literature, develop a conceptual framework for multidimensional biodiversity research based on this review and provide a case study to explore the framework. Our case study specifically examines how herbivory by whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus) alters the multidimensional influence of biodiversity on understory plant cover at Black Rock Forest, New York. Using three biodiversity dimensions (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity) to explore our framework, we found that herbivory alters biodiversity's multidimensional influence on plant cover; an effect not observable through a unidimensional approach. Although our review, framework and case study illustrate the advantages of multidimensional over unidimensional approaches, they also illustrate the statistical and empirical challenges such work entails. Meeting these challenges, however, where data and resources permit, will be important if we are to better understand and manage the consequences we face as biodiversity continues to decline in the foreseeable future. © 2016 The Authors.

Biocomplexity and conservation of biodiversity hotspots: three case studies from the Americas.

Science.gov (United States)

Callicott, J Baird; Rozzi, Ricardo; Delgado, Luz; Monticino, Michael; Acevedo, Miguel; Harcombe, Paul

2007-02-28

The perspective of 'biocomplexity' in the form of 'coupled natural and human systems' represents a resource for the future conservation of biodiversity hotspots in three direct ways: (i) modelling the impact on biodiversity of private land-use decisions and public land-use policies, (ii) indicating how the biocultural history of a biodiversity hotspot may be a resource for its future conservation, and (iii) identifying and deploying the nodes of both the material and psycho-spiritual connectivity between human and natural systems in service to conservation goals. Three biocomplexity case studies of areas notable for their biodiversity, selected for their variability along a latitudinal climate gradient and a human-impact gradient, are developed: the Big Thicket in southeast Texas, the Upper Botanamo River Basin in eastern Venezuela, and the Cape Horn Archipelago at the austral tip of Chile. More deeply, the biocomplexity perspective reveals alternative ways of understanding biodiversity itself, because it directs attention to the human concepts through which biodiversity is perceived and understood. The very meaning of biodiversity is contestable and varies according to the cognitive lenses through which it is perceived.

Integrating movement ecology with biodiversity research - exploring new avenues to address spatiotemporal biodiversity dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeltsch, Florian; Bonte, Dries; Pe'er, Guy; Reineking, Björn; Leimgruber, Peter; Balkenhol, Niko; Schröder, Boris; Buchmann, Carsten M; Mueller, Thomas; Blaum, Niels; Zurell, Damaris; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin; Wiegand, Thorsten; Eccard, Jana A; Hofer, Heribert; Reeg, Jette; Eggers, Ute; Bauer, Silke

2013-01-01

Movement of organisms is one of the key mechanisms shaping biodiversity, e.g. the distribution of genes, individuals and species in space and time. Recent technological and conceptual advances have improved our ability to assess the causes and consequences of individual movement, and led to the emergence of the new field of 'movement ecology'. Here, we outline how movement ecology can contribute to the broad field of biodiversity research, i.e. the study of processes and patterns of life among and across different scales, from genes to ecosystems, and we propose a conceptual framework linking these hitherto largely separated fields of research. Our framework builds on the concept of movement ecology for individuals, and demonstrates its importance for linking individual organismal movement with biodiversity. First, organismal movements can provide 'mobile links' between habitats or ecosystems, thereby connecting resources, genes, and processes among otherwise separate locations. Understanding these mobile links and their impact on biodiversity will be facilitated by movement ecology, because mobile links can be created by different modes of movement (i.e., foraging, dispersal, migration) that relate to different spatiotemporal scales and have differential effects on biodiversity. Second, organismal movements can also mediate coexistence in communities, through 'equalizing' and 'stabilizing' mechanisms. This novel integrated framework provides a conceptual starting point for a better understanding of biodiversity dynamics in light of individual movement and space-use behavior across spatiotemporal scales. By illustrating this framework with examples, we argue that the integration of movement ecology and biodiversity research will also enhance our ability to conserve diversity at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels.

Assessment of biodiversity based on morphological characteristics ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Conservation and utilization of the native plant resources is essential for long term sustainability of biodiversity. Wild native resources are adapted to specific and diverse environmental conditions and therefore, these adaptive features can be introduced into modern cultivars either through conventional breeding or ...

Correlation of resource plays and biodiversity patterns: accumulation of organic-rich shale tracks taxonomic turnover

Science.gov (United States)

Eoff, Jennifer D.

2012-01-01

Similar paleogeographic and paleotectonic settings characterize most self-sourced shale hydrocarbon plays. Their deposition occurred within similar orders of magnitude of eustatic events and during geologic periods characterized by “warm” (or transitional) climates and calcitic seas. In addition, the stratigraphic occurrence of shale plays parallels certain historical patterns of marine metazoan biodiversity. Such strong agreement among several correlation tools elucidates why these resources may be limited to discrete intervals of geological time. Correlation of self-sourced shale with biodiversity trends indicates that the factors controlling the deposition of marine organic matter may not be independent of those that induced taxonomic turnover. Paleoecological changes promoted accumulation and preservation of Type II kerogen. Deposition of self-sourced shale appears to correspond to reductions in absolute biodiversity and declining percentages of bioturbating taxa, with concomitant increases in proportions of pelagic taxa relative to infaunal and epifaunal organisms. Whereas upwelling and anoxia may have contributed to the deposition of kerogen in source rocks throughout much of the sedimentary record, diminished consumption of biomass by benthic metazoans likely augmented the preservation of organic carbon during deposition of this shale type. Rapid tectonic-plate reconfiguration induced coeval events, creating basins with sufficiently high rates of accommodation creation necessary to preserve additional organic material accumulating as the heterotrophic benthos suffered in response to rapidly changing environments. Combining sea-level curves, paleogeography, climate, and seawater chemistry provides a first-order approximation of the distribution of potential self-sourced shale in the geologic record. A model that predicts the stratigraphic distribution of self-sourced-shale deposition can aid in exploration of continuous hydrocarbon accumulations in self

Bacterial biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relations are modified by environmental complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Langenheder, Silke; Bulling, Mark T; Solan, Martin; Prosser, James I

2010-05-26

With the recognition that environmental change resulting from anthropogenic activities is causing a global decline in biodiversity, much attention has been devoted to understanding how changes in biodiversity may alter levels of ecosystem functioning. Although environmental complexity has long been recognised as a major driving force in evolutionary processes, it has only recently been incorporated into biodiversity-ecosystem functioning investigations. Environmental complexity is expected to strengthen the positive effect of species richness on ecosystem functioning, mainly because it leads to stronger complementarity effects, such as resource partitioning and facilitative interactions among species when the number of available resource increases. Here we implemented an experiment to test the combined effect of species richness and environmental complexity, more specifically, resource richness on ecosystem functioning over time. We show, using all possible combinations of species within a bacterial community consisting of six species, and all possible combinations of three substrates, that diversity-functioning (metabolic activity) relationships change over time from linear to saturated. This was probably caused by a combination of limited complementarity effects and negative interactions among competing species as the experiment progressed. Even though species richness and resource richness both enhanced ecosystem functioning, they did so independently from each other. Instead there were complex interactions between particular species and substrate combinations. Our study shows clearly that both species richness and environmental complexity increase ecosystem functioning. The finding that there was no direct interaction between these two factors, but that instead rather complex interactions between combinations of certain species and resources underlie positive biodiversity ecosystem functioning relationships, suggests that detailed knowledge of how individual

Bacterial biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relations are modified by environmental complexity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silke Langenheder

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: With the recognition that environmental change resulting from anthropogenic activities is causing a global decline in biodiversity, much attention has been devoted to understanding how changes in biodiversity may alter levels of ecosystem functioning. Although environmental complexity has long been recognised as a major driving force in evolutionary processes, it has only recently been incorporated into biodiversity-ecosystem functioning investigations. Environmental complexity is expected to strengthen the positive effect of species richness on ecosystem functioning, mainly because it leads to stronger complementarity effects, such as resource partitioning and facilitative interactions among species when the number of available resource increases. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we implemented an experiment to test the combined effect of species richness and environmental complexity, more specifically, resource richness on ecosystem functioning over time. We show, using all possible combinations of species within a bacterial community consisting of six species, and all possible combinations of three substrates, that diversity-functioning (metabolic activity relationships change over time from linear to saturated. This was probably caused by a combination of limited complementarity effects and negative interactions among competing species as the experiment progressed. Even though species richness and resource richness both enhanced ecosystem functioning, they did so independently from each other. Instead there were complex interactions between particular species and substrate combinations. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study shows clearly that both species richness and environmental complexity increase ecosystem functioning. The finding that there was no direct interaction between these two factors, but that instead rather complex interactions between combinations of certain species and resources underlie positive biodiversity

Biodiversity as a multidimensional construct: a review, framework and case study of herbivory's impact on plant biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Naeem, S.; Prager, Case; Weeks, Brian

2016-01-01

on understory plant cover at Black Rock Forest, New York. Using three biodiversity dimensions (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity) to explore our framework, we found that herbivory alters biodiversity's multidimensional influence on plant cover; an effect not observable through a unidimensional...... approach. Although our review, framework and case study illustrate the advantages of multidimensional over unidimensional approaches, they also illustrate the statistical and empirical challenges such work entails. Meeting these challenges, however, where data and resources permit, will be important if we...

Biodiversity of Three Backwaters in the South West Coast of India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beslin Leena Grace

2014-01-01

Full Text Available For the conservation of biodiversity, it is not sufficient to preserve the living organisms or their gametes alone, because keeping fishes in aquaria or their gametes in freezers cannot conserve the full range of biodiversity which is due to the loss of the ecological complexity in their original habitats. For promoting richer biodiversity in the future, more complexity in biological communities is essential in their natural environments. In order to prevent depletion of biodiversity due to environmental alterations or other ways, it is necessary to understand how the diversity of life particularly at the species level is maintained and it is equally necessary to know how the terminal extinction of species takes place under natural conditions. Moreover, a database on fishery resources of the concerned environment is essential to make decision about specific programmes on conservation of fish germplasm resources. Hence, the present study aims to quantify the fish and shellfish resources of the selected backwaters such as Kadinamkulam, Veli, and Poonthura to know the real stocks present in such environments.

A biodiversity indicators dashboard: addressing challenges to monitoring progress towards the Aichi biodiversity targets using disaggregated global data.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Xuemei; Smyth, Regan L; Young, Bruce E; Brooks, Thomas M; Sánchez de Lozada, Alexandra; Bubb, Philip; Butchart, Stuart H M; Larsen, Frank W; Hamilton, Healy; Hansen, Matthew C; Turner, Will R

2014-01-01

Recognizing the imperiled status of biodiversity and its benefit to human well-being, the world's governments committed in 2010 to take effective and urgent action to halt biodiversity loss through the Convention on Biological Diversity's "Aichi Targets". These targets, and many conservation programs, require monitoring to assess progress toward specific goals. However, comprehensive and easily understood information on biodiversity trends at appropriate spatial scales is often not available to the policy makers, managers, and scientists who require it. We surveyed conservation stakeholders in three geographically diverse regions of critical biodiversity concern (the Tropical Andes, the African Great Lakes, and the Greater Mekong) and found high demand for biodiversity indicator information but uneven availability. To begin to address this need, we present a biodiversity "dashboard"--a visualization of biodiversity indicators designed to enable tracking of biodiversity and conservation performance data in a clear, user-friendly format. This builds on previous, more conceptual, indicator work to create an operationalized online interface communicating multiple indicators at multiple spatial scales. We structured this dashboard around the Pressure-State-Response-Benefit framework, selecting four indicators to measure pressure on biodiversity (deforestation rate), state of species (Red List Index), conservation response (protection of key biodiversity areas), and benefits to human populations (freshwater provision). Disaggregating global data, we present dashboard maps and graphics for the three regions surveyed and their component countries. These visualizations provide charts showing regional and national trends and lay the foundation for a web-enabled, interactive biodiversity indicators dashboard. This new tool can help track progress toward the Aichi Targets, support national monitoring and reporting, and inform outcome-based policy-making for the protection of

A biodiversity indicators dashboard: addressing challenges to monitoring progress towards the Aichi biodiversity targets using disaggregated global data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuemei Han

Full Text Available Recognizing the imperiled status of biodiversity and its benefit to human well-being, the world's governments committed in 2010 to take effective and urgent action to halt biodiversity loss through the Convention on Biological Diversity's "Aichi Targets". These targets, and many conservation programs, require monitoring to assess progress toward specific goals. However, comprehensive and easily understood information on biodiversity trends at appropriate spatial scales is often not available to the policy makers, managers, and scientists who require it. We surveyed conservation stakeholders in three geographically diverse regions of critical biodiversity concern (the Tropical Andes, the African Great Lakes, and the Greater Mekong and found high demand for biodiversity indicator information but uneven availability. To begin to address this need, we present a biodiversity "dashboard"--a visualization of biodiversity indicators designed to enable tracking of biodiversity and conservation performance data in a clear, user-friendly format. This builds on previous, more conceptual, indicator work to create an operationalized online interface communicating multiple indicators at multiple spatial scales. We structured this dashboard around the Pressure-State-Response-Benefit framework, selecting four indicators to measure pressure on biodiversity (deforestation rate, state of species (Red List Index, conservation response (protection of key biodiversity areas, and benefits to human populations (freshwater provision. Disaggregating global data, we present dashboard maps and graphics for the three regions surveyed and their component countries. These visualizations provide charts showing regional and national trends and lay the foundation for a web-enabled, interactive biodiversity indicators dashboard. This new tool can help track progress toward the Aichi Targets, support national monitoring and reporting, and inform outcome-based policy-making for the

A Biodiversity Indicators Dashboard: Addressing Challenges to Monitoring Progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets Using Disaggregated Global Data

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Xuemei; Smyth, Regan L.; Young, Bruce E.; Brooks, Thomas M.; Sánchez de Lozada, Alexandra; Bubb, Philip; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Larsen, Frank W.; Hamilton, Healy; Hansen, Matthew C.; Turner, Will R.

2014-01-01

Recognizing the imperiled status of biodiversity and its benefit to human well-being, the world's governments committed in 2010 to take effective and urgent action to halt biodiversity loss through the Convention on Biological Diversity's “Aichi Targets”. These targets, and many conservation programs, require monitoring to assess progress toward specific goals. However, comprehensive and easily understood information on biodiversity trends at appropriate spatial scales is often not available to the policy makers, managers, and scientists who require it. We surveyed conservation stakeholders in three geographically diverse regions of critical biodiversity concern (the Tropical Andes, the African Great Lakes, and the Greater Mekong) and found high demand for biodiversity indicator information but uneven availability. To begin to address this need, we present a biodiversity “dashboard” – a visualization of biodiversity indicators designed to enable tracking of biodiversity and conservation performance data in a clear, user-friendly format. This builds on previous, more conceptual, indicator work to create an operationalized online interface communicating multiple indicators at multiple spatial scales. We structured this dashboard around the Pressure-State-Response-Benefit framework, selecting four indicators to measure pressure on biodiversity (deforestation rate), state of species (Red List Index), conservation response (protection of key biodiversity areas), and benefits to human populations (freshwater provision). Disaggregating global data, we present dashboard maps and graphics for the three regions surveyed and their component countries. These visualizations provide charts showing regional and national trends and lay the foundation for a web-enabled, interactive biodiversity indicators dashboard. This new tool can help track progress toward the Aichi Targets, support national monitoring and reporting, and inform outcome-based policy-making for the

Assessing Undergraduate University Students' Level of Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour towards Biodiversity: A Case Study in Cyprus

Science.gov (United States)

Nisiforou, Olympia; Charalambides, Alexandros George

2012-01-01

Biodiversity is a key resource as it provides both goods and services to society. However, humans value these resources differently, especially when biodiversity is exploited for its economic potential; a destruction on a scale rarely seen before. In order to decrease the threats that biodiversity is facing due to human activity, globally (climate…

Traditional and local ecological knowledge about forest biodiversity in the Pacific Northwest.

Science.gov (United States)

Susan Charnley; A. Paige Fischer; Eric T. Jones

2008-01-01

This paper synthesizes the existing literature about traditional and local ecological knowledge relating to biodiversity in Pacific Northwest forests in order to assess what is needed to apply this knowledge to forest biodiversity conservation efforts. We address four topics: (1) views and values people have relating to biodiversity, (2) the resource use and management...

Gender Analysis Of Electronic Information Resource Use: The Case ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Based on the findings the study concluded that access and use of electronic information resources creates a “social digital divide” along gender lines. The study ... Finally, the library needs to change its marketing strategies on the availability of electronic information resources to increase awareness of these resources.

July: "Soils are living: Overview of soil biodiversity, global issues, and new resources"

Science.gov (United States)

The July poster will provide an overview of soil biology and the many ecosystem functions that soil organisms drive including their impact on global biodiversity, climate regulation, soil health/stability, and plant growth. Five main global issues related to soil biodiversity will be presented such ...

Users satisfaction with electronic information resources and services ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated users satisfaction on the use of electronic information resources and services in MTN Net libraries in ABU & UNIBEN. Two objectives and one null hypotheses were formulated and tested with respect to the users' satisfaction on electronic information resources and services in MTN Net libraries in ...

Predictable waves of sequential forest degradation and biodiversity loss spreading from an African city

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahrends, A.; Burgess, N.D.; Milledge, S.A.H.

2010-01-01

Tropical forest degradation emits carbon at a rate of similar to 0.5 Pg.y(-1), reduces biodiversity, and facilitates forest clearance. Understanding degradation drivers and patterns is therefore crucial to managing forests to mitigate climate change and reduce biodiversity loss. Putative patterns...... of degradation affecting forest stocks, carbon, and biodiversity have variously been described previously, but these have not been quantitatively assessed together or tested systematically. Economic theory predicts a systematic allocation of land to its highest use value in response to distance from centers...... dependence on forest based resources, predicting the spatiotemporal patterns of degradation can inform policies designed to extract resources without unsustainably reducing carbon storage and biodiversity...

From genes to landscapes: conserving biodiversity at multiple scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Sally. Duncan

2000-01-01

Biodiversity has at last become a familiar term outside of scientific circles. Ways of measuring it and mapping it are advancing and becoming more complex, but ways of deciding how to conserve it remain mixed at best, and the resources available to manage dimishing biodiversity are themselves scarce. One significant problem is that policy decisions are frequently at...

Marine biodiversity and fishery sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Kwang-Tsao

2009-01-01

Marine fish is one of the most important sources of animal protein for human use, especially in developing countries with coastlines. Marine fishery is also an important industry in many countries. Fifty years ago, many people believed that the ocean was so vast and so resilient that there was no way the marine environment could be changed, nor could marine fishery resources be depleted. Half a century later, we all agree that the depletion of fishery resources is happening mainly due to anthropogenic factors such as overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species introduction, and climate change. Since overfishing can cause chain reactions that decrease marine biodiversity drastically, there will be no seafood left after 40 years if we take no action. The most effective ways to reverse this downward trend and restore fishery resources are to promote fishery conservation, establish marine-protected areas, adopt ecosystem-based management, and implement a "precautionary principle." Additionally, enhancing public awareness of marine conservation, which includes eco-labeling, fishery ban or enclosure, slow fishing, and MPA (marine protected areas) enforcement is important and effective. In this paper, we use Taiwan as an example to discuss the problems facing marine biodiversity and sustainable fisheries.

Managing Agricultural Biodiversity for Nutrition, Health, Livelihoods ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Managing Agricultural Biodiversity for Nutrition, Health, Livelihoods and ... on local ecosystems and human resources can provide sustainable solutions to ... and health among the rural and urban poor through increased dietary diversity.

Biodiversity loss, emerging infectious diseases and impact on human and crops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinwari, Z.K.; Gilani, S.A.; Khan, A.L.

2012-01-01

We are losing biodiversity through several factors ranging from global warming, climatic change, unsustainable use of natural resources, human settlements, demand for food, medicine etc. Consequently, the biodiversity losses are causing emergence of infectious diseases (EIDs) which are making them more virulent than the past. Both biodiversity loss and emergence of diseases significantly impact the human derived benefits in-terms of economy and food. Ecological stability, productivity and food-web interactions are indirectly correlated with biodiversity and any change in these will cause losses in biodiversity that would certainly influence the human derived benefits and crops. The current article reviews the biodiversity losses and emerging infectious diseases at various levels reported by recent literature which will help in current status of EIDs and future recommendations. (author)

Organizational matters of competition in electronic educational resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ирина Карловна Войтович

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article examines the experience of the Udmurt State University in conducting competitions of educational publications and electronic resources. The purpose of such competitions is to provide methodological support to educational process. The main focus is on competition of electronic educational resources. The technology of such contests is discussed through detailed analysis of the main stages of the contest. It is noted that the main task of the preparatory stage of the competition is related to the development of regulations on competition and the definition of criteria for selection of the submitted works. The paper also proposes a system of evaluation criteria of electronic educational resources developed by members of the contest organizing committee and jury members. The article emphasizes the importance of not only the preparatory stages of the competition, but also measures for its completion, aimed at training teachers create quality e-learning resources.

AMBON - the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network

Science.gov (United States)

Iken, K.; Danielson, S. L.; Grebmeier, J. M.; Cooper, L. W.; Hopcroft, R. R.; Kuletz, K.; Stafford, K.; Mueter, F. J.; Collins, E.; Bluhm, B.; Moore, S. E.; Bochenek, R. J.

2016-02-01

The goal of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON) is to build an operational and sustainable marine biodiversity observing network for the US Arctic Chukchi Sea continental shelf. The AMBON has four main goals: 1. To close current gaps in taxonomic biodiversity observations from microbes to whales, 2. To integrate results of past and ongoing research programs on the US Arctic shelf into a biodiversity observation network, 3. To demonstrate at a regional level how an observing network could be developed, and 4. To link with programs on the pan-Arctic to global scale. The AMBON fills taxonomic (from microbes to mammals), functional (food web structure), spatial and temporal (continuing time series) gaps, and includes new technologies such as state-of-the-art genomic tools, with biodiversity and environmental observations linked through central data management through the Alaska Ocean Observing System. AMBON is a 5-year partnership between university and federal researchers, funded through the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP), with partners in the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM), and Shell industry. AMBON will allow us to better coordinate, sustain, and synthesize biodiversity research efforts, and make data available to a broad audience of users, stakeholders, and resource managers.

CHALLENGES OF ELECTRONIC INFORMATION RESOURCES IN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper discusses the role of policy for proper and efficient library services in the electronic era. It points out some of the possible dangers of embarking in electronic resources without a proper focus at hand. Thus, it calls for today's librarians and policy makers to brainstorm and come up with working policies suitable to ...

Curbing UK impacts on global biodiversity: an agenda for action

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Steve [Scott Wilson Ltd (United Kingdom); Craeynest, Lies [WWF (United Kingdom); Bass, Steve

2008-05-15

Stemming the tide of biodiversity loss is a global issue with national implications. The UK has set up initiatives to reduce its impacts on biodiversity worldwide — but as a government review found in 2006, these have yet to add up to a comprehensive strategy. How can the gaps be filled? New research suggests that action on a number of fronts is key. Many UK policies and practices clearly affect biodiversity even though they do not directly address it. For instance, UK imports such as coffee, cocoa and sugar are linked to biodiversity loss. By integrating relevant mainstream concerns such as trade and exploitation of natural resources into an overall strategy, the UK government could better demonstrate its commitment to reducing biodiversity loss significantly by the target date of 2010.

Use of Electronic Resources in a Private University in Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study examined awareness and constraints in the use of electronic resources by lecturers and students of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Nigeria. It aimed at justifying the resources expended in the provision of electronic resources in terms of awareness, patronage and factors that may be affecting awareness and use ...

Electronic Resources Management System: Recommendation Report 2017

KAUST Repository

Ramli, Rindra M.

2017-05-01

This recommendation report provides an overview of the selection process for the new Electronic Resources Management System. The library has decided to move away from Innovative Interfaces Millennium ERM module. The library reviewed 3 system as potential replacements namely: Proquest 360 Resource Manager, Ex Libris Alma and Open Source CORAL ERMS. After comparing and trialling the systems, it was decided to go for Proquest 360 Resource Manager.

The disturbance-diversity relationship: integrating biodiversity conservation and resource management in anthropogenic landscapes

OpenAIRE

Sharma, Lila Nath

2016-01-01

Disturbance, natural or anthropogenic, is ubiquitous to forest and grassland ecosystems across the globe. Many of these ecosystems have evolved alongside centuries old anthropogenic disturbance regimes. Understanding how disturbance impacts biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery is a topic of paramount importance as high biodiversity is likely to provide a wide array of ecosystem goods and services to an ever-growing human population. There is a general consensus that dist...

Towards a Duty of Care for Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Earl, G.; Curtis, A.; Allan, C.

2010-04-01

The decline in biodiversity is a worldwide phenomenon, with current rates of species extinction more dramatic than any previously recorded. Habitat loss has been identified as the major cause of biodiversity decline. In this article we suggest that a statutory duty of care would complement the current mix of policy options for biodiversity conservation. Obstacles hindering the introduction of a statutory duty of care include linguistic ambiguity about the terms ‘duty of care’ and ‘stewardship’ and how they are applied in a natural resource management context, and the absence of a mechanism to guide its implementation. Drawing on international literature and key informant interviews we have articulated characteristics of duty of care to reduce linguistic ambiguity, and developed a framework for implementing a duty of care for biodiversity at the regional scale. The framework draws on key elements of the common law ‘duty of care’, the concepts of ‘taking reasonable care’ and ‘avoiding foreseeable harm’, in its logic. Core elements of the framework include desired outcomes for biodiversity, supported by current recommended practices. The focus on outcomes provides opportunities for the development of innovative management practices. The framework incorporates multiple pathways for the redress of non-compliance including tiered negative sanctions, and positive measures to encourage compliance. Importantly, the framework addresses the need for change and adaptation that is a necessary part of biodiversity management.

use of electronic resources by graduate students of the department

African Journals Online (AJOL)

respondent's access electronic resources from the internet via Cybercafé .There is a high ... KEY WORDS: Use, Electronic Resources, Graduate Students, Cybercafé. INTRODUCTION ... Faculty of Education, University of Uyo, Uyo. Olu Olat ...

Crowdfunding biodiversity conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallo-Cajiao, E; Archibald, C; Friedman, R; Steven, R; Fuller, R A; Game, E T; Morrison, T H; Ritchie, E G

2018-05-26

Raising funds is critical for conserving biodiversity and hence so too is scrutinizing emerging financial mechanisms that might help achieve this goal. In this context, anecdotal evidence indicates crowdfunding is being used to support a variety of activities needed for biodiversity conservation, yet its magnitude and allocation remain largely unknown. We conducted a global analysis to help address this knowledge gap, based on empirical data from conservation-focused projects extracted from crowdfunding platforms. For each project, we determined the funds raised, date, country of implementation, proponent characteristics, activity type, biodiversity realm, and target taxa. We identified 72 relevant platforms and 577 conservation-focused projects that have raised US$4 790 634 since 2009. Whilst proponents were based in 38 countries, projects were delivered across 80 countries, indicating a potential mechanism of resource mobilization. Proponents were from non-governmental organizations (35%), universities (30%), or were freelancers (26%). Most projects were for research (40%), persuasion (31%), and on-ground actions (21%). Projects have focused primarily on species (57.7%) and terrestrial ecosystems (20.3%), and less on marine (8.8%) and freshwater ecosystems (3.6%). Projects have focused on 208 species, including a disproportionate number of threatened bird and mammal species. Crowdfunding for biodiversity conservation has now become a global phenomenon and presents signals for potential expansion, despite possible pitfalls. Opportunities arise from its spatial amplifying effect, steady increase over time, inclusion of Cinderella species, adoption by multiple actors, and funding of a range of activities beyond research. Our study paves the way for further research on key questions, such as campaign success rates, effectiveness, and drivers of adoption. Even though the capital input of crowdfunding so far has been modest compared to other conservation finance

Traditional African Knowledge In Biodiversity Conservation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The tropical forest ecosystem is one of the most important ecosystems of the world, because it contains a large proportion of the world's biodiversity and provides many environmental functions. Local communities have successfully conserved these resources that are of interest to them through laws and taboos. These range ...

Electronic resource management practical perspectives in a new technical services model

CERN Document Server

Elguindi, Anne

2012-01-01

A significant shift is taking place in libraries, with the purchase of e-resources accounting for the bulk of materials spending. Electronic Resource Management makes the case that technical services workflows need to make a corresponding shift toward e-centric models and highlights the increasing variety of e-formats that are forcing new developments in the field.Six chapters cover key topics, including: technical services models, both past and emerging; staffing and workflow in electronic resource management; implementation and transformation of electronic resource management systems; the ro

Evaluating Temporal Consistency in Marine Biodiversity Hotspots.

Science.gov (United States)

Piacenza, Susan E; Thurman, Lindsey L; Barner, Allison K; Benkwitt, Cassandra E; Boersma, Kate S; Cerny-Chipman, Elizabeth B; Ingeman, Kurt E; Kindinger, Tye L; Lindsley, Amy J; Nelson, Jake; Reimer, Jessica N; Rowe, Jennifer C; Shen, Chenchen; Thompson, Kevin A; Heppell, Selina S

2015-01-01

With the ongoing crisis of biodiversity loss and limited resources for conservation, the concept of biodiversity hotspots has been useful in determining conservation priority areas. However, there has been limited research into how temporal variability in biodiversity may influence conservation area prioritization. To address this information gap, we present an approach to evaluate the temporal consistency of biodiversity hotspots in large marine ecosystems. Using a large scale, public monitoring dataset collected over an eight year period off the US Pacific Coast, we developed a methodological approach for avoiding biases associated with hotspot delineation. We aggregated benthic fish species data from research trawls and calculated mean hotspot thresholds for fish species richness and Shannon's diversity indices over the eight year dataset. We used a spatial frequency distribution method to assign hotspot designations to the grid cells annually. We found no areas containing consistently high biodiversity through the entire study period based on the mean thresholds, and no grid cell was designated as a hotspot for greater than 50% of the time-series. To test if our approach was sensitive to sampling effort and the geographic extent of the survey, we followed a similar routine for the northern region of the survey area. Our finding of low consistency in benthic fish biodiversity hotspots over time was upheld, regardless of biodiversity metric used, whether thresholds were calculated per year or across all years, or the spatial extent for which we calculated thresholds and identified hotspots. Our results suggest that static measures of benthic fish biodiversity off the US West Coast are insufficient for identification of hotspots and that long-term data are required to appropriately identify patterns of high temporal variability in biodiversity for these highly mobile taxa. Given that ecological communities are responding to a changing climate and other

A conservation agenda for the Pantanal's biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Alho, C J R; Sabino, J

2011-04-01

The Pantanal's biodiversity constitutes a valuable natural resource, in economic, cultural, recreational, aesthetic, scientific and educational terms. The vegetation plus the seasonal productivity support a diverse and abundant fauna. Many endangered species occur in the region, and waterfowl are exceptionally abundant during the dry season. Losses of biodiversity and its associated natural habitats within the Pantanal occur as a result of unsustainable land use. Implementation of protected areas is only a part of the conservation strategy needed. We analyse biodiversity threats to the biome under seven major categories: 1) conversion of natural vegetation into pasture and agricultural crops, 2) destruction or degradation of habitat mainly due to wild fire, 3) overexploitation of species mainly by unsustainable fishing, 4) water pollution, 5) river flow modification with implantation of small hydroelectric plants, 6) unsustainable tourism, and 7) introduction of invasive exotic species.

Utilization of electronic information resources by academic staff at ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the utilization of Electronic Information resources by the academic staff of Makerere University in Uganda. It examined the academic staff awareness of the resources available, the types of resources provided by the Makerere University Library, the factors affecting resource utilization. The study was ...

Biodiversity Areas under Threat: Overlap of Climate Change and Population Pressures on the World's Biodiversity Priorities.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliann E Aukema

Full Text Available Humans and the ecosystem services they depend on are threatened by climate change. Places with high or growing human population as well as increasing climate variability, have a reduced ability to provide ecosystem services just as the need for these services is most critical. A spiral of vulnerability and ecosystem degradation often ensues in such places. We apply different global conservation schemes as proxies to examine the spatial relation between wet season precipitation, population change over three decades, and natural resource conservation. We pose two research questions: 1 Where are biodiversity and ecosystem services vulnerable to the combined effects of climate change and population growth? 2 Where are human populations vulnerable to degraded ecosystem services? Results suggest that globally only about 20% of the area between 50 degrees latitude North and South has experienced significant change-largely wetting-in wet season precipitation. Approximately 40% of rangelands and 30% of rainfed agriculture lands have experienced significant precipitation changes, with important implications for food security. Over recent decades a number of critical conservation areas experienced high population growth concurrent with significant wetting or drying (e.g. the Horn of Africa, Himalaya, Western Ghats, and Sri Lanka, posing challenges not only for human adaptation but also to the protection and sustenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Identifying areas of climate and population risk and their overlap with conservation priorities can help to target activities and resources that promote biodiversity and ecosystem services while improving human well-being.

Biodiversity Areas under Threat: Overlap of Climate Change and Population Pressures on the World's Biodiversity Priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Aukema, Juliann E; Pricope, Narcisa G; Husak, Gregory J; Lopez-Carr, David

2017-01-01

Humans and the ecosystem services they depend on are threatened by climate change. Places with high or growing human population as well as increasing climate variability, have a reduced ability to provide ecosystem services just as the need for these services is most critical. A spiral of vulnerability and ecosystem degradation often ensues in such places. We apply different global conservation schemes as proxies to examine the spatial relation between wet season precipitation, population change over three decades, and natural resource conservation. We pose two research questions: 1) Where are biodiversity and ecosystem services vulnerable to the combined effects of climate change and population growth? 2) Where are human populations vulnerable to degraded ecosystem services? Results suggest that globally only about 20% of the area between 50 degrees latitude North and South has experienced significant change-largely wetting-in wet season precipitation. Approximately 40% of rangelands and 30% of rainfed agriculture lands have experienced significant precipitation changes, with important implications for food security. Over recent decades a number of critical conservation areas experienced high population growth concurrent with significant wetting or drying (e.g. the Horn of Africa, Himalaya, Western Ghats, and Sri Lanka), posing challenges not only for human adaptation but also to the protection and sustenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Identifying areas of climate and population risk and their overlap with conservation priorities can help to target activities and resources that promote biodiversity and ecosystem services while improving human well-being.

The Early Years: Exploring Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Ashbrook, Peggy

2017-01-01

The importance of biodiversity to human life and the benefits of a diverse ecosystem are not often obvious to young children. This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. The objective in this month's issue is to introduce children to the diversity of plant life in a given area through a plant…

Electronic Resources Management Project Presentation 2012

KAUST Repository

Ramli, Rindra M.

2012-01-01

This presentation describes the electronic resources management project undertaken by the KAUST library. The objectives of this project is to migrate information from MS Sharepoint to Millennium ERM module. One of the advantages of this migration

Biodiversity funds and conservation needs in the EU under climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Lung, Tobias; Meller, Laura; van Teeffelen, Astrid J A; Thuiller, Wilfried; Cabeza, Mar

2014-07-01

Despite ambitious biodiversity policy goals, less than a fifth of the European Union's (EU) legally protected species and habitats show a favorable conservation status. The recent EU biodiversity strategy recognizes that climate change adds to the challenge of halting biodiversity loss, and that an optimal distribution of financial resources is needed. Here, we analyze recent EU biodiversity funding from a climate change perspective. We compare the allocation of funds to the distribution of both current conservation priorities (within and beyond Natura 2000) and future conservation needs at the level of NUTS-2 regions, using modelled bird distributions as indicators of conservation value. We find that funding is reasonably well aligned with current conservation efforts but poorly fit with future needs under climate change, indicating obstacles for implementing adaptation measures. We suggest revising EU biodiversity funding instruments for the 2014-2020 budget period to better account for potential climate change impacts on biodiversity.

Ethnopharmacology, food production, nutrition and biodiversity conservation: towards a sustainable future for indigenous peoples.

Science.gov (United States)

Heywood, Vernon H

2011-09-01

It is becoming increasingly clear that ethnopharmacology cannot be disassociated from food production, human nutrition and the conservation of the biodiversity that constitutes its resource base. This paper aims to provide a perspective of ethnopharmacology that explicitly extends the range of disciplines it covers so as to embrace food and nutrition and the biodiversity basis, both wild and agricultural, and also places it in the context of the dramatic changes to our planet that we are experiencing during a period of rapid global change and the impacts that these changes are having on human health and nutrition and on its resource base. A review is made of recent initiatives and developments that show linkages between ethnopharmacology, agriculture, food production, nutrition and biodiversity conservation. Ethnopharmacology, biodiversity, agriculture, food and nutrition are inextricably linked but suffer from compartmentalization and a lack of communication which have to be overcome if progress is to be made. Fortunately, a convergence of interest between the agricultural biodiversity and the biodiversity conservation sectors has emerged in recent years and there is an increased appreciation of the need to adopt a wider approach to human nutrition than the conventional agricultural model allows; there is also a greater awareness of the important role played by diversity of crops, especially local species, and consumption of wild species in achieving balanced nutrition. An increased recognition of the key role of local communities in managing agricultural biodiversity is evident. While ethnopharmacologists have expressed concern at the relentless loss of biodiversity, there has been little direct involvement but it is perhaps now time to consider a more proactive role. Attention is also drawn to the need to assess the implications of global change for ethnopharmacology. Ethnopharmacologists need to take much more cognizance of the fate of the resource base - the

Practical guide to electronic resources in the humanities

CERN Document Server

Dubnjakovic, Ana

2010-01-01

From full-text article databases to digitized collections of primary source materials, newly emerging electronic resources have radically impacted how research in the humanities is conducted and discovered. This book, covering high-quality, up-to-date electronic resources for the humanities, is an easy-to-use annotated guide for the librarian, student, and scholar alike. It covers online databases, indexes, archives, and many other critical tools in key humanities disciplines including philosophy, religion, languages and literature, and performing and visual arts. Succinct overviews of key eme

Designing Biodiversity Friendly Communities. Liveable Cities Forum: Key outcomes and findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-10-15

The Liveable Cities Forum, held 21-22 August in Montreal Canada, created a platform to share best practices on biodiversity management and application at the local level. The Forum also highlighted the importance of partnership building and presented instruments (such as the Singapore Index on Cities' Biodiversity) that help to move the biodiversity agenda forward. A findings report on the Forum has recently been released, offering panel and workshop summaries, key outcomes, and a scope of future opportunities for local governments. Some of the key outcomes are as follows: Biodiversity protection is at its core a local issue, and in order to mitigate biodiversity loss in cities, there is an undeniable need for local governments to come together and work through solutions collectively; Urban centers influence local, regional and global biodiversity. Therefore, it is important that cities con-serve their local biodiversity through the sustainable use of resources beyond their borders; It is important for municipalities to engage and partner with local residents, academic institutions, and organizations, not only to have a finger on the pulse, but also to have local allies and secure long-term support; and Integrated policies help drive action. To effectively mainstream biodiversity at the local level, it is important to incorporate biodiversity considerations into multiple departments, plans and programs.

Planning for biodiversity: bringing research and management together; Proceedings of a Symposium for the South Coast Ecoregion

Science.gov (United States)

Barbara E. Kus; Jan L. Beyers

2005-01-01

Southern California, recognized as a major center of biodiversity, contains some of the most diverse habitats of any landscape in North America. The ever-expanding human population of the region desires land, water, resources, and recreation, creating conflict with the habitat requirements of many rare species. Managing resources in a way that maximizes biodiversity in...

Utilisation of Electronic Information Resources By Lecturers in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study assesses the use of information resources, specifically, electronic databases by lecturers/teachers in Universities and Colleges of Education in South Western Nigeria. Information resources are central to teachers' education. It provides lecturers/teachers access to information that enhances research and ...

Educating for biodiversity conservation in urban parks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guerra, M. C.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article is intended to propose a procedure for learning about biodiversity in urban parks, as a contribution for educating conservation of natural resources. The procedure was named “Diagnosis of biodiversity conservation status in urban parks”. It comprises for stages describing the physic, geographic, socio-historic, and cultural study of the park as well as a taxonomic inventory of species, its distribution, presence in Cuba, and menaces they are subjected to. This facilitates to carry out educative activities. The introduction of the procedure is thought of from an ethno-biological and interdisciplinary perspective for training students in biological, geographical, historical, cultural and ethnological procedures, seeking a holistic approach to environment. The effectiveness of the proposal was appraised by accounting the experience of a class at “Casino Campestre” park in Camagüey City. Key words: biodiversity, urban parks, procedures, conservation training

Biodiversity conservation and a conception for a national desert park in Dzungaria Basin, Xinjiang

OpenAIRE

Xinshi Zhang; Haiping Tang; Lijuan Yan

2008-01-01

Dzungaria Basin in Xinjiang possesses the most abundant biological resources of animals and plants among the temperate deserts in the world. It has been influenced negatively by the human disturbance such as overgrazing, farming, wood harvesting, digging herbs and illegal hunting as well as by the rapid industrial development for mineral and energy resources such as oil and coal. A plan for biodiversity conservation is so urgent for the basin that the contradiction between biodiversity protec...

Interaction between forest biodiversity and people's use of forest resources in Roviana, Solomon Islands: implications for biocultural conservation under socioeconomic changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Furusawa, Takuro; Sirikolo, Myknee Qusa; Sasaoka, Masatoshi; Ohtsuka, Ryutaro

2014-01-27

In Solomon Islands, forests have provided people with ecological services while being affected by human use and protection. This study used a quantitative ethnobotanical analysis to explore the society-forest interaction and its transformation in Roviana, Solomon Islands. We compared local plant and land uses between a rural village and urbanized village. Special attention was paid to how local people depend on biodiversity and how traditional human modifications of forest contribute to biodiversity conservation. After defining locally recognized land-use classes, vegetation surveys were conducted in seven forest classes. For detailed observations of daily plant uses, 15 and 17 households were randomly selected in the rural and urban villages, respectively. We quantitatively documented the plant species that were used as food, medicine, building materials, and tools. The vegetation survey revealed that each local forest class represented a different vegetative community with relatively low similarity between communities. Although commercial logging operations and agriculture were both prohibited in the customary nature reserve, local people were allowed to cut down trees for their personal use and to take several types of non-timber forest products. Useful trees were found at high frequencies in the barrier island's primary forest (68.4%) and the main island's reserve (68.3%). Various useful tree species were found only in the reserve forest and seldom available in the urban village. In the rural village, customary governance and control over the use of forest resources by the local people still functioned. Human modifications of the forest created unique vegetation communities, thus increasing biodiversity overall. Each type of forest had different species that varied in their levels of importance to the local subsistence lifestyle, and the villagers' behaviors, such as respect for forest reserves and the semidomestication of some species, contributed to

Predicting the consequences of species loss using size-structured biodiversity approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brose, Ulrich; Blanchard, Julia L.; Eklöf, Anna

2017-01-01

Understanding the consequences of species loss in complex ecological communities is one of the great challenges in current biodiversity research. For a long time, this topic has been addressed by traditional biodiversity experiments. Most of these approaches treat species as trait-free, taxonomic...... stability, and (iii) ecosystem functioning. Contrasting current expectations, size-structured approaches suggest that the loss of large species, that typically exploit most resource species, may lead to future food webs that are less interwoven and more structured by chains of interactions and compartments...... trait when analysing the consequences of biodiversity loss for natural ecosystems. Applying size-structured approaches provides an integrative ecological concept that enables a better understanding of each species' unique role across communities and the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss....

Biodiversity Areas under Threat: Overlap of Climate Change and Population Pressures on the World’s Biodiversity Priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Pricope, Narcisa G.; Husak, Gregory J.; Lopez-Carr, David

2017-01-01

Humans and the ecosystem services they depend on are threatened by climate change. Places with high or growing human population as well as increasing climate variability, have a reduced ability to provide ecosystem services just as the need for these services is most critical. A spiral of vulnerability and ecosystem degradation often ensues in such places. We apply different global conservation schemes as proxies to examine the spatial relation between wet season precipitation, population change over three decades, and natural resource conservation. We pose two research questions: 1) Where are biodiversity and ecosystem services vulnerable to the combined effects of climate change and population growth? 2) Where are human populations vulnerable to degraded ecosystem services? Results suggest that globally only about 20% of the area between 50 degrees latitude North and South has experienced significant change–largely wetting–in wet season precipitation. Approximately 40% of rangelands and 30% of rainfed agriculture lands have experienced significant precipitation changes, with important implications for food security. Over recent decades a number of critical conservation areas experienced high population growth concurrent with significant wetting or drying (e.g. the Horn of Africa, Himalaya, Western Ghats, and Sri Lanka), posing challenges not only for human adaptation but also to the protection and sustenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Identifying areas of climate and population risk and their overlap with conservation priorities can help to target activities and resources that promote biodiversity and ecosystem services while improving human well-being. PMID:28125659

Discipline, availability of electronic resources and the use of Finnish National Electronic Library - FinELib

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanna Torma

2004-01-01

Full Text Available This study elaborated relations between digital library use by university faculty, users' discipline and the availability of key resources in the Finnish National Electronic Library (FinELib, Finnish national digital library, by using nationwide representative survey data. The results show that the perceived availability of key electronic resources by researchers in FinELib was a stronger predictor of the frequency and purpose of use of its services than users' discipline. Regardless of discipline a good perceived provision of central resources led to a more frequent use of FinELib. The satisfaction with the services did not vary with the discipline, but with the perceived availability of resources.

Environmental sustainability model and biodiversity preservation in Central Rhodopes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zlatka Grigorova

2013-03-01

In fact that model is composed of many components and considers a number of important aspects. Its application will contribute to the sustainable use of natural resources and preserved biodiversity for future generations.

The Role of the Acquisitions Librarian in Electronic Resources Management

Science.gov (United States)

Pomerantz, Sarah B.

2010-01-01

With the ongoing shift to electronic formats for library resources, acquisitions librarians, like the rest of the profession, must adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of electronic resources by keeping up with trends and mastering new skills related to digital publishing, technology, and licensing. The author sought to know what roles…

Biodiversity Differences between Managed and Unmanaged Forests: Meta-Analysis of Species Richness in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paillet, Y.; Bergès, L.; Hjältén, J.; Ódor, P.; Avon, C.; Bernhardt-Römermann, M.; Bijlsma, R.J.; Bruyn, de L.; Fuhr, M.; Grandin, U.; Kanka, R.; Lundin, L.; Luque, S.; Magura, T.; Matesanz, S.; Mészáros, I.; Sebastià, M.T.; Schmidt, W.; Standovár, T.; Tóthmérész, B.; Uotila, A.; Valladares, F.; Vellak, K.; Virtanen, R.

2010-01-01

Past and present pressures on forest resources have led to a drastic decrease in the surface area of unmanaged forests in Europe. Changes in forest structure, composition, and dynamics inevitably lead to changes in the biodiversity of forest-dwelling species. The possible biodiversity gains and

Public perceptions of risk to forest biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

McFarlane, Bonita L

2005-06-01

This study examines the perceived risks to forest biodiversity and perceived effectiveness of biodiversity conservation strategies among the general public. It tests the hypotheses that perceived risk to forest biodiversity is influenced by cognitive factors (value orientation and knowledge) and social-cultural factors (such as gender and environmental membership) and that risk perceptions influence other cognitive constructs such as support for natural resource policy and management. Data were collected from a sample of the general public (n= 596) in British Columbia, Canada by mail survey in 2001. Results show that insects and disease were perceived as the greatest risk. Educating the public and industry about biodiversity issues was perceived as a more effective conservation strategy than restricting human uses of the forest. Value orientation was a better predictor of perceptions of risk and perceived effectiveness of conservation strategies than knowledge indicators or social-cultural variables. Examining the indirect effects of social-cultural variables, however, revealed that value orientation may amplify the effect of these variables and suggests that alternative paths of influence should be included. Perceived risk showed an inconsistent association with perceived effectiveness of conservation strategies.

The perils of payoff: corruption as a threat to global biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Laurance, William F

2004-08-01

Corruption is a worldwide phenomenon, particularly in many developing countries, which contain a large proportion of global biodiversity. Most alarming, from a biodiversity-conservation perspective, is the frequent corruption of government officials who manage valuable natural resources, such as timber, oil and precious minerals. A recent study by Joyotee Smith and colleagues describes rampant corruption in the timber industry of Indonesia, and shifts in the prevalence of different types of corruption as the country has become destabilized politically. By placing corruption into a conceptual framework, Smith et al. provide important insights into how developing nations and their natural resources can be besieged by corruption.

Key Biodiversity Areas identification in the Upper Guinea forest biodiversity hotspot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.M.L. Kouame

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Priority-setting approaches and tools are commons ways to support the rapid extinction of species and their habitats and the effective allocation of resources for their conservation. The Key Biodiversity Area (KBA approach is a method for the identification of fine-scale priority areas for conservation. This process led bottom-up has been used in the Upper Guinea Forest Ecosystem of West Africa where human-induced changes have increased the extinction risk of several endemic and threatened species. The irreplaceability and vulnerability criteria commonly used in conservation planning have been used to identify key biodiversity areas in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Point locality data were compiled from scientific reports, papers published in scientific journals and museum records. The delineation was conducted following a series of decision rules. In most cases existing IBA polygons and protected areas boundaries were used. For the new sites, temporary boundaries have been drawn and will be confirmed with land-use data. Preliminary KBA data were reviewed by specialists during formal workshops. One hundred and fifty four KBA have been identified in the five countries with 202 globally threatened species. Currently 63% of the KBA are protected. Two AZE sites still exist in the region. This assessment is a first step and is driven from the best available data at the time. There is a need to refine it with recent biodiversity surveys to assist decision-makers in achieving their conservation management goals.

Analysis of Pedagogic Potential of Electronic Educational Resources with Elements of Autodidactics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor A.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: in recent years didactic properties of electronic educational resources undergo considerable changes, nevertheless, the question of studying of such complete phenomenon as “an electronic educational resource with autodidactics elements” remains open, despite sufficient scientific base of researches of the terms making this concept. Article purpose – determination of essence of electronic educational resources with autodidactics elements. Materials and Methods: the main method of research was the theoretical analysis of the pedagogical and psychological literature on the problem under study. We used the theoretical (analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization methods, the method of interpretation, pedagogical modeling, and empirical methods (observation, testing, conversation, interview, analysis of students’ performance, pedagogical experiment, peer review. Results: we detected the advantages of electronic educational resources in comparison with traditional ones. The concept of autodidactics as applied to the subject of research is considered. Properties of electronic educational resources with a linear and nonlinear principle of construction are studied.The influence of the principle of construction on the development of the learners’ qualities is shown. We formulated an integral definition of electronic educational resources with elements of autodidactics, namely, the variability, adaptivity and cyclicity of training. A model of the teaching-learning process with electronic educational resources is developed. Discussion and Conclusions: further development of a problem will allow to define whether electronic educational resources with autodidactics elements pedagogical potential for realization of educational and self-educational activity of teachers have, to modify technological procedures taking into account age features of students, their specialties and features of the organization of process of training of

Preservation and conservation of electronic information resources of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The major holdings of the broadcast libraries of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) are electronic information resources; therefore, providing safe places for general management of these resources have aroused interest in the industry in Nigeria for sometimes. The need to study the preservation and conservation of ...

Biodiversity Conservation, Tourism and Development in Okomu ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The increased rate of species extinction as a result of expanding human population, resource exploitation and land use threatens biological diversity. Biodiversity by definition refers to the life forms on earth. This includes the millions of plants, animals and micro-organisms, the genes they contain and the intricate ...

Building an electronic resource collection a practical guide

CERN Document Server

Lee, Stuart D

2004-01-01

This practical book guides information professionals step-by-step through building and managing an electronic resource collection. It outlines the range of electronic products currently available in abstracting and indexing, bibliographic, and other services and then describes how to effectively select, evaluate and purchase them.

Analysis of Human Resources Management Strategy in China Electronic Commerce Enterprises

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Fang

The paper discussed electronic-commerce's influence on enterprise human resources management, proposed and proved the human resources management strategy which electronic commerce enterprise should adopt from recruitment strategy to training strategy, keeping talent strategy and other ways.

Using XML Technologies to Organize Electronic Reference Resources

OpenAIRE

Huser, Vojtech; Del Fiol, Guilherme; Rocha, Roberto A.

2005-01-01

Provision of access to reference electronic resources to clinicians is becoming increasingly important. We have created a framework for librarians to manage access to these resources at an enterprise level, rather than at the individual hospital libraries. We describe initial project requirements, implementation details, and some preliminary results.

Electronic Resources and Mission Creep: Reorganizing the Library for the Twenty-First Century

Science.gov (United States)

Stachokas, George

2009-01-01

The position of electronic resources librarian was created to serve as a specialist in the negotiation of license agreements for electronic resources, but mission creep has added more functions to the routine work of electronic resources such as cataloging, gathering information for collection development, and technical support. As electronic…

Exploring future agricultural development and biodiversity in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van Soesbergen, Arnout; Arnell, Andrew P.; Sassen, Marieke

2017-01-01

Competition for land is increasing as a consequence of the growing demands for food and other commodities and the need to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. Land conversion and the intensification of current agricultural systems continues to lead to a loss of biodiversity and trade......-offs among ecosystem functions. Decision-makers need to understand these trade-offs in order to better balance different demands on land and resources. There is an urgent need for spatially explicit information and analyses on the effects of different trajectories of human-induced landscape change...... and that expanding protected areas to include other important biodiversity areas can help reduce biodiversity losses in all three countries. These results highlight the need for effective protection and the potential benefits of expanding the protected area network while meeting agricultural production needs....

ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE OF COASTAL COMMUNITY ON BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION (Case Study of Bajau Coastal Communities, Gorontalo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramli Utina

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Human behavior is a part of the ecological system, therefore overcoming the ecological crisis and living resources need to explore human traditions, way of life and human behavior toward natural resources. Understanding and translation of human harmonious relationship with all elements along with other living beings is a form of human ecological intelligence. The objective of this study was to describe the traditions and coastal communities behavior that contains the value of ecological intelligence in coastal biodiversity conservation. The study was based on observation, focus group discussion and identification of Bajau coastal community tradition in their lives and livelihoods on fishing, as well as the behavior toward biological resources. Bajau coastal communities settled in three villages in Pohuwato regency, Gorontalo. There are two themes that contains the value of ecological intelligence of  Bajau communities in the conservation of biodiversity, namely; mamia kadialo in tradition of fishing, and fishing behavior. The prohibition in the tradition of mamia kadialo contains the value of conservation of biodiversity. Usage of simple equipment on fishing activities provide a positive ecological consequences for the conservation of coastal biodiversity.

The CC-Bio Project: Studying the Effects of Climate Change on Quebec Biodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luc Vescovi

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Anticipating the effects of climate change on biodiversity is now critical for managing wild species and ecosystems. Climate change is a global driver and thus affects biodiversity globally. However, land-use planners and natural resource managers need regional or even local predictions. This provides scientists with formidable challenges given the poor documentation of biodiversity and its complex relationships with climate. We are approaching this problem in Quebec, Canada, through the CC-Bio Project (http://cc‑bio.uqar.ca/, using a boundary organization as a catalyst for team work involving climate modelers, biologists, naturalists, and biodiversity managers. In this paper we present the CC-Bio Project and its general approach, some preliminary results, the emerging hypothesis of the northern biodiversity paradox (a potential increase of biodiversity in northern ecosystems due to climate change, and an early assessment of the conservation implications generated by our team work.

Trade, traffic and management of botanical resources in agriculture: review lecture presented at the international symposium on sustainable use of plant biodiversity to promote new opportunities for horticultural production development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bogers, R.J.

2003-01-01

The maintenance of biological diversity is of importance for various reasons (genetic resources, ecosystem resilience, source of income, cultural heritage). The international trade in plants from wild source may have negative consequences for biodiversity (habitat alteration, introduction of

Biodiversity conservation in a changing climate: a review of threats and implications for conservation planning in Myanmar.

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, Madhu; Saw Htun; Platt, Steven G; Tizard, Robert; Poole, Colin; Than Myint; Watson, James E M

2013-11-01

High levels of species richness and endemism make Myanmar a regional priority for conservation. However, decades of economic and political sanctions have resulted in low conservation investment to effectively tackle threats to biodiversity. Recent sweeping political reforms have placed Myanmar on the fast track to economic development-the expectation is increased economic investments focused on the exploitation of the country's rich, and relatively intact, natural resources. Within a context of weak regulatory capacity and inadequate environmental safeguards, rapid economic development is likely to have far-reaching negative implications for already threatened biodiversity and natural-resource-dependent human communities. Climate change will further exacerbate prevailing threats given Myanmar's high exposure and vulnerability. The aim of this review is to examine the implications of increased economic growth and a changing climate within the larger context of biodiversity conservation in Myanmar. We summarize conservation challenges, assess direct climatological impacts on biodiversity and conclude with recommendations for long-term adaptation approaches for biodiversity conservation.

Electronic Resources Management System: Recommendation Report 2017

KAUST Repository

Ramli, Rindra M.

2017-01-01

This recommendation report provides an overview of the selection process for the new Electronic Resources Management System. The library has decided to move away from Innovative Interfaces Millennium ERM module. The library reviewed 3 system

Developing wind energy in Ireland - consequences for our biodiversity and ecosystem services

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bourke, David; Stout, Jane

2011-07-01

Full text: In response to climate change, the EU has set a target to achieve 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020 (Directive 2009/28/EC). Consequently, Ireland has set targets of 40, 10 and 12% of energy coming from renewable sources for electricity, transport and heat, respectively, by 2020. Wind energy is expected to contribute significantly to achieving these targets given Ireland.s large onshore and offshore wind potential. However, the potential impacts of these wind farm developments on Ireland.s biodiversity remain largely un quantified. The SIMBIOSYS (www.SIMBIOSYS.ie) project was set up to investigate the impacts of a range of sectors on biodiversity and ecosystem services, with part of the project.s focus on those measures that may help mitigate the effects of climate change. In this paper we aim to assess the potential positive and negative impacts of wind farms on Ireland.s marine and terrestrial biodiversity, highlighting potential conflicts concerning the spatial distribution of our wind and biodiversity resources. To help make these assessments an extensive review of the national and international scientific literature is used to highlight the potential positive and negative impacts of wind farm developments on biodiversity to date. Using GIS, spatial analyses are then used to quantify the extent to which wind resources and current and future wind farm developments overlap with biodiversity, using indicators such as Natura 2000 sites and Red Data List Plants. The outputs of these analyses are combined to help make recommendations on the sustainable future planning and management of wind farms in Ireland. Appropriate impact assessment and careful spatial planning will help ensure the direct benefits of green house gas emission reduction are maximised without compromising the protection of biodiversity in Ireland. (Author)

The influence of vertical and horizontal habitat structure on nationwide patterns of avian biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick D. Culbert; Volker C. Radeloff; Curtis H. Flather; Josef M. Kellndorfer; Chadwick D. Rittenhouse; Anna M. Pidgeon

2013-01-01

With limited resources for habitat conservation, the accurate identification of high-value avian habitat is crucial. Habitat structure affects avian biodiversity but is difficult to quantify over broad extents. Our goal was to identify which measures of vertical and horizontal habitat structure are most strongly related to patterns of avian biodiversity across the...

Localized Agri-Food Systems and Biodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bolette Bele

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Interest in localized agri-food systems has grown significantly in recent years. They are associated with several benefits and are seen as important for rural development. An important share of the academic debate addresses the contribution of localized food systems to the current and/or future sustainability of agriculture. Sustainability is defined in several ways, but many scholars recognize that sustainability can only be achieved by a combination of socio-economic, cultural, and environmental aspects. However, the attributes and indicators used for sustainability analyses also differ. Biodiversity is, for instance, often not included in analyses of environmental sustainability even if biodiversity is of crucial importance for longer-term ecological sustainability. To contribute to the debate about the importance of localized food production for sustainability from the environmental point of view, specifically with regard to biodiversity, this is therefore discussed based on the results of several studies presented in this paper. The studies focus on Nordic low-intensity livestock systems related to species-rich semi-natural grasslands. All the studies show that low-intensive agriculture and use of semi-natural grasslands may play an important role in maintaining biodiversity on both small and large scales. They also show that milk and dairy products from free-ranging livestock in heterogeneous landscapes with semi-natural grasslands may have a unique quality associated with local grazing resources. Thus, producers can combine production of food of documented high nutritional and gastronomic value with maintenance of biodiversity, i.e., localized agri-food production based on low-intensive agriculture systems and semi-natural grasslands may be a win-win recipe for both farmers and the society.

Analysis of Reptile Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services within ...

Science.gov (United States)

A focus for resource management, conservation planning, and environmental decision analysis has been mapping and quantifying biodiversity and ecosystem services. The challenge has been to integrate ecology with economics to better understand the effects of human policies and actions and their subsequent impacts on human well-being and ecosystem function. Biodiversity is valued by humans in varied ways, and thus is an important input to include in assessing the benefits of ecosystems to humans. Some biodiversity metrics more clearly reflect ecosystem services (e.g., game species, threatened and endangered species), whereas others may indicate indirect and difficult to quantify relationships to services (e.g., taxa richness and cultural value). In the present study, we identify and map reptile biodiversity and ecosystem services metrics. The importance of reptiles to biodiversity and ecosystems services is not often described. We used species distribution models for reptiles in the conterminous United States from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Gap Analysis Program. We focus on species richness metrics including all reptile species richness, taxa groupings of lizards, snakes and turtles, NatureServe conservation status (G1, G2, G3) species, IUCN listed reptiles, threatened and endangered species, Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation listed reptiles, and rare species. These metrics were analyzed with the Protected Areas Database of the United States to

The Internet School of Medicine: use of electronic resources by medical trainees and the reliability of those resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Egle, Jonathan P; Smeenge, David M; Kassem, Kamal M; Mittal, Vijay K

2015-01-01

Electronic sources of medical information are plentiful, and numerous studies have demonstrated the use of the Internet by patients and the variable reliability of these sources. Studies have investigated neither the use of web-based resources by residents, nor the reliability of the information available on these websites. A web-based survey was distributed to surgical residents in Michigan and third- and fourth-year medical students at an American allopathic and osteopathic medical school and a Caribbean allopathic school regarding their preferred sources of medical information in various situations. A set of 254 queries simulating those faced by medical trainees on rounds, on a written examination, or during patient care was developed. The top 5 electronic resources cited by the trainees were evaluated for their ability to answer these questions accurately, using standard textbooks as the point of reference. The respondents reported a wide variety of overall preferred resources. Most of the 73 responding medical trainees favored textbooks or board review books for prolonged studying, but electronic resources are frequently used for quick studying, clinical decision-making questions, and medication queries. The most commonly used electronic resources were UpToDate, Google, Medscape, Wikipedia, and Epocrates. UpToDate and Epocrates had the highest percentage of correct answers (47%) and Wikipedia had the lowest (26%). Epocrates also had the highest percentage of wrong answers (30%), whereas Google had the lowest percentage (18%). All resources had a significant number of questions that they were unable to answer. Though hardcopy books have not been completely replaced by electronic resources, more than half of medical students and nearly half of residents prefer web-based sources of information. For quick questions and studying, both groups prefer Internet sources. However, the most commonly used electronic resources fail to answer clinical queries more than half

[From biodiversity to biodiversification: a new economy of nature?].

Science.gov (United States)

Höhler, Sabine

2014-03-01

This paper explores the relations between economy and ecology in the last quarter of the 20th century with the example of biodiversity. From its definition in the 1980s, the concept of biodiversity responded not only to conservational concerns but also to hopes and demands of economic profitability. The paper argues that archival systems of inventorying and surveying nature, the biodiversity database and the biodiversity portfolio, changed the view on nature from a resource to an investment. The paper studies the alliances of ecologists and environmental economists in managing nature according to economic principles of successful asset management, "diversification", with the aim to distribute risk, minimize ecological loss and maximize overall ecosystem performance. Finally, the paper discusses the assumptions and the consequences of transferring principles from financial risk management to landscape management. How has the substitution of the existential values of nature by shareholder value affected the relations between ecology, environment, and ecosystem conservation? Who gains and who looses in exchanging natural capital and financial capital, yields, and profits?

Unravelling biodiversity, evolution and threats to conservation in the Sahara-Sahel.

Science.gov (United States)

Brito, José C; Godinho, Raquel; Martínez-Freiría, Fernando; Pleguezuelos, Juan M; Rebelo, Hugo; Santos, Xavier; Vale, Cândida G; Velo-Antón, Guillermo; Boratyński, Zbyszek; Carvalho, Sílvia B; Ferreira, Sónia; Gonçalves, Duarte V; Silva, Teresa L; Tarroso, Pedro; Campos, João C; Leite, João V; Nogueira, Joana; Alvares, Francisco; Sillero, Neftalí; Sow, Andack S; Fahd, Soumia; Crochet, Pierre-André; Carranza, Salvador

2014-02-01

evolutionary and ecological processes, including causes and timing of radiation and divergence for multiple taxa, and associating the onset of the Sahara with diversification processes for low-mobility vertebrates. Examples of phylogeographic patterns are showing the importance of allopatric speciation in the Sahara-Sahel, and this review presents a synthetic overview of the most commonly hypothesised diversification mechanisms. Studies are also stressing that biodiversity is threatened by increasing human activities in the region, including overhunting and natural resources prospection, and in the future by predicted global warming. A representation of areas of conflict, landmines, and natural resources extraction illustrates how human activities and regional insecurity are hampering biodiversity research and conservation. Although there are still numerous knowledge gaps for the optimised conservation of biodiversity in the region, a set of research priorities is provided to identify the framework data needed to support regional conservation planning. © 2013 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2013 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Global Priorities for Marine Biodiversity Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Selig, Elizabeth R.; Turner, Will R.; Troëng, Sebastian; Wallace, Bryan P.; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Kaschner, Kristin; Lascelles, Ben G.; Carpenter, Kent E.; Mittermeier, Russell A.

2014-01-01

In recent decades, many marine populations have experienced major declines in abundance, but we still know little about where management interventions may help protect the highest levels of marine biodiversity. We used modeled spatial distribution data for nearly 12,500 species to quantify global patterns of species richness and two measures of endemism. By combining these data with spatial information on cumulative human impacts, we identified priority areas where marine biodiversity is most and least impacted by human activities, both within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ). Our analyses highlighted places that are both accepted priorities for marine conservation like the Coral Triangle, as well as less well-known locations in the southwest Indian Ocean, western Pacific Ocean, Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, and within semi-enclosed seas like the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. Within highly impacted priority areas, climate and fishing were the biggest stressors. Although new priorities may arise as we continue to improve marine species range datasets, results from this work are an essential first step in guiding limited resources to regions where investment could best sustain marine biodiversity. PMID:24416151

Global priorities for marine biodiversity conservation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth R Selig

Full Text Available In recent decades, many marine populations have experienced major declines in abundance, but we still know little about where management interventions may help protect the highest levels of marine biodiversity. We used modeled spatial distribution data for nearly 12,500 species to quantify global patterns of species richness and two measures of endemism. By combining these data with spatial information on cumulative human impacts, we identified priority areas where marine biodiversity is most and least impacted by human activities, both within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs and Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ. Our analyses highlighted places that are both accepted priorities for marine conservation like the Coral Triangle, as well as less well-known locations in the southwest Indian Ocean, western Pacific Ocean, Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, and within semi-enclosed seas like the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. Within highly impacted priority areas, climate and fishing were the biggest stressors. Although new priorities may arise as we continue to improve marine species range datasets, results from this work are an essential first step in guiding limited resources to regions where investment could best sustain marine biodiversity.

Identification and protection of terrestrial global biodiversity hotspots: progress and challenges

OpenAIRE

Roy, Arijit

2016-01-01

Arijit Roy Forestry and Ecology Department, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun, India Abstract: Due to ever-increasing demand on the natural resources, earth is on the verge of a global mass extinction. The biodiversity hotspots are the remnant natural areas of high terrestrial biodiversity which are rapidly degrading and constitute more than half of the global endemic species in approximately 2% of the global land area which requires conservation and protection along with effort t...

Biodiversity Since Rio: The Future of the Convention on Biological Diversity

OpenAIRE

Raustiala, K.; Victor, D.G.

1996-01-01

In this essay the authors review the developments within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) since its adoption in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. They describe the problem of biodiversity loss, chart how the biodiversity agenda has expanded to include many other concerns such as access to genetic resources, intellectual property rights, and biotechnology, and review the operation of the CBD and its prospects. They also analyze ...

Biodiversity and global health—hubris, humility and the unknown

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Carolyn

2012-03-01

In November 2011, botanists on a remote island off Papua New Guinea discovered a new species of orchid—uniquely and mysteriously night-flowering [1]. New to science, and with so much more to understand, this flower is threatened by deforestation [2]. Also in November 2011, a survey of 583 conservation scientists reported a unanimous (99.5%) view that 'it is likely a serious loss of biological diversity is underway at a global extent' and that, for scientists, 'protection of biological diversity for its cultural and spiritual values and because of its usefulness to humans were low priorities, which suggests that many scientists do not fully support the utilitarian concept of ecosystem services' [3]. In terms of management, some scientists now advocate controversial conservation strategies such as triage (prioritization of species that provide unique or necessary functions to ecosystems) [4, 5]. Meanwhile, there are many scientists who contend that there is an urgent need to improve our understanding of the importance of biodiversity for human health and well-being, arguing that only an anthropocentric view of biodiversity within a paradigm 'ecosystem service' will enable decision-makers to prioritize the theme [6-9]. A 2011 UN report argues that this need for understanding is especially urgent in fragile and vulnerable ecosystems where communities depend directly on the resources of their environment [10]. Here we have a paradox: international conservation scientists think that we cannot protect biodiversity on the basis of its cultural and spiritual value, nor its usefulness to humans. Other scientists argue that using a utilitarian ecosystem services framework is the only way to get humans to protect biodiversity. Meanwhile, communities directly dependent on biodiverse ecosystems are often those who best understand and protect biodiversity, for exactly these reasons of use and spiritual connection, but they do not hold only a utilitarian view of their

Biodiversity conservation and indigenous land management in the era of self-determination.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Paige M; Peterson, Markus J

2009-12-01

Indigenous people inhabit approximately 85% of areas designated for biodiversity conservation worldwide. They also continue to struggle for recognition and preservation of cultural identities, lifestyles, and livelihoods--a struggle contingent on control and protection of traditional lands and associated natural resources (hereafter, self-determination). Indigenous lands and the biodiversity they support are increasingly threatened because of human population growth and per capita consumption. Application of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to tribal lands in the United States provides a rich example of the articulation between biodiversity conservation and indigenous peoples' struggle for self-determination. We found a paradoxical relationship whereby tribal governments are simultaneously and contradictory sovereign nations; yet their communities depend on the U.S. government for protection through the federal-trust doctrine. The unique legal status of tribal lands, their importance for conserving federally protected species, and federal environmental regulations' failure to define applicability to tribal lands creates conflict between tribal sovereignty, self-determination, and constitutional authority. We reviewed Secretarial Order 3206, the U.S. policy on "American Indian tribal rights, federal-tribal trust responsibilities, and the ESA," and evaluated how it influences ESA implementation on tribal lands. We found improved biodiversity conservation and tribal self-determination requires revision of the fiduciary relationship between the federal government and the tribes to establish clear, legal definitions regarding land rights, applicability of environmental laws, and financial responsibilities. Such actions will allow provision of adequate funding and training to tribal leaders and resource managers, government agency personnel responsible for biodiversity conservation and land management, and environmental policy makers. Increased capacity, cooperation, and

ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF ELECTRONIC RESOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF LATIN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olena Yu. Balalaieva

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The article investigates the current state of development of e-learning content in the Latin language. It is noted that the introduction of ICT in the educational space has expanded the possibility of studying Latin, opened access to digital libraries resources, made it possible to use scientific and educational potential and teaching Latin best practices of world's leading universities. A review of foreign and Ukrainian information resources and electronic editions for the study of Latin is given. Much attention was paid to the didactic potential of local and online multimedia courses of Latin, electronic textbooks, workbooks of interactive tests and exercises, various dictionaries and software translators, databases and digital libraries. Based on analysis of the world market of educational services and products the main trends in the development of information resources and electronic books are examined. It was found that multimedia courses with interactive exercises or workbooks with interactive tests, online dictionaries and translators are the most widely represented and demanded. The noticeable lagging of Ukrainian education and computer linguistics in quantitative and qualitative measures in this industry is established. The obvious drawback of existing Ukrainian resources and electronic editions for the study of Latin is their noninteractive nature. The prospects of e-learning content in Latin in Ukraine are outlined.

Business and biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Rasmus Meyer; Lehmann, Martin; Christensen, Per

Despite the overall importance of biodiversity, the quality measures of biodiversity show worrying figures. Numerous human impacts on nature impose serious hazard to its inherent diversity. This expansion of human activities leaves the battle against loss of biodiversity to be a great challenge......, but the effort has until now considered biodiversity actions relatively little, compared to other areas such as e.g. climate related actions. Nevertheless, the opportunity for businesses to meet their responsibilities and lift a share of the challenge is far from being just a romantic thought. Nor...... is the challenge of engaging businesses in responsible actions. The core challenge is to create awareness of the environmental phenomenon biodiversity, inform about the significance of business involvement, and encourage the business world to participate in this process of protecting biodiversity as the valuable...

Elektronik Bilgi Kaynaklarının Seçimi / Selection of Electronic Information Resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pınar Al

2003-04-01

Full Text Available For many years, library users have used only from the printed media in order to get the information that they have needed. Today with the widespread use of the Web and the addition of electronic information resources to library collections, the use of information in the electronic environment as well as in printed media is started to be used. In time, such types of information resources as, electronic journals, electronic books, electronic encyclopedias, electronic dictionaries and electronic theses have been added to library collections. In this study, selection criteria that can be used for electronic information resources are discussed and suggestions are provided for libraries that try to select electronic information resources for their collections.

Agroforestry: a refuge for tropical biodiversity?

Science.gov (United States)

Bhagwat, Shonil A; Willis, Katherine J; Birks, H John B; Whittaker, Robert J

2008-05-01

As rates of deforestation continue to rise in many parts of the tropics, the international conservation community is faced with the challenge of finding approaches which can reduce deforestation and provide rural livelihoods in addition to conserving biodiversity. Much of modern-day conservation is motivated by a desire to conserve 'pristine nature' in protected areas, while there is growing recognition of the long-term human involvement in forest dynamics and of the importance of conservation outside protected areas. Agroforestry -- intentional management of shade trees with agricultural crops -- has the potential for providing habitats outside formally protected land, connecting nature reserves and alleviating resource-use pressure on conservation areas. Here we examine the role of agroforestry systems in maintaining species diversity and conclude that these systems can play an important role in biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes.

Access to electronic resources by visually impaired people

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenny Craven

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Research into access to electronic resources by visually impaired people undertaken by the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management has not only explored the accessibility of websites and levels of awareness in providing websites that adhere to design for all principles, but has sought to enhance understanding of information seeking behaviour of blind and visually impaired people when using digital resources.

Library training to promote electronic resource usage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frandsen, Tove Faber; Tibyampansha, Dativa; Ibrahim, Glory

2017-01-01

Purpose: Increasing the usage of electronic resources is an issue of concern for many libraries all over the world. Several studies stress the importance of information literacy and instruction in order to increase the usage. Design/methodology/approach: The present article presents the results...

Why and How to Measure the Use of Electronic Resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean Bernon

2008-11-01

Full Text Available A complete overview of library activity implies a complete and reliable measurement of the use of both electronic resources and printed materials. This measurement is based on three sets of definitions: document types, use types and user types. There is a common model of definitions for printed materials, but a lot of questions and technical issues remain for electronic resources. In 2006 a French national working group studied these questions. It relied on the COUNTER standard, but found it insufficient and pointed out the need for local tools such as web markers and deep analysis of proxy logs. Within the French national consortium COUPERIN, a new working group is testing ERMS, SUSHI standards, Shibboleth authentication, along with COUNTER standards, to improve the counting of the electronic resources use. At this stage this counting is insufficient and its improvement will be a European challenge for the future.

Matches and mismatches between conservation investments and biodiversity values in the European Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez-Fernández, David; Abellán, Pedro; Aragón, Pedro; Varela, Sara; Cabeza, Mar

2018-02-01

Recently, the European Commission adopted a new strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity. Member states are expected to favor a more effective collection and redistribution of European Union (EU) funds under the current Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020. Because of the large spatial variation in the distribution of biodiversity and conservation needs at the continental scale, EU instruments should ensure that countries with higher biodiversity values get more funds and resources for the conservation than other countries. Using linear regressions, we assessed the association between conservation investments and biodiversity values across member states, accounting for a variety of conservation investment indicators, taxonomic groups (including groups of plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates), and indicators of biodiversity value. In general, we found clear overall associations between conservation investments and biodiversity variables. However, some countries received more or less investment than would be expected based on biodiversity values in those countries. We also found that the extensive use of birds as unique indicators of conservation effectiveness may lead to biased decisions. Our results can inform future decisions regarding funding allocation and thus improve distribution of EU conservation funds. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Darwin Core: An Evolving Community-Developed Biodiversity Data Standard

Science.gov (United States)

Wieczorek, John; Bloom, David; Guralnick, Robert; Blum, Stan; Döring, Markus; Giovanni, Renato; Robertson, Tim; Vieglais, David

2012-01-01

Biodiversity data derive from myriad sources stored in various formats on many distinct hardware and software platforms. An essential step towards understanding global patterns of biodiversity is to provide a standardized view of these heterogeneous data sources to improve interoperability. Fundamental to this advance are definitions of common terms. This paper describes the evolution and development of Darwin Core, a data standard for publishing and integrating biodiversity information. We focus on the categories of terms that define the standard, differences between simple and relational Darwin Core, how the standard has been implemented, and the community processes that are essential for maintenance and growth of the standard. We present case-study extensions of the Darwin Core into new research communities, including metagenomics and genetic resources. We close by showing how Darwin Core records are integrated to create new knowledge products documenting species distributions and changes due to environmental perturbations. PMID:22238640

Biodiversity and its use at taunsa barrage wildlife sanctuary, Pakistan

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bibi, F.; Ali, Z.; Qaisrani, S.N.; Shelly, S.Y.; Andleeb, S.

2013-01-01

This study determined the livelihood conditions of the peoples of three villages (Bait Qaimwala, Basti Allahwali and Jannu) and their dependency on biodiversity of Taunsa Barrage Wildlife Sanctuary, Pakistan from 2009 to 2011. For socio-economic status, Participatory Human Resource Interaction

The Global Registry of Biodiversity Repositories: A Call for Community Curation

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Scott E.; Trizna, Michael G.; Graham, Eileen; Crane, Adele E.

2016-01-01

Abstract The Global Registry of Biodiversity Repositories is an online metadata resource for biodiversity collections, the institutions that contain them, and associated staff members. The registry provides contact and address information, characteristics of the institutions and collections using controlled vocabularies and free-text descripitons, links to related websites, unique identifiers for each institution and collection record, text fields for loan and use policies, and a variety of other descriptors. Each institution record includes an institutionCode that must be unique, and each collection record must have a collectionCode that is unique within that institution. The registry is populated with records imported from the largest similar registries and more can be harmonized and added. Doing so will require community input and curation and would produce a truly comprehensive and unifying information resource. PMID:27660523

The Global Registry of Biodiversity Repositories: A Call for Community Curation.

Science.gov (United States)

Schindel, David E; Miller, Scott E; Trizna, Michael G; Graham, Eileen; Crane, Adele E

2016-01-01

The Global Registry of Biodiversity Repositories is an online metadata resource for biodiversity collections, the institutions that contain them, and associated staff members. The registry provides contact and address information, characteristics of the institutions and collections using controlled vocabularies and free-text descripitons, links to related websites, unique identifiers for each institution and collection record, text fields for loan and use policies, and a variety of other descriptors. Each institution record includes an institutionCode that must be unique, and each collection record must have a collectionCode that is unique within that institution. The registry is populated with records imported from the largest similar registries and more can be harmonized and added. Doing so will require community input and curation and would produce a truly comprehensive and unifying information resource.

Climate change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems in Sri Lanka: a review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeevan Dananjaya Kottawa-Arachchi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The climate change impacts are felt by all facets and sectors of ecosystems, covering flora, fauna and environment. Sri Lanka is considered as a vulnerable, small island country that is under serious threat from climate change impacts. The most profound impacts of climate change in Sri Lanka will be on agriculture and food security, water and coastal resources, biodiversity changes, and human health. Sri Lanka's biodiversity is significantly important both on a regional and global scale as it has the highest species density for flowering plants, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. Sri Lanka's varied ecosystems provide many services that are of significant economic value and play a crucial role in providing goods and ecosystem services. The subsequent sections featuring specific aspects of biodiversity in forests, freshwater wetlands, coastal and marine systems and agricultural systems, provide greater detail on the ecosystem services and bio-resources. Habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive alien species, deforestation and forest degradation, development projects, environmental pollutions and climate change (global warming are the major threats to the biodiversity of the country. Climate change impacts on environment lead to a reduction in the distribution and abundance of species, especially endemics, which may even result in their global extinction. The introduction of various policies and guidelines in relation to environment is a good sign for conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity. The government of Sri Lanka has been implementing various environmental projects aiming at reducing deforestation and degradation of ecosystems. Policies and measures already developed under such initiatives will no doubt preserve natural habitats for plant and animal species. However, being a developing country with many economic challenges, the funds and expertise available for monitoring climate change impacts and biodiversity conservation are not

Ansab Resource Centre: A Sustainable way for Resource Generation

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

lremy

success in mobilizing resources to sustain itself and its work towards conserving biodiversity and poverty .... women and men realizing US $5.54 million in additional monetary benefits through 502 economic .... Barriers faced, Solutions found.

Euler European Libraries and Electronic Resources in Mathematical Sciences

CERN Document Server

The Euler Project. Karlsruhe

The European Libraries and Electronic Resources (EULER) Project in Mathematical Sciences provides the EulerService site for searching out "mathematical resources such as books, pre-prints, web-pages, abstracts, proceedings, serials, technical reports preprints) and NetLab (for Internet resources), this outstanding engine is capable of simple, full, and refined searches. It also offers a browse option, which responds to entries in the author, keyword, and title fields. Further information about the Project is provided at the EULER homepage.

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON MOUNTAIN BIODIVERSITY: A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO GILGIT-BALTISTAN OF PAKISTAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Ishaq

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Climate Change is not a stationary phenomenon; it moves from time to time, it represents a major threat to mountainous biodiversity and to ecosystem integrity. The present study is an attempt to identify the current knowledge gap and the effects of climate change on mountainous biodiversity, a special reference to the Gilgit-Baltistan is briefly reviewed. Measuring the impact of climate change on mountain biodiversity is quite challenging, because climate change interacts with every phenomenon of ecosystem. The scale of this change is so large and very adverse so strongly connected to ecosystem services, and all communities who use natural resources. This study aims to provide the evidences on the basis of previous literature, in particular context to mountain biodiversity of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB. Mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan have most fragile ecosystem and are more vulnerable to climate change. These mountains host variety of wild fauna and flora, with many endangered species of the world. There are still many gaps in our knowledge of literature we studied because very little research has been conducted in Gilgit-Baltistan about climate change particular to biodiversity. Recommendations are made for increased research efforts in future this including jointly monitoring programs, climate change models and ecological research. Understanding the impact of climate change particular to biodiversity of GB is very important for sustainable management of these natural resources. The Government organizations, NGOs and the research agencies must fill the knowledge gap, so that it will help them for policy making, which will be based on scientific findings and research based.

Agroecology and biodiversity of the catchment area of Swat River

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, H.; Ahmed, R.

2003-01-01

Agroecological studies of the of the Swat River catchment area showed that the terrestrial ecosystem of the area is divided into subtropical, humid temperate, cool temperate, cold temperate, subalpine, alpine and cold desert zones. Indicator species along with their altitudinal limits are specified for each zone. Unplanned population growth, agriculture extension, habitat losses, deforestation, environmental pollution and unwise use of natural resources are threats to the natural biodiversity of these zones. Its severity is very evident in the subtropical and humid temperate zones. The losses encountered to the biodiversity of the area under the influence of various anthropogenic stresses are highlighted. (author)

Effects of Electronic Information Resources Skills Training for Lecturers on Pedagogical Practices and Research Productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Bhukuvhani, Crispen; Chiparausha, Blessing; Zuvalinyenga, Dorcas

2012-01-01

Lecturers use various electronic resources at different frequencies. The university library's information literacy skills workshops and seminars are the main sources of knowledge of accessing electronic resources. The use of electronic resources can be said to have positively affected lecturers' pedagogical practices and their work in general. The…

The BiSciCol Triplifier: bringing biodiversity data to the Semantic Web.

Science.gov (United States)

Stucky, Brian J; Deck, John; Conlin, Tom; Ziemba, Lukasz; Cellinese, Nico; Guralnick, Robert

2014-07-29

Recent years have brought great progress in efforts to digitize the world's biodiversity data, but integrating data from many different providers, and across research domains, remains challenging. Semantic Web technologies have been widely recognized by biodiversity scientists for their potential to help solve this problem, yet these technologies have so far seen little use for biodiversity data. Such slow uptake has been due, in part, to the relative complexity of Semantic Web technologies along with a lack of domain-specific software tools to help non-experts publish their data to the Semantic Web. The BiSciCol Triplifier is new software that greatly simplifies the process of converting biodiversity data in standard, tabular formats, such as Darwin Core-Archives, into Semantic Web-ready Resource Description Framework (RDF) representations. The Triplifier uses a vocabulary based on the popular Darwin Core standard, includes both Web-based and command-line interfaces, and is fully open-source software. Unlike most other RDF conversion tools, the Triplifier does not require detailed familiarity with core Semantic Web technologies, and it is tailored to a widely popular biodiversity data format and vocabulary standard. As a result, the Triplifier can often fully automate the conversion of biodiversity data to RDF, thereby making the Semantic Web much more accessible to biodiversity scientists who might otherwise have relatively little knowledge of Semantic Web technologies. Easy availability of biodiversity data as RDF will allow researchers to combine data from disparate sources and analyze them with powerful linked data querying tools. However, before software like the Triplifier, and Semantic Web technologies in general, can reach their full potential for biodiversity science, the biodiversity informatics community must address several critical challenges, such as the widespread failure to use robust, globally unique identifiers for biodiversity data.

Using biodiversity data to review coverage of Uganda's protected ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper seeks to demonstrate the usefulness of the data held at the National Biodiversity Data Bank (NBDB) situated at Makerere University Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (MUIENR). We assess its value as a potential planning tool, based on the growing evidence that Uganda aspires to a robust ...

Net present biodiversity value and the design of biodiversity offsets.

Science.gov (United States)

Overton, Jacob McC; Stephens, R T Theo; Ferrier, Simon

2013-02-01

There is an urgent need to develop sound theory and practice for biodiversity offsets to provide a better basis for offset multipliers, to improve accounting for time delays in offset repayments, and to develop a common framework for evaluating in-kind and out-of-kind offsets. Here, we apply concepts and measures from systematic conservation planning and financial accounting to provide a basis for determining equity across type (of biodiversity), space, and time. We introduce net present biodiversity value (NPBV) as a theoretical and practical measure for defining the offset required to achieve no-net-loss. For evaluating equity in type and space we use measures of biodiversity value from systematic conservation planning. Time discount rates are used to address risk of non-repayment, and loss of utility. We illustrate these concepts and measures with two examples of biodiversity impact-offset transactions. Considerable further work is required to understand the characteristics of these approaches.

Conservation of biodiversity as a strategy for improving human health and well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilpatrick, A Marm; Salkeld, Daniel J; Titcomb, Georgia; Hahn, Micah B

2017-06-05

The Earth's ecosystems have been altered by anthropogenic processes, including land use, harvesting populations, species introductions and climate change. These anthropogenic processes greatly alter plant and animal communities, thereby changing transmission of the zoonotic pathogens they carry. Biodiversity conservation may be a potential win-win strategy for maintaining ecosystem health and protecting public health, yet the causal evidence to support this strategy is limited. Evaluating conservation as a viable public health intervention requires answering four questions: (i) Is there a general and causal relationship between biodiversity and pathogen transmission, and if so, which direction is it in? (ii) Does increased pathogen diversity with increased host biodiversity result in an increase in total disease burden? (iii) Do the net benefits of biodiversity conservation to human well-being outweigh the benefits that biodiversity-degrading activities, such as agriculture and resource utilization, provide? (iv) Are biodiversity conservation interventions cost-effective when compared to other options employed in standard public health approaches? Here, we summarize current knowledge on biodiversity-zoonotic disease relationships and outline a research plan to address the gaps in our understanding for each of these four questions. Developing practical and self-sustaining biodiversity conservation interventions will require significant investment in disease ecology research to determine when and where they will be effective.This article is part of the themed issue 'Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Towards global interoperability for supporting biodiversity research on Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kissling, W.D.; Hardisty, A.; García, E.A.; Santamaria, M.; De Leo, F.; Pesole, G.; Freyhof, J.; Manset, D.; Wissel, S.; Konijn, J.; Los, W.

2015-01-01

Essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) have been proposed by the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) to identify a minimum set of essential measurements that are required for studying, monitoring and reporting biodiversity and ecosystem change. Despite the initial

Optimal investment for enhancing social concern about biodiversity conservation: a dynamic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Joung Hun; Iwasa, Yoh

2012-11-01

To maintain biodiversity conservation areas, we need to invest in activities, such as monitoring the condition of the ecosystem, preventing illegal exploitation, and removing harmful alien species. These require a constant supply of resources, the level of which is determined by the concern of the society about biodiversity conservation. In this paper, we study the optimal fraction of the resources to invest in activities for enhancing the social concern y(t) by environmental education, museum displays, publications, and media exposure. We search for the strategy that maximizes the time-integral of the quality of the conservation area x(t) with temporal discounting. Analyses based on dynamic programming and Pontryagin's maximum principle show that the optimal control consists of two phases: (1) in the first phase, the social concern level approaches to the final optimal value y(∗), (2) in the second phase, resources are allocated to both activities, and the social concern level is kept constant y(t) = y(∗). If the social concern starts from a low initial level, the optimal path includes a period in which the quality of the conservation area declines temporarily, because all the resources are invested to enhance the social concern. When the support rate increases with the quality of the conservation area itself x(t) as well as with the level of social concern y(t), both variables may increase simultaneously in the second phase. We discuss the implication of the results to good management of biodiversity conservation areas. 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Economic and ecological outcomes of flexible biodiversity offset systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Habib, Thomas J; Farr, Daniel R; Schneider, Richard R; Boutin, Stan

2013-12-01

The commonly expressed goal of biodiversity offsets is to achieve no net loss of specific biological features affected by development. However, strict equivalency requirements may complicate trading of offset credits, increase costs due to restricted offset placement options, and force offset activities to focus on features that may not represent regional conservation priorities. Using the oil sands industry of Alberta, Canada, as a case study, we evaluated the economic and ecological performance of alternative offset systems targeting either ecologically equivalent areas (vegetation types) or regional conservation priorities (caribou and the Dry Mixedwood natural subregion). Exchanging dissimilar biodiversity elements requires assessment via a generalized metric; we used an empirically derived index of biodiversity intactness to link offsets with losses incurred by development. We considered 2 offset activities: land protection, with costs estimated as the net present value of profits of petroleum and timber resources to be paid as compensation to resource tenure holders, and restoration of anthropogenic footprint, with costs estimated from existing restoration projects. We used the spatial optimization tool MARXAN to develop hypothetical offset networks that met either the equivalent-vegetation or conservation-priority targets. Networks that required offsetting equivalent vegetation cost 2-17 times more than priority-focused networks. This finding calls into question the prudence of equivalency-based systems, particularly in relatively undeveloped jurisdictions, where conservation focuses on limiting and directing future losses. Priority-focused offsets may offer benefits to industry and environmental stakeholders by allowing for lower-cost conservation of valued ecological features and may invite discussion on what land-use trade-offs are acceptable when trading biodiversity via offsets. Resultados Económicos y Ecológicos de Sistemas de Compensación de

Intellectual property right in genetic resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milošević Mirjana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are necessary in food production and biodiversity conservation. These are the most important natural resources, in addition to air, water and soil. Unfortunately, during the evolution large number of plant genetic resources has been lost. The biggest negative impact on loss of plant genetic resources had been made by humans through the modernization of agriculture and the creation of varieties of high genetic uniformity. FAO and its operation through international mechanisms, such as the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the first legal act which regulates all levels of biodiversity: ecosystems, species and genetic resources, biotechnology, including the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (regulates the transfer of genetic material across the border, contributed to the conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. In addition to the Convention on Biological Diversity, FAO has been defined by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in more specific and detailed way, the preservation of genetic resources. The objectives of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture are the conservation and sustainable use of all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of their use. There are four basic pillars which form the substance of the Contract, Sustainable use of plant genetic resources, Farmers' Rights, the Multilateral System and the Global Information System. Two organizations, the International Biodiversity and the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants trying to solve the issues of protection of the population and old varieties as intellectual property.

Electronic Commerce Resource Centers. An Industry--University Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Gulledge, Thomas R.; Sommer, Rainer; Tarimcilar, M. Murat

1999-01-01

Electronic Commerce Resource Centers focus on transferring emerging technologies to small businesses through university/industry partnerships. Successful implementation hinges on a strategic operating plan, creation of measurable value for customers, investment in customer-targeted training, and measurement of performance outputs. (SK)

Landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns and processes - eight hypotheses.

Science.gov (United States)

Tscharntke, Teja; Tylianakis, Jason M; Rand, Tatyana A; Didham, Raphael K; Fahrig, Lenore; Batáry, Péter; Bengtsson, Janne; Clough, Yann; Crist, Thomas O; Dormann, Carsten F; Ewers, Robert M; Fründ, Jochen; Holt, Robert D; Holzschuh, Andrea; Klein, Alexandra M; Kleijn, David; Kremen, Claire; Landis, Doug A; Laurance, William; Lindenmayer, David; Scherber, Christoph; Sodhi, Navjot; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Thies, Carsten; van der Putten, Wim H; Westphal, Catrin

2012-08-01

Understanding how landscape characteristics affect biodiversity patterns and ecological processes at local and landscape scales is critical for mitigating effects of global environmental change. In this review, we use knowledge gained from human-modified landscapes to suggest eight hypotheses, which we hope will encourage more systematic research on the role of landscape composition and configuration in determining the structure of ecological communities, ecosystem functioning and services. We organize the eight hypotheses under four overarching themes. Section A: 'landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns' includes (1) the landscape species pool hypothesis-the size of the landscape-wide species pool moderates local (alpha) biodiversity, and (2) the dominance of beta diversity hypothesis-landscape-moderated dissimilarity of local communities determines landscape-wide biodiversity and overrides negative local effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. Section B: 'landscape moderation of population dynamics' includes (3) the cross-habitat spillover hypothesis-landscape-moderated spillover of energy, resources and organisms across habitats, including between managed and natural ecosystems, influences landscape-wide community structure and associated processes and (4) the landscape-moderated concentration and dilution hypothesis-spatial and temporal changes in landscape composition can cause transient concentration or dilution of populations with functional consequences. Section C: 'landscape moderation of functional trait selection' includes (5) the landscape-moderated functional trait selection hypothesis-landscape moderation of species trait selection shapes the functional role and trajectory of community assembly, and (6) the landscape-moderated insurance hypothesis-landscape complexity provides spatial and temporal insurance, i.e. high resilience and stability of ecological processes in changing environments. Section D: 'landscape constraints on

Study on the willingness of Sfantu Gheorghe fishermen community, from Danube Delta, to involve in decision making regarding biodiversity conservation by switching from sturgeon fishing to other natural resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BOZAGIEVICI Raluca

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The investigation aimed to find out local knowledge on biodiversity conservation through sustainable use and the willingness of the local community Sfântu Gheorghe, Danube Delta, to be involved in the decision making process regarding the sustainable use of the natural resources. In obtaining the necessary information, structuredinterviews and focus group were conducted with the local population and stakeholders in order to achieve a clearer picture of all aspects of sustainable use of natural resources within the area. The results highlighted the unwillingness of local people to exploit the alternative natural resources, other than fish, available in the area and the lack of a strategy to inform and support the local community to realize projects pursuing the recovery of these resources.

Environmental Controls on Space-Time Biodiversity Patterns in the Amazon

Science.gov (United States)

Porporato, A. M.; Bonetti, S.; Feng, X.

2014-12-01

The Amazon/Andes territory is characterized by the highest biodiversity on Earth and understanding how all these ecological niches and different species originated and developed is an open challenge. The niche perspective assumes that species have evolved and occupy deterministically different roles within its environment. This view differs from that of the neutral theories, which assume ecological equivalence between all species but incorporates stochastic demographic processes along with long-term migration and speciation rates. Both approaches have demonstrated tremendous power in predicting aspects species biodiversity. By combining tools from both approaches, we use modified birth and death processes to simulate plant species diversification in the Amazon/Andes and their space-time ecohydrological controls. By defining parameters related to births and deaths as functions of available resources, we incorporate the role of space-time resource variability on niche formation and community composition. We also explicitly include the role of a heterogeneous landscape and topography. The results are discussed in relation to transect datasets from neotropical forests.

Patterns of Sponge Biodiversity in the Pilbara, Northwestern Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jane Fromont

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This study assessed the biodiversity of sponges within the Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation for Australia (IMCRA bioregions of the Pilbara using datasets amalgamated from the Western Australian Museum and the Atlas of Living Australia. The Pilbara accounts for a total of 1164 Linnean and morphospecies. A high level of “apparent endemism” was recorded with 78% of species found in only one of six bioregions, with less than 10% confirmed as widely distributed. The Ningaloo, Pilbara Nearshore and Pilbara Offshore bioregions are biodiversity hotspots (>250 species and are recognised as having the highest conservation value, followed by North West Shelf containing 232 species. Species compositions differed between bioregions, with those that are less spatially separated sharing more species. Notably, the North West Province bioregion (110 species exhibited the most distinct species composition, highlighting it as a unique habitat within the Pilbara. While sponge biodiversity is apparently high, incomplete sampling effort for the region was identified, with only two sampling events recorded for the Central West Transition bioregion. Furthermore, only 15% of records in the dataset are presently described (Linnean species, highlighting the continuing need for taxonomic expertise for the conservation and management of marine biodiversity resources.

Analysing biodiversity and conservation knowledge products to support regional environmental assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Thomas M; Akçakaya, H Resit; Burgess, Neil D; Butchart, Stuart H M; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hoffmann, Michael; Juffe-Bignoli, Diego; Kingston, Naomi; MacSharry, Brian; Parr, Mike; Perianin, Laurence; Regan, Eugenie C; Rodrigues, Ana S L; Rondinini, Carlo; Shennan-Farpon, Yara; Young, Bruce E

2016-02-16

Two processes for regional environmental assessment are currently underway: the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) and Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Both face constraints of data, time, capacity, and resources. To support these assessments, we disaggregate three global knowledge products according to their regions and subregions. These products are: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Key Biodiversity Areas (specifically Important Bird &Biodiversity Areas [IBAs], and Alliance for Zero Extinction [AZE] sites), and Protected Planet. We present fourteen Data citations: numbers of species occurring and percentages threatened; numbers of endemics and percentages threatened; downscaled Red List Indices for mammals, birds, and amphibians; numbers, mean sizes, and percentage coverages of IBAs and AZE sites; percentage coverage of land and sea by protected areas; and trends in percentages of IBAs and AZE sites wholly covered by protected areas. These data will inform the regional/subregional assessment chapters on the status of biodiversity, drivers of its decline, and institutional responses, and greatly facilitate comparability and consistency between the different regional/subregional assessments.

Analysing biodiversity and conservation knowledge products to support regional environmental assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Thomas M.; Akçakaya, H. Resit; Burgess, Neil D.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hoffmann, Michael; Juffe-Bignoli, Diego; Kingston, Naomi; Macsharry, Brian; Parr, Mike; Perianin, Laurence; Regan, Eugenie C.; Rodrigues, Ana S. L.; Rondinini, Carlo; Shennan-Farpon, Yara; Young, Bruce E.

2016-02-01

Two processes for regional environmental assessment are currently underway: the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) and Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Both face constraints of data, time, capacity, and resources. To support these assessments, we disaggregate three global knowledge products according to their regions and subregions. These products are: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Key Biodiversity Areas (specifically Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas [IBAs], and Alliance for Zero Extinction [AZE] sites), and Protected Planet. We present fourteen Data citations: numbers of species occurring and percentages threatened; numbers of endemics and percentages threatened; downscaled Red List Indices for mammals, birds, and amphibians; numbers, mean sizes, and percentage coverages of IBAs and AZE sites; percentage coverage of land and sea by protected areas; and trends in percentages of IBAs and AZE sites wholly covered by protected areas. These data will inform the regional/subregional assessment chapters on the status of biodiversity, drivers of its decline, and institutional responses, and greatly facilitate comparability and consistency between the different regional/subregional assessments.

Analysing biodiversity and conservation knowledge products to support regional environmental assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Thomas M.; Akçakaya, H. Resit; Burgess, Neil D.; Butchart, Stuart H.M.; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hoffmann, Michael; Juffe-Bignoli, Diego; Kingston, Naomi; MacSharry, Brian; Parr, Mike; Perianin, Laurence; Regan, Eugenie C.; Rodrigues, Ana S.L.; Rondinini, Carlo; Shennan-Farpon, Yara; Young, Bruce E.

2016-01-01

Two processes for regional environmental assessment are currently underway: the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) and Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Both face constraints of data, time, capacity, and resources. To support these assessments, we disaggregate three global knowledge products according to their regions and subregions. These products are: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Key Biodiversity Areas (specifically Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas [IBAs], and Alliance for Zero Extinction [AZE] sites), and Protected Planet. We present fourteen Data citations: numbers of species occurring and percentages threatened; numbers of endemics and percentages threatened; downscaled Red List Indices for mammals, birds, and amphibians; numbers, mean sizes, and percentage coverages of IBAs and AZE sites; percentage coverage of land and sea by protected areas; and trends in percentages of IBAs and AZE sites wholly covered by protected areas. These data will inform the regional/subregional assessment chapters on the status of biodiversity, drivers of its decline, and institutional responses, and greatly facilitate comparability and consistency between the different regional/subregional assessments. PMID:26881749

Selection of multiple umbrella species for functional and taxonomic diversity to represent urban biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sattler, T; Pezzatti, G B; Nobis, M P; Obrist, M K; Roth, T; Moretti, M

2014-04-01

Surrogates, such as umbrella species, are commonly used to reduce the complexity of quantifying biodiversity for conservation purposes. The presence of umbrella species is often indicative of high taxonomic diversity; however, functional diversity is now recognized as an important metric for biodiversity and thus should be considered when choosing umbrella species. We identified umbrella species associated with high taxonomic and functional biodiversity in urban areas in Switzerland. We analyzed 39,752 individuals of 574 animal species from 96 study plots and 1397 presences of 262 plant species from 58 plots. Thirty-one biodiversity measures of 7 taxonomic groups (plants, spiders, bees, ground beetles, lady bugs, weevils and birds) were included in within- and across-taxa analyses. Sixteen measures were taxonomical (species richness and species diversity), whereas 15 were functional (species traits including mobility, resource use, and reproduction). We used indicator value analysis to identify umbrella species associated with single or multiple biodiversity measures. Many umbrella species were indicators of high biodiversity within their own taxonomic group (from 33.3% in weevils to 93.8% in birds), to a lesser extent they were indicators across taxa. Principal component analysis revealed that umbrella species for multiple measures of biodiversity represented different aspects of biodiversity, especially with respect to measures of taxonomic and functional diversity. Thus, even umbrella species for multiple measures of biodiversity were complementary in the biodiversity aspects they represented. Thus, the choice of umbrella species based solely on taxonomic diversity is questionable and may not represent biodiversity comprehensively. Our results suggest that, depending on conservation priorities, managers should choose multiple and complementary umbrella species to assess the state of biodiversity. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Assessing the impacts of livestock production on biodiversity in rangeland ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Alkemade, Rob; Reid, Robin S.; van den Berg, Maurits; de Leeuw, Jan; Jeuken, Michel

2013-01-01

Biodiversity in rangelands is decreasing, due to intense utilization for livestock production and conversion of rangeland into cropland; yet the outlook of rangeland biodiversity has not been considered in view of future global demand for food. Here we assess the impact of future livestock production on the global rangelands area and their biodiversity. First we formalized existing knowledge about livestock grazing impacts on biodiversity, expressed in mean species abundance (MSA) of the original rangeland native species assemblages, through metaanalysis of peer-reviewed literature. MSA values, ranging from 1 in natural rangelands to 0.3 in man-made grasslands, were entered in the IMAGE-GLOBIO model. This model was used to assess the impact of change in food demand and livestock production on future rangeland biodiversity. The model revealed remarkable regional variation in impact on rangeland area and MSA between two agricultural production scenarios. The area of used rangelands slightly increases globally between 2000 and 2050 in the baseline scenario and reduces under a scenario of enhanced uptake of resource-efficient production technologies increasing production [high levels of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (high-AKST)], particularly in Africa. Both scenarios suggest a global decrease in MSA for rangelands until 2050. The contribution of livestock grazing to MSA loss is, however, expected to diminish after 2030, in particular in Africa under the high-AKST scenario. Policies fostering agricultural intensification can reduce the overall pressure on rangeland biodiversity, but additional measures, addressing factors such as climate change and infrastructural development, are necessary to totally halt biodiversity loss. PMID:22308313

Learning to Measure Biodiversity: Two Agent-Based Models that Simulate Sampling Methods & Provide Data for Calculating Diversity Indices

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Thomas; Laughlin, Thomas

2009-01-01

Nothing could be more effective than a wilderness experience to demonstrate the importance of conserving biodiversity. When that is not possible, though, there are computer models with several features that are helpful in understanding how biodiversity is measured. These models are easily used when natural resources, transportation, and time…

Predictable waves of sequential forest degradation and biodiversity loss spreading from an African city.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahrends, Antje; Burgess, Neil D; Milledge, Simon A H; Bulling, Mark T; Fisher, Brendan; Smart, James C R; Clarke, G Philip; Mhoro, Boniface E; Lewis, Simon L

2010-08-17

Tropical forest degradation emits carbon at a rate of approximately 0.5 Pgxy(-1), reduces biodiversity, and facilitates forest clearance. Understanding degradation drivers and patterns is therefore crucial to managing forests to mitigate climate change and reduce biodiversity loss. Putative patterns of degradation affecting forest stocks, carbon, and biodiversity have variously been described previously, but these have not been quantitatively assessed together or tested systematically. Economic theory predicts a systematic allocation of land to its highest use value in response to distance from centers of demand. We tested this theory to see if forest exploitation would expand through time and space as concentric waves, with each wave targeting lower value products. We used forest data along a transect from 10 to 220 km from Dar es Salaam (DES), Tanzania, collected at two points in time (1991 and 2005). Our predictions were confirmed: high-value logging expanded 9 kmxy(-1), and an inner wave of lower value charcoal production 2 kmxy(-1). This resource utilization is shown to reduce the public goods of carbon storage and species richness, which significantly increased with each kilometer from DES [carbon, 0.2 Mgxha(-1); 0.1 species per sample area (0.4 ha)]. Our study suggests that tropical forest degradation can be modeled and predicted, with its attendant loss of some public goods. In sub-Saharan Africa, an area experiencing the highest rate of urban migration worldwide, coupled with a high dependence on forest-based resources, predicting the spatiotemporal patterns of degradation can inform policies designed to extract resources without unsustainably reducing carbon storage and biodiversity.

Genomic Approaches in Marine Biodiversity and Aquaculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge A Huete-Pérez

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Recent advances in genomic and post-genomic technologies have now established the new standard in medical and biotechnological research. The introduction of next-generation sequencing, NGS,has resulted in the generation of thousands of genomes from all domains of life, including the genomes of complex uncultured microbial communities revealed through metagenomics. Although the application of genomics to marine biodiversity remains poorly developed overall, some noteworthy progress has been made in recent years. The genomes of various model marine organisms have been published and a few more are underway. In addition, the recent large-scale analysis of marine microbes, along with transcriptomic and proteomic approaches to the study of teleost fishes, mollusks and crustaceans, to mention a few, has provided a better understanding of phenotypic variability and functional genomics. The past few years have also seen advances in applications relevant to marine aquaculture and fisheries. In this review we introduce several examples of recent discoveries and progress made towards engendering genomic resources aimed at enhancing our understanding of marine biodiversity and promoting the development of aquaculture. Finally, we discuss the need for auspicious science policies to address challenges confronting smaller nations in the appropriate oversight of this growing domain as they strive to guarantee food security and conservation of their natural resources.

Riverine biodiversity conservation in South Africa: current situation and future prospects

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ashton, PJ

2007-07-01

Full Text Available South Africa is richly endowed with an array of natural resources, with one exception - water. In South African water law, a river system and its associated riverine biodiversity - i.e. the entire aquatic ecosystem - is regarded as the ‘water...

Habitat structure mediates biodiversity effects on ecosystem properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Godbold, J A; Bulling, M T; Solan, M

2011-08-22

Much of what we know about the role of biodiversity in mediating ecosystem processes and function stems from manipulative experiments, which have largely been performed in isolated, homogeneous environments that do not incorporate habitat structure or allow natural community dynamics to develop. Here, we use a range of habitat configurations in a model marine benthic system to investigate the effects of species composition, resource heterogeneity and patch connectivity on ecosystem properties at both the patch (bioturbation intensity) and multi-patch (nutrient concentration) scale. We show that allowing fauna to move and preferentially select patches alters local species composition and density distributions, which has negative effects on ecosystem processes (bioturbation intensity) at the patch scale, but overall positive effects on ecosystem functioning (nutrient concentration) at the multi-patch scale. Our findings provide important evidence that community dynamics alter in response to localized resource heterogeneity and that these small-scale variations in habitat structure influence species contributions to ecosystem properties at larger scales. We conclude that habitat complexity forms an important buffer against disturbance and that contemporary estimates of the level of biodiversity required for maintaining future multi-functional systems may need to be revised.

Stakeholder engagement in scenario development process - bioenergy production and biodiversity conservation in eastern Finland.

Science.gov (United States)

Haatanen, Anniina; den Herder, Michael; Leskinen, Pekka; Lindner, Marcus; Kurttila, Mikko; Salminen, Olli

2014-03-15

In this study participatory approaches were used to develop alternative forest resource management scenarios with particular respect to the effects on increased use of forest bioenergy and its effect on biodiversity in Eastern Finland. As technical planning tools, we utilized a forest management planning system (MELA) and the Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment (ToSIA) to visualize the impacts of the scenarios. We organized a stakeholder workshop where group discussions were used as a participatory method to get the stakeholder preferences and insights concerning forest resource use in the year 2030. Feedback from the workshop was then complemented with a questionnaire. Based on the results of the workshop and a questionnaire we developed three alternative forest resource scenarios: (1) bioenergy 2030 - in which energy production is more centralized and efficient; (2) biodiversity 2030 - in which harvesting methods are more nature friendly and protected forests make up 10% of the total forest area; and (3) mixed bioenergy + biodiversity 2030 scenario - in which wood production, recreation and nature protection are assigned to the most suitable areas. The study showed that stakeholder engagement combined with the MELA and ToSIA tools can be a useful approach in scenario development. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An estimate of the recreational value of the Agulhas Plain, South Africa, with special reference to the value of plant biodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatrice Conradie

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The Agulhas Plain is a remarkable recreational site which combines the attraction of a pristine marine environment with exceptional plant biodiversity, rural tranquillity and the novelty of being at the southernmost tip of Africa. The resource is a public good to which the market cannot assign a full value. This paper presents an estimated recreational value based on individual travel cost models and a sample of 370 visitors surveyed in 2010. Trip demands were estimated with zero truncated negative binomial models to account for over-dispersion. The study established a recreational value of R2.167 billion in 2010 prices for the site as a whole. By partitioning the sample into visitors who indicated having been attracted or not to the area by its nature and biodiversity, a net biodiversity value of R2 866 per trip was calculated. Allocated between marine and terrestrial resources based on the proportion of activities related to each type of resource, the value of plant biodiversity was estimated to be R2 268 per hectare in 2010to 2010 prices.

Biodiversity impact assessment (BIA+) - methodological framework for screening biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, Lisa; Pflugmacher, Stephan; Berger, Markus; Finkbeiner, Matthias

2018-03-01

For the past 20 years, the life cycle assessment (LCA) community has sought to integrate impacts on biodiversity into the LCA framework. However, existing impact assessment methods still fail to do so comprehensively because they quantify only a few impacts related to specific species and regions. This paper proposes a methodological framework that will allow LCA practitioners to assess currently missing impacts on biodiversity on a global scale. Building on existing models that seek to quantify the impacts of human activities on biodiversity, the herein proposed methodological framework consists of 2 components: a habitat factor for 14 major habitat types and the impact on the biodiversity status in those major habitat types. The habitat factor is calculated by means of indicators that characterize each habitat. The biodiversity status depends on parameters from impact categories. The impact functions, relating these different parameters to a given response in the biodiversity status, rely on expert judgments. To ensure the applicability for LCA practitioners, the components of the framework can be regionalized on a country scale for which LCA inventory data is more readily available. The weighting factors for the 14 major habitat types range from 0.63 to 1.82. By means of area weighting of the major habitat types in a country, country-specific weighting factors are calculated. In order to demonstrate the main part of the framework, examples of impact functions are given for the categories "freshwater eutrophication" and "freshwater ecotoxicity" in 1 major habitat type. The results confirm suitability of the methodological framework. The major advantages are the framework's user-friendliness, given that data can be used from LCA databases directly, and the complete inclusion of all levels of biodiversity (genetic, species, and ecosystem). It is applicable for the whole world and a wide range of impact categories. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:282-297. �

Effects of golf courses on local biodiversity.

OpenAIRE

Gange, A.C.; Tanner, R.A.

2005-01-01

There are approximately 2600 golf courses in the UK, occupying 0.7% of the total land cover. However, it is unknown whether these represent a significant resource, in terms of biodiversity conservation, or if they are significantly less diverse than the surrounding habitats. The diversity of vegetation (tree and herbaceous species) and three indicator taxa (birds, ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) and bumblebees (Hymenoptera, Apidae)) was studied on nine golf courses and nine adja...

Mapping High Biomass Corridors for Climate and Biodiversity Co-Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Jantz, P.; Goetz, S. J.; Laporte, N. T.

2013-12-01

A key issue in global conservation is how climate mitigation activities can secure biodiversity co-benefits. Tropical deforestation releases significant amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere and results in widespread biodiversity loss. The dominant strategy for forest conservation has been protected area designation. However, maintaining biodiversity in protected areas requires ecological exchange with ecosystems in which they are embedded. At current funding levels, existing conservation strategies are unlikely to prevent further loss of connectivity between protected areas and surrounding landscapes. The emergence of REDD+, a mechanism for funding carbon emissions reductions from deforestation in developing countries, suggests an alignment of goals and financial resources for protecting forest carbon, maintaining biodiversity in protected areas, and minimizing loss of forest ecosystem services. Identifying, protecting and sustainably managing vegetation carbon stocks between protected areas can provide both climate mitigation benefits through avoided CO2 emissions from deforestation and biodiversity benefits through the targeted protection of forests that maintain connectivity between protected areas and surrounding ecosystems. We used a high resolution, pan-tropical map of vegetation carbon stocks derived from MODIS, GLAS lidar and field measurements to map corridors that traverse areas of highest aboveground biomass between protected areas. We mapped over 13,000 corridors containing 49 GtC, accounting for 14% of unprotected vegetation carbon stock in the tropics. In the majority of cases, carbon density in corridors was commensurate with that of the protected areas they connect, suggesting significant opportunities for achieving climate mitigation and biodiversity co-benefits. To further illustrate the utility of this approach, we conducted a multi-criteria analysis of corridors in the Brazilian Amazon, identifying high biodiversity, high vegetation carbon stock

GEOSS AIP-2 Climate Change and Biodiversity Use Scenarios: Interoperability Infrastructures

Science.gov (United States)

Nativi, Stefano; Santoro, Mattia

2010-05-01

In the last years, scientific community is producing great efforts in order to study the effects of climate change on life on Earth. In this general framework, a key role is played by the impact of climate change on biodiversity. To assess this, several use scenarios require the modeling of climatological change impact on the regional distribution of biodiversity species. Designing and developing interoperability infrastructures which enable scientists to search, discover, access and use multi-disciplinary resources (i.e. datasets, services, models, etc.) is currently one of the main research fields for the Earth and Space Science Informatics. This presentation introduces and discusses an interoperability infrastructure which implements the discovery, access, and chaining of loosely-coupled resources in the climatology and biodiversity domains. This allows to set up and run forecast and processing models. The presented framework was successfully developed and experimented in the context of GEOSS AIP-2 (Global Earth Observation System of Systems, Architecture Implementation Pilot- Phase 2) Climate Change & Biodiversity thematic Working Group. This interoperability infrastructure is comprised of the following main components and services: a)GEO Portal: through this component end user is able to search, find and access the needed services for the scenario execution; b)Graphical User Interface (GUI): this component provides user interaction functionalities. It controls the workflow manager to perform the required operations for the scenario implementation; c)Use Scenario controller: this component acts as a workflow controller implementing the scenario business process -i.e. a typical climate change & biodiversity projection scenario; d)Service Broker implementing Mediation Services: this component realizes a distributed catalogue which federates several discovery and access components (exposing them through a unique CSW standard interface). Federated components

Water Resources Management in Tanzania: Identifying Research ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

by human-induced activities. Over the past ... Review of water resources management in Tanzania; Global literature review on water resources ..... requirements for biodiversity and human health. .... Global warming is altering regional climates.

Funding begets biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahrends, Antje; Burgess, Neil David; Gereau, Roy E.

2011-01-01

Aim Effective conservation of biodiversity relies on an unbiased knowledge of its distribution. Conservation priority assessments are typically based on the levels of species richness, endemism and threat. Areas identified as important receive the majority of conservation investments, often...... facilitating further research that results in more species discoveries. Here, we test whether there is circularity between funding and perceived biodiversity, which may reinforce the conservation status of areas already perceived to be important while other areas with less initial funding may remain overlooked......, and variances decomposed in partial regressions. Cross-correlations are used to assess whether perceived biodiversity drives funding or vice versa. Results Funding explained 65% of variation in perceived biodiversity patterns – six times more variation than accounted for by 34 candidate environmental factors...

An ecosystem approach to biodiversity management and the restoration of post-mining landscapes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Franklin, K.C. [Warwick Business School, Coventry (United Kingdom)

2001-07-01

This paper presents an integrated ecosystem approach to biodiversity management and land restoration following mining activity. The approach is informed by an understanding of ecosystems, mining impacts, local peoples and natural resource relationships. It addresses both biological and social issues. Restoration requirements are noted at different levels of the acknowledged biodiversity hierarchy, and include safeguarding identified priority species and ecosystem utility. The responsibility for such projects however is not seen as resting solely with the mining company. Restoration objectives and programs should be developed in conjunction with governments and local peoples. The resultant site-level biodiversity is seen as being closely allied to national strategy or action plans. This is seen as being critical to the creation of a sustainable restoration initiative. 11 refs.

Status of marine biodiversity of the China seas.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J Y Liu

Full Text Available China's seas cover nearly 5 million square kilometers extending from the tropical to the temperate climate zones and bordering on 32,000 km of coastline, including islands. Comprehensive systematic study of the marine biodiversity within this region began in the early 1950s with the establishment of the Qingdao Marine Biological Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since that time scientists have carried out intensive multidisciplinary research on marine life in the China seas and have recorded 22,629 species belonging to 46 phyla. The marine flora and fauna of the China seas are characterized by high biodiversity, including tropical and subtropical elements of the Indo-West Pacific warm-water fauna in the South and East China seas, and temperate elements of North Pacific temperate fauna mainly in the Yellow Sea. The southern South China Sea fauna is characterized by typical tropical elements paralleled with the Philippine-New Guinea-Indonesia Coral triangle typical tropical faunal center. This paper summarizes advances in studies of marine biodiversity in China's seas and discusses current research mainly on characteristics and changes in marine biodiversity, including the monitoring, assessment, and conservation of endangered species and particularly the strengthening of effective management. Studies of (1 a tidal flat in a semi-enclosed embayment, (2 the impact of global climate change on a cold-water ecosystem, (3 coral reefs of Hainan Island and Xisha-Nansha atolls, (4 mangrove forests of the South China Sea, (5 a threatened seagrass field, and (6 an example of stock enhancement practices of the Chinese shrimp fishery are briefly introduced. Besides the overexploitation of living resources (more than 12.4 million tons yielded in 2007, the major threat to the biodiversity of the China seas is environmental deterioration (pollution, coastal construction, particularly in the brackish waters of estuarine environments, which are

Biodiversity and Climate Modeling Workshop Series: Identifying gaps and needs for improving large-scale biodiversity models

Science.gov (United States)

Weiskopf, S. R.; Myers, B.; Beard, T. D.; Jackson, S. T.; Tittensor, D.; Harfoot, M.; Senay, G. B.

2017-12-01

At the global scale, well-accepted global circulation models and agreed-upon scenarios for future climate from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are available. In contrast, biodiversity modeling at the global scale lacks analogous tools. While there is great interest in development of similar bodies and efforts for international monitoring and modelling of biodiversity at the global scale, equivalent modelling tools are in their infancy. This lack of global biodiversity models compared to the extensive array of general circulation models provides a unique opportunity to bring together climate, ecosystem, and biodiversity modeling experts to promote development of integrated approaches in modeling global biodiversity. Improved models are needed to understand how we are progressing towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, many of which are not on track to meet the 2020 goal, threatening global biodiversity conservation, monitoring, and sustainable use. We brought together biodiversity, climate, and remote sensing experts to try to 1) identify lessons learned from the climate community that can be used to improve global biodiversity models; 2) explore how NASA and other remote sensing products could be better integrated into global biodiversity models and 3) advance global biodiversity modeling, prediction, and forecasting to inform the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The 1st In-Person meeting focused on determining a roadmap for effective assessment of biodiversity model projections and forecasts by 2030 while integrating and assimilating remote sensing data and applying lessons learned, when appropriate, from climate modeling. Here, we present the outcomes and lessons learned from our first E-discussion and in-person meeting and discuss the next steps for future meetings.

Stakeholder Visions for Biodiversity Conservation in Developing Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ademola A. Adenle

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The 2014 Conference of the Parties (COP 12 for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD was another step on the road to achieving the Aichi Targets the CBD agreed in 2010. It was also a key step on the way to making progress towards the vision of a more balanced relationship between people and the rest of biodiversity by 2050. Many key issues were left for this COP by negotiators from COP 11 and earlier meetings; such as settling financial issues, articulating clearly the Aichi Targets for national implementation by 2020, or providing clear guidance on capacity-building for developing states. This paper utilizes 22 stakeholder interviews taken at the 2012 Hyderabad COP to develop discussion of ongoing issues in the CBD negotiations. These interviews yielded a number of tractable policy opportunities available for the 2014 Conference to create significant space for developing countries to contribute effectively to global achievement of the Aichi Targets. Breakthroughs and developments at the COP, despite the inevitability of some difficult discussions, will be provided by developing country perspectives. Despite that potential traction, Ministers at the high-level segment noted that progress towards the Aichi targets is insufficient and recognizing there was still much to do on resource mobilization, reaffirmed their commitment to mobilize financial resources from all sources for the effective implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020. As we enter the second half of the 2011–2020 decade, developing countries must be placed at the center of efforts to improve sustainable use, conservation and benefit sharing of biodiversity around the world.

Integration of Biodiversity Databases in Taiwan and Linkage to Global Databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kwang-Tsao Shao

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The biodiversity databases in Taiwan were dispersed to various institutions and colleges with limited amount of data by 2001. The Natural Resources and Ecology GIS Database sponsored by the Council of Agriculture, which is part of the National Geographic Information System planned by the Ministry of Interior, was the most well established biodiversity database in Taiwan. But thisThis database was, however, mainly collectingcollected the distribution data of terrestrial animals and plants within the Taiwan area. In 2001, GBIF was formed, and Taiwan joined as one of the an Associate Participant and started, starting the establishment and integration of animal and plant species databases; therefore, TaiBIF was able to co-operate with GBIF. The information of Catalog of Life, specimens, and alien species were integrated by the Darwin core. The standard. These metadata standards allowed the biodiversity information of Taiwan to connect with global databases.

Biodiverse planting for carbon and biodiversity on indigenous land.

Science.gov (United States)

Renwick, Anna R; Robinson, Catherine J; Martin, Tara G; May, Tracey; Polglase, Phil; Possingham, Hugh P; Carwardine, Josie

2014-01-01

Carbon offset mechanisms have been established to mitigate climate change through changes in land management. Regulatory frameworks enable landowners and managers to generate saleable carbon credits on domestic and international markets. Identifying and managing the associated co-benefits and dis-benefits involved in the adoption of carbon offset projects is important for the projects to contribute to the broader goal of sustainable development and the provision of benefits to the local communities. So far it has been unclear how Indigenous communities can benefit from such initiatives. We provide a spatial analysis of the carbon and biodiversity potential of one offset method, planting biodiverse native vegetation, on Indigenous land across Australia. We discover significant potential for opportunities for Indigenous communities to achieve carbon sequestration and biodiversity goals through biodiverse plantings, largely in southern and eastern Australia, but the economic feasibility of these projects depend on carbon market assumptions. Our national scale cost-effectiveness analysis is critical to enable Indigenous communities to maximise the benefits available to them through participation in carbon offset schemes.

BioVeL: a virtual laboratory for data analysis and modelling in biodiversity science and ecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hardisty, Alex R; Bacall, Finn; Beard, Niall; Balcázar-Vargas, Maria-Paula; Balech, Bachir; Barcza, Zoltán; Bourlat, Sarah J; De Giovanni, Renato; de Jong, Yde; De Leo, Francesca; Dobor, Laura; Donvito, Giacinto; Fellows, Donal; Guerra, Antonio Fernandez; Ferreira, Nuno; Fetyukova, Yuliya; Fosso, Bruno; Giddy, Jonathan; Goble, Carole; Güntsch, Anton; Haines, Robert; Ernst, Vera Hernández; Hettling, Hannes; Hidy, Dóra; Horváth, Ferenc; Ittzés, Dóra; Ittzés, Péter; Jones, Andrew; Kottmann, Renzo; Kulawik, Robert; Leidenberger, Sonja; Lyytikäinen-Saarenmaa, Päivi; Mathew, Cherian; Morrison, Norman; Nenadic, Aleksandra; de la Hidalga, Abraham Nieva; Obst, Matthias; Oostermeijer, Gerard; Paymal, Elisabeth; Pesole, Graziano; Pinto, Salvatore; Poigné, Axel; Fernandez, Francisco Quevedo; Santamaria, Monica; Saarenmaa, Hannu; Sipos, Gergely; Sylla, Karl-Heinz; Tähtinen, Marko; Vicario, Saverio; Vos, Rutger Aldo; Williams, Alan R; Yilmaz, Pelin

2016-10-20

Making forecasts about biodiversity and giving support to policy relies increasingly on large collections of data held electronically, and on substantial computational capability and capacity to analyse, model, simulate and predict using such data. However, the physically distributed nature of data resources and of expertise in advanced analytical tools creates many challenges for the modern scientist. Across the wider biological sciences, presenting such capabilities on the Internet (as "Web services") and using scientific workflow systems to compose them for particular tasks is a practical way to carry out robust "in silico" science. However, use of this approach in biodiversity science and ecology has thus far been quite limited. BioVeL is a virtual laboratory for data analysis and modelling in biodiversity science and ecology, freely accessible via the Internet. BioVeL includes functions for accessing and analysing data through curated Web services; for performing complex in silico analysis through exposure of R programs, workflows, and batch processing functions; for on-line collaboration through sharing of workflows and workflow runs; for experiment documentation through reproducibility and repeatability; and for computational support via seamless connections to supporting computing infrastructures. We developed and improved more than 60 Web services with significant potential in many different kinds of data analysis and modelling tasks. We composed reusable workflows using these Web services, also incorporating R programs. Deploying these tools into an easy-to-use and accessible 'virtual laboratory', free via the Internet, we applied the workflows in several diverse case studies. We opened the virtual laboratory for public use and through a programme of external engagement we actively encouraged scientists and third party application and tool developers to try out the services and contribute to the activity. Our work shows we can deliver an operational

Scenarios of biodiversity exploring possible futures for management

OpenAIRE

Garcia C.A.; Dray A.; Aubert S.; Reibelt L.M.; Waeber P.O.

2015-01-01

Problems of natural resources management are often wicked problems. They involve multiple stakeholders with different worldviews different needs and agendas in a world with pervasive uncertainties. The answers to such problems are not technical fixes but political processes that engage the stakeholders in problem solving iterative loops. In many cases deforestation and degradation are the rational choice not the result of a lack of awareness or knowledge. Mainstreaming biodiversity conservati...

The Impact of Sustainable Tourism and Good Governance on Biodiversity Loss in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Din Badariah

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The importance of forest in providing the natural habitat for plants and animals; storing hundreds of billions of tons of carbon; buffering against flood and drought; stabilizing soils, influencing climate change and providing food and home for the indigenous people has led the international community to protect them from further destruction in the future. In addition, the sustainable tourism is a key source of income and employment for local communities, which, in turn, provide strong incentives to protect biodiversity. For such reasons, and given the capacity limits of environmental resources coupled with the quantitative growth of tourism, there is an urgent need for the development of tourism to take biodiversity seriously. In this study we investigate the impact of sustainable tourism and good governance indicators on biodiversity loss in Malaysia for the period 1996 to 2012. In this study we employed the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS, Dynamic OLS (DOLS and Fully-Modified OLS (FMOLS which is efficient in small sample to estimate the long-run model of biodiversity loss proxy by deforestation rates . Interestingly, our results found that good governance and sustainable tourism do contribute in mitigating biodiversity loss in Malaysia.

Investigating the biodiversity of ciliates in the 'Age of Integration'.

Science.gov (United States)

Clamp, John C; Lynn, Denis H

2017-10-01

Biology is now turning toward a more integrative approach to research, distinguished by projects that depend on collaboration across hierarchical levels of organization or across disciplines. This trend is prompted by the need to solve complex, large-scale problems and includes disciplines that could be defined as integrative biodiversity. Integrative biodiversity of protists, including that of ciliates, is still partially in its infancy. This is the result of a shortage of historical data resources such as curated museum collections. Major areas of integrative biodiversity of ciliates that have begun to emerge can be categorized as integrative systematics, phenotypic plasticity, and integrative ecology. Integrative systematics of ciliates is characterized by inclusion of diverse sources of data in treatment of taxonomy of species and phylogenetic investigations. Integrative research in phenotypic plasticity combines investigation of functional roles of individual species of ciliates with genetic and genomic data. Finally, integrative ecology focuses on genetic identity of species in communities of ciliates and their collective functional roles in ecosystems. A review of current efforts toward integrative research into biodiversity of ciliates reveals a single, overarching concern-rapid progress will be achieved only by implementing a comprehensive strategy supported by one or more groups of active researchers. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.

MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION: A STUDY IN PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camila S. Miani

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Biodiversity conservation is a current environmental concern that reveals the competing priorities of economic development and environmental preservation. These issues are currently being debated at various levels of society, and decisions are made based not only on scientific knowledge but also on opinions and values. Among the reasons commonly used to justify current environmental demands for biodiversity conservation, Sarkar (2005 has identified three “flawed arguments” to be avoided. Because the discussion of biodiversity conservation is a current demand, it should also be addressed in the field of education. Biology teachers should be prepared to engage their students in discussion about all aspects of biodiversity conservation. In light of the need to train professionals who are capable of addressing complex issues such as this, the following may be asked: What do biology students consider when making decisions about the use and conservation of biodiversity? Do the flawed arguments identified by Sarkar (2005 factor into their reasoning? This research analyzes reports produced following a teaching activity known as “decision making.” The results reveal not only students’ concern for environmental issues, particularly regarding water resources, but also the presence of two of Sarkar’s flawed arguments. The limits of students’ knowledge of the subject also become evident.

USE OF ELECTRONIC EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES WHEN TRAINING IN WORK WITH SPREADSHEETS

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Х А Гербеков

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Today the tools for maintaining training courses based on opportunities of information and communication technologies are developed. Practically in all directions of preparation and on all subject matters electronic textbook and self-instruction manuals are created. Nevertheless the industry of computer educational and methodical materials actively develops and gets more and more areas of development and introduction. In this regard more and more urgent is a problem of development of the electronic educational resources adequate to modern educational requirements. Creation and the organization of training courses with use of electronic educational resources in particular on the basis of Internet technologies remains a difficult methodical task.In article the questions connected with development of electronic educational resources for use when studying the substantial line “Information technologies” of a school course of informatics in particular for studying of spreadsheets are considered. Also the analysis of maintenance of a school course and the unified state examination from the point of view of representation of task in him corresponding to the substantial line of studying “Information technologies” on mastering technology of information processing in spreadsheets and the methods of visualization given by means of charts and schedules is carried out.

Biodiversity Change and Sustainable Development: New Perspectives

OpenAIRE

Tisdell, Clement A.

2012-01-01

Biodiversity is usually regarded as an asset or resource, the stock of which is partly natural and partly determined by humans. Humans both subtract from and add to this stock and consequently, the change in the stock is heterogeneous. This heterogeneity is not taken account of by some authors who focus only on the loss aspect. Frequently, the conservation of this stock is seen as important for the achievement of sustainable development; sustainable development being defined (but not always a...

Making the case for biodiversity in South Africa: Re-framing biodiversity communications

OpenAIRE

Maze, Kristal; Barnett, Mandy; Botts, Emily A.; Stephens, Anthea; Freedman, Mike; Guenther, Lars

2016-01-01

Background: Biodiversity education and public awareness do not always contain the motivational messages that inspire action amongst decision-makers. Traditional messages from the biodiversity sector are often framed around threat, with a generally pessimistic tone. Aspects of social marketing can be used to support positive messaging that is more likely to inspire action amongst the target audience. Objectives: The South African biodiversity sector embarked on a market research process to ...

A Participatory Approach to University Teaching about Partnerships for Biodiversity Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Gladstone, William; Stanger, Robin; Phelps, Liz

2006-01-01

Loss of biodiversity and habitats is one of the greatest threats to the environment and education has a critical role to play in addressing this issue. This paper describes a teaching activity for first-year university students studying sustainable resource management at the University of Newcastle which established a partnership between…

Biodiversity, productivity, and the spatial insurance hypothesis revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Shanafelt, David W.; Dieckmann, Ulf; Jonas, Matthias; Franklin, Oskar; Loreau, Michel; Perrings, Charles

2015-01-01

Accelerating rates of biodiversity loss have led ecologists to explore the effects of species richness on ecosystem functioning and the flow of ecosystem services. One explanation of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning lies in the spatial insurance hypothesis, which centers on the idea that productivity and stability increase with biodiversity in a temporally varying, spatially heterogeneous environment. However, there has been little work on the impact of dispersal where environmental risks are more or less spatially correlated, or where dispersal rates are variable. In this paper, we extend the original Loreau model to consider stochastic temporal variation in resource availability, which we refer to as “environmental risk,” and heterogeneity in species dispersal rates. We find that asynchronies across communities and species provide community-level stabilizing effects on productivity, despite varying levels of species richness. Although intermediate dispersal rates play a role in mitigating risk, they are less effective in insuring productivity against global (metacommunity-level) than local (individual community-level) risks. These results are particularly interesting given the emergence of global sources of risk such as climate change or the closer integration of world markets. Our results offer deeper insights into the Loreau model and new perspectives on the effectiveness of spatial insurance in the face of environmental risks. PMID:26100182

Analytical Study of Usage of Electronic Information Resources at Pharmacopoeial Libraries in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunil Tyagi

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to know the rate and purpose of the use of e-resource by the scientists at pharmacopoeial libraries in India. Among other things, this study examined the preferences of the scientists toward printed books and journals, electronic information resources, and pattern of using e-resources. Non-probability sampling specially accidental and purposive technique was applied in the collection of primary data through administration of user questionnaire. The sample respondents chosen for the study consists of principle scientific officer, senior scientific officer, scientific officer, and scientific assistant of different division of the laboratories, namely, research and development, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacovigilance, pharmacology, pharmacogonosy, and microbiology. The findings of the study reveal the personal experiences and perceptions they have had on practice and research activity using e-resource. The major findings indicate that of the total anticipated participants, 78% indicated that they perceived the ability to use computer for electronic information resources. The data analysis shows that all the scientists belonging to the pharmacopoeial libraries used electronic information resources to address issues relating to drug indexes and compendia, monographs, drugs obtained through online databases, e-journals, and the Internet sources—especially polices by regulatory agencies, contacts, drug promotional literature, and standards.

Reconciling biodiversity and carbon conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Chris D; Anderson, Barbara J; Moilanen, Atte; Eigenbrod, Felix; Heinemeyer, Andreas; Quaife, Tristan; Roy, David B; Gillings, Simon; Armsworth, Paul R; Gaston, Kevin J

2013-05-01

Climate change is leading to the development of land-based mitigation and adaptation strategies that are likely to have substantial impacts on global biodiversity. Of these, approaches to maintain carbon within existing natural ecosystems could have particularly large benefits for biodiversity. However, the geographical distributions of terrestrial carbon stocks and biodiversity differ. Using conservation planning analyses for the New World and Britain, we conclude that a carbon-only strategy would not be effective at conserving biodiversity, as have previous studies. Nonetheless, we find that a combined carbon-biodiversity strategy could simultaneously protect 90% of carbon stocks (relative to a carbon-only conservation strategy) and > 90% of the biodiversity (relative to a biodiversity-only strategy) in both regions. This combined approach encapsulates the principle of complementarity, whereby locations that contain different sets of species are prioritised, and hence disproportionately safeguard localised species that are not protected effectively by carbon-only strategies. It is efficient because localised species are concentrated into small parts of the terrestrial land surface, whereas carbon is somewhat more evenly distributed; and carbon stocks protected in one location are equivalent to those protected elsewhere. Efficient compromises can only be achieved when biodiversity and carbon are incorporated together within a spatial planning process. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Page 170 Use of Electronic Resources by Undergraduates in Two ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

undergraduate students use electronic resources such as NUC virtual library, HINARI, ... web pages articles from magazines, encyclopedias, pamphlets and other .... of Nigerian university libraries have Internet connectivity, some of the system.

Bioinformatics: Cheap and robust method to explore biomaterial from Indonesia biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Widodo

2015-02-01

Indonesia has a huge amount of biodiversity, which may contain many biomaterials for pharmaceutical application. These resources potency should be explored to discover new drugs for human wealth. However, the bioactive screening using conventional methods is very expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, we developed a methodology for screening the potential of natural resources based on bioinformatics. The method is developed based on the fact that organisms in the same taxon will have similar genes, metabolism and secondary metabolites product. Then we employ bioinformatics to explore the potency of biomaterial from Indonesia biodiversity by comparing species with the well-known taxon containing the active compound through published paper or chemical database. Then we analyze drug-likeness, bioactivity and the target proteins of the active compound based on their molecular structure. The target protein was examined their interaction with other proteins in the cell to determine action mechanism of the active compounds in the cellular level, as well as to predict its side effects and toxicity. By using this method, we succeeded to screen anti-cancer, immunomodulators and anti-inflammation from Indonesia biodiversity. For example, we found anticancer from marine invertebrate by employing the method. The anti-cancer was explore based on the isolated compounds of marine invertebrate from published article and database, and then identified the protein target, followed by molecular pathway analysis. The data suggested that the active compound of the invertebrate able to kill cancer cell. Further, we collect and extract the active compound from the invertebrate, and then examined the activity on cancer cell (MCF7). The MTT result showed that the methanol extract of marine invertebrate was highly potent in killing MCF7 cells. Therefore, we concluded that bioinformatics is cheap and robust way to explore bioactive from Indonesia biodiversity for source of drug and another

Guidelines and policies on collection of biological specimens in the Philippines. Philippine Congress, International Convention on Biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Madulid, D A

1996-04-01

In October, 1993, 16 months after the United Nations approved the International Convention on Biodiversity held in Rio de Janeiro, June, 1992, the Philippine Congress ratified and adopted the Convention. This is a manifestation of the full support of the Philippines for the principles and policies adopted by the UN body on the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable development of biological resources and equitable sharing of benefits between users and owners of biodiversity resources. The Philippine scientific community has long recognized the need for and importance of a national guideline and policy with regard to the collection of plants and animals in the Philippines for scientific or commercial purposes. A series of consultative meetings were held by representatives of government agencies, non-government organizations, private organizations, academic and private persons concerned with biodiversity conservation to formulate national guidelines that regulate the collection of plant and animal specimens in the country. Guidelines were unanimously adopted by various government agencies and academia and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed on September 28, 1990. Very recently a new document was drafted, specifically to serve as a guideline for those who desire to undertake sample collecting in the Philippines for biodiversity prospecting. The document is now being reviewed by government departments and agencies and will be presented to the President of the Philippines for signing as an Executive Order (EO). Once signed, this EO will serve as a national policy for bioprospecting in the country. The Philippines is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that has endorsed the adoption of regional guidelines on the collection of plant and animal organisms for drug development. The ASEAN Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1985). The Manila Declaration (1992) and lately, the Melaka Accord (1994), all of which were signed by various

Beyond the "Code": A Guide to the Description and Documentation of Biodiversity in Ciliated Protists (Alveolata, Ciliophora).

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, Alan; Patterson, David J; Dunthorn, Micah; Clamp, John C; Achilles-Day, Undine E M; Aescht, Erna; Al-Farraj, Saleh A; Al-Quraishy, Saleh; Al-Rasheid, Khaled; Carr, Martin; Day, John G; Dellinger, Marc; El-Serehy, Hamed A; Fan, Yangbo; Gao, Feng; Gao, Shan; Gong, Jun; Gupta, Renu; Hu, Xiaozhong; Kamra, Komal; Langlois, Gaytha; Lin, Xiaofeng; Lipscomb, Diana; Lobban, Christopher S; Luporini, Pierangelo; Lynn, Denis H; Ma, Honggang; Macek, Miroslav; Mackenzie-Dodds, Jacqueline; Makhija, Seema; Mansergh, Robert I; Martín-Cereceda, Mercedes; McMiller, Nettie; Montagnes, David J S; Nikolaeva, Svetlana; Ong'ondo, Geoffrey Odhiambo; Pérez-Uz, Blanca; Purushothaman, Jasmine; Quintela-Alonso, Pablo; Rotterová, Johana; Santoferrara, Luciana; Shao, Chen; Shen, Zhuo; Shi, Xinlu; Song, Weibo; Stoeck, Thorsten; La Terza, Antonietta; Vallesi, Adriana; Wang, Mei; Weisse, Thomas; Wiackowski, Krzysztof; Wu, Lei; Xu, Kuidong; Yi, Zhenzhen; Zufall, Rebecca; Agatha, Sabine

2017-07-01

Recent advances in molecular technology have revolutionized research on all aspects of the biology of organisms, including ciliates, and created unprecedented opportunities for pursuing a more integrative approach to investigations of biodiversity. However, this goal is complicated by large gaps and inconsistencies that still exist in the foundation of basic information about biodiversity of ciliates. The present paper reviews issues relating to the taxonomy of ciliates and presents specific recommendations for best practice in the observation and documentation of their biodiversity. This effort stems from a workshop that explored ways to implement six Grand Challenges proposed by the International Research Coordination Network for Biodiversity of Ciliates (IRCN-BC). As part of its commitment to strengthening the knowledge base that supports research on biodiversity of ciliates, the IRCN-BC proposes to populate The Ciliate Guide, an online database, with biodiversity-related data and metadata to create a resource that will facilitate accurate taxonomic identifications and promote sharing of data. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society of Protistologists.

Model of e-learning with electronic educational resources of new generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Loban

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: improving of scientific and methodical base of the theory of the е-learning of variability. Methods used: conceptual and logical modeling of the е-learning of variability process with electronic educational resource of new generation and system analysis of the interconnection of the studied subject area, methods, didactics approaches and information and communication technologies means. Results: the formalization complex model of the е-learning of variability with electronic educational resource of new generation is developed, conditionally decomposed into three basic components: the formalization model of the course in the form of the thesaurusclassifier (“Author of e-resource”, the model of learning as management (“Coordination. Consultation. Control”, the learning model with the thesaurus-classifier (“Student”. Model “Author of e-resource” allows the student to achieve completeness, high degree of didactic elaboration and structuring of the studied material in triples of variants: modules of education information, practical task and control tasks; the result of the student’s (author’s of e-resource activity is the thesaurus-classifier. Model of learning as management is based on the principle of personal orientation of learning in computer environment and determines the logic of interaction between the lecturer and the student when determining the triple of variants individually for each student; organization of a dialogue between the lecturer and the student for consulting purposes; personal control of the student’s success (report generation and iterative search for the concept of the class assignment in the thesaurus-classifier before acquiring the required level of training. Model “Student” makes it possible to concretize the learning tasks in relation to the personality of the student and to the training level achieved; the assumption of the lecturer about the level of training of a

Birds as biodiversity surrogates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Frank Wugt; Bladt, Jesper Stentoft; Balmford, Andrew

2012-01-01

1. Most biodiversity is still unknown, and therefore, priority areas for conservation typically are identified based on the presence of surrogates, or indicator groups. Birds are commonly used as surrogates of biodiversity owing to the wide availability of relevant data and their broad popular...... and applications.?Good surrogates of biodiversity are necessary to help identify conservation areas that will be effective in preventing species extinctions. Birds perform fairly well as surrogates in cases where birds are relatively speciose, but overall effectiveness will be improved by adding additional data...... from other taxa, in particular from range-restricted species. Conservation solutions with focus on birds as biodiversity surrogate could therefore benefit from also incorporating species data from other taxa....

Conservation covenants on private land: issues with measuring and achieving biodiversity outcomes in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzsimons, James A; Carr, C Ben

2014-09-01

Conservation covenants and easements have become essential tools to secure biodiversity outcomes on private land, and to assist in meeting international protection targets. In Australia, the number and spatial area of conservation covenants has grown significantly in the past decade. Yet there has been little research or detailed policy analysis of conservation covenanting in Australia. We sought to determine how conservation covenanting agencies were measuring the biodiversity conservation outcomes achieved on covenanted properties, and factors inhibiting or contributing to measuring these outcomes. In addition, we also investigated the drivers and constraints associated with actually delivering the biodiversity outcomes, drawing on detailed input from covenanting programs. Although all conservation covenanting programs had the broad aim of maintaining or improving biodiversity in their covenants in the long term, the specific stated objectives of conservation covenanting programs varied. Programs undertook monitoring and evaluation in different ways and at different spatial and temporal scales. Thus, it was difficult to determine the extent Australian conservation covenanting agencies were measuring the biodiversity conservation outcomes achieved on covenanted properties on a national scale. Lack of time available to covenantors to undertake management was one of the biggest impediments to achieving biodiversity conservation outcomes. A lack of financial resources and human capital to monitor, knowing what to monitor, inconsistent monitoring methodologies, a lack of benchmark data, and length of time to achieve outcomes were all considered potential barriers to monitoring the biodiversity conservation outcomes of conservation covenants.

Recovering biodiversity knowledge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijerink, G.W.; Smolders, H.; Sours, S.; Pou, S.

2005-01-01

Cambodian¿s civil wars have seriously affected the country¿s agro-biodiversity and the farmers¿ traditional knowledge in this field. The PEDIGREA project aims at conserving on-farm agro-biodiversity conservation and in Cambodia it focuses on vegetable diversity. It tries to link the preservation of

A survey of the use of electronic scientific information resources among medical and dental students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aarnio Matti

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To evaluate medical and dental students' utilization of electronic information resources. Methods A web survey sent to 837 students (49.9% responded. Results Twenty-four per cent of medical students and ninteen per cent of dental students searched MEDLINE 2+ times/month for study purposes, and thiry-two per cent and twenty-four per cent respectively for research. Full-text articles were used 2+ times/month by thirty-three per cent of medical and ten per cent of dental students. Twelve per cent of respondents never utilized either MEDLINE or full-text articles. In multivariate models, the information-searching skills among students were significantly associated with use of MEDLINE and full-text articles. Conclusion Use of electronic resources differs among students. Forty percent were non-users of full-text articles. Information-searching skills are correlated with the use of electronic resources, but the level of basic PC skills plays not a major role in using these resources. The student data shows that adequate training in information-searching skills will increase the use of electronic information resources.

Symbiota – A virtual platform for creating voucher-based biodiversity information communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corinna Gries

2014-06-01

Full Text Available We review the Symbiota software platform for creating voucher-based biodiversity information portals and communities. Symbiota was originally conceived to promote small- to medium-sized, regionally and/or taxonomically themed collaborations of natural history collections. Over the past eight years the taxonomically diverse portals have grown into an important resource in North America and beyond for mobilizing, integrating, and using specimen- and observation-based occurrence records and derivative biodiversity information products. Designed to mirror the conceptual structure of traditional floras and faunas, Symbiota is exclusively web-based and employs a novel data model, information linking, and algorithms to provide highly dynamic customization. The themed portals enable meaningful access to biodiversity data for anyone from specialist to high school student. Symbiota emulates functionality of modern Content Management Systems, providing highly sophisticated yet intuitive user interfaces for data entry, batch processes, and editing. Each kind of content provision may be selectively accessed by authenticated information providers. Occupying a fairly specific niche in the biodiversity informatics arena, Symbiota provides extensive data exchange facilities and collaborates with other development projects to incorporate and not duplicate functionality as appropriate.

Is community-based ecotourism a good use of biodiversity conservation funds?

Science.gov (United States)

Kiss, Agnes

2004-05-01

Community-based ecotourism (CBET) has become a popular tool for biodiversity conservation, based on the principle that biodiversity must pay for itself by generating economic benefits, particularly for local people. There are many examples of projects that produce revenues for local communities and improve local attitudes towards conservation, but the contribution of CBET to conservation and local economic development is limited by factors such as the small areas and few people involved, limited earnings, weak linkages between biodiversity gains and commercial success, and the competitive and specialized nature of the tourism industry. Many CBET projects cited as success stories actually involve little change in existing local land and resource-use practices, provide only a modest supplement to local livelihoods, and remain dependent on external support for long periods, if not indefinitely. Investment in CBET might be justified in cases where such small changes and benefits can yield significant conservation and social benefits, although it must still be recognized as requiring a long term funding commitment. Here, I aim to identify conditions under which CBET is, and is not, likely to be effective, efficient and sustainable compared with alternative approaches for conserving biodiversity. I also highlight the need for better data and more rigorous analysis of both conservation and economic impacts.

Achieving Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 to improve the performance of protected areas and conserve freshwater biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Diego Juffe-Bignoli; Ian Harrison; Stuart HM Butchart; Rebecca Flitcroft; Virgilio Hermoso; Harry Jonas; Anna Lukasiewicz; Michele Thieme; Eren Turak; Heather Bingham; James Dalton; William Darwall; Marine Deguignet; Nigel Dudley; Royal Gardner; Jonathan Higgins; Ritesh Kumar; Simon Linke; G Randy Milton; Jamie Pittock; Kevin G Smith; Arnout van Soesbergen

2016-01-01

1. The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011–2020), adopted at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, sets 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets to be met by 2020 to address biodiversity loss and ensure its sustainable and equitable use. Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 describes what an improved conservation network would look...

Access to electronic information resources by students of federal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper discusses access to electronic information resources by students of Federal Colleges of Education in Eha-Amufu and Umunze. Descriptive survey design was used to investigate sample of 526 students. Sampling technique used was a Multi sampling technique. Data for the study were generated using ...

Adoption and use of electronic information resources by medical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated the adoption and use of electronic information resources by medical science students of the University of Benin. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study and 390 students provided the data. Data collected were analysed with descriptive Statistics(Simple percentage and ...

Anthropic Risk Assessment on Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Piragnolo, M.; Pirotti, F.; Vettore, A.; Salogni, G.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a methodology for risk assessment of anthropic activities on habitats and species. The method has been developed for Veneto Region, in order to simplify and improve the quality of EIA procedure (VINCA). Habitats and species, animals and plants, are protected by European Directive 92/43/EEC and 2009/147/EC but they are subject at hazard due to pollution produced by human activities. Biodiversity risks may conduct to deterioration and disturbance in ecological niches, with consequence of loss of biodiversity. Ecological risk assessment applied on Natura 2000 network, is needed to best practice of management and monitoring of environment and natural resources. Threats, pressure and activities, stress and indicators may be managed by geodatabase and analysed using GIS technology. The method used is the classic risk assessment in ecological context, and it defines the natural hazard as influence, element of risk as interference and vulnerability. Also it defines a new parameter called pressure. It uses risk matrix for the risk analysis on spatial and temporal scale. The methodology is qualitative and applies the precautionary principle in environmental assessment. The final product is a matrix which excludes the risk and could find application in the development of a territorial information system.

Where Do Electronic Books Fit in the College Research Arsenal of Resources?

Science.gov (United States)

Barbier, Patricia

2007-01-01

Student use of electronic books has become an accepted supplement to traditional resources. Student use and satisfaction was monitored through an online course discussion board. Increased use of electronic books indicate this service is an accepted supplement to the print book collection.

Large expansion of oil industry in the Ecuadorian Amazon: biodiversity vulnerability and conservation alternatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Lessmann, Janeth; Fajardo, Javier; Muñoz, Jesús; Bonaccorso, Elisa

2016-07-01

Ecuador will experience a significant expansion of the oil industry in its Amazonian region, one of the most biodiverse areas of the world. In view of the changes that are about to come, we explore the conflicts between oil extraction interests and biodiversity protection and apply systematic conservation planning to identify priority areas that should be protected in different oil exploitation scenarios. First, we quantified the current extent of oil blocks and protected zones and their overlap with two biodiversity indicators: 25 ecosystems and 745 species (whose distributions were estimated via species distribution models). With the new scheme of oil exploitation, oil blocks cover 68% (68,196 km(2)) of the Ecuadorian Amazon; half of it occupied by new blocks open for bids in the southern Amazon. This region is especially vulnerable to biodiversity losses, because peaks of species diversity, 19 ecosystems, and a third of its protected zones coincide spatially with oil blocks. Under these circumstances, we used Marxan software to identify priority areas for conservation outside oil blocks, but their coverage was insufficient to completely represent biodiversity. Instead, priority areas that include southern oil blocks provide a higher representation of biodiversity indicators. Therefore, preserving the southern Amazon becomes essential to improve the protection of Amazonian biodiversity in Ecuador, and avoiding oil exploitation in these areas (33% of the extent of southern oil blocks) should be considered a conservation alternative. Also, it is highly recommended to improve current oil exploitation technology to reduce environmental impacts in the region, especially within five oil blocks that we identified as most valuable for the conservation of biodiversity. The application of these and other recommendations depends heavily on the Ecuadorian government, which needs to find a better balance between the use of the Amazon resources and biodiversity conservation.

Forecasting the future of biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fitzpatrick, M. C.; Sanders, Nate; Ferrier, Simon

2011-01-01

, but their application to forecasting climate change impacts on biodiversity has been limited. Here we compare forecasts of changes in patterns of ant biodiversity in North America derived from ensembles of single-species models to those from a multi-species modeling approach, Generalized Dissimilarity Modeling (GDM...... climate change impacts on biodiversity....

Limitations of outsourcing on-the-ground biodiversity conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Iacona, Gwenllian D; Bode, Michael; Armsworth, Paul R

2016-12-01

To counteract global species decline, modern biodiversity conservation engages in large projects, spends billions of dollars, and includes many organizations working simultaneously within regions. To add to this complexity, the conservation sector has hierarchical structure, where conservation actions are often outsourced by funders (foundations, government, etc.) to local organizations that work on-the-ground. In contrast, conservation science usually assumes that a single organization makes resource allocation decisions. This discrepancy calls for theory to understand how the expected biodiversity outcomes change when interactions between organizations are accounted for. Here, we used a game theoretic model to explore how biodiversity outcomes are affected by vertical and horizontal interactions between 3 conservation organizations: a funder that outsourced its actions and 2 local conservation organizations that work on-the-ground. Interactions between the organizations changed the spending decisions made by individual organizations, and thereby the magnitude and direction of the conservation benefits. We showed that funders would struggle to incentivize recipient organizations with set priorities to perform desired actions, even when they control substantial amounts of the funding and employ common contracting approaches to enhance outcomes. Instead, biodiversity outcomes depended on priority alignment across the organizations. Conservation outcomes for the funder were improved by strategic interactions when organizational priorities were well aligned, but decreased when priorities were misaligned. Meanwhile, local organizations had improved outcomes regardless of alignment due to additional funding in the system. Given that conservation often involves the aggregate actions of multiple organizations with different objectives, strategic interactions between organizations need to be considered if we are to predict possible outcomes of conservation programs or

Reframing resources and public goods: an integrative approach to natural resources security at regional scale

OpenAIRE

Negrutiu, Ioan; Fernandez, Edgar F.; Malwé, Claire; Salles, Jean-Michel; Collart Dutilleul, François; Merchez, Luc; Weber, Jean-Louis

2013-01-01

Human history can be mirrored in a geo-history of natural resources. Humans, by over-exploiting resources (“forcing”), have produced extensive land use changes and have altered complex food webs, ecosystems, and habitats with as a consequence systematic natural biocapacity erosion, biodiversity loss, energy crises, pollution, climate deregulation. In other terms, a global resources “rush” has led to chronic socio-ecosystemic deficits, thus creating the conditions for local and global state sh...

Children prioritize virtual exotic biodiversity over local biodiversity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Marie Ballouard

Full Text Available Environmental education is essential to stem current dramatic biodiversity loss, and childhood is considered as the key period for developing awareness and positive attitudes toward nature. Children are strongly influenced by the media, notably the internet, about biodiversity and conservation issues. However, most media focus on a few iconic, appealing, and usually exotic species. In addition, virtual activities are replacing field experiences. This situation may curb children knowledge and concerns about local biodiversity. Focusing our analyses on local versus exotic species, we examined the level of knowledge and the level of diversity of the animals that French schoolchildren are willing to protect, and whether these perceptions are mainly guided by information available in the internet. For that, we collected and compared two complementary data sets: 1 a questionnaire was administered to schoolchildren to assess their knowledge and consideration to protect animals, 2 an internet content analysis (i.e. Google searching sessions using keywords was performed to assess which animals are the most often represented. Our results suggest that the knowledge of children and their consideration to protect animal are mainly limited to internet contents, represented by a few exotic and charismatic species. The identification rate of local animals by schoolchildren was meager, suggesting a worrying disconnection from their local environment. Schoolchildren were more prone to protect "virtual" (unseen, exotic rather than local animal species. Our results reinforce the message that environmental education must also focus on outdoor activities to develop conservation consciousness and concerns about local biodiversity.

FACTORS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY AND BIODIVERSITY: ENVIRONMENTAL AND EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Kozachek

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim is to consider the features of impact of nanotechnology on biodiversity in the future.Methods. We suggest an approach, according to which nanotechnologies are viewed as key technologies of the sixth technological order. It is assumed that nanotechnology may be a potential source of environmental problems of the future, and the basis for the creation of new advanced types of environmental engineering and technology. Since all of the above is important both within the actual environmental performance and for the purposes of professional engineering and environmental training. We suggest in this paper to view the problem of the impact of nanotechnology on biodiversity and the state of the environment through environmental and educational aspects.Results. We considered and analyzed the environmental and educational aspects of the application of nanotechnology in the period of the sixth technological order. Implementing procedures for their analysis has contributed to the identification and systematization of the various impacts of nanotechnology on biodiversity and the state of the environment, and identification of options for the prevention of such factors. Based on the results of such studies we have identified educational aspects of training environmental engineers during the sixth technological order; defined a new focus of the training in the sixth technological order, which involves, in our opinion, the study of features of a rational and prudent use of natural resources with the use of appropriate innovative eco-oriented nanotechnology, education of students in terms of the understanding of the causes, consequences and ways to prevent the global resource crisis on the planet due to the emergence of a new class of nano-contamination.Main conclusions. The results can be recommended to be used in practice for more in-depth analysis of the specific environmental challenges of nanotechnology, and revising approaches to the design of the

Strategic Planning for Electronic Resources Management: A Case Study at Gustavus Adolphus College

Science.gov (United States)

Hulseberg, Anna; Monson, Sarah

2009-01-01

Electronic resources, the tools we use to manage them, and the needs and expectations of our users are constantly evolving; at the same time, the roles, responsibilities, and workflow of the library staff who manage e-resources are also in flux. Recognizing a need to be more intentional and proactive about how we manage e-resources, the…

REVIEW OF MOODLE PLUGINS FOR DESIGNING MULTIMEDIA ELECTRONIC EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FROM LANGUAGE DISCIPLINES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton M. Avramchuk

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Today the problem of designing multimedia electronic educational resources from language disciplines in Moodle is very important. This system has a lot of different, powerful resources, plugins to facilitate the learning of students with language disciplines. This article presents an overview and comparative analysis of the five Moodle plugins for designing multimedia electronic educational resources from language disciplines. There have been considered their key features and functionality in order to choose the best for studying language disciplines in the Moodle. Plugins are compared by a group of experts according to the criteria: efficiency, functionality and easy use. For a comparative analysis of the plugins it is used the analytic hierarchy process.

Options for promoting high-biodiversity REDD+

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swan, Steve; Mcnally, Richard; Grieg-Gran, Maryanne; Roe, Dilys; Mohammed, Essam Yassin

2011-11-15

International climate and biodiversity conventions agree that to be effective in the long term, strategies to reduce emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, and sustainable forest management (REDD+), must not undermine biodiversity. But how do countries achieve 'high-biodiversity REDD+' in practice? At a global level, options include immediate policy strengthening in international negotiations; promotion of co-benefit standards; and financial incentives and preferences for buying countries. At a national level, developing countries can also promote high-biodiversity REDD+ through more coherent policies; integrated planning; regulatory and economic instruments; and improved monitoring of biodiversity impacts.

Agenda 21 goes electronic.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, D

1996-01-01

The Canada Center for Remote Sensing, in collaboration with the International Development Research Center, is developing an electronic atlas of Agenda 21, the Earth Summit action plan. This initiative promises to ease access for researchers and practitioners to implement the Agenda 21-action plan, which in its pilot study will focus on biological diversity. Known as the Biodiversity Volume of the Electronic Atlas of Agenda 21 (ELADA 21), this computer software technology will contain information and data on biodiversity, genetics, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem services. Specifically, it includes several country studies, documentation, as well as interactive scenarios linking biodiversity to socioeconomic issues. ELADA 21 will empower countries and agencies to report on and better manage biodiversity and related information. The atlas can be used to develop and test various scenarios and to exchange information within the South and with industrialized countries. At present, ELADA 21 has generated interest and becomes more available in the market. The challenge confronting the project team, however, is to find the atlas a permanent home, a country or agency willing to assume responsibility for maintaining, upgrading, and updating the software.

EnviroAtlas - Biodiversity Metrics by 12-digit HUC for the Southwestern United States

Science.gov (United States)

This EnviroAtlas dataset was produced by a joint effort of New Mexico State University, US EPA, and the US Geological Survey (USGS) to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. Ecosystem services, i.e., services provided to humans from ecological systems, have become a key issue of this century in resource management, conservation planning, and environmental decision analysis. Mapping and quantifying ecosystem services have become strategic national interests for integrating ecology with economics to help understand the effects of human policies and actions and their subsequent impacts on both ecosystem function and human well-being. Some aspects of biodiversity are valued by humans in varied ways, and thus are important to include in any assessment that seeks to identify and quantify the benefits of ecosystems to humans. Some biodiversity metrics clearly reflect ecosystem services (e.g., abundance and diversity of harvestable species), whereas others may reflect indirect and difficult to quantify relationships to services (e.g., relevance of species diversity to ecosystem resilience, or cultural and aesthetic values). Wildlife habitat has been modeled at broad spatial scales and can be used to map a number of biodiversity metrics. We map 15 biodiversity metrics reflecting ecosystem services or other aspects of biodiversity for all vertebrate species except fish. Metrics include species richness for all vertebrates, specific taxon gr

EnviroAtlas - Biodiversity Metrics by 12-digit HUC for the Southeastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

This EnviroAtlas dataset was produced by a joint effort of New Mexico State University, US EPA, and the US Geological Survey (USGS) to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. Ecosystem services, i.e., services provided to humans from ecological systems, have become a key issue of this century in resource management, conservation planning, and environmental decision analysis. Mapping and quantifying ecosystem services have become strategic national interests for integrating ecology with economics to help understand the effects of human policies and actions and their subsequent impacts on both ecosystem function and human well-being. Some aspects of biodiversity are valued by humans in varied ways, and thus are important to include in any assessment that seeks to identify and quantify the benefits of ecosystems to humans. Some biodiversity metrics clearly reflect ecosystem services (e.g., abundance and diversity of harvestable species), whereas others may reflect indirect and difficult to quantify relationships to services (e.g., relevance of species diversity to ecosystem resilience, or cultural and aesthetic values). Wildlife habitat has been modeled at broad spatial scales and can be used to map a number of biodiversity metrics. We map 14 biodiversity metrics reflecting ecosystem services or other aspects of biodiversity for all vertebrate species except fish. Metrics include species richness for all vertebrates, specific taxon gr

Currently Situation, Some Cases and Implications of the Legislation on Access and Benefit-sharing to Biologi cal Genetic Resource in Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LI Yi-ding

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Australia is one of the most abundant in biodiversity country of the global which located in Oceanian and became a signatory coun try of the Convention on Biodiversity, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resource for Food and Agriculture, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This country stipulated the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act(EPBC, 1999 and Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations, 2002. Queensland and the North Territory passed the Bio-discovery Act in 2004 and Biological Resource Act in 2006 separately. This paper firstly focus on current situation, characteristic of the legislation on ac cess and benefit-sharing to biological resource in the commonwealth and local place in Australia and then collected and analyzed the typical case of access and benefit-sharing in this country that could bring some experience to China in this field. The conclusion of this paper is that China should stipulated the specific legislation on access and benefit-sharing to biological genetic resource as like the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act(EPBC, 1999 and establish the rule of procedure related to the access and benefit-sharing as like the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations, 2002, Bio-discovery Act in 2004, Queensland and the Biological Resource Act in 2006, the North Territory.

The geomatic like a tool for biodiversity analysis in Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galindo, G; Armenteras, D; Franco, C; Sua S and others

2006-01-01

Current biodiversity research recognizes geographic information and its variability in space as an essential characteristic that helps understand the relationships between the components of biological communities and their environment. The description and quantification of their spatial and temporal attributes adds important elements for their adequate management. The biological diversity convention (biological diversity convention, law 165 of 1994) reassured the importance of biodiversity and the necessity of its conservation and sustainable use and emphasized that its components should be characterized and monitored, and the data and information related with them should be maintained and organized. The biological research institute Alexander von Humboldt is the Colombian entity in charge of promoting, coordinating and undertaking research that helps in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, this institution has defined the inventory of all the fauna and flora resources in the country as one of its priority research lines. Using geomatic techniques, Humboldt institute has implemented and developed technologies to capture, debug, geocode and analyze geographic data related with biodiversity (Armenteras, 2001) among others, this has helped in the development, structure and management of projects such as the ecosystems mapping of the Colombian amazonic, Andean and Orinoco ecosystems (GIS -RS), finding conservation opportunities in rural landscapes (GIS-RS) biological localities Gazetteer (GIS, databases, programming), development of models that predict and explain species distribution (GIS, database management, modeling techniques), conservation weakness (GIS-RS) and environmental indicators (GIS, geostatistical analysis)

Caribbean landscapes and their biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

A. E. Lugo; E. H. Helmer; E. Santiago Valentín

2012-01-01

Both the biodiversity and the landscapes of the Caribbean have been greatly modified as a consequence of human activity. In this essay we provide an overview of the natural landscapes and biodiversity of the Caribbean and discuss how human activity has affected both. Our Caribbean geographic focus is on the insular Caribbean and the biodiversity focus is on the flora,...

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES FOR ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

economic effects which the location of natural resources has on host ... water bodies in an oil exploration and exploitation communities in Oguta local .... law, energy, atmosphere, sustainable tourism, biodiversity, biotechnology, finance,.

Modern ICT Tools: Online Electronic Resources Sharing Using Web ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Modern ICT Tools: Online Electronic Resources Sharing Using Web 2.0 and Its Implications For Library And Information Practice In Nigeria. ... The PDF file you selected should load here if your Web browser has a PDF reader plug-in installed (for example, a recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader). If you would like more ...

Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Harpole, W Stanley; Sullivan, Lauren L; Lind, Eric M; Firn, Jennifer; Adler, Peter B; Borer, Elizabeth T; Chase, Jonathan; Fay, Philip A; Hautier, Yann; Hillebrand, Helmut; MacDougall, Andrew S; Seabloom, Eric W; Williams, Ryan; Bakker, Jonathan D; Cadotte, Marc W; Chaneton, Enrique J; Chu, Chengjin; Cleland, Elsa E; D'Antonio, Carla; Davies, Kendi F; Gruner, Daniel S; Hagenah, Nicole; Kirkman, Kevin; Knops, Johannes M H; La Pierre, Kimberly J; McCulley, Rebecca L; Moore, Joslin L; Morgan, John W; Prober, Suzanne M; Risch, Anita C; Schuetz, Martin; Stevens, Carly J; Wragg, Peter D

2016-01-01

Niche dimensionality provides a general theoretical explanation for biodiversity-more niches, defined by more limiting factors, allow for more ways that species can coexist. Because plant species compete for the same set of limiting resources, theory predicts that addition of a limiting resource

Biodiversity monitoring in Europe: the EU FP7 EBONE project. European biodiversity observation NEtwork

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Lück-Vogel, Melanie

2008-09-01

Full Text Available submission Presentation Poster presentation A) Title Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe: The EU FP7 EBONE project European Biodiversity Observation NEtwork B) Short title EBONE - European Biodiversity Observation NEtwork C) Author(s) Vogel, M. (1... stream_source_info Vogel_2008.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 3055 Content-Encoding UTF-8 stream_name Vogel_2008.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 BIOTA AFRICA Congress 2008 Abstract...

Developing an outcome-based biodiversity metric in support of the field to market project: Final report

Science.gov (United States)

Drew, C. Ashton; Alexander-Vaughn, Louise B.; Collazo, Jaime A.; McKerrow, Alexa; Anderson, John

2013-01-01

Our objective was to create a metric that would calculate the relative impact of common commercial agricultural practices on terrestrial vertebrate richness. We sought to define impacts in fields (including field borders) of the southeastern region’s commercial production of corn, wheat, soy, and cotton. The metric is intended to serve as an educational tool, allowing producers to see how operational decisions made at the field level impact overall vertebrate species richness and to explore decision impacts to targeted species groups (e.g. game, pest, or beneficial species). Agricultural landscapes are often mistakenly thought to be unsuitable habitat for most species. However, as demonstrated by results reported here, even large-scale, conventional agricultural producers are potentially important partners in biodiversity conservation. Many vertebrate species do inhabit agricultural landscapes, benefitting from the provision of water, food, or shelter within cultivated fields and their immediate borders (e.g., Holland et al. 2012). In the Southeastern US, of the 613 terrestrial vertebrate species modeled by the Southeast Gap Analysis Program (SEGAP) (http://www.basic.ncsu.edu/segap/index.html), 263 utilize row crop and associated agricultural land cover classes as potential habitat (Box 1). While some species may be sensitive to certain operational practices (e.g., tillage, pest management, or field border management practices), others are generally tolerant, and some may benefit either directly or indirectly. For example, field margins and ditches often serve as semi-natural habitats providing foraging resources and shelter for vertebrates and are shown to positively influence species richness and abundance (Billeter et al. 2007; Herzon & Helenius 2008; Marshall & Moonen 2002; Shore et al. 2005; Weibull et al. 2003; Wuczyńskia et al. 2011). Biodiversity responses are, therefore, complex, as an individual species’ responses to agricultural production practices

Analysis of Reptile Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services within the Protected Areas at a National Scale

Science.gov (United States)

A focus for resource management, conservation planning, and environmental decision analysis has been mapping and quantifying biodiversity and ecosystem services. The challenge has been to integrate ecology with economics to better understand the effects of human policies and acti...

Biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes

OpenAIRE

Josefsson, Jonas

2015-01-01

Agricultural industrialization alters rural landscapes in Europe, causing large-scale and rapid loss of important biodiversity. The principal instruments to protect farmland biodiversity are various agri-environmental measures (AEMs) in the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, growing awareness of shortcomings to CAP biodiversity integration prompts examination of causes and potential solutions. This thesis assesses the importance of structural heterogeneity of crop and non-crop habi...

Making the case for biodiversity in South Africa: Re-framing biodiversity communications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristal Maze

2016-12-01

Conclusion: Based on the findings, a communications strategy known as ‘Making the case for biodiversity’ was developed that re-framed the economic, emotional and practical value propositions for biodiversity. The communications strategy has already resulted in greater political and economic attention towards biodiversity in South Africa.

Breaking boundaries for biodiversity : expanding the policy agenda to halt biodiversity loss

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veen, M.P.; Sanders, M.E.; Tekelenburg, A.; Gerritsen, A.L.; Lörzing, J.A.; Brink, Th.

2010-01-01

Our assessment from the perspective of the Netherlands, a country in the temperate zone, showed a slightly positive picture, in line with the overall results for this zone. The loss of biodiversity in the Netherlands has been slowed down, but the European target – halting the loss of biodiversity –

Case studies of capacity building for biodiversity monitoring: Chapter 13

Science.gov (United States)

Schmeller, Dirk S.; Arvanitidis, Christos; Böhm, Monika; Brummitt, Neil; Chatzinikolaou, Eva; Costello, Mark J.; Ding, Hui; Gill, Michael J.; Haase, Peter; Juillard, Romain; García-Moreno, Jaime; Pettorelli, Nathalie; Peng, Cui; Riginos, Corinna; Schmiedel, Ute; Simaika, John P.; Waterman, Carly; Wu, Jun; Xu, Haigen; Belnap, Jayne; Walters, Michele; Scholes, Robert J.

2017-01-01

Monitoring the status and trends of species is critical to their conservation and management. However, the current state of biodiversity monitoring is insufficient to detect such for most species and habitats, other than in a few localised areas. One of the biggest obstacles to adequate monitoring is the lack of local capacity to carry out such programs. Thus, building the capacity to do such monitoring is imperative. We here highlight different biodiversity monitoring efforts to illustrate how capacity building efforts are being conducted at different geographic scales and under a range of resource, literacy, and training constraints. Accordingly, we include examples of monitoring efforts from within countries (Kenya, France, and China), within regions (Central America and the Arctic) and larger capacity building programs including EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) of Existence and the National Red List Alliance.

THE MODEL OF LINGUISTIC TEACHERS’ COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT ON DESIGNING MULTIMEDIA ELECTRONIC EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN THE MOODLE SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton M. Avramchuk

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the problem of developing the competency of teachers of language disciplines on designing multimedia electronic educational resources in the Moodle system. The concept of "the competence of teachers of language disciplines on designing multimedia electronic educational resources in the Moodle system" is justified and defined. Identified and characterized the components by which the levels of the competency development of teachers of language disciplines on designing multimedia electronic educational resources in the Moodle system should be assessed. Developed a model for the development of the competency of teachers of language disciplines on designing multimedia electronic educational resources in the Moodle system, which is based on the main scientific approaches, used in adult education, and consists of five blocks: target, informative, technological, diagnostic and effective.

Biodiversity in the Anthropocene: prospects and policy

Science.gov (United States)

Mace, Georgina M.; Mouillot, David; Vause, James; Walpole, Matt

2016-01-01

Meeting the ever-increasing needs of the Earth’s human population without excessively reducing biological diversity is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, suggesting that new approaches to biodiversity conservation are required. One idea rapidly gaining momentum—as well as opposition—is to incorporate the values of biodiversity into decision-making using economic methods. Here, we develop several lines of argument for how biodiversity might be valued, building on recent developments in natural science, economics and science-policy processes. Then we provide a synoptic guide to the papers in this special feature, summarizing recent research advances relevant to biodiversity valuation and management. Current evidence suggests that more biodiverse systems have greater stability and resilience, and that by maximizing key components of biodiversity we maximize an ecosystem’s long-term value. Moreover, many services and values arising from biodiversity are interdependent, and often poorly captured by standard economic models. We conclude that economic valuation approaches to biodiversity conservation should (i) account for interdependency and (ii) complement rather than replace traditional approaches. To identify possible solutions, we present a framework for understanding the foundational role of hard-to-quantify ‘biodiversity services’ in sustaining the value of ecosystems to humanity, and then use this framework to highlight new directions for pure and applied research. In most cases, clarifying the links between biodiversity and ecosystem services, and developing effective policy and practice for managing biodiversity, will require a genuinely interdisciplinary approach. PMID:27928040

Biodiversity in the Anthropocene: prospects and policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Seddon, Nathalie; Mace, Georgina M; Naeem, Shahid; Tobias, Joseph A; Pigot, Alex L; Cavanagh, Rachel; Mouillot, David; Vause, James; Walpole, Matt

2016-12-14

Meeting the ever-increasing needs of the Earth's human population without excessively reducing biological diversity is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, suggesting that new approaches to biodiversity conservation are required. One idea rapidly gaining momentum-as well as opposition-is to incorporate the values of biodiversity into decision-making using economic methods. Here, we develop several lines of argument for how biodiversity might be valued, building on recent developments in natural science, economics and science-policy processes. Then we provide a synoptic guide to the papers in this special feature, summarizing recent research advances relevant to biodiversity valuation and management. Current evidence suggests that more biodiverse systems have greater stability and resilience, and that by maximizing key components of biodiversity we maximize an ecosystem's long-term value. Moreover, many services and values arising from biodiversity are interdependent, and often poorly captured by standard economic models. We conclude that economic valuation approaches to biodiversity conservation should (i) account for interdependency and (ii) complement rather than replace traditional approaches. To identify possible solutions, we present a framework for understanding the foundational role of hard-to-quantify 'biodiversity services' in sustaining the value of ecosystems to humanity, and then use this framework to highlight new directions for pure and applied research. In most cases, clarifying the links between biodiversity and ecosystem services, and developing effective policy and practice for managing biodiversity, will require a genuinely interdisciplinary approach. © 2016 The Author(s).

Developing Humanities Collections in the Digital Age: Exploring Humanities Faculty Engagement with Electronic and Print Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Kachaluba, Sarah Buck; Brady, Jessica Evans; Critten, Jessica

2014-01-01

This article is based on quantitative and qualitative research examining humanities scholars' understandings of the advantages and disadvantages of print versus electronic information resources. It explores how humanities' faculty members at Florida State University (FSU) use print and electronic resources, as well as how they perceive these…

Prairie strips improve biodiversity and the delivery of multiple ecosystem services from corn-soybean croplands

Science.gov (United States)

Losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services from industrial agricultural lands are persistent and growing challenges in the United States despite decades of spending on natural resource management. Most investments have been targeted toward engineered practices (e.g., sediment control basins, terr...

Relationship between biodiversity and agricultural production

OpenAIRE

Brunetti, Ilaria; Tidball, Mabel; Couvet, Denis

2018-01-01

Agriculture is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss. In this work we model the interdependent relationship between biodiversity and agriculture on a farmed land, supposing that, while agriculture has a negative impact on biodiversity, the latter can increase agricultural production. Farmers act as myopic agents, who maximize their instantaneous profit without considering the negative effects of their practice on the evolution of biodiversity. We find that a tax on inputs can have a pos...

Challenges of Biodiversity Education: A Review of Education Strategies for Biodiversity Education

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro-Perez, Moramay; Tidball, Keith G.

2012-01-01

Biodiversity conservation has increasingly gained recognition in national and international agendas. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has positioned biodiversity as a key asset to be protected to ensure our well-being and that of future generations. Nearly 20 years after its inception, results are not as expected, as shown in the…

Economic growth, biodiversity loss and conservation effort.

Science.gov (United States)

Dietz, Simon; Adger, W Neil

2003-05-01

This paper investigates the relationship between economic growth, biodiversity loss and efforts to conserve biodiversity using a combination of panel and cross section data. If economic growth is a cause of biodiversity loss through habitat transformation and other means, then we would expect an inverse relationship. But if higher levels of income are associated with increasing real demand for biodiversity conservation, then investment to protect remaining diversity should grow and the rate of biodiversity loss should slow with growth. Initially, economic growth and biodiversity loss are examined within the framework of the environmental Kuznets hypothesis. Biodiversity is represented by predicted species richness, generated for tropical terrestrial biodiversity using a species-area relationship. The environmental Kuznets hypothesis is investigated with reference to comparison of fixed and random effects models to allow the relationship to vary for each country. It is concluded that an environmental Kuznets curve between income and rates of loss of habitat and species does not exist in this case. The role of conservation effort in addressing environmental problems is examined through state protection of land and the regulation of trade in endangered species, two important means of biodiversity conservation. This analysis shows that the extent of government environmental policy increases with economic development. We argue that, although the data are problematic, the implications of these models is that conservation effort can only ever result in a partial deceleration of biodiversity decline partly because protected areas serve multiple functions and are not necessarily designated to protect biodiversity. Nevertheless institutional and policy response components of the income biodiversity relationship are important but are not well captured through cross-country regression analysis.

What is marine biodiversity? Towards common concepts and their implications for assessing biodiversity status

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabine Cochrane

2016-12-01

Full Text Available ‘Biodiversity’ is one of the most common keywords used in environmental sciences, spanning from research to management, nature conservation and consultancy. Despite this, our understanding of the underlying concepts varies greatly, between and within disciplines as well as among the scientists themselves. Biodiversity can refer to descriptions or assessments of the status and condition of all or selected groups of organisms, from the genetic variability, to the species, populations, communities, and ecosystems. However, a concept of biodiversity also must encompass understanding the interactions and functions on all levels from individuals up to the whole ecosystem, including changes related to natural and anthropogenic environmental pressures. While biodiversity as such is an abstract and relative concept rooted in the spatial domain, it is central to most international, European and national governance initiatives aimed at protecting the marine environment. These rely on status assessments of biodiversity which typically require numerical targets and specific reference values, to allow comparison in space and/or time, often in association with some external structuring factors such as physical and biogeochemical conditions. Given that our ability to apply and interpret such assessments requires a solid conceptual understanding of marine biodiversity, here we define this and show how the abstract concept can and needs to be interpreted and subsequently applied in biodiversity assessments.

European Biodiversity Observation Network – EBONE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Halada, L.; Jongman, R.H.G.; Gerard, F.; Whittaker, L.; Bunce, R.G.H.; Bauch, B.; Schmeller, D.S.

2009-01-01

EBONE (European Biodiversity Observation Network) is a project developing a system of biodiversity observation at regional, national and European levels as a contribution to European reporting on biodiversity. The project focuses on GEO (Group of Earth Observations) task BI 07-01 to unify many of

In Defence of Biodiversity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Archer, Alfred; Burch Brown, Joanna

2017-01-01

The concept of biodiversity has played a central role within conservation biology over the last thirty years. Precisely how it should be understood, however, is a matter of ongoing debate. In this paper we defend what we call a classic multidimensional conception of biodiversity. We begin by

Biodiversity as a multidimensional construct: a review, framework and case study of herbivory's impact on plant biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Naeem, S.; Prager, Case; Weeks, Brian

2016-01-01

Biodiversity is inherently multidimensional, encompassing taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, genetic, landscape and many other elements of variability of life on the Earth. However, this fundamental principle of multidimensionality is rarely applied in research aimed at understanding biodiversity...... on understory plant cover at Black Rock Forest, New York. Using three biodiversity dimensions (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity) to explore our framework, we found that herbivory alters biodiversity's multidimensional influence on plant cover; an effect not observable through a unidimensional...

Exploring resource efficiency for energy, land and phosphorus use

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, van den Maurits; Hermans, Kathleen; Vuuren, van Detlef P.; Bouwman, A.F.; Kram, Tom; Bakkes, Jan

2016-01-01

In this paper, we present four model-based scenarios exploring the potential for resource efficiency for energy, land and phosphorus use, and implications for resource depletion, climate change and biodiversity. The scenarios explored include technological improvements as well as structural

Interdependence of specialization and biodiversity in Phanerozoic marine invertebrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Nürnberg, Sabine; Aberhan, Martin

2015-03-17

Studies of the dynamics of biodiversity often suggest that diversity has upper limits, but the complex interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes and the relative role of biotic and abiotic factors that set upper limits to diversity are poorly understood. Here we statistically assess the relationship between global biodiversity and the degree of habitat specialization of benthic marine invertebrates over the Phanerozoic eon. We show that variation in habitat specialization correlates positively with changes in global diversity, that is, times of high diversity coincide with more specialized faunas. We identify the diversity dynamics of specialists but not generalists, and origination rates but not extinction rates, as the main drivers of this ecological interdependence. Abiotic factors fail to show any significant relationship with specialization. Our findings suggest that the overall level of specialization and its fluctuations over evolutionary timescales are controlled by diversity-dependent processes--driven by interactions between organisms competing for finite resources.

An Overview of Marine Biodiversity in United States Waters

Science.gov (United States)

Fautin, Daphne; Dalton, Penelope; Incze, Lewis S.; Leong, Jo-Ann C.; Pautzke, Clarence; Rosenberg, Andrew; Sandifer, Paul; Sedberry, George; Tunnell, John W.; Abbott, Isabella; Brainard, Russell E.; Brodeur, Melissa; Eldredge, Lucius G.; Feldman, Michael; Moretzsohn, Fabio; Vroom, Peter S.; Wainstein, Michelle; Wolff, Nicholas

2010-01-01

Marine biodiversity of the United States (U.S.) is extensively documented, but data assembled by the United States National Committee for the Census of Marine Life demonstrate that even the most complete taxonomic inventories are based on records scattered in space and time. The best-known taxa are those of commercial importance. Body size is directly correlated with knowledge of a species, and knowledge also diminishes with distance from shore and depth. Measures of biodiversity other than species diversity, such as ecosystem and genetic diversity, are poorly documented. Threats to marine biodiversity in the U.S. are the same as those for most of the world: overexploitation of living resources; reduced water quality; coastal development; shipping; invasive species; rising temperature and concentrations of carbon dioxide in the surface ocean, and other changes that may be consequences of global change, including shifting currents; increased number and size of hypoxic or anoxic areas; and increased number and duration of harmful algal blooms. More information must be obtained through field and laboratory research and monitoring that involve innovative sampling techniques (such as genetics and acoustics), but data that already exist must be made accessible. And all data must have a temporal component so trends can be identified. As data are compiled, techniques must be developed to make certain that scales are compatible, to combine and reconcile data collected for various purposes with disparate gear, and to automate taxonomic changes. Information on biotic and abiotic elements of the environment must be interactively linked. Impediments to assembling existing data and collecting new data on marine biodiversity include logistical problems as well as shortages in finances and taxonomic expertise. PMID:20689852

An overview of marine biodiversity in United States waters

Science.gov (United States)

Fautin, Daphne G.; Delton, Penelope; Incze, Lewis S.; Leong, Jo-Ann C.; Pautzke, Clarence; Rosenberg, Andrew A.; Sandifer, Paul; Sedberry, George R.; Tunnell, John W.; Abbott, Isabella; Brainard, Russell E.; Brodeur, Melissa; Eldredge, Lucius G.; Feldman, Michael; Moretzsohn, Fabio; Vroom, Peter S.; Wainstein, Michelle; Wolff, Nicholas

2010-01-01

Marine biodiversity of the United States (U.S.) is extensively documented, but data assembled by the United States National Committee for the Census of Marine Life demonstrate that even the most complete taxonomic inventories are based on records scattered in space and time. The best-known taxa are those of commercial importance. Body size is directly correlated with knowledge of a species, and knowledge also diminishes with distance from shore and depth. Measures of biodiversity other than species diversity, such as ecosystem and genetic diversity, are poorly documented. Threats to marine biodiversity in the U.S. are the same as those for most of the world: overexploitation of living resources; reduced water quality; coastal development; shipping; invasive species; rising temperature and concentrations of carbon dioxide in the surface ocean, and other changes that may be consequences of global change, including shifting currents; increased number and size of hypoxic or anoxic areas; and increased number and duration of harmful algal blooms. More information must be obtained through field and laboratory research and monitoring that involve innovative sampling techniques (such as genetics and acoustics), but data that already exist must be made accessible. And all data must have a temporal component so trends can be identified. As data are compiled, techniques must be developed to make certain that scales are compatible, to combine and reconcile data collected for various purposes with disparate gear, and to automate taxonomic changes. Information on biotic and abiotic elements of the environment must be interactively linked. Impediments to assembling existing data and collecting new data on marine biodiversity include logistical problems as well as shortages in finances and taxonomic expertise.

INVESTIGATION ON BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION OF FRESHWATER FISHES IN INDONESIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sudarto Sudarto

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Indonesia is one of the richest regions in the world in terms of biodiversity. However, recent evidence has shown that tropical forests destruction has maintained at a high rate over the last few years in this country. At the same time, living resources in Indonesian freshwater ecosystems are important: this country ranks at number seven in terms of production of inland capture fisheries with 323,150 tonnes in 2008. Freshwater fishes represent 42% of the total estimated ichthyofauna, concentrated in 0.01% of the total water covered environment. This environment is closer to human activities, making it critically vulnerable to adverse impacts. Furthermore, there has been some recent debates on the general sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture production systems. This research was focused on initiating a multi-scale study of fish biodiversity in freshwater environments. Two specific actions have been started. A review based on the analyses of the existing scientific literature and of databases on fish taxonomy and distributions. In parallel to this work, a global analysis of the distribution of fish diversity in Indonesia was undertaken. This work aims at identifying the major features of this resource as well as its current and future threats.

Assessing the Cost of Global Biodiversity and Conservation Knowledge.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Juffe-Bignoli

Full Text Available Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by standards, governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms. Considerable resources are dedicated to developing and maintaining knowledge products for biodiversity conservation, and they are widely used to inform policy and advise decision makers and practitioners. However, the financial cost of delivering this information is largely undocumented. We evaluated the costs and funding sources for developing and maintaining four global biodiversity and conservation knowledge products: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Protected Planet, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. These are secondary data sets, built on primary data collected by extensive networks of expert contributors worldwide. We estimate that US$160 million (range: US$116-204 million, plus 293 person-years of volunteer time (range: 278-308 person-years valued at US$ 14 million (range US$12-16 million, were invested in these four knowledge products between 1979 and 2013. More than half of this financing was provided through philanthropy, and nearly three-quarters was spent on personnel costs. The estimated annual cost of maintaining data and platforms for three of these knowledge products (excluding the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems for which annual costs were not possible to estimate for 2013 is US$6.5 million in total (range: US$6.2-6.7 million. We estimated that an additional US$114 million will be needed to reach pre-defined baselines of data coverage for all the four knowledge products, and that once achieved, annual maintenance costs will be approximately US$12 million. These costs are much lower than those to maintain many other, similarly important, global knowledge products. Ensuring that biodiversity and conservation knowledge products are sufficiently up to date, comprehensive and accurate is fundamental to inform

Assessing the Cost of Global Biodiversity and Conservation Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Juffe-Bignoli, Diego; Brooks, Thomas M; Butchart, Stuart H M; Jenkins, Richard B; Boe, Kaia; Hoffmann, Michael; Angulo, Ariadne; Bachman, Steve; Böhm, Monika; Brummitt, Neil; Carpenter, Kent E; Comer, Pat J; Cox, Neil; Cuttelod, Annabelle; Darwall, William R T; Di Marco, Moreno; Fishpool, Lincoln D C; Goettsch, Bárbara; Heath, Melanie; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hutton, Jon; Johnson, Tim; Joolia, Ackbar; Keith, David A; Langhammer, Penny F; Luedtke, Jennifer; Nic Lughadha, Eimear; Lutz, Maiko; May, Ian; Miller, Rebecca M; Oliveira-Miranda, María A; Parr, Mike; Pollock, Caroline M; Ralph, Gina; Rodríguez, Jon Paul; Rondinini, Carlo; Smart, Jane; Stuart, Simon; Symes, Andy; Tordoff, Andrew W; Woodley, Stephen; Young, Bruce; Kingston, Naomi

2016-01-01

Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by standards, governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms. Considerable resources are dedicated to developing and maintaining knowledge products for biodiversity conservation, and they are widely used to inform policy and advise decision makers and practitioners. However, the financial cost of delivering this information is largely undocumented. We evaluated the costs and funding sources for developing and maintaining four global biodiversity and conservation knowledge products: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Protected Planet, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. These are secondary data sets, built on primary data collected by extensive networks of expert contributors worldwide. We estimate that US$160 million (range: US$116-204 million), plus 293 person-years of volunteer time (range: 278-308 person-years) valued at US$ 14 million (range US$12-16 million), were invested in these four knowledge products between 1979 and 2013. More than half of this financing was provided through philanthropy, and nearly three-quarters was spent on personnel costs. The estimated annual cost of maintaining data and platforms for three of these knowledge products (excluding the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems for which annual costs were not possible to estimate for 2013) is US$6.5 million in total (range: US$6.2-6.7 million). We estimated that an additional US$114 million will be needed to reach pre-defined baselines of data coverage for all the four knowledge products, and that once achieved, annual maintenance costs will be approximately US$12 million. These costs are much lower than those to maintain many other, similarly important, global knowledge products. Ensuring that biodiversity and conservation knowledge products are sufficiently up to date, comprehensive and accurate is fundamental to inform decision-making for

European mountain biodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nagy, Jennifer

1998-12-01

Full Text Available This paper, originally prepared as a discussion document for the ESF Exploratory Workshop «Trends in European Mountain Biodiversity - Research Planning Workshop», provides an overview of current mountain biodiversity research in Europe. It discusses (a biogeographical trends, (b the general properties of biodiversity, (c environmental factors and the regulation of biodiversity with respect to ecosystem function, (d the results of research on mountain freshwater ecosystems, and (e climate change and air pollution dominated environmental interactions.- The section on biogeographical trends highlights the importance of altitude and latitude on biodiversity. The implications of the existence of different scales over the different levels of biodiversity and across organism groups are emphasised as an inherent complex property of biodiversity. The discussion on ecosystem function and the regulation of biodiversity covers the role of environmental factors, productivity, perturbation, species migration and dispersal, and species interactions in the maintenance of biodiversity. Regional and long-term temporal patterns are also discussed. A section on the relatively overlooked topic of mountain freshwater ecosystems is presented before the final topic on the implications of recent climate change and air pollution for mountain biodiversity.

[fr] Ce document a été préparé à l'origine comme une base de discussion pour «ESF Exploratory Workshop» intitulé «Trends in European Mountain Biodiversity - Research Planning Workshop»; il apporte une vue d'ensemble sur les recherches actuelles portant sur la biodiversité des montagnes en Europe. On y discute les (a traits biogéographiques, (b les caractéristiques générales- de la biodiversité, (c les facteurs environnementaux et la régulation de la biodiversité par rapport à la fonction des écosystèmes, (d les résultats des études sur les écosystèmes aquatiques des montagnes et (e les

Electronic resource management systems a workflow approach

CERN Document Server

Anderson, Elsa K

2014-01-01

To get to the bottom of a successful approach to Electronic Resource Management (ERM), Anderson interviewed staff at 11 institutions about their ERM implementations. Among her conclusions, presented in this issue of Library Technology Reports, is that grasping the intricacies of your workflow-analyzing each step to reveal the gaps and problems-at the beginning is crucial to selecting and implementing an ERM. Whether the system will be used to fill a gap, aggregate critical data, or replace a tedious manual process, the best solution for your library depends on factors such as your current soft

Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring Plan

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Tom; Payne, J.; Doyle, M.

The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, established the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) to address the need for coordinated and standardized monitoring of Arctic environments. The CBMP includes an international...... on developing and implementing long-term plans for monitoring the integrity of Arctic biomes: terrestrial, marine, freshwater, and coastal (under development) environments. The CBMP Terrestrial Expert Monitoring Group (CBMP-TEMG) has developed the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Monitoring Plan (CBMP......-Terrestrial Plan/the Plan) as the framework for coordinated, long-term Arctic terrestrial biodiversity monitoring. The goal of the CBMP-Terrestrial Plan is to improve the collective ability of Arctic traditional knowledge (TK) holders, northern communities, and scientists to detect, understand and report on long...

Biodiversity

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Scholes, RJ

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Biodiversity offers multiple opportunities for development and improving human well-being. It is the basis for essential environmental services upon which life on Earth depends. Thus, its conservation and sustainable use are of critical importance...

Measuring Biodiversity in Forest Communities – A Role of Biodiversity Indices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lakićević Milena

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Biodiversity refers to genetic, species and ecosystems varieties within an area. Two main characteristics that should be investigated when considering biodiversity are richness and evenness. Richness is related to the number of different species in the analyzed area, while evenness corresponds to the homogeneity of the abundance of species. For quantifying these features, many indices have been defined, and this paper offers an overview of the most commonly used biodiversity indices, such as Shannon, Simpson, Margalef and Berger-Parker. The paper explains the process of calculating these indices on the case study example of four forest communities and discusses the results obtained. The Jaccard index analysis is used to discover a similarity between the analyzed forest communities. Results from this part of the research are visualized by creating appropriate dendrograms for making the interpretation easier. Calculating and analyzing these indices is useful not only for forest ecosystems, but for the other types of ecosystems as well, including agro-ecosystems. Biodiversity indices can be obtained in thespecialized software, for instance in EstimateS (Statistical Estimation of Species Richness and Shared Species from Samples, or by programming in the statistical package R, as it was done in this research.

Working in networks to make biodiversity data more available

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Scholes, RJ

2017-01-01

Full Text Available mandates, resources and management—has risen to prominence as a way of organising many activities in the modern era. A cynic might say this is because the world has lost the appetite for creating and funding new institutions or that networking is a way... more equitable management Trends in representative coverage of protected areas and other area based approaches, including sites of particular importance for biodiversity, and of terrestrial, marine and inland water systems Trends in the delivery...

Electronic Resource Management System. Vernetzung von Lizenzinformationen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michaela Selbach

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In den letzten zehn Jahren spielen elektronische Ressourcen im Bereich der Erwerbung eine zunehmend wichtige Rolle: Eindeutig lässt sich hier ein Wandel in den Bibliotheken (fort vom reinen Printbestand zu immer größeren E-Only-Beständen feststellen. Die stetig wachsende Menge an E-Ressourcen und deren Heterogenität stellt Bibliotheken vor die Herausforderung, die E-Ressourcen effizient zu verwalten. Nicht nur Bibliotheken, sondern auch verhandlungsführende Institutionen von Konsortial- und Allianzlizenzen benötigen ein geeignetes Instrument zur Verwaltung von Lizenzinformationen, welches den komplexen Anforderungen moderner E-Ressourcen gerecht wird. Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG unterstützt ein Projekt des Hochschulbibliothekszentrums des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (hbz, der Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg, der Verbundzentrale des Gemeinsamen Bibliotheksverbundes (GBV und der Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt, in dem ein bundesweit verfügbares Electronic Ressource Managementsystem (ERMS aufgebaut werden soll. Ein solches ERMS soll auf Basis einer zentralen Knowledge Base eine einheitliche Nutzung von Daten zur Lizenzverwaltung elektronischer Ressourcen auf lokaler, regionaler und nationaler Ebene ermöglichen. Statistische Auswertungen, Rechteverwaltung für alle angeschlossenen Bibliotheken, kooperative Datenpflege sowie ein über standardisierte Schnittstellen geführter Datenaustausch stehen bei der Erarbeitung der Anforderungen ebenso im Fokus wie die Entwicklung eines Daten- und Funktionsmodells. In the last few years the importance of electronic resources in library acquisitions has increased significantly. There has been a shift from mere print holdings to both e- and print combinations and even e-only subscriptions. This shift poses a double challenge for libraries: On the one hand they have to provide their e-resource collections to library users in an appealing way, on the other hand they have to manage these

Biodiversity effects on resource use efficiency and community turnover of plankton in Lake Nansihu, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Wang; Zhang, Huayong; Zhang, Jian; Zhao, Lei; Miao, Mingsheng; Huang, Hai

2017-04-01

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is a central issue in ecology, especially in aquatic ecosystems due to the ecophysiological characteristics of plankton. Recently, ecologists have obtained conflicting conclusions while analyzing the influence of species diversity on plankton resource use efficiency (RUE) and community turnover. In this study, both phytoplankton and zooplankton communities were investigated seasonally from 2011 to 2013 in Lake Nansihu, a meso-eutrophic and recovering lake in China. The effects of phytoplankton diversity on RUE of phytoplankton (RUE PP ), zooplankton (RUE ZP ), and community turnover were analyzed. Results showed that both phytoplankton species richness and evenness were positively correlated with RUE PP . RUE ZP had a negative relationship with phytoplankton species richness, but a weak unimodal relationship with phytoplankton evenness. Cyanobacteria community had the opposite influence on RUE PP and RUE ZP . Thus, cyanobacteria dominance will benefit RUE PP in eutrophic lakes, but the growth and reproduction of zooplankton are greatly limited. The strong negative relationship between total phosphorus and RUE ZP confirmed these results. Phytoplankton community turnover tended to decrease with increasing phytoplankton evenness, which was consistent with most previous studies. The correlation coefficient between phytoplankton species richness and community turnover was negative, but not significant (p > 0.05). Therefore, phytoplankton community turnover was more sensitive to the variation of evenness than species richness. These results will be helpful in understanding the effects of species diversity on ecosystem functioning in aquatic ecosystems.

Representation of Reptile Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services within the Protected Areas of the Conterminous United States

Science.gov (United States)

A focus for resource management, conservation planning, and environmental decision analysis has been mapping and quantifying biodiversity and ecosystem services. The challange has been to integrate ecology with economics to better understand the effects of human policies and acti...

Evolution, plant breeding and biodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvatore Ceccarelli

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with changes in biodiversity during the course of evolution, plant domestication and plant breeding. It shows than man has had a strong influence on the progressive decrease of biodiversity, unconscious at first and deliberate in modern times. The decrease in biodiversity in the agricultures of the North causes a severe threat to food security and is in contrasts with the conservation of biodiversity which is part of the culture of several populations in the South. The concluding section of the paper shows that man could have guided evolution in a different way and shows an example of participatory plant breeding, a type of breeding which is done in collaboration with farmers and is based on selection for specific adaptation. Even though participatory plant breeding has been practiced for only about 20 years and by relatively few groups, the effects on both biodiversity and crop production are impressive. Eventually the paper shows how participatory plant breeding can be developed into ‘evolutionary plant breeding’ to cope in a dynamic way with climate changes.

Semantics in support of biodiversity knowledge discovery: an introduction to the biological collections ontology and related ontologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Walls, Ramona L; Deck, John; Guralnick, Robert; Baskauf, Steve; Beaman, Reed; Blum, Stanley; Bowers, Shawn; Buttigieg, Pier Luigi; Davies, Neil; Endresen, Dag; Gandolfo, Maria Alejandra; Hanner, Robert; Janning, Alyssa; Krishtalka, Leonard; Matsunaga, Andréa; Midford, Peter; Morrison, Norman; Ó Tuama, Éamonn; Schildhauer, Mark; Smith, Barry; Stucky, Brian J; Thomer, Andrea; Wieczorek, John; Whitacre, Jamie; Wooley, John

2014-01-01

The study of biodiversity spans many disciplines and includes data pertaining to species distributions and abundances, genetic sequences, trait measurements, and ecological niches, complemented by information on collection and measurement protocols. A review of the current landscape of metadata standards and ontologies in biodiversity science suggests that existing standards such as the Darwin Core terminology are inadequate for describing biodiversity data in a semantically meaningful and computationally useful way. Existing ontologies, such as the Gene Ontology and others in the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Foundry library, provide a semantic structure but lack many of the necessary terms to describe biodiversity data in all its dimensions. In this paper, we describe the motivation for and ongoing development of a new Biological Collections Ontology, the Environment Ontology, and the Population and Community Ontology. These ontologies share the aim of improving data aggregation and integration across the biodiversity domain and can be used to describe physical samples and sampling processes (for example, collection, extraction, and preservation techniques), as well as biodiversity observations that involve no physical sampling. Together they encompass studies of: 1) individual organisms, including voucher specimens from ecological studies and museum specimens, 2) bulk or environmental samples (e.g., gut contents, soil, water) that include DNA, other molecules, and potentially many organisms, especially microbes, and 3) survey-based ecological observations. We discuss how these ontologies can be applied to biodiversity use cases that span genetic, organismal, and ecosystem levels of organization. We argue that if adopted as a standard and rigorously applied and enriched by the biodiversity community, these ontologies would significantly reduce barriers to data discovery, integration, and exchange among biodiversity resources and researchers.

Semantics in Support of Biodiversity Knowledge Discovery: An Introduction to the Biological Collections Ontology and Related Ontologies

Science.gov (United States)

Baskauf, Steve; Blum, Stanley; Bowers, Shawn; Davies, Neil; Endresen, Dag; Gandolfo, Maria Alejandra; Hanner, Robert; Janning, Alyssa; Krishtalka, Leonard; Matsunaga, Andréa; Midford, Peter; Tuama, Éamonn Ó.; Schildhauer, Mark; Smith, Barry; Stucky, Brian J.; Thomer, Andrea; Wieczorek, John; Whitacre, Jamie; Wooley, John

2014-01-01

The study of biodiversity spans many disciplines and includes data pertaining to species distributions and abundances, genetic sequences, trait measurements, and ecological niches, complemented by information on collection and measurement protocols. A review of the current landscape of metadata standards and ontologies in biodiversity science suggests that existing standards such as the Darwin Core terminology are inadequate for describing biodiversity data in a semantically meaningful and computationally useful way. Existing ontologies, such as the Gene Ontology and others in the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Foundry library, provide a semantic structure but lack many of the necessary terms to describe biodiversity data in all its dimensions. In this paper, we describe the motivation for and ongoing development of a new Biological Collections Ontology, the Environment Ontology, and the Population and Community Ontology. These ontologies share the aim of improving data aggregation and integration across the biodiversity domain and can be used to describe physical samples and sampling processes (for example, collection, extraction, and preservation techniques), as well as biodiversity observations that involve no physical sampling. Together they encompass studies of: 1) individual organisms, including voucher specimens from ecological studies and museum specimens, 2) bulk or environmental samples (e.g., gut contents, soil, water) that include DNA, other molecules, and potentially many organisms, especially microbes, and 3) survey-based ecological observations. We discuss how these ontologies can be applied to biodiversity use cases that span genetic, organismal, and ecosystem levels of organization. We argue that if adopted as a standard and rigorously applied and enriched by the biodiversity community, these ontologies would significantly reduce barriers to data discovery, integration, and exchange among biodiversity resources and researchers

The Electron Microscopy Outreach Program: A Web-based resource for research and education.

Science.gov (United States)

Sosinsky, G E; Baker, T S; Hand, G; Ellisman, M H

1999-01-01

We have developed a centralized World Wide Web (WWW)-based environment that serves as a resource of software tools and expertise for biological electron microscopy. A major focus is molecular electron microscopy, but the site also includes information and links on structural biology at all levels of resolution. This site serves to help integrate or link structural biology techniques in accordance with user needs. The WWW site, called the Electron Microscopy (EM) Outreach Program (URL: http://emoutreach.sdsc.edu), provides scientists with computational and educational tools for their research and edification. In particular, we have set up a centralized resource containing course notes, references, and links to image analysis and three-dimensional reconstruction software for investigators wanting to learn about EM techniques either within or outside of their fields of expertise. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

System Properties Determine Food Security and Biodiversity Outcomes at Landscape Scale: A Case Study from West Flores, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neil French Collier

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The food-biodiversity nexus is a concept that defines and characterizes the complex interactions between agricultural systems and biodiversity conservation. Here we use a social-ecological systems approach that combines fuzzy cognitive mapping and graph theoretic analyses to uncover system properties that determine food security and biodiversity outcomes at a landscape scale. We studied a rice-based agricultural landscape system situated in Mbeliling district of West Flores, Indonesia. A graphical representation of the Mbeliling district food-biodiversity nexus was created by local experts. The representation revealed system properties that help reconcile the trade-offs between food security and biodiversity conservation. The graph represented a diverse set of food security and biodiversity nodes, and showed that there is not a simple dichotomy between ‘production and protection’. The analysis captured greater complexity than popular academic concepts such as land sparing–land sharing or sustainable intensification. Three major themes emerged from the graph. We found distinct clusters of factors influencing biodiversity and food security. We named these sources of influence (1 Modernisation and sustainable farming; (2 Knowledge and management; and (3 Governance and processes. Component 2 was the most representative of emergent system properties that contribute positively to managing a sustainable food-biodiversity nexus in the Mbeliling landscape. The key determinants of outcomes were: improving agronomic practices, diversifying production, maintaining forest cover and connectivity, and using knowledge and natural resource management processes to mitigate the main drivers of change. Our approach highlights the complexities in the food-biodiversity nexus, and could have wide application in other locations.

The origins of tropical marine biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Brian W; Rocha, Luiz A; Toonen, Robert J; Karl, Stephen A

2013-06-01

Recent phylogeographic studies have overturned three paradigms for the origins of marine biodiversity. (i) Physical (allopatric) isolation is not the sole avenue for marine speciation: many species diverge along ecological boundaries. (ii) Peripheral habitats such as oceanic archipelagos are not evolutionary graveyards: these regions can export biodiversity. (iii) Speciation in marine and terrestrial ecosystems follow similar processes but are not the same: opportunities for allopatric isolation are fewer in the oceans, leaving greater opportunity for speciation along ecological boundaries. Biodiversity hotspots such as the Caribbean Sea and the Indo-Pacific Coral Triangle produce and export species, but can also accumulate biodiversity produced in peripheral habitats. Both hotspots and peripheral ecosystems benefit from this exchange in a process dubbed biodiversity feedback. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accounting for biodiversity in the dairy industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Sizemore, Grant C

2015-05-15

Biodiversity is an essential part of properly functioning ecosystems, yet the loss of biodiversity currently occurs at rates unparalleled in the modern era. One of the major causes of this phenomenon is habitat loss and modification as a result of intensified agricultural practices. This paper provides a starting point for considering biodiversity within dairy production, and, although focusing primarily on the United States, findings are applicable broadly. Biodiversity definitions and assessments (e.g., indicators, tools) are proposed and reviewed. Although no single indicator or tool currently meets all the needs of comprehensive assessment, many sustainable practices are readily adoptable as ways to conserve and promote biodiversity. These practices, as well as potential funding opportunities are identified. Given the state of uncertainty in addressing the complex nature of biodiversity assessments, the adoption of generally sustainable environmental practices may be the best currently available option for protecting biodiversity on dairy lands. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technical Communicator: A New Model for the Electronic Resources Librarian?

Science.gov (United States)

Hulseberg, Anna

2016-01-01

This article explores whether technical communicator is a useful model for electronic resources (ER) librarians. The fields of ER librarianship and technical communication (TC) originated and continue to develop in relation to evolving technologies. A review of the literature reveals four common themes for ER librarianship and TC. While the…

Biodiversity in the City: Fundamental Questions for Understanding the Ecology of Urban Green Spaces for Biodiversity Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Christopher A. Lepczyk; Myla F. J. Aronson; Karl L. Evans; Mark A. Goddard; Susannah B. Lerman; J. Scott MacIvor

2017-01-01

As urban areas expand, understanding how ecological processes function in cities has become increasingly important for conserving biodiversity. Urban green spaces are critical habitats to support biodiversity, but we still have a limited understanding of their ecology and how they function to conserve biodiversity at local and landscape scales across multiple taxa....

Urban lifestyle and urban biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, L. K.; Lyytimäki, J.; Normander, B.

2007-01-01

This report is concerned with the relations between lifestyles of urban populations on one hand and protection of biodiversity in urban areas on the other. Urban areas are of importance for the general protection of biodiversity. In the surroundings of cities and within urban sprawls there can...... biodiversity, recreational, educational and other needs. However, uncovered and unsealed space is constantly under pressure for building and infrastructure development in the urban landscape, and the design and usages of urban green structure is a matter of differing interests and expectations. Integrating...... the green needs of urban lifestyle in the planning process does not come by itself. Nor does finding the synergies between urban lifestyle and urban biodiversity. Careful planning including stakeholder involvement is required. In this process various mapping techniques and use of indicators can be most...

Core issues in the economics of biodiversity conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tisdell, Clement A

2011-02-01

Economic evaluations are essential for assessing the desirability of biodiversity conservation. This article highlights significant advances in theories and methods of economic evaluation and their relevance and limitations as a guide to biodiversity conservation; considers the implications of the phylogenetic similarity principle for the survival of species; discusses consequences of the Noah's Ark problem for selecting features of biodiversity to be saved; analyzes the extent to which the precautionary principle can be rationally used to support the conservation of biodiversity; explores the impact of market extensions, market and other institutional failures, and globalization on biodiversity loss; examines the relationship between the rate of interest and biodiversity depletion; and investigates the implications of intergenerational equity for biodiversity conservation. The consequences of changes in biodiversity for sustainable development are given particular attention. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences.

Biodiversity informatics: challenges and opportunities for applying biodiversity information to management and conservation

Science.gov (United States)

James S. Kagan

2006-01-01

Researchers, land managers, and the public currently often are unable to obtain useful biodiversity information because the subject represents such a large component of biology and ecology, and systems to compile and organize this information do not exist. Information on vascular plant taxonomy, as addressed by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and key...

The Sweet and the Bitter: Intertwined Positive and Negative Social Impacts of a Biodiversity Offset

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cécile Bidaud

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Major developments, such as mines, will often have unavoidable environmental impacts. In such cases, investors, governments, or even a company's own standards increasingly require implementation of biodiversity offsets (investment in conservation with a measurable outcome with the aim of achieving 'no net loss' or even a 'net gain' of biodiversity. Where conservation is achieved by changing the behaviour of people directly using natural resources, the offset might be expected to have social impacts but such impacts have received very little attention. Using the case study of Ambatovy, a major nickel mine in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar and a company at the vanguard of developing biodiversity offsets, we explore local perceptions of the magnitude and distribution of impacts of the biodiversity offset project on local wellbeing. We used both qualitative (key informant interviews and focus group discussions and quantitative (household survey methods. We found that the biodiversity offsets, which comprise both conservation restrictions and development activities, influenced wellbeing in a mixture of positive and negative ways. However, overall, respondents felt that they had suffered a net cost from the biodiversity offset. It is a matter of concern that benefits from development activities do not compensate for the costs of the conservation restrictions, that those who bear the costs are not the same people as those who benefit, and that there is a mismatch in timing between the immediate restrictions and the associated development activities which take some time to deliver benefits. These issues matter both from the perspective of environmental justice, and for the long-term sustainability of the biodiversity benefits the offset is supposed to deliver.

Bridging the gap between biodiversity data and policy reporting needs: An essential biodiversity variables perspective

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Geijzendorffer, IR

2016-01-01

Full Text Available come from less biodiverse areas such as North America and 92 Europe rather than biodiversity-rich areas such as some parts of the tropics (Collen et al. 2008; Mora et 93 al. 2008; Pereira et al. 2012) and developing countries (Butchart et al. 2010... provision, EBVs 349 for other specific ecosystem functions were missing (e.g., pollination or soil decomposition rates). 350 351 This analysis also highlighted that reporting required additional indicators on non-biodiversity variables, 352...

Emerging issues and challenges in conservation of biodiversity in the rangelands of Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jafari Kideghesho

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Tanzania rangelands are a stronghold for biodiversity harbouring a variety of animal and plant species of economic, ecological and socio-cultural importance. Efforts to protect these resources against destruction and loss have involved, among other things, setting aside some tracks of land as protected areas in the form of national parks, nature reserves, game reserves, game controlled and wildlife management areas. However, these areas and adjacent lands have long been subjected to a number of emerging issues and challenges, which complicate their management, thus putting the resources at risk of over exploitation and extinction. These issues and challenges include, among other things, government policies, failure of conservation (as a form of land use to compete effectively with alternative land uses, habitat degradation and blockage of wildlife corridors, overexploitation and illegal resource extraction, wildfires, human population growth, poverty, HIV/AIDS pandemic and human-wildlife conflicts. In this paper, we review the emerging issues and challenges in biodiversity conservation by drawing experience from different parts of Tanzania. The paper is based on the premise that, understanding of the issues and challenges underpinning the rangelands is a crucial step towards setting up of plausible objectives, strategies and plans that will improve and lead to effective management of these areas. We conclude by recommending some proactive measures that may enhance the sustainability of the rangeland resources for the benefit of the current and future generations.

Drastic underestimation of amphipod biodiversity in the endangered Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots.

Science.gov (United States)

Katouzian, Ahmad-Reza; Sari, Alireza; Macher, Jan N; Weiss, Martina; Saboori, Alireza; Leese, Florian; Weigand, Alexander M

2016-03-01

Biodiversity hotspots are centers of biological diversity and particularly threatened by anthropogenic activities. Their true magnitude of species diversity and endemism, however, is still largely unknown as species diversity is traditionally assessed using morphological descriptions only, thereby ignoring cryptic species. This directly limits evidence-based monitoring and management strategies. Here we used molecular species delimitation methods to quantify cryptic diversity of the montane amphipods in the Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots. Amphipods are ecosystem engineers in rivers and lakes. Species diversity was assessed by analysing two genetic markers (mitochondrial COI and nuclear 28S rDNA), compared with morphological assignments. Our results unambiguously demonstrate that species diversity and endemism is dramatically underestimated, with 42 genetically identified freshwater species in only five reported morphospecies. Over 90% of the newly recovered species cluster inside Gammarus komareki and G. lacustris; 69% of the recovered species comprise narrow range endemics. Amphipod biodiversity is drastically underestimated for the studied regions. Thus, the risk of biodiversity loss is significantly greater than currently inferred as most endangered species remain unrecognized and/or are only found locally. Integrative application of genetic assessments in monitoring programs will help to understand the true magnitude of biodiversity and accurately evaluate its threat status.

Spectrum of concepts associated with the term "biodiversity": a case study in a biodiversity hotspot in South America.

Science.gov (United States)

Cerda, Claudia; Bidegain, Iñigo

2018-03-10

In most conservation programs that include public participation, the word "biodiversity" is used. However, many variables influence the public understanding of the term and determine what biodiversity means to local stakeholders. Those representations of the concept must be addressed and included in conservation actions. We asked 47 local stakeholders in a biosphere reserve (BR) located in a biodiversity hotspot in South America, for whom the conservation of biodiversity is not the main focus of interest, to explain how they understand the term "biodiversity." Twenty-two different definitions were provided, ranging from purely ecological concepts to the human dimension. Although the diversity of animals and plants was the most frequently mentioned concept, the variety of concepts that emerged suggested that more explicit examples of social constructions must be considered in public participatory projects and environmental education programs. Actors living in a close relationship with nature provide a greater diversity of elements in defining biodiversity, visualizing ecological but also instrumental values.

MODEL OF AN ELECTRONIC EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE OF NEW GENERATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anatoliy V. Loban

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The mathematical structure of the modular architecture of an electronic educational resource (EER of new generation, which allows to decompose the process of studying the subjects of the course at a hierarchically ordered set of data (knowledge and procedures for manipulating them, to determine the roles of participants of process of training of and technology the development and use of EOR in the study procrate.

Steel and biodiversity: a promising alliance

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Klaus; Colla, Valentina; Moonen, Anna Camilla; Branca, Teresa Annunziata; Moretto, Deny Del; Ragaglini, Giorgio; Delmiro, Vanesa Maria Menendez; Romaniello, Lea; Carler, Sophie; Hodges, Jennifer; Bullock, Matthew; Malfa, Enrico

2018-06-01

The term "Biodiversity" derives from a contraction of "biological diversity" and commonly refers to a measure of the variety of organisms, which are present in different ecosystems, by considering genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation within an area, biome, or planet. Biodiversity is receiving an ever-increasing attention at many levels of European society as well as from many industrial sectors, and a variety of actions are being put in place in order to protect, preserve and increase it. The present paper provides examples of the capabilities and potentials of the steel sector with respect to biodiversity. In effect, steel is a valuable and fundamental structural material in order to develop measures and systems for protection of biodiversity. On the other hand, biodiversity can represent for the steel industry not only a heritage to preserve, but, through its functional traits, it can become an opportunity, offering an ecosystem's perspective to all industrial companies. In the paper, steel relevant topics and applications are analyzed leading to the conclusion that biodiversity should be exploited and can play a role with potentially relevant benefits both for the company and for local communities. Sustainability and Ecodesign of processes, products and services

Trading-off fish biodiversity, food security, and hydropower in the Mekong River Basin.

Science.gov (United States)

Ziv, Guy; Baran, Eric; Nam, So; Rodríguez-Iturbe, Ignacio; Levin, Simon A

2012-04-10

The Mekong River Basin, site of the biggest inland fishery in the world, is undergoing massive hydropower development. Planned dams will block critical fish migration routes between the river's downstream floodplains and upstream tributaries. Here we estimate fish biomass and biodiversity losses in numerous damming scenarios using a simple ecological model of fish migration. Our framework allows detailing trade-offs between dam locations, power production, and impacts on fish resources. We find that the completion of 78 dams on tributaries, which have not previously been subject to strategic analysis, would have catastrophic impacts on fish productivity and biodiversity. Our results argue for reassessment of several dams planned, and call for a new regional agreement on tributary development of the Mekong River Basin.

Mainstreaming biodiversity and wildlife management into climate change policy frameworks in selected east and southern African countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga L. Kupika

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The Rio+20 outcomes document, the Future We Want, enshrines green economy as one of the platforms to attain sustainable development and calls for measures that seek to address climate change and biodiversity management. This paper audits climate change policies from selected east and southern African countries to determine the extent to which climate change legislation mainstreams biodiversity and wildlife management. A scan of international, continental, regional and national climate change policies was conducted to assess whether they include biodiversity and/or wildlife management issues. The key finding is that many climate change policy–related documents, particularly the National Adaptation Programme of Actions (NAPAs, address threats to biodiversity and wildlife resources. However, international policies like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol do not address the matter under deliberation. Regional climate change policies such as the East African Community, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and African Union address biodiversity and/or wildlife issues whilst the Southern African Development Community region does not have a stand-alone policy for climate change. Progressive countries like Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia have recently put in place detailed NAPAs which are mainstream responsive strategies intended to address climate change adaptation in the wildlife sector. Keywords: mainstreaming, biodiversity, wildlife, climate change policy, east and southern Africa

Economic tools for biodiversity. An elaboration of TEEB recommendations with regard to the Taskforce Biodiversity; Economische instrumenten voor biodiversiteit. Een uitwerking van TEEB-aanbevelingen ten behoeve van de Taskforce Biodiversiteit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davidson, M.D.; Bergsma, G.C.; Blom, M.J.

2011-07-15

The working group on Economic Instruments of the Biodiversity and Natural Resources Task Force addressed the question how the recommendations of the report of the United Nations 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity' (TEEB) can be realized in the Netherlands. A selection of topics has been made for which policy proposals are developed which might be promising and can lead to a better protection of the biodiversity. The following proposals were investigated and/or elaborated: decrease of the social discount rate; further greening of the tax system; import levy on bulk commodities; taxes on non-sustainable wood; levy on the use of open space; differential tax on animal proteins; and a revision of biomass incentives. [Dutch] In de Taskforce Biodiversiteit en Natuurlijke Hulpbronnen (TF) heeft een werkgroep Economische Instrumenten zich gebogen over de vraag hoe de aanbevelingen van het rapport van de Verenigde Naties 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity' (TEEB) concreet kunnen worden ingevuld in het Nederlandse beleid. Er is een selectie van onderwerpen gemaakt waarvoor beleidsvoorstellen zijn uitgewerkt die kansrijk zijn en leiden tot een betere bescherming van biodiversiteit. De volgende voorstellen zijn nader onderzocht en/of uitgewerkt: verlaging van de maatschappelijke discontovoet; verdere vergroening van het belastingstelsel; importheffing op bulkgoederen; belasting op niet-duurzaam hout; heffing op onttrekking van open ruimte; gedifferentieerde belasting op dierlijke eiwitten; en herijking van stimuleringsbeleid biomassa.

Soil biodiversity for agricultural sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brussaard, L.; Ruiter, de P.C.; Brown, G.G.

2007-01-01

We critically highlight some evidence for the importance of soil biodiversity to sustaining (agro-)ecosystem functioning and explore directions for future research. We first deal with resistance and resilience against abiotic disturbance and stress. There is evidence that soil biodiversity does

Fair Access to and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources : National ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Fair Access to and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources : National Policy Development (China, Jordan, Nepal, Peru). Local practices pertaining to biodiversity conservation, crop improvement and natural resource management are under stress. Existing laws and mechanisms - such as intellectual property rights (IPRs) ...

A National Analysis of Reptile Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services within the Protected Areas of the United States

Science.gov (United States)

A focus for resource management, conservation planning, and environmental decision analysis has been mapping and quantifying biodiversity and ecosystem services. The challenge has been to integrate ecology with economics to better understand the effects of human policies and acti...

A review of biodiversity-related issues and challenges in megadiverse Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristina von Rintelen

2017-09-01

potential yet. A growing national interest in local biodiversity as a natural resource is a welcome development on one hand, but the risk of too many restrictions for, e.g., the science community (high level of bureaucracy at all project stages from planning phase, visa procedures, field work permits, scientific exchange and project managment issues, governmental budget cuts for basic research and restricted access to international literature for Indonesian researchers does significantly hamper the internationalization of biodiversity-related science. In the long run, Indonesia has to find a balance between protectionism and sensible access to its national biodiversity to tackle global challenges in biodiversity conservation, health issues, food security, and climate change.

Potential impacts of global warming on Australia's unique tropical biodiversity and implications for tropical biodiversity in general

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hilbert, David W

2007-01-01

Full text: Full text: Globally, forest clearing is often thought to be the greatest threat to biodiversity in the tropics, and rates of clearing are certainly highest there, particularly in tropical South-East Asia. Climate change in the tropics has been less studied in tropical regions than in temperate, boreal or arctic ecosystems. However, modelling studies in Australian rainforests indicate that climate change may be a particularly significant threat to the long-term preservation of the biodiversity of tropical, rainforest biodiversity. Our research has shown that global warming can have a particularly strong impact on the biodiversity of mountainous tropical regions, including the Wet Tropics of north-east Queensland. Here, the mountain tops and higher tablelands are relatively cool islands in a sea of warmer climates. These species-rich islands, mostly limited in their biodiversity by warm interglacial periods, are separated from each other by the warmer valleys and form a scattered archipelago of habitat for organisms that are unable to survive and reproduce in warmer climates. Many of the endemic Australian Wet Tropics species live only in these cooler regions. Similar situations occur throughout south-east Asia and in the highlands of the Neotropics. Unfortunately, these upland and highland areas represent the majority of biodiversity conservation areas because they are less suitable for clearing for agriculture. This presentation will summarise research about the potential impacts of climate change on the biodiversity in Australia's rainforests, the potential implications for tropical biodiversity in general and discuss the limitations of these projections and the need for further research that could reduce uncertainties and inform effective adaptation strategies

Biodiversity scenarios neglect future land-use changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Titeux, Nicolas; Henle, Klaus; Mihoub, Jean-Baptiste; Regos, Adrián; Geijzendorffer, Ilse R; Cramer, Wolfgang; Verburg, Peter H; Brotons, Lluís

2016-07-01

Efficient management of biodiversity requires a forward-looking approach based on scenarios that explore biodiversity changes under future environmental conditions. A number of ecological models have been proposed over the last decades to develop these biodiversity scenarios. Novel modelling approaches with strong theoretical foundation now offer the possibility to integrate key ecological and evolutionary processes that shape species distribution and community structure. Although biodiversity is affected by multiple threats, most studies addressing the effects of future environmental changes on biodiversity focus on a single threat only. We examined the studies published during the last 25 years that developed scenarios to predict future biodiversity changes based on climate, land-use and land-cover change projections. We found that biodiversity scenarios mostly focus on the future impacts of climate change and largely neglect changes in land use and land cover. The emphasis on climate change impacts has increased over time and has now reached a maximum. Yet, the direct destruction and degradation of habitats through land-use and land-cover changes are among the most significant and immediate threats to biodiversity. We argue that the current state of integration between ecological and land system sciences is leading to biased estimation of actual risks and therefore constrains the implementation of forward-looking policy responses to biodiversity decline. We suggest research directions at the crossroads between ecological and environmental sciences to face the challenge of developing interoperable and plausible projections of future environmental changes and to anticipate the full range of their potential impacts on biodiversity. An intergovernmental platform is needed to stimulate such collaborative research efforts and to emphasize the societal and political relevance of taking up this challenge. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Biodiversity of the Arabian Sea

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Parulekar, A.H.

stream_size 2 stream_content_type text/plain stream_name Biodiversity_Western_Ghats_Inf_Kit_1994_3.1_1.pdf.txt stream_source_info Biodiversity_Western_Ghats_Inf_Kit_1994_3.1_1.pdf.txt Content-Encoding ISO-8859-1 Content-Type text...

Economic inequality predicts biodiversity loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikkelson, Gregory M; Gonzalez, Andrew; Peterson, Garry D

2007-05-16

Human activity is causing high rates of biodiversity loss. Yet, surprisingly little is known about the extent to which socioeconomic factors exacerbate or ameliorate our impacts on biological diversity. One such factor, economic inequality, has been shown to affect public health, and has been linked to environmental problems in general. We tested how strongly economic inequality is related to biodiversity loss in particular. We found that among countries, and among US states, the number of species that are threatened or declining increases substantially with the Gini ratio of income inequality. At both levels of analysis, the connection between income inequality and biodiversity loss persists after controlling for biophysical conditions, human population size, and per capita GDP or income. Future research should explore potential mechanisms behind this equality-biodiversity relationship. Our results suggest that economic reforms would go hand in hand with, if not serving as a prerequisite for, effective conservation.

Biodiversity technologies: tools as change agents

Science.gov (United States)

Snaddon, Jake; Petrokofsky, Gillian; Jepson, Paul; Willis, Katherine J.

2013-01-01

A meeting on Biodiversity Technologies was held by the Biodiversity Institute, Oxford on the 27–28 of September 2012 at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. The symposium brought together 36 speakers from North America, Australia and across Europe, presenting the latest research on emerging technologies in biodiversity science and conservation. Here we present a perspective on the general trends emerging from the symposium. PMID:23221877

Examining current or future trade-offs for biodiversity conservation in north-eastern Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Reside, April E; VanDerWal, Jeremy; Moilanen, Atte; Graham, Erin M

2017-01-01

With the high rate of ecosystem change already occurring and predicted to occur in the coming decades, long-term conservation has to account not only for current biodiversity but also for the biodiversity patterns anticipated for the future. The trade-offs between prioritising future biodiversity at the expense of current priorities must be understood to guide current conservation planning, but have been largely unexplored. To fill this gap, we compared the performance of four conservation planning solutions involving 662 vertebrate species in the Wet Tropics Natural Resource Management Cluster Region in north-eastern Australia. Input species data for the four planning solutions were: 1) current distributions; 2) projected distributions for 2055; 3) projected distributions for 2085; and 4) current, 2055 and 2085 projected distributions, and the connectivity between each of the three time periods for each species. The four planning solutions were remarkably similar (up to 85% overlap), suggesting that modelling for either current or future scenarios is sufficient for conversation planning for this region, with little obvious trade-off. Our analyses also revealed that overall, species with small ranges occurring across steep elevation gradients and at higher elevations were more likely to be better represented in all solutions. Given that species with these characteristics are of high conservation significance, our results provide confidence that conservation planning focused on either current, near- or distant-future biodiversity will account for these species.

Resource-Mediated Indirect Effects of Grassland Management on Arthropod Diversity

Science.gov (United States)

Simons, Nadja K.; Gossner, Martin M.; Lewinsohn, Thomas M.; Boch, Steffen; Lange, Markus; Müller, Jörg; Pašalić, Esther; Socher, Stephanie A.; Türke, Manfred; Fischer, Markus; Weisser, Wolfgang W.

2014-01-01

Intensive land use is a driving force for biodiversity decline in many ecosystems. In semi-natural grasslands, land-use activities such as mowing, grazing and fertilization affect the diversity of plants and arthropods, but the combined effects of different drivers and the chain of effects are largely unknown. In this study we used structural equation modelling to analyse how the arthropod communities in managed grasslands respond to land use and whether these responses are mediated through changes in resource diversity or resource quantity (biomass). Plants were considered resources for herbivores which themselves were considered resources for predators. Plant and arthropod (herbivores and predators) communities were sampled on 141 meadows, pastures and mown pastures within three regions in Germany in 2008 and 2009. Increasing land-use intensity generally increased plant biomass and decreased plant diversity, mainly through increasing fertilization. Herbivore diversity decreased together with plant diversity but showed no response to changes in plant biomass. Hence, land-use effects on herbivore diversity were mediated through resource diversity rather than quantity. Land-use effects on predator diversity were mediated by both herbivore diversity (resource diversity) and herbivore quantity (herbivore biomass), but indirect effects through resource quantity were stronger. Our findings highlight the importance of assessing both direct and indirect effects of land-use intensity and mode on different trophic levels. In addition to the overall effects, there were subtle differences between the different regions, pointing to the importance of regional land-use specificities. Our study underlines the commonly observed strong effect of grassland land use on biodiversity. It also highlights that mechanistic approaches help us to understand how different land-use modes affect biodiversity. PMID:25188423

Do recreational activities affect coastal biodiversity?

Science.gov (United States)

Riera, Rodrigo; Menci, Cristiano; Sanabria-Fernández, José Antonio; Becerro, Mikel A.

2016-09-01

Human activities are largely affecting coastal communities worldwide. Recreational perturbations have been overlooked in comparison to other perturbations, yet they are potential threats to marine biodiversity. They affect coastal communities in different ways, underpinning consistent shifts in fish and invertebrates assemblages. Several sites were sampled subjected to varying effects by recreational fishermen (low and high pressure) and scuba divers (low and high) in an overpopulated Atlantic island. Non-consistent differences in ecological, trophic and functional diversity were found in coastal communities, considering both factors (;diving; and ;fishing;). Multivariate analyses only showed significant differences in benthic invertebrates between intensively-dived and non-dived sites. The lack of clear trends may be explained by the depletion of coastal resources in the study area, an extensively-affected island by overfishing.

Undergraduate Students' Attitudes toward Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hui-Ju; Lin, Yu-Teh Kirk

2014-01-01

The study investigated American and Taiwan undergraduate students' attitudes toward biodiversity. The survey questionnaire consisted of statements prompted by the question "To what extent do you agree with the following statements about problems with the biodiversity issues." Students indicated strongly disagree, disagree, agree,…

Indicators for Monitoring Soil Biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bispo, A.; Cluzeau, D.; Creamer, R.

2009-01-01

is made for a set of suitable indicators for monitoring the decline in soil biodiversity (Bispo et al. 2007). These indicators were selected both from a literature review and an inventory of national monitoring programmes. Decline in soil biodiversity was defined as the reduction of forms of life living...... indicators are actually measured.   For monitoring application it was considered in ENVASSO that only three key indicators per soil stress were practical. For indicating biodiversity decline it was difficult to arrive at a small set of indicators due to the complexity of soil biota and functions. Therefore...

The biodiversity-dependent ecosystem service debt.

Science.gov (United States)

Isbell, Forest; Tilman, David; Polasky, Stephen; Loreau, Michel

2015-02-01

Habitat destruction is driving biodiversity loss in remaining ecosystems, and ecosystem functioning and services often directly depend on biodiversity. Thus, biodiversity loss is likely creating an ecosystem service debt: a gradual loss of biodiversity-dependent benefits that people obtain from remaining fragments of natural ecosystems. Here, we develop an approach for quantifying ecosystem service debts, and illustrate its use to estimate how one anthropogenic driver, habitat destruction, could indirectly diminish one ecosystem service, carbon storage, by creating an extinction debt. We estimate that c. 2-21 Pg C could be gradually emitted globally in remaining ecosystem fragments because of plant species loss caused by nearby habitat destruction. The wide range for this estimate reflects substantial uncertainties in how many plant species will be lost, how much species loss will impact ecosystem functioning and whether plant species loss will decrease soil carbon. Our exploratory analysis suggests that biodiversity-dependent ecosystem service debts can be globally substantial, even when locally small, if they occur diffusely across vast areas of remaining ecosystems. There is substantial value in conserving not only the quantity (area), but also the quality (biodiversity) of natural ecosystems for the sustainable provision of ecosystem services. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Species contributions to single biodiversity values under-estimate whole community contribution to a wider range of values to society.

Science.gov (United States)

Hiron, Matthew; Pärt, Tomas; Siriwardena, Gavin M; Whittingham, Mark J

2018-05-03

A major task for decision makers is deciding how to consider monetary, cultural and conservation values of biodiversity explicitly when planning sustainable land use. Thus, there is a great need to understand just what "valuing" biodiversity or species really means, e.g. regarding how many and which species are important in providing ecosystem services or other values. Constructing ecosystem-level indices, however, requires weighting the relative contribution of species to the different values. Using farmland birds, we illustrate how species contribute to different biodiversity values, namely utilitarian (pest seed predation potential), cultural (species occurrence in poetry), conservational (declines and rarity) and inherent (all species equal) value. Major contributions to each value are often made by a subset of the community and different species are important for different values, leading to no correlations or, in some cases, negative correlations between species' relative contributions to different values. Our results and methods using relative contributions of species to biodiversity values can aid decisions when weighing different values in policies and strategies for natural resource management. We conclude that acknowledging the importance of the range of biodiversity values that are apparent from different perspectives is critical if the full value of biodiversity to society is to be realised.

Teaching Biodiversity & Evolution through Travel Course Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Zervanos, Stam. M.; McLaughlin, Jacqueline S.

2003-01-01

Biodiversity is the extraordinary variety of life in this planet. In order to be fully appreciated, biodiversity needs to be experienced firsthand, or "experientially." Thus, the standard classroom lecture format is not the ideal situation for teaching biodiversity and evolutionary concepts, in that student interest and understanding are…

Biology Student Teachers' Conceptual Frameworks regarding Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Dikmenli, Musa

2010-01-01

In recent years, biodiversity has received a great deal of attention worldwide, especially in environmental education. The reasons for this attention are the increase of human activities on biodiversity and environmental problems. The purpose of this study is to investigate biology student teachers' conceptual frameworks regarding biodiversity.…

Economic inequality predicts biodiversity loss.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregory M Mikkelson

Full Text Available Human activity is causing high rates of biodiversity loss. Yet, surprisingly little is known about the extent to which socioeconomic factors exacerbate or ameliorate our impacts on biological diversity. One such factor, economic inequality, has been shown to affect public health, and has been linked to environmental problems in general. We tested how strongly economic inequality is related to biodiversity loss in particular. We found that among countries, and among US states, the number of species that are threatened or declining increases substantially with the Gini ratio of income inequality. At both levels of analysis, the connection between income inequality and biodiversity loss persists after controlling for biophysical conditions, human population size, and per capita GDP or income. Future research should explore potential mechanisms behind this equality-biodiversity relationship. Our results suggest that economic reforms would go hand in hand with, if not serving as a prerequisite for, effective conservation.

Place prioritization for biodiversity content

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The prioritization of places on the basis of biodiversity content is part of any systematic biodiversity conservation planning process. The place prioritization procedure implemented in the ResNet software package is described. This procedure is primarily based on the principles of rarity and complementarity. Application of the ...

Identification of Appropriate Biodiversity Indicators for Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management at National Level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolunay, A.; Akyol, A.

2015-01-01

Sustainable forest management (SFM) practices have started in 1999 in Turkey. A set of criteria and indicators, composed by the General Directorate of Forestry (GDF) on the basis of the criteria and indicators defined in the Pan-European and Near Eastern Processes, was enquired via a survey to serve this purpose. GDF tested the sustainability under the following titles: Situation of forest resources, biodiversity, health and vitality, production capacity and functions, protective functions and environmental and socio-economic functions. There were problems in identification and definition of SFM criteria and indicators. Biological diversity indicators has been selected, described and developed in this study. At this phase, the survey was completed upon receiving the views of the scientists interested in different dimensions of this topic as well as the views of other interest groups affiliated with forestry. As a result, there were 13 indicators that may be used as the basis of a regional or forest management unit level for the purpose of protecting, developing and maintaining biodiversity. Furthermore, these indicators are instruments, which may easily be used by relevant decision-makers in the management of forest resources in a more effective and productive manner. (author)

Cranes, crops and conservation: understanding human perceptions of biodiversity conservation in South Korea's Civilian Control Zone.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jin-Oh; Steiner, Frederick; Mueller, Elizabeth

2011-01-01

South Korea's Civilian Control Zone (CCZ), a relatively untouched area due to tight military oversight since the end of Korean War, has received considerable attention nationally and internationally for its rich biodiversity. However, the exclusion of local communities from the process of defining problems and goals and of setting priorities for biodiversity conservation has halted a series of biodiversity conservation efforts. Through qualitative research, we explored CCZ farmers' views of key problems and issues and also the sources of their opposition to the government-initiated conservation approaches. Key findings include the farmers' concerns about the impact of conservation restrictions on their access to necessary resources needed to farm, wildlife impacts on the value of rice and other agricultural goods they produce, and farmers' strong distrust of government, the military, and planners, based on their experiences with past conservation processes. The findings regarding farmers' perceptions should prove useful for the design of future participatory planning processes for biodiversity conservation in the CCZ. This case highlights how conservative measures, perceived to be imposed from above--however scientifically valuable--can be undermined and suggests the value that must be placed on communication among planners and stakeholders.

Energy mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity: Synergies and antagonisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berry, P M; Paterson, J S

2009-01-01

In this paper we review the current impacts of different energy producers (and energy conservation) on biodiversity and investigate the potential for achieving positive biodiversity effects along with mitigation and adaptation objectives. Very few energy producers achieve all three aims - although it may be possible with careful choice of location and management. In some instances, energy conservation can provide mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity benefits. There is still a gap in knowledge regarding the effects of newer energy technologies on biodiversity. There is an additional concern that many supposedly 'green' renewable energy projects may actually harm biodiversity to such a degree that their overall human benefits are negated. The increasing understanding that ecosystem services are vital for human well-being though means that attempting positive mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity conservation in the energy sector should be an imperative goal for international policy. Whilst research into synergies between mitigation and adaptation is established, there has been very little that has examined the impacts on biodiversity as well. Further work is required to identify and provide evidence of the best ways of optimising mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity in the energy sector.

BioVeL: a virtual laboratory for data analysis and modelling in biodiversity science and ecology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hardisty, A.R.; Bacall, F.; Beard, N.; Balcázar-Vargas, M.P.; Balech, B.; Barcza, Z.; Bourlat, S.J.; De Giovanni, R.; de Jong, Y.; De Leo, F.; Dobor, L.; Donvito, G.; Fellows, D.; Fernandez Guerra, A.; Fereira, N.; Fetyukova, Y.; Fosso, B.; Giddy, J.; Goble, C.; Güntsch, A.; Haines, R.; Hernández Ernst, V.; Hettling, H.; Hidy, D.; Horváth, F.; Ittzés, D.; Ittzés, P.; Jones, A.; Kottmann, R.; Kulawik, R.; Leidenberger, S.; Lyytikäinen-Saarenmaa, P.; Mathew, C.; Morrison, N.; Nenadic, A.; Nieva de la Hidalga, A.; Obst, M.; Oostermeijer, G.; Paymal, E.; Pesole, G.; Pinto, S.; Poigné, A.; Quevedo Fernandez, F.; Santamaria, M.; Saarenmaa, H.; Sipos, G.; Sylla, K.-H.; Tähtinen, M.; Vicario, S.; Vos, R.A.; Williams, A.R.; Yilmaz, P.

2016-01-01

Background Making forecasts about biodiversity and giving support to policy relies increasingly on large collections of data held electronically, and on substantial computational capability and capacity to analyse, model, simulate and predict using such data. However, the physically distributed

Mitochondrial capture enriches mito-DNA 100 fold, enabling PCR-free mitogenomics biodiversity analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Shanlin; Wang, Xin; Xie, Lin

2016-01-01

Biodiversity analyses based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms have developed by leaps and bounds in recent years. A PCR-free strategy, which can alleviate taxonomic bias, was considered as a promising approach to delivering reliable species compositions of targeted environments...... data is highly demanding on computing resources. Here, we present a mitogenome enrichment pipeline via a gene capture chip that was designed by virtue of the mitogenome sequences of the 1000 Insect Transcriptome Evolution project (1KITE, www.1kite.org). A mock sample containing 49 species was used...... in abundance. However, the frequencies of input taxa were largely maintained after capture (R2 = 0.81). We suggest that our mitogenome capture approach coupled with PCR-free shotgun sequencing could provide ecological researchers an efficient NGS method to deliver reliable biodiversity assessment....

Mainstreaming biodiversity: conservation for the 21st century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kent Hubbard Redford

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Insufficient focused attention has been paid by the conservation community to conservation of biodiversity outside of protected areas. Biodiversity mainstreaming addresses this gap in global conservation practice by embedding biodiversity considerations into policies, strategies and practices of key public and private actors that impact or rely on biodiversity, so that it is conserved, and sustainably used, both locally and globally (Huntley and Redford 2014. Biodiversity mainstreaming is designed to change those policies and practices that influence land uses outside of protected areas as well as to change economic and development decision-making by demonstrating the importance of conserving biodiversity for achieving development outcomes. The practice of mainstreaming is tied to implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and is practiced with billions of dollars of investment by development agencies, national government agencies, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF and its implementing organizations as well as other donors. It is essential for the long-term survival of biodiversity inside and outside protected areas. However, it is virtually unheard of in the main conservation science field. This must change so as to bring careful documentation, analysis, monitoring, publishing and improvement of practices – all things that conservation science should provide as partners to practitioners of biodiversity mainstreaming. The situation is ripe for informed coordination and consolidation and creation of a science-driven field of biodiversity mainstreaming.

Ecology and evolution of mammalian biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Kate E; Safi, Kamran

2011-09-12

Mammals have incredible biological diversity, showing extreme flexibility in eco-morphology, physiology, life history and behaviour across their evolutionary history. Undoubtedly, mammals play an important role in ecosystems by providing essential services such as regulating insect populations, seed dispersal and pollination and act as indicators of general ecosystem health. However, the macroecological and macroevolutionary processes underpinning past and present biodiversity patterns are only beginning to be explored on a global scale. It is also particularly important, in the face of the global extinction crisis, to understand these processes in order to be able to use this knowledge to prevent future biodiversity loss and loss of ecosystem services. Unfortunately, efforts to understand mammalian biodiversity have been hampered by a lack of data. New data compilations on current species' distributions, ecologies and evolutionary histories now allow an integrated approach to understand this biodiversity. We review and synthesize these new studies, exploring the past and present ecology and evolution of mammalian biodiversity, and use these findings to speculate about the mammals of our future.

Ecology and evolution of mammalian biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Kate E.; Safi, Kamran

2011-01-01

Mammals have incredible biological diversity, showing extreme flexibility in eco-morphology, physiology, life history and behaviour across their evolutionary history. Undoubtedly, mammals play an important role in ecosystems by providing essential services such as regulating insect populations, seed dispersal and pollination and act as indicators of general ecosystem health. However, the macroecological and macroevolutionary processes underpinning past and present biodiversity patterns are only beginning to be explored on a global scale. It is also particularly important, in the face of the global extinction crisis, to understand these processes in order to be able to use this knowledge to prevent future biodiversity loss and loss of ecosystem services. Unfortunately, efforts to understand mammalian biodiversity have been hampered by a lack of data. New data compilations on current species' distributions, ecologies and evolutionary histories now allow an integrated approach to understand this biodiversity. We review and synthesize these new studies, exploring the past and present ecology and evolution of mammalian biodiversity, and use these findings to speculate about the mammals of our future. PMID:21807728

Changes in the Abundance of Grassland Species in Monocultures versus Mixtures and Their Relation to Biodiversity Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Marquard, Elisabeth; Schmid, Bernhard; Roscher, Christiane; De Luca, Enrica; Nadrowski, Karin; Weisser, Wolfgang W.; Weigelt, Alexandra

2013-01-01

Numerous studies have reported positive effects of species richness on plant community productivity. Such biodiversity effects are usually quantified by comparing the performance of plant mixtures with reference monocultures. However, several mechanisms, such as the lack of resource complementarity and facilitation or the accumulation of detrimental agents, suggest that monocultures are more likely than mixtures to deteriorate over time. Increasing biodiversity effects over time could therefore result from declining monocultures instead of reflecting increases in the functioning of mixtures. Commonly, the latter is assumed when positive trends in biodiversity effects occur. Here, we analysed the performance of 60 grassland species growing in monocultures and mixtures over 9 years in a biodiversity experiment to clarify whether their temporal biomass dynamics differed and whether a potential decline of monocultures contributed significantly to the positive net biodiversity effect observed. Surprisingly, individual species’ populations produced, on average, significantly more biomass per unit area when growing in monoculture than when growing in mixture. Over time, productivity of species decreased at a rate that was, on average, slightly more negative in monocultures than in mixtures. The mean net biodiversity effect across all mixtures was continuously positive and ranged between 64–217 g per m2. Short-term increases in the mean net biodiversity effect were only partly due to deteriorating monocultures and were strongly affected by particular species gaining dominance in mixtures in the respective years. We conclude that our species performed, on average, comparably in monocultures and mixtures; monoculture populations being slightly more productive than mixture populations but this trend decreased over time. This suggested that negative feedbacks had not yet affected monocultures strongly but could potentially become more evident in the future. Positive

Connecting Earth observation to high-throughput biodiversity data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bush, Alex; Sollmann, Rahel; Wilting, Andreas

2017-01-01

Understandably, given the fast pace of biodiversity loss, there is much interest in using Earth observation technology to track biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services. However, because most biodiversity is invisible to Earth observation, indicators based on Earth observation could...... observation data. This approach is achievable now, offering efficient and near-real-time monitoring of management impacts on biodiversity and its functions and services....

Building capacity in biodiversity monitoring at the global scale

Science.gov (United States)

Schmeller, Dirk S.; Bohm, Monika; Arvanitidis, Christos; Barber-Meyer, Shannon; Brummitt, Neil; Chandler, Mark; Chatzinikolaou, Eva; Costello, Mark J.; Ding, Hui; García-Moreno, Jaime; Gill, Michael J.; Haase, Peter; Jones, Miranda; Juillard, Romain; Magnusson, William E.; Martin, Corinne S.; McGeoch, Melodie A.; Mihoub, Jean-Baptiste; Pettorelli, Nathalie; Proença, Vânia; Peng, Cui; Regan, Eugenie; Schmiedel, Ute; Simsika, John P.; Weatherdon, Lauren; Waterman, Carly; Xu, Haigen; Belnap, Jayne

2017-01-01

Human-driven global change is causing ongoing declines in biodiversity worldwide. In order to address these declines, decision-makers need accurate assessments of the status of and pressures on biodiversity. However, these are heavily constrained by incomplete and uneven spatial, temporal and taxonomic coverage. For instance, data from regions such as Europe and North America are currently used overwhelmingly for large-scale biodiversity assessments due to lesser availability of suitable data from other, more biodiversity-rich, regions. These data-poor regions are often those experiencing the strongest threats to biodiversity, however. There is therefore an urgent need to fill the existing gaps in global biodiversity monitoring. Here, we review current knowledge on best practice in capacity building for biodiversity monitoring and provide an overview of existing means to improve biodiversity data collection considering the different types of biodiversity monitoring data. Our review comprises insights from work in Africa, South America, Polar Regions and Europe; in government-funded, volunteer and citizen-based monitoring in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. The key steps to effectively building capacity in biodiversity monitoring are: identifying monitoring questions and aims; identifying the key components, functions, and processes to monitor; identifying the most suitable monitoring methods for these elements, carrying out monitoring activities; managing the resultant data; and interpreting monitoring data. Additionally, biodiversity monitoring should use multiple approaches including extensive and intensive monitoring through volunteers and professional scientists but also harnessing new technologies. Finally, we call on the scientific community to share biodiversity monitoring data, knowledge and tools to ensure the accessibility, interoperability, and reporting of biodiversity data at a global scale.

Backyard Biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Sarah S.

2002-01-01

Describes a field trip experience for the Earth Odyssey project for elementary school students focusing on biodiversity. Introduces the concept of diversity, field work, species richness, and the connection between animals and their habitat. (YDS)

Teaching Biodiversity

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Author Affiliations. Madhav Gadgil1 2. Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India. Biodiversity Unit, Jowaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur P.O. Jakkur, Bangalore 560064, India ...

Biodiversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality across trophic levels and habitats

Science.gov (United States)

Lefcheck, Jonathan S.; Byrnes, Jarrett E. K.; Isbell, Forest; Gamfeldt, Lars; Griffin, John N.; Eisenhauer, Nico; Hensel, Marc J. S.; Hector, Andy; Cardinale, Bradley J.; Duffy, J. Emmett

2015-01-01

The importance of biodiversity for the integrated functioning of ecosystems remains unclear because most evidence comes from analyses of biodiversity's effect on individual functions. Here we show that the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem function become more important as more functions are considered. We present the first systematic investigation of biodiversity's effect on ecosystem multifunctionality across multiple taxa, trophic levels and habitats using a comprehensive database of 94 manipulations of species richness. We show that species-rich communities maintained multiple functions at higher levels than depauperate ones. These effects were stronger for herbivore biodiversity than for plant biodiversity, and were remarkably consistent across aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Despite observed tradeoffs, the overall effect of biodiversity on multifunctionality grew stronger as more functions were considered. These results indicate that prior research has underestimated the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning by focusing on individual functions and taxonomic groups. PMID:25907115

Habitat modeling for biodiversity conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce G. Marcot

2006-01-01

Habitat models address only 1 component of biodiversity but can be useful in addressing and managing single or multiple species and ecosystem functions, for projecting disturbance regimes, and in supporting decisions. I review categories and examples of habitat models, their utility for biodiversity conservation, and their roles in making conservation decisions. I...

GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF ELECTRONIC EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galina P. Lavrentieva

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The article highlights the causes of insufficient effective use of electronic learning resources and sets out the guidelines on ways to solve the aforementioned problems. The set of didactic, methodical, psychological, pedagogical, design and ergonomic quality requirements is considered for evaluation, selection and application of information and communication technologies in the educational process. The most appropriate mechanisms for the ICT introduction into the learning process are disclosed as it should meet the specific learning needs of the student and the objectives of the educational process. The guidance for psycho-educational assessment of quality of electronic educational resources is provided. It is argued that the effectiveness of the ICT use is to be improved by means of quality evaluation mechanisms involved into the educational process.

Availability, Use and Constraints to Use of Electronic Information Resources by Postgraduates Students at the University of Ibadan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dare Samuel Adeleke

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Availability, awareness and use of electronic resources provide access to authoritative, reliable, accurate and timely access to information. The use of electronic information resources (EIRs can enable innovation in teaching and increase timeliness in research of postgraduate students which will eventual result into encouragement of the expected research-led enquiry in this digital age. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Samples of 300 of postgraduate students within seven out 13 Faculties were randomly selected. Data were collected using questionnaire designed to elicit response from respondents and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics methods percentages, mean, and standard deviation. Results indicated that internet was ranked most available and used in the university. Low level of usage of electronic resources, in particular, full texts data bases is linked to a number of constraints: Interrupted power supply was ranked highest among other factors as speed and capacity of computers, retrieval of records with high recall and low precision, retrieving records relevant to information need, lack of knowledge of search techniques to retrieve information effectively, non possession of requisite IT skills and problems accessing the internet. The study recommended that usage of electronic resources be made compulsory, intensifying awareness campaigns concerning the availability, training on use of electronic resources and the problem of power outage be addressed.

Sleeping sickness and its relationship with development and biodiversity conservation in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Neil E; Mubanga, Joseph; Machila, Noreen; Atkinson, Peter M; Dzingirai, Vupenyu; Welburn, Susan C

2015-04-15

The Luangwa Valley has a long historical association with Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) and is a recognised geographical focus of this disease. It is also internationally acclaimed for its high biodiversity and contains many valuable habitats. Local inhabitants of the valley have developed sustainable land use systems in co-existence with wildlife over centuries, based on non-livestock keeping practices largely due to the threat from African Animal Trypanosomiasis. Historical epidemics of human sleeping sickness have influenced how and where communities have settled and have had a profound impact on development in the Valley. Historical attempts to control trypanosomiasis have also had a negative impact on conservation of biodiversity.Centralised control over wildlife utilisation has marginalised local communities from managing the wildlife resource. To some extent this has been reversed by the implementation of community based natural resource management programmes in the latter half of the 20(th) century and the Luangwa Valley provides some of the earliest examples of such programmes. More recently, there has been significant uncontrolled migration of people into the mid-Luangwa Valley driven by pressure on resources in the eastern plateau region, encouragement from local chiefs and economic development in the tourist centre of Mfuwe. This has brought changing land-use patterns, most notably agricultural development through livestock keeping and cotton production. These changes threaten to alter the endemically stable patterns of HAT transmission and could have significant impacts on ecosystem health and ecosystem services.In this paper we review the history of HAT in the context of conservation and development and consider the impacts current changes may have on this complex social-ecological system. We conclude that improved understanding is required to identify specific circumstances where win-win trade-offs can be achieved between the conservation of

Mobilising our greatest resource for continuity and change: People

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sherwood, S.G.

2010-01-01

extension, andean region, bolivia, ecological farming, ecuador, farmer field schools, integrated pest management, peru, potatoes, agricultural technology, biodiversity, gene banks, genetic conservation, genetic diversity, genetic resources, integrated farming, participatory approaches, participatory

Population growth, human development, and deforestation in biodiversity hotspots.

Science.gov (United States)

Jha, S; Bawa, K S

2006-06-01

Human population and development activities affect the rate of deforestation in biodiversity hotspots. We quantified the effect of human population growth and development on rates of deforestation and analyzed the relationship between these causal factors in the 1980s and 1990s. We compared the averages of population growth, human development index (HDI, which measures income, health, and education), and deforestation rate and computed correlations among these variables for countries that contain biodiversity hotspots. When population growth was high and HDI was low there was a high rate of deforestation, but when HDI was high, rate of deforestation was low, despite high population growth. The correlation among variables was significant for the 1990s but not for the 1980s. The relationship between population growth and HDI had a regional pattern that reflected the historical process of development. Based on the changes in HDI and deforestation rate over time, we identified two drivers of deforestation: policy choice and human-development constraints. Policy choices that disregard conservation may cause the loss of forests even in countries that are relatively developed. Lack of development in other countries, on the other hand, may increase the pressure on forests to meet the basic needs of the human population. Deforestation resulting from policy choices may be easier to fix than deforestation arising from human development constraints. To prevent deforestation in the countries that have such constraints, transfer of material and intellectual resources from developed countries may be needed. Popular interest in sustainable development in developed countries can facilitate the transfer of these resources.

Biodiversity, climate change and poverty: exploring the links

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reid, Hannah; Swiderska, Krystyna

2008-02-15

Biodiversity — the variety of all life, from genes and species to ecosystems — is intimately linked to Earth's climate and, inevitably, to climate change. Biodiversity and poverty are also inextricably connected. For instance, changes to natural ecosystems influence both climate change and people's ability to cope with some of its damaging impacts. And in their turn climate change, as well as people's responses to it, affect biodiversity. Unpicking all these strands clearly shows that conserving and managing biodiversity can help natural systems and vulnerable people cope with a shifting global climate. Yet compared to activities such as forest conservation and afforestation — widely noted as a way of sequestering carbon and cutting greenhouse gas emissions — biodiversity conservation is a neglected area. That must change: urgent support is needed for local solutions to biodiversity loss that provide benefits on all counts.

Scenarios for future biodiversity loss due to multiple drivers reveal conflict between mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powell, Thomas W R; Lenton, Timothy M

2013-01-01

We assess the potential for future biodiversity loss due to three interacting factors: energy withdrawal from ecosystems due to biomass harvest, habitat loss due to land-use change, and climate change. We develop four scenarios to 2050 with different combinations of high or low agricultural efficiency and high or low meat diets, and use species–energy and species–area relationships to estimate their effects on biodiversity. In our scenarios, natural ecosystems are protected except when additional land is necessary to fulfil the increasing dietary demands of the global population. Biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is used as a means of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere (and offsetting fossil fuel emissions). BECCS is based on waste biomass, with the addition of bio-energy crops only when already managed land is no longer needed for food production. Forecast biodiversity loss from natural biomes increases by more than a factor of five in going from high to low agricultural efficiency scenarios, due to destruction of productive habitats by the expansion of pasture. Biodiversity loss from energy withdrawal on managed land varies by a factor of two across the scenarios. Biodiversity loss due to climate change varies only modestly across the scenarios. Climate change is lowest in the ‘low meat high efficiency’ scenario, in which by 2050 around 660 million hectares of pasture are converted to biomass plantation that is used for BECCS. However, the resulting withdrawal of energy from managed ecosystems has a large negative impact on biodiversity. Although the effects of energy withdrawal and climate change on biodiversity cannot be directly compared, this suggests that using bio-energy to tackle climate change in order to limit biodiversity loss could instead have the opposite effect. (letter)

A Study on Developing Evaluation Criteria for Electronic Resources in Evaluation Indicators of Libraries

Science.gov (United States)

Noh, Younghee

2010-01-01

This study aimed to improve the current state of electronic resource evaluation in libraries. While the use of Web DB, e-book, e-journal, and other e-resources such as CD-ROM, DVD, and micro materials is increasing in libraries, their use is not comprehensively factored into the general evaluation of libraries and may diminish the reliability of…

Wetland Resources Action Planning (WRAP) toolkit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bunting, Stuart W.; Smith, Kevin G.; Lund, Søren

2013-01-01

The Wetland Resources Action Planning (WRAP) toolkit is a toolkit of research methods and better management practices used in HighARCS (Highland Aquatic Resources Conservation and Sustainable Development), an EU-funded project with field experiences in China, Vietnam and India. It aims to communi......The Wetland Resources Action Planning (WRAP) toolkit is a toolkit of research methods and better management practices used in HighARCS (Highland Aquatic Resources Conservation and Sustainable Development), an EU-funded project with field experiences in China, Vietnam and India. It aims...... to communicate best practices in conserving biodiversity and sustaining ecosystem services to potential users and to promote the wise-use of aquatic resources, improve livelihoods and enhance policy information....

Groundwater quality characterization to protect biodiversity in SADC region (Southern African Development Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefania Vitale

2016-06-01

requires a successful groundwater characterization and protection. Conservation of biodiversity depends on groundwater needs strategies that allows for the use of groundwater in a way that is compatible with the persistence of ecosystems in natural area, such as Limpopo Transfrontier Park, in the Southern African Region, which is an area rich in term of biological diversity and ecological complexity. In particular the quality of ground water in some parts of the country, especially shallow ground water, is changing as a result of human activities. The goal of the following study is to provide an assessment of the actual groundwater quality-monitoring network and in consideration of the growing demand for water, there is a need to understand the effects of planting on water resources to estimate crop water requirement for the focus area, as last step of the methodology.

Projecting biodiversity and wood production in future forest landscapes: 15 key modeling considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Felton, Adam; Ranius, Thomas; Roberge, Jean-Michel; Öhman, Karin; Lämås, Tomas; Hynynen, Jari; Juutinen, Artti; Mönkkönen, Mikko; Nilsson, Urban; Lundmark, Tomas; Nordin, Annika

2017-07-15

A variety of modeling approaches can be used to project the future development of forest systems, and help to assess the implications of different management alternatives for biodiversity and ecosystem services. This diversity of approaches does however present both an opportunity and an obstacle for those trying to decide which modeling technique to apply, and interpreting the management implications of model output. Furthermore, the breadth of issues relevant to addressing key questions related to forest ecology, conservation biology, silviculture, economics, requires insights stemming from a number of distinct scientific disciplines. As forest planners, conservation ecologists, ecological economists and silviculturalists, experienced with modeling trade-offs and synergies between biodiversity and wood biomass production, we identified fifteen key considerations relevant to assessing the pros and cons of alternative modeling approaches. Specifically we identified key considerations linked to study question formulation, modeling forest dynamics, forest processes, study landscapes, spatial and temporal aspects, and the key response metrics - biodiversity and wood biomass production, as well as dealing with trade-offs and uncertainties. We also provide illustrative examples from the modeling literature stemming from the key considerations assessed. We use our findings to reiterate the need for explicitly addressing and conveying the limitations and uncertainties of any modeling approach taken, and the need for interdisciplinary research efforts when addressing the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of environmental resources. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Student Teachers' Understanding of the Terminology, Distribution, and Loss of Biodiversity: Perspectives from a Biodiversity Hotspot and an Industrialized Country

Science.gov (United States)

Fiebelkorn, Florian; Menzel, Susanne

2013-01-01

The loss of biodiversity is one of the most urgent global environmental problems of our time. Public education and awareness building is key to successful biodiversity protection. Knowledgeable and skilled student teachers are a key component for the successful implementation of biodiversity education in schools. Yet, little empirical evidence…

Diverse perspectives on governance on the very long term. Biodiversity, climatic change, CO2 storage, radioactive wastes, space wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boeuf, Gilles; Gouyon, Pierre Henry; Rollinger, Francois; Besnus, Francois; Heriard Dubreuil, Gilles; Dahan, Amy; Alby, Fernand; Arnould, Jacques; Fabriol, Hubert; Hoummady, Moussa; Demarcq, Francois; Farret, Regis; Hubert, Philippe; Weber, Jacques; Charton, Patrick; Boissier, Fabrice; Lopez, Mirelle; Devisse, Jean-Jacques; Mathy, Sandrine; Hourcade, Jean-Charles; Le Roux, Xavier; Bourcier, Danielle; Roure, Francoise; Henry, Claude; Bartet, Jean Hughes; Calame, Mathieu; Biteau, Benoit; Kastler, Guy; Ducret, Pierre; Berest, Pierre; Charron, Sylvie; Clin, Francois; Gadbois, Serge; Gueritte, Michel; Heriard-Dubreuil, Bertrand; Laville, Bettina; Marie, Michel; Marignac, Yves; Ollagnon, Henry; Pelegrin, Flora; Roure, Francoise; Rouyer, Michel; Schellenberger, Thomas; Toussaint, Jean-Francois

2013-03-01

This bibliographical note contains the program of a workshop and a presentation of a book based on the contributions to this workshop proposed by experts, representatives of institutional bodies and associations, or local representatives. This workshop addressed the issue of the governance on the very long term with respect to the management of resources such as climate, geology, biodiversity or space. How to make a possible usage of these resources while ensuring their protection and durability? What are the solutions or new challenges are raising these usages on the very long term? The first part addresses the main challenges and ethical issues for governance on the very long term for each of the examined topics: biodiversity, climatic change, CO 2 storage, radioactive waste storage, and space debris). The next parts propose contributions from different origins and disciplines, present relevant data, and report evidences

Fish Biodiversity Patterns in Reef Communities of the Southeastern Coast of Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ralf Riedel

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Marine Protected Areas are increasingly becoming a tool of choice for conservation and management of marine resources and ecosystems. Data on biodiversity are necessary to assist in establishing protected areas for conservation objectives to be met. Toward that effect, we investigated reef biodiversity patterns in three large-scale coastal regions of Brazil. The study areas comprised of an upwelling region, an adjacent high impacted region, and a more distant marine park. We surveyed four reef sites in each study region. Fish species and abundance, substrate relief, and water temperature were recorded during the surveys. Biodiversity was estimated using Simpson’s and Shannon’s indices on species richness and abundance. Fish diversity was highest at the upwelling area. No difference in diversity was observed between the high impacted region and the marine park. No substrate relief patterns were found. Temperature readings showed higher frequency of low temperature episodic events at the upwelling region. Our results favor the upwelling region for establishment of a Marine Protected Area. Moreover, the similar diversity between the high impacted region and the marine park showed evidence of spillover effects from the upwelling into the high impacted region, further demonstrating the importance of the upwelling region for conservation.

Molecular biodiversity of Red Sea demosponges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erpenbeck, Dirk; Voigt, Oliver; Al-Aidaroos, Ali M.; Berumen, Michael L.; Büttner, Gabriele; Catania, Daniela; Guirguis, Adel Naguib; Paulay, Gustav; Schätzle, Simone

2016-01-01

Sponges are important constituents of coral reef ecosystems, including those around the Arabian Peninsula. Despite their importance, our knowledge on demosponge diversity in this area is insufficient to recognize, for example, faunal changes caused by anthropogenic disturbances. We here report the first assessment of demosponge molecular biodiversity from Arabia, with focus on the Saudi Arabian Red Sea, based on mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal molecular markers gathered in the framework of the Sponge Barcoding Project. We use a rapid molecular screening approach on Arabian demosponge collections and analyze results in comparison against published material in terms of biodiversity. We use a variable region of 28S rDNA, applied for the first time in the assessment of demosponge molecular diversity. Our data constitutes a solid foundation for a future more comprehensive understanding of sponge biodiversity of the Red Sea and adjacent waters. - Highlights: •First assessment of demosponge molecular biodiversity from Arabia •Rapid molecular screening approach on Arabian demosponge collections •Assessment of 28S 'C-Region' for demosponge barcoding •Data for a future comprehensive understanding of sponge biodiversity of the Red Sea

Lake Victoria water resources management challenges and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... governing management measures capable of meeting the needs of riparian states and ensuring sustainability within the basin is highlighted. Keywords: biodiversity loss; East Africa; eutrophication; heavy metal pollution; international treaties; Nile Basin; shared water resources. African Journal of Aquatic Science 2008, ...

Towards an operational definition of Essential Biodiversity Variables

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schmeller, D.S.; Mihoub, J.-B.; Bowser, A.; Arvanitidis, C.; Costello, M.J.; Fernandez, M.; Geller, G.N.; Hobern, D.; Kissling, W.D.; Regan, E.; Saarenmaa, H.; Turak, E.; Isaac, N.J.B.

2017-01-01

The concept of essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) was proposed in 2013 to improve harmonization of biodiversity data into meaningful metrics. EBVs were conceived as a small set of variables which collectively capture biodiversity change at multiple spatial scales and within time intervals that

Biodiversity, climate change and poverty: exploring the links

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reid, Hannah; Swiderska, Krystyna

2008-02-15

Biodiversity — the variety of all life, from genes and species to ecosystems — is intimately linked to Earth's climate and, inevitably, to climate change. Biodiversity and poverty are also inextricably connected. For instance, changes to natural ecosystems influence both climate change and people's ability to cope with some of its damaging impacts. And in their turn climate change, as well as people's responses to it, affect biodiversity. Unpicking all these strands clearly shows that conserving and managing biodiversity can help natural systems and vulnerable people cope with a shifting global climate. Yet compared to activities such as forest conservation and afforestation — widely noted as a way of sequestering carbon and cutting greenhouse gas emissions — biodiversity conservation is a neglected area. That must change: urgent support is needed for local solutions to biodiversity loss that provide benefits on all counts.

The importance and implication of genetic resources in agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milošević Mirjana

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The maintenance and preservation of biodiversity is going through the processes of conservation and restoration of disturbed ecosystems and habitats, as well as the preservation and recovery of species. Genetic diversity means the variety and total number of genes contained in plant and animal species and microorganisms. Genetic diversity is the basic unit of diversity, which is responsible for differences between individuals, populations and species. Genetic diversity is very important for the preservation of biodiversity and can be saved in several ways. Part of the germplasm is maintained through breeding programs as they evaluate germplasm stored and used as a source of needed diversity. The Convention on Biological Diversity is one of the most important international agreements to protect nature and conserve genetic resources. International treaties governing the use of genetic resources for food and agriculture are a way to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of plant resources for food and agriculture, and to regulate the rights of farmers.

The effect of buffer zone width on biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Navntoft, Søren; Sigsgaard, Lene; Kristensen, Kristian Morten

2012-01-01

Field margin management for conservation purposes is a way to protect both functional biodiversity and biodiversity per se without considerable economical loss as field margins are less productive. However, the effect of width of the buffer zone on achievable biodiversity gains has received littl...

Protecting global soil resources for future generations

Science.gov (United States)

Montanarella, Luca

2017-04-01

The latest Status of World's Soil Resources report has highlighted that soils are increasingly under pressure by numerous human induced degradation processes in most parts of the world. The limits of our planetary boundaries concerning vital soil resources have been reached and without reversing this negative trend there will be a serious lack of necessary soil resources for future generations. It has been therefore of the highest importance to include soils within some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) recently approved by the United Nations. Sustainable development can not be achieved without protecting the limited, non-renewable, soil resources of our planet. There is the need to limit on-going soil degradation processes and to implement extensive soil restoration activities in order to strive towards a land degradation neutral (LDN) world, as called upon by SDG 15. Sustainable soil management needs to be placed at the core of any LDN strategy and therefore it is of highest importance that the recently approved Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management (VGSSM) of FAO get fully implemented at National and local scale.Sustainable soil management is not only relevant for the protection of fertile soils for food production, but also to mitigate and adopt to climate change at to preserve the large soil biodiversity pool. Therefore the VGSSM are not only relevant to FAO, but also the the climate change convention (UNFCCC) and the biodiversity convention (CBD). An integrated assessment of the current land degradation processes and the available land restoration practices is needed in order to fully evaluate the potential for effectively achieving LDN by 2030. The on-going Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment (LDRA) of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) will provide the necessary scientific basis for the full implementation of the necessary measures for achieving the planned SGS's relevant to land

Species Interactions Drive Fish Biodiversity Loss in a High-CO2 World.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagelkerken, Ivan; Goldenberg, Silvan U; Ferreira, Camilo M; Russell, Bayden D; Connell, Sean D

2017-07-24

Accelerating climate change is eroding the functioning and stability of ecosystems by weakening the interactions among species that stabilize biological communities against change [1]. A key challenge to forecasting the future of ecosystems centers on how to extrapolate results from short-term, single-species studies to community-level responses that are mediated by key mechanisms such as competition, resource availability (bottom-up control), and predation (top-down control) [2]. We used CO 2 vents as potential analogs of ocean acidification combined with in situ experiments to test current predictions of fish biodiversity loss and community change due to elevated CO 2 [3] and to elucidate the potential mechanisms that drive such change. We show that high risk-taking behavior and competitive strength, combined with resource enrichment and collapse of predator populations, fostered already common species, enabling them to double their populations under acidified conditions. However, the release of these competitive dominants from predator control led to suppression of less common and subordinate competitors that did not benefit from resource enrichment and reduced predation. As a result, local biodiversity was lost and novel fish community compositions were created under elevated CO 2 . Our study identifies the species interactions most affected by ocean acidification, revealing potential sources of natural selection. We also reveal how diminished predator abundances can have cascading effects on local species diversity, mediated by complex species interactions. Reduced overfishing of predators could therefore act as a key action to stall diversity loss and ecosystem change in a high-CO 2 world. VIDEO ABSTRACT. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE MODEL OF LINGUISTIC TEACHERS’ COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT ON DESIGNING MULTIMEDIA ELECTRONIC EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN THE MOODLE SYSTEM

OpenAIRE

Anton M. Avramchuk

2017-01-01

The article is devoted to the problem of developing the competency of teachers of language disciplines on designing multimedia electronic educational resources in the Moodle system. The concept of "the competence of teachers of language disciplines on designing multimedia electronic educational resources in the Moodle system" is justified and defined. Identified and characterized the components by which the levels of the competency development of teachers of language disciplines on designing ...

Marine biodiversity in Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diaz, Juan Manuel

2002-01-01

One decade ago, the seas and oceans were considered biologically less diverse that the terrestrial environment. Now it is known that it is on the contrary; 33 of the 34 categories of animals (phylum), they are represented in the sea, compared with those solely 15 that exist in earth. The investigation about the diversity of life in the sea has been relatively scorned, but there are big benefits that we can wait if this is protected. The captures of fish depend on it; the species captured by the fisheries are sustained of the biodiversity of their trophic chains and habitats. The marine species are probably the biggest reservoir of chemical substances that can be used in pharmaceutical products. The genetic material of some species can be useful in biotechnical applications. The paper treats topics like the current state of the knowledge in marine biodiversity and it is done a diagnostic of the marine biodiversity in Colombia

Advancing Marine Biological Observations and Data Requirements of the Complementary Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs and Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs Frameworks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frank E. Muller-Karger

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Measurements of the status and trends of key indicators for the ocean and marine life are required to inform policy and management in the context of growing human uses of marine resources, coastal development, and climate change. Two synergistic efforts identify specific priority variables for monitoring: Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs through the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS, and Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs from the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON (see Data Sheet 1 in Supplementary Materials for a glossary of acronyms. Both systems support reporting against internationally agreed conventions and treaties. GOOS, established under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC, plays a leading role in coordinating global monitoring of the ocean and in the definition of EOVs. GEO BON is a global biodiversity observation network that coordinates observations to enhance management of the world's biodiversity and promote both the awareness and accounting of ecosystem services. Convergence and agreement between these two efforts are required to streamline existing and new marine observation programs to advance scientific knowledge effectively and to support the sustainable use and management of ocean spaces and resources. In this context, the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON, a thematic component of GEO BON, is collaborating with GOOS, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, and the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR project to ensure that EBVs and EOVs are complementary, representing alternative uses of a common set of scientific measurements. This work is informed by the Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM, an intergovernmental body of technical experts that helps international coordination on best practices for observing, data management and services, combined with capacity development expertise

Determining the level of awareness of the physicians in using the variety of electronic information resources and the effecting factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Papi, Ahmad; Ghazavi, Roghayeh; Moradi, Salimeh

2015-01-01

Understanding of the medical society's from the types of information resources for quick and easy access to information is an imperative task in medical researches and management of the treatment. The present study was aimed to determine the level of awareness of the physicians in using various electronic information resources and the factors affecting it. This study was a descriptive survey. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The study population included all the physicians and specialty physicians of the teaching hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and numbered 350. The sample size based on Morgan's formula was set at 180. The content validity of the tool was confirmed by the library and information professionals and the reliability was 95%. Descriptive statistics were used including the SPSS software version 19. On reviewing the need of the physicians to obtain the information on several occasions, the need for information in conducting the researches was reported by the maximum number of physicians (91.9%) and the usage of information resources, especially the electronic resources, formed 65.4% as the highest rate with regard to meeting the information needs of the physicians. Among the electronic information databases, the maximum awareness was related to Medline with 86.5%. Among the various electronic information resources, the highest awareness (43.3%) was related to the E-journals. The highest usage (36%) was also from the same source. The studied physicians considered the most effective deterrent in the use of electronic information resources as being too busy and lack of time. Despite the importance of electronic information resources for the physician's community, there was no comprehensive knowledge of these resources. This can lead to less usage of these resources. Therefore, careful planning is necessary in the hospital libraries in order to introduce the facilities and full capabilities of the

The Marine Food Chain in Relation to Biodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew R.G. Price

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Biodiversity provides “raw materials” for the food chain and seafood production, and also influences the capacity of ecosystems to perform these and other services. Harvested marine seafood species now exceed 100 million t y -1 and provide about 6% of all protein and 17% of animal protein consumed by humans. These resources include representatives from about nine biologically diverse groups of plants and animals. Fish account for most of the world’s marine catches, of which only 40 species are taken in abundance. Highest primary productivity and the richest fisheries are found within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ. This narrow strip (200 nautical mile/370 km wide is not only the site of coastal “food factories” but also the area associated with heaviest perturbation to the marine environment. Structural redundancy is evident in marine ecosystems, in that many species are interchangeable in the way they characterise assemblage composition. While there is probably functional redundancy within groups, the effects of species loss on ecosystem performance cannot be easily predicted. In particular, the degree to which biodiversity per se is needed for ecosystem services, including seafood/fishery production, is poorly understood. Many human activities, including unsustainable fishing and mariculture, lead to erosion of marine biodiversity. This can undermine the biophysical cornerstones of fisheries and have other undesirable environmental side effects. Of direct concern are “species effects”, in particular the removal of target and non-target fishery species, as well as conservationally important fauna. Equally disrupting but less immediate are “ecosystem effects”, such as fishing down the food web, following a shift from harvested species of high to low trophic level. Physical and biological disturbances from trawl nets and dynamite fishing on coral reefs can also severely impact ecosystem structure and function. �

Managing Selection for Electronic Resources: Kent State University Develops a New System to Automate Selection

Science.gov (United States)

Downey, Kay

2012-01-01

Kent State University has developed a centralized system that manages the communication and work related to the review and selection of commercially available electronic resources. It is an automated system that tracks the review process, provides selectors with price and trial information, and compiles reviewers' feedback about the resource. It…

Antarctica and the strategic plan for biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Chown, Steven L.; Brooks, Cassandra M.; Terauds, Aleks; Le Bohec, Céline; van Klaveren-Impagliazzo, Céline; Whittington, Jason D.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Coetzee, Bernard W. T.; Collen, Ben; Convey, Peter; Gaston, Kevin J.; Gilbert, Neil; Gill, Mike; Höft, Robert; Johnston, Sam; Kennicutt, Mahlon C.; Kriesell, Hannah J.; Le Maho, Yvon; Lynch, Heather J.; Palomares, Maria; Puig-Marcó, Roser; Stoett, Peter; McGeoch, Melodie A.

2017-01-01

The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, adopted under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity, provides the basis for taking effective action to curb biodiversity loss across the planet by 2020—an urgent imperative. Yet, Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, which encompass 10% of the planet’s surface, are excluded from assessments of progress against the Strategic Plan. The situation is a lost opportunity for biodiversity conservation globally. We provide such an assessment. Our evidence suggests, surprisingly, that for a region so remote and apparently pristine as the Antarctic, the biodiversity outlook is similar to that for the rest of the planet. Promisingly, however, much scope for remedial action exists. PMID:28350825

Antarctica and the strategic plan for biodiversity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven L Chown

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, adopted under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity, provides the basis for taking effective action to curb biodiversity loss across the planet by 2020-an urgent imperative. Yet, Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, which encompass 10% of the planet's surface, are excluded from assessments of progress against the Strategic Plan. The situation is a lost opportunity for biodiversity conservation globally. We provide such an assessment. Our evidence suggests, surprisingly, that for a region so remote and apparently pristine as the Antarctic, the biodiversity outlook is similar to that for the rest of the planet. Promisingly, however, much scope for remedial action exists.

LifeWatch - a Large-scale eScience Infrastructure to Assist in Understanding and Managing our Planet's Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández Ernst, Vera; Poigné, Axel; Los, Walter

2010-05-01

Understanding and managing the complexity of the biodiversity system in relation to global changes concerning land use and climate change with their social and economic implications is crucial to mitigate species loss and biodiversity changes in general. The sustainable development and exploitation of existing biodiversity resources require flexible and powerful infrastructures offering, on the one hand, the access to large-scale databases of observations and measures, to advanced analytical and modelling software, and to high performance computing environments and, on the other hand, the interlinkage of European scientific communities among each others and with national policies. The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) selected the "LifeWatch e-science and technology infrastructure for biodiversity research" as a promising development to construct facilities to contribute to meet those challenges. LifeWatch collaborates with other selected initiatives (e.g. ICOS, ANAEE, NOHA, and LTER-Europa) to achieve the integration of the infrastructures at landscape and regional scales. This should result in a cooperating cluster of such infrastructures supporting an integrated approach for data capture and transmission, data management and harmonisation. Besides, facilities for exploration, forecasting, and presentation using heterogeneous and distributed data and tools should allow the interdisciplinary scientific research at any spatial and temporal scale. LifeWatch is an example of a new generation of interoperable research infrastructures based on standards and a service-oriented architecture that allow for linkage with external resources and associated infrastructures. External data sources will be established data aggregators as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) for species occurrences and other EU Networks of Excellence like the Long-Term Ecological Research Network (LTER), GMES, and GEOSS for terrestrial monitoring, the

Persistence and vulnerability: retaining biodiversity in the landscape ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

An objective of biodiversity conservation activities is to minimize the exposure of biodiversity features to threatening processes and to ensure, as far as possible, that biodiversity persists in the landscape. We discuss how issues of vulnerability and persistence can and should be addressed at all stages of the conservation.

Impact of GM crops on biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Janet E

2011-01-01

The potential impact of GM crops on biodiversity has been a topic of interest both in general as well as specifically in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Agricultural biodiversity has been defined at levels from genes to ecosystems that are involved or impacted by agricultural production (www.cbd.int/agro/whatis.shtml). After fifteen years of commercial cultivation, a substantial body of literature now exists addressing the potential impacts of GM crops on the environment. This review takes a biodiversity lens to this literature, considering the impacts at three levels: the crop, farm and landscape scales. Within that framework, this review covers potential impacts of the introduction of genetically engineered crops on: crop diversity, biodiversity of wild relatives, non-target soil organisms, weeds, land use, non-target above-ground organisms, and area-wide pest suppression. The emphasis of the review is peer-reviewed literature that presents direct measures of impacts on biodiversity. In addition, possible impacts of changes in management practises such as tillage and pesticide use are also discussed to complement the literature on direct measures. The focus of the review is on technologies that have been commercialized somewhere in the world, while results may emanate from non-adopting countries and regions. Overall, the review finds that currently commercialized GM crops have reduced the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity, through enhanced adoption of conservation tillage practices, reduction of insecticide use and use of more environmentally benign herbicides and increasing yields to alleviate pressure to convert additional land into agricultural use.

Large conservation gains possible for global biodiversity facets.

Science.gov (United States)

Pollock, Laura J; Thuiller, Wilfried; Jetz, Walter

2017-06-01

Different facets of biodiversity other than species numbers are increasingly appreciated as critical for maintaining the function of ecosystems and their services to humans. While new international policy and assessment processes such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recognize the importance of an increasingly global, quantitative and comprehensive approach to biodiversity protection, most insights are still focused on a single facet of biodiversity-species. Here we broaden the focus and provide an evaluation of how much of the world's species, functional and phylogenetic diversity of birds and mammals is currently protected and the scope for improvement. We show that the large existing gaps in the coverage for each facet of diversity could be remedied by a slight expansion of protected areas: an additional 5% of the land has the potential to more than triple the protected range of species or phylogenetic or functional units. Further, the same areas are often priorities for multiple diversity facets and for both taxa. However, we find that the choice of conservation strategy has a fundamental effect on outcomes. It is more difficult (that is, requires more land) to maximize basic representation of the global biodiversity pool than to maximize local diversity. Overall, species and phylogenetic priorities are more similar to each other than they are to functional priorities, and priorities for the different bird biodiversity facets are more similar than those of mammals. Our work shows that large gains in biodiversity protection are possible, while also highlighting the need to explicitly link desired conservation objectives and biodiversity metrics. We provide a framework and quantitative tools to advance these goals for multi-faceted biodiversity conservation.

Decomposition of terrestrial resource subsidies in headwater streams: Does consumer diversity matter?

Science.gov (United States)

David Stoker; Amber J. Falkner; Kelly M. Murray; Ashley K. Lang; Thomas R. Barnum; Jeffrey Hepinstall-Cymerman; Michael J. Conroy; Robert J. Cooper; Catherine M. Pringle

2017-01-01

Resource subsidies and biodiversity are essential for maintaining community structure and ecosystem functioning, but the relative importance of consumer diversity and resource characteristics to decomposition remains unclear. Forested headwater streams are detritus-based systems, dependent on leaf litter inputs from adjacent riparian ecosystems, and...

Biodiversity and Tourism : Impacts and Interventions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duim, van der V.R.; Caalders, J.D.A.D.

2002-01-01

This paper sets a framework for intervention in the relationship between biodiversity and tourism against the background of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is argued that intervention cannot and should not only be based on considerations of measurable impacts of tourism on biodiversity

End-of-life resource recovery from emerging electronic products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parajuly, Keshav; Habib, Komal; Cimpan, Ciprian

2016-01-01

Integrating product design with appropriate end-of-life (EoL) processing is widely recognized to have huge potentials in improving resource recovery from electronic products. In this study, we investigate both the product characteristics and EoL processing of robotic vacuum cleaner (RVC), as a case...... of emerging electronic product, in order to understand the recovery fate of different materials and its linkage to product design. Ten different brands of RVC were dismantled and their material composition and design profiles were studied. Another 125 RVCs (349 kg) were used for an experimental trial...... at a conventional ‘shred-and-separate’ type preprocessing plant in Denmark. A detailed material flow analysis was performed throughout the recycling chain. The results show a mismatch between product design and EoL processing, and the lack of practical implementation of ‘Design for EoL’ thinking. In the best...

Climate constrains the evolutionary history and biodiversity of crocodylians.

Science.gov (United States)

Mannion, Philip D; Benson, Roger B J; Carrano, Matthew T; Tennant, Jonathan P; Judd, Jack; Butler, Richard J

2015-09-24

The fossil record of crocodylians and their relatives (pseudosuchians) reveals a rich evolutionary history, prompting questions about causes of long-term decline to their present-day low biodiversity. We analyse climatic drivers of subsampled pseudosuchian biodiversity over their 250 million year history, using a comprehensive new data set. Biodiversity and environmental changes correlate strongly, with long-term decline of terrestrial taxa driven by decreasing temperatures in northern temperate regions, and biodiversity decreases at lower latitudes matching patterns of increasing aridification. However, there is no relationship between temperature and biodiversity for marine pseudosuchians, with sea-level change and post-extinction opportunism demonstrated to be more important drivers. A 'modern-type' latitudinal biodiversity gradient might have existed throughout pseudosuchian history, and range expansion towards the poles occurred during warm intervals. Although their fossil record suggests that current global warming might promote long-term increases in crocodylian biodiversity and geographic range, the 'balancing forces' of anthropogenic environmental degradation complicate future predictions.

Biodiversity information platforms: From standards to interoperability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walter Berendsohn

2011-11-01

Full Text Available One of the most serious bottlenecks in the scientific workflows of biodiversity sciences is the need to integrate data from different sources, software applications, and services for analysis, visualisation and publication. For more than a quarter of a century the TDWG Biodiversity Information Standards organisation has a central role in defining and promoting data standards and protocols supporting interoperability between disparate and locally distributed systems. Although often not sufficiently recognized, TDWG standards are the foundation of many popular Biodiversity Informatics applications and infrastructures ranging from small desktop software solutions to large scale international data networks. However, individual scientists and groups of collaborating scientist have difficulties in fully exploiting the potential of standards that are often notoriously complex, lack non-technical documentations, and use different representations and underlying technologies. In the last few years, a series of initiatives such as Scratchpads, the EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy, and biowikifarm have started to implement and set up virtual work platforms for biodiversity sciences which shield their users from the complexity of the underlying standards. Apart from being practical work-horses for numerous working processes related to biodiversity sciences, they can be seen as information brokers mediating information between multiple data standards and protocols. The ViBRANT project will further strengthen the flexibility and power of virtual biodiversity working platforms by building software interfaces between them, thus facilitating essential information flows needed for comprehensive data exchange, data indexing, web-publication, and versioning. This work will make an important contribution to the shaping of an international, interoperable, and user-oriented biodiversity information infrastructure.

Use of electronic sales data to tailor nutrition education resources for an ethnically diverse population.

Science.gov (United States)

Eyles, H; Rodgers, A; Ni Mhurchu, C

2010-02-01

Nutrition education may be most effective when personally tailored. Individualised electronic supermarket sales data offer opportunities to tailor nutrition education using shopper's usual food purchases. The present study aimed to use individualised electronic supermarket sales data to tailor nutrition resources for an ethnically diverse population in a large supermarket intervention trial in New Zealand. Culturally appropriate nutrition education resources (i.e. messages and shopping lists) were developed with the target population (through two sets of focus groups) and ethnic researchers. A nutrient database of supermarket products was developed using retrospective sales data and linked to participant sales to allow tailoring by usual food purchases. Modified Heart Foundation Tick criteria were used to identify 'healthier' products in the database suitable for promotion in the resources. Rules were developed to create a monthly report listing the tailored and culturally targeted messages to be sent to each participant, and to produce automated, tailored shopping lists. Culturally targeted nutrition messages (n = 864) and shopping lists (n = 3 formats) were developed. The food and nutrient database (n = 3000 top-selling products) was created using 12 months of retrospective sales data, and comprised 60%'healthier' products. Three months of baseline sales data were used to determine usual food purchases. Tailored resources were successfully mailed to 123 Māori, 52 Pacific and 346 non-Māori non-Pacific participants over the 6-month trial intervention period. Electronic supermarket sales data can be used to tailor nutrition education resources for a large number of ethnically diverse supermarket shoppers.

Soil biodiversity and soil community composition determine ecosystem multifunctionality

Science.gov (United States)

Wagg, Cameron; Bender, S. Franz; Widmer, Franco; van der Heijden, Marcel G. A.

2014-01-01

Biodiversity loss has become a global concern as evidence accumulates that it will negatively affect ecosystem services on which society depends. So far, most studies have focused on the ecological consequences of above-ground biodiversity loss; yet a large part of Earth’s biodiversity is literally hidden below ground. Whether reductions of biodiversity in soil communities below ground have consequences for the overall performance of an ecosystem remains unresolved. It is important to investigate this in view of recent observations that soil biodiversity is declining and that soil communities are changing upon land use intensification. We established soil communities differing in composition and diversity and tested their impact on eight ecosystem functions in model grassland communities. We show that soil biodiversity loss and simplification of soil community composition impair multiple ecosystem functions, including plant diversity, decomposition, nutrient retention, and nutrient cycling. The average response of all measured ecosystem functions (ecosystem multifunctionality) exhibited a strong positive linear relationship to indicators of soil biodiversity, suggesting that soil community composition is a key factor in regulating ecosystem functioning. Our results indicate that changes in soil communities and the loss of soil biodiversity threaten ecosystem multifunctionality and sustainability. PMID:24639507

Empirical Accounting of Adaptation to Environmental Change: Organizational Competencies and Biodiversity in Finnish Forest Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eeva Primmer

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Integration of biodiversity conservation into economic utilization of natural resources has become a central response to the challenges of sustainable development. However, the resources and competencies required to implement such an integrated strategy at the level of the individual, the organization, and the sector are not known. To address this knowledge gap, we have developed an approach to analyze responses of organizations to environmental change and evolving social demands for biodiversity conservation. We analyze the scale, scope, and distribution of the resources and competencies that support the delineation of ecologically significant habitats in intensively managed nonindustrial private forests in Finland, an important international actor in the sector. Based on a national survey of 311 foresters working in public agencies, private firms, and cooperative organizations, we investigate the division of labor in the sector and the patterns of investment in human capital, organizational resources, and information networks that support delineation. We find that communicating frequently with the actors who are directly engaged in field operations is consistently the most productive resource in conserving habitats. Our analysis identifies differences in competencies among different types of organizations, as well as distinct roles for public and private-sector organizations. Beyond identification of differences in conservation behavior and competencies among organizations, our analysis points to substantial uniformity in the sector. We attribute similarities in patterns of investment in conservation resources to historically structured central coordination mechanisms within the sector that include education, training, and broadly shared professional norms. These institutional structures and the resulting uniformity can be potential impediments to radical innovation. Our approach to analyzing adaptation to environmental change highlights the

Conserving the zoological resources of Bangladesh under a changing climate.

Science.gov (United States)

DAS, Bidhan C

2009-06-01

It is now well recognized that Bangladesh is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate change and sea level rise. Low levels of natural resources and a high occurrence of natural disasters further add to the challenges faced by the country. The impacts of climate change are anticipated to exacerbate these existing stresses and constitute a serious impediment to poverty reduction and economic development. Ecosystems and biodiversity are important key sectors of the economy and natural resources of the country are selected as the most vulnerable to climate change. It is for these reasons that Bangladesh should prepare to conserve its natural resources under changed climatic conditions. Unfortunately, the development of specific strategies and policies to address the effects of climate change on the ecosystem and on biodiversity has not commenced in Bangladesh. Here, I present a detailed review of animal resources of Bangladesh, an outline of the major areas in zoological research to be integrated to adapt to climate change, and identified few components for each of the aforesaid areas in relation to the natural resource conservation and management in the country. © 2009 ISZS, Blackwell Publishing and IOZ/CAS.

Experiencing biodiversity as a bridge over the science-society communication gap.

Science.gov (United States)

Meinard, Yves; Quétier, Fabien

2014-06-01

Drawing on the idea that biodiversity is simply the diversity of living things, and that everyone knows what diversity and living things mean, most conservation professionals eschew the need to explain the many complex ways in which biodiversity is understood in science. On many biodiversity-related issues, this lack of clarity leads to a communication gap between science and the general public, including decision makers who must design and implement biodiversity policies. Closing this communication gap is pivotal to the ability of science to inform sound environmental decision making. To address this communication gap, we propose a surrogate of biodiversity for communication purposes that captures the scientific definition of biodiversity yet can be understood by nonscientists; that is, biodiversity as a learning experience. The prerequisites of this or any other biodiversity communication surrogate are that it should have transdisciplinary relevance; not be measurable; be accessible to a wide audience; be usable to translate biodiversity issues; and understandably encompass biodiversity concepts. Biodiversity as a learning experience satisfies these prerequisites and is philosophically robust. More importantly, it can effectively contribute to closing the communication gap between biodiversity science and society at large. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Availability, Level of Use and Constraints to Use of Electronic Resources by Law Lecturers in Public Universities in Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Amusa, Oyintola Isiaka; Atinmo, Morayo

2016-01-01

(Purpose) This study surveyed the level of availability, use and constraints to use of electronic resources among law lecturers in Nigeria. (Methodology) Five hundred and fifty-two law lecturers were surveyed and four hundred and forty-two responded. (Results) Data analysis revealed that the level of availability of electronic resources for the…

Biotechnology for Conservation and Utilization of Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources in Nepal

OpenAIRE

Bal Krishna Joshi

2017-01-01

Agricultural biodiversity is the basis of human life and food security. Nepal with 577 cultivated species possesses huge diversity at varietal as well as landrace levels. In most agricultural crops the rapid genetic erosion due to several reasons is a common phenomenon. Thus, considering the importance of agricultural biodiversity declared by Convention on Biological Diversity for sustainable food production, National Agriculture Genetic Resources Center (NAGRC) has been established for conse...

Life cycle assessment needs predictive spatial modelling for biodiversity and ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Sim, Sarah; Hamel, Perrine; Bryant, Benjamin; Noe, Ryan; Mueller, Carina; Rigarlsford, Giles; Kulak, Michal; Kowal, Virginia; Sharp, Richard; Clavreul, Julie; Price, Edward; Polasky, Stephen; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Daily, Gretchen

2017-01-01

International corporations in an increasingly globalized economy exert a major influence on the planet's land use and resources through their product design and material sourcing decisions. Many companies use life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate their sustainability, yet commonly-used LCA methodologies lack the spatial resolution and predictive ecological information to reveal key impacts on climate, water and biodiversity. We present advances for LCA that integrate spatially explicit modelling of land change and ecosystem services in a Land-Use Change Improved (LUCI)-LCA. Comparing increased demand for bioplastics derived from two alternative feedstock-location scenarios for maize and sugarcane, we find that the LUCI-LCA approach yields results opposite to those of standard LCA for greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, and of different magnitudes for soil erosion and biodiversity. This approach highlights the importance of including information about where and how land-use change and related impacts will occur in supply chain and innovation decisions. PMID:28429710

Life cycle assessment needs predictive spatial modelling for biodiversity and ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Sim, Sarah; Hamel, Perrine; Bryant, Benjamin; Noe, Ryan; Mueller, Carina; Rigarlsford, Giles; Kulak, Michal; Kowal, Virginia; Sharp, Richard; Clavreul, Julie; Price, Edward; Polasky, Stephen; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Daily, Gretchen

2017-04-01

International corporations in an increasingly globalized economy exert a major influence on the planet's land use and resources through their product design and material sourcing decisions. Many companies use life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate their sustainability, yet commonly-used LCA methodologies lack the spatial resolution and predictive ecological information to reveal key impacts on climate, water and biodiversity. We present advances for LCA that integrate spatially explicit modelling of land change and ecosystem services in a Land-Use Change Improved (LUCI)-LCA. Comparing increased demand for bioplastics derived from two alternative feedstock-location scenarios for maize and sugarcane, we find that the LUCI-LCA approach yields results opposite to those of standard LCA for greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, and of different magnitudes for soil erosion and biodiversity. This approach highlights the importance of including information about where and how land-use change and related impacts will occur in supply chain and innovation decisions.

Life cycle assessment needs predictive spatial modelling for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Sim, Sarah; Hamel, Perrine; Bryant, Benjamin; Noe, Ryan; Mueller, Carina; Rigarlsford, Giles; Kulak, Michal; Kowal, Virginia; Sharp, Richard; Clavreul, Julie; Price, Edward; Polasky, Stephen; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Daily, Gretchen

2017-04-21

International corporations in an increasingly globalized economy exert a major influence on the planet's land use and resources through their product design and material sourcing decisions. Many companies use life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate their sustainability, yet commonly-used LCA methodologies lack the spatial resolution and predictive ecological information to reveal key impacts on climate, water and biodiversity. We present advances for LCA that integrate spatially explicit modelling of land change and ecosystem services in a Land-Use Change Improved (LUCI)-LCA. Comparing increased demand for bioplastics derived from two alternative feedstock-location scenarios for maize and sugarcane, we find that the LUCI-LCA approach yields results opposite to those of standard LCA for greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, and of different magnitudes for soil erosion and biodiversity. This approach highlights the importance of including information about where and how land-use change and related impacts will occur in supply chain and innovation decisions.

Can we detect oceanic biodiversity hotspots from space?

Science.gov (United States)

De Monte, Silvia; Soccodato, Alice; Alvain, Séverine; d'Ovidio, Francesco

2013-10-01

Understanding the variability of marine biodiversity is a central issue in microbiology. Current observational programs are based on in situ studies, but their implementation at the global scale is particularly challenging, owing to the ocean extent, its temporal variability and the heterogeneity of the data sources on which compilations are built. Here, we explore the possibility of identifying phytoplanktonic biodiversity hotspots from satellite. We define a Shannon entropy index based on patchiness in ocean color bio-optical anomalies. This index provides a high resolution (1 degree) global coverage. It shows a relation to temperature and mid-latitude maxima in accordance with those previously evidenced in microbiological biodiversity model and observational studies. Regional maxima are in remarkable agreement with several known biodiversity hotspots for plankton organisms and even for higher levels of the marine trophic chain, as well as with some in situ planktonic biodiversity estimates (from Atlantic Meridional Transect cruise). These results encourage to explore marine biodiversity with a coordinated effort of the molecular, ecological and remote sensing communities.

A systematic review of portable electronic technology for health education in resource-limited settings.

Science.gov (United States)

McHenry, Megan S; Fischer, Lydia J; Chun, Yeona; Vreeman, Rachel C

2017-08-01

The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the literature of how portable electronic technologies with offline functionality are perceived and used to provide health education in resource-limited settings. Three reviewers evaluated articles and performed a bibliography search to identify studies describing health education delivered by portable electronic device with offline functionality in low- or middle-income countries. Data extracted included: study population; study design and type of analysis; type of technology used; method of use; setting of technology use; impact on caregivers, patients, or overall health outcomes; and reported limitations. Searches yielded 5514 unique titles. Out of 75 critically reviewed full-text articles, 10 met inclusion criteria. Study locations included Botswana, Peru, Kenya, Thailand, Nigeria, India, Ghana, and Tanzania. Topics addressed included: development of healthcare worker training modules, clinical decision support tools, patient education tools, perceptions and usability of portable electronic technology, and comparisons of technologies and/or mobile applications. Studies primarily looked at the assessment of developed educational modules on trainee health knowledge, perceptions and usability of technology, and comparisons of technologies. Overall, studies reported positive results for portable electronic device-based health education, frequently reporting increased provider/patient knowledge, improved patient outcomes in both quality of care and management, increased provider comfort level with technology, and an environment characterized by increased levels of technology-based, informal learning situations. Negative assessments included high investment costs, lack of technical support, and fear of device theft. While the research is limited, portable electronic educational resources present promising avenues to increase access to effective health education in resource-limited settings, contingent

WOW! Windows on the Wild: A Biodiversity Primer.

Science.gov (United States)

Braus, Judy, Ed.; And Others

Windows on the Wild is an environmental education program of the World Wildlife Fund. This issue of WOW! focuses on biodiversity. Topics include: an interview with one of the world's leading experts on biodiversity; the lighter side of biodiversity through comics and cartoons; a species-scape that compares the number of species on the planet;…

CALICE: Calibrating Plant Biodiversity in Glacier Ice

Science.gov (United States)

Festi, Daniela; Cristofori, Antonella; Vernesi, Cristiano; Zerbe, Stefan; Wellstein, Camilla; Maggi, Valter; Oeggl, Klaus

2017-04-01

The objective of the project is to reconstruct plant biodiversity and its trend archived in Alpine glacier ice by pollen and eDNA (environmental DNA) during the last five decades by analyzing a 40 m ice core. For our study we chose the Adamello glacier (Trentino - Südtirol, Lombardia) because of i) the good preservation conditions for pollen and eDNA in ice, ii) the thickness of the ice cap (270m) and iii) the expected high time resolution. The biodiversity estimates gained by pollen analysis and eDNA will be validated by historical biodiversity assessments mainly based on vegetation maps, aerial photos and vegetation surveys in the catchment area of the Adamello glacier for the last five decades. This historical reconstruction of biodiversity trends will be performed on a micro-, meso- and macro-scale (5, 20-50 and 50-100 Km radius, respectively). The results will serve as a calibration data set on biodiversity for future studies, such as the second step of the coring by the POLLiCE research consortium (pollice.fmach.it). In fact, arrangements are currently been made to drill the complete ice cap and retrieve a 270 m thick core which has the potential to cover a time span of minimum 400 years up to several millennia. This second stage will extend the time scale and enable the evaluation of dissimilarity/similarity of modern biodiversity in relation to Late Holocene trends. Finally, we believe this case study has the potential to be applied in other glaciated areas to evaluate biodiversity for large regions (e.g. central Asian mountain ranges, Tibet and Tian Shan or the Andes).

Late Quaternary climate change shapes island biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weigelt, Patrick; Steinbauer, Manuel; Cabral, Juliano

2016-01-01

Island biogeographical models consider islands either as geologically static with biodiversity resulting from ecologically neutral immigration–extinction dynamics1, or as geologically dynamic with biodiversity resulting from immigration–speciation–extinction dynamics influenced by changes in island...... sea levels3, 4 and caused massive changes in island area, isolation and connectivity5, orders of magnitude faster than the geological processes of island formation, subsidence and erosion considered in island theory2, 6. Consequences of these oscillations for present biodiversity remain unassessed5, 7...

Positive biodiversity-productivity relationship predominant in global forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jingjing; Crowther, Thomas W; Picard, Nicolas; Wiser, Susan; Zhou, Mo; Alberti, Giorgio; Schulze, Ernst-Detlef; McGuire, A David; Bozzato, Fabio; Pretzsch, Hans; de-Miguel, Sergio; Paquette, Alain; Hérault, Bruno; Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael; Barrett, Christopher B; Glick, Henry B; Hengeveld, Geerten M; Nabuurs, Gert-Jan; Pfautsch, Sebastian; Viana, Helder; Vibrans, Alexander C; Ammer, Christian; Schall, Peter; Verbyla, David; Tchebakova, Nadja; Fischer, Markus; Watson, James V; Chen, Han Y H; Lei, Xiangdong; Schelhaas, Mart-Jan; Lu, Huicui; Gianelle, Damiano; Parfenova, Elena I; Salas, Christian; Lee, Eungul; Lee, Boknam; Kim, Hyun Seok; Bruelheide, Helge; Coomes, David A; Piotto, Daniel; Sunderland, Terry; Schmid, Bernhard; Gourlet-Fleury, Sylvie; Sonké, Bonaventure; Tavani, Rebecca; Zhu, Jun; Brandl, Susanne; Vayreda, Jordi; Kitahara, Fumiaki; Searle, Eric B; Neldner, Victor J; Ngugi, Michael R; Baraloto, Christopher; Frizzera, Lorenzo; Bałazy, Radomir; Oleksyn, Jacek; Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, Tomasz; Bouriaud, Olivier; Bussotti, Filippo; Finér, Leena; Jaroszewicz, Bogdan; Jucker, Tommaso; Valladares, Fernando; Jagodzinski, Andrzej M; Peri, Pablo L; Gonmadje, Christelle; Marthy, William; O'Brien, Timothy; Martin, Emanuel H; Marshall, Andrew R; Rovero, Francesco; Bitariho, Robert; Niklaus, Pascal A; Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia; Chamuya, Nurdin; Valencia, Renato; Mortier, Frédéric; Wortel, Verginia; Engone-Obiang, Nestor L; Ferreira, Leandro V; Odeke, David E; Vasquez, Rodolfo M; Lewis, Simon L; Reich, Peter B

2016-10-14

The biodiversity-productivity relationship (BPR) is foundational to our understanding of the global extinction crisis and its impacts on ecosystem functioning. Understanding BPR is critical for the accurate valuation and effective conservation of biodiversity. Using ground-sourced data from 777,126 permanent plots, spanning 44 countries and most terrestrial biomes, we reveal a globally consistent positive concave-down BPR, showing that continued biodiversity loss would result in an accelerating decline in forest productivity worldwide. The value of biodiversity in maintaining commercial forest productivity alone-US$166 billion to 490 billion per year according to our estimation-is more than twice what it would cost to implement effective global conservation. This highlights the need for a worldwide reassessment of biodiversity values, forest management strategies, and conservation priorities. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Science–policy challenges for biodiversity, public health and urbanization: examples from Belgium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keune, H; De Blust, G; Van den Berge, K; Brosens, D; Van Herzele, A; Simoens, I; Kretsch, C; Gilbert, M; Linard, C; Flandroy, L; Versteirt, V; Hartig, T; De Keersmaecker, L; Eggermont, H; Dessein, J; Vanwambeke, S; Prieur-Richard, A H; Wittmer, H; Martens, P; Mathijs, E

2013-01-01

Internationally, the importance of a coordinated effort to protect both biodiversity and public health is more and more recognized. These issues are often concentrated or particularly challenging in urban areas, and therefore on-going urbanization worldwide raises particular issues both for the conservation of living natural resources and for population health strategies. These challenges include significant difficulties associated with sustainable management of urban ecosystems, urban development planning, social cohesion and public health. An important element of the challenge is the need to interface between different forms of knowledge and different actors from science and policy. We illustrate this with examples from Belgium, showcasing concrete cases of human–nature interaction. To better tackle these challenges, since 2011, actors in science, policy and the broader Belgian society have launched a number of initiatives to deal in a more integrated manner with combined biodiversity and public health challenges in the face of ongoing urbanization. This emerging community of practice in Belgium exemplifies the importance of interfacing at different levels. (1) Bridges must be built between science and the complex biodiversity/ecosystem–human/public health–urbanization phenomena. (2) Bridges between different professional communities and disciplines are urgently needed. (3) Closer collaboration between science and policy, and between science and societal practice is needed. Moreover, within each of these communities closer collaboration between specialized sections is needed. (letter)

SAGES: a suite of freely-available software tools for electronic disease surveillance in resource-limited settings.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheri L Lewis

Full Text Available Public health surveillance is undergoing a revolution driven by advances in the field of information technology. Many countries have experienced vast improvements in the collection, ingestion, analysis, visualization, and dissemination of public health data. Resource-limited countries have lagged behind due to challenges in information technology infrastructure, public health resources, and the costs of proprietary software. The Suite for Automated Global Electronic bioSurveillance (SAGES is a collection of modular, flexible, freely-available software tools for electronic disease surveillance in resource-limited settings. One or more SAGES tools may be used in concert with existing surveillance applications or the SAGES tools may be used en masse for an end-to-end biosurveillance capability. This flexibility allows for the development of an inexpensive, customized, and sustainable disease surveillance system. The ability to rapidly assess anomalous disease activity may lead to more efficient use of limited resources and better compliance with World Health Organization International Health Regulations.

Reconciling Mining with the Conservation of Cave Biodiversity: A Quantitative Baseline to Help Establish Conservation Priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaffé, Rodolfo; Prous, Xavier; Zampaulo, Robson; Giannini, Tereza C; Imperatriz-Fonseca, Vera L; Maurity, Clóvis; Oliveira, Guilherme; Brandi, Iuri V; Siqueira, José O

2016-01-01

assessment process and channel more resources to the effective protection of overall cave biodiversity.

Use and Cost of Electronic Resources in Central Library of Ferdowsi University Based on E-metrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Reza Davarpanah

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate the usage of electronic journals in Ferdowsi University, Iran based on e-metrics. The paper also aimed to emphasize the analysis of cost-benefit and the correlation between the journal impact factors and the usage data. In this study experiences of Ferdowsi University library on licensing and usage of electronic resources was evaluated by providing a cost-benefit analysis based on the cost and usage statistics of electronic resources. Vendor-provided data were also compared with local usage data. The usage data were collected by tracking web-based access locally, and by collecting vender-provided usage data. The data sources were one-year of vendor-supplied e-resource usage data such as Ebsco, Elsevier, Proquest, Emerald, Oxford and Springer and local usage data collected from the Ferdowsi university web server. The study found that actual usage values differ for vendor-provided data and local usage data. Elsevier has got the highest usage degree in searches, sessions and downloads. Statistics also showed that a small number of journals satisfy significant amount of use while the majority of journals were used less frequent and some were never used at all. The users preferred the PDF rather than HTML format. The data in subject profile suggested that the provided e-resources were best suited to certain subjects. There was no correlation between IF and electronic journal use. Monitoring the usage of e-resources gained increasing importance for acquisition policy and budget decisions. The article provided information about local metrics for the six surveyed vendors/publishers, e.g. usage trends, requests per package, cost per use as related to the scientific specialty of the university.

Beyond biodiversity: fish metagenomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ardura, Alba; Planes, Serge; Garcia-Vazquez, Eva

2011-01-01

Biodiversity and intra-specific genetic diversity are interrelated and determine the potential of a community to survive and evolve. Both are considered together in Prokaryote communities treated as metagenomes or ensembles of functional variants beyond species limits.Many factors alter biodiversity in higher Eukaryote communities, and human exploitation can be one of the most important for some groups of plants and animals. For example, fisheries can modify both biodiversity and genetic diversity (intra specific). Intra-specific diversity can be drastically altered by overfishing. Intense fishing pressure on one stock may imply extinction of some genetic variants and subsequent loss of intra-specific diversity. The objective of this study was to apply a metagenome approach to fish communities and explore its value for rapid evaluation of biodiversity and genetic diversity at community level. Here we have applied the metagenome approach employing the barcoding target gene coi as a model sequence in catch from four very different fish assemblages exploited by fisheries: freshwater communities from the Amazon River and northern Spanish rivers, and marine communities from the Cantabric and Mediterranean seas.Treating all sequences obtained from each regional catch as a biological unit (exploited community) we found that metagenomic diversity indices of the Amazonian catch sample here examined were lower than expected. Reduced diversity could be explained, at least partially, by overexploitation of the fish community that had been independently estimated by other methods.We propose using a metagenome approach for estimating diversity in Eukaryote communities and early evaluating genetic variation losses at multi-species level.

Beyond biodiversity: fish metagenomes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alba Ardura

Full Text Available Biodiversity and intra-specific genetic diversity are interrelated and determine the potential of a community to survive and evolve. Both are considered together in Prokaryote communities treated as metagenomes or ensembles of functional variants beyond species limits.Many factors alter biodiversity in higher Eukaryote communities, and human exploitation can be one of the most important for some groups of plants and animals. For example, fisheries can modify both biodiversity and genetic diversity (intra specific. Intra-specific diversity can be drastically altered by overfishing. Intense fishing pressure on one stock may imply extinction of some genetic variants and subsequent loss of intra-specific diversity. The objective of this study was to apply a metagenome approach to fish communities and explore its value for rapid evaluation of biodiversity and genetic diversity at community level. Here we have applied the metagenome approach employing the barcoding target gene coi as a model sequence in catch from four very different fish assemblages exploited by fisheries: freshwater communities from the Amazon River and northern Spanish rivers, and marine communities from the Cantabric and Mediterranean seas.Treating all sequences obtained from each regional catch as a biological unit (exploited community we found that metagenomic diversity indices of the Amazonian catch sample here examined were lower than expected. Reduced diversity could be explained, at least partially, by overexploitation of the fish community that had been independently estimated by other methods.We propose using a metagenome approach for estimating diversity in Eukaryote communities and early evaluating genetic variation losses at multi-species level.

Regulating the Access to Genetic Resources in Brazil: Suggestions for a New Scenario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nilo Luiz Saccaro-Junior

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The relationship between the use of genetic resources, social justice and biodiversity conservation has proved to be one of the main matters in current environmental issues. Brazil exercises a leadership role in international debates about genetic resources and is a pioneer in the creation of a specific internal regulation. This, however, has been strongly criticized by the stakeholders, as well as the lack of incentive for biodiversity research in this country. This paper discusses some of the main conflicting points and how a new scenario of control and promotion can overcome them, based on the regulatory experience since the creation of the current regulatory framework and national indicators available in research with Brazilian species. The suggestions are based on three pillars: a new relationship between government and bioprospectors, guided by encouraging legal activities; a diffuse distribution of benefits, with simple rules, being able to capture some profit from bioprospecting; and a synergy between the existence of traditional/indigenous communities and biodiversity maintenance.

An assessment of biodiversity surrogacy options in the Limpopo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Because of the inadequacy of existing biodiversity distribution data, surrogate measures for regional biodiversity have long been used in conservation area selection. These measures include species and environmental data. However, the assumed relationship between surrogate measures and regional biodiversity has ...

Digital Geogames to Foster Local Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Schaal, Sonja; Schaal, Steffen; Lude, Armin

2015-01-01

The valuing of biodiversity is considered to be a first step towards its conservation. Therefore, the aim of the BioDiv2Go project is to combine sensuous experiences discovering biodiversity with mobile technology and a game-based learning approach. Following the competence model for environmental education (Roczen et al, 2014), Geogames (location…

A solution to the biodiversity paradox by logical deterministic cellular automata.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalmykov, Lev V; Kalmykov, Vyacheslav L

2015-06-01

The paradox of biological diversity is the key problem of theoretical ecology. The paradox consists in the contradiction between the competitive exclusion principle and the observed biodiversity. The principle is important as the basis for ecological theory. On a relatively simple model we show a mechanism of indefinite coexistence of complete competitors which violates the known formulations of the competitive exclusion principle. This mechanism is based on timely recovery of limiting resources and their spatio-temporal allocation between competitors. Because of limitations of the black-box modeling there was a problem to formulate the exclusion principle correctly. Our white-box multiscale model of two-species competition is based on logical deterministic individual-based cellular automata. This approach provides an automatic deductive inference on the basis of a system of axioms, and gives a direct insight into mechanisms of the studied system. It is one of the most promising methods of artificial intelligence. We reformulate and generalize the competitive exclusion principle and explain why this formulation provides a solution of the biodiversity paradox. In addition, we propose a principle of competitive coexistence.

US Environmental Legislation and Biodiversity over the 20th Century

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaiser, Brooks

2014-01-01

The U.S. Endangered Species Act is held up both as an example of strict legislation working to guard biodiversity preservation (Yaffee, 1982) and an uneconomical law that creates perverse incentives that may actually reduce such preservation (Brown and Shogren, 1998; Lueck & Michael, 2003; List et...... al, 2006). Passage of the 1973 act itself, and that of the three earlier acts leading up to it in the 1960s, was not controversial; few congressmen wanted to vote against the preservation of endangered species! Yet controversy surrounding the law's restrictions on land and resource use extends far...

Impacts of climate change on biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem services: technical input to the 2013 National Climate Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Staudinger, Michelle D.; Grimm, Nancy B.; Staudt, Amanda; Carter, Shawn L.; Stuart, F. Stuart; Kareiva, Peter; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Stein, Bruce A.

2012-01-01

Ecosystems, and the biodiversity and services they support, are intrinsically dependent on climate. During the twentieth century, climate change has had documented impacts on ecological systems, and impacts are expected to increase as climate change continues and perhaps even accelerates. This technical input to the National Climate Assessment synthesizes our scientific understanding of the way climate change is affecting biodiversity, ecosystems, ecosystem services, and what strategies might be employed to decrease current and future risks. Building on past assessments of how climate change and other stressors are affecting ecosystems in the United States and around the world, we approach the subject from several different perspectives. First, we review the observed and projected impacts on biodiversity, with a focus on genes, species, and assemblages of species. Next, we examine how climate change is affecting ecosystem structural elements—such as biomass, architecture, and heterogeneity—and functions—specifically, as related to the fluxes of energy and matter. People experience climate change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems as changes in ecosystem services; people depend on ecosystems for resources that are harvested, their role in regulating the movement of materials and disturbances, and their recreational, cultural, and aesthetic value. Thus, we review newly emerging research to determine how human activities and a changing climate are likely to alter the delivery of these ecosystem services. This technical input also examines two cross-cutting topics. First, we recognize that climate change is happening against the backdrop of a wide range of other environmental and anthropogenic stressors, many of which have caused dramatic ecosystem degradation already. This broader range of stressors interacts with climate change, and complicates our abilities to predict and manage the impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, and the services they support. The

Large conservation gains possible for global biodiversity facets

Science.gov (United States)

Pollock, Laura J.; Thuiller, Wilfried; Jetz, Walter

2017-06-01

Different facets of biodiversity other than species numbers are increasingly appreciated as critical for maintaining the function of ecosystems and their services to humans. While new international policy and assessment processes such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recognize the importance of an increasingly global, quantitative and comprehensive approach to biodiversity protection, most insights are still focused on a single facet of biodiversity—species. Here we broaden the focus and provide an evaluation of how much of the world’s species, functional and phylogenetic diversity of birds and mammals is currently protected and the scope for improvement. We show that the large existing gaps in the coverage for each facet of diversity could be remedied by a slight expansion of protected areas: an additional 5% of the land has the potential to more than triple the protected range of species or phylogenetic or functional units. Further, the same areas are often priorities for multiple diversity facets and for both taxa. However, we find that the choice of conservation strategy has a fundamental effect on outcomes. It is more difficult (that is, requires more land) to maximize basic representation of the global biodiversity pool than to maximize local diversity. Overall, species and phylogenetic priorities are more similar to each other than they are to functional priorities, and priorities for the different bird biodiversity facets are more similar than those of mammals. Our work shows that large gains in biodiversity protection are possible, while also highlighting the need to explicitly link desired conservation objectives and biodiversity metrics. We provide a framework and quantitative tools to advance these goals for multi-faceted biodiversity conservation.

Biodiversity offsets and the challenge of achieving no net loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Toby A; VON Hase, Amrei; Brownlie, Susie; Ekstrom, Jonathan M M; Pilgrim, John D; Savy, Conrad E; Stephens, R T Theo; Treweek, Jo; Ussher, Graham T; Ward, Gerri; Ten Kate, Kerry

2013-12-01

Businesses, governments, and financial institutions are increasingly adopting a policy of no net loss of biodiversity for development activities. The goal of no net loss is intended to help relieve tension between conservation and development by enabling economic gains to be achieved without concomitant biodiversity losses. biodiversity offsets represent a necessary component of a much broader mitigation strategy for achieving no net loss following prior application of avoidance, minimization, and remediation measures. However, doubts have been raised about the appropriate use of biodiversity offsets. We examined what no net loss means as a desirable conservation outcome and reviewed the conditions that determine whether, and under what circumstances, biodiversity offsets can help achieve such a goal. We propose a conceptual framework to substitute the often ad hoc approaches evident in many biodiversity offset initiatives. The relevance of biodiversity offsets to no net loss rests on 2 fundamental premises. First, offsets are rarely adequate for achieving no net loss of biodiversity alone. Second, some development effects may be too difficult or risky, or even impossible, to offset. To help to deliver no net loss through biodiversity offsets, biodiversity gains must be comparable to losses, be in addition to conservation gains that may have occurred in absence of the offset, and be lasting and protected from risk of failure. Adherence to these conditions requires consideration of the wider landscape context of development and offset activities, timing of offset delivery, measurement of biodiversity, accounting procedures and rule sets used to calculate biodiversity losses and gains and guide offset design, and approaches to managing risk. Adoption of this framework will strengthen the potential for offsets to provide an ecologically defensible mechanism that can help reconcile conservation and development. Balances de Biodiversidad y el Reto de No Obtener P�

How economic contexts shape calculations of yield in biodiversity offsetting.

Science.gov (United States)

Carver, L; Sullivan, S

2017-10-01

We examined and analyzed methods used to create numerical equivalence between sites affected by development and proposed conservation offset sites. Application of biodiversity offsetting metrics in development impact and mitigation assessments is thought to standardize biodiversity conservation outcomes, sometimes termed yield by those conducting these calculations. The youth of biodiversity offsetting in application, however, means little is known about how biodiversity valuations and offset contracts between development and offset sites are agreed on in practice or about long-term conservation outcomes. We examined how sites were made commensurable and how biodiversity gains or yields were calculated and negotiated for a specific offset contract in a government-led pilot study of biodiversity offsets in England. Over 24 months, we conducted participant observations of various stages in the negotiation of offset contracts through repeated visits to 3 (anonymized) biodiversity offset contract sites. We conducted 50 semistructured interviews of stakeholders in regional and local government, the private sector, and civil society. We used a qualitative data analysis software program (DEDOOSE) to textually analyze interview transcriptions. We also compared successive iterations of biodiversity-offsetting calculation spreadsheets and planning documents. A particular focus was the different iterations of a specific biodiversity impact assessment in which the biodiversity offsetting metric developed by the U.K.'s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was used. We highlight 3 main findings. First, biodiversity offsetting metrics were amended in creative ways as users adapted inputs to metric calculations to balance and negotiate conflicting requirements. Second, the practice of making different habitats equivalent to each other through the application of biodiversity offsetting metrics resulted in commensuration outcomes that may not provide projected

Lessons from native spruce forests in Alaska: managing Sitka spruce plantations worldwide to benefit biodiversity and ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Robert L. Deal; Paul Hennon; Richard O' Hanlon; David D' Amore

2014-01-01

There is increasing interest worldwide in managing forests to maintain or improve biodiversity, enhance ecosystem services and assure long-term sustainability of forest resources. An important goal of forest management is to increase stand diversity, provide wildlife habitat and improve forest species diversity. We synthesize results from natural spruce forests in...

Building and Managing Electronic Resources in Digital Era in India with Special Reference to IUCAA and NIV, Pune: A Comparative Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Sahu, H. K.; Singh, S. N.

2015-04-01

This paper discusses and presents a comparative case study of two libraries in Pune, India, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics and Information Centre and Library of National Institute of Virology (Indian Council of Medical Research). It compares how both libraries have managed their e-resource collections, including acquisitions, subscriptions, and consortia arrangements, while also developing a collection of their own resources, including pre-prints and publications, video lectures, and other materials in an institutional repository. This study illustrates how difficult it is to manage electronic resources in a developing country like India, even though electronic resources are used more than print resources. Electronic resource management can be daunting, but with a systematic approach, various problems can be solved, and use of the materials will be enhanced.

Conservation of biodiversity in the Sango Bay area, southern Uganda

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A series of biodiversity and socio-economic surveys carried out in the Sango Bay area of southern Uganda revealed high biodiversity values for some taxa in some sites. Use of this biodiversity and reliance on it by local communities was widespread. Biodiversity scores were given to all species and these were coupled with ...

Brown World Invertebrates Contradict Green World Biodiversity Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patrick, L.B.; Kershner, M.W.; Fraser, L.H.

2008-01-01

Biodiversity-productivity theory predicts that ecosystems with increased productivity due to excessive limiting-nutrient loading will have decreased taxonomic diversity. In this 4-year study, we elevated productivity by adding NPK fertilizer to 20 m diameter plots in an old-field grassland to test the effects of anthropogenically mediated nutrient loading on plant and epigeal arthropod communities. While plants responded as predicted by the biodiversity-productivity theory, the epigeal arthropod community had highest species richness within the fertilized high-productivity treatments. We conclude that the contradictory response of the largely detrital-based epigeal community should alter conventional biodiversity-productivity theory and could affect terrestrial biodiversity conservation strategies.

Systems in peril: Climate change, agriculture and biodiversity in Australia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cocklin, Chris; Dibden, Jacqui

2009-01-01

This paper reflects on the interplay amongst three closely linked systems - climate, agriculture and biodiversity - in the Australian context. The advance of a European style of agriculture has imperilled Australian biodiversity. The loss and degradation of biodiversity has, in turn, had negative consequences for agriculture. Climate change is imposing new pressures on both agriculture and biodiversity. From a policy and management perspective, though, it is possible to envisage mitigation and adaptation responses that would alleviate pressures on all three systems (climate, agriculture, biodiversity). In this way, the paper seeks to make explicit the important connections between science and policy. The paper outlines the distinctive features of both biodiversity and agriculture in the Australian context. The discussion then addresses the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity, followed by an overview of how climate change is impacting on both of these systems. The final section of the paper offers some commentary on current policy and management strategies that are targeted at mitigating the loss of biodiversity and which may also have benefits in terms of climate change.

Data hosting infrastructure for primary biodiversity data

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Today, an unprecedented volume of primary biodiversity data are being generated worldwide, yet significant amounts of these data have been and will continue to be lost after the conclusion of the projects tasked with collecting them. To get the most value out of these data it is imperative to seek a solution whereby these data are rescued, archived and made available to the biodiversity community. To this end, the biodiversity informatics community requires investment in processes and infrastructure to mitigate data loss and provide solutions for long-term hosting and sharing of biodiversity data. Discussion We review the current state of biodiversity data hosting and investigate the technological and sociological barriers to proper data management. We further explore the rescuing and re-hosting of legacy data, the state of existing toolsets and propose a future direction for the development of new discovery tools. We also explore the role of data standards and licensing in the context of data hosting and preservation. We provide five recommendations for the biodiversity community that will foster better data preservation and access: (1) encourage the community's use of data standards, (2) promote the public domain licensing of data, (3) establish a community of those involved in data hosting and archival, (4) establish hosting centers for biodiversity data, and (5) develop tools for data discovery. Conclusion The community's adoption of standards and development of tools to enable data discovery is essential to sustainable data preservation. Furthermore, the increased adoption of open content licensing, the establishment of data hosting infrastructure and the creation of a data hosting and archiving community are all necessary steps towards the community ensuring that data archival policies become standardized. PMID:22373257

Essays in renewable resource economics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erdlenbruch, K.

2005-03-01

This thesis constitutes a study on renewable resource economics. Chapter 2 presents two types of extracting behaviour in two optimal control models, continuous and impulse control. Chapter 3 analyses stock dependent instruments and shows their advantages. Chapter 4 compares the two types of extracting behaviour and demonstrates that the impulse control generates higher gains, whereas fiscal revenues and stocks are not always higher. Chapter 5 establishes a dynamic game and shows that the scope for cooperation between heterogeneous agents is greatest for intermediary levels of heterogeneity. Chapter 6 studies forest exploitation and fiscal- and regulatory systems of the forest sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in France. Finally, chapter 7 presents a study on forest biodiversity and indicates the economic criteria and cutting strategies that are beneficial for biodiversity preservation. (author)

Economic Inequality Predicts Biodiversity Loss

OpenAIRE

Mikkelson, Gregory M.; Gonzalez, Andrew; Peterson, Garry D.

2007-01-01

Human activity is causing high rates of biodiversity loss. Yet, surprisingly little is known about the extent to which socioeconomic factors exacerbate or ameliorate our impacts on biological diversity. One such factor, economic inequality, has been shown to affect public health, and has been linked to environmental problems in general. We tested how strongly economic inequality is related to biodiversity loss in particular. We found that among countries, and among US states, the number of sp...

Filling in biodiversity threat gaps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Joppa, L. N.; O'Connor, Brian; Visconti, Piero

2016-01-01

increase to 10,000 times the background rate should species threatened with extinction succumb to pressures they face (4). Reversing these trends is a focus of the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and its 20 Aichi Targets and is explicitly incorporated...... into the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We identify major gaps in data available for assessing global biodiversity threats and suggest mechanisms for closing them....

Forest management and biodiversity - France at a crossroads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefevre, Francois; Vallauri, Daniel; Neyroumande, Emmanuelle

2011-01-01

The way seemed to be promisingly open for the decade 2000 to become a period of the rich and shared implementation of practical and key developments in terms of forest biodiversity. Some steps forward have been made, especially in terms of protected areas both in overseas and mainland France, development of certification schemes and decentralisation. However, the emergence of the climate issue and the reduction in public funds and human resource allocations, among other reasons, slowed down the expected improvements. The 1999 and 2009 storms highlighted the low resilience of the dominant silvicultural model. In the area of climate change, short-term mitigation policies tend to overshadow guidelines aimed at long term adaptation and call on a partial approach that does not take into account the forest ecosystem as a whole. In fact, France's commitments in respect of the EU and the resolutions that arose from the Grenelle consultations have strongly reintroduced the question of increasing wood harvesting into public debate, creating sharp new tensions in many forests, especially public ones. It was a difficult task to implement Natura 2000 on 10% of the forested area. This article is a review of 10 years of debate and practice relating to the introduction of biodiversity concerns into forest management in France. It describes some avenues for moving forward in the current decade. (authors)

Forest Resilience, Biodiversity, and Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

I. Thompson; B. Mackey; S. McNulty; A. Mosseler

2009-01-01

This paper reviews the concepts of ecosystem resilience, resistance, and stability in forests and their relationship to biodiversity, with particular reference to climate change. The report is a direct response to a request by the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD, in decision IX/51, to explore the links between biodiversity, forest ecosystem...

Monitoring Biodiversity using Environmental DNA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Philip Francis

DNA). Especially the advance in DNA sequencing technology has revolutionized this field and opened new frontiers in ecology, evolution and environmental sciences. Also, it is becoming a powerful tool for field biologist, with new and efficient methods for monitoring biodiversity. This thesis focuses on the use...... of eDNA in monitoring of biodiversity in different settings. First, it is shown that a diversity of rare freshwater animals – representing amphibians, fish, mammals, insects and crustaceans – can be detected based on eDNA obtained directly from 15 ml water samples of lakes, ponds and streams...... setting, showing that eDNA obtained directly from ½ l seawater samples can account for marine fish biodiversity using NGS. Promisingly, eDNA covered the fish diversity better than any of 9 methods, conventionally used in marine fish surveys. Additionally, it is shown that even short 100-bp. fish e...

Soil biodiversity and soil community composition determine ecosystem multifunctionality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagg, C.; Bender, S.F.; Widmer, D.; van der Heijden, Marcellus|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/240923901

2014-01-01

Biodiversity loss has become a global concern as evidence accumulates that it will negatively affect ecosystem services on which society depends. So far, most studies have focused on the ecological consequences of above-ground biodiversity loss; yet a large part of Earth’s biodiversity is literally

[Landscape planning approaches for biodiversity conservation in agriculture].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yun-hui; Li, Liang-tao; Yu, Zhen-rong

2008-11-01

Biodiversity conservation in agriculture not only relates to the sustainable development of agriculture, but also is an essential part of species conservation. In recent years, the landscape planning approach for biodiversity was highlighted instead of species-focused approach. In this paper, the landscape factors affecting the biodiversity in agriculture were reviewed, and the possible landscape approaches at three different scales for more efficient conservation of biodiversity in agro-landscape were suggested, including: (1) the increase of the proportion of natural or semi-natural habitats in agriculture, diversification of land use or crop pattern, and protection or construction of corridor at landscape level; (2) the establishment of non-cropping elements such as field margin at between-field level; and (3) the application of reasonable crop density, crop distribution pattern and rotation, and intercrop etc. at within-field level. It was suggested that the relevant policies for natural conservation, land use planning, and ecological compensation should be made to apply the landscape approaches for biodiversity conservation at larger scale.

Role of eucalypt and other planted forests in biodiversity conservation and the provision of biodiversity-related services

Science.gov (United States)

Eckehard G. Brockerhoff; Hervé Jactel; John A. Parrotta; Silvio F.B. Ferraz

2013-01-01

Forests provide important habitat for much of the world’s biodiversity, and the continuing global deforestation is one of our greatest environmental concerns. Planted forests represent an increasing proportion of the global forest area and partly compensate for the loss of natural forest in terms of forest area, habitat for biodiversity and ecological function. At...

The value of biodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CJR. Alho

Full Text Available In addition to its intrinsic value (nature working as it is; species are the product of a long history of continuing evolution by means of ecological processes, and so they have the right to continued existence, biodiversity also plays a fundamental role as ecosystem services in the maintenance of natural ecological processes. The economic or utilitarian values of biodiversity rely upon the dependence of man on biodiversity; products that nature can provide: wood, food, fibers to make paper, resins, chemical organic products, genes as well as knowledge for biotechnology, including medicine and cosmetic sub-products. It also encompasses ecosystem services, such as climate regulation, reproductive and feeding habitats for commercial fish, some organisms that can create soil fertility through complex cycles and interactions, such as earthworms, termites and bacteria, in addition to fungi responsible for cycling nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur and making them available to plant absorption. These services are the benefits that people indirectly receive from natural ecosystem functions (air quality maintenance, regional climate, water quality, nutrient cycling, reproductive habitats of commercial fish, etc. with their related economic values.

Biodiversity losses and conservation responses in the Anthropocene.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Christopher N; Balmford, Andrew; Brook, Barry W; Buettel, Jessie C; Galetti, Mauro; Guangchun, Lei; Wilmshurst, Janet M

2017-04-21

Biodiversity is essential to human well-being, but people have been reducing biodiversity throughout human history. Loss of species and degradation of ecosystems are likely to further accelerate in the coming years. Our understanding of this crisis is now clear, and world leaders have pledged to avert it. Nonetheless, global goals to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss have mostly not been achieved. However, many examples of conservation success show that losses can be halted and even reversed. Building on these lessons to turn the tide of biodiversity loss will require bold and innovative action to transform historical relationships between human populations and nature. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The potential for biodiversity offsetting to fund effective invasive species control.

Science.gov (United States)

Norton, David A; Warburton, Bruce

2015-02-01

Compensating for biodiversity losses in 1 location by conserving or restoring biodiversity elsewhere (i.e., biodiversity offsetting) is being used increasingly to compensate for biodiversity losses resulting from development. We considered whether a form of biodiversity offsetting, enhancement offsetting (i.e., enhancing the quality of degraded natural habitats through intensive ecological management), can realistically secure additional funding to control biological invaders at a scale and duration that results in enhanced biodiversity outcomes. We suggest that biodiversity offsetting has the potential to enhance biodiversity values through funding of invasive species control, but it needs to meet 7 key conditions: be technically possible to reduce invasive species to levels that enhance native biodiversity; be affordable; be sufficiently large to compensate for the impact; be adaptable to accommodate new strategic and tactical developments while not compromising biodiversity outcomes; acknowledge uncertainties associated with managing pests; be based on an explicit risk assessment that identifies the cost of not achieving target outcomes; and include financial mechanisms to provide for in-perpetuity funding. The challenge then for conservation practitioners, advocates, and policy makers is to develop frameworks that allow for durable and effective partnerships with developers to realize the full potential of enhancement offsets, which will require a shift away from traditional preservation-focused approaches to biodiversity management. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Agricultural biodiversity, nutrition, and health: making a difference to hunger and nutrition in the developing world.

Science.gov (United States)

Frison, Emile A; Smith, Ifeyironwa Francisca; Johns, Timothy; Cherfas, Jeremy; Eyzaguirre, Pablo B

2006-06-01

In spite of the strides made globally in reducing hunger, the problems of micronutrient deficiencies and coexisting obesity and related cardiovascular and degenerative diseases constitute a formidable challenge for the future. Attempts to reverse this trend with single-nutrient intervention strategies have met with limited success, resulting in renewed calls for food-based approaches. The deployment of agricultural biodiversity is an approach that entails greater use of local biodiversity to ensure dietary diversity. To outline a new strategy proposed by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) that employs agricultural biodiversity as the primary resource for food security and health. The authors carried out a meta-analysis to review and assemble existing information on the nutritional and healthful properties of traditional foods based on a diverse set of case studies and food composition and nutritional analysis studies. The methods highlight particular examples of foods where analysis of nutrient and non-nutrient composition reveals important traits to address the growing problems of malnutrition associated with the rise of chronic diseases. Finally, the authors analyze social, economic, and cultural changes that undermine the healthful components of traditional diets. Based on this multidisciplinary and comparative approach, the authors suggest a holistic food-based approach that combines research to assess and document nutritional and healthful properties of traditional foods, investigating options in which nutritionally valuable traditional foods can contribute to better livelihoods, and ways that awareness and promotional campaigns can identify healthful components of traditional diets that fit the needs of urban and market-oriented consumers. There is an urgent need for agricultural research centers, national agricultural research systems, universities, and community-based organizations to work together under a shared policy framework

Sacred Groves: Myths, Beliefs, and Biodiversity Conservation—A Case Study from Western Himalaya, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sushma Singh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Religious and traditional beliefs, cultural mores, and practices play a crucial role in the conservation of environment and biodiversity. The present paper describes a case study of two sacred groves in Western Himalaya. Sacred groves (SGs are patches of land that are communally protected with religious zeal. A preliminary survey was conducted in these SGs to study their role in biodiversity conservation. The data collected included the general information regarding the SGs and the associated deity, nearest human habitation, access to them, and their floral and faunal diversity. Ethnomedicinal property of plants was collected from the indigenous communities. Many taboos are associated with both the SGs, which help in managing resources well through ritual representation. Different festivals are organized, where the local communities reaffirm their commitment to the forest and the deity. Sacred groves, in general, are a valuable tool of biodiversity conservation. But people’s changing attitudes, erosion of traditional beliefs, and human impact have caused degradation of sacred groves over the years. Their conservation would not be possible without the active participation of the local people. By improving their living standards and by giving benefits of conservation to them, long-term conservation goals in these SGs can be achieved.

Forest Fragmentation in the Lower Amazon Floodplain: Implications for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Provision to Riverine Populations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vivian Renó

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the process of forest fragmentation of a floodplain landscape of the Lower Amazon over a 30-year period and its implications for the biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services to the riverine population. To this end, we created a multi-temporal forest cover map based on Landsat images, and then analyzed the fragmentation dynamics through landscape metrics. From the analyses of the landscape and bibliographic information, we made inferences regarding the potential impacts of fragmentation on the biodiversity of trees, birds, mammals and insects. Subsequently, we used data on the local populations’ environmental perception to assess whether the inferred impacts on biodiversity are perceived by these populations and whether the ecosystem services related to the biodiversity of the addressed groups are compromised. The results show a 70% reduction of the forest habitat as well as important changes in the landscape structure that constitute a high degree of forest fragmentation. The perceived landscape alterations indicate that there is great potential for compromise of the biodiversity of trees, birds, mammals and insects. The field interviews corroborate the inferred impacts on biodiversity and indicate that the ecosystem services of the local communities have been compromised. More than 95% of the communities report a decreased variety and/or abundance of animal and plant species, 46% report a decrease in agricultural productivity, and 19% confirm a higher incidence of pests during the last 30 years. The present study provides evidence of an accelerated process of degradation of the floodplain forests of the Lower Amazon and indicate substantial compromise of the ecosystem services provision to the riverine population in recent decades, including reductions of food resources (animals and plants, fire wood, raw material and medicine, as well as lower agricultural productivity due to probable lack of pollination

Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) links biodiversity conservation with sustainable improvements in livelihoods and food production.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Dale; Bell, Samuel D; Fay, John; Bothi, Kim L; Gatere, Lydiah; Kabila, Makando; Mukamba, Mwangala; Matokwani, Edwin; Mushimbalume, Matthews; Moraru, Carmen I; Lehmann, Johannes; Lassoie, James; Wolfe, David; Lee, David R; Buck, Louise; Travis, Alexander J

2011-08-23

In the Luangwa Valley, Zambia, persistent poverty and hunger present linked challenges to rural development and biodiversity conservation. Both household coping strategies and larger-scale economic development efforts have caused severe natural resource degradation that limits future economic opportunities and endangers ecosystem services. A model based on a business infrastructure has been developed to promote and maintain sustainable agricultural and natural resource management practices, leading to direct and indirect conservation outcomes. The Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) model operates primarily with communities surrounding national parks, strengthening conservation benefits produced by these protected areas. COMACO first identifies the least food-secure households and trains them in sustainable agricultural practices that minimize threats to natural resources while meeting household needs. In addition, COMACO identifies people responsible for severe natural resource depletion and trains them to generate alternative income sources. In an effort to maintain compliance with these practices, COMACO provides extension support and access to high-value markets that would otherwise be inaccessible to participants. Because the model is continually evolving via adaptive management, success or failure of the model as a whole is difficult to quantify at this early stage. We therefore test specific hypotheses and present data documenting the stabilization of previously declining wildlife populations; the meeting of thresholds of productivity that give COMACO access to stable, high-value markets and progress toward economic self-sufficiency; and the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by participants and other community members. Together, these findings describe a unique, business-oriented model for poverty alleviation, food production, and biodiversity conservation.

Enhancement of biodiversity in energy farming: towards a functional approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Londo, M.; Dekker, J.

1997-01-01

When biomass is a substantial sustainable energy source, and special energy crops are grown on a large scale, land use and the environment of agriculture will be affected. Of these effects, biodiversity deserves special attention. The enhancement of biodiversity in energy farming via standard setting is the overall purpose of this project. In this study, the potential functionality of biodiversity in energy farming is proposed as a way of operationalising the rather abstract and broad concept of biodiversity. Functions of biodiversity are reviewed, and examples of functions are worked out, based on the current literature of nature in energy farming systems. (author)

Biodiversity and Edge Effects: An Activity in Landscape Ecology

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Justin L.

2007-01-01

Biodiversity and the conservation of biodiversity have received increased attention during the last few decades and these topics have been implemented into many G7-12 science curricula. This work presents an exercise that may be used in middle and high school classrooms to help students better understand spatial aspects of biodiversity. The…

Does conservation on farmland contribute to halting the biodiversity decline?

Science.gov (United States)

Kleijn, David; Rundlöf, Maj; Scheper, Jeroen; Smith, Henrik G; Tscharntke, Teja

2011-09-01

Biodiversity continues to decline, despite the implementation of international conservation conventions and measures. To counteract biodiversity loss, it is pivotal to know how conservation actions affect biodiversity trends. Focussing on European farmland species, we review what is known about the impact of conservation initiatives on biodiversity. We argue that the effects of conservation are a function of conservation-induced ecological contrast, agricultural land-use intensity and landscape context. We find that, to date, only a few studies have linked local conservation effects to national biodiversity trends. It is therefore unknown how the extensive European agri-environmental budget for conservation on farmland contributes to the policy objectives to halt biodiversity decline. Based on this review, we identify new research directions addressing this important knowledge gap. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Use of internet and electronic resources among Spanish intensivist physicians. First national survey].

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Tello, V; Latour-Pérez, J; Añón Elizalde, J M; Palencia-Herrejón, E; Díaz-Alersi, R; De Lucas-García, N

2006-01-01

Estimate knowledge and use habits of different electronic resources in a sample of Spanish intensivists: Internet, E-mail, distribution lists, and use of portable electronic devices. Self-applied questionnaire. A 50-question questionnaire was distributed among Spanish intensivists through the hospital marketing delegates of a pharmaceutical company and of electronic forums. A total of 682 questionnaires were analyzed (participation: 74%). Ninety six percent of those surveyed used Internet individually: 67% admitted training gap. Internet was the second source of clinical consultations most used (61%), slightly behind consultation to colleagues (65%). The pages consulted most were bibliographic databases (65%) and electronic professional journals (63%), with limited use of Evidence Based Medicine pages (19%). Ninety percent of those surveyed used e-mail regularly in the practice of their profession, although 25% admitted that were not aware of its possibilities. The use of E-mail decreased significantly with increase in age. A total of 62% of the intensivists used distribution lists. Of the rest, 42% were not aware of its existence and 32% admitted they had insufficient training to handle them. Twenty percent of those surveyed had portable electronic devices and 64% considered it useful, basically due to its rapid consultation at bedside. Female gender was a negative predictive factor of its use (OR 0.35; 95% CI 0.2-0.63; p=0.0002). A large majority of the Spanish intensivists use Internet and E-mail. E-mail lists and use of portable devices are still underused resources. There are important gaps in training and infrequent use of essential pages. There are specific groups that require directed educational policies.

Hopping hotspots: global shifts in marine biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Renema, W; Bellwood, D R; Braga, J C; Bromfield, K; Hall, R; Johnson, K G; Lunt, P; Meyer, C P; McMonagle, L B; Morley, R J; O'Dea, A; Todd, J A; Wesselingh, F P; Wilson, M E J; Pandolfi, J M

2008-08-01

Hotspots of high species diversity are a prominent feature of modern global biodiversity patterns. Fossil and molecular evidence is starting to reveal the history of these hotspots. There have been at least three marine biodiversity hotspots during the past 50 million years. They have moved across almost half the globe, with their timing and locations coinciding with major tectonic events. The birth and death of successive hotspots highlights the link between environmental change and biodiversity patterns. The antiquity of the taxa in the modern Indo-Australian Archipelago hotspot emphasizes the role of pre-Pleistocene events in shaping modern diversity patterns.

Model of e-learning with electronic educational resources of new generation

OpenAIRE

A. V. Loban; D. A. Lovtsov

2017-01-01

Purpose of the article: improving of scientific and methodical base of the theory of the е-learning of variability. Methods used: conceptual and logical modeling of the е-learning of variability process with electronic educational resource of new generation and system analysis of the interconnection of the studied subject area, methods, didactics approaches and information and communication technologies means. Results: the formalization complex model of the е-learning of variability with elec...

Mapping and Quantifying Terrestrial Vertebrate Biodiversity at ...

Science.gov (United States)

The ability to assess, report, map, and forecast functions of ecosystems is critical to our capacity to make informed decisions to maintain the sustainable nature of our environment. Because of the variability among living organisms and levels of organization (e.g. genetic, species, ecosystem), biodiversity has always been difficult to measure precisely, especially within a systematic manner and over multiple scales. In answer to this challenge, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has created a partnership with other Federal agencies, academic institutions, and Non-Governmental Organizations to develop the EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas), an online national Decision Support Tool that allows users to view and analyze the geographical description of the supply and demand for ecosystem services, as well as the drivers of change. As part of the EnviroAtlas, an approach has been developed that uses deductive habitat models for all terrestrial vertebrates of the conterminous United States and clusters them into biodiversity metrics that relate to ecosystem service-relevant categories. Metrics, such as species and taxon richness, have been developed and integrated with other measures of biodiversity. Collectively, these metrics provide a consistent scalable process from which to make geographic comparisons, provide thematic assessments, and to monitor status and trends in biodiversity. The national biodiversity component operates across approximatel

Biodiversity, conservation biology, and rational choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, David

2014-03-01

This paper critically discusses two areas of Sahotra Sarkar's recent work in environmental philosophy: biodiversity and conservation biology and roles for decision theory in incorporating values explicitly in the environmental policy process. I argue that Sarkar's emphasis on the practices of conservation biologists, and especially the role of social and cultural values in the choice of biodiversity constituents, restricts his conception of biodiversity to particular practical conservation contexts. I argue that life scientists have many reasons to measure many types of diversity, and that biodiversity metrics could be value-free. I argue that Sarkar's emphasis on the limitations of normative decision theory is in tension with his statement that decision theory can "put science and ethics together." I also challenge his claim that multi-criteria decision tools lacking axiomatic foundations in preference and utility theory are "without a rational basis," by presenting a case of a simple "outranking" multi-criteria decision rule that can violate a basic normative requirement of preferences (transitivity) and ask whether there may nevertheless be contexts in which such a procedure might assist decision makers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proceedings of the Mongolian Biodiversity Databank Workshop: Assessing the Conservation Status of Mongolian Mammals and Fishes: I - Results and Outputs of the Workshop

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma L. Clark

2005-06-01

Full Text Available The Mongolian Biodiversity Databank Workshop was held at the National University of Mongolia and Hustai National Park from 1 st October to 4 th November, 2005. Participants assessed the conserva- tion status of all Mongolian mammals and fishes using the IUCN Categories and Criteria, and also met the other main objectives of the workshop, including: creating a Biodiversity Databank, revising species lists and maps for Mongolian mammals and fishes, and developing Summary Conservation Action Plans for a number of threatened or commercially important species. This article includes information about the IUCN Categories and Criteria used to assess Mongolian mammals and fish and these outputs. The Biodiversity Databank holds baseline data on the ecology, distribution, threats, conservation measures, and conservation status for all Mongolian mammals and fishes. Revised species lists have been agreed upon for the Biodiversity Databank project including 128 native species of mammals and 64 native spe- cies of fish. Digital maps have been produced for all mammals and fish, where data exists. Results of the workshop should provide baseline information for conservation of Mongolian biodiversity and provide resources for researchers.

Resource Availability Alters Biodiversity Effects in Experimental Grass-Forb Mixtures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alrun Siebenkäs

Full Text Available Numerous experiments, mostly performed in particular environments, have shown positive diversity-productivity relationships. Although the complementary use of resources is discussed as an important mechanism explaining diversity effects, less is known about how resource availability controls the strength of diversity effects and how this response depends on the functional composition of plant communities. We studied aboveground biomass production in experimental monocultures, two- and four-species mixtures assembled from two independent pools of four perennial grassland species, each representing two functional groups (grasses, forbs and two growth statures (small, tall, and exposed to different combinations of light and nutrient availability. On average, shade led to a decrease in aboveground biomass production of 24% while fertilization increased biomass production by 36%. Mixtures were on average more productive than expected from their monocultures (relative yield total, RYT>1 and showed positive net diversity effects (NE: +34% biomass increase; mixture minus mean monoculture biomass. Both trait-independent complementarity effects (TICE: +21% and dominance effects (DE: +12% positively contributed to net diversity effects, while trait-dependent complementarity effects were minor (TDCE: +1%. Shading did not alter diversity effects and overyielding. Fertilization decreased RYT and the proportion of biomass gain through TICE and TDCE, while DE increased. Diversity effects did not increase with species richness and were independent of functional group or growth stature composition. Trait-based analyses showed that the dominance of species with root and leaf traits related to resource conservation increased TICE. Traits indicating the tolerance of shade showed positive relationships with TDCE. Large DE were associated with the dominance of species with tall growth and low diversity in leaf nitrogen concentrations. Our field experiment shows that

Managing biodiversity for a competitive ecotourism industry in tropical developing countries: New opportunities in biological fields

Science.gov (United States)

Hakim, Luchman

2017-11-01

Managing biodiversity for sustainable and competitive ecotourism destinations requires a basic understanding of the principles of biology, which are poorly understood in tropical developing countries, including Indonesia. This paper describes the current status of tourism in Indonesia, identifies environment and biodiversity vulnerability in tourism destinations, and explores the challenges of the biological field in supporting ecotourism development. This review found that tourism, especially nature-based and ecotourism, has grown significantly in Indonesia, and the contribution of Indonesian biodiversity has been identified as significant. Threats to biodiversity, however, are found in nature-based tourism destinations. Issues related to pollution, exotic plant species invasion, habitat changes and degradation, habitat loss, and wildlife disturbance are widely reported, indicating the importance of such issues in destination management. Pollution is found in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Water pollution is an important issue among lakes and rivers. To date, there are few assessments of the impact of tourism activities on aquatic ecosystems, resulting in the management of aquatic ecosystems facing numerous difficulties. These studies identify the invasive plants found, which become a crucial problem in many nature-based tourism destinations, and which significantly contribute to a reduction in the existence of many flora-fauna in a wild habitat. Habitat changes and degradation are mostly influenced by tourism infrastructure development. Massive infrastructure development often leads to habitat loss, which is a crucial step in local biodiversity extinction. Increasing and uncontrolled visitor behaviors influence animal behavior changes, which is recognized as a dangerous phenomenon affecting animal survival in the future. An agenda for future integrative biological research is needed to improve resource management, to increase sustainability and the

Bats, Blood-Feeders and Biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bohmann, Kristine

DNA metabarcoding of environmental samples has rapidly become a valuable tool for ecological studies such as biodiversity and diet studies. To reveal the diversity in environmental samples such as soil, water, and faeces, this approach principally employs PCR amplification of environmental DNA...... minimising the occurrence of errors. Centered around metabarcoding dietary studies of bat droppings and leech gut contents, this continuous exploration and refinement is reflected in both the work and structure of this thesis. After a thesis introduction and two chapters on environmental DNA and biodiversity...

Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme coastal biodiversity monitoring background paper

Science.gov (United States)

McLennan, Donald; Anderson, Rebecca D.; Wegeberg, S.; Pettersvik Arvnes, Maria; Sergienko, Liudmila; Behe, Carolina; Moss-Davies, Pitseolak; Fritz, S.; Markon, Carl J.; Christensen, T.; Barry, T.; Price, C.

2016-01-01

In 2014, the United States (U.S.) and Canada agreed to act as co-lead countries for the initial development of the Coastal Expert Monitoring Group (CEMG) as part of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP, www. cbmp.is) under the Arctic Council’s Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF, www.caff.is) working group. The CAFF Management Board approved Terms of Reference for the CEMG in the spring of 2014. The primary goal of the CEMG is to develop a long term, integrated, multi-disciplinary, circumpolar Arctic Coastal Biodiversity Monitoring Plan (the Coastal Plan) that relies on science and Traditional Knowledge, and has direct and relevant application for communities, industry, government decision makers, and other users. In addition to the monitoring plan, the CAFF working group has asked the CBMP, and thus the CEMG, to develop an implementation plan that identifies timeline, costs, organizational structure and partners. This background paper provides a platform for the guidance for the development of the Coastal Plan and is produced by the CEMG with assistance from a number of experts in multiple countries.

Impact of Knowledge Resources Linked to an Electronic Health Record on Frequency of Unnecessary Tests and Treatments

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Kenneth; Grad, Roland; Pluye, Pierre; Nowacki, Amy; Hickner, John

2012-01-01

Introduction: Electronic knowledge resources have the potential to rapidly provide answers to clinicians' questions. We sought to determine clinicians' reasons for searching these resources, the rate of finding relevant information, and the perceived clinical impact of the information they retrieved. Methods: We asked general internists, family…

Agri-Environmental Resource Management by Large-Scale Collective Action: Determining KEY Success Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Uetake, Tetsuya

2015-01-01

Purpose: Large-scale collective action is necessary when managing agricultural natural resources such as biodiversity and water quality. This paper determines the key factors to the success of such action. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper analyses four large-scale collective actions used to manage agri-environmental resources in Canada and…

Electronic Document Management: A Human Resource Management Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Groenewald

2004-11-01

Full Text Available This case study serve as exemplar regarding what can go wrong with the implementation of an electronic document management system. Knowledge agility and knowledge as capital, is outlined against the backdrop of the information society and knowledge economy. The importance of electronic document management and control is sketched thereafter. The literature review is concluded with the impact of human resource management on knowledge agility, which includes references to the learning organisation and complexity theory. The intervention methodology, comprising three phases, follows next. The results of the three phases are presented thereafter. Partial success has been achieved with improving the human efficacy of electronic document management, however the client opted to discontinue the system in use. Opsomming Die gevalle studie dien as voorbeeld van wat kan verkeerd loop met die implementering van ’n elektroniese dokumentbestuur sisteem. Teen die agtergrond van die inligtingsgemeenskap en kennishuishouding word kennissoepelheid en kennis as kapitaal bespreek. Die literatuurstudie word afgesluit met die inpak van menslikehulpbronbestuur op kennissoepelheid, wat ook die verwysings na die leerorganisasie en kompleksietydsteorie insluit. Die metodologie van die intervensie, wat uit drie fases bestaan, volg daarna. Die resultate van die drie fases word vervolgens aangebied. Slegs gedeelte welslae is behaal met die verbetering van die menslike doeltreffendheid ten opsigte van elektroniese dokumentbestuur. Die klient besluit egter om nie voort te gaan om die huidige sisteem te gebruik nie.

VBioindex: A Visual Tool to Estimate Biodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong Su Yu

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Biological diversity, also known as biodiversity, is an important criterion for measuring the value of an ecosystem. As biodiversity is closely related to human welfare and quality of life, many efforts to restore and maintain the biodiversity of species have been made by government agencies and non-governmental organizations, thereby drawing a substantial amount of international attention. In the fields of biological research, biodiversity is widely measured using traditional statistical indices such as the Shannon-Wiener index, species richness, evenness, and relative dominance of species. However, some biologists and ecologists have difficulty using these indices because they require advanced mathematical knowledge and computational techniques. Therefore, we developed VBioindex, a user-friendly program that is capable of measuring the Shannon-Wiener index, species richness, evenness, and relative dominance. VBioindex serves as an easy to use interface and visually represents the results in the form of a simple chart and in addition, VBioindex offers functions for long-term investigations of datasets using time-series analyses.

National forest inventory contributions to forest biodiversity monitoring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chirici, Cherardo; McRoberts, Ronald; Winter, Susanne

2012-01-01

. The primary international processes dealing with biodiversity and sustainable forest management, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Forest Europe, Streamlining European Biodiversity Indicators 2010 of the European Environmental Agency, and the Montréal Process, all include indicators related...... (ground vegetation and regeneration) NFIs should invest more in harmonization efforts. On the basis of these key findings, we recommend that NFIs should represent a main component of a future global biodiversity monitoring network as urgently requested by the CBD....

Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystem Functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, Tom H; Heard, Matthew S; Isaac, Nick J B; Roy, David B; Procter, Deborah; Eigenbrod, Felix; Freckleton, Rob; Hector, Andy; Orme, C David L; Petchey, Owen L; Proença, Vânia; Raffaelli, David; Suttle, K Blake; Mace, Georgina M; Martín-López, Berta; Woodcock, Ben A; Bullock, James M

2015-11-01

Accelerating rates of environmental change and the continued loss of global biodiversity threaten functions and services delivered by ecosystems. Much ecosystem monitoring and management is focused on the provision of ecosystem functions and services under current environmental conditions, yet this could lead to inappropriate management guidance and undervaluation of the importance of biodiversity. The maintenance of ecosystem functions and services under substantial predicted future environmental change (i.e., their 'resilience') is crucial. Here we identify a range of mechanisms underpinning the resilience of ecosystem functions across three ecological scales. Although potentially less important in the short term, biodiversity, encompassing variation from within species to across landscapes, may be crucial for the longer-term resilience of ecosystem functions and the services that they underpin. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biodiversity and the feel-good factor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dallimer, Martin; Irvine, Katherine N.; Skinner, Andrew M. J.

2012-01-01

Over half of the world's human population lives in cities, and for many, urban greenspaces are the only places where they encounter biodiversity. This is of particular concern because there is growing evidence that human well-being is enhanced by exposure to nature. However, the specific qualities...... of greenspaces that offer the greatest benefits remain poorly understood. One possibility is that humans respond positively to increased levels of biodiversity. Here, we demonstrate the lack of a consistent relationship between actual plant, butterfly, and bird species richness and the psychological well......-being of urban greenspace visitors. instead, well-being shows a positive relationship with the richness that the greenspace users perceived to be present. One plausible explanation for this discrepancy, which we investigate, is that people generally have poor biodiversity-identification skills. The apparent...

Biodiversity analysis in the digital era

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

This paper explores what the virtual biodiversity e-infrastructure will look like as it takes advantage of advances in ‘Big Data’ biodiversity informatics and e-research infrastructure, which allow integration of various taxon-level data types (genome, morphology, distribution and species interactions) within a phylogenetic and environmental framework. By overcoming the data scaling problem in ecology, this integrative framework will provide richer information and fast learning to enable a deeper understanding of biodiversity evolution and dynamics in a rapidly changing world. The Atlas of Living Australia is used as one example of the advantages of progressing towards this future. Living in this future will require the adoption of new ways of integrating scientific knowledge into societal decision making. This article is part of the themed issue ‘From DNA barcodes to biomes’. PMID:27481789

Intentional systems management: managing forests for biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

A.B. Carey; B.R. Lippke; J. Sessions

1999-01-01

Conservation of biodiversity provides for economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Intentional management is designed to manage conflicts among groups with conflicting interests. Our goal was to ascertain if intentional management and principles of conservation of biodiversity could be combined into upland and riparian forest management strategies that would...

Biodiversity analysis of vegetation on the Nevada Test Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ostler, W. K.; Hansen, D. J.

2000-01-01

The Nevada Test Site (NTS), located in south-central Nevada, encompasses approximately 3,500 square kilometers and straddles two major North American deserts, Mojave and Great Basin. Transitional areas between the two desert types have been created by gradients in elevation, precipitation, temperature, and soils. From 1996 to 1998, more than 1,500 ecological landform units were sampled at the NTS for numerous biotic and abiotic parameters. The data provide a basis for spatial evaluations of biodiversity over landscape scales at the NTS. Biodiversity maps (species richness vs. species abundance) have been produced. Differences in biodiversity among ecoregions and vegetation alliances are presented. Spatial distribution maps of species' presence and abundance provide evidence of where transition zones occur and the resulting impact on biodiversity. The influences of abiotic factors, such as elevation, soil, and precipitation, on biodiversity are assessed

Challenges in the implementation of an electronic surveillance system in a resource-limited setting: Alerta, in Peru

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soto Giselle

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Infectious disease surveillance is a primary public health function in resource-limited settings. In 2003, an electronic disease surveillance system (Alerta was established in the Peruvian Navy with support from the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment (NMRCD. Many challenges arose during the implementation process, and a variety of solutions were applied. The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss these issues. Methods This is a retrospective description of the Alerta implementation. After a thoughtful evaluation according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC guidelines, the main challenges to implementation were identified and solutions were devised in the context of a resource-limited setting, Peru. Results After four years of operation, we have identified a number of challenges in implementing and operating this electronic disease surveillance system. These can be divided into the following categories: (1 issues with personnel and stakeholders; (2 issues with resources in a developing setting; (3 issues with processes involved in the collection of data and operation of the system; and (4 issues with organization at the central hub. Some of the challenges are unique to resource-limited settings, but many are applicable for any surveillance system. For each of these challenges, we developed feasible solutions that are discussed. Conclusion There are many challenges to overcome when implementing an electronic disease surveillance system, not only related to technology issues. A comprehensive approach is required for success, including: technical support, personnel management, effective training, and cultural sensitivity in order to assure the effective deployment of an electronic disease surveillance system.

Status and strategies for marine biodiversity of Goa

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Untawale, A.G.

The status of marine biodiversity and factors responsible for the degradation and loss of marine biodiversity are discussed. Goa has abundant marine wealth. Phytoplankton, marine algae, manglicolous fungi, seagrasses, mangrove flora and other...

Biodiversity at risk under future cropland expansion and intensification.

Science.gov (United States)

Kehoe, Laura; Romero-Muñoz, Alfredo; Polaina, Ester; Estes, Lyndon; Kreft, Holger; Kuemmerle, Tobias

2017-08-01

Agriculture is the leading driver of biodiversity loss. However, its future impact on biodiversity remains unclear, especially because agricultural intensification is often neglected, and high path-dependency is assumed when forecasting agricultural development-although the past suggests that shock events leading to considerable agricultural change occur frequently. Here, we investigate the possible impacts on biodiversity of pathways of expansion and intensification. Our pathways are not built to reach equivalent production targets, and therefore they should not be directly compared; they instead highlight areas at risk of high biodiversity loss across the entire option space of possible agricultural change. Based on an extensive database of biodiversity responses to agriculture, we find 30% of species richness and 31% of species abundances potentially lost because of agricultural expansion across the Amazon and Afrotropics. Only 21% of high-risk expansion areas in the Afrotropics overlap with protected areas (compared with 43% of the Neotropics). Areas at risk of biodiversity loss from intensification are found in India, Eastern Europe and the Afromontane region (7% species richness, 13% abundance loss). Many high-risk regions are not adequately covered by conservation prioritization schemes, and have low national conservation spending and high agricultural growth. Considering rising agricultural demand, we highlight areas where timely land-use planning may proactively mitigate biodiversity loss.

Awakening the Biodiversity Potential trough ST&I Investments in the Sector of Amazonian Biotechnology

OpenAIRE

e Souza Frickmann, Fabiana dos Santos; Guimarães Vasconcellos, Alexandre

2013-01-01

The biotechnological development conciliated to Amazonian biodiversity represents a big potential for richness to Brazil. This study analyses the Brazilian investments in ST&I Amazonia's, utilizing as indicator for that, the resources applied in R&D and the patent appli;cations coming from Amazon, which were filed with the National Institute of Industrial Property during the period from 2003 to 2008. The objective is to analyze how where such investments applied by the Ministry of Science, Te...

The role of trade-offs in biodiversity conservation planning: linking ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A recent whole-country planning study for Papua New Guinea illustrates the importance of complementarity-based trade-offs in determining priority areas for biodiversity conservation, and for designing economic instruments such as biodiversity levies and offsets. Two international biodiversity programs provide important ...

Baltic Sea biodiversity status vs. cumulative human pressures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jesper H.; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Korpinen, Samuli

2015-01-01

Abstract Many studies have tried to explain spatial and temporal variations in biodiversity status of marine areas from a single-issue perspective, such as fishing pressure or coastal pollution, yet most continental seas experience a wide range of human pressures. Cumulative impact assessments have...... been developed to capture the consequences of multiple stressors for biodiversity, but the ability of these assessments to accurately predict biodiversity status has never been tested or ground-truthed. This relationship has similarly been assumed for the Baltic Sea, especially in areas with impaired...... status, but has also never been documented. Here we provide a first tentative indication that cumulative human impacts relate to ecosystem condition, i.e. biodiversity status, in the Baltic Sea. Thus, cumulative impact assessments offer a promising tool for informed marine spatial planning, designation...

Re-thinking on the role of business in biodiversity conservation

OpenAIRE

Barna, Cristina

2008-01-01

Today we face the challenge of building biodiversity business. There is a need to develop new business models and market mechanisms for biodiversity conservation, while also raising awareness and persuading the public and policy-makers that biodiversity can be conserved on a commercial basis. In this context the present paper is analyzing the arise of a new economic concept ‘business biodiversity’, focusing on the strategic importance of biodiversity for business and also presenting some busi...

Biodiversity recovery following delta-wide measures for flood risk reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Straatsma, Menno W; Bloecker, Alexandra M; Lenders, H J Rob; Leuven, Rob S E W; Kleinhans, Maarten G

2017-11-01

Biodiversity declined markedly over the past 150 years, with the biodiversity loss in fluvial ecosystems exceeding the global average. River restoration now aims at flood safety while enhancing biodiversity and has had success locally. However, at the scale of large river distributaries, the recovery remained elusive. We quantify changes in biodiversity of protected and endangered species over 15 years of river restoration in the embanked floodplains of an entire river delta. We distinguish seven taxonomic groups and four functional groups in more than 2 million field observations of species presence. Of all 179 fluvial floodplain sections examined, 137 showed an increase in biodiversity, particularly for fast-spreading species. Birds and mammals showed the largest increase, that is, +13 and +3 percentage point saturation of their potential based on habitat. This shows that flood risk interventions were successfully combined with enhancement of biodiversity, whereas flood stage decreased (-24 cm).

Climate change: potential implications for Ireland's biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Donnelly, Alison

2018-03-01

A national biodiversity and climate change adaptation plan is being developed for Ireland by the Department of Communications, Climate Action, and Environment. In order to inform such a plan, it was necessary to review and synthesize some of the recent literature pertaining to the impact of climate change on biodiversity in Ireland. Published research on this topic fell within three broad categories: (i) changes in the timing of life-cycle events (phenology) of plants, birds, and insects; (ii) changes in the geographic range of some bird species; and (iii) changes in the suitable climatic zones of key habitats and species. The synthesis revealed evidence of (i) a trend towards earlier spring activity of plants, birds, and insects which may result in a change in ecosystem function; (ii) an increase in the number of bird species; and (iii) both increases and decreases in the suitable climatic area of key habitats and species, all of which are expected to impact Ireland's future biodiversity. This process identified data gaps and limitations in available information both of which could be used to inform a focused research strategy. In addition, it raises awareness of the potential implications of climate change for biodiversity in Ireland and elsewhere and demonstrates the need for biodiversity conservation plans to factor climate change into future designs.

Biodiversity in environmental assessment-current practice and tools for prediction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gontier, Mikael; Balfors, Berit; Moertberg, Ulla

2006-01-01

Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to biodiversity. Environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment are essential instruments used in physical planning to address such problems. Yet there are no well-developed methods for quantifying and predicting impacts of fragmentation on biodiversity. In this study, a literature review was conducted on GIS-based ecological models that have potential as prediction tools for biodiversity assessment. Further, a review of environmental impact statements for road and railway projects from four European countries was performed, to study how impact prediction concerning biodiversity issues was addressed. The results of the study showed the existing gap between research in GIS-based ecological modelling and current practice in biodiversity assessment within environmental assessment

African Traditional Knowledge Systems and Biodiversity Management

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There is a link between African Traditional Knowledge Systems and the management of Biodiversity. These have been passed over from one generation to the next through oral tradition. The lack of documentation of these systems of managing biodiversity has led to the existence of a gap between the scientifi cally based ...

Environmental-Economic Accounts and Financial Resource Mobilisation for Implementation the Convention on Biological Diversity

OpenAIRE

Cesare Costantino; Emanuela Recchini

2015-01-01

At the Rio “Earth Summit” the Convention on Biological Diversity introduced a global commitment to conservation of biological diversity and sustainable use of its components. An implementation process is going on, based on a strategic plan, biodiversity targets and a strategy for mobilizing financial resources. According to target “2”, by 2020 national accounts should include monetary aggregates related to biodiversity. Environmental accounts can play an important role – together with other i...

Problems of Biodiversity Management in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

OKID PARAMA ASTIRIN

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Indonesia is an archipelago of 17.508 islands with land width of 1.9 millions km2 and sea of 3.1 millions km2, having many types of habitat and become one of biodiversity center in the world. There are about 28.000 plants species, 350.000 animals species and about 10.000 microbes predicted lived endemically in Indonesia. The country that represents only 1.32% of the world having 10% of total flowering plants, 12% of mammals, 16% reptiles and amphibian, 17% birds, 25% fishes and 15% of insects in the world. Most of the biodiversity were not investigated and utilized yet. The direct use of the biodiversity is not any risk, and in addition, between government, society and industries sometime does not have the same view and attitude. Habitat destruction and over-exploitation have caused Indonesia having long list of endangered species including 126 birds, 63 mammals and 21 reptiles. The extinction of some species occurred just few years ago like trulek jawa (Vanellus macropterus, insectivore bird (Eutrichomyias rowleyi in North Sulawesi, and tiger sub species (Panthera tigris in Java and Bali. It seems that now is time for all Indonesians to introspect and look for the way that can be used for preserving biodiversity.

Parasitism and the biodiversity-functioning relationship

Science.gov (United States)

Frainer, André; McKie, Brendan G.; Amundsen, Per-Arne; Knudsen, Rune; Lafferty, Kevin D.

2018-01-01

Biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning.Biodiversity may decrease or increase parasitism.Parasites impair individual hosts and affect their role in the ecosystem.Parasitism, in common with competition, facilitation, and predation, could regulate BD-EF relationships.Parasitism affects host phenotypes, including changes to host morphology, behavior, and physiology, which might increase intra- and interspecific functional diversity.The effects of parasitism on host abundance and phenotypes, and on interactions between hosts and the remaining community, all have potential to alter community structure and BD-EF relationships.Global change could facilitate the spread of invasive parasites, and alter the existing dynamics between parasites, communities, and ecosystems.Species interactions can influence ecosystem functioning by enhancing or suppressing the activities of species that drive ecosystem processes, or by causing changes in biodiversity. However, one important class of species interactions – parasitism – has been little considered in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BD-EF) research. Parasites might increase or decrease ecosystem processes by reducing host abundance. Parasites could also increase trait diversity by suppressing dominant species or by increasing within-host trait diversity. These different mechanisms by which parasites might affect ecosystem function pose challenges in predicting their net effects. Nonetheless, given the ubiquity of parasites, we propose that parasite–host interactions should be incorporated into the BD-EF framework.

Temperature impacts on deep-sea biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Yasuhara, Moriaki; Danovaro, Roberto

2016-05-01

Temperature is considered to be a fundamental factor controlling biodiversity in marine ecosystems, but precisely what role temperature plays in modulating diversity is still not clear. The deep ocean, lacking light and in situ photosynthetic primary production, is an ideal model system to test the effects of temperature changes on biodiversity. Here we synthesize current knowledge on temperature-diversity relationships in the deep sea. Our results from both present and past deep-sea assemblages suggest that, when a wide range of deep-sea bottom-water temperatures is considered, a unimodal relationship exists between temperature and diversity (that may be right skewed). It is possible that temperature is important only when at relatively high and low levels but does not play a major role in the intermediate temperature range. Possible mechanisms explaining the temperature-biodiversity relationship include the physiological-tolerance hypothesis, the metabolic hypothesis, island biogeography theory, or some combination of these. The possible unimodal relationship discussed here may allow us to identify tipping points at which on-going global change and deep-water warming may increase or decrease deep-sea biodiversity. Predicted changes in deep-sea temperatures due to human-induced climate change may have more adverse consequences than expected considering the sensitivity of deep-sea ecosystems to temperature changes. © 2014 Cambridge Philosophical Society.