Ethnobotany of the garífuna of Eastern Nicaragua

We report the diversity of plants used by the Garifuna focusing on medicinals. Garifuna plants documented in this study are distributed among 75 families, 193 genera, and 254 species. Included are 229 medicinals, 93 food plants, and 94 species for other uses. Garifuna medicinals treat more than 30 human ailments and most are native (74%) to eastern Nicaragua. About 70% of the medicinals have some bioactive principle, most are herbs (37%) or trees (34%), and leaves are the most frequently utilized plant part. Most are prepared as decoctions and are administered orally. Most food plants are domesticates, and only 14 of 51 domesticated food species are native to the NW tropics with only three to Mesoamerica. Garifuna culture is changing rapidly as a result of contact with immigrating mestizos from central Nicaragua. This study provides a written record of folk medicine and ethnobotany for the people of eastern Nicaragua.     

High Complexity Food Webs in Low-diversity Eastern Pacific Reef–Coral Communities

Community-wide feeding interrelationships in a low-diversity coral reef off the Pacific coast of Panamá (Uva Island reef) demonstrate complex pathways involving herbivore, strong corallivore, and carnivore interactions. Four trophic levels with 31 interguild links are identified in a generalized food web, and documented feeding interrelationships with 287+ species links are portrayed in a coral–corallivore subweb. The importance of trophic groups changes greatly with time, from unknown causes over annual to decadal-scale periods, and during very strong El Niño–Southern Oscillation events such that intermittent intense herbivory by echinoids (Diadema) and corallivory by gastropod mollusks, the crown-of-thorns sea star Acanthaster, hermit crabs, and fishes result in high levels of coral mortality and bioerosion of reef substratum. Intraregional differences in species composition and abundances affecting food-web interactions are briefly described for nonupwelling (Uva Island) and upwelling areas (Pearl Islands) in Panamá. Seasonal upwelling in the Pearl Islands results in high plankton productivity, which likely augments production in invertebrates, fishes, marine mammals, and seabirds, but these pathways still remain largely unquantified. The corallivore Acanthaster is absent from upwelling centers in Panamá and from upwelling and nonupwelling areas in the southern and central Galápagos Islands, and the highly destructive, facultative corallivore Eucidaris galapagensis occurs only in the latter offshore islands and at Cocos Island. Relatively recent declines in the abundances of manta rays, sharks, and spiny lobsters are correlated with, but not necessarily causally linked to, increasing fishing activities in the late 1970s to early 1980s. The extent to which the complex yet highly unstable Uva Island food web is representative of other eastern Pacific coral reef ecosystems remains to be investigated.     

Tick–Host–Borrelia Population Interactions: Long-Term Records in Eastern Europe

During 10 spring and summer seasons (1992–2001), the dynamics of the epizootic process in natural foci were studied in taiga forests of the Pre-Ural region, Russia. In these foci, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia afzelii and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus circulate transmitted by their main vector tick, Ixodes persulcatus. Main parameters of the epizootic process were calculated for each season. In three seasons (1993, 1996, and 1999) all parameters characterizing the abundance of unfed nymphs and adult ticks, as well as the prevalence of Borrelia and TBE virus in them, increased sharply and simultaneously. These seasons were preceded by years of population peaks in forest rodents (1992, 1995, and 1998), especially Clethrionomys glareolus voles, the dominant species in the local mammalian fauna. Apparently, the possibility of horizontal transmission of the agents of tick-borne infections sharply increases in such years and this results in the intensification of their dissemination. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Genetic perspectives on “Lion Conservation Units” in Eastern and Southern Africa

Current understanding of genetic variation in lions (Panthera leo) is inadequate to guide many management decisions necessary for conservation of the species. We studied sequence variation in the mitochondrial cytochrome-b (cyt-b) gene of 75 lions and nuclear variation at 11 microsatellite loci of 480 lions across 8 range states (Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia) and 13 Lion Conservation Units (LCUs) plus two other unassigned sites (Cameroon and Zimbabwe). A total of 11 cyt-b haplotypes were found, whose variation follows an isolation-by-distance model. In combination with previously known sequences, the haplotypes document the close relationship, derived position, and limited variability of Asian and West and Central African lions relative to other extant lions. Both phylogenetic analyses and substitution networks identify two clades in Eastern and Southern Africa—one restricted to Namibia and South Africa and the other more widespread across the region. However, these analyses are equivocal on which of these is closest to the ancestor of modern lions. Microsatellite analyses showed high levels of variation within and among populations, subdivision among most LCUs, and evidence of isolation by distance. While rates of gene flow are generally low, admixture among lions in northern Botswana, Caprivi Strip (Namibia) and Zambia is apparent from STRUCTURE analyses. Conservation management plans should incorporate information on genetic variability and gene flow in delimiting management units and in guiding translocations of lions to minimize inbreeding and to control problem animals.     

Patterns of foliar δ15N and their control in Eastern Asian forests

Foliar δ¹⁵N has been used increasingly in research on ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling, because it can serve as an integrator of ecosystem N cycling and thus has a potential to reveal temporal and spatial patterns of N cycling as well as how the N cycle is altered by disturbances. However, the current understanding on controls of foliar δ¹⁵N is based principally on studies from America, Europe, Australia and Africa. Here we compiled data from 65 forests at 33 sites across East Asia to explore regional patterns and what controls foliar δ¹⁵N by linking it to climate, species composition, soil depth, slope position, N deposition, and soil N availability. In East Asia, foliar δ¹⁵N ranged from ?7.1 to +2.7‰. Mean foliar δ¹⁵N values for tropical, subtropical and temperate forests were all ?3.1‰, which was unexpected. The patterns of foliar δ¹⁵N with precipitation, temperature and altitude were not clear. The variation in foliar δ¹⁵N among species and between different slope positions appeared to be small within a given forest. The δ¹⁵N for both bulk soil N and extractable inorganic N generally increased with soil depth as expected, strengthening the idea that deep-rooted trees may have access to ¹⁵N-enriched N. Different from the positive correlations reported across America and Europe, in East Asia we found that foliar δ¹⁵N decreased with increasing N deposition and did not relate to soil N availability. These discrepancies deserve more research to elucidate the mechanisms by which foliar δ¹⁵N is affected by ecosystem N availability at a regional scale.     

Why acquiesce? Worker reproductive parasitism in the Eastern honeybee (Apis cerana)

Most societies are vulnerable to rogue individuals that pursue their own interests at the expense of the collective entity. Societies often protect themselves from selfish behaviour by ‘policing’, thereby enforcing the interests of the collective over those of individuals. In insect societies, for example, selfish workers can activate their ovaries and lay eggs, exploiting the collective brood rearing system for individual benefit. Policing, usually in the form of oophagy of worker‐laid eggs, controls selfish behaviour. Importantly, once an effective system of policing has evolved, the incentive for personal reproduction is lost, and ‘reproductive acquiescence’ in which ovary activation is rare or absent is predicted to evolve. Studies of social Hymenoptera have largely supported the prediction of worker ‘acquiescence’; workers of most species where policing is well developed have inactive ovaries. However, the eastern honeybee Apis cerana appears to be an exception. A. cerana colonies are characterized by highly efficient policing, yet about 5% of workers have active ovaries, even when a queen is present. This suggests that the evolution of acquiescence is incomplete in A. cerana. We regularly sampled male eggs and pupae from four A. cerana colonies. Workers had high levels of ovary activation overall (11.7%), and 3.8% of assignable male eggs and 1.1% of assignable male pupae were worker‐laid. We conclude that workers with active ovaries lay their eggs, but these rarely survive to pupation because of intense policing. We then used our findings as well as previously published data on A. cerana and A. mellifera to redo the meta‐analysis on which reproductive acquiescence theory is based. Including data on both species did not affect the relationship between effectiveness of policing and levels of worker reproduction. Their inclusion did, however, seriously weaken the relationship between relatedness among workers and levels of worker reproduction. Our work thus suggests that relatedness among workers does not affect the probability that workers will attempt to reproduce, but that it is coercion by peers that limits worker reproduction.     

Sequence of Permian Tetrapod Faunas of Eastern Europe and the Permian–Triassic Ecological Crisis

Eastern Europe shows the most complete in the world continuous sequence of continental Permian and Triassic deposits, which allows the development of tetrapod faunas over more than 17 successive stages to be traced. The newly obtained data on transitional Vyazniki and Sundyr tetrapod faunas provide more complete characteristics of the Severodvinian (Late Guadalupian, pre-Lopingian) and Permian-Triassic ecological crises and the ways of replacement of the dominant vertebrate groups of Eastern Europe.     

Microbial diversity at Mitchell Peninsula,Eastern Antarctica: a potential biodiversity “hotspot”

Mitchell Peninsula is located towards the East of the Windmill Islands in eastern Antarctica. It is an ice-free polar desert, and knowledge of its soil microbial taxonomic composition is limited. In this study, we investigated the soil microbial taxonomic composition using multiplex 454 pyrosequencing targeting the bacterial 16S rRNA and the fungal ITS genes; and the bacterial and fungal abundances were estimated using quantitative PCR. In total, 40 bacterial and five fungal phyla were identified comprising 111 bacterial and 22 fungal classes, respectively. Mitchell Peninsula soil exhibited a unique bacterial taxonomic profile. In contrast to the usual dominance of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes in polar and temperate soils, Mitchell Peninsula was rich in the poorly studied Chloroflexi (31.7 %), candidate divisions WPS-2 (8.1 %) and AD3 (5.1 %), while the commonly observed Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were present in relative abundances below 1 %. The fungal community consisted of Ascomycota (77 %) and Basidiomycota (10 %), and was dominated by the lichenous fungal class Lecanoromycetes (46.4 %). Network analysis revealed the presence of several microbial clusters that each potentially occupied a different environmental niche, and fewer numbers of correlations were identified between bacteria within each cluster compared with the lichen community, where extensive community dynamics may be present. As Mitchell Peninsula exhibits a unique microbial taxonomic composition, not previously observed in any reported polar or temperate ecosystem, we believe it is a potential microbial biodiversity “hotspot”, which warrants further investigation to examine the role of the dominance of these uncharacterised candidate divisions in this extreme ecosystem.     

New microbial fossils from ∼1.3 billion‐year‐old rocks of Eastern California

New types of microbial fossils and new occurrences of fossils previously reported only from the Beck Spring Dolomite of the Pahrump Group are now recognized from each of the three formations of the Pahrump Group (Crystal Spring Formation, Beck Spring Dolomite, and Kingston Peak Formation) approximately 1.3 X 10° years old. Comprising perhaps eight or nine distinctive forms, these fossils are characteristically preserved as faint ghostlike structures whose low‐contrast outlines are clearly revealed only when illuminated by a xenon lamp and recorded on high‐contrast film. They represent a distinctive, previously overlooked or neglected type of preservation that has significantly extended the known distribution of microbial fossils in the Pahrump. They include the oldest occurrence known to us of filaments designatable as Girvanella and apparently the first from rocks of pre‐Phanerozoic age. Similar fossils were also found, using the same techniques, in the Chuar Group of the Grand Canyon and in the Uluntui Suite of middle Riphean age in eastern Siberia. Although time correlation of pre‐Phanerozoic rocks based on similar microbial assemblages would be premature, similarity between such assemblages in all formations of the Pahrump Group and with that of the Uluntui Suite is consistent with the inferred unity and middle Riphean age of the Pahrump Group. In addition to the Girvanella we find two smaller types of filaments, two kinds of simple spheroids, and three composite forms (two spheroids and one stalked cluster) that attain diameters up to 80 μm and are probably eucaryotic.     

Migration patterns of the Osprey Pandion haliaetus on the Eastern European–East African flyway

We analysed migration strategies of the Osprey Pandion haliaetus on the poorly studied Eastern European–East African flyway. Four adult birds were equipped with GPS-based satellite-transmitters or data-loggers in their breeding sites in Estonia (north-eastern Europe) and tracked to their wintering grounds in Africa and back, during up to six migration cycles. Departure times, migration routes, as well as wintering and stopover sites varied remarkably between individuals but not much between years. Stopovers (2–30 days) were made mostly in Europe and less in the Middle East (Turkey) and north-eastern Africa (Egypt). The Ospreys did not avoid flying long distances over the sea, and the sea was crossed four times during the night. The current study adds to current knowledge on Osprey migration and should help to concentrate actions on protecting important flyways and stopover locations.     

Mapping and monitoring of coastal wetlands of Çukurova Delta in the Eastern Mediterranean region

The aim of this research was to link vegetation characteristics, such as spatial and temporal distribution, and environmental variables, with land cover information derived from remotely sensed satellite images of the Eastern Mediterranean coastal wetlands of Turkey. The research method was based on (i) recording land cover characteristics by means of a vegetation indicator, and (ii) classifying and mapping coastal wetlands utilizing a Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) image of Çukurova Deltas in Turkey. Vegetation characteristics of various habitats, such as sand dunes, salt marshes, salty plains and afforestation areas, were identified by field surveys. A Landsat TM image of 4 July 1993 was pre-processed and then classified using the Maximum Likelihood (ML) algorithm and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). As a result of this supervised classification, the land cover types were classified with a largest accuracy of 90.2% by ANN. The classified satellite sensor imagery was linked to vegetation and bird census data, which were available through literature in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment to determine the spatial distribution of plant and bird biodiversity in this coastal wetland. The resulting data provide an important baseline for further investigations such as monitoring, change detections and designing conservation policies in this coastal ecosystem.     

Hypodontia: Prevalence and pattern amongst the living Druze population – A Near Eastern genetic isolate

The Druze population is a small-sized Near Eastern genetic isolate with high rates of consanguineous marriages. The present study aimed at investigating prevalence, pattern and distribution of hypodontia in the permanent dentition, excluding wisdom teeth, amongst this population. Panoramic radiographs, dental casts, and anamnestic records of 85 un-admixed Druze schoolchildren (45 males, 40 females; age range = 14–18 years, mean age = 16 years, SD = 0.5 years) were examined for evidence of hypodontia. Those with any type of facial clefts or craniofacial syndromes were excluded. Hypodontia prevalence was 11.8% (11.1% for males, 12.5% for females) with no statistically significant difference between sexes. The average number of missing teeth per child was 1.4 (1.2 for males, 1.6 for females). The majority (90%) of affected individuals exhibited minor hypodontia (one or two teeth missing). The most commonly missing teeth were upper lateral incisors and canines, followed by lower and upper second premolars. Asymmetrical hypodontia was more prevalent. Maxillary, left side, and anterior segment predominance were observed. The distinct features of hypodontia among the Druze population are the relatively high prevalence of minor hypodontia, and the upper lateral incisors and canines being the most commonly missing teeth.     

Wallace’s Other Line: Human Biogeography and Field Practice in the Eastern Colonial Tropics

This paper examines how the 19th-century British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace used biogeographical mapping practices to draw a boundary line between Malay and Papuan groups in the colonial East Indies in the 1850s. Instead of looking for a continuous gradient of variation between Malays and Papuans, Wallace chose to look for a sharp discontinuity between them. While Wallace’s “human biogeography” paralleled his similar project to map plant and animal distributions in the same region, he invoked distinctive “mental and moral” features as more decisive than physical ones. By following Wallace in the field, we can see his field mapping practices in action – how he conquered the problem of local particularity in the case of human variation. His experiences on the periphery of expanding European empires, far from metropolitan centers, shaped Wallace’s observations in the field. Taking his cues from colonial racial categories and his experiences collaborating with local people in the field, Wallace constructed the boundary line between the Malay and Papuan races during several years of work in the field criss-crossing the archipelago as a scientific collector. This effort to map a boundary line in the field was a bold example of using the practices of survey science to raise the status of field work by combining fact gathering with higher-level generalizing, although the response back in the metropole was less than enthusiastic. Upon his return to Britain in the 1860s, Wallace found that appreciation for observational facts he had gathered in the field was not accompanied by agreement with his theoretical interpretations and methods for doing human biogeography.     

Historical Land-cover Conversion (1665–1820) in the Choptank Watershed,Eastern United States

Land-cover changes in the Choptank basin were estimated for 1665–1820 by using historical socioeconomic data and crop-rotation models. Socioeconomic data (human population, output per laborer, and crop yields) were obtained from the literature, whereas crop-rotation models, based on historical records, represented how agriculture was practiced. Model parameters and output were validated with export records, census data, and other historical records, and model errors were estimated to be approximately 5%. This approach indicated a sigmoidal pattern for conversion of primary forest to agricultural land by 1800. The initial time period, 1665–1720, was characterized by low-intensity tobacco and corn cultivation. Due to long fallows, the models indicated that there was little land in crops (approximately 5% of the region), but larger areas of secondary forest occurred on former cropland (approximately 15%). Although primary forest decreased, the initial result in the first 55 years was a low net rate of deforestation and occupation by low-intensity farms. However, after 1720, cropland expanded rapidly due to the use of wheat as a cash crop. From 1720 to 1775, primary and secondary forest rapidly disappeared, increasing agricultural land to 60% of the region. By 1800, approximately 80% was estimated to be converted to agriculture, and little primary forest remained. After 1800, the land needed for crops decreased due to improved management practices and crop yields, and some secondary forest on formerly cleared agricultural sites may have reappeared. We estimate that less than 150 years of European colonization resulted in virtually complete agriculturalization of a primarily forested landscape.     

Expression of Hb β-T and Hb β-E genes in Eastern India—Family studies

The distribution patterns of different haemoglobins were observed amongst the family members of β-thalassaemia homozygous and HbE-β-thalassaemia patients with the aid of gel electrophoretic and alkali denaturation techniques. Of the 18 families studied, four belonged to β-thalassaemia homozygous and 14 to HbE-β-thalassaemia patients. Interaction of HbE and β-thalassaemia genes resulted in major clinical abnormalities with increase in the percentages of haemoglobins F and E. The percentages of HbA₂ in homozygous β-thalassaemia were within the normal range. Although in Southeast Asia the β° type of HbE-thalassaemia is more prevalent, only one individual with this type of thalassaemia was observed during this survey. In the rest of the patients examined the percentages of adult haemoglobin ranged from 5.2 to 42.5 indicating the presence of a β⁺ type gene.     

The Lethal Fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Is Present in Lowland Tropical Forests of Far Eastern Panamá

The fungal disease chytridiomycosis, caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is one of the main causes of amphibian population declines and extinctions all over the world. In the Neotropics, this fungal disease has caused catastrophic declines in the highlands as it has spread throughout Central America down to Panamá. In this study, we determined the prevalence and intensity of Bd infection in three species of frogs in one highland and four lowland tropical forests, including two lowland regions in eastern Panamá in which the pathogen had not been detected previously. Bd was present in all the sites sampled with a prevalence ranging from 15–34%, similar to other Neotropical lowland sites. The intensity of Bd infection on individual frogs was low, ranging from average values of 0.11–24 zoospore equivalents per site. Our work indicates that Bd is present in anuran communities in lowland Panamá, including the Darién province, and that the intensity of the infection may vary among species from different habitats and with different life histories. The population-level consequences of Bd infection in amphibian communities from the lowlands remain to be determined. Detailed studies of amphibian species from the lowlands will be essential to determine the reason why these species are persisting despite the presence of the pathogen.     

Land Use and Land Right Dynamics—Determinants for Resource Management Options in Eastern Burkina Faso

The paper first examines established theories on the population-environmental nexus. Farmers' options in responding to declining soil fertility or shortage of land vary from village to village and even household to household. Responses are conditioned by social relations with neighboring villages and the labor availability of individual households. The example from the Boulgou Province in Burkina Faso shows that some farmers have been able to expand their acreage in other villages' territories on a virtually permanent basis, thereby compensating for increased population pressure and for land degradation. Currently, labor availability, social relations, and distance to the land seem to be the main constraints on land expansion. However, the pattern of land use changes is expected to be increasingly influenced by the existence of more formally established rights than at present. In the light of the empirical findings, the relevance of the Gestion des Terroir Villagois concept as a tool for planning for sustainable natural resource management at the village level is discussed. This approach seems imperfectly suited to address a reality in which social and physical environments are superimposed in a spatially complex way.