Contribution to the Knowledge of the Philippine Freshwater Zooplankton: New Records of Monogonont Rotifera

A total of 50 taxa of monogonont rotifers is recorded from 10 samples collected in different freshwater bodies in Laguna province, Luzon, and Lake Danao, Leyte island, Visayas, the Philippines. Of these, 15 are new to the Philippine fauna. The majority of the species collected, including the new records, are common, cosmopolitan (70%) or tropicopolitan (18%) littoral/periphytic species. The richest taxocoenosis was registered among submerged Ceratophyllum sp. in Lake Danao.     

Intervention or Inversion: Australian Indigenous Justice and the Politics of Cultural Incompatibility

Australian Indigenous affairs are underscored by a central tension between the rights of Indigenous peoples to self-determination, and assimilation policy premised on cultural homogeneity. This tension is most evident between the Northern Territory Government-commissioned Anderson and Wild (2007 Anderson, P. and Wild, R. Ampe akelyernemane meke mekarle: Little children are sacred. Report to the Northern Territory board of inquiry into the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. Darwin: Northern Territory Government.  [Google Scholar]) report, entitled Ampe akelyernemane meke mekarle: Little children are sacred, which recommends the continuation of community-led programs in response to childhood sexual abuse in Indigenous communities, and the Commonwealth's Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (NTNER), commonly known as ‘the intervention’, which Altman and Hinkson (2007 Altman, J. and Hinkson, M. 2007. Coercive reconciliation: Stabilise, normalise, exit Aboriginal Australia, Melbourne: Arena Publications.  [Google Scholar]) claim represents a ‘coercive’ attempt to dismantle Indigenous rights to manage their affairs. In her critique of cultural incompatibility (culturalism), McConaghy (2000 McConaghy, C. 2000. Rethinking Indigenous education: Culturalism, colonialism and the politics of knowing, Flaxton: Post Pressed.  [Google Scholar]) observes that radicalism, or cultural difference policy in oppositional histories of power and control, seeks to invert colonial power relations. Instead, argues McConaghy, radicalism (much like assimilation) reinstitutes colonial relations of dominance. I draw on culturalism to explore the tension between Indigenous self-determination (a form of inversion), represented within the Little children are sacred report, and intervention, as a model not for coercive assimilation but for cultural integration (Sutton 2001a Sutton, P. 2001a. The politics of suffering: Indigenous policy in Australia since the 1970s. Anthropological Forum, 11: 125–173. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]; Pearson 2007 Pearson, N. 2007. The urgent quest for a radical political centre. The Age, 1 September Insight 11 [Google Scholar]). I propose that cultural inversion, as a justificatory model for addressing dysfunction within Indigenous communities, displaces the needs and rights of individuals for mainstream intervention.     

Agricultural intensification in a Philippine frontier community: Impact on labor efficiency and farm diversity

There continues to be much debate in anthropology concerning the mechanism by which agricultural intensification takes place and its impact on labor efficiency, farm diversity, and quality of diet. A major reason for this lack of consensus is the paucity of data from case studies that focus on specific agricultural systems at the point of transition from extensive to intensive methods of cultivation. Research in a frontier community in the Philippines, where farmers are making the shift from swidden cultivation to small-scale irrigated rice production, indicates that intensification does not necessarily result in lower efficiency or a decline in dietary standards. Rather, farmers faced with growing population pressure and an unproductive short fallow swidden system have been motivated to adopt irrigation because it increases the efficiency of their labor while maintaining a reliable and diverse farming system.     

Historical review and insights on the livestock tick-borne disease research of a developing country: The Philippine scenario

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) remain to be a global animal health threat. Developing countries like the Philippines is not exempt to this. Despite the potential impact TBDs can give to these countries, local government initiatives and researches remain to be limited. In the Philippines, most epidemiological studies were confined only to specific areas, and predominantly in the Northern Area. Due to its unique geography and limited studies, the current nationwide status of most TBDs could not be clearly established. This review mainly covered published studies and presented challenges in the conduct of TBD research in the Philippines, which may be similar to other Southeast Asian or developing countries. To date, reported livestock TBD pathogens in the Philippines include Anaplasma, Babesia, Theileria, and Mycoplasma spp. With the ubiquitous presence of the Rhipicephalus microplus ticks in the country, it is highly probable that other pathogens transmitted by these vectors could be present. Despite studies on different TBDs in the livestock sector, the Philippine government has not yet heightened its efforts to implement tick control measures as part of the routine animal health program for local farmers. Further studies might be needed to determine the nationwide prevalence of TBDs and the presence of other possible tick species and TBD pathogens. The Philippine scenario may present situations that are similar to other developing countries.     

Ambivalent moralities of cooperation and corruption: Local explanations for (under)development on a Philippine island

Concepts of development are inevitably loaded with value judgements concerning what constitutes ‘proper’ social and economic organisation. Focusing on the cultural politics of development on Siquijor, an island in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines, this paper explores these often tacit ideals. It considers one of the key idioms Siquijodnon use in explaining how development is brought about—cooperation—and some of its locally perceived opposites—‘crab mentality’, politicking and corruption—which contain powerful moral critiques of self and society. On Siquijor, local discourses of development have it that widespread poverty in the Philippines demonstrates a failing of Filipinos to live up to supposedly universal norms of ethical socio‐economic conduct. However, I argue that attention to local norms of moral economy reveal the ambivalence underlying these notions of development, particularly in relation to the roles of individualism and reciprocity in socio‐economic organisation.     

Molecular systematics and species limits in the Philippine fantails (Aves: Rhipidura)

Islands have long-attracted scientists because of their relatively simple biotas and stark geographic boundaries. However, for many islands and archipelagos, this simplicity may be overstated because of methodological and conceptual limitations when these biotas were described. One archipelago that has received relatively little recent attention is the Philippine islands. Although much of its biota was documented long ago, taxonomic revision and evolutionary study has been surprisingly scarce, and only a few molecular phylogenetic studies are beginning to appear. We present a molecular phylogeny and taxonomic revision for the Philippine fantails (Aves: Rhipidura) using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Our results suggest that current taxonomy underestimates diversity in the group. Some morphologically distinct subspecies warrant species status, whereas one was indistinguishable genetically and morphologically and should not be retained. A few taxa require additional sampling for thorough taxonomic assessment. Patterns of diversity within Philippine Rhipidura mostly corroborate predictions of the Pleistocene aggregate island complex (PAIC) hypothesis, in which diversity is expected to be partitioned by deep water channels separating Pleistocene aggregate islands rather than by current islands. Substantial structure within PAIC clades indicates that additional drivers of diversification should be considered.     

Coppice Harvesting of Fuelwood Species on a South African Common: Utilizing Scientific and Indigenous Knowledge in Community Based Natural Resource Management

The limitations of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) with respect to the difficulties of comparing local versus scientific knowledge categories within a bounded definition of ‘community’ were investigated by means of a study exploring local indigenous knowledge pertaining to harvesting technique, and the impact of soil and species type on the post-harvest coppice response of popular savanna fuelwood species, among rural inhabitants of the Bushbuckridge region of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Soils and plants were evaluated chiefly in terms of their perceived ability to retain precipitation, making rainfall a driving force in local understanding of environmental productivity. Some indigenous knowledge showed an agreement with biological data, but overall the variability in responses, as well as the diverse scales at which indigenous and scientific knowledge is directed, were too great to allow for simplistic parallels between local ecological indices to be made. Indigenous environmental knowledge was underscored by the perceived symbolic link between environmental and social degradation. It is recommended that environmental managers incorporate indigenous knowledge as a component of a systems-level approach to natural resource management, where biological, cultural, economic, and symbolic aspects of natural resource use are nested within a broader ecosocial system. This approach to indigenous knowledge is offered as an alternative to the simple scientific evaluation that so often characterizes environmental management.     

后河自然保护区常绿落叶阔叶混交林群落学特征研究

研究了后河国家级自然保护区常绿落叶阔叶混交林的区系特点、群落学特征。结果表明 :后河国家级自然保护区常绿落叶阔叶混交林群落物种丰富 ,有 110科 2 88属 5 34种 ,科的分布型以热带类型为主 ,属的分布型温带类型占优势 ,反映该群落区系以温带为主的亚热带区系特点 ;该混交林主要由以单叶、中型叶及非全缘叶为主的常绿、落叶阔叶高位芽植物组成 ,群落层次分明 ,从上至下 ,落叶阔叶树种所占比例逐渐减少 ,常绿阔叶树种比例逐渐增加 ;除两低海拔样地外 ,多样性变化幅度较小 ,各样地的物种多样性指数变化趋势基本一致。     

鄂西南后河一个典型稀有濒危植物群落的结构特征研究

研究了鄂西南后河一个典型的稀有濒危植物群落的结构特征。结果表明：在1400m^2的样地中自然分布有15种稀有濒危植物;群落优势种为水青树（Tetracentron sinensis)、金钱戚（Dipteronia sinensis);主要种群的空间分布格局除银鹊树为随机分布外,都为集群分布的格局;水青树银鹊树（Tapiscia sinsis)和珙桐（Davidia involucrata）种群结构呈衰老型,金钱椒、天师栗（Aesculus wilsonii)和光叶珙桐（Davidia involucrata var.vilkmorniana)种群表现为旺盛增长型结构,水青冈（Fagus longipetiolata)则表现为成熟的种群结构;群落垂直分层明显,可分为乔木层、灌木层和草本层;整个群落结构稳定,稀有濒危植物在群落中无论是在乔木层还是在其他层次中均占有很大的优势;但如果人为大量采挖稀有濒危植物小苗,群落将会演替成以水青冈等稀有濒危植物为主的群落。     

文化的起源——动物文化的普遍性与人类文化的独特性

在很长一段时间里文化被认为是人类文明的产物.该文提供了许多关于动物文化现象的证据,并且提供了动物创新和社会学习能力的观察与实证研究的结果,用以说明文化在动物中存在的可能性.然而,人类文化与动物文化存在着明显差异,造成这种结果的原因可能主要是两者认知能力的差异:人类特殊的认知模式--文化认知造就了人类复杂的文化体系.     

Population Growth and Land Use Intensification in a Subsistence-based Indigenous Community in the Amazon

Shifting cultivation practiced by indigenous peoples living at low population densities in tropical forests has often been described as sustainable and compatible with conservation. However, shifting cultivation at increasing population densities has historically been, and still is, a main cause of deforestation worldwide. As many indigenous peoples in tropical forests currently experience rapid demographic growth, this raises the question to what extent their agricultural activities actually contribute to deforestation. This paper examines land use change in an indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon which is only loosely connected to the market economy, and where agriculture is almost exclusively subsistence oriented. During the last seven decades, people have increasingly begun to clear fallows instead of old-growth forest to farm. Although the population was growing at an estimated 1.6% per year, the expansion of the area of land used for agriculture was only 0.4% per year, corresponding to an annual deforestation rate of only 0.015%. Whereas these changes may seem negligible in terms of deforestation, they do cause hardships to the local people, because of increasing walking distance to old-growth forest, and problems with weeds, pests, and decreasing soil productivity when farming after reclearing fallows.     

Representing Culture in Malaysian Cultural Theme Parks: Tensions and Contradictions

Cultural representation is nowhere more significant than in multi-cultural countries, where the mode of representation is instrumental in determining the progress of integration. Ultimately, in the Malaysian context this reflects on the success of, and is intrinsically linked to, the affirmative action policies that benefit the majority Malays. This paper highlights the representation of culture through the medium of three cultural theme parks in Peninsular Malaysia, built to promote ‘unity through diversity’ and a re-imaging of the past traditions and mythical landscape of this Southeast Asian economic powerhouse. A central aim is to bring together and make sense of how the notions of nostalgia, nationalism and economic success in cultural tourism all come to bear on representations in cultural theme parks.     

The Politics of Reintegrating Australian Aboriginal and American Indian Indigenous Knowledge into Resource Management: The Dynamics of Resource Appropriation and Cultural Revival

As the United States and Australia struggle with contemporary crises over competing uses of rapidly depleting natural resources, there are striking parallels between American Indian and Australian Aboriginal communities demanding a place at the management table and offering culturally based understandings of and solutions for the ecosystems at risk. These efforts to integrate indigenous knowledge into mainstream natural resource management are part of larger legal and political debates over land tenure, the locus of control, indigenous self-governance, and holistic ecosystems management.     

Phylogeography of the magpie-robin species complex (Aves: Turdidae: Copsychus) reveals a Philippine species, an interesting isolating barrier and unusual dispersal patterns in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia

Aim The oriental magpie‐robin (Copsychus saularis) of South and Southeast Asia is a phenotypically variable species that appears to be closely related to two endemic species of the western Indian Ocean: the Madagascar magpie‐robin (Copsychus albospecularis) and the Seychelles magpie‐robin (Copsychus sechellarum). This unusual distribution led us to examine evolutionary relationships in magpie‐robins, and also the taxonomic significance of their plumage variation, via a molecular phylogenetic and population genetic analysis of C. saularis and C. albospecularis. Location Southern Asia from Nepal across Indochina to southern China, and the Indian Ocean from Madagascar to the Greater Sunda and Philippine islands. Methods We sequenced 1695 nucleotides of mitochondrial DNA comprising the complete second subunit of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase (ND2) gene and 654 bases of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) region in 51 individuals of eight C. saularis subspecies, 10 individuals of C. albospecularis (one subspecies) and single individuals of two other Copsychus species as outgroups. The data were analysed phylogenetically, with maximum likelihood, Bayesian, relaxed clock and parsimony methods, and geographically for patterns of genetic diversity. Results Phylogenetic analysis indicated that C. albospecularis lies within the nominal C. saularis, making C. saularis polyphyletic. Malagasy and non‐Philippine Asian populations form a monophyletic group that is sister to a clade of Philippine populations. Within non‐Philippine Asian populations, two groups are evident: black‐bellied birds in the eastern Greater Sunda islands and white‐bellied birds in the western Sundas and on mainland Asia. Main conclusions The phylogeny of magpie‐robins suggests a novel pattern of dispersal and differentiation in the Old World. Ancestral magpie‐robins appear to have spread widely among islands of the Indian Ocean in the Pliocene, probably aided by their affinity for coastal habitats. Populations subsequently became isolated in island groups, notably the Philippines, Madagascar and the Greater Sundas, leading to speciation in all three areas. Isolation in the Philippines may have been aided by competitive exclusion of C. saularis from Palawan by a congener, the white‐vented shama (Copsychus niger). In the Greater Sundas, white‐bellied populations appear to have invaded Borneo and Java recently, where they hybridize with resident black‐bellied birds.     

Environmental Change and Pastoral Perceptions: Degradation and Indigenous Knowledge in Two African Pastoral Communities

Mobile livestock herders have long been seen as the main culprits of over-stocking and rangeland degradation. In recent years, however, anthropologists and ecologists have argued that African pastoralists have developed sustainable modes of pasture management based on a sound knowledge of savanna ecosystems. Comparing indigenous knowledge on species' grazing values, plant succession, and ideas about the causes for environmental change in two African pastoral societies (the Kenyan Pokot and the Namibian Himba), it is shown that their knowledge is indeed fine-grained and complex but at the same time socially constructed and embedded in ideology. It relates to a cultural landscape and not to abstract considerations on climax vegetation and its changes over time. Pastoral knowledge is built up around the interaction between herds and vegetation rather than around the environment as such.