Assessing the Sensitivity of Seabed Species and Biotopes – The Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN)

Science-based approaches to support the conservation of marine biodiversity have been developed in recent years. They include measures of ‘rarity’, ‘diversity’, ‘importance’, biological indicators of water ‘quality’ and measures of ‘sensitivity’. Identifying the sensitivity of species and biotopes, the main topic of this contribution, relies on accessing and interpreting available scientific data in a structured way and then making use of information technology to disseminate suitably presented information to decision makers. The Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN) has achieved that research for a range of environmentally critical species and biotopes over the past four years and has published the reviews on the MarLIN Web site (www.marlin.ac.uk). Now, by linking the sensitivity database and databases of survey information, sensitivity mapping approaches using GIS are being developed. The methods used to assess sensitivity are described and the approach is advocated for wider application in Europe.     

Bioactivities,bioactive compounds and chemical constituents of mangrove plants

This review article presents the traditional and medicinal uses, and examines recent investigations on the biological activities of extracts, and chemicals identified from mangroves and mangal associates. Metabolites identified from mangrove plants are classified according to ‘chemical classes’, and some of their structures are illustrated. The article also presents some of the functions of the chemicals present and attempt to emphasize and create an awareness of the great of potential mangroves and mangal associates possess as a source of novel agrochemicals, compounds of medicinal value, and a new source of many already known biologically active compounds. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

MAPS Database: Medicinal plant Activities,Phytochemical and Structural Database

Drug development from natural sources is an important and fast developing area. Natural sources (plants) have been used to cure a range of diseases for Thousands of years. Different online medicinal plant databases provide information about classifications, activities, phytochemicals and structure of phytochemicals in different formats. These databases do not cover all aspects of medicinal plants. MAPS (Medicinal plant Activities, Phytochemicals & structural database) has been constructed with uniqueness that it combines all information in one web resource and additionally provides test targets on which particular plant found to be effective with reference to the original paper as well. MAPS database is user friendly information resource, including the data of > 500 medicinal plants. This database includes phytochemical constituents, their structure in mol format, different activities possessed by the medicinal plant with the targets reported in literature.

Availability

http://www.mapsdatabase.com     

NeMedPlant: a database of therapeutic applications and chemical constituents of medicinal plants from north-east region of India

The North-East region of India is one of the twelve mega biodiversity region, containing many rare and endangered species. A curated database of medicinal and aromatic plants from the regions called NeMedPlant is developed. The database contains traditional, scientific and medicinal information about plants and their active constituents, obtained from scholarly literature and local sources. The database is cross-linked with major biochemical databases and analytical tools. The integrated database provides resource for investigations into hitherto unexplored medicinal plants and serves to speed up the discovery of natural productsbased drugs. AVAILABILITY: The database is available for free at http://bif.uohyd.ac.in/nemedplant/orhttp://202.41.85.11/nemedplant/     

Sustaining Plants and People: Traditional Q’eqchi’ Maya Botanical Knowledge and Interactive Spatial Modeling in Prioritizing Conservation of Medicinal Plants for Culturally Relative Holistic Health Promotion

Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted to locate culturally important, regionally scarce, and disappearing medicinal plants via a novel participatory methodology which involves healer-expert knowledge in interactive spatial modeling to prioritize conservation efforts and thus facilitate health promotion via medicinal plant resource sustained availability. These surveys, conducted in the Maya Mountains, Belize, generate ethnobotanical, ecological, and geospatial data on species which are used by Q’eqchi’ Maya healers in practice. Several of these mountainous species are regionally scarce and the healers are expressing difficulties in finding them for use in promotion of community health and wellness. Based on healers’ input, zones of highest probability for locating regionally scarce, disappearing, and culturally important plants in their ecosystem niches can be facilitated by interactive modeling. In the present study, this is begun by choosing three representative species to train an interactive predictive model. Model accuracy was then assessed statistically by testing for independence between predicted occurrence and actual occurrence of medicinal plants. A high level of accuracy was achieved using a small set of exemplar data. This work demonstrates the potential of combining ethnobotany and botanical spatial information with indigenous ecosystems concepts and Q’eqchi’ Maya healing knowledge via predictive modeling. Through this approach, we may identify regions where species are located and accordingly promote for prioritization and application of in situ and ex situ conservation strategies to protect them. This represents a significant step toward facilitating sustained culturally relative health promotion as well as overall enhanced ecological integrity to the region and the earth.     

Conservation Heroes Versus Environmental Villains: Perceiving Elephants in Caprivi,Namibia

This article investigates the impact of transnational environmental organizations on rural people involved in conservation by exploring the impacts of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) ivory trade ban on Namibia’s elephant conservation policy. This case study examines how rural African people are put into categories of ‘conservation heroes’ or ‘environmental villains’ by local conservation practitioners, government officials in Namibia and transnational conservation actors. Findings indicate that the approach of state officials and conservation organizations (CO) results in incomplete representations of both rural African people and the cultural importance these people attach to elephants. The article concludes that current environmental narratives associated with rural African people have been used as powerful ‘tools of persuasion’ at the state and international level to support and legitimate conservation policy and resource use in relation to the concerns of transnational environmental actors to the exclusion of rural African people.     

Current LCA database development in Japan -results of the LCA project

In 1998, the Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) launched a five-year national project entitled ‘Development of Life Cycle Impact Assessment for Products’ (commonly known as ‘the LCA Project’). The purpose of the project is to develop common LCA methodology as well as a highly reliable database that can be shared in Japan. Activities over these five years have resulted in the supply of LCI data on some 250 products. Industrial associations voluntarily provided data. The results of these activities are currently being made available on the Internet on a trial basis in the form of an LCA database. In addition, a method entitled ‘Life-cycle Impact assessment Method based on Endpoint modeling (LIME)’ was developed. It is expected that these results will be widely used in Japan in the future. This paper presents an outline of the results of the research and development that has been conducted in the LCA Project in Japan.     

Biogeography, current knowledge and conservation of threatened vascular plants characteristic of Mexican temperate forests

The main goal of this study is to document the biogeographical patterns, current status and conservation of 24 species of vascular plants in Mexico, all of them recorded in some risk category in the Mexican official publication named ‘Norma Oficial Mexicana 059’ (NOM-059) and some of them in the IUCN red lists (the World Conservation Union) and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species); many of these species are linked to Mexican cloud forests and other temperate vegetation types. Distribution maps of these 24 species were generated with information obtained from specialized literature, herbarium specimens, institutional databases, and field work; with this information, the patterns of richness and endemism of these species were obtained. For this, the Mexican territory was divided using a grid system based on a chart index (scale 1:50,000 system composed by grids of 15' × 20'). Also, we up to date the knowledge of these species and their populations and current habitats, and evaluate their geographic distribution in relation to the current Mexican National Parks and Reserves System and Mexican Priority Regions for Conservation. We also discuss some changes of categories in the NOM-059 and suggest the urgent incorporation of some of the species in the recent IUCN Red Data List of Threatened Species (2003). Most of the species studied require special policies for their conservation due to problems that affect their natural populations; also we consider that these taxa are underrepresented in the current Mexican System of Natural Protected Areas, especially those with restricted distributions.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In vitro</Emphasis> propagation of a high value medicinal plant: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Asparagus racemosus</Emphasis> Willd.

Asparagus racemosus Willd. is an important medicinal plant of tropical and subtropical India. Its medicinal usage has been reported in the Indian and British Pharmacopoeias and in traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha. The multiple uses of this species have increased its commercial demand, resulting in over-exploitation. Because of destructive harvesting, the natural population of A. racemosus is rapidly disappearing, and it is recognized as ‘vulnerable’ (Warner et al., Some important medicinal plants of the Western Ghats, India: a profile. International Development Research Centre, Artstock, New Delhi, India, 15 pp, 2001). The development of an efficient micropropagation protocol will play a significant role in meeting the requirements for commercial cultivation, thereby conserving the species in its natural habitat. In the present study, in vitro shoot proliferation was obtained by culturing single node segments in Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium supplemented with 3.69 μM 2-isopentyl adenine and 3% sucrose with a multiplication rate of 3.5. For proper root formation, the in vitro-formed shoot clusters were cultured on half strength (major salts reduced to half) MS medium with 1.61 μM 1-naphthalene acetic acid, 0.46 μM kinetin, 98.91 μM adenine sulfate, 500 mg/l malt extract, 198.25 μM phloroglucinol, and 3% sucrose. On this medium, 85% rooting was observed within 20 d. Following a simple hardening procedure involving sequential transfer of plants to a greenhouse, polyhouse, and shade net, the tissue-cultured plants were transferred to the field where the survival rate was 100%.     

A linkage map of the pea (Pisum sativum L.) genome containing cloned sequences of known function and expressed sequence tags (ESTs)

 A linkage map of the pea (Pisum sativum L.) genome is presented which is based on F₂ plants produced by crossing the marrowfat cultivar ‘Primo’ and the blue-pea breeding line ‘OSU442-15’. This linkage map consists of 209 markers and covers 1330 cM (Kosambi units) and includes RFLP, RAPD and AFLP markers. By mapping a number of anchor loci, the ‘Primo’בOSU442-15’ map has been related to other pea linkage maps. A feature of the map is the incorporation of 29 loci representing genes of known function, obtained from other laboratories. The map also contains RFLP loci detected using sequence-characterized cDNA clones developed in our laboratory. The putative identities of 38 of these cDNA clones were assigned by examining public-sequence databases for protein or nucleotide-sequence similarities. The conversion of sequence-characterized pea cDNAs into PCR-amplifiable and polymorphic sequence-tagged sites (STSs) was investigated using 18 pairs of primers designed for single-copy sequences. Eleven polymorphic STSs were developed. Received: 18 June 1997 / Accepted: 11 August 1997     

‘Mitigation banks’ for wetland conservation: a major success or an unmitigated disaster?

First developed in the USA in the early 1970s, ‘wetland mitigation banks’ provide a framework for conservation activities that are designed to offset residual, unavoidable damage to the natural environment caused by development activities. The concept is now a worldwide phenomenon. In this paper I consider the level of success of wetland mitigation banks in the USA for biodiversity conservation with a view to informing ‘best practice’ in Australia. I conclude that although the concept has merit, even in the USA where the processes have been evolving for over 30 years, the outcomes frequently fall short of the target of a ‘like for like’ swap of habitat. While the outcome for wetland mitigation may not be an ‘unmitigated disaster’ it is, at best, apparently only modestly successful.     

‘Chillum’ jar,a better technique for screening of rhizobia under summer conditions

Summary In the present investigations ‘Chillum’ jar assembly was found to provide more favourable environmental conditions for rhizobia to nodulate leguminous plants particularly under summer conditions than the usual Leonard jar assembly. When thirty pigeon pea rhizobia isolates were tested for their nodulation efficiency in both Leonard jars as well as ‘Chillum’ jars, it was noticed that there was no nodulation in any of the isolates under Leonard jars whereas all isolates were nodulating well under ‘Chillum’ jars conditions. This was probably due to lowering of temperature in ‘Chillum’ jar caused by rapid evaporation from the outer surface of ‘Chillum’ jar assembly. The maximum temperature recorded in ‘Chillum’ jar was 34°C whereas in Leonard jars it was 46.5°C.     

Medicinal plants, conservation and livelihoods

Many types of action can be taken in favour of the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. Some of these are undertaken directly at the places where the plants are found, while others are less direct, such as some of those relating to commercial systems, ex situ conservation and bioprospecting. In the latter cases, actions taken will not lead to in situ conservation unless they feedback to improvements in the field. Probably the single most important role for medicinal plants in biological conservation is their use to achieve conservation of natural habitats more generally. This stems from the special meanings that medicinal plants have to people, related to the major contributions that they make to many people's lives in terms of health support, financial income, cultural identity and livelihood security. Problems associated with biopiracy or (the other side of the coin) excessive restrictions on research have come to assume policy prominence in the general thematic area of medicinal plant conservation and use. The fair and equitable sharing of benefits from bioprospecting is required under the Convention on Biological Diversity, but it is not always easy to achieve these ideals in practice. While experience is accumulated in how this may practically be achieved, it is important, at the present time, that controls imposed on scientific research to prevent biopiracy or theft of local and indigenous intellectual property do not unduly restrict research that has little or nothing to do with these matters.     

Perception of local people towards conservation of forest resources in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve,north-western Himalaya,India

This article examines the perception of the Bhotiya tribal community on the use and conservation of natural resources in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR), north-western Himalaya in India with an objective of identifying the bottlenecks in the sustainable management of forest resources of NDBR through people’s participation. Despite, 85% of the respondents supporting the concept of conservation of forest resources, management decisions such as ban on mountaineering activities by creation of the Nanda Devi National Park (NDNP) in 1982 and NDBR in 1988, developed negative attitude among local people towards NDBR management, mainly because of restricted access to the forest resources for their livelihood. Promotion of some alternative income generating activities to reduce the dependence on natural resources was responded positively by the local people.     

Hybrid origin of some ornamentals of Allium subgenus Melanocrommyum verified with GISH and RAPD

 Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) methods have been used to verify the hybridogenic origin and to identify the parental species of some ornamental cultivars in the subgenus Melanocrommyum of the genus Allium. The cultivars had been selected from seed obtained after uncontrolled pollination in breeders’ fields. The combination of GISH analysis with RAPD markers is very suitable for testing the hybridogenic origin of plants and to ascertain the parental species of the hybrids in such cases. As suspected, A. macleanii and A. cristophii are the parental species of ‘Globemaster’. The parental species of cultivar ‘Globus’ are A. karataviense and A. stipitatum, and not A. cristophii and A. giganteum as has been assumed on morphological grounds. Cultivars ‘Lucy Ball’ and ‘Gladiator’ are of hybrid origin, though only one of the parental species, A. hollandicum, could be confirmed. The cultivars ‘Purple Sensation’, ‘Mount Everest’, ‘White Giant’, ‘Michael H. Hoog’ and ‘Mars’ are not hybrids since neither GISH nor RAPD suggest the presence of a second genome. ‘Purple Sensation’ belongs to A. hollandicum, ‘Mount Everest’, ‘White Giant’ and ‘Mars’ to A. stipitatum,‘Michael H. Hoog’ to A. rosenorum. Received: 3 July 1997 / Accepted: 9 October 1997     

German network on life cycle inventory data

Reliability of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results depends on the availability and quality of Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data. In order to provide high-quality LCI data for background systems in LCA and to make it applicable to a wider range of fields, harmonization strategies for already existing datasets and databases are required. In view of the high significance of LCI data as a basis of major fields of action within a sustainability strategy, the German Helmholtz Association (HGF), under the leadership of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) has taken up this issue in its research programme. In 2002, the FZK conducted a preliminary study on ‘Quality Assurance and User-oriented Supply of a Life Cycle Inventory Data’ funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Within the framework of this study, a long-term concept for improving the scientific fundamentals and practical use of LCI data was developed in association with external experts. The focus is on establishing a permanent German ‘Network on Life Cycle Inventory Data’ which will serve as the German information and cooperation platform for all scientific and non-scientific actors in the field of life cycle analysis. This network will integrate expertise on LCA in Germany, harmonise methodology and data, and use the comprehensive expert panel as an efficient basis for further scientific development and practical use of LCA. At the same time, this network will serve as a platform for cooperation on an international level. Current developments address methodological definitions for the initial information infrastructure. As a novel element, user needs are differentiated in parallel according to the broad application fields of LCI-data from product declaration to process design. Case studies will be used to define tailored interfaces for the database, since different data quality levels will be encountered.     

The emergence of biodiversity conflicts from biodiversity impacts: characteristics and management strategies

Conflicts between the conservation of biodiversity and other human activities occur in all habitats and can impact severely upon socio-economic and biological parameters. In a changing environment, with increasing pressure on ecosystem goods and services and increasing urgency for biodiversity conservation, these conflicts are likely to increase in importance and magnitude and negatively affect biodiversity and human well-being. It is essential, however, to better understand what is meant by ‘biodiversity conflicts’ in order to develop ways to manage these effectively. In view of the complexity of the social and ecological contexts of conflicts, this paper explores ‘biodiversity impacts’ linked to agricultural, forestry and other sectoral activities in the UK. The paper then describes the transition from ‘biodiversity impacts’ to ‘biodiversity conflicts’, illustrating this concept with specific examples. While generalisations relating to conflict management are made difficult by their unique contextual settings, this paper suggests approaches for their management, based on the experiences of scientists who have been involved in managing conflicts. We consider the role of science and scientists; trust and dialogue; and temporal and spatial scales in biodiversity conflicts and highlight the combined role they play in successful biodiversity conflict management. Recommendations are also made for future research on biodiversity conflicts in a changing environment.     

Molecular markers in medicinal plant biotechnology: past and present

Plant based medicines have gained popularity worldwide due to their almost negligible side effects. In India, the three traditional medicinal systems, namely homeopathy, Ayurveda and Siddha rely heavily on plants for medicinal formulations. To prevent the indiscriminate collection of these valuable medicinal plants and for their proper authentication and conservation, it is imperative to go for sustained efforts towards proper germplasm cataloguing and devising conservation strategies. For this purpose, molecular markers have a significant role, as they provide information ranging from diversity at nucleotide level (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to gene and allele frequencies (genotype information), the extent and distribution of genetic diversity, and population structure. Over the past twenty years, the molecular marker field has completely transformed the meaning of conservation genetics which has emerged from a theory-based field of population biology to a full-fledged pragmatic discipline. In this review, we have explored the transition and transformation of molecular marker technologies throughout these years.     

The Rumor of Globalization: Globalism,Counterworks and the Location of Commodity

This article seeks to document the vernacular perceptions of ‘globalization’ in rural Bengal (India) and, in that connection, seeks to rethink some long-held western notions concerning commodity, consumption, representation, the nature of sociality and the politics of democratic empowerment in the third-world. In the subaltern imaginary, images seem to play a crucial role conductive to empowerment. Also, far from resisting globalization and consumption, the rural poor seems to have assimilated these into their vernacular cosmology. In memoriam: Gourkishore Ghosh (1923–2001) Vernacular intellectual, publicist, crusader for free speech and democracy     

Molecular markers in medicinal plant biotechnology: past and present

Plant based medicines have gained popularity worldwide due to their almost negligible side effects. In India, the three traditional medicinal systems, namely homeopathy, Ayurveda and Siddha rely heavily on plants for medicinal formulations. To prevent the indiscriminate collection of these valuable medicinal plants and for their proper authentication and conservation, it is imperative to go for sustained efforts towards proper germplasm cataloguing and devising conservation strategies. For this purpose, molecular markers have a significant role, as they provide information ranging from diversity at nucleotide level (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to gene and allele frequencies (genotype information), the extent and distribution of genetic diversity, and population structure. Over the past twenty years, the molecular marker field has completely transformed the meaning of conservation genetics which has emerged from a theory-based field of population biology to a full-fledged pragmatic discipline. In this review, we have explored the transition and transformation of molecular marker technologies throughout these years.