scholarly journals Threatened Mangroves in the Anthropocene: Habitat Fragmentation in Urban Coastalscapes of Pelliciera spp. (Tetrameristaceae) in Northern South America

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan F. Blanco-Libreros ◽  
Karla Ramírez-Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Spatial Configuration ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Mangrove Habitat ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Threatened Plant Species ◽  
The Caribbean

Mangroves are fragmented habitats thriving in human-dominated coastalscapes worldwide. They provide refuge to threatened plant species, such as the Neotropical Piñuelo Mangrove (formerly the monotypic Pelliciera genus, recently split into two species: P. rhizophorae and P. benthamii). However, little is known about the relationship between urbanization and the spatial configuration of mangrove habitat and how it would drive ecological and evolutionary changes in the small populations of Pelliciera spp. We used open data (e.g., land cover, mangrove cover) for 107 locations of Pelliciera spp. in Colombia (extant populations) to assess coastalscape structure and urbanization. We described coastalscape composition dynamics (for 2000 and 2010) and mangrove habitat configuration along a human-domination gradient, using landscape metrics. We computed an urban index to compare urbanization intensity among the study areas along the Caribbean coast and compared coastalscape structure and mangrove spatial metrics between basins (Caribbean and Pacific). The proportion of artificial surfaces was greater in the Caribbean than in the Pacific, but no temporal difference was found. The Caribbean basin exhibited a greater Urban Index, particularly in Cartagena and Urabá. Mangrove fragmentation was also greater in the Caribbean and it was influenced by the degree of urbanization. Mangrove area and core area were smaller in the Caribbean than in the Pacific, while cohesion was significantly lower in Cartagena than in other urban areas of the Caribbean. We propose a conceptual eco-evolutionary framework for linking mangrove patch reduction and isolation to demographic variables of Pelliciera spp. Edge effects are expected to affect birth and mortality rates in small patches. Small patches and small effective populations are expected to be more sensitive to novel biotic interactions, extreme weather, and gradual climate change. Isolation will also influence both emigration and immigration rates of propagules. We propose: (1) Assessing the conservation status of the two species, (2) setting monitoring programs of their populations of Pelliciera spp. and their surrounding coastalscapes (particularly in the Caribbean, (3) declaring protected areas, in wild and urban settings, to reduce mangrove fragmentation and urbanization.

scholarly journals Is urban bushmeat trade in Colombia really insignificant?

Oryx ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie van Vliet ◽  
Maria Quiceno ◽  
Jessica Moreno ◽  
Daniel Cruz ◽  
John E. Fa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris ◽  
Wild Meat ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
Bushmeat Trade ◽  
Brocket Deer

AbstractThe bushmeat trade in ecosystems in South America other than those within the Amazon basin is presumed to be insignificant, as alternative sources of protein (e.g. beef, chicken, fish) are considered to be more readily available in non-moist forests. However, studies and confiscation reports from countries such as Colombia suggest that bushmeat is consumed in a variety of ecosystems, although the nature of market chains, particularly in urban areas, is still unknown. We studied the urban bushmeat trade in markets in the five main ecoregions in Colombia. We recorded a total of 85 species, the most frequently traded being the paca Cuniculus paca, red brocket deer Mazama americana, grey brocket deer Mazama gouazoubira, capybara Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, armadillo Dasypus spp. and black agouti Dasyprocta fuliginosa. Most sales of wild meat occur through clandestine channels and involve a limited number of stakeholders. Bushmeat is a luxury product in urban areas of the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Andean regions. Further work is needed to quantify and monitor the volumes of bushmeat traded, comprehend motivations, explore ways of reducing threats, and engage with stakeholders to organize legal and sustainable use of bushmeat.

Pectis loiolae (Asteraceae: Tageteae): New Species Registered in a Natural Monument at an Archaeological Site in Northeast Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 486-492
Author(s):  
Natanael Costa Rebouças ◽  
Valéria da Silva Sampaio ◽  
Mariana de Oliveira Bünger ◽  
Nádia Roque
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Morphological Description ◽  
White Disk ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Natural Monument ◽  
A New Species

Abstract— Pectis comprises about 90 species distributed in North America, Mexico, the Caribbean, South and Central America, and the Pacific Islands. In Brazil, the genus is represented by 14 species that mainly occur in the Cerrado and five species that are endemic to the Caatinga domain. During field expeditions to the Lajedo de Soledade archaeological site, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, a new species of Pectis was found on rocky outcrops (lajedos) in the Caatinga. Pectis loiolae sp. nov. grows on limestone rocks in sedimentary substrate and is recognized by its prostrate habit with ascending branches terminating in a solitary capitulum, apex of the involucral bracts rounded, apiculate, and green becoming vinaceous in the apical 1/3, corolla of ray flowers (5) with abaxial surface vinaceous and adaxial white, disk flowers 8‐10, and presence of stylopodium in the disk flowers. A morphological description, illustration, distribution map, habitat, conservation status, and a key for all Brazilian Pectis species are presented herein.

scholarly journals Na Vuku Makawa ni Qoli: Indigenous Fishing Knowledge (IFK) in Fiji and the Pacific

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salanieta Kitolelei ◽  
Randy Thaman ◽  
Joeli Veitayaki ◽  
Annette Breckwoldt ◽  
Susanna Piovano
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Oceanic Islands ◽  
Intergenerational Transfer ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Modern Education ◽  
Cultural Importance ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Associated Knowledge

The time-tested Indigenous fishing knowledge (IFK) of Fiji and the Pacific Islands is seriously threatened due to the commercialization of fishing, breakdown of traditional communal leadership and oral knowledge transmission systems, modern education, and the movement of the younger generations to urban areas for work and/or study. Consequently, IFK, which has been orally transmitted for generations, has either been lost, not learned by the current generation, or remains undocumented. This study focuses on the critical need to conserve and include IFK as a basis for assessing the conservation status of ecologically and culturally keystone fisheries species as a basis for planning site-specific management of marine and freshwater fisheries in Fiji and the Pacific Islands. The study reviews studies of the last two and a half centuries on IFK from Fiji and elsewhere in the small oceanic islands of the Pacific, as a basis for the conservation, documentation and intergenerational transfer of this knowledge as the foundation for sustainable fisheries management. The study also reviews: the nature and conservation status of IFK, itself; and the conservation status of species considered to be of particular ecological and cultural importance; reasons for the loss of species/taxa and associated knowledge and practices; and actions that can be taken to address this loss.

scholarly journals Understanding policing demand and deployment through the lens of the city and with the application of big data

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802098100
Author(s):  
Mark Ellison ◽  
Jon Bannister ◽  
Won Do Lee ◽  
Muhammad Salman Haleem
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Multilevel Model ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Criminological Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
Generalised Method Of Moments ◽  
The City

The effective, efficient and equitable policing of urban areas rests on an appreciation of the qualities and scale of, as well as the factors shaping, demand. It also requires an appreciation of the factors shaping the resources deployed in their address. To this end, this article probes the extent to which policing demand (crime, anti-social behaviour, public safety and welfare) and deployment (front-line resource) are similarly conditioned by the social and physical urban environment, and by incident complexity. The prospect of exploring policing demand, deployment and their interplay is opened through the utilisation of big data and artificial intelligence and their integration with administrative and open data sources in a generalised method of moments (GMM) multilevel model. The research finds that policing demand and deployment hold varying and time-sensitive association with features of the urban environment. Moreover, we find that the complexities embedded in policing demands serve to shape both the cumulative and marginal resources expended in their address. Beyond their substantive policy relevance, these findings serve to open new avenues for urban criminological research centred on the consideration of the interplay between policing demand and deployment.

scholarly journals Global urban signatures of phenotypic change in animal and plant populations

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (34) ◽  
pp. 8951-8956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Alberti ◽  
Cristian Correa ◽  
John M. Marzluff ◽  
Andrew P. Hendry ◽  
Eric P. Palkovacs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Phenotypic Change ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Phenotypic Changes ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Multiple Regions ◽  
Anthropogenic Systems

Humans challenge the phenotypic, genetic, and cultural makeup of species by affecting the fitness landscapes on which they evolve. Recent studies show that cities might play a major role in contemporary evolution by accelerating phenotypic changes in wildlife, including animals, plants, fungi, and other organisms. Many studies of ecoevolutionary change have focused on anthropogenic drivers, but none of these studies has specifically examined the role that urbanization plays in ecoevolution or explicitly examined its mechanisms. This paper presents evidence on the mechanisms linking urban development patterns to rapid evolutionary changes for species that play important functional roles in communities and ecosystems. Through a metaanalysis of experimental and observational studies reporting more than 1,600 phenotypic changes in species across multiple regions, we ask whether we can discriminate an urban signature of phenotypic change beyond the established natural baselines and other anthropogenic signals. We then assess the relative impact of five types of urban disturbances including habitat modifications, biotic interactions, habitat heterogeneity, novel disturbances, and social interactions. Our study shows a clear urban signal; rates of phenotypic change are greater in urbanizing systems compared with natural and nonurban anthropogenic systems. By explicitly linking urban development to traits that affect ecosystem function, we can map potential ecoevolutionary implications of emerging patterns of urban agglomerations and uncover insights for maintaining key ecosystem functions upon which the sustainability of human well-being depends.

Are listed threatened plant species actually at risk?

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Burgman
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Threatened Species ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
The State ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Threatened Plant ◽  
Threatened Plant Species ◽  
Legal Mandates ◽  
State Of The Environment

Despite the fact that the most changes in lists of threatened species reflect changes in knowledge rather than changes in conservation status, the lists continue to provide social and legal mandates for conservation; they are used to report on the state of the environment and to guide the allocation of scarce resources. There is a substantial under-representation of non-vascular species in threatened plant lists, reflected in an absence of documented extinctions among fungi and algae. Turnover in the composition of extinct flora lists in Australia suggests that the lists of threatened species may not be sufficiently reliable to form the basis for reporting on the state of the environment. They are of limited use in distinguishing between levels of threat and may not be a reliable guide for the allocation of scarce conservation resources among plant species. Systems for listing threatened species create a feedback loop, responsive to the subjective preferences of scientists, largely unresponsive to underlying true threats, self-perpetuating and accentuating bias with each iteration. Other tools, including formal decision approaches and the acquisition of new kinds of data, are needed to fill the roles.

Identification of Tropical Cyclones’ Critical Positions Associated with Extreme Precipitation Events in Central America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo G. Hidalgo ◽  
Eric J. Alfaro ◽  
Franklin Hernández-Castro ◽  
Paula M. Pérez-Briceño
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Critical Path ◽  
Central American ◽  
Pacific Basin ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Indirect Impacts ◽  
Precipitation Events

<p>Tropical cyclones are one of the most important causes of disasters in Central America. Using historical (1970–2010) tracks of cyclones in the Caribbean and Pacific basin, we identify critical path locations where these low-pressure systems cause the highest number of floods in a set of 88 precipitation stations in the region. Results show that tropical cyclones from the Caribbean and Pacific basin produce a large number of indirect impacts on the Pacific slope of the Central American isthmus. Although the direct impact of a tropical cyclone usually results in devastation in the affected region, the indirect effects are more common and sometimes equally severe. In fact, the storm does not need to be an intense hurricane to cause considerable impacts and damage. The location of even a lower intensity storm in critical positions of the oceanic basin can result in destructive indirect impacts in Central America. The identification of critical positions can be used for emergency agencies in the region to issue alerts of possible flooding and catastrophic events.</p>

scholarly journals Marine ichthyofauna of Santa Catarina Island, Southern Brazil: checklist with comments on the species

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisela Costa Ribeiro ◽  
André Pereira Cattani ◽  
Mauricio Hostim-Silva ◽  
Leandro Clezar ◽  
Ana Carolina dos Passos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
Species Distributions ◽  
Marine Fishes ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
Coastal Environments ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Santa Catarina ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Brazilian Province

Abstract: This study aimed to present a checklist of marine fishes from coastal environments of the Island of Santa Catarina, including comments on the zoogeographic affinities, conservation status of each species, and functional groups. A total of 169 fish species belonging to 30 orders and 58 families were recorded. The most speciose families were Sciaenidae, Carangidae and, Engraulidae, representing 26,62% of the recorded species. Anchoa was the richest genus, followed by Sphoeroides and Cynoscion. Most of the species have their distribution limited to the western Atlantic, and two groups of fish were distinguished according to the species distributions: 1) species occurring in the Caribbean and in the Brazilian Province; and 2) Transatlantic species. Thirteen species are critically threatened, 10 are overexploited on the Brazilian coast, and 2 are threatened by extinction. Most of the species are either marine stragglers or marine migrants, and most of them are zoobenthivores, piscivores, or both.

scholarly journals REVISIÓN TAXONÓMICA DE LA FAMILIA ANTENNARIIDAE PARA COLOMBIA (PISCES: LOPHIIFORMES), INCLUYENDO UN NUEVO REGISTRO DE ANTENNARIUS

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luz M. Mejía Ladino ◽  
Arturo Acero P. ◽  
Luz S. Mejía M. ◽  
Andrea Polanco F.
Keyword(s):  
Common Species ◽  
Eastern Pacific ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Caribbean

The family Antennariidae is represented by two genera (Antennarius and Histrio) and seven species in the Western Atlantic, and by two genera (Antennarius and Antennatus) and five species in the Eastern Pacific. All the species are known from Colombian waters, with the exception of Antenanrius coccineus. In this study we review the family Antenariidae in Colombia, based on the examination of 51 specimens. Antennarius radiosus is first recorded from the Colombian Caribbean, based on two specimens collected with trawls at 20 m depth in Buritaca (Magdalena) and Isla Fuerte (Córdoba). Antennarius radiosus, Antennarius bermudensis, Antennarius multiocellatus, Antennarius ocellatus and Antennarius pauciradiatus are restricted to the Western Atlantic. The most common species found in Colombian seas are Antennarius striatus in the Caribbean and Antennarius avalonis in the Pacific. Histrio histrio is the only species with an almost circumglobal distribution. A key to identify antenariid fishes from Colombia is provided.

scholarly journals IUCN Guidelines for gathering of fishers’ knowledge for policy development and applied use

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winston Cowie ◽  
Shaikha Al Dhaheri ◽  
Ahmed Al Hashmi ◽  
Vivienne Solis-Rivera ◽  
Claudio Baigun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Small Scale Fisheries ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Broad Array ◽  
Fisheries Policy ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
Traditional Fishing

Small-scale fisheries provide food security, livelihoods and income to millions of people but their management still presents a challenge to managers and other stakeholders due to problems in gathering suitable information and its incorporation in fisheries policy. Fishers are a key source of knowledge for assessment of both extractive capacity and value in small-scale fisheries, in addition to providing a broad array of cultural knowledge. The increasing recognition of the value of incorporating traditional fishing knowledge in freshwater, riverine, lacustrine and coastal and marine fisheries management is now evident in international conventions and published literature. The purpose of these guidelines is to make it easier for users to recognise and include fishers’ knowledge as an important data stream in resource management. The report includes details on the breadth of knowledge that can be gathered, how it can be gathered, and how this information can be applied to support sustainable fisheries policy and broader applications in society. With case studies from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the Pacific.

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