Climate-induced storminess forces major increases in future storm surge hazard in the South China Sea region

It is vital to robustly estimate the risks posed by extreme sea levels, especially in tropical regions where cyclones can generate large storm surges and observations are too limited in time and space to deliver reliable analyses. To address this limitation for the South China Sea region, we force a hydrodynamic model with a new synthetic database representing 10,000 years of past/present and future tropical cyclone activity, to investigate climate change impacts on extreme sea levels forced by storm surges (± tides). We show that, as stronger and more numerous tropical cyclones likely pass through this region over the next 30 years, both the spatial extent and severity of storm surge hazard increases. While extreme storm surge events in this location become generally a more frequent occurrence in the future, larger storm surges around Vietnam and China coastlines are projected to regionally amplify this hazard. This threatens low-lying, densely-populated areas such as the Red and Mekong River deltas, while sections of the Cambodian and Thai coastline face previously unseen storm surge hazards. These future hazards strongly signal that coastal flood management and adaptation in these areas should be reviewed for their resilience against future extreme sea levels.

Attributing of global evapotranspiration trends based on the Budyko framework

Actual evapotranspiration (ET) is an essential variable in the hydrological process, linking the carbon, water, and energy cycles. Global ET has significantly changed in the warming climate. Although increasing vapour pressure deficit (VPD) due to global warming enhances atmospheric water demand, it remains unclear how the dynamics of ET are affected. In this study, using multiple datasets, we disentangled the relative contributions of precipitation, net radiation, air temperature (T1), VPD, and wind speed on affecting annual ET linear trend using an advanced separation method that considers the Budyko framework. It is found that the precipitation variability dominantly controls global ET in the dry climates, the net radiation has substantial control over ET in the tropical regions, and VPD is impacting ET trends in boreal mid-latitude climate. The critical role of VPD in controlling ET trends is particularly emphasized due to its influence in controlling the land-atmosphere interactions.

Pasture Height of A Tropical Erect Grass Affecting Young Lamb Herbage Intake And Performance

Tropical erect grass pastures have high forage production potential in subtropical and tropical regions of the world. However, in this kind of pasture, the body weight gain of weaned lambs is usually below of their potential. We determined the effect of pasture height of an erect tropical grass, consequently its structure, on intake and performance of young lambs. The experiment was repeated in two years. Thirty young weaned lambs (4-5 months) were assigned, each year, to three Panicum maximum pasture heights: 1) Tall-75 cm; 2) Medium-50 cm and 3) Short-25 cm. Herbage mass, pasture height, plant morphological composition, pasture nutritional quality, lamb’s average daily gain, gain per hectare and herbage intake were measured. The experiment was installed in a completely randomized design, evaluated in two periods each year. The Short treatment presented, on average and for longer, the highest leaf:stem ratio (1.3 ± 0.23) and average daily gain (91 ± 10 g/day) in relation to the Medium and Tall treatments (68 ± 10 and 40 ± 13 g, respectively). There was a significant interaction between treatment*period for herbage intake. The Tall treatment showed a marked decrease in intake from the first to the second period. The pasture height management interferes in the speed at which the number of stems increases of a tropical erect grass, in relation to leaves. For a better performance of weaned young lambs during summer-autumn period, it is important to manage tropical erect grass pastures at lower height than is generally recommended, lower than 25 cm.

Neodeightonia arengae sp. nov., Botryosphaeriaceous taxa on Arenga tremula (Arecaceae) from Guangdong, China

Microfungi associated with palm are a significant fungal group with a unique ecological niche and a broad distribution in tropical regions. Even though many fungal species have been reported from palm hosts, studies on fungi from Arenga tremula are considerably few. In this study, we isolated a saprobic Botryosphaeriaceae species on A. tremula, collected from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. Morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), small subunit nuclear rRNA gene (SSU),part of the large subunit nuclear rRNA gene (LSU) and translation elongation factor 1−alpha gene (tef 1-α). Based on phylogenetic results and morphology we introduced Neodeightonia arengae sp. nov., with species description and illustrations. In addition, we provide a comparison of morphological characters of currently accepted Neodeightonia species. This is the first report of a Neodeightonia species associated with Arenga tremula and so represents an additional contribution to the knowledge of fungi associated with palm trees.

Comparative Analysis of the Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Five Species of Ricaniidae (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) and Phylogenetic Implications

Ricaniidae is a relatively small planthopper family with about 69 genera and 442 species worldwide. Members of this family occur throughout the warm temperate and tropical regions. Some species cause devastating damage to major agricultural and economic plants. However, the relationship between Ricaniidae and other families of Fulgoroidea needs to be further explored. The morphological definitions of the two biggest genera, Pochazia Amyot & Serville, 1843 and Ricania Germar, 1818 (the type genus of Ricaniidae) remain controversial. In this study, mitogenomes of five representatives in these two genera were decoded using the next-generation sequence method and genome assembly. Results showed that their complete mitogenomes are circular DNA molecules with 15,457 to 16,411 bp. All protein-coding genes (PCGs) begin with the start codon ATN, GTG or TTG and end with TAA, TAG, an incomplete stop codon single T or an incomplete stop codon single A. A lost DHU arm was discovered in the trnS gene of the five mitogenomes and the trnV gene within Pochaziaconfusa, Pochazia guttifera and Ricania simulans. The remnant tRNAs folded into clover-leaf structures. The sliding window, genetic distance, and Ka/Ks analyses indicated that the cox1 gene is the slowest evolving and is relatively conserved. The phylogenetic tree topologies support (Delphacidae + (((Issidae + (Lophopidae + Caliscelidae)) + (Flatidae + Ricaniidae)) + (Achilidae + (Dictyopharidae + Fulgoridae)))) as the best topology, as recognized by both PhyloBayes, RAxML and MrBayes based on four data sets (PCG, PCGRNA, PCG12, PCG12RNA). The monophyly of Ricaniidae and the sister group status of two families Flatidae and Ricaniidae are supported, but all analyses failed to support the monophyly of Pochazia and Ricania. The diagnoses between these two genera cannot be resolved until more evidence is acquired.

Factors Influencing Social-Learning Experience in Nearby Pocket Parks On Campus Ground

Nearby pockets on campus grounds have become necessary learning sustainable settings to improve the academic experience by promoting outdoor social and learning activities. However, many universities still focus mainly on formal indoor learning and lack outdoor education that meets modern academic outcomes. Therefore, the current study aimed to identify the factors affecting students' social-learning experience in nearby pocket parks on campus ground, focusing on the tropical regions. The current study employed a questionnaire survey conducted in three Malaysian universities to collect data from 408 participants. The results showed various types of influencing factors that affect the social-learning experience in nearby pockets on campus ground, including landscape elements and activities, environmental factors, and access to these spaces. The results also indicated that students' demographics, including gender, education status, and university, influenced the outdoor social-learning experience. The current study contributed information to the development of on-campus sustainable settings for integrating nearby pockets in social interaction and learning activities in order to improve the academic social-learning experience.

A wMel Wolbachia variant in Aedes aegypti from field-collected Drosophila melanogaster with increased phenotypic stability under heat stress

Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality across tropical regions. Population replacement strategies involving the wMel strain of Wolbachia are being used widely to control mosquito-borne diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti. However, these strategies may be influenced by environmental temperature because wMel is vulnerable to heat stress. wMel infections in their native host Drosophila melanogaster are genetically diverse, but few transinfections of wMel variants have been generated in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. Here we successfully transferred a wMel variant (termed wMelM) originating from a field-collected D. melanogaster population from Victoria, Australia into Ae. aegypti. The new wMelM variant (clade I) is genetically distinct from the original wMel transinfection (clade III) generated over ten years ago, and there are no genomic differences between wMelM in its original and transinfected host. We compared wMelM with wMel in its effects on host fitness, temperature tolerance, Wolbachia density, vector competence, cytoplasmic incompatibility and maternal transmission under heat stress in a controlled background. wMelM showed a higher heat tolerance than wMel, with stronger cytoplasmic incompatibility and maternal transmission when eggs were exposed to heat stress, likely due to higher overall densities within the mosquito. Both wMel variants had minimal host fitness costs, complete cytoplasmic incompatibility and maternal transmission, and dengue virus blocking under standard laboratory conditions. Our results highlight phenotypic differences between closely related Wolbachia variants. wMelM shows potential as an alternative strain to wMel in dengue control programs in areas with strong seasonal temperature fluctuations.

Biodiversity and Impacts of Climate Change in Home Gardens

Home garden is a complex multi-functional land use system that combines multiple farming components of the homestead and provides environmental services, household needs, and employment and income generation opportunities to the households. Predicted climate changes have serious implications for crop and livestock yields particularly in tropical regions. Home garden may act as a cushion to the adverse climate shocks. There is dearth of in-depth study of home garden ecosystem in India. The authors have selected 100 households in Garhbeta-1 block, which is in the dry zone in the district of Paschim Medinipur in West Bengal, India for the study. The main objectives of the chapter include (1) identification of the key characteristics of the home garden, (2) assessing biodiversity in home gardens, (3) identifying the pattern of climate change from the household perceptions and the problems in home garden, and (4) the changes made in the home gardens.

Preface

Excellency, Drs. Bedjo Santoso, MT. Ph. D., Rector Universitas Islam Sultan Agung; Honorable, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Ismid Bin Md Said, Pro-Vice Chancellor (International) UTM; Respectable, The distinguished guests and the participants, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the International Forum on Integrated Infrastructure Development (InFInID 2021) Hybrid Conference, which consists of 12th International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering in Tropical Regions (GEOTROPIKA), 2nd International Conference on Highway and Transportation Engineering (ICHITRA), and The 4th International Conference on Delta & Coastal Areas (ICCDA 4 2021), 21–22 September 2021. Due to the global health issue of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), InFInID 2021 is being held in mixed mode, offline and online. The conference is divided to Panel and Parallel session (7 parallel sessions, 3 rooms for 3 fields per session). I also want to inform that we will have ‘Best Paper’ Award for some topics and ‘Best Presenter’ Award for each session. For all presenters, do your best and catch the reward. The next step is publishing all paper to IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, Scopus Index. May the conference run smoothly and the goals will be achieved. And last, but not least, I would like to thank you, our shareholders, for continuing to support us, in good times, and in difficult ones. Hope that the pandemic will leave us soon, and we will have the opportunity to meet again face to face. My best wishes to you all! Prof. Dr. Ir. S. Imam Wahyudi, DEA Chairman of ICCDA 4 List of Patrons, Advisors, Chairmen, Secretaries, Reviewer are avilable in this pdf.

Garcinia intermedia, a little-known fruit tree in the American tropics

Garcinia intermedia (Pittier) Hammel, known as the lemon drop mangosteen in English and by a variety of names including limoncillo and toronjil in Mexico, belongs to the family Clusiaceae, and is distributed in the warm tropical regions of Mexico and Central America at elevations of 300 to 1,000 m. It is an underutilized fruit tree that reaches up to 20 m in height and produces yellow fruits with up to four seeds. The pulp is bittersweet and is highly valued by the rural population of the regions where it grows, where bats and spider monkeys also consume it. The fruit has medicinal properties; it is rich in benzophenones, which attack colon cancer cells. The fruit of G. intermedia has higher antioxidant capacity than the fruit of the mangosteen (G. mangostana Linn.); however, little is known about the horticultural management of this species, and basic knowledge, such as asexual propagation or postharvest conservation, has not been reported. There is no information on ex situ conservation of this species in Mexico and Central America, and no selection of outstanding specimens with high quality fruits has been made. Most of the information reported so far for this species is about its ecology and medicinal properties.