Association of human disturbance and gastrointestinal parasite infection of yellow baboons in western Tanzania

Human disturbance is an ongoing threat to many wildlife species, manifesting as habitat destruction, resource overuse, or increased disease exposure, among others. With increasing human: non-human primate (NHP) encounters, NHPs are increasingly susceptible to human-introduced diseases, including those with parasitic origins. As such, epidemiology of parasitic disease is becoming an important consideration for NHP conservation strategies. To investigate the relationship between parasite infections and human disturbance we studied yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) living outside of national park boundaries in western Tanzania, collecting 135 fresh faecal samples from nine troops occupying areas with varying levels of human disturbance. We fixed all samples in 10% formalin and later evaluated parasite prevalence and abundance (of isotrichid ciliates and Strongylida). We identified seven protozoan and four helminth taxa. Taxa showed varied relationships with human disturbance, baboon troop size and host age. In four taxa, we found a positive association between prevalence and troop size. We also report a trend towards higher parasite prevalence of two taxa in less disturbed areas. To the contrary, high levels of human disturbance predicted increased abundance of isotrichid ciliates, although no relationship was found between disturbance and Strongylida abundance. Our results provide mixed evidence that human disturbance is associated with NHP parasite infections, highlighting the need to consider monitoring parasite infections when developing NHP conservation strategies.

Mapping anthropogenic fill with GPR for unmarked grave detection: A case study from a possible location of Mokare’s grave, Albany, Western Australia

Geophysical techniques are a commonly used, non-invasive method for the location of unmarked graves. Contrary to popular perception, most studies rely not on directly imaging skeletal material but instead on locating the subsurface disturbance created by grave digging. This approach is effective only when sufficient contrast exists between detectable properties (such as structure, mineralogy or porosity) of the grave fill and the surrounding sediment. Resolving these features can be particularly problematic in disturbed areas where other anthropogenic fill is in place, as it is often complex in character and lacks a natural stratigraphy.In many cultural heritage projects, it is often more important to ensure that burials are not disturbed rather than to specifically locate them. Under these circumstances, ground penetrating radar (GPR) can be used to locate modern anthropogenic fill. This may show which areas of the site are younger than the targeted graves and therefore of no archaeological interest. This approach is trialled on a site thought to contain the grave of Mokare, a significant historical figure in the colonial settlement of the Albany area in Western Australia. The delineation of a package of modern fill in the shallow subsurface in the context of the probable history of earthworks on the site demonstrates that Mokare is not buried in the surveyed location. This approach, applied to suitable sites, could contribute to culturally sensitive non-invasive investigation of burial sites in other locations.

Land Cover Changes after the Massive Rohingya Refugee Influx in Bangladesh: Neo-Classic Unsupervised Approach

The Rohingya refugee influx to Bangladesh in 2017 was a historical incident; the number of refugees was so massive that significant impacts to local communities was inevitable. The Bangladesh government provided land in a preserved area for constructing makeshift camps for the refugees. Previous studies have revealed the land cover changes and impacts of the refugee influx around campsites, especially with regard to local forest resources. Our aim is to establish a convenient approach of providing up-to-date information to monitor holistic local situations. We employed a classic unsupervised technique—a combination of k-means clustering and maximum likelihood estimation—with the latest rich time-series satellite images of Sentinal-1 and Sentinal-2. A combination of VV and normalized difference water index (NDWI) images was successful in identifying built-up/disturbed areas, and a combination of VH and NDWI images was successful in differentiating wetland/saltpan, agriculture /open field, degraded forest/bush, and forest areas. By doing this, we provided annual land cover classification maps for the entire Teknaf peninsula for the pre- and post-influx periods with both fair quality and without prior training data. Our analyses revealed that on-going impacts were still observed by May 2021. As a simple estimation of the intervention consequence, the built-up/disturbed areas increased 6,825 ha (compared with the 2015–17 period). However, while the impacts on the original forest were not found to be significant, the degraded forest/bush areas were largely degraded by 4,606 ha. These cultivated lands would be used for agricultural activities. This is in line with the reported farmers’ increased income, despite local people with other occupations that are all equally facing the decreases in income. The convenience of our unsupervised classification approach would help keep accumulating a time-series land cover classification, which is important in monitoring impacts on local communities.

Nutritional and Functional Properties of Wild Leafy Vegetables for Improving Food Security in Southern Angola

In Southern Angola, numerous non-woody forest products are sold at local markets, namely in Lubango (Huíla Province). Such is the case of herbaceous wild plants, locally known as lombi, which are sold fresh throughout the year and cooked as a vegetable. Although these wild leafy vegetables are commercialized and widely used in local food, there is still a lack of scientific knowledge about their properties. Thus, this study aimed to identify and characterize the species sold, and to determine their nutritional and functional properties. Our results revealed that three species—Amaranthus hybridus, Bidens pilosa, and Galinsoga parviflora—are usually sold at Lubango markets and consumed by local populations. These are annual exotic plants, native to Southern America, and usually occur spontaneously in croplands or disturbed areas, but can also be cultivated, particularly A. hybridus. Physico-chemical analyses of lombi species and mixtures sold at the markets included measurements of moisture, protein, lipid, and mineral content, as well as total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and levels of heavy metal contaminants. The results revealed that lombi contain a significant amount of protein (20–28 g/100 g, dry basis), high values of macronutrients and micronutrients, as well as of phenolic compounds (10–40 mg GAE/g) and a good antioxidant capacity. Given the availability of lombi throughout the year, our study demonstrated the importance of wild edible plants in Angola, both as a valuable natural resources and as a complementary food sources, as well as additional sources of income for many families.

Recovery of Paleodictyon patterns after simulated mining activity on Pacific nodule fields

Since the late 1980s, various experiments have been conducted in polymetallic nodule fields of the Pacific Ocean to assess the potential environmental impacts of future mining, specifically in two areas: the Peru Basin and the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ). Two expeditions, SO242/2 in 2015 (Peru Basin) and SO268/1 + 2 in 2019 (CCZ), deployed a towed camera system to collect imagery from both areas. These expeditions aimed to assess recovery of fauna in the short (few weeks) and long term (several years) following physical seafloor disturbance actions designed to mimic potential mining, by ploughs, dredges and epibenthic sleds. Within the collected image data, several strikingly hexagonal hole patterns were observed and identified as Paleodictyon nodosum, and an irregular form of Paleodictyon traces, both on undisturbed and disturbed areas of seafloor. Recent forms occur abundantly in various deep-sea regions, but their origin, and how they represent the mode of life of the forming organism, remains unknown. In this study, the imaged occurrences of Paleodictyon traces on disturbed seafloor sheds light on the lifecycle of the forming organism, demonstrating that they can recolonize disturbed habitat and produce the trace network in a few weeks. Nevertheless, the density of these patterns on disturbed substrates was lower than observed on undisturbed substrates in both nodule regions. We therefore hypothesize that, along with other benthic deep-sea fauna, these structures and the forming organism are impacted by physical seafloor disturbance, and even 26 years after disturbance, densities on disturbed sediments have not recovered to undisturbed levels.

Thawing Yedoma permafrost is a neglected nitrous oxide source

In contrast to the well-recognized permafrost carbon (C) feedback to climate change, the fate of permafrost nitrogen (N) after thaw is poorly understood. According to mounting evidence, part of the N liberated from permafrost may be released to the atmosphere as the strong greenhouse gas (GHG) nitrous oxide (N2O). Here, we report post-thaw N2O release from late Pleistocene permafrost deposits called Yedoma, which store a substantial part of permafrost C and N and are highly vulnerable to thaw. While freshly thawed, unvegetated Yedoma in disturbed areas emit little N2O, emissions increase within few years after stabilization, drying and revegetation with grasses to high rates (548 (133–6286) μg N m−2 day−1; median with (range)), exceeding by 1–2 orders of magnitude the typical rates from permafrost-affected soils. Using targeted metagenomics of key N cycling genes, we link the increase in in situ N2O emissions with structural changes of the microbial community responsible for N cycling. Our results highlight the importance of extra N availability from thawing Yedoma permafrost, causing a positive climate feedback from the Arctic in the form of N2O emissions.

Acoustic restoration: using soundscapes to benchmark and fast-track rehabilitation of ecological communities

We introduce a new approach—acoustic restoration—focusing on the applied utility of soundscapes for restoration, recognizing the rich ecological and social values they encapsulate. Broadcasting soundscapes in disturbed areas can accelerate recolonization of animals and the microbes and propagules they carry; long duration recordings are also ideal sources of data for benchmarking restoration initiatives and evocative engagement tools.

Automatic Fault Location Identification and Isolation Method for Smart Distribution Network in Surabaya City

There are various types of fault that can occur in the distribution system network, so it is necessary to identify the location of the fault and isolate the fault in the area of the fault. The city of Surabaya is in preparation for the development of a smart city, so it is necessary to prepare a smart distribution system network system that can identify locations and isolate disturbed areas automatically. This paper describes the reconfiguration process to improve the value of losses in the system which results in a decrease in the value of total line losses after reconfiguration of 313.46 kW from 8 scenarios and includes the effect of adding solar energy to the existing network. The process of identifying the fault location and the isolation process on the Surabaya distribution system network in this paper uses the deep learning method. The fault location is determined based on the voltage and current profile of each bus in the system, while the isolation process is carried out by opening the switch closest to the fault area. In this process, deep learning can provide accurate fault location and isolation results for 6 fault tests.

Assessment of the state of coenopopulations Erythronium sibiricum (Fischer et Meyer) Krylov in anthropogenically disturbed areas of Kuzbass

This article presents the results of studies of cenopopulations of the Erythronium sibiricum in the disturbedareas of Kemerovo region. Erythronium sibiricum is a rare plant listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. To assess the condition of the cenopulations of the studied species in disturbed territories, research was carried out on an oldlimestone quarry (kandyk-sedge birch forest, anthropogenically altered birch-pine forest) and on anthropogenically disturbed meadows. 4 phytocenoses of various compositions have been studied. As a result of research, it was found that inthe kandyk-sedge birch forest Erythronium sibiricum occupies 10 % of the herbaceous cover, in the anthropogenically altered birch-pine forest – 5 %, in anthropogenically disturbed grasslands Erythronium sibiricum occurs singly and makesup less than 1% of the herbaceous cover. Under the forest canopy, the biometric indicators of generative individuals of thisspecies are higher than in meadow communities, where, for example, the length of generative shoots is 6–8 cm less, or generative individuals are absent. No seedlings, senile and dying individuals were found in the age spectrum of Erythroniumsibiricum cenopulations. Reproduction of the species occurs by seed. In the age structure, all cenopulations are left-handed, incomplete, of the normal type.