THE USE OF CHOICE EXPERIMENTS TO ANALYZE CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR ORGANIC PRODUCE IN COSTA RICA

Choice Experiments are used to elicit Costa Rican consumer preferences for different attributes of organic and conventional vegetables in a hypothetical market. Focus groups identified a primary concern with the food safety and a secondary interest on the environmental impact of production practices. Two alternative national certification seals were proposed: 1) a "Blue Seal" certifying the Department of Public Health's approval for food safety; and 2) a "Green Seal" certifying Ministry of Agriculture's approval for environmentally sound production practices. Three other attributes were selected: "Appearance", "Size", and "Price". These attributes, together with the proposed labels, were presented in different combinations to a sample of 432 Costa Rican consumers at ten supermarkets located in the urban Central Valley. The results of the multinomial logit model demonstrate that the attributes "Appearance" and "Price" the have the strongest influence over the probability choosing alternative scenarios. Also, there was a significant preference for the "Blue Seal" and the "Blue Seal" and "Green Seal" combined. The socioeconomic variables turned out to be not significant in consumer choice. The results show a MWTP of 20% for the "Blue Seal" certifying healthy produce, and an additional 19% for the "Green Seal". The favorable acceptance of the certification seals on the part of the Costa Rican consumer can imply a large internal market for organic and ecologically healthy produce.Consumer/Household Economics,

Taxonomic results of the Bryotrop expedition to Zaire and Rwanda : 26., a new checklist of the mosses of Central Africa

Central Africa was one of the first regions in the tropics, if not the first, for which a checklist of mosses was compiled. In 1940, Demaret published the "Prodrome des Bryophytes du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi", followed by a supplement in 1946. In the 50 years since that time, numerous new contributions to the bryophyte flora of Central Africa have been made. Demaret added seven more publications on Zaire (formerly Belgian Congo). Potier de la Varde studied the bryophyte collections made during the surveys of the flora of the Central African volcanoes by Hedberg

A preliminary treatment of the genus Campylopus (Musci: Dicranaceae) in Central America

There are 26 species of Campylopus in Central America. They are divided into three groups on the basis of two characters: the presence or absence in the costa of a ventral layer of enlarged, hyaline cells and the presence or absence in the stem of an outer hylodermis. Dicranum costaricensis Bartr. is transferred to Campylopus as C. valerioi nom. nov. Campylopus hoffmanii and C. standleyi are recognized as distinct species. Six new synonyms are proposed: C. straminifolius = C. densicoma; C. costaricensis = C. surinamensis; C. roellii = C. tallulensis; C. donnellii = C. zygodonticarpus; C. tuerckheimii = C. zygodonticarpus; C. sargii = C. zygodonticarpus

Chronologie de l'activité volcanique historique de l'arc insulaire des Nouvelles-Hébrides de 1595 à 1991 = Chronology of the historic volcanic activity of the New Hebrides island arc from 1595 to 1991

Etude chronologique, volcan par volcan, de l'activité historique ou récente des volcans de l'arc insulaire des Nouvelles-Hébride

Lucius Chittenden\u27s journey to the inside of the earth transcribed and annotated by Michael N. Stanton.

Occasional paper (University of Vermont. Center for Research on Vermont) ; #17. Introduction -- A note on the text -- [ To the inside of the Earth! ] -- The nebular hypothesis -- Chambers makes planets -- They plan the expedition -- Las diablos del Volcan -- A discussion concerning air and heat -- Appendix : the discussion -- A note on the transcriber and annotater

Ecology of bryophytes along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients in Chile

The bryophyte vegetation in twenty-eight hectare plots in forests of S-Chile between 38° and 42°S and sea level and the forest line has been studied. Since bryophytes are fully dependend on atmospheric water and nutrient supply, they are good indicators of ecological conditions, especially for humidity. Therefore cover of epiphytic bryophytes, percentage of hepatics, composition of life forms and phytomass of epiphytic bryophytes were used as parameters. Cover and phytomass of epiphytic bryophytes as well as percentage of hepatics show moderate values in the lowlands, peak values in the montane belt (400-800m) and low values in the high montane to subalpine forests. This zonation corresponds with the composition of life forms and is attributed to a higher humidity in the montane belt. Life forms characteristic for the lowlands and submontane belts are pendants, those for the montane belt are wefts and tails, and those for the high montane and and subalpine belts are mats and cushions. The same zonation is found in New Zealand at comparable latitudes. The altitudinal differences are much stronger than the latitudinal ones. Compared with similar transect studies in New Zealand, there is a comparable zonation based on bryphytes. The percentage of hepatics as a good indicator of humidity, is – both in Chile and New Zealand - higher in the transects along the coast with higher precipitation, lower in transects in the inland with less precipitation, and increasing with altitude. Compared with tropical rain forests, the “mossiness” of temperate rain forests expressed by phytomass of epiphytic bryophytes per hectare, cover and percentage of hepatics is comparable to tropical rain forests above 2000 m, which is the corresponding elevation with regard to the mean annual precipitation. In Chile, however, there is a distinct decrease of “mossiness” in the high montane and subalpine forests, which is attributed to special climatological conditions, whereas bryophytes reach maximum cover and phytomass in the tropical high montane and subalpine forests. A comparison with montane forests in Europe in 48°N reveal, that phytomass and percentage of hepatics is distinctly less than in the true rain forests of the southern hemisphere

Of hummingbirds and helicopters: Hovering costs, competitive ability, and foraging strategies

Wing morphology and flight kinematics profoundly influence foraging costs and the overall behavioral ecology of hummingbirds. By analogy with helicopters, previous energetic studies have applied the momentum theory of aircraft propellers to estimate hovering costs from wing disc loading (WDL), a parameter incorporating wingspan (or length) and body mass. Variation in WDL has been used to elucidate differences either among hummingbird species in nectar-foraging strategies (e.g., territoriality, traplining) and dominance relations or among gender-age categories within species. We first demonstrate that WDL, as typically calculated, is an unreliable predictor of hovering (induced power) costs; predictive power is increased when calculations use wing length instead of wingspan and when actual wing stroke amplitudes are incorporated. We next evaluate the hypotheses that foraging strategy and competitive ability are functions of WDL, using our data in combination with those of published sources. Variation in hummingbird behavior cannot be easily classified using WDL and instead is correlated with a diversity of morphological and physiological traits. Evaluating selection pressures on hummingbird wings will require moving beyond wing and body mass measurements to include the assessment of the aerodynamic forces, power requirements, and power reserves of hovering, forward flight, and maneuvering. However, the WDLhelicopter dynamics model has been instrumental in calling attention to the importance of comparative wing morphology and related aerodynamics for understanding the behavioral ecology of hummingbirds

Progress in South America Dendrochronology

South America extends from 11°N to 62°S. Major boundaries such as the Andes on the western side of the continent and the land mass in the tropics create north-south and west-east variations in climate and ecosystems. Tropical forest covers 44% of the total land surface. Between 36 and 56°S, a temperate forest composed of high longevity trees dominates. The northern and central highlands are covered by small trees, shrubs and grasses. The central western part (Peru, Chile, the Andes, western Argentina and eastern Patagonia) is composed of deserts. These diverse climatic zones and ecosystems offer various potential sites for dendrochronological studies. The ideal conditions for paleoclimatic reconstructions using tree-rings are those that support the existence of long-living trees required to develop long chronologies, and/or the presence of subfossil woods. Over the last decade, the search for areas with some of these conditions has been one of the major goals of dendroclimatological studies in South America.Fil: Boninsegna, Jose Armando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentin

ESTABLISHING AN AGRIBUSINESS STUDY ABROAD COURSE IN MEXICO: A PROJECT IN INTERNATIONALIZING THE CURRICULUM

Study abroad provides students with a cross-cultural experience and a new perspective on the global market place. Seven students from the University of Georgia enrolled in an initial course entitled , International Agribusiness Marketing and Management: Focus on Mexico, at the University Veracruzana in Xalapa during the Maymester 2000. Their curriculum included field trips to agribusinesses, Spanish classes and lectures on Mexican business culture, and NAFTA. As a result, students became more comfortable in cross-cultural environments and confident in their abilities.Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,