The Effects of Soil Erosion on Rice Productivity and Its Impact on Household Welfare Levels

Soil erosion is one of the major problems of agriculture, especially in rice production. With the critical role of irrigated rice production in the country’s supply of rice and the negative effects of soil erosion on rice farming, there is a need to measure the effect of soil erosion on the productivity as well as its impact on household welfare levels. We compared farm productivity, household income and expenditure levels, and children’s food and nutritional intakes of irrigated rice farming in areas with no and slight erosion in General Santos City. Utilizing the Bureau of Agricultural Research geo-coordinates of Mindanao’s soil erosion areas, we used the geographic information system to identify irrigated rice areas with varying erosion levels. The results of the Cobb-Douglas production estimates show that the presence of slight erosion in irrigated rice farms has no statistically significant effect on farm productivity relative to the farms in no erosion areas. Comparison of yield, income, expenditure, and food and nutritional intakes of children showed no statistical difference as well. Thus, the presence of slight erosion is not a threat to the household rice production, income, and consumption relative to no erosion irrigated rice farms. However, in this context, varying erosion levels (i.e., high erosion versus no erosion) must be investigated further in order to provide more comprehensive information regarding the effect of soil erosion on productivity, expenditure, and food and nutritional intakes in irrigated rice farming

The Effect of Soil Erosion to Calorie Intakes of Children among Corn-Producing Households in Davao Region, Philippines: Structural Equation Modelling

Soil erosion is a constant challenge to farm productivity and profitability. However, extending the effect to food expenditure and children’s nutrition is yet to be explored. In this research, we attempted to establish the path linking soil erosion to children’s calorie intake levels. Using the geo-coordinates of Mindanao soil erosion areas from the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), we used geographic information system to identify the research sites for corn producing households in Davao Region. A total of 125 samples were analyzed. A 24-hour food-frequency recall survey was conducted, and conversion of food consumption to calorie equivalent was performed using the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. An analysis of variance was used to compare the mean difference of varying degrees of soil erosion in terms of productivity, food expenditure, and calorie intake. To perform the path analysis, structural equation modelling was used. The results indicate that corn farms in severe and moderately eroded areas have lower yield relative to no apparent/low erosion level. The results also suggest direct and indirect negative effect of soil erosion to farm productivity, food expenditure, and children’s calorie intake. Finally, the effect of soil erosion can be mitigated through adoption of soil conservation practices, providing opportunity for nonfarm livelihood, and empowering women head of household to improve access to nutritious food

Diet Constraints of Indigenous Children in Conflict and Non-conflict Areas of Davao del Norte, Philippines

Indigenous Peoples (IP) have poorer nutritional status compares to non-IPs due to their remote and upland location, high poverty incidence, and occurrence of armed conflict, which limit their access to stable and nutritious food. This study compares the current diets of the IP children in conflict and non-conflict areas of Davao del Norte and determines the optimal diets that meet the recommended energy and nutrient intakes. Findings show that IP children in conflict area rely mostly on locally available foods such as root and tuber crops with minimal consumption of store-bought foods. In contrast, IP children in non-conflict area combine store-bought foods and locally available foods with higher consumption on the former food source. Both diets, however, have low levels of energy and nutrient intakes. When optimized using a linear programming formulation, fats, riboflavin, and iron needs were not satisfactorily met due to limited local food resources. Thus, diversifying their diet through farming other crops especially legumes and raising poultry and small ruminant livestock is highly encouraged

Catalyzing red list assessments of underrepresented Taxa through partner networks and student engagement

Global biodiversity decline is continuing largely unabated. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species (hereafter, Red List) provides us with the gold standard for assessments, but taxonomic coverage, especially for invertebrates and fungi, remains very low. Many players contribute to the Red List knowledge base, especially IUCN Red List partners, IUCN-led assessment projects, and the Specialist Groups and Red List Authorities (RLA) of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. However, it is vital that we develop the next generation of contributors and bring in new, diverse voices to build capacity and to sustain the huge assessment effort required to fill data gaps. Here, we discuss a recently established partner network to build additional capacity for species assessments, by linking academia directly into the assessment processes run by Specialist Groups and RLAs. We aim to increase Red List “literacy” amongst potential future conservationists and help students to increase publication output, form professional networks, and develop writing and research skills. Professors can build Red List learning into their teaching and offer Red Listing opportunities to students as assignments or research projects that directly contribute to the Red List. We discuss the opportunities presented by the approach, especially for underrepresented species groups, and the challenges that remain

The Mesoproterozoic Hallandian event - a region-scale orogenic event in the Fennoscandian Shield

The Sveconorwegian Province occupies the southwestern part of the Fennoscandian Shield. The easternmost tectonic unit of the Province is the 1710-1660 Ma parautochthonous Eastern Segment, which bears the imprint of at least two metamorphic events; the 1460-1380 Ma Hallandian and the 1150-970 Ma Sveconorwegian. However, the nature and extent of the Hallandian event have been difficult to access due to the Sveconorwegian, effectively masking earlier metamorphic assemblages, structures and relations between rock units. This thesis aims to characterize the Hallandian event by investigating pre-Sveconorwegian deformation and metamorphism in an area of the Eastern Segment that largely escaped later Sveconorwegian reworking. These results are then considered in a regional perspective and related to ~1.45 Ga magmatism and metamorphism observed elsewhere in Fennoscandia. Considering the compiled data from this time period, it now appears that the Hallandian event indeed was a true orogenic event that affected a large portion of the Fennoscandian Shield. In the study area, located within the Protogine Zone in the eastern part of the Eastern Segment near Jönköping, Sveconorwegian reworking is restricted to discrete, N-S trending shear-zones. Between these shear-zones, structures, mineral assemblages and geochronological information from pre-Sveconorwegian events are preserved. The first paper provides field, mineral and chemical characteristics, as well as a baddeleyite U-Pb crystallization age of 1455±6 Ma for the Jönköping Anorthositic Suite which is abundant across the study area as small intrusive bodies. In these plagioclase-porphyritic and equigranular anorthositic rocks, deformation is restricted to thin, E-W-trending shear-zones. In the second paper we investigate the deformed country-rocks and date metamorphism and the development of the E-W to SE-NW trending gneissic fabric at 1450-1400 Ma, using U-Pb secondary ion mass spectrometric (ion probe) analysis of complex zircons. The folding event is bracketed between 1440 and 1380 Ma, corresponding to the ages of leucosome formation and the emplacement of a cross-cutting aplitic dyke. In the third paper, the gabbroic Moslätt dolerites are dated at 1269±12 Ma using the U-Pb system in baddeleyite. These have well-preserved magmatic parageneses in contrast to nearby metamorphosed mafic dykes of the 1450-1420 Ma Axamo Dyke Swarm. This precludes the Sveconorwegian event from having caused amphibolite facies metamorphism in the area. In the fourth paper, the first estimate of Hallandian pressure and temperature conditions is obtained from mineral assemblages in one of the E-W-trending shear-zones. Pressure-temperature estimates and hornblende microtextures collectively suggest deformation under conditions of 7-8 kbar and 500-550°C. In the fifth paper we constrain the age of the gneissic fabric in the granitoid country-rock at around 1422 Ma by dating a member of the syn-kinematic felsic Axamo dykes, using the U-Pb ion probe technique. It is suggested that the mafic and plagioclase-porphyritic members of the Axamo Dyke Swarm were emplaced coeval with the Jönköping Anorthositic Suite. This thesis is the first contribution which recognizes the Hallandian as a regional scale orogenic event, acknowledging all the major features of that age in the Fennoscandian Shield. These features include ~1460 Ma rifting, deposition of clastic sediments and extrusion of continental basalts in central Fennoscandia, 1460-1440 Ma emplacement of I- to A-type granitoids in southern Fennoscandia, 1450-1420 Ma deformation and metamorphism in southern Sweden and on Bornholm, and 1410-1380 Ma post-kinematic pegmatite dykes and intrusions of granite, monzonite and charnockite in the Eastern Segment. The spatial and temporal trends of these features suggest a tectonic model in which the rifting and mafic magmatism to the north are the far-field effects of north-eastward subduction of an oceanic plate, with the subduction zone located to the southwest of present-day Fennoscandia. Collision with an unknown (micro-) continent led to crustal shortening as Fennoscandia overrode this unknown continent. Post-collisional collapse triggered decompressional melting of heated continental crust, resulting in the emplacement of post-kinematic dykes and plutons