Introduction: Tricksters, humour and activism

This special issue, entitled ‘The Trickster Activist in Global Humour and Comedy’, investigates the relevance of the concept of the trickster for explaining activist expressions that emanate from comedians, or that appear in comedy and humour more generally. Comedy has traditionally been viewed as an aesthetic or entertainment medium. It has often been charged with encouraging stereotype and the affirmation of mainstream audience beliefs. Despite this, we argue, there have been moments in recent history where comedians have given their performances an increased level of social and political consciousness that resonates with the public at large, or with sections of the public. Comedians, we argue, are able to reach this level of social commentary due to their potential to become tricksters. Paradoxically, the mythical trickster is a liminal entity, one that is adept at destruction as well as creation, or at conservativism as well radicalism. The articles in this issue explore the complexity of the trickster concept, showing some of the polysemy involved in the social activism enabled by comedy and humour

Characterization of Iranian grapevine cultivars using microsatellite markers

Sixty-two grapevine (Vitis spp.) accessions from Iran and the USA were characterized at 9 highly polymorphic microsatellite loci using fluorescent primers and a capillary electrophoresis fragment sizing system. The number of alleles observed per locus ranged from 4 to 16 and heterozygosity values ranged from 0.47 to 0.86. Genetic similarity was estimated for each pair of accessions as the proportion of shared alleles. A phenogram constructed from genetic dissimilarity values revealed three clusters, one each for table grapes, wine grapes and rootstocks. The phenogram also revealed three clonal sets (Askari, Bidane and Yaghoti) as well as some synonyms and homonyms among Iranian table grape cultivars.

National Forest Funds: mechanisms adapted to today’s challenges - Overview of the situation of 4 Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries: Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey

National Forest Funds (NFFs) are mechanisms that could be adapted to address today’s many challenges: their role as funding instruments, they can also act as catalysts to harness international funding such as the REDD+. If properly set, an NFF can also be an efficient tool to rationalize the use of these funds in a context of good governance and to ensure, for example, a redistribution to environmental service providers such as through payments for ecosystem services. Well equipped to deal with global changes, such as increasing anthropogenic stress with poverty in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries, which increase wooded areas degradation and withering and desertification due to climate change. An overview of the situation of 4 Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries (Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey) was compiled in order to take stock of the context and of the purpose of the implementation or the reinforcement of a national forest fund in terms of development opportunities, structuring, cross sectoral approach, objectives and schedule

Les Fonds forestiers nationaux : des mécanismes adaptés aux défis d’aujourd’hui - Tour d’horizon de la situation de quatre pays du sud et de l’est de la Méditerranée : Liban, Maroc, Tunisie et Turquie

Les fonds forestiers nationaux (FFN) sont des mécanismes adaptés aux défis d’aujourd’hui : en plus d’être un instrument de financement, ils peuvent également être un catalyseur en appelant des financements internationaux tels que la REDD+ par exemple. Correctement habilité, un FFN peut également être un outil efficient pour rationaliser l’utilisation des fonds dans le cadre d’une bonne gouvernance et assurer par exemple une redistribution vers les fournisseurs des services environnementaux dans le cadre de mécanismes de paiements pour services écosystémiques. Autant d’atouts pour mieux faire face aux changements globaux, tels que les pressions anthropiques croissantes et les phénomènes de pauvreté dans les pays du sud et de l’est de la Méditerranée, qui accroissent les dégradations aux espaces boisés mais également les phénomènes de dépérissements et de désertification inhérents au changement climatique. Un tour d’horizon de la situation de quatre pays du sud et de l’est de la Méditerranée (Liban, Maroc, Tunisie et Turquie) est réalisé afin de faire le point sur le contexte dans chaque pays et l’intérêt de la mise en place ou du renforcement d’un fonds forestier national en termes d’opportunités de développement, de structuration, d’approche intersectorielle, d’objectifs et de calendrier

La cédraie de Barouk (Liban). Compte rendu de voyage d'un groupe d'étude de l'ENGREF

Décrit la forêt communale de Barouk, qui s'est bien développée naturellement grâce à une simple protection contre le pâturage caprin, et à des reboisements. L'article propose un plan d'intervention qui repose sur une analyse préliminaire englobant les aspects socio-économiques, photodynamiques et paysagers

A roadmap for research in octoploid strawberry

The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is an allo-octoploid species, originating nearly 300 years ago from wild progenitors from the Americas. Since that time the strawberry has become the most widely cultivated fruit crop in the world, universally appealing due to its sensory qualities and health benefits. The recent publication of the first high-quality chromosome-scale octoploid strawberry genome (cv. Camarosa) is enabling rapid advances in genetics, stimulating scientific debate and provoking new research questions. In this forward-looking review we propose avenues of research toward new biological insights and applications to agriculture. Among these are the origins of the genome, characterization of genetic variants, and big data approaches to breeding. Key areas of research in molecular biology will include the control of flowering, fruit development, fruit quality, and plant–pathogen interactions. In order to realize this potential as a global community, investments in genome resources must be continually augmented.Peer reviewe