Pandemos manifest: Debris of an antiviral group

Pandemos es un grupo híbrido, atravesado por la inquietud de enfrentar los desafíos del mundo contemporáneo en el contexto de la pandemia. Discutiendo los modos en los que la lógica del capital opera en los campos en los que desarrollan sus actividades, se proponen intervenir con investigaciones y creaciones que no sólo en sus contenidos sino, sobre todo, en sus propias modalidades construyan vínculos que resistan a sus efectos más negativos. Así, en este texto que dialoga con la tradición de los manifiestos como estrategia para hacer visible las indagaciones de los grupos críticos, asumen el desafío de expresar las distintas voces que configuran puntos de vista simultáneos sobre la pregunta que se formula: “¿Qué es Pandemos?”. Por ello, la respuesta no emerge tanto en su literalidad, como en las cesuras que mantienen unida su potencia sin anular las singularidades que la constituyen.Pandemos is a hybrid group, crossed by the concern to face the challenges of the contemporary world in the context of the pandemic. Discussing the ways in which the logic of capital operates in the fields in which they develop their activities, they propose to intervene with research and creations that not only in their contents but, above all, in their own modalities, build links that resist its most negative effects. Thus, in this text that dialogues with the tradition of manifestos as a strategy to make visible the inquiries of critical groups, they assume the challenge of expressing the different voices that configure simultaneous points of view on the question that is asked: "What is Pandemos?”. Therefore, the answer does not emerge so much in its literalness, as in the caesuras that hold together its power without annulling the singularities that constitute it.Fil: Litvinoff, Diego Ezequiel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria; ArgentinaFil: Ciai, Tam Painé. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo; ArgentinaFil: Lorenzo, Gustavo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo; ArgentinaFil: Capmourteres, Natalia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo; Argentina. Universidad del Museo Social Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Tedeschi, Carmen. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo; ArgentinaFil: Guterman, Geraldine. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo; ArgentinaFil: Soroka, Lorena. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo; Argentin

Towards the co-ordination of terrestrial ecosystem protocols across European research infrastructures

The study of ecosystem processes over multiple scales of space and time is often best achieved by using comparable data from multiple sites. Yet long term ecological observatories have often developed their own data collection protocols. Here we address this problem by proposing a set of ecological protocols suitable for widespread adoption by the ecological community. 2. Scientists from the European ecological research community prioritised terrestrial ecosystem parameters that could benefit from a more consistent approach to data collection within the resources available at most long term ecological observatories. Parameters for which standard methods are in widespread use, or for which methods are evolving rapidly, were not selected. 3. Protocols were developed by domain experts, building on existing methods where possible, and refined through a process of field testing and training. They address above-ground plant biomass; decomposition; land use and management; leaf area index; soil mesofaunal diversity; soil C and N stocks, and greenhouse gas emissions from soils. These complement existing methods to provide a complete assessment of ecological integrity. 4. These protocols offer integrated approaches to ecological data collection that are low cost and are starting to be used across the European Long Term Ecological Research community

Data from: Functional diversity loss with increasing livestock grazing intensity in drylands: the mechanisms and their consequences depend on the taxa

1. Overgrazing is one of the main drivers of desertification in drylands, and livestock production is expected to increase in the next decades. The analysis of functional diversity can clarify the effects of increasing livestock grazing on ecosystem functioning. 2. We assess the effect of livestock grazing intensity on the relationship between taxonomic (TDH) and functional diversity (FDQ) of plants, ants and small mammals, as well as on within-trait diversity. We compared results using two indices of taxonomic diversity (Shannon and Simpson). We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to assess the causal relationship between grazing intensity, TDH, FDQ and decomposition rate for each taxa. 3. Correlation between TDH vs. FDQ varied across assemblages and seasons, but was consistent between different indices of taxonomic diversity. A similar trajectory of TDH vs. FDQ under land-use intensification was found for all taxa, with a correlated loss of species and functional traits. Also, within-trait diversity was negatively affected by increasing grazing pressure. Vegetation and small mammal SEM models show that increasing grazing intensity had a strong and direct effect on decomposition rate. The ant SEM model was the only one that showed an indirect effect of grazing on decomposition through FDQ. TDH had no effect on decomposition for either taxa. 4. We found higher niche differentiation in animal than in plant assemblages. In vegetation, several species seem to have similar trait diversity (i.e. redundancy), perhaps due to a dominant role of environmental constraints. These results were consistent among diversity indices. But increasing disturbance negatively affected TDH vs. FDQ in all assemblages in a similar way. Livestock grazing affected decomposition rate directly, and indirectly only through the effect of ants FDQ. 5. Synthesis and applications. Under increasing grazing intensity all plant and animal assemblages respond with a mirrored reduction in taxonomic and functional diversity, although vegetation seems to have higher functional redundancy. Our results are robust to diversity indices, showing that several taxa respond similarly to land-use intensification, despite differences in the mechanism behind it. This may facilitate sustainable management. Notably, increasing grazing intensity affects decomposition rate through a stronger direct than indirect effect. The stronger direct effect of livestock on decomposition rate, rather than indirectly through functional diversity, suggests that changes in structure may be more important than changes in community composition

Ecosystem loss assessment following hydroelectric dam flooding: The case of Yacyretá, Argentina

The Yacyretá dam is one of the most important hydroelectric projects in La Plata Basin. As a consequence of the filling of the reservoir to its final height of 83m, approximately 1,076km2 of terrestrial and riparian ecosystems were flooded in Argentina and Paraguay. In order to evaluate the ecosystem loss due to this impounding, we generated two maps of land use/land cover from Landsat satellite images: 1987 (prior to the dam) and 2011 (after the final height was reached). We applied a post classification method and tested the gain, loss, and net change of natural and anthropic ecosystems in the study area with a cross tabulation matrix. Water bodies were the land cover type that showed the greatest degree of change, increasing 14.8% between periods. This was in detriment of, primarily, wetlands by 7.5%, grasslands by 4.0%, and native forests by 2.8%. However, sandbanks presented the highest probability of transition to another land class and, thus, correspond to the most vulnerable land cover in the study area. Also, we detected a differential ecosystem loss, both in type and magnitude, up and downstream of the dam. Our work is the first one to address ecosystem loss in the Yacyretá area and our results should help to improve management policies, such as the design of the current network of compensatory reserves.Fil: Bauni, Valeria. Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara; ArgentinaFil: Schivo, Facundo Mauro. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Ambiental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Capmourteres, Virginia. Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara; ArgentinaFil: Homberg, Marina. Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara; Argentin

Functional diversity loss with increasing livestock grazing intensity in drylands: the mechanisms and their consequences depend on the taxa

Overgrazing is one of the main drivers of desertification in drylands, and livestock production is expected to increase in the next decades. The analysis of functional diversity can clarify the effects of increasing livestock grazing on ecosystem functioning. We assess the effect of livestock grazing intensity on the relationship between taxonomic diversity (TDH) and functional diversity (FDQ) of plants, ants and small mammals, as well as on within-trait diversity. We compared results using two indices of taxonomic diversity (Shannon and Simpson indices). We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to assess the causal relationship between grazing intensity, TDH, FDQ and decomposition rate for each taxa. Correlation between TDH vs. FDQ varied across assemblages and seasons, but was consistent between different indices of taxonomic diversity. A similar trajectory of TDH vs. FDQ under land-use intensification was found for all taxa, with a correlated loss of species and functional traits. Also, within-trait diversity was negatively affected by increasing grazing pressure. Vegetation and small mammal SEM models show that increasing grazing intensity had a strong and direct effect on decomposition rate. The ant SEM model was the only one that showed an indirect effect of grazing on decomposition through FDQ. TDH had no effect on decomposition for either taxa. We found higher niche differentiation in animal than in plant assemblages. In vegetation, several species seem to have similar trait diversity (i.e. redundancy), perhaps due to a dominant role of environmental constraints. These results were consistent among diversity indices. But increasing disturbance negatively affected TDH vs. FDQ in all assemblages in a similar way. Livestock grazing affected decomposition rate directly, and indirectly only through the effect of ant FDQ. Synthesis and applications. Under increasing grazing intensity, all plant and animal assemblages respond with a mirrored reduction in taxonomic diversity and functional diversity, although vegetation seems to have higher functional redundancy. Our results are robust to diversity indices, and show that several taxa respond similarly to land-use intensification, despite differences in the mechanism behind it. This may facilitate sustainable management. Notably, increasing grazing intensity affects decomposition rate through a stronger direct than indirect effect. The stronger direct effect of livestock on decomposition rate, rather than indirectly through functional diversity, suggests that changes in structure may be more important than changes in community composition.Fil: Chillo, María Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; Argentina. University of Guelph; CanadáFil: Ojeda, Ricardo Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Capmourteres, Virginia. University of Guelph; CanadáFil: Anand, Madhur. University of Guelph; Canad

Chillo et al_Data

Sampling sites locations, Index values for every sampling site, R scripts for SEM analyses and TDvsFD trajectory analyse