Alternative Land Use Options for Philippine Grasslands: A Bioeconomic Modeling Approach Using the WaNuLCAS Model

In the Philippines, pure grasslands occupy 1.8 million ha and another 10.8 million ha (33% of the country\u27s total land area) is under extensive cultivation mixed with grasslands and scrub. Most of these grasslands are under-utilised and dominated by Imperata cylindrica. Imperata grasslands generally represent areas of degraded soils that are acidic, low in organic matter and susceptible to erosion. However, conversion of these grassland areas into upland farms planted to annual crops and perennial trees is proliferating at a fast rate. This is triggered by the interacting factors of rapidly increasing population, the system of landholding, scarcity of jobs and the declining arable area in the lowlands

Alternative Land Use Options for Philippine Grasslands: A Bioeconomic Modeling Approach Using the WaNuLCAS Model

In the Philippines, pure grasslands occupy 1.8 million ha and another 10.8 million ha (33% of the country’s total land area) is under extensive cultivation mixed with grasslands and scrub. Most of these grasslands are under-utilised and dominated by Imperata cylindrica. Imperata grasslands generally represent areas of degraded soils that are acidic, low in organic matter and susceptible to erosion. However, conversion of these grassland areas into upland farms planted to annual crops and perennial trees is proliferating at a fast rate. This is triggered by the interacting factors of rapidly increasing population, the system of landholding, scarcity of jobs and the declining arable area in the lowlands

Ecological Value of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) at Tropical Evergreen Aglaia-Streblus Forest of Meru Betiri National Park, East Java, Indonesia

As part of carbon pools, forest soil stores soil organic matter (SOM) that contains many elements including organic C, N, P, and K. These elements contribute nutrients for biogeochemical cycles within the ecosystem. This study was done to determine the ecological value of forest soil organic matter at tropical evergreen Aglaia-Streblus forest of Meru Betiri National Park (MBNP), East Java, Indonesia. The data were sampled along gradient topography in Pringtali tropical forest of TMBNP. Direct measurements of soil moisture, temperature, and pH were taken in the field. The soil samples were extracted from 6 points of soil solum using soil auger, and then oven-dried to get value of dry-weight. The elements content of organic C, N, P, and K were analyzed and estimated at the laboratory. The ecoval of SOM was appraised using developed ecological valuation tool. The result showed that SOM contributed higher ecoval of organic C (66.03 Mg ha-1) than other elements. Compared to P and K elements, N had the highest stock of element content. However, comparing to other two tropical forest ecosystems of Asia the ecoval of SOM elements in TMBNP was relatively low because of its natural geomorphological features.The ecoval of SOM elements in TMBNP was relatively low because of its natural geomorphological features. The ecovals contributed about 2.440,64 - 6.955,50 USD or  31.271.923,73 - 89.120.837,23  IDR per hectare of ecological value (d) to the ecosystem. This value was mainly contributed by organic C stock in the TMBNP forest SOM. It means the forest SOM had higher element content of organic C than N, P, and K elements. This d value is an indicator for TMBNP to protect the SOM elements meaning protecting their resources to sustain the biogeochemical cycles in the forest ecosystem. All the management and policy correlated to this protected area should consider this valuable information for their plan and actions

Hedgerow Systems and Livestock in Philippine Grasslands: GHG Emissions

Hedgerow systems are widely adopted in the smallholder farms in the sloping grassland areas of Claveria, Mindanao, Philippines. The system is effective in addressing soil erosion problems and in conserving the topsoil. Gmelina arborea and Eucalyptus deglupta are two fast-growing timber species that are planted in hedgerow systems while maize is planted in the alley areas in between the hedgerows. Livestock holdings are widespread in Claveria, with 74% of the households having livestock. Cattle and carabao are the most common livestock in smallholder farms providing draught power for land preparation and transportation. In hedgerow systems, fodder tree leaves and crop residues are fed to livestock, while animal manure is added to the soil. Thus, these systems may serve as both a source and sink of methane and nitrogen oxides, depending on the management practices and component trees and crops of the system. This study aims to estimate methane emissions from livestock holdings and nitrogen oxide emissions through fertilization, tree litterfall and decomposition, maize residue incorporation and livestock manure from G. arborea and E. deglupta hedgerow systems

GZMKhigh CD8+ T effector memory cells are associated with CD15high neutrophil abundance in non-metastatic colorectal tumors and predict poor clinical outcome.

CD8(+) T cells are a major prognostic determinant in solid tumors, including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, understanding how the interplay between different immune cells impacts on clinical outcome is still in its infancy. Here, we describe that the interaction of tumor infiltrating neutrophils expressing high levels of CD15 with CD8(+) T effector memory cells (T(EM)) correlates with tumor progression. Mechanistically, stromal cell-derived factor-1 (CXCL12/SDF-1) promotes the retention of neutrophils within tumors, increasing the crosstalk with CD8(+) T cells. As a consequence of the contact-mediated interaction with neutrophils, CD8(+) T cells are skewed to produce high levels of GZMK, which in turn decreases E-cadherin on the intestinal epithelium and favors tumor progression. Overall, our results highlight the emergence of GZMK(high) CD8(+) T(EM) in non-metastatic CRC tumors as a hallmark driven by the interaction with neutrophils, which could implement current patient stratification and be targeted by novel therapeutics

The contribution of insects to global forest deadwood decomposition

The amount of carbon stored in deadwood is equivalent to about 8 per cent of the global forest carbon stocks. The decomposition of deadwood is largely governed by climate with decomposer groups—such as microorganisms and insects—contributing to variations in the decomposition rates. At the global scale, the contribution of insects to the decomposition of deadwood and carbon release remains poorly understood. Here we present a field experiment of wood decomposition across 55 forest sites and 6 continents. We find that the deadwood decomposition rates increase with temperature, and the strongest temperature effect is found at high precipitation levels. Precipitation affects the decomposition rates negatively at low temperatures and positively at high temperatures. As a net effect—including the direct consumption by insects and indirect effects through interactions with microorganisms—insects accelerate the decomposition in tropical forests (3.9% median mass loss per year). In temperate and boreal forests, we find weak positive and negative effects with a median mass loss of 0.9 per cent and −0.1 per cent per year, respectively. Furthermore, we apply the experimentally derived decomposition function to a global map of deadwood carbon synthesized from empirical and remote-sensing data, obtaining an estimate of 10.9 ± 3.2 petagram of carbon per year released from deadwood globally, with 93 per cent originating from tropical forests. Globally, the net effect of insects may account for 29 per cent of the carbon flux from deadwood, which suggests a functional importance of insects in the decomposition of deadwood and the carbon cycle