Using proverbs to study local perceptions of climate change : a case study in Sierra Nevada (Spain)

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MLocal communities' dependence on the environment for their livelihood has guided the development of indicators of local weather and climate variability. These indicators are encoded in different forms of oral knowledge. We explore whether people recognize and perceive as accurate one type of such forms of oral knowledge, climate-related proverbs. We conducted research in the Alta Alpujarra Occidental, Sierra Nevada, Spain. We collected locally recognized proverbs and classified them according to whether they referred to the climatic, the physical, or the biological system. We then conducted questionnaires (n = 97) to assess informant's ability to recognize a selection of 30 locally relevant proverbs and their perception of the accuracy of the proverb. Climate-related proverbs are abundant and relatively well recognized even though informants consider that many proverbs are not accurate nowadays. Although proverbs' perceived accuracy varied across informant's age, level of schooling, and area of residence, overall proverb's lack of reported accuracy goes in line with climate change trends documented by scientists working in the area. While our findings are limited to a handful of proverbs, they suggest that the identification of mismatches and discrepancies between people's reports of proverb (lack of) accuracy and scientific assessments could be used to guide future research on climate change impacts

A State‐of‐the‐Art Review of Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Pollution

Indigenous peoples (IPs) worldwide are confronted by the increasing threat of pollution. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature (n = 686 studies), we present the current state of knowledge on: 1) the exposure and vulnerability of IPs to pollution; 2) the environmental, health, and cultural impacts of pollution upon IPs; and 3) IPs' contributions to prevent, control, limit, and abate pollution from local to global scales. Indigenous peoples experience large burdens of environmental pollution linked to the expansion of commodity frontiers and industrial development, including agricultural, mining, and extractive industries, as well as urban growth, waste dumping, and infrastructure and energy development. Nevertheless, IPs are contributing to limit pollution in different ways, including through environmental monitoring and global policy advocacy, as well as through local resistance toward polluting activities. This work adds to growing evidence of the breadth and depth of environmental injustices faced by IPs worldwide, and we conclude by highlighting the need to increase IPs' engagement in environmental decision‐making regarding pollution control. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:324–341. © 2019 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC)Peer reviewe

Do riparian plant functional groups from northern Sweden respond differently to hydropeaking?

In recent years, global warming awareness has resulted in an increased demand for clean sources of energy such as hydropower. As a consequence, its impact on riparian vegetation must be studied. In this research, I aimed to assess how different functional riparian groups from northern Sweden respond to hydropeaking (i.e. short-term flow regime changes due to differences in the daily energy requirements). I selected seedlings of eight species natural from Swedish riparian ecosystems which can be grouped in three different guilds (forbs, graminoids and woody) according to their habitat and morphological traits.  A seven week greenhouse experiment in which the seedlings were subjected to two watering treatments that simulated prolonged and deep submergence and frequent and short shallow submergence conditions was developed. I measured the root, stem and leaf biomass, followed leaf changes and stem growth over the weeks and evaluated the health status. The study showed how some species and guilds responded differently to the treatments although survival rates were similar. Forbs was the most resilient group unlike the woody guild.  Graminoids grew longer and thinner roots in frequent submergence situations. Small seedlings appeared to be more sensitive to prolonged submergence. No significant differences were found for leaf variables. Collectively, these results suggest that hydropeaking could significantly modify the riparian vegetation. More and longer studies are needed in order to understand the capacity that hydropower has to modify the riparian vegetation and therefore the riverine ecosystems

Institutional context and governance of Peruvian fisheries and aquaculture

This report summarizes and describes the main state-driven processes related to the governance of the coastal fisheries and (marine) aquaculture sectors (i.e. mariculture) in Peru. It was produced in the frame of the Peruvian-German Humboldt Tipping project (Social-Ecological Tipping Points of the Northern Humboldt Current Upwelling System, Economic Repercussions and Governance Strategies) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project aims to assess the risk of decreased marine ecosystem productivity as a turning point for the ecological, economic and social systems that are interconnected under the Humboldt Current Upwelling System (HCUS). Within this framework, the artec Sustainability Research Center of the University of Bremen is responsible for the working package which focuses on transdisciplinary science and the analysis of the repercussions of environmental changes for marine governance regimes in Peru (WP 7).22

Cellular senescence promotes progenitor cell expansion during axolotl limb regeneration

[EN] Axolotl limb regeneration is accompanied by the transient induction of cellular senescence within the blastema, the structure that nucleates regeneration. The precise role of this blastemal senescent cell (bSC) population, however, remains unknown. Here, through a combination of gain-and loss-of-function assays, we elucidate the functions and molecular features of cellular senescence in vivo. We demonstrate that cellular senescence plays a positive role during axolotl regeneration by creating a pro-proliferative niche that supports progenitor cell expansion and blastema outgrowth. Senescent cells impact their microenvironment via Wnt pathway modulation. Further, we identify a link between Wnt signaling and senescence induction and propose that bSC-derived Wnt signals facilitate the proliferation of neighboring cells in part by preventing their induction into senescence. This work defines the roles of cellular senescence in the regeneration of complex structures.We thank TUD-CMCB Flow Cytometry and Light Microscopy Facilities for cell sorting and imaging support; DRESDEN-concept genome center for RNA sequencing; MPI-CBG Computing Facility for image processing advice; Phillip Gates for technical support; Daniel Munoz Espin for nanoparticle advice; Gabriel Waksman for institutional support; Beate Gruhl, Anja Wagner, and Dominic Kruger for animal care; and all members of the Yun lab for advice and comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellowship to H.E.W., a DAAD MSc scholarship (57507833) to D.L.-P., MISU-PROL funding from the FNRS (40005588) and Fondation Jaumotte-Demoulin funds to S.P.S., a CRTD E.V. scholarship to C.S.A., a DAAD Scholarship to K.E.T., CRTD-FSJ program funds to A.M.G., DFG (BU 2974/3-2 and EXC-2151-390873048) and Volkswagen Foundation Freigeist (A110720) grants to V.B., MCIU/AEI/FEDER, EU (PID2021-126304OB-C41 and PID2021-128141OB-C22) and Generatitat Valenciana (CIPROM/2021/007) grants to R.M.-M., and DFG (22137416, 450807335, and 497658823) grants and TUD and CRTD funds to M.H.Y.Yu, Q.; Walters, HE.; Pasquini, G.; Singh, SP.; Lachnit, M.; Oliveira, CR.; León-Periñán, D.... (2023). Cellular senescence promotes progenitor cell expansion during axolotl limb regeneration. Developmental Cell. 58(22):2416-2427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2023.09.00924162427582