Regioselective functionalisation of dibenzothiophenes through gold-catalysed intermolecular alkyne oxyarylation

Site-selective and direct C–H functionalisation of dibenzothiophenes is achieved using a gold-catalysed oxyarylation approach.</p

An evaluation of coastal dune forest restoration in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Ecological restoration has the potential to stem the tide of habitat loss, fragmentation and transformation that are the main threats to global biological diversity and ecosystem services. Through this thesis, I aimed to evaluate the ecological consequences of a 33 year old rehabilitation programme for coastal dune forest conservation. The mining company Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) initiated what is now the longest running rehabilitation programme in South Africa in 1977. Management of the rehabilitation process is founded upon the principles of ecological succession after ameliorating the mine tailings to accelerate initial colonisation. Many factors may detract from the predictability of the ecological succession. For example, if historical contingency is a reality, then the goal of restoring a particular habitat to its former state may be unattainable as a number of alternative stable states can result from the order by which species establish. Succession appears to be a suitable conceptual basis (at this stage in regeneration at least) for the restoration of coastal dune forest. Patterns of community characteristics observed in rehabilitating coastal dune forest sites were similar to those predicted by ecological succession, with few exceptions. Changes in the species pool such as the establishment of strong dominants may lead to divergence of regenerating trajectories away from the desired endpoints. The species composition of herbaceous plants in regenerating coastal dune forest sites became increasingly uniform as the time since disturbance increased. Despite initially becoming more similar they II deviated away from an undisturbed reference site. Contrary to our expectations, non-native species did not contribute the most to dissimilarity. The deviation from the reference forest is attributable to the higher abundance of a native forest specialist in the reference site and the higher abundances of native woodland adapted species in the rehabilitating sites. Changes in the disturbance regime under which species have evolved may lead to arrested succession. The rehabilitation of coastal dune forest relies on the Acacia karroo successional pathway which, has been criticised because Acacia dominated woodlands may stagnate succession. The patterns of species composition within regenerating coastal dune forest are a response to the canopy characteristics and represent an early stage in forest succession. Succession did not appear to be stagnant. Ecological succession does not pay much heed to the role that the surrounding landscape composition can play in the assembly of communities. The theory of Island biogeography provides predictions about how landscape composition influences community assembly. Landscape spatial parameters, measuring edge, isolation, and area explained the patch occupancy of the several bird and tree species, however, responses to patch characteristics were varied and idiosyncratic. For restoration to succeed, managers need to consider the spatial configuration of the landscape to facilitate colonization of rehabilitating patches. From this thesis and previous work, it appears that processes are in place that will lead to the reassembly of dune forest communities. As the rehabilitating sites are at an early stage of regeneration this may take some time to give rise to these coastal dune forest communities, and the management of rehabilitating coastal dune forest must allow for this. In addition, it is III important to remember that time may be interacting with the landscapes spatial attributes, which may limit the presence of certain species.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011.Zoology and Entomologyunrestricte

the case of Agelastes meleagrides, a western African forest endemic

The data analyzed during the current study are available in the following databases: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF; https ://www.gbif.org). Data from surveys in Sapo National Park in Liberia and Gola Rainforest National Park in Sierra Leone are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Environmental datasets are available at https ://terra .nasa.gov/data and http://www.worldclim.org.Background:Understanding geographic distributions of species is a crucial step in spatial planning for biodiversity conservation, particularly as regards changes in response to global climate change. This information is especially important for species of global conservation concern that are susceptible to the effects of habitat loss and climate change. In this study, we used ecological niche modeling to assess the current and future geographic distributional potential of White‑breasted Guineafowl (Agelastes meleagrides) (Vulnerable) across West Africa.Methods:We used primary occurrence data obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and national parks in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and two independent environmental datasets (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer normalized difference vegetation index at 250 m spatial resolution, and Worldclim climate data at 2.5′ spatial resolution for two representative concentration pathway emissions scenarios and 27 general circulation models for 2050) to build ecological niche models in Maxent.Results:From the projections, White‑breasted Guineafowl showed a broader potential distribution across the region compared to the current IUCN range estimate for the species. Suitable areas were concentrated in the Gola rainforests in northwestern Liberia and southeastern Sierra Leone, the Tai‑Sapo corridor in southeastern Liberia and southwest‑ern Côte d’Ivoire, and the Nimba Mountains in northern Liberia, southeastern Guinea, and northwestern Côte d’Ivoire. Future climate‑driven projections anticipated minimal range shifts in response to climate change.Conclusions:By combining remotely sensed data and climatic data, our results suggest that forest cover, rather than climate is the major driver of the species’ current distribution. Thus, conservation efforts should prioritize forest protec‑tion and mitigation of other anthropogenic threats (e.g. hunting pressure) affecting the species.Conservation InternationalGlobal Environment Facility-funded Grant # GEF-581

Resilience of the medicinal plant community of rehabilitating coastal dune forests, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

No abstract available.http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/ajehttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2028ab201

Assessing the effect of mitigation efforts to improve vegetation recovery inpowerline construction sites across Norway

Land-use related to technical infrastructure puts great pressure on nature and landscapes globally. We used a screening approach to evaluate vegetation development in 295 construction sites related to upkeeping of the national power grid in Norway and assessed if and how active measures for vegetation recovery can contribute to mitigate negative impacts on biodiversity and natural carbon storage. Bayesian networks were developed to assess the effect of interventions on the vegetation cover, and an ensemble learning algorithm (Boruta) was used to assess variable importance. Multivariate analysis was run to investigate plant functional group composition. The screening approach uncovered some broad results; A large diversity of installation types are associated with gridline-systems, and the large variation of mitigation measures are hard to classify and evaluate. Years since restoration, region and site ID were important to explain the total vegetation cover, while restoration treatment, soil and installation type were not important. Graminoids dominate the total vegetation cover, in both seeded and non-seeded sites. More detailed studies will contribute to more accurate evaluation of different measures and vegetation recovery. Lack of documentation and well-designed monitoring hamper the development of reliable procedures of mitigation in construction projects, as the ecological outcome of the efforts can be questioned.e efforts of municipalities and tour operators to develop sustainable local nature-based tourism products, particularly in remote areas. Construction sites Evaluation Land-use Mitigation Revegetation Vegetation coverpublishedVersio

Model integration. Integrated socio-economic model on food waste

The model architecture described in this deliverable provides the framework through which data and simulations from the data on food waste at a consumer level and at a retail level can be integrated into simulation models. This report highlights the technical approaches followed to achieve model integration. This report highlights the technical approaches followed to achieve model integration. An integrated whole-of-system modelling approach will be developed as a part of the REFRESH project to allow the development of a decision-relevant, and dynamic policy support tool, by which a road map to the reduction of European food waste by 50% by 2030 can be developed. The vital first step (highlighted in this report) is to develop the structures to allow model integration between different model types: Agent-Based Models and Bayesian Networks. These structures were developed and tested to ensure that the model types can be integrated. The architecture described in this deliverable provides the framework through which data and simulations from the data on food waste at a consumer level and at a retail level can be integrated into simulation models. Since a sizable share of the food waste is generated either at the consumer level or at the interaction between consumers and retailers, we address the modelling effort with two integrated ABM-BN models. The first model reproduces the dynamic evolution of food waste choices of consumers as consequence of social interactions. The second focuses instead on the conditions for the successful diffusion and adoption of innovations to reduce food waste at the retailer level. The systemic modelling approach proposed will allow the development of selected simulation scenarios at the consumer and retail level, facilitating decision making in the face of uncertainty. These integrated setups are first iterations of working integrated models, aimed at validating technically the setups as well as the integration process itself. As they are, there are certainly factors that are likely to be important in determining food waste, which are not yet included in the models. However, the latter are flexible and can accommodate further details, and variables. Their construction is purposefully flexible in terms of components of decisions. The integration with Bayesian Networks ensure that Agent-Based models will learn from data originated from the other refresh WPs and will evolve, allowing the introduction of new variables and factors that will lead to the improvement of the different simulation scenarios. The REFRESH project implements a behavioural economics approach in order to identify and measure the most important socio-economic conditions and potential policy interventions driving businesses’ and consumers’ choices in the generation of food waste. More specifically, this work aims to provide new information on consumer and business behaviour by measuring the effects of major tangible factors of food waste, by identifying hidden and emerging profiles of consumer’ and business’ behaviours affecting food waste, and by allowing the detection of intangible food waste drivers. Such an objective is achieved through the development and the testing of Agent-Based Models (ABMs) and Bayesian networks (BNs)

The role of canopy gaps in the regeneration of coastal dune forest

In regenerating coastal dune forest, the canopy consists almost exclusively of a single species, Acacia karroo. When these trees die they create large canopy gaps. If this promotes the persistence of pioneer species to the detriment of other forest species then the end-goal of a restored coastal dune forest may be unobtainable. We wished to ascertain if tree species composition and richness differed significantly between canopy gaps and intact canopy, and across a gradient of gap sizes. In three known-age regenerating coastal dune forest sites, we measured 146 gaps, the species responsible for gap creation, the species most likely to reach the canopy and the composition of adults, seedlings and saplings. We paired each gap with an adjacent plot of the same area that was entirely under intact canopy and sampled in the same way. Most species (15 out of 23) had higher abundance in canopy gaps. The probability of self-replacement was low for A. karroo even in the largest gaps. Despite this predominance of shade intolerant species, regenerating dune forest appears to be in the first phase of succession with “forest pioneers” replacing the dominant canopy species. The nature of these species should lead to successful regeneration of dune forest.The University of Pretoria, Richards Bay Minerals and the South African Department of Trade & Industryhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2028am2013ab201

Food waste reduction in supply chains through innovations: a review

Purpose – Agri-food supply chains are facing a number of challenges, which cause inefficiencies resulting in the waste of natural and economic resources, and in negative environmental and social impacts. Food waste (FW) is a result of such inefficiencies and supply chain actors search for economically viable innovations to prevent and reduce it. This study aims to analyse the drivers and the barriers that affect the decision of supply chain operators to adopt innovations (technological – TI, organisational – OI and marketing – MI) to reduce FW. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis was carried out using a four-step approach that included: a literature review to identify factors affecting the decision to adopt innovations; analysis of FW drivers and reduction possibilities along agri-food supply chains through innovations; mapping the results of Steps 1 and 2 and deriving conclusions regarding the factors affecting the adoption of innovations to reduce and prevent FWFindings Results show that different types of innovations have a high potential in reducing and preventing FW along the supply chain; however, they still must be economically feasible to be adopted by decision makers in the food supply chain. TI, OI and MI are often interrelated and can trigger each other. When it comes to a combination of different types of innovation to reduce and prevent FW, a good example of combining TI, OI and MI may be observed in the retail sector in Europe. Here, innovative smartphone apps (TI) to promote the sale of products nearing their expiration dates (OI in terms of organising the sales differently and MI in terms of marketing it differently) were developed and adopted via different retailing channels, leading to the creation of a new business model. Practical implications This study analyses the drivers of FW generation together with the factors affecting the decision to adopt innovations to reduce it and provides solutions to supply chain operators to prevent and reduce FW through different types of innovations. Originality/value Literature has not systematically addressed innovations aiming at the reduction of FW yet. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the determinants of innovation adoption and offers a novel view on the problem of FW reduction by means of innovation, by linking factors affecting the decision to innovate with FW drivers. Supply chain, Food waste, Technological innovation, Organisational innovation, Marketing innovationpublishedVersio

Non-detriment finding for Amur leopard

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Non-detriment finding for Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)

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