Ewé: a web-based ethnobotanical database for storing and analysing data

Ethnobotanical databases serve as repositories of traditional knowledge (TK), either at international or local scales. By documenting plant species with traditional use, and most importantly, the applications and modes of use of such species, ethnobotanical databases play a role in the conservation of TK and also provide access to information that could improve hypothesis generation and testing in ethnobotanical studies. Brazil has a rich medicinal flora and a rich cultural landscape. Nevertheless, cultural change and ecological degradation can lead to loss of TK. Here, we present an online database developed with open-source tools with a capacity to include all medicinal flora of Brazil. We present test data for the Leguminosae comprising a total of 2078 records, referred to here as use reports, including data compiled from literature and herbarium sources. Unlike existing databases, Ewé provides tools for the visualization of large datasets, facilitating hypothesis generation and meta-analyses. The Ewé database is currently available at www.ewedb.com

Supporting Service-Learning in an Existing Curriculum

This group presentation is interactive and provides a solution-based approach to service-learning. Participants may be involved in a variety of ways such as taking part in small-group activities, role playing, case studies, simulations, problem solving or other hands-on instructional activities and will leave with service-learning ideas for their course(s)

Minimising unsustainable yield: Ten failing European fisheries

Ten European fish stocks recognised by the European Union as "outside safe biological limits" are considered in light of widespread reforms to fisheries legislation in 2013, particularly the legal responsibility to exploit these resources sustainably. Given that some of these stocks are - as of 2013 - fished at over 150% the recommended intensity and many have been outside of these limits for the entirety of their assessment history, the utilisation of traditional fisheries management measures of sustainability are questioned and tougher approaches such as "zero-catch" and long-term, expansive spatial closure scenarios are considered. Finally, the pervasive issue of data-deficiency (the status of 54% of European stocks) is briefly considered, with specific reference to the understudied West of Scotland and North Sea stock of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax). © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

The New Normal, Adjuncts and Part-Time Instructors

Department chairs are under increasing pressure from administration to replace departing full-time professors with adjuncts. The chair is faced with a challenging environment that includes navigating personalities, workloads, student perception, varied commitment levels, and meeting accreditation standards. Strategies are discussed as participants share ideas to navigate this complicated issue

Typification of four North American club-chollas: the names of four Engelmannian species from Mexico and Southwestern United States

The names Opuntia bulbispina, O. clavata, O. emoryi and O. grahamii, originally proposed by George Engelmann between 1848 and 1856, are reviewed and typified after new findings of previously unknown voucher specimens. Original materials collected by some of the collaborators employed by Engelmann during the Mexican Boundary Survey were discovered in a loan from the Torrey Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden (NY). Many of the materials include fragments of stems and fruits, and others include only sectioned flowers and some seeds. Particularly good descriptions of the species here concerned were published in Engelmann’s “Synopsis of the Cactaceae” in 1857, and exceptional illustrations were produced by Paulus Roetter and printed in “Cactaceae of the Boundary” in 1859. The problems surrounding some previous typifications of these names range from typification of joint lectotypes to illegitimate typifications of illustrations when original material was known to exist. The materials selected for typification were collected by the Mexican Boundary Survey and are lodged at the herbaria of the Missouri Botanical Garden (MO) and the New York Botanical Garden (NY); some are illustrations published by Engelmann

Climate change mitigation and nature conservation both require higher protected area targets

Nations of the world have, to date, pursued nature protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation policies separately. Both efforts have failed to achieve the scale of action needed to halt biodiversity loss or mitigate climate change. We argue that success can be achieved by aligning targets for biodiversity protection with the habitat protection and restoration necessary to bring down greenhouse gas concentrations and promote natural and societal adaptation to climate change. Success, however, will need much higher targets for environmental protection than the present 10% of sea and 17% of land. A new target of 30% of the sea given high levels of protection from exploitation and harm by 2030 is under consideration and similar targets are being discussed for terrestrial habitats. We make the case here that these higher targets, if achieved, would make the transition to a warmer world slower and less damaging for nature and people