Patterns of mangrove forest disturbance and biomass removal due to small-scale harvesting in southwestern Madagascar

Abstract: Informal small-scale mangrove wood harvesting has received limited attention, though it is a widespread threat to mangroves in many parts of the tropics. We investigated wood use and the impacts of harvesting on mangrove forests in the Bay of Assassins in southwest Madagascar. We measured forest structure, composition, and harvesting across 60 vegetation plots and investigated human uses of the mangroves through Rapid Rural Appraisal techniques. We found that unlike other mangroves in the region, those in the Bay of Assassins are dominated by Ceriops tagal. Tree harvesting rates are high, with a mean of 28.7% (SD 19.4) of trees harvested per plot. This is similar to heavily harvested mangroves in other parts of the tropics. A comparison of tree versus sapling importance of the different mangrove tree species indicates that the composition of the mangrove forest is changing, with C. tagal becoming more important. Livelihood activities drive the harvesting of certain species and size classes. Mangrove wood is used mainly for the construction of traditional housing and fencing. There are also emerging uses of mangrove wood, including seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii) aquaculture and the production of ‘sokay’, a lime render made by burning sea shells in mangrove wood kilns and used to improve the durability of houses. Small-scale selective harvesting of mangrove wood is important for local livelihoods but may have wide-ranging impacts on forest composition and structure. Demand for mangrove wood has grown in relation to new commodity chains for marine products, demonstrating the need for integrated landscape management that considers wetland, terrestrial and marine resources together

Ecosystems as Commodity Frontiers - Challenges Faced by Land Set Aside as Protected Areas (PAs) in the Dubai Emirate, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

This chapter examines natural habitats in Dubai, UAE that the state has demarcated as protected areas (PAs) in an attempt to utilize them for recreational/economic purposes while also mitigating habitat fragmentation. The authors employ the concept of the ‘commodity frontier’ to demonstrate how these PAs have contributed to the ongoing commodification of land that began with the rise of modern agriculture in the mid-twentieth century. The rise of the oil economy in the mid-twentieth century stimulated significant development that, over time, has resulted in ecological degradation. In line with state conservation agendas aimed at greening the desert and preserving biodiversity, PAs also serve as a mechanism for promoting tourism. Ironically, these activities have in turn put further pressure on the country’s natural resources and desert ecology. The authors also present an example of a PA that has been effectively managed and could serve as a model of sustainable development

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Identity, subjectivity and natural resource use: how ethnicity, gender and class intersect to influence mangrove oyster harvesting in The Gambia

Environmental policies have paid increasing attention to the socio-cultural dimensions of human–environment interactions, in an effort to address the failures of previous 'top-down' practices which imposed external rules and regulations and ignored local beliefs and customs. As a result, the relationship between identity and resource use is an area of growing interest in both policy and academic circles. However, most research has treated forms of social difference such as gender, ethnicity and class as separate dimensions that produce distinct types of inequalities and patterns of resource use. In doing so, research fails to embrace key insights from theories of intersectionality and misses the key role of space and place in shaping individual and group subjectivities. In this paper we investigate how multiple types of identity influence resource use and practice among a group of women oyster harvesters in The Gambia. We find that oyster harvesting is shaped by the confluence of an aversion to stigmatised waged labour; gendered expectations of providing for one's family; and an historically informed and spatially bounded sense of ethnicity. Drawing on the concept of contact zones, we show how new interactions and intra-actions between previously isolated groups of oyster harvesters have broadened conceptions of ethnicity. However, we find that new subjectivities overlay rather than replace old clan alliances, leading to tensions. We argue that new contact zones and emerging subjectivities can thus be at once uniting and divisive, with important implications for natural resource management

Metadata record for: HIT-COVID, a global database tracking public health interventions to COVID-19

This dataset contains key characteristics about the data described in the Data Descriptor HIT-COVID, a global database tracking public health interventions to COVID-19. Contents: 1. human readable metadata summary table in CSV format 2. machine readable metadata file in JSON forma