The Role of Abaca (Musa textilis) in the Household Economy of a Forest Village

Abaca (Musa textilis) is a plant related to the banana, the leaves of which provide some of the strongest natural fibres used by man. It is indigenous to the Philippines, and grows well particularly in the provinces of Bicol, Samar and Leyte. Abaca is also one of the few cash crops that can grow with relatively little input compared to other crops, in steep forest areas. For this reason, it is often the crop of choice of households living in villages at the forest edge. The role of abaca in the household economy of villagers in Leyte is described. The study shows that abaca is both an important secondary income source of households with lowland farms, and frequently the only source of cash income of the poorest households in the community. The implications of abaca's niche in the village economy, on increasing production of the crop, are discussed

Improving Commercial Possibilities of Non-wood Forest Products from Leyte, the Philippines

Current literature regarding the economic potential of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) has become more cautious than previously, and earning an income from NWFPs is no longer considered a certainty for dwellers in many forested areas. However, there is also more information on the NWFPs, the areas from which there can be sustained collection and the markets where they can be competitive. This paper discusses some of the considerations to be taken into account to prevent costly mistakes in choosing NWFPs for commercialisation. It also highlights the possibilities for particular products to improve their prospects in markets from the local to the national and international level, using information from literature and past data on NWFPs in Leyte Province in the Philippines as an illustration. Past data include a list of several NWFPs from Cienda, Leyte. A table of relative frequency of use was assembled from this list after two rounds of interviews, to form the basis for possibly marketable NWFPs using a provisional template

Ang Birhen at ang Hari ng mga Bagyo

Kung nanaiisin ng isa na maunawaan ang relasyon sa pagitan ng mga lipunang Pasipiko at mga panahong humubog sa kanila, kinakailangang tuklasin ng isa ang mga kalayuang temporal at tropiko na namamagitan sa modernong kaalamang meteorolohiko at katutubong karunungang umiiral sa tabi nito. Sapagkat sa huli, ang panahong Pasipiko ay isang heohistorikong karanasan, umiiral bago pa man ito naging obheto ng pag-aaral ng kontemporanyong kaabalahang pangklima, at kinakailangang makitunggali ng ekokritikal na pag-unawa ng panahon sa maraming paghilig na mayroon sa kasaysayan ng diskursong ito. Tinatangka ng artikulong ito ang gayong layunin sa pagkilatis ng mga tropong matatagpuan sa dalawa sa pinakakilalang relihiyosong alamat ng rehiyon, ang kay Virgen del Rosario at kay Bernardo Carpio, at pagsuri ng mga pagkakatulad at pagkakaibang matatagpusan sa pagitan nila. Sa pamamagitan ng mahambing na pamamaraan, tumutungo ang sanaysay na ito sa isang kabatiran hinggil sa relasyon ng lipunang Tagalog sa palagiang sakuna, isang pag-unawa na ang anumang hinaharap na mahalagang asahan ay kinakailangang makisangkot at makitaya sa kinabukasan, o ang walang tinag na kabukasan hinggil sa ating kagila-gilalas at makasaysayang relasyon sa panahon at sa lahat ng kalalabasang kaakibat nito

Derivative Initiative: Does the Use of Financial Derivatives Influence Firm Value in the Philippine Context?

Firms use financial derivatives as a way to hedge risky transactions to avoid financial risks. Studies have focused on firms’ use of financial derivatives in developed countries. However, there is limited research done on emerging markets like the Philippines because these economies have only recently adapted advanced reporting standards that obligate the disclosure of the nature and extent of risks resulting from the use of financial instruments. We used Tobin’s Q ratio to proxy for firm value and determine the presence of a hedging premium. Because derivatives are used by firms to hedge against currency risks, interest rate risks, and commodity price risks, we hypothesize that the use of financial derivatives by firms has a positive and statistically significant effect on firm value

A combination of methods needed to assess the actual use of provisioning ecosystem services

Failure to recognize that potential provisioning ecosystem services are not necessarily collected and used by people may have important consequences for management of land and resources. Accounting for people's actual use of ecosystem services in decision making processes requires a robust methodological approach that goes beyond mapping the presence of ecosystem services. But no such universally accepted method exists, and there are several shortcomings of existing methods such as the application of land use/cover as a proxy for provisioning ecosystem service availability and surveys based on respondents' recall to assess people's collection of e.g. wild food. By combining four complementary methods and applying these to the shifting cultivation systems of Laos, we show how people’s actual use of ecosystem services from agricultural fields differs from ecosystem service availability. Our study is the first in Southeast Asia to combine plot monitoring, collection diaries, repeat interviews, and participant observation. By applying these multiple methods borrowed from anthropology and botany among other research domains, the study illustrates that no single method is sufficient on its own. It is of key importance for scientists to adopt methods that can account for both availability of various services and actual use of those services

Effect of ultraviolet radiation on clearance rate of planktonic copepods with different photoprotective strategies

We studied two populations of Boeckella gracilipes and two populations of Boeckella gibbosa that inhabit mountain lakes from North-Patagonian Andes with different optical properties. We combined field and laboratory experiments to determine the effects of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on clearance rate among these taxa that had different UVR defences. The copepod populations differed in photoprotective compounds (carotenoids and mycosporine-like amino acids [MAAs]) and antioxidant enzymes (glutathione S-transferase [GST]). These variations were related to elevation, dissolved organic carbon content and the optical features of the inhabited lakes. Laboratory experiments showed a decrease in the clearance rate (CR) in all populations exposed to UVR. Consistently, the long-term field experiment showed a negative impact of UVR on CR. We conclude that UVR exposure affects feeding, however, the magnitude of this negative effect depends on the exposure intensity and the photoprotective mechanisms used by zooplankton.Fil: Laspoumaderes, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Limnología; Argentina. Alfred-Wegener-Institut. Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar und Meeresforschung; AlemaniaFil: Bastidas Navarro, Marcela Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Souza, María Sol. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Modenutti, Beatriz Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Balseiro, Esteban Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Limnología; Argentin

Comparative phylogenetic methods and the cultural evolution of medicinal plant use

Human life depends on plant biodiversity and the ways in which plants are used are culturally determined. Whilst anthropologists have used phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) to gain an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the evolution of political, religious, social, and material culture, plant use has been almost entirely neglected. Medicinal plants are of special interest because of their role in maintaining people’s health across the world. PCMs in particular, and cultural evolutionary theory in general, provide a framework in which to study the diversity of medicinal plant applications cross-culturally, and to infer changes in plant use through time. These methods can be applied to single medicinal plants as well as the entire set of plants used by a culture for medicine, and they account for the non-independence of data when testing for floristic, cultural or other drivers of plant use. With cultural, biological, and linguistic diversity under threat, gaining a deeper and broader understanding of the variation of medicinal plant use through time and space is pressing

Review of literature on medical mycology in the philippines, 1955–1962

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43278/1/11046_2005_Article_BF02054886.pd