Monitoring the EU protected Geomalacus maculosus (Kerry Slug): what are the factors affecting catch returns in open and forested habitats?

Geomalacus maculosus is a slug species protected under EU law with a distribution limited to the west of Ireland and north-west Iberia. The species, originally thought to be limited within Ireland to deciduous woodland and peatland, has been found in a number of commercial conifer plantations since 2010. While forest managers are now required to incorporate the protection of the species where it is present, no clear species monitoring protocols are currently available. This study examines the efficacy of De Sangosse refuge traps across three habitats frequently associated with commercial forest plantations in Ireland and compares them with hand searching, a commonly used method for slug monitoring. Catch data during different seasons and under different weather conditions are also presented. Results indicate that autumn is the optimal time for sampling G. maculosus but avoiding extremes of hot or cold weather. While refuge traps placed at 1.5 m on trees in mature conifer plantations and directly on exposed rock in blanket peatlands result in significantly greater catches, hand searching is the most successful approach for clear-fell areas. Hand searches in clear-fell preceded by rain are likely to result in greater numbers caught. The results of this study form, for the first time, the basis for G. maculosus monitoring guidelines for forestry managers. © 2016, The Ecological Society of Japa

How certain are greenhouse gas reductions from bioenergy? Life cycle assessment and uncertainty analysis of wood pellet-to-electricity supply chains from forest residues

Climate change and energy policies often encourage bioenergy as a sustainable greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction option. Recent research has raised concerns about the climate change impacts of bioenergy as heterogeneous pathways of producing and converting biomass, indirect impacts, uncertainties within the bioenergy supply chains and evaluation methods generate large variation in emission profiles. This research examines the combustion of wood pellets from forest residues to generate electricity and considers uncertainties related to GHG emissions arising at different points within the supply chain. Different supply chain pathways were investigated by using life cycle assessment (LCA) to analyse the emissions and sensitivity analysis was used to identify the most significant factors influencing the overall GHG balance. The calculations showed in the best case results in GHG reductions of 83% compared to coal-fired electricity generation. When parameters such as different drying fuels, storage emission, dry matter losses and feedstock market changes were included the bioenergy emission profiles showed strong variation with up to 73% higher GHG emissions compared to coal. The impact of methane emissions during storage has shown to be particularly significant regarding uncertainty and increases in emissions. Investigation and management of losses and emissions during storage is therefore key to ensuring significant GHG reductions from biomass

Circum-Mediterranean cultural heritage and medicial plant uses in traditional animal healthcare: a field survey in eight selected areas within the RUBIA project

During the years 2003¿2005, a comparative ethnobotanical field survey was conducted on remedies used in traditional animal healthcare in eight Mediterranean areas. The study sites were selected within the EU-funded RUBIA project, and were as follows: the upper Kelmend Province of Albania; the Capannori area in Eastern Tuscany and the Bagnocavallo area of Romagna, Italy; Cercle de Ouezanne, Morocco; Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park in the province of Huelva, Spain; the St. Catherine area of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt; Eastern and Western Crete, Greece; the Paphos and Larnaca areas of Cyprus; and the Mitidja area of Algeria. One hundred and thirty-six veterinary preparations and 110 plant taxa were recorded in the survey, with Asteraceae and Lamiaceae being the most quoted botanical families. For certain plant species the survey uncovered veterinary phytotherapeutical indications that were very uncommon, and to our knowledge never recorded before. These include Anabasis articulata (Chenopodiaceae), Cardopatium corymbosum (Asteraceae), Lilium martagon (Liliaceae), Dorycnium rectum (Fabaceae), Oenanthe pimpinelloides (Apiaceae), Origanum floribundum (Lamiaceae), Tuberaria lignosa (Cistaceae), and Dittrichia graveolens (Asteraceae). These phytotherapeutical indications are briefly discussed in this report, taking into account modern phytopharmacology and phytochemistry. The percentage of overall botanical veterinary taxa recorded in all the study areas was extremely low (8%), however when all taxa belonging to the same botanical genus are considered, this portion increases to 17%. Nevertheless, very few plant uses were found to be part of a presumed "Mediterranean" cultural heritage in veterinary practices, which raises critical questions about the concept of Mediterraneanism in ethnobotany and suggests that further discussion is required. Nearly the half of the recorded veterinary plant uses for mammals uncovered in this survey have also been recorded in the same areas in human folk medicine, suggesting a strong link between human and veterinary medical practices, and perhaps also suggesting the adaptive origins of a few medical practices. Since most of the recorded data concern remedies for treating cattle, sheep, goats, and camels, it would be interesting to test a few of the recorded phytotherapeuticals in the future, to see if they are indeed able to improve animal healthcare in breeding environments, or to raise the quality of dairy and meat products in the absence of classical, industrial, veterinary pharmaceuticals

Robert Jabea Kum Dibongue: A French Cameroonian in the Pan-Kamerun Movement

The reunification of the two Cameroons was the main issue that the nationalists debated in the British Southern Cameroons after the Second World War. This article attempts an analysis of the central role played in this debate by Dibongue, a “settler” who migrated from French administered Cameroon. Based on data from both primary and secondary sources, the study reveals that the immigrants from French Cameroon and Dibongue in particular, pioneered, dominated and sustained the Pan-Kamerun Movement before the indigenous elite took over the leadership of the movement in the late 1950s

Causes of Rabbit Mortality at Mankon Research Station, Cameroon (1983-1987)

A study was carried out to determine the causes of mortality in rabbits raised at the Institute of Zootechnical and Veterinary Research Station (IRZV) Mankon between 1983-1987. Three breeds of rabbits the Californian, the New Zealand White and their crosses with local rabbits were used in the study. Within the period under review, all dead animals were necropsied and faecal and gastro-intestinal tract samples were examined in the laboratory. It was shown that high mortalities in rabbits were due to snuffles, pneumonia, mucoid enteritis, coccidiosis, mange, enterotoxaemia and Tyzzer's disease. 3060 rabbits died of various diseases comprising 1591 (52 %) kittens, 1220 (39.7 %) fryers and 280 (9.2 % adults). Kitten mortality compared to fryer and adult was highest ail through the period of study

Ichanga_NF_Managic

Nikolaj Fomich Ichanga tells about his life, especially his childhood, when he grew up with an old childless couple and during which time he learnt how to drive dog sleds

Adukanova_Ichanga_Managic

Evdokija Grigorevna Adukanova and Nikolaj Fomich Ichanga continue to tell about their life in the fishing camp, encounters with bears, going to visit reindeer herders

The Symbiosis of Bali Nyonga-basel mission relationship: understanding the influence of Bali Nyonga through the prism of basel mission vernacularization in the western grassfields of Cameroon, 1902-1963

One of the main features of pre-colonial Cameroon history was the migration of different ethnic groups in search of eco-human friendly environments for settlement. During this period, the Western Grassfields became a hotspot for the settlement of different groups, one of which was Bali Nyonga. Their settlement was followed by attempts to spread their influence on proximate polities. The annexation of Cameroon by the Germans in 1884 added a new twist to the social influence of Bali Nyonga, as it became the base of the Basel Mission in the Western Grass fields. The Fon(ruler) of Bali supported the Basel Mission, which in turn made the Mungaka language of Bali its official medium of communication in the Western Grass fields. This article seeks to unveil how the said mission popularized Mungaka. But how exactly did the Basel Mission popularize Mungaka? What were the effects of vernacularization, and how did the two colonial regimes (Germany and Britain) and indigenous groups react? To address these issues, the paper summons and analyses data from primary and secondary sources. From the fertility of its thesis, the paper contends that the Bali Nyonga-Basel Mission enjoyed a symbiotic relationship; the Fon promoted the missionary enterprise which in turn helped spread Bali influence through its vernacularization programme. The programme gave birth to identity crisis, translated in the form of sporadic resistanc