Incorporating biodiversity responses to land use change scenarios for preventing emerging zoonotic diseases in areas of unknown host-pathogen interactions

The need to reconcile food production, the safeguarding of nature, and the protection of public health is imperative in a world of continuing global change, particularly in the context of risks of emerging zoonotic disease (EZD). In this paper, we explored potential land use strategies to reduce EZD risks using a landscape approach. We focused on strategies for cases where the dynamics of pathogen transmission among species were poorly known and the ideas of “land-use induced spillover” and “landscape immunity” could be used very broadly. We first modeled three different land-use change scenarios in a region of transition between the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspots. The land-use strategies used to build our scenarios reflected different proportions of native vegetation cover, as a proxy of habitat availability. We then evaluated the effects of the proportion of native vegetation cover on the occupancy probability of a group of mammal species and analyzed how the different land-use scenarios might affect the distribution of species in the landscape and thus the risk of EZD. We demonstrate that these approaches can help identify potential future EZD risks, and can thus be used as decision-making tools by stakeholders, with direct implications for improving both environmental and socio-economic outcomes

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Educación ambiental y sociedad. Saberes locales para el desarrollo y la sustentabilidad

EL LIBRO PERMITE REFLEXIONAR SOBRE LA IMPORTANCIA DE FOMENTAL LA EDUCACIÓN AMBIENTAL PARA RESOLVER LA PROBLEMÁTICA AMBIENTALEL LIBRO PRESENTA DIFERENTES TRABAJOS QUE ESTUDIAN EL TEMA D ELA SUSTENTABILIDAD, ENFATIZANDO LA IMPORTANCIA DE LA EDUCACIÓN AMBIENTAL Y LA TRANSDISCIPLINANINGUN

Records of threatened bird and mammal species in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil

We conducted a detailed review of threatened bird and mammal occurrence records obtained from surveys across Mato Grosso do Sul, midwestern region of Brazil which has an extent of 357,145 km2, aiming to support environmental and biodiversity conservation initiatives, as strategic plans to protect threatened species in this region. We included all records of species categorized as threatened by the Brazilian and global red list of threatened species. We collected 760 records of threatened birds and mammals in Mato Grosso do Sul State, with 319 records of 40 bird’s species and 441 records of 24 mammal’s species. The status of the 40 bird species under de Brazilian threat category were as follow: 1 Critically Threatened (CR), 6 Endangered (EN), 11 Vulnerable (VU), 11 Near Threatened (NT), and 11 species only in the IUCN red list. Under the IUCN category for the bird´s species, were as follow: 3 EN, 13 VU, 18 NT, 5 Least Concern (LC) and 1 taxon has not yet been assessed for the IUCN Red List. Regarding mammal’s species under the Brazilian threat category were as follow: 2 EN, 18 VU, 2 NT and 1 only in the IUCN red list. Under the IUCN status the species ranged from 2 EN, 6 VU, 10 NT, and 6 LC. Each record identified corresponds to the existence of at least one occurrence of threatened birds or mammals in a particular region. The records of threatened species belongs to the three biomes in the state: 269 mammal’s records and 147 bird’s records from Cerrado (Neotropical Savanna) biome, 117 mammal’s records and 162 bird’s records from Pantanal (Wetland) biome, and 55 mammal’s records and 10 bird’s records from Atlantic Forest biome. In addition, we also included in the dataset environmental information where each record was obtained. Supplementary Files 1- Records of Threatened Mammals_MS_Brazil and Supplementary File 2. Records of Threatened Birds of_MS_Brazil Keywords: Threatened species, Protected areas, Database, Brazi

A review of threshold responses of birds to landscape changes across the world

Identifying the threshold of habitat cover beyond which species of birds are locally lost is useful for understanding the biological consequences of landscape changes. However, there is little consensus regarding the impact of landscape changes on the likelihood of species extinctions. We conducted a literature search using Scopus and ISI Web of Knowledge databases to identify studies where bird species were used to estimate threshold responses to landscape changes. We obtained a list of 31 papers published from 1994 to 2018, with 24 studies conducted at temperate latitudes and seven in tropical regions. Nineteen studies were based on species-level assessments, and investigators used a variety of response variables such as probability of detection and occurrence to detect threshold responses. Eight studies were based on communities, and species richness and abundance were primarily used to detect threshold responses. Four studies included both communities and species-level assessments. Methods used to identify threshold responses varied among studies, but most relied on either regression models to visually identify values from graphs or piecewise regression to estimate a specific threshold value. Although the limited number of studies and their variety of approaches and methods prevented a formal meta-analysis, we found that mean threshold responses in studies that reported either a range or a single threshold value were 27.9% at temperate latitudes (range = 1.3–90%; N = 11) and 33.6% at tropical latitudes (range = 20–50%; N = 7). Considering only studies where single threshold values were reported, the mean habitat cover threshold was 11% for studies conducted at temperate latitudes (N = 3) and 29.5% for studies in the tropics (N = 4). These crude estimates suggest that tropical species might be more susceptible to habitat loss than temperate species. Although application of the threshold concept is still controversial, the number of studies using this approach is increasing because the results of such studies may have direct application to conservation strategies and restoration of landscapes for bird conservation

Property size drives differences in forest code compliance in the Brazilian Cerrado

International audienceThe Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) dataset opens a new window for spatially explicit studies of the rural landscape of Brazil, enabling analysis with an accurate representation of land use and land cover change dynamics at the property level. Here, we evaluated farm compliance with the Brazilian Forest Code (revised in 2012) in Mato Grosso do Sul state, where agribusiness activities have already converted more than 70% of native vegetation, Cerrado. We analysed the most recent version of the CAR dataset, using geographic information system analytical tools. We observed a positive relationship between compliance with the 20% compulsory Legal Reserves and farm size class. We showed that larger, rather than smaller, farms have important effects on biodiversity conservation at the landscape scale. Large farms (> than 1000 ha), comprising 74.2% of the study area, tended to show better compliance levels (51%) than smaller properties (33%). At the same time, they contain huge amount of land with native vegetation that lies outside Legal Reserves, and so may pose a risk for legal deforestation of near 2 million ha. We argue that a portfolio of socioeconomic incentives for restoration, protected areas, and nonet loss components in agricultural programmes, are essential measures to increase compliance and halt deforestation in the Cerrado of Central Brazil. Moreover, we argue that considering property size improves the likelihood of success of such initiatives. Although acknowledging that landscape management can help address socioeconomic conflicts and improve food production, it must be accompanied by a strong "anti-deforestation" policy to guarantee the maintenance of existing native vegetation remnants. We also highlight the importance of investigating the role of property size in maintaining remaining vegetation in this region, instead of merely focused on the number of compliant farms

Emerging evidence that armed conflict and coca cultivation influence deforestation patterns

The effect of armed conflict on deforestation in biodiverse regions across Earth remains poorly understood. Its association with factors like illegal crop cultivation can obscure its effect on deforestation patterns. We used Colombia, a global biodiversity hotspot with a complex political history, to explore the association of both armed conflict and coca cultivation with deforestation patterns. We generated spatial predictions of deforestation pressure based on the period 2000–2015 to understand how armed conflict and coca cultivation are associated with spatial patterns of deforestation and assess the spatial distribution of deforestation pressure induced by armed conflict and coca cultivation. Deforestation was positively associated with armed conflict intensity and proximity to illegal coca plantations. A deforestation model including 14 variables was 78% accurate in predicting deforestation at a 10 km2 resolution. On their own armed conflict and coca cultivation had a notable effect, particularly in the Amazon, but in combination with other variables it was small. Deforestation pressure induced by armed conflict and coca cultivation was highest in Tumaco and Catatumbo regions and in la Macarena, Sierra Nevada and San Lucas mountains—all areas of high biodiversity and conservation importance. In some regions, lack of governance after the peace accords is increasing armed conflict, and our results suggest that those increases in conflict may increase deforestation in those areas. The methods used here can be replicated to help understand the complex ways in which armed conflict affects deforestation patterns in other regions

Incorporating resilience and cost in ecological restoration strategies at landscape scale

The restoration of deforested or degraded areas can contribute to biodiversity conservation and global resilience given the current and projected impacts of climate change. In recent years, a robust array of ecological restoration frameworks have been generated to address restoration challenges at large scales in different ecosystems around the world. Unfortunately, the costs associated with restoration at such scales greatly challenges the implementation of such frameworks. We used landscape ecology principles with multicriteria optimization of landscape resilience and agricultural productivity as a way to mitigate the trade-offs between production and restoration. We used the Cerrado biome in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil, as a case study to apply our framework. We compared three scenarios: minimal legal compliance (MLC); selection by ecological resilience (SER); and selection by restoration cost (SRC). Our results show that increasing the restoration target from MLC (25%) to SER (30%) means moving from 968,316 to 1592 million hectares, which can represent a huge opportunity cost for agricultural lands. However, because costs and resilience are not homogeneously distributed throughout landscapes, we can select areas of intermediate ecological resilience and low cost, for the same restoration area target. This process can reduce potential conflicts and make restoration a more viable process. Our results also reveal some areas that can be particularly important for reconciling agriculture and landscape restoration. Those areas combined high and intermediate resilience and an above average profitability. This could mean that increasing restoration in this area could be very expensive, assuming that our proxy roughly represents the restoration implementation cost. However, there is another important message here, that some areas can be productive at the same time that they maintain levels of resilience above the legal compliance, which facilitates win-win scenarios in human-dominated landscapes

Habitat Loss on Rondon’s Marmoset Potential Distribution

The Amazon basin is one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. However, agricultural expansion and infrastructure development have led to widespread deforestation that threatens the survival of many taxa. Conservation strategies to contest these threats include protected areas and environmental legislation. Nevertheless, the basic biology of many taxa is largely unknown, which poses an immense challenge when devising effective strategies to safeguard such species in the long-term. This is particularly true for primates. Monkeys from the genus Mico are poorly studied with half of the currently known species being described after 1976, and their distribution and threats remain poorly understood. Using the model Maxent, we re-evaluated the distribution range for Rondon’s marmoset, one of the most threatened species in this genus. Our results estimated a distribution that is 15,500 km2 smaller than previously described for this species (68,649 km2). Furthermore, much of its modeled distribution (71%) lies outside of protected areas. Agriculture expansion and infrastructure development have converted/destroyed 20,532 km2 of forest within its range (38%) mainly in areas without protection. Another 10,316 km2 of forest is projected to be cleared by 2040 under current deforestation patterns. The expected cumulative loss of over 50% of its range size in the coming 15 years raise awareness about the threaten category of this species. In the absence of new protected areas, it remains to be seen whether Rondon’s marmoset can be effectively conserved in remaining fragments of forest in farmlands

Distribution of birds in Colombia

1.  Colombia with 1941 known recorded bird species is one of the most species rich countries in the world. Efforts are necessary to conserve, study and promote sustainable use of this important taxonomic group throughout Colombia’s vast territory.2.   In an ideal world, informed decisions that are based on sound scientific information should be likelier to have successful outcomes. Nevertheless, there are barriers that make it difficult to access and use information in a timely fashion. Those same barriers impede the study, conservation, and sustainable use of birds in Colombia. On the other hand, given that there is good documentation about the ecology of a large number of species, information about the distribution of birds can be easily incorporated into decision-making processes, once this information becomes readily available in a consumable format using Geographic Information Sciences tools.3.  In this context the main objective of this paper is to present the first compilation of the current distribution of 1889 (97%) species of birds in Colombia, using expert criteria. The shapefiles were used to show the distribution and diversity of bird species in Colombia under both geopolitical and conservation geographic units.4.   The information provided in this paper can be used as a baseline for a huge number of initiatives that aim to strengthen conservation efforts and improve knowledge about one the most unique taxonomic groups in the country. These range from land use planning strategies at the municipal or department scale to sustainable use of bird species - such as those initiatives related to bird watching - in Colombia.This study has considered three key aspects: 1) the importance of birds for Colombia’s ecosystems, 2) the privileged place of Colombia in bird species richness, and 3) the importance of data mobilization in formats easily consumable by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to facilitate the processes of informed decision-making. We present the first compilation - in shapefile format - for 1889 of the 1941 bird species recorded from Colombia. Using this novel collection we showed the species richness of birds in Colombia’s 33 departments plus its Captial District (DP), 1122 municipalities (MNs), 58 protected areas (PAs), 39 Regional Autonomous Corporations (the authorities responsible within their respective jurisdictions for regulating the environment and renewable natural resources in Colombia; CARs), and 916 Collectively Titled Territories (including both indigenous reservations and afro-descendant communities; CTTs). In addition, we provide a list of known bird species richness for the above geographic units found in the available literature. The information provided here can be used as a baseline for a huge number of initiatives concerning the study, conservation and sustainable use of bird species present in Colombia, providing access to key features of bird distribution that should facilitate decision-making