Quantifying Avoidable Food Waste and Identifying Its Underlying Causes: A Case Study of a University Dormitory in Thailand

To develop well-planned and effective policies and programs for reducing avoidable food waste, it is important to quantify the actual food waste level in particular settings and assess relationships among consumers’ awareness, attitudes, and behaviors. Recognizing these considerations, this paper measured avoidable food waste generated by university students living in dormitory buildings and identified its underlying causes in the case of Kanchanaburi campus, Mahidol University, Thailand. The study applied a food waste composition survey 18 times between January and May 2019 while administering questionnaires in October 2019 to the dormitory students. Based on these measures, the study identified 1,417 instances of avoidable food waste. Approximately half of the avoidable food waste had not even been eaten. Most of this waste was generated by female students. Some factors in terms of motivation, opportunity, and ability using a Motivation, Opportunity, Ability framework were found to have induced more food waste among female students. Due attention to the effect of avoidable food waste reduction includes educating dormitory students about food waste as well as more space and increased visibility of stored food in shared refrigerators. Targeting university students for reducing avoidable food waste in the setting of everyday life in dormitories is needed rather than simply focusing on the food service sector on campus

Evaluation of Land Use Land Cover Changes in Nan Province, Thailand, Using Multi-Sensor Satellite Data and Google Earth Engine

Land use and land cover (LULC) conversion has become a chronic problem in Nan province. The primary factors of changes are lacking arable land, agricultural practices, and agriculture expansion. This study evaluated the usefulness of multi-sensor Landsat-5 (LS5), Landsat-8 (LS8), Sentinel-1 (S1), and Sentinel-2 (S2) satellite data for monitoring changes in LULC in Nan province, Thailand during a 30-year period (1990-2019), using a random forest (RF) model and the cloud-based Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Information of established land management policies was also used to describe the LULC changes. The median composite of the input variables selection from multi-sensor data were used to generate datasets. A total of 36 datasets showed the overall accuracy (OA) ranged from 51.70% to 96.95%. Sentinel-2 satellite images combined with the Modified Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI) and topographic variables provided the highest OA (96.95%). Combination of optical (i.e., S2 and LS8) and S1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data expressed better classification accuracy than individual S1 data. Forest cover decreased continuously during five consecutive periods. Coverage of maize and Pará rubber trees rapidly expanded in 2010-2014. These changes indicate an adverse consequence of the established economic development promoted by industrial and export agriculture. The findings strongly support the use of the RF technique, GEE platform and multi-sensor satellite data to enhance LULC classification accuracy in mountainous area. This study recommended that certain informative and science-based evidence will encourage local policymakers to identify priority areas for land management and natural resource conservation

A new species and a new record in Begonia sect. Platycentrum (Begoniaceae) from Thailand

Volume: 68Start Page: 99End Page: 10

Begonia fimbristipula subsp. siamensis (sect. Diploclinium, Begoniaceae), a new taxon of the megadiverse genus endemic to Thailand

The genus Begonia has not only been recognised to be one of the mega-diverse plant genera but also as one found to comprise many undiscovered species. In particular, the increase of extensive field surveys in tropical regions of Southeast Asia has added to the discovery of many new species that are often found only in a few localities. In this study, the new taxon Begonia fimbristipula subsp. siamensis subsp. nov. from Thailand is described. The Thailand accessions are highly similar in their morphology to accessions of B. fimbristipula from southern China but differ in their tuber shape, peduncle trichomes, petiole trichomes and number of female tepals. The new taxon has been found only in the northern parts of Thailand occurring at elevations above 1,300 meters. The new findings not only contribute to our knowledge of the plant diversity of Thailand but provide also critical information contributing to the protection of this species. In China, this species is endangered which is of special concern given its utilisation as a medical herb in traditional Chinese medicine. Considering IUCN Red List Categories, the new subspecies is considered to be Vulnerable. The disjunct distribution of the two subspecies of B. fimbristipula encourages urgently needed comparative taxonomic studies across the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot

Begonia fimbristipula subsp. siamensis (sect. Diploclinium, Begoniaceae), a new taxon of the megadiverse genus endemic to Thailand

The genus Begonia has not only been recognised to be one of the mega-diverse plant genera but also as one found to comprise many undiscovered species. In particular, the increase of extensive field surveys in tropical regions of Southeast Asia has added to the discovery of many new species that are often found only in a few localities. In this study, the new taxon Begonia fimbristipula subsp. siamensis subsp. nov. from Thailand is described. The Thailand accessions are highly similar in their morphology to accessions of B. fimbristipula from southern China but differ in their tuber shape, peduncle trichomes, petiole trichomes and number of female tepals. The new taxon has been found only in the northern parts of Thailand occurring at elevations above 1,300 meters. The new findings not only contribute to our knowledge of the plant diversity of Thailand but provide also critical information contributing to the protection of this species. In China, this species is endangered which is of special concern given its utilisation as a medical herb in traditional Chinese medicine. Considering IUCN Red List Categories, the new subspecies is considered to be Vulnerable. The disjunct distribution of the two subspecies of B. fimbristipula encourages urgently needed comparative taxonomic studies across the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot

Begonia fulgurata (sect. Diploclinium, Begoniaceae), a new species from northern Thailand

Begonia fulgurata, a new species from northern Thailand, is here described and illustrated. Begonia fulgurata resembles B. integrifolia, a widespread species in Southeast Asia, in having tubers, erect stem with hairy leaves and a periodically dormant habit. However, the new species is sharply distinct in its lamina densely hirsute (vs sparsely puberulous) and with maroon patches and silvery white veins (vs uniformly green or with white spots); inflorescence densely clothed with glandular hairs (vs glabrous or puberulous); staminate flowers with 2, rarely 3 (vs 4) tepals; staminate and pistillate tepals glandular hairy (vs glabrous). As a deciduous species with basal tubers, together with an erect stem, ovate to broadly ovate leaves, 3-locular ovary, it may be mistaken as a dwarf plant of B. grandis, one of the most widely distributed species in China and the type species of sect. Diploclinium. However, B. fulgurata differs in its leaf upper side with fine silvery (vs green) veins; inflorescence densely glandular hairy (vs glabrous), staminate tepals 2 or rarely 3 (vs 4) and pistillate tepals 5 (vs 3), and ovary glandular hairy (vs glabrous)

Asian Begonia: out of Africa via the Himalayas?

Volume: 63Start Page: 277End Page: 28