Fostering a Paradigm Shift in the Roles of Health Promotion Education in Southeast Asia

In the context of an evolving domain and the complexity globalization adds to the situation, health promotion practice in Southeast Asia face challenges posed by the growing gaps between practice needs, human resource development needs, and educational program development needs. One of the challenges is how to foster a much needed paradigm shift among those responsible for workforce production in health promotion. In this paper, we provide practical proposals for action that provide leverage in thinking differently about health promotion practice. These proposals reflect the authors’ perspectives and experiences in competencies relevant to health promotion key action areas: empowerment, health services, partnerships and alliances, environments, and health and policy. We first describe the developments in the health promotion domain; summarize competency frameworks for health promotion; to arrive at a comparison of Southeast Asia education programs for health promotion with programs in socio-economic advanced regions. We suggest proposals on the way forward aimed at fueling the required paradigm shift in capacity building for health promotion in Southeast Asia; and conclude by considering the role national and international alliances can play in implementing these proposals and improving workforce production for health promotion in Southeast Asia. Keywords: Southeast Asia, health promotion, challenge, educatio

Plant–soil feedback of native and range-expanding plant species is insensitive to temperature

Temperature change affects many aboveground and belowground ecosystem processes. Here we investigate the effect of a 5°C temperature increase on plant–soil feedback. We compare plant species from a temperate climate region with immigrant plants that originate from warmer regions and have recently shifted their range polewards. We tested whether the magnitude of plant–soil feedback is affected by ambient temperature and whether the effect of temperature differs between these groups of plant species. Six European/Eurasian plant species that recently colonized the Netherlands (non-natives), and six related species (natives) from the Netherlands were selected. Plant–soil feedback of these species was determined by comparing performance in conspecific and heterospecific soils. In order to test the effect of temperature on these plant–soil feedback interactions, the experiments were performed at two greenhouse temperatures of 20/15°C and 25/20°C, respectively. Inoculation with unconditioned soil had the same effect on natives and non-natives. However, the effect of conspecific conditioned soil was negative compared to heterospecific soil for natives, but was positive for non-natives. In both cases, plant–soil interactions were not affected by temperature. Therefore, we conclude that the temperature component of climate change does not affect the direction, or strength of plant–soil feedback, neither for native nor for non-native plant species. However, as the non-natives have a more positive soil feedback than natives, climate warming may introduce new plant species in temperate regions that have less soil-borne control of abundance

State-of-the-Art bewaarsysteem tulpenbollen : Resultaten 2010

Het project State-of-the-Art bewaren van tulpenbollen is in 2007 opgestart om te demonstreren wat er met behoud of verbetering van productkwaliteit, met de huidige stand der techniek aan energiebesparing mogelijk is. En om met aanvullend onderzoek op de deelnemende bloembollenbedrijven in de toekomst nog meer te kunnen besparen. Voor het 4de jaar op rij is er door de nu 10 deelnemers fors bespaard op energie: gemiddeld 30% op gas en 44% op elektra. Op het bedrijf dat het meest op gas bespaarde was dat zelfs 72% en op het bedrijf dat het meest op elektra bespaarde was dat 80%. Het doel van het project is tweeledig: Spoor 1) demonstreren wat er met behoud of verbetering van de productkwaliteit met de huidige stand der techniek aan energiebesparing in de bewaring bij tulp mogelijk is. Spoor 2) aanvullend onderzoek & ontwikkeling om hierbij in de toekomst nog meer energie te kunnen besparen

Testing the paradox of enrichment along a land use gradient in a multitrophic aboveground and belowground community

In the light of ongoing land use changes, it is important to understand how multitrophic communities perform at different land use intensities. The paradox of enrichment predicts that fertilization leads to destabilization and extinction of predator-prey systems. We tested this prediction for a land use intensity gradient from natural to highly fertilized agricultural ecosystems. We included multiple aboveground and belowground trophic levels and land use-dependent searching efficiencies of insects. To overcome logistic constraints of field experiments, we used a successfully validated simulation model to investigate plant responses to removal of herbivores and their enemies. Consistent with our predictions, instability measured by herbivore-induced plant mortality increased with increasing land use intensity. Simultaneously, the balance between herbivores and natural enemies turned increasingly towards herbivore dominance and natural enemy failure. Under natural conditions, there were more frequently significant effects of belowground herbivores and their natural enemies on plant performance, whereas there were more aboveground effects in agroecosystems. This result was partly due to the “boom-bust” behavior of the shoot herbivore population. Plant responses to herbivore or natural enemy removal were much more abrupt than the imposed smooth land use intensity gradient. This may be due to the presence of multiple trophic levels aboveground and belowground. Our model suggests that destabilization and extinction are more likely to occur in agroecosystems than in natural communities, but the shape of the relationship is nonlinear under the influence of multiple trophic interactions.

Single introductions of soil biota and plants generate long-term legacies in soil and plant community assembly

Recent demonstrations of the role of plant-soil biota interactions have challenged the conventional view that vegetation changes are mainly driven by changing abiotic conditions. However, while this concept has been validated under natural conditions, our understanding of the long-term consequences of plant- soil interactions for above-belowground community assembly is restricted to mathematical and conceptual model projections. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that one-time additions of soil biota and plant seeds alter soil-borne nematode and plant community composition in semi-natural grassland for 20 years. Over time, aboveground and belowground community composition became increasingly correlated, suggesting an increasing connectedness of soil biota and plants. We conclude that the initial composition of not only plant communities, but also soil communities has a long-lasting impact on the trajectory of community assembly