Supplying the wildlife trade as a livelihood strategy in a biodiversity hotspot

Much of the global wildlife trade is sourced from biodiversity-rich developing countries. These often have high levels of poverty and habitat loss, particularly in rural areas where many depend on natural resources. However, wildlife collection may incentivize local people to conserve habitats that support their livelihoods. Here we examined the contribution of the commercial collection of live animals to rural livelihoods in Madagascar, one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots. Using questionnaires, we investigated the prevalence, profitability relative to other livelihood activities, and local importance of the trade, and its capacity to provide incentives for conservation. Thirteen percent of households were engaged in live animal collection in the study area (~5% trapped reptiles and amphibians and the remainder trapped invertebrates). This formed part of a diverse livelihood strategy, and was more profitable than other activities (in terms of returns per unit of effort), with median earnings of ~US$100 per season (~25% of Gross National Income per year). However, trapping was part-time, usually undertaken by poorer members of the community, and often perceived as opportunistic, risky, and financially unreliable. Further, trappers and nontrappers held similar perceptions regarding conservation, suggesting wildlife trade currently does not incentivize enhanced stewardship of traded species and their habitats. Our study brings together a range of methodologies to present the most comprehensive insights into livelihoods and conservation in poor rural communities involved in the commercial collection of live animals to supply international trade. This improved understanding of the wider socioeconomic dimensions of wildlife trade can inform policy and management interventions for both the threats and opportunities associated with global trade in biodiversity both in Madagascar and more generally

Diverse novel resident Wolbachia strains in Culicine mosquitoes from Madagascar.

Wolbachia endosymbiotic bacteria are widespread throughout insect species and Wolbachia transinfected in Aedes mosquito species has formed the basis for biocontrol programs as Wolbachia strains inhibit arboviral replication and can spread through populations. Resident strains in wild Culicine mosquito populations (the vectors of most arboviruses) requires further investigation given resident strains can also affect arboviral transmission. As Madagascar has a large diversity of both Culicine species and has had recent arboviral outbreaks, an entomology survey was undertaken, in five ecologically diverse sites, to determine the Wolbachia prevalence. We detected diverse novel resident Wolbachia strains within the Aedeomyia, Culex, Ficalbia, Mansonia and Uranotaenia genera. Wolbachia prevalence rates and strain characterisation through Sanger sequencing with multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and phylogenetic analysis revealed significant diversity and we detected co-infections with the environmentally acquired bacteria Asaia. Mosquitoes were screened for major arboviruses to investigate if any evidence could be provided for their potential role in transmission and we report the presence of Rift Valley fever virus in three Culex species: Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Culex antennatus and Culex decens. The implications of the presence of resident Wolbachia strains are discussed and how the discovery of novel strains can be utilized for applications in the development of biocontrol strategies

Assessment of the efficacy of antimalarial drugs recommended by the National Malaria Control Programme in Madagascar: Up-dated baseline data from randomized and multi-site clinical trials

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In order to improve the monitoring of the antimalarial drug resistance in Madagascar, a new national network based on eight sentinel sites was set up. In 2006/2007, a multi-site randomized clinical trial was designed to assess the therapeutic efficacy of chloroquine (CQ), sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), amodiaquine (AQ) and artesunate plus amodiaquine combination (ASAQ), the antimalarial therapies recommended by the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Children between six months and 15 years of age, with uncomplicated falciparum malaria, were enrolled. Primary endpoints were the day-14 and day-28 risks of parasitological failure, either unadjusted or adjusted by genotyping. Risks of clinical and parasitological treatment failure after adjustment by genotyping were estimated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Secondary outcomes included fever clearance, parasite clearance, change in haemoglobin levels between Day 0 and the last day of follow-up, and the incidence of adverse events.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 1,347 of 1,434 patients (93.9%) completed treatment and follow-up to day 28. All treatment regimens, except for the chloroquine (CQ) treatment group, resulted in clinical cure rates above 97.6% by day-14 and 96.7% by day-28 (adjusted by genotyping). Parasite and fever clearance was more rapid with artesunate plus amodiaquine, but the extent of haematological recovery on day-28 did not differ significantly between the four groups. No severe side-effects were observed during the follow-up period.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings (i) constitute an up-dated baseline data on the efficacy of antimalarial drugs recommended by the NMCP, (ii) show that antimalarial drug resistance remains low in Madagascar, except for CQ, compared to the bordering countries in the Indian Ocean region such as the Comoros Archipelago and (iii) support the current policy of ASAQ as the first-line treatment in uncomplicated falciparum malaria.</p

New and Common Haplotypes Shape Genetic Diversity in Asian Tiger Mosquito Populations from Costa Rica and Panama

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae), is a vector of several human pathogens. Ae. albopictus is also an invasive species that, over recent years, has expanded its range out of its native Asia. Ae. albopictus was suspected to be present in Central America since the 1990s, and its presence was confirmed by most Central American nations by 2010. Recently, this species has been regularly found, yet in low numbers, in limited areas of Panama and Costa Rica (CR). Here, we report that short sequences (?558 bp) of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 genes of Ae. albopictus, had no haplotype diversity. Instead, there was a common haplotype for each gene in both CR and Panama. In contrast, a long COI sequence (?1,390 bp) revealed that haplotype diversity (±SD) was relatively high in CR (0.72 ± 0.04) when compared with Panama (0.33 ± 0.13), below the global estimate for reported samples (0.89 ± 0.01). The long COI sequence allowed us to identify seven (five new) haplotypes in CR and two (one new) in Panama. A haplotype network for the long COI gene sequence showed that samples from CR and Panama belong to a single large group. The long COI gene sequences suggest that haplotypes in Panama and CR, although similar to each other, had a significant geographic differentiation (Kst = 1.33; P < 0.001). Thus, most of our results suggest a recent range expansion in CR and Panama

Novel Wolbachia strains in Anopheles malaria vectors from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background:  Wolbachia, a common insect endosymbiotic bacterium that can influence pathogen transmission and manipulate host reproduction, has historically been considered absent from the  Anopheles (An.) genera, but has recently been found in  An. gambiae s.l. populations in West Africa.  As there are numerous  Anopheles species that have the capacity to transmit malaria, we analysed a range of species across five malaria endemic countries to determine  Wolbachia prevalence rates, characterise novel  Wolbachia strains and determine any correlation between the presence of  Plasmodium,  Wolbachia and the competing bacterium  Asaia. Methods:  Anopheles adult mosquitoes were collected from five malaria-endemic countries: Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Uganda and Madagascar, between 2013 and 2017.  Molecular analysis was undertaken using quantitative PCR, Sanger sequencing,  Wolbachia multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the bacterial  16S rRNA gene.  Results: Novel  Wolbachia strains were discovered in five species:  An. coluzzii,  An. gambiae s.s.,  An. arabiensis,  An. moucheti and  An. species A, increasing the number of  Anopheles species known to be naturally infected. Variable prevalence rates in different locations were observed and novel strains were phylogenetically diverse, clustering with  Wolbachia supergroup B strains.  We also provide evidence for resident strain variants within  An. species A.  Wolbachia is the dominant member of the microbiome in  An. moucheti and  An. species A but present at lower densities in  An. coluzzii.  Interestingly, no evidence of  Wolbachia/Asaia co-infections was seen and  Asaia infection densities were shown to be variable and location dependent.  Conclusions: The important discovery of novel  Wolbachia strains in  Anopheles provides greater insight into the prevalence of resident  Wolbachia strains in diverse malaria vectors.  Novel  Wolbachia strains (particularly high-density strains) are ideal candidate strains for transinfection to create stable infections in other  Anopheles mosquito species, which could be used for population replacement or suppression control strategies

Carbone des sols en Afrique

Les sols sont une ressource essentielle à préserver pour la production d’aliments, de fibres, de biomasse, pour la filtration de l’eau, la préservation de la biodiversité et le stockage du carbone. En tant que réservoirs de carbone, les sols sont par ailleurs appelés à jouer un rôle primordial dans la lutte contre l’augmentation de la concentration de gaz à effet de serre. Ils sont ainsi au centre des objectifs de développement durable (ODD) des Nations unies, notamment les ODD 2 « Faim zéro », 13 « Lutte contre le changement climatique », 15 « Vie terrestre », 12 « Consommation et production responsables » ou encore 1 « Pas de pauvreté ». Cet ouvrage présente un état des lieux des sols africains dans toute leur diversité, mais au-delà, il documente les capacités de stockage de carbone selon les types de sols et leurs usages en Afrique. Il propose également des recommandations autour de l’acquisition et de l’interprétation des données, ainsi que des options pour préserver, voire augmenter les stocks de carbone dans les sols. Tous les chercheurs et acteurs du développement impliqués dans les recherches sur le rôle du carbone des sols sont concernés par cette synthèse collective. Fruit d’une collaboration entre chercheurs africains et européens, ce livre insiste sur la nécessité de prendre en compte la grande variété des contextes agricoles et forestiers africains pour améliorer nos connaissances sur les capacités de stockage de carbone des sols et lutter contre le changement climatique

Etude des répercussions de la pollution industrielle sur la riziculture dans la plaine de Laniera à Antananarivo, Madagascar

Face au développement urbain à Antananarivo, l'agriculture urbaine et péri-urbaine est exposée à la pollution industrielle. Les industries spécialisées dans le textile déversent leurs eaux usées dans le système d'irrigation, et polluent directement les champs de rizières à proximité des zones industrielles. Après 3 ans de suivi, l'effet de la pollution est variable et fonction de la situation et du processus industriel. Pendant la saison sèche, la pollution est très prononcée, alors que pendant la saison de pluie, les effets de dilution ont des impacts très importants sur la qualité de l'eau d'irrigation. Les effluents sont généralement colorés en bleu par le procédé de lavage de jeans, et sont riches en matières organiques en suspension. La qualité des effluents varie dans la journée : le pH de 3,9 à 10,6 et la conductivité électrique de 452 à 3620 μS / cm. Notre étude a pour but d’analyser la qualité de l'eau d'irrigation et d’observer les effets de la pollution sur les sols, les compositions chimiques des plants de riz et sur la production. En début de la saison culturale, l’effluent résulte une diminution du pH et une forte salinité dans les rizières. Le complexe absorbant du sol est chargé lentement en sodium. L'analyse de la paille montre un déséquilibre nutritionnel dans le plant de riz, notamment l'accumulation de potassium : K (14,5 à 22%), N (0,44 à 0,7%), du Ca (0,42 à 3%), Mg (0,02 à 0,95%), Na (0,35 à 0,8%), P (200 à 561 ppm). Quand la pollution est très élevée, on observe un allongement du cycle et une forte nutrition azotée. Le rendement en riz obtenu est faible (&lt; 2t/ha), tandis que le rendement recueilli dans la plaine de Laniera peut atteindre jusqu’à 5t/ha.Mots-Clés: pollution, eau d’irrigation, industries textiles, pollution des sols, rizière, Laniera.Study of the repercussion of industrial pollution on rice production in plain of LANIERA in Antananarivo, Madagascar Faced to urban development in Antananarivo, urban and peri-urban agriculture is exposed on industrial pollution. Specialized textile industries discharge their wastewater into the circulating irrigation system, and pollute directly the rice fields near the industrial area. After 3 years of monitoring, the effect of pollution is variable and depending on the situation and the industrial process. During the dry season, the pollution is very high. But during the rainy season, dilution effects are very important to the quality of irrigation water. The effluents are usually colored in blue, from the activity for the jeans washing process and riches of suspended organic matters. The effluents quality varies on day, the pH from 3.9 to 10.6 and the electrical conductivity from 452 to 3620 μS/cm. Our study focused on the water irrigation quality and observed the effect on soil, the rice plant chemical compositions and on the production. At the first of the cropping cycle, effluents caused a lower pH and a high salinity in the rice fields. The absorbent complex is slowly charged in sodium concentration. Straw analysis provides the instability absorption of minerals nutriment in the rice, enriched by potassium accumulation: K (14.5 to 22 %), N (0.44 to 0.7 %), Ca (0,42 to 3 %), Mg (0.02 to 0.95 %), Na (0.35 to 0.8 %), and P (200 to 561 ppm). When pollution is very high, we observed an elongation cycle and a strong nitrogenous nutrition. The yield of paddy rice decreased (&lt;2 t / ha), while the average yield collected in the plain of Laniera can be achieved to 5t/ha of paddy.Keywords: pollution, water irrigation, textiles industries, pollution of soil, rice field, Laniera