Issuing annual permits for harvesting thatch grass as compensation to local people in Nepal: does this policy have effects on conservation attitude?

One of fundamental strategies in community-based conservation is people receiving benefits from conservation projects are more likely to express positive attitudes towards conservation. As a result, various forms of compensation and economic incentives are provided to local people to reduce park-people conflicts, and to influence the people’s attitude towards conservation. Nepal, being a leader in integrating conservation and local development, implemented a policy in 1976 to address the legitimate needs of local people residing in and around protected areas by allowing them the restrictive use of park resources. Since then, people in lowland Terai are given permits to harvest thatch grass from protected areas for a limited period every year. Thatch grass is traditionally used by the people in Terai as a building material in the roof of houses. In recent years, the grasses are also used as raw materials in the paper industry. Based on a case study in Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve, this study describes policy of issuing permits for grass harvesting, and its impact on people’s attitude towards conservation

Knowledge and perceptions towards COVID-19 among final year undergraduate medical students and interns in Province 2, Nepal

Introduction: Corona Virus Disease-19, the COVID-19, has become a pandemic of public health concern, more so for developing countries like Nepal with an inadequate and vulnerable health system. Among all the seven provinces of the country, Province-2 seems to be at higher risk due to population density and open porous border with neighboring India. This survey was conducted among the undergraduate medical students of medical colleges in Province-2, Nepal to evaluate their knowledge and perception regarding the prevention and spread of the virus. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in September 2020 among final-year undergraduate medical students and interns from Janaki Medical College in Janakpur and National Medical College in Birgunj of Province-2, Nepal. A structured 30-item questionnaire containing demographics (5 items), knowledge (15 items), and perception (10 items) regarding COVID-19 was used for an online survey via email. Ethical approval was taken. Descriptive analysis was performed. Result: A total of 200 out of 250 respondents (>95%) had an adequate level of knowledge on etiology, symptoms, hand hygiene, severity, vulnerability, precautionary measures, and treatment guidelines of COVID-19. More than 80% were ready to work in the hospital during the pandemic with support from their family and nearly half of them (49%) perceived that the preparedness and supplies were sufficient in their institutions. Conclusion: The survey revealed that the majority of the final-year medical students and interns in Province-2 Nepal had adequate knowledge and perception regarding COVID-19

Interactive effects of hydrology and fire drive differential biogeochemical legacies in subtropical wetlands

Fire is an important component of many ecosystems, as it impacts biodiversity, biogeochemical cycles, and primary production. In wetlands, fire interacts with hydrologic regimes and other ecosystem characteristics to determine soil carbon (C) gains or losses and rates of nutrient cycling. However, how legacies of fire interact with wetland hydroperiod to affect soil chemistry is uncertain. We used the Florida Everglades as a model landscape to study how fire regimes, hydroperiod, and soil types collectively contribute to long-term C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) concentrations and stoichiometric mass ratios (C:N, C:P, N:P) in both short- and long-hydroperiod subtropical wetlands that consist of marl and peat soils, respectively. We used fire records from 1948 to 2018 and hydroperiod from 1991 to 2003, and analyzed these data together with soil chemistry data collected during two extensive field surveys (n = 539) across different ecosystem and soil types throughout Everglades National Park. We also analyzed macrophyte and periphyton P concentrations (n = 150) collected from 2003 to 2016 in fire-impacted wetland sites. Hydroperiod was the main driver of soil C concentration in both marl and peat soils, but fire played a substantial role in nutrient cycling. Particularly in marl soils, soil P concentrations were affected by the absence of fire. In the first decade post-fire, we observed an amplification of P cycling with decreased soil C:P ratios by 95% and N:P ratios by 45%. After more than a decade post-fire, soil P became increasingly depleted (41% lower). Macrophyte P tissue concentration was 50% higher only in the first year post-fire, whereas periphyton P did not change. By recycling nutrients and through removal of litter accumulation, which forms a physical obstacle to photosynthesis, fire likely helps maintain high levels of macrophyte aboveground live biomass as well. Given its substantial effect on nutrient cycling, we advocate for fire management that uses fire return intervals that minimize depletion of soil nutrients and promote positive feedbacks to productivity in wetland ecosystems. In addition, coordinated management of fire return intervals and wetland hydroperiod can be used to set priorities for wetland soil nutrient concentrations and ratios

Developing a Data-Driven Classification of South Florida Plant Communities

A comprehensive, broadly accepted vegetation classification is important for ecosystem management, particularly for planning and monitoring. South Florida vegetation classification systems that are currently in use were largely arrived at subjectively and intuitively with the involvement of experienced botanical observers and ecologists, but with little support in terms of quantitative field data. The need to develop a field data-driven classification of South Florida vegetation that builds on the ecological organization has been recognized by the National Park Service and vegetation practitioners in the region. The present work, funded by the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program - South Florida/Caribbean Network (SFCN), covers the first stage of a larger project whose goal is to apply extant vegetation data to test, and revise as necessary, an existing, widely used classification (Rutchey et al. 2006). The objectives of the first phase of the project were (1) to identify useful existing datasets, (2) to collect these data and compile them into a geodatabase, (3) to conduct an initial classification analysis of marsh sites, and (4) to design a strategy for augmenting existing information from poorly represented landscapes in order to develop a more comprehensive south Florida classification

Landscape Pattern – Marl Prairie/Slough Gradient: Vegetation Composition along the Gradient and Decadal Vegetation Change Pattern in Shark Slough: Annual Report 2012

In the southern Everglades, vegetation in both the marl prairie and ridge and slough landscapes is sensitive to large-scale restoration activities associated with the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) authorized by the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) 2000 to restore the south Florida ecosystem. More specifically, changes in hydrologic regimes at both local and landscape scales are likely to affect vegetation composition along marl prairie-slough gradient resulting in a shift in boundary between plant communities in these landscapes. To strengthen our ability to assess how vegetation would respond to changes in underlying ecosystem drivers along the gradient, an improved understanding of reference conditions of plant community structure and function, and their responses to major stressors is important. In this regard, a study of vegetation structure and composition in relation to physical and biological processes along the marl prairie-slough gradient was initiated in 2005, and has continued through 2012 with funding from US Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) (Cooperative Agreement # W912HZ-09-2-0018 Modification No.: P00002). This study addresses the hypothesis with respect to RECOVER-MAP monitoring item 3.1.3.5 – “Marl Prairie/Slough Gradients; patterns and trends in Shark Slough marshes and associated marl prairies”

A Geospatial Database of Tree Islands within the Mustang Corner Fire Incident of 2008

Fire, which affects community structure and composition at all trophic levels, is an integral component of the Everglades ecosystem (Wade et al. 1980; Lockwood et al. 2003). Without fire, the Everglades as we know it today would be a much different place. This is particularly true for the short-hydroperiod marl prairies that predominate on the eastern and western flanks of Shark River Slough, Everglades National Park (Figure 1). In general, fire in a tropical or sub-tropical grassland community favors the dominance of C4 grasses over C3 species (Roscoe et al. 2000; Briggs et al. 2005). Within this pyrogenic graminoid community also, periodic natural fires, together with suitable hydrologic regime, maintain and advance the dominance of C4 vs C3 graminoids (Sah et al. 2008), and suppress the encroachment of woody stems (Hanan et al. 2009; Hanan et al. unpublished manuscript) originating from the tree islands that, in places, dominate the landscape within this community. However, fires, under drought conditions and elevated fuel loads, can spread quickly throughout the landscape, oxidizing organic soils, both in the prairie and in the tree islands, and, in the process, lead to shifts in vegetation composition. This is particularly true when a fire immediately precedes a flood event (Herndon et al. 1991; Lodge 2005; Sah et al. 2010), or if so much soil is consumed during the fire that the hydrologic regime is permanently altered as a result of a decrease in elevation (Zaffke 1983)

Monitoring of Tree Island Condition in the Southern Everglades: Hydrologic Driven Decadal Changes in Tree Island Woody Vegetation Structure and Composition: 2012 Annual Report

This report examines the interaction between hydrology and vegetation over a 10-year period, between 2001/02 and 2012 within six permanent tree island plots located on three tree islands, two plots each per tree island, established in 2001/02, along a hydrologic and productivity gradient. We hypothesize that: (H1) hydrologic differences within plots between census dates will result in marked differences in a) tree and sapling densities, b) tree basal area, and c) forest structure, i.e., canopy volume and height, and (H2) tree island growth, development, and succession is dependent on hydrologic fluxes, particularly during periods of prolonged droughts or below average hydroperiods

Developing Ecological Criteria for Prescribed Fire in South Florida Pine Rockland Ecosystems

The pine rocklands of South Florida, characterized by a rich herbaceous flora with many narrowly endemic taxa beneath an overstory of south Florida slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa), are found in three areas: the Miami Rock Ridge of southeastern peninsular Florida, the Lower Florida Keys, and slightly elevated portions of the southern Big Cypress National Preserve. Fire is an important element in these ecosystems, since in its absence the pine canopy is likely to be replaced by dense hardwoods, resulting in loss of the characteristic pineland herb flora. Prescribed fire has been used in Florida Keys pine forests since the creation of the National Key Deer Refuge (NKDR), with the primary aim of reducing fuels. Because fire can also be an effective tool in shaping ecological communities, we conducted a 4-year research study which explored a range of fire management options in NKDR. The intent of the study was to provide the Fish and Wildlife Service and other land managers with information regarding when and where to burn in order to perpetuate these unique forests

Fuel Loads, Fire Severity, and Tree Mortality in Florida Keys Pine Forests

In fire dependent forested ecosystems, fire managers are greatly interested in predicting the consequences of their management-oriented prescribed burnings on post-fire tree mortality. While fire intensity is believed to be a strong predictor of tree mortality, fire behavior itself largely depends on fuel characteristics, including both their structure and spatial distribution. We examined the type and distribution of fuels, their effects on fire behavior, and the effects of fire on tree mortality in slash pine forests in the Florida Keys. We conducted a burning experiment in six blocks, and burned eleven plots, three in winter and eight in summer, over a four-year period from 1998 to 2001. Post-fire slash pine mortality was investigated annually for one, two or three years in seven burn plots, three winter burn and four summer burn plots. We used linear regression to model the effects of fuel types on fire severity, and logistic regression to model the effects of burn season, fire severity and tree dimensions on tree mortality. Fire severity increased with surface fuel loads, but was negatively related to the quantity of hardwood shrub fuels. Tree mortality was significantly higher in summer burn than in winter burn plots, and was strongly related to tree size and crown scorch percent. This study suggests that pine tree mortality can be minimized by burning in winter. However, in pine forests where the burning objective is to suppress the growth of hardwoods, winter burning involves a trade-off, in that hardwood shrub fuel consumption is reduced

On the Road to Sustainability? A Review of a Half-Century of Biodiversity Conservation Successes in Nepal and Some Thoughts on Future Needs

We review the history, over the past half-century, of biodiversity conservation legislation and programs in Nepal. We especially consider how they have evolved in light of some earlier concerns resulting from, for example, the strict “fines and fences” conservation approaches first implemented in the 1970s, to pressing issues that emerged over time such as park-people and wildlife-human conflicts, poaching and illegal wildlife trade. We also consider how the implementation of international conservation agreements and demographic and political changes have affected conservation programs in Nepal. We finish by discussing conservation in the context of sustainable development and conclude with some thoughts on future research and managerial needs in a rapidly-changing world