Prospects for productive use of saline water in West Asia and North Africa

Water quality / Salinity / Soil salinity / Irrigated farming / Crop production / Feed crops / Fodder / Poverty / Public policy / West Asia / North Africa / Egypt / Jordan / Syria / Tunisia

Habitat utilization and breeding success of Leach's storm-petrel, Oceanodroma leucorhoa

It is generally assumed that individual organisms behave optimally. In terms of habitat utilization, die optimal habitat for any species is that which provides the optimum conditions for survival and reproduction. -- This study compared how Leach's Storm-Petrels, Oceanodroma leucorhoa, utilized forest and open habitat on Great Island, Newfoundland. Specifically, nesting habitats were compared in terms of slope, aspect, and peat compaction. The adaptive significance of habitat utilization was assessed through comparisons of burrow density, the proportions of active and occupied burrows, hatching success, chick growth, breeding success and predation risk. -- Forest and open habitats differed; open habitat had steeper slope and more compact soil than forest, which had deeper peat. Burrow density and activity were greater in forest than open habitat, indicating that Leach's Storm-Petrels actively selected forest over open habitat Clearly, based on area, forest habitat supported a greater number of breeding pairs. Moreover, birds nesting in forest exhibited greater hatching and breeding success than birds nesting in open habitat, thus storm-petrels nesting in forest were disproportionately more productive than storm-petrels nesting in open habitat. -- Avian predation of Leach's Storm-Petrels did not differ between forest and open habitats, but varied seasonally in both. Predation was much reduced in both habitats following the inshore movement of spawning Capelin, Mallotus villosis. -- The terrestrial flora of the habitats utilized by Leach's Storm-Petrels change over time, being influenced by other seabirds (e.g. gulls and puffins on Great Island). Forest habitat is estimated to have decreased by 17 % on Great Island over the past 25 years. Open habitat has been expanding, which will negatively affect the overall productivity of the Leach's Storm-Petrel colony. Generalizations to other Leach's Stonn-Petrel colonies in the northwest Atlantic are also made

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Counting Bears, P’s And Q’s: An Efficient Sample Design for a Spatial Capture Recapture Hair Snag Study of Grizzly Bears

Accurate assessment of abundance can be expensive and managers often seek to minimize costs. Because spatial capture recapture (SCR) methods explicitly account for variation in trap effort in space and time and permit the use of covariates to explain abundance, substantial flexibility in design and thus reduction in costs may be possible. Estimates of grizzly bear (Usus arctos) densities and abundances in 4 management units in Alberta were very low  (superpopulation n =  47-133) in the latest studies occurring from 2004-2008. Since these first provincial population estimates were obtained, management, landscape, and habitat conditions have changed. Managers would like updated abundance information but also seek to reduce the costs of acquiring these data. We assessed 1) the behavior of SCR models across several general sample designs and 2) whether we could eliminate sampling in helicopter-access-only areas in the Yellowhead management unit while maintaining accurate estimates. We used a combination of retrospective subsampling of existing data from a 2004 sampling effort and simulations to evaluate several designs. Placing sampling arrays in areas with high densities of bears decreased variance, while the fine-scale configuration of traps did not greatly influence estimates. Simulations of designs for Alberta with more intensive sampling of only the areas accessible by road and no sampling of more expensive helicopter-access-only areas provided robust estimates with little loss in precision. We will describe the framework and assumptions of SCR models with covariates for abundance in comparison with traditional capture recapture models

A Role For Icrisat In Enhancing And Maintaining Genetic Resources On-Farm

CGIAR centers have made a major global contribution to ex situ conservation of crop genetic resources. Some centers have also made detailedsocio-anthropologicaIstudies ofmanda'te crops in traditional farmingsystems and, more recently, farmerparticipatory research is becoming part of crop irnprovementprograrns. Centers can expand these studies to develop strategies for on-farm conservation in close collaboration will) nalional agricultural research and extension systems, NGOs and farmers. A specific role for ICRISAT is firmly based on its locations in centers of crop diversity and traditional agriculture; its complement of experienced crop scientists and extensive databases; ils capacityto analyzegenetic, environmental, andgenotypexenvironmentinteractions as determinants of crop productivity; its close relalionships with netionalprograms; anditsgrowing involvement in farn~erparticipato ry research, The expertise and experience of lCt7lSA Tand other CGlAR centers can make a major contribution to the dynamic conservation, enhancement and utilization of agrobiodiversity on-farm for tl~bee nefits of farmers and global foodproduct/on

<i>‘What retention’ means to me</i>: the position of the adult learner in student retention

Studies of student retention and progression overwhelmingly appear adopt definitions that place the institution, rather than the student, at the centre. Retention is most often conceived in terms of linear and continuous progress between institutionally identified start and end points. This paper reports on research that considered data from 38 in-depth interviews conducted with individuals who had characteristics often associated with non-traditional engagement in higher education who between 2006 and 2010 had studied an ‘Introduction to HE’ module at one distance higher education institution, some of whom had progressed to further study at that institution, some of whom had not. The research deployed a life histories approach to seek a finer grained understanding of how individuals conceptualise their own learning journey and experience, in order to reflect on institutional conceptions of student retention. The findings highlight potential anomalies hidden within institutional retention rates – large proportions of the interview participants who were not ‘retained’ by the institution reported successful progression to and in other learning institutions and environments, both formal and informal. Nearly all described positive perspectives on lifelong learning which were either engendered or improved by the learning undertaken. This attests to the complexity of individuals’ lives and provides clear evidence that institution-centric definitions of retention and progression are insufficient to create truly meaningful understanding of successful individual learning journeys and experiences. It is argued that only through careful consideration of the lived experience of students and a re-conception of measures of retention, will we be able to offer real insight into improving student retention

Sorghum Improvement for Semi-Arid Tropics Region : Past Current and Future Research Thrusts in Asia

Sorghum Is widely grown in the Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT) for food, feed, fodder arid forage. Although India and Africa represent the major sorghum growing areas, grain yield levels are low compared to those in the developed world. An attempt Is made to summarize the relevant research thrusts that have implications on Improving sorghum genetically. The cultivated taxa, Sorghum bico lo r (L.) Moench with 2n = 20 were evolved and domesticated in North Eastern Africa. Based on spikelet characters, they are grouped into five racescaudatum, guinea, kafir, durra and bicolor and ten hybrid races. The cultivated forms probably arose from S. verticihiflorum. Nearly 35000 landraces collected from 87 countries are being maintained at ICRISAT Asia Center, Hyderabad, India. - Initial attempts to breed sorghum were in understanding inheritance of several morphological traits based on mendelian factors and breeding for specific adaptation. The establishment of All India Coordinated Sorghum Improvement Project in 1970, and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics with sorghum as one of its mandate crop in 1972 and the initiation of conversion program in USA in early part of 1960s demonstrated that wide adaptability and high yield can be combined and also produced materials which contributed well to several national programs in the SAT. Recurrent selection methods adopted with the help of genetic male sterile genes were not as effective as pedigree/backcross methods to achieve high yield. Discovery of genetic-cytoplasmic male sterility in 1954 enabled hybrid seed production cost effective, and it was established soon that hybrids were superior to varieties across all ranges of environments. Several high yielding hybrids were produced and released. Soon, lack of resistance to various yield constraints was recognized. Current research portfolios involve breeding of male-sterile and restorer lines in diversified cytoplasmic background for resistance to various yield constraints with high grain fodder yield. The goal is to produce high yielding resistant cultivars. Future strategies of sorghum improvement for SAT is encoded in ICRISAT's Medium Term Plan which recognized a total of 29 production systems, five adaptation zones, and a multidisciplinary research strategy of producing high yielding resistant parents, and developing integrated pest, diseases, soil and water management methods

Communities in university mathematics

This paper concerns communities of learners and teachers that are formed, develop and interact in university mathematics environments through the theoretical lens of Communities of Practice. From this perspective, learning is described as a process of participation and reification in a community in which individuals belong and form their identity through engagement, imagination and alignment. In addition, when inquiry is considered as a fundamental mode of participation, through critical alignment, the community becomes a Community of Inquiry. We discuss these theoretical underpinnings with examples of their application in research in university mathematics education and, in more detail, in two Research Cases which focus on mathematics students' and teachers' perspectives on proof and on engineering students' conceptual understanding of mathematics. The paper concludes with a critical reflection on the theorising of the role of communities in university level teaching and learning and a consideration of ways forward for future research