Land Use and Land Cover Changes in the Diversity and Life Zone for Uncontacted Indigenous People: Deforestation Hotspots in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve, Ecuadorian Amazon

Land use and land cover change (LULC) is an essential component for the monitoring environmental change and managing natural resources in areas of high natural and cultural biodiversity, such as the Amazon biome. This study was conducted in in the northern Amazon of Ecuador, specifically in the Diversity and Life Zone (DLZ) of the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve (YBR). The general aim was to investigate the territorial dynamics of land use/land cover changes to support policies for environmental and sociocultural protection in the DLZ. Specific objectives included (i) mapping LULC spatial and temporal dynamics in the DLZ in the period from 1999 to 2018, (ii) identifying sensitive LULC hotspots within the DLZ, and (iii) defining the possible policy implications for sustainable land use in the DLZ. Multitemporal satellite imagery from the Landsat series was used to map changes in LULC, which were divided into three-time stages (1999–2009, 2009–2018, 1999–2018). We adopted open-access Landsat images downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The processes for assessing LULC in the DLZ included (1) data collection and analysis, (2) data processing for remote sensing, (3) thematic land cover, and (4) homogenization and vectorization of images. The results showed that in the period 1999–2018, most of the uses and land cover were transformed into pastures in the DLZ. Therefore, it is important to improve territorial planning, to avoid conflicts between indigenous populations, migrant settlers, and uncontacted indigenous populations that live in the DLZ, within the YBR

Carbon Stock Assessment in Silvopastoral Systems along an Elevational Gradient: A Study from Cattle Producers in the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, Ecuadorian Amazon

Silvopastoral system (SPS) has been considered as a sustainable management system contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, among other benefits compared with open pasture. However, little research has been conducted on the soil and tree biomass carbon stored in traditional pasture with dispersed trees (PWT) compared with pasture in monoculture (PM). The present study was conducted in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region (EAR), along an elevational gradient from 400 to 2000 masl., within the buffer and transition zone of the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve (SBR), using 71 temporary circular plots of 2826 m2, where 26 plots were stablished in PWT and 45 plots in PM. The main results in PWT show significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) between aboveground carbon biomass (AGCtrees) from 41.1 (lowlands), 26.5 (Middle hills) and 16.7 (high mountains) Mg ha−1 respectively, with an average of 31.0 Mg ha−1 in the whole study area. The total carbon pool along the altitudinal gradient in five components: (AGCtrees), belowground carbon (BGCtrees), pasture carbon (AGClitter+pasture) and carbon in soil components (0–10 and 10–30 cm) for PWT ranged from 112.80 (lowlands) to 91.34 (high mountains) Mg ha−1; while for the PM systems assessing three components (AGClitter+pasture) and carbon in soil components (0–10 and 10–30 cm) ranged from 52.5 (lowlands) to 77.8 (middle zone) Mg ha−1. Finally, the paper shows the main dominant tree species in pasture systems that contribute to carbon storage along elevational gradient and concludes with recommendations for decision-making aimed at improving cattle ranching systems through a silvopastoral approach to mitigate the effects of climate change

Livelihood Capitals, Income Inequality, and the Perception of Climate Change: A Case Study of Small-Scale Cattle Farmers in the Ecuadorian Andes

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of 2015 identify poverty, growth, and inequality as three key areas of intervention towards the UN 2030 Agenda for human well-being and sustainability. Herein, the predominant objectives are: (a) To determine the poverty groups by quintiles through the cattle income in households of small milk producers; (b) To characterize rural livelihoods by using capital theory; and (c) To assess the perception of climate change (CC) and the willingness to accept adaptation as well as mitigation measures. The current study was performed in communities that are located in the Ecuadorian Andes, where some 178 surveys were conducted with indigenous Kichwa and mestizo heads of households. From the total net income determined, five groups were organized. The Lorenz curve was applied as a general indicator of the relative inequality, as well as the Gini coefficient (G). On the basis of the theory of capital, the human, social, natural, physical, and financial characteristics were determined, and seven variables were considered to evaluate the perception and willingness to accept mitigation and adaptation actions of the given quintiles. The result of the Gini coefficient was 0.52, which indicates that the poorest 20% of the population only receives 3.40% of the income, while the richest 20% of the quintile obtain about 54% of the total income. It is evident that most producers know little about CC, but that they are willing to receive strengthening programs. Therefore, it is essential to establish strategic guidelines from public policy in order to reduce inequality and to improve the social welfare of producers, with a transversal axis in the strengthening of the capacities on the impact, mitigation, and adaptation to CC, as well as the provision of several tools, such as access to climate information

Modelling climatically suitable areas for mahogany (swietenia macrophylla king) and their shifts across neotropics: the role of protected areas

Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) is a species with great economic interest worldwide and is classified as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN. Deforestation and climate change are the main hazards to this species. Therefore, it is vital to describe possible changes in distribution patterns under current and future climatic conditions, as they are important for their monitoring, conservation, and use. In the current study, we predict, for the very first time, the potential distribution of Mahogany based on data that reflect the total distribution of the species, climatic and edaphic variables, and a consensus model that combines the results of three statistical techniques. The obtained model was projected to future climatic conditions considering two general circulation models (GCM), under two shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP245 and SSP585) for 2070. Predictions under current climatic conditions indicated wide adequate areas in Central American countries such as Mexico and demonstrated a coverage of up to 28.5% within the limits of the protected areas. Under future scenarios, drastic reductions were observed in different regions, particularly in Venezuela, Perú, and Ecuador, with losses of up to 56.0%. On the other hand, an increase in suitable areas for the species within protected areas was also detected. The results of this study are certainly useful for identifying currently unrecorded populations of Mahogany, as well as for identifying locations that are likely to be suitable both now and in the future for conservation management planning. The methodology proposed in this work is able to be used for other forest species in tropical zones as a tool for conducting dynamic conservation and restoration strategies that consider the effects of climate chang

The relationship between truncation and phosphorylation at the C-terminus of tau protein in the paired helical filaments of Alzheimer's disease

Acknowledgements: Authors want to express their gratitude to Dr. P. Davies (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA) and Lester I. Binder (NorthWestern, Chicago, IL, USA) for the generous gift of mAbs (TG-3, Alz-50, and MC1), and (TauC-3), respectively, and to M. en C. Ivan J. Galván-Mendoza for his support in confocal microscopy, and Ms. Maricarmen De Lorenz for her secretarial assistance. We also want to express our gratitude to the Mexican Families who donate the brain of their loved ones affected with Alzheimer's disease, and made possible our research. This work was financially supported by CONACyT grant, No. 142293 (For R.M).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Uzbudni hadronski spektar u QCD Coulombovoj baždarnosti

We discuss progress in understanding the light- and heavy-quark excited hadron spectrum from Coulomb gauge QCD. For light-quark systems, we highlight the insensitivity to spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, which predicts Wigner parity-degeneracy in the highly-excited hadron spectrum and allows the quark-mass momentum dependence to be experimentally probed. For heavy-quark meson decays, we invoke the Franck-Condon principle, a consequence of small velocity changes for heavy quarks, to extract qualitative, but model-independent, structure insight from the momentum distribution of the decay products.Opisujemo postignuća u razumijevanju uzbudnog hadronskog spektra lakih i teških kvarkova u okviru QCD Coulombove baždarnosti. Za sustave lakih kvarkova ističemo neosjetljivost na spontano lomljenje kiralne simetrije, što predskazuje Wignerovu degeneraciju po parnosti hadronskog spektra visoke uzbude i omogućuje mjerenje impulsne ovisnosti o masi kvarka. Za teško-kvarkovske mezonske raspade, uključujemo Franck-Condonovo načelo radi postizanja približnog, ali neovisnog o modelu, shvaćanja strukture na osnovi impulsnih raspodjela čestica u raspadima

Productive Livestock Characterization and Recommendations for Good Practices Focused on the Achievement of the SDGs in the Ecuadorian Amazon

The increase in livestock production in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region has caused an increase in deforestation and the advance of the agricultural frontier. The aim of the current study was to conduct a socioeconomic and productive characterization in Andean-Amazonian livestock systems in Ecuador. The study area was part of the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve (SBR) and three other zones: low (400 to 700 masl), middle (701 to 1600 masl), and high (701 to 1600 masl). Data were collected from 167 ranching households. There are significant differences (p ≤ 0.001) in the results. It was identified that 56.1% of the producers in the middle zone are indigenous (Kichwa). The largest (p ≤ 0.01) average household size (6.7 household members) and the highest level of household heads without schooling (16%) were found in the same area. Heads of households over 54 years of age were reported throughout the gradient. The largest farms were also found in the middle zone, with an average of 62.3 ha, of which an average of 32.9 ha is native forest, 2.1 ha is agricultural land, and 27.2 ha is cattle pasture. The household economy is driven by a greater investment in livestock in the upper area, and therefore their annual gross income has a high impact on their economy. With these results, this study presents recommendations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals