Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activity of Mexican Oregano Essential Oil, Extracted from Plants Occurring Naturally in Semiarid Areas and Cultivated in the Field and Greenhouse in Northern Mexico

In recent years, the determination of the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of essential oils in wild plants, such as Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens Kunth), has become increasingly important. The objective was to compare the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of Mexican oregano essential oil obtained from plants occurring naturally in semiarid areas (Wild1 and Wild2), and those cultivated in the field (CField) and greenhouse (CGreenhouse) in northern Mexico. The Mexican oregano essential oil extraction was performed using the hydrodistillation method, the antioxidant activity was determined using the ABTS method, and the antibacterial activity was assessed through bioassays under the microwell method at nine different concentrations. The aim was to determine the diameter of the inhibition zone and, consequently, understand the sensitivity level for four bacterial species. The results revealed an antioxidant activity ranging from 90% to 94% at the sampling sites, with Wild1 standing out for having the highest average antioxidant activity values. Likewise, six out of the nine concentrations analyzed showed some degree of sensitivity for all the sampling sites. In this regard, the 25 µL mL−1 concentration showed the highest diameter of inhibition zone values, highlighting the Wild2 site, which showed an average diameter greater than 30 mm for the four bacteria tested. Only in the case of S. typhi did the CGreenhouse site surpass the Wild2, with an average diameter of the inhibition zone of 36.7 mm. These findings contribute to the search for new antioxidant and antibacterial options, addressing the challenges that humanity faces in the quest for opportunities to increase life expectancy

The influence of biogeographical and evolutionary histories on morphological trait‐matching and resource specialization in mutualistic hummingbird–plant networks

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: Data deposited in the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxd7n, (Dalsgaard et al., 2021).1. Functional traits can determine pairwise species interactions, such as those between plants and pollinators. However, the effects of biogeography and evolutionary history on trait-matching and trait-mediated resource specialization remain poorly understood. 2. We compiled a database of 93 mutualistic hummingbird-plant networks (including 181 hummingbird and 1,256 plant species), complemented by morphological measures of hummingbird bill and floral corolla length. We divided the hummingbirds into their principal clades and used knowledge on hummingbird biogeography to divide the networks into four biogeographical regions: Lowland South America, Andes, North & Central America, and the Caribbean islands. We then tested: (i) whether hummingbird clades and biogeographical regions differ in hummingbird bill length, corolla length of visited flowers and resource specialization, and (ii) whether hummingbirds’ bill length correlates with the corolla length of their food plants and with their level of resource specialization. 3. Hummingbird clades dominated by long-billed species generally visited longer flowers and were the most exclusive in their resource use. Bill and corolla length and the degree of resource specialization were similar across mainland regions, but the Caribbean islands had shorter flowers and hummingbirds with more generalized interaction niches. Bill and corolla length correlated in all regions and most clades, i.e. trait-matching was a recurrent phenomenon in hummingbird-plant associations. In contrast, bill length did not generally mediate resource specialization, as bill length was only weakly correlated with resource specialization within one hummingbird clade (Brilliants) and in the regions of Lowland South America and the Andes in which plants and hummingbirds have a long co-evolutionary history. Supplementary analyses including bill curvature confirmed that bill morphology (length and curvature) does not in general predict resource specialization. 4. These results demonstrate how biogeographical and evolutionary histories can modulate the effects of functional traits on species interactions, and that traits better predict functional groups of interaction partners (i.e. trait-matching) than resource specialization. These findings reveal that functional traits have great potential, but also key limitations, as a tool for developing more mechanistic approaches in community ecologyIndependent Research Fund DenmarkDanish National Research FoundationCAPESCNPqESDEPED-UATxFAPESBConsejo Nacional para Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICIT)Hesse’s Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and the ArtsNational Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT)Instituto de EcologíaCOLCIENCIASFundación ProAvesAmerican Bird ConservancyRoyal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851US ArmyCERL-ERDCBritish Ecological SocietyBiodiversity TrustAnglo Peruvian SocietyEuropean Union Horizon 202

Educación religiosa en América Latina y el Caribe : reflexiones y voces plurales para caminos pedagógicos interculturales

Compilador: José Mario Méndez Méndez Sección 1. Diversidad de Convicciones: creencias y espiritualidades. Sección 2. Textualidades Sagradas Sección 3. Ciencias de la religión. Sección 4. Expresiones de la diversidad. Sección 5. Religión y Cultura. Sección 6. Aportes pedagógicos. Sección 7. Educación religiosa en América Latina. Sección 8. Educación religiosa y espacios. Sección 9. Aspectos Jurídicos.El presente texto reúne los aportes de muchas personas que-desde diferentes países del continente-desean contribuir a la revisión y transformación intercultural de la educación religiosa en Latinoamérica y el Caribe. Como lo sugiere el título, confluyen aquí reflexiones y voces plurales para caminos pedagógicos interculturales. Cada una de las "voces" que conforman este texto expresa la intención de promover una educación liberadora-intercultural-decolonial, a partir de los desafíos que reconocemos en la realidad latinoamericana-caribeña.This text brings together the contributions of many people who-from different countries of the continent-wish to contribute to the revision and intercultural transformation of religious education in Latin America and the Caribbean. As the title suggests, reflections and plural voices converge here for intercultural pedagogical paths. Each one of the "voices" that make up this text expresses the intention of promoting a liberating-intercultural-decolonial education, based on the challenges that we recognize in the Latin American-Caribbean reality.Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana, FONAPER, Foro de Educación Religiosa Costarricense, Universidad Regional de Blumenau, UNOCHAOECÓ, Escuela Ecuménica de Ciencias de la ReligiónEscuela Ecuménica de Ciencias de la Religió