Mitochondrial DNA diversity and population structure of humpback whales from their wintering areas in the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans (Wintering Regions A,B, C and X). Scientific Committee document SC/56/SH3, International Whaling Commission, July 2004, Sorrento, Italy

Humpback whales in the Southern Hemisphere are separated by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) into seven wintering Regions (A-G) based on tropical distribution. To better evaluate the significance of these stock subdivisions, an analysis of mtDNA was conducted for the eastern and western South Atlantic (Regions A and B), the southwestern Indian Ocean (Region C) and the northern Indian Ocean (Region X). A total of 1,416 individual whales representing eleven sampling sites within the four wintering Regions were sequenced for a portion of the mtDNA control region. A hierarchical analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) using FST and FST supported the division of wintering Regions based on IWC designated boundaries of A, B, C, and X. Pairwise comparisons further confirmed the A, B and C divisions, although varying degrees of heterogeneity (particularly molecular distances) were detected for proposed sub-divisions within Regions B and C. Overall, this large-scale mtDNA analysis for humpback whales in the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans supports wintering Region designations by the IWC. However, additional analyses and consideration of biological parameters such as gene flow are needed so that ‘within-region’ genetic analyses can help evaluate population structure and recovery in a management context

Twenty-first-century trade governance: findings from the Commonwealth countries

© 2019 Western Economic Association International This paper focuses on twenty-first-century-trade governance patterns within the Commonwealth (CW) countries. It uses an augmented gravity model to examine the role of governance in influencing trade and investment flows, and whether enhanced trade governance within the CW countries could potentially foster trade gains, on a both intra- and extra-CW basis. Results show a 10% reduction in the costs incurred for a good to exit a country can increase intra-CW exports by 5%. Second, contract enforcement is more efficient among CW members, and requires 20% less time compared to the world average. Third, every 1 percentage point improvement in government effectiveness triggers an increase in exports from CW, at 3.4%, compared to the rest of the world, at 2.4%. Finally, trade between CW members is three times higher when they belong to an existing regional trade agreement (F10, 011, F13)

Governance, Democracy and Poverty Reduction: Lessons Drawn from Household Surveys in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America

Public statistics face quite a challenge when it comes to measuring new dimensions of development (institutions, governance, and social and political participation). To take up this challenge, modules on "Governance, Democracy and Multiple Dimensions of Poverty" have been appended to household surveys by National Statistics Institutes in twelve African and Latin American developing countries. This paper presents the issues addressed and the methodological lessons learnt along with a selection of findings to illustrate this innovative approach and demonstrate its analytic potential. We investigate, for instance, the population's support for democratic principles, the respect for civil and political rights and the trust in the political class; the 'need for the State', particularly of the poorest; the extent of petty corruption; the reliability of expert surveys on governance; the perception of decentralization policies at local level; the level and vitality of social and political participation, etc. The conclusive appraisal made opens up prospects for the national statistical information systems in the developing countries. The measurement and tracking of this new set of objective and subjective public policy monitoring indicators would benefit from being made systematic. Copyright 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2007 International Statistical Institute.

New acanthodrilid species from Madagascar (Clitellata, Acanthodrilidae)

During collecting trips to Madagascar in the last decade several Acanthodrilidae sensu lato species were collected. The newly acquired material expresses high variability of the excretory system containing meroic, holoic vesiculate and holoic avesiculate species. The possible relationships of the Malagasy acanthodrilids is discussed and five species; Acanthodrilus hesperus, Eodriloides metandricus, Howascolex proprioporus, Howascolex vohimanus and Vazimbascolex alaotranus spp. n. are described. Vazimbascolex gen. n. represents also a new genus to science. The holoic avesiculate Acanthodrilus majungianus Michaelsen, 1897 and A. voeltzkowi Michaelsen, 1897 are conditionally transferred to the South African genus Eodriloides Zicsi, 1998; Eodrilus dauphinianus Michaelsen, 1910 and Microscolex (Notiodrilus) hyalochaeta Michaelsen, 1907 to Howascolex Michaelsen, 1901

Comparison of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) songs in the southern Indian Ocean indicates limited exchange between populations wintering off Madagascar and Western Australia

The definition of stock structure, as designated by the International Whaling Commission, is a critical matter in the conservation of Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The difficulty lies in defining stocks in such a way that demographically isolated subpopulations are protected from extirpation. One methodology used to determine stock structure in the Northern Hemisphere is song comparisons between one or more breeding assemblages. Song comparisons are an indirect test of whether or not seasonally isolated breeding populations are interacting during the migratory cycle, thereby creating potential for genetic exchange. Song comparisons in the Northern Hemisphere show that whales within an ocean basin sing similar songs across different breeding areas as a result of cultural transmission, whereas geographically isolated populations in different ocean basins sing songs with very different content. Aural and visual analysis of song was used to determine similarity in song content between breeding populations along the coasts of Madagascar and Western Australia. Fifteen individuals were recorded in Madagascar from July-August 2006. Three individuals plus ~2 hours of data logger recordings (resulting from a sampling scheme of recording 6:48 minutes every fifteen minutes over a total of four hours) was gathered in Western Australia from September-October 2006. Madagascar and Western Australia song shared only one theme out of eleven, whereas each population had four and six private themes, respectively. The co-occurrence of one theme indicates that these stocks overlap at some point during the migratory cycle. However, compared to other intra-ocean song comparisons, these populations differ substantially in the amount of overlapping song content. Previous analysis of Western Australia song showed that this population is capable of under going rapid song transformations within one year, which may have caused the unusually low amount of song similarity with Madagascar. Alternatively, the lack of song similarity, beyond that of one common theme between Madagascar and Western Australia, maybe the result of a greater or equal amount of interaction between inter-ocean breeding stocks than there is between whales within the southern Indian Ocean. Evidence for interoceanic migration can be found in both the Madagascar and Western Australian breeding stocks

Short CommunicationObservations of individual humpback whales utilising multiple migratory destinations in the south-western Indian Ocean

Movements of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae  among breeding regions within the southwestern Indian Ocean are poorly understood. Understanding the relationships among breeding regions is critical for effective  conservation and management strategies. Through systematic comparisons of molecular genotypes and both systematic and non-systematic comparisons of individual identification photographs collected between 1996 and 2006, we have  thus far identified nine whales (six males and three females) utilising two breeding areas within this region: the northern Mozambique Channel and eastern Madagascar. Four of the nine whales were recaptured using only photographic data, two whales were independently recaptured using both photographic and genetic data, and three whales were recaptured exclusively using molecular methods. The discovery of these nine individuals provides much-needed data to guide the formulation and future revision of stock boundaries. Keywords: conservation, genetics, Indian Ocean sanctuary, mark-recapture, Megaptera novaeangliae, microsatellite, migration, photo-identificationAfrican Journal of Marine Science 2011, 33(2): 333–33

The Earthquake‐Source Inversion Validation (SIV) Project

Finite‐fault earthquake source inversions infer the (time‐dependent) displacement on the rupture surface from geophysical data. The resulting earthquake source models document the complexity of the rupture process. However, multiple source models for the same earthquake, obtained by different research teams, often exhibit remarkable dissimilarities. To address the uncertainties in earthquake‐source inversion methods and to understand strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches used, the Source Inversion Validation (SIV) project conducts a set of forward‐modeling exercises and inversion benchmarks. In this article, we describe the SIV strategy, the initial benchmarks, and current SIV results. Furthermore, we apply statistical tools for quantitative waveform comparison and for investigating source‐model (dis)similarities that enable us to rank the solutions, and to identify particularly promising source inversion approaches. All SIV exercises (with related data and descriptions) and statistical comparison tools are available via an online collaboration platform, and we encourage source modelers to use the SIV benchmarks for developing and testing new methods. We envision that the SIV efforts will lead to new developments for tackling the earthquake‐source imaging problem