scholarly journals Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (23) ◽  
pp. eaba3245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Kennett ◽  
Keith M. Prufer ◽  
Brendan J. Culleton ◽  
Richard J. George ◽  
Mark Robinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Importance ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Rock Shelter ◽  
Isotopic Evidence ◽  
Definitive Evidence ◽  
The Past ◽  
Total Diet ◽  
Maya Mountains

Maize is a cultigen of global economic importance, but when it first became a staple grain in the Americas, was unknown and contested. Here, we report direct isotopic dietary evidence from 52 radiocarbon-dated human skeletons from two remarkably well-preserved rock-shelter contexts in the Maya Mountains of Belize spanning the past 10,000 years. Individuals dating before ~4700 calendar years before present (cal B.P.) show no clear evidence for the consumption of maize. Evidence for substantial maize consumption (~30% of total diet) appears in some individuals between 4700 and 4000 cal B.P. Isotopic evidence after 4000 cal B.P. indicates that maize became a persistently used staple grain comparable in dietary significance to later maize agriculturalists in the region (>70% of total diet). These data provide the earliest definitive evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas.

scholarly journals The Main Trends in the Development of Production and Consumption of Fish Products in the Sakhalin Region

REGIONOLOGY ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-110
Author(s):  
Dmitry A. Pitilyak ◽  
Irina E. Karyakina ◽  
Diana A. Zakharchenko
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Statistical Information ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Consumer Market ◽  
Fish Products ◽  
The Past ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Total Diet

Introduction. The study is of relevance as there has been a decrease in catch over the past few years in the Sakhalin Region. This decline must be assessed in terms of its impact on the economic performance of enterprises and household budgets in the region. The objective of this study is to analyze and evaluate the trends in the development of production and consumption of fish products in the Sakhalin Region. Materials and Methods. The study has analyzed data from the Federal State Statistics Service and the Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System on the production and consumption of fish products in the Sakhalin Region. The graphical and comparative methods have been used, which made it possible to compare the dynamics of production and consumption of fish products as well as to show that the transfer of production trends to the consumer market has a disproportionately marginal impact. Results. The contradictory results of the development of the industry have been revealed: while there has been a decrease in the number of organizations operating in the industry, the number of personnel involved in processing, the volume of production and sales of canned fish, there has been an increase in the profitability of sales and prices for delicious seafood. The negative fact is that consumption of fish products has reduced in the Sakhalin Region, fish products ranking only 7th (by mass) in the total diet. The identified imbalances and negative trends in the production of fish products have also indirectly transferred to the sphere of consumption. Discussion and Conclusion. In the Sakhalin Region, one of the leading fishing regions in Russia, the conditions for satisfying the corresponding demand have not been fully created, especially in terms of affordable prices for fish products in the market that do not overcome the inertia of slowly growing incomes. The scientific and practical significance of the research materials consists in the comprehensive nature of the study on the processes of production and consumption of fish products.

scholarly journals The effect of an outbreak of the leaf miner Micrurapteryx salicifoliella on the performance of multiple Salix species in interior Alaska

Botany ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (8) ◽  
pp. 491-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Wagner ◽  
Patricia Doak
Keyword(s):  
Stem Elongation ◽  
Leaf Tissue ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Leaf Miner ◽  
Leaf Water Content ◽  
Leaf Blotch ◽  
The Past ◽  
Interior Alaska ◽  
Leaf Mining ◽  
General Decline

The genus Salix L. tends to be tolerant of herbivory, but severe outbreaks of herbivorous insects may compromise growth. First documented in Alaska in 1991, the willow leaf blotch miner, Micrurapteryx salicifoliella, is now responsible for frequent and widespread foliar damage to Salix in interior Alaska. We experimentally tested the effect of leaf mining on the performance of four susceptible Salix species across two years of outbreak, and placed the results in the context of a broader survey of leaf mining damage. Across the four species, reduction of leaf mining damage increased average stem elongation, numbers of leaves per shoot, and leaf area. Leaf mining damage was negatively related to leaf water content; a consequence of the leaf miner’s habit of breaching the cuticle on the underside of leaves. Growth deficits due to leaf mining are likely caused by both the loss of leaf tissue to leaf miner feeding and subsequent leaf desiccation. The results are notable in the context of a general decline in productivity in interior Alaska over the past few decades and because the leaf miner impacts Salix species also used by vertebrate browsers of cultural and economic importance, such as moose.

Origin and Geomorphology

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Bianchi
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Constant Rate ◽  
Geologic Record ◽  
The U.S

Geologically speaking, estuaries are ephemeral features of the coasts. Upon formation, most begin to fill in with sediments and, in the absence of sea level changes, would have life spans of only a few thousand to tens of thousands of years (Emery and Uchupi, 1972; Schubel, 1972; Schubel and Hirschberg, 1978). Estuaries have been part of the geologic record for at least the past 200 million years (My) BP (before present; Williams, 1960; Clauzon, 1973). However, modern estuaries are recent features that only formed over the past 5000 to 6000 years during the stable interglacial period of the middle to late Holocene epoch (0–10,000 y BP), which followed an extensive rise in sea level at the end of the Pleistocene epoch (1.8 My to 10,000 y BP; Nichols and Biggs, 1985). There is general agreement that four major glaciation to interglacial periods occurred during the Pleistocene. It has been suggested that sea level was reduced from a maximum of about 80 m above sea level during the Aftoninan interglacial to 100 m below sea level during the Wisconsin, some 15,000 to 18,000 y BP (figure 2.1; Fairbridge, 1961). This lowest sea level phase is referred to as low stand and is usually determined by uncovering the oldest drowned shorelines along continental margins (Davis, 1985, 1996); conversely, the highest sea level phase is referred to as high stand. It is generally accepted that low-stand depth is between 130 and 150 m below present sea level and that sea level rose at a fairly constant rate until about 6000 to 7000 y BP (Belknap and Kraft, 1977). A sea level rise of approximately 10 mm y−1 during this period resulted in many coastal plains being inundated with water and a displacement of the shoreline. The phenomenon of rising (transgression) and falling (regression) sea level over time is referred to as eustacy (Suess, 1906). When examining a simplified sea level curve, we find that the rate of change during the Holocene is fairly representative of the Gulf of Mexico and much of the U.S. Atlantic coastline (Curray, 1965).

Genetic and archaeological evidence for a former breeding population of Aleutian Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii leucopareia) on Adak Island, central Aleutians, Alaska

2011 ◽  
Vol 89 (8) ◽  
pp. 732-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.J. Wilson ◽  
S.J. Crockford ◽  
J.W. Johnson ◽  
R.S. Malhi ◽  
B.M. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Genome ◽  
Control Region ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
Cytb Gene ◽  
Breeding Ground ◽  
Before Present ◽  
European Contact ◽  
The Past

Many well-preserved bones of medium-sized goose have been recovered from the Zeto Point archaeological site (ADK-011) on Adak Island in the central Aleutians, Alaska, that date to ca. 170–415 years before present based on conventional radiometric dates of the deposits. This prehistoric sample includes remains of adults and unfledged goslings that defied confident identification based on osteological criteria. While the presence of newborns indicates that Adak was a breeding ground, which species was doing the nesting remained uncertain. Of the five species of medium-sized goose (order Anseriformes, family Anatidae) known or presumed to visit Adak Island, three are rarely sighted. The only common visitor is the Emperor Goose ( Chen canagica (Sevastianov, 1802)). The Aleutian Cackling Goose ( Branta hutchinsii leucopareia (Brandt, 1836)) breeds elsewhere in the Aleutians but does not currently breed on Adak Island and there are no records of it nesting there in the past. Here DNA sequences from portions of the cytochrome b (cytb) gene and the control region (CR) of the mitochondrial genome were recovered from 28 of 29 Adak prehistoric goose remains. All adult specimens identified to species were either C. canagica or B. h. leuopareia, but all specifically identified juvenile specimens were B. h. leuopareia. The results demonstrate that Adak Island was a breeding ground of the Aleutian Cackling Goose prior to European contact.

scholarly journals Andalusian Organic Farming Plans (2002–2016): Themes, Approaches and Values

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3570
Author(s):  
José-Francisco Jiménez-Díaz ◽  
Francisco Collado-Campaña
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Ecological Agriculture ◽  
Political Values ◽  
The Past ◽  
Analysis Methodology ◽  
Semantic Fields ◽  
Spanish Region

Organic farming in the Spanish region of Andalusia has acquired great socio-economic importance over the past decades. The purpose of this article is to study the themes, approaches, and socio-political values pertaining to ecological agriculture addressed in the Andalusian plans for organic farming (2002–2016). The contents of these plans have not been systematically studied before. From a descriptive and qualitative perspective, the authors present and classify the main themes addressed in those plans and show the socio-political approaches and values that underpin the plans. A thematic and semantic content analysis methodology is applied to the plans and sections addressing various objectives, measures, and actions. A theoretical-qualitative sampling is developed, and 109 keywords are selected for content analysis. This analysis allows us to detect numerous themes pertaining to ecological agriculture and to classify them into six semantic fields linked to various approaches and values promoted by the Andalusian autonomous administration. Therefore, this research focuses on changing perspectives of organic farming developed by the administration and the agents involved in the plans. The authors conclude that the diverse actors have prioritized a productivist–technocratic approach to ecological agriculture, to the detriment of an approach centered on sustainable and agroecological local communities.

The Future Of Master Limited Partnerships

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 1492
Author(s):  
Charles F. Beauchamp
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
The Past ◽  
Size Number ◽  
The Future ◽  
New Entrants ◽  
Investment Portfolios ◽  
Limited Partnerships ◽  
Business Structure

<p>Master limited partnerships have grown in size, number, and economic importance over the past fifteen years. They now represent a stable and healthy component of many investment portfolios. MLPs have generated impressive risk-adjusted performance compared to that of other equity investments. This performance is the result of their fee-based, low risk business structure that produces a steady cash distribution to investors. The future to these traditional MLPs and similar new entrants is quite positive. However, new entrants that potentially deviate from this successful operating structure are entering the MLP market. This raises major questions regarding the sustainability of these firms as MLPs. This study examines the future of MLP markets within the context of traditional and non-traditional new entrants. Furthermore, the emergence of institutional investors on MLP markets is discussed.</p>

scholarly journals Global economic value of shark ecotourism: implications for conservation

Oryx ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor ◽  
Michele Barnes-Mauthe ◽  
Dalal Al-Abdulrazzak ◽  
Estrella Navarro-Holm ◽  
U. Rashid Sumaila
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Shark Conservation ◽  
Shark Fisheries

AbstractAmid declining shark populations because of overfishing, a burgeoning shark watching industry, already well established in some locations, generates benefits from shark protection. We compile reported economic benefits at shark watching locations and use a meta-analytical approach to estimate benefits at sites without available data. Results suggest that, globally, c. 590,000 shark watchers expend > USD 314 million per year, directly supporting 10,000 jobs. By comparison, the landed value of global shark fisheries is currently c. USD 630 million and has been in decline for most of the past decade. Based on current observed trends, numbers of shark watchers could more than double within the next 20 years, generating > USD 780 million in tourist expenditures around the world. This supports optimistic projections at new sites, including those in an increasing number of shark sanctuaries established primarily for shark conservation and enacted in recognition of the ecological and economic importance of living sharks.

scholarly journals A LIST OF CALIFORNIA APHIDIDÆ

1903 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 247-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warren. T. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Economic Importance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Systematic List

Our knowledge of the group Aphididæ in California has been limited in the past to certain forms that were of economic importance in their relations to cultivated crops. No systematic list of these interesting insects has heretofore been attempted in this region, and this has not been due to any lack of material, for the varying conditions of climate here seem to be particularly favorable to them.

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