Native pollinators alone provide full pollination on small-scale commercial cranberry (Ericaceae) farms

2019 ◽  
Vol 151 (6) ◽  
pp. 745-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geena Arul Jothi ◽  
Julie Sircom
Keyword(s):  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Fruit Yield ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Native Bees ◽  
Pollinator Effectiveness ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Pollen Vectors ◽  
Import Restrictions ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractCranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton (Ericaceae)) requires insect pollen vectors to maximise fruit yield. In many areas, commercial producers use managed bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) to supplement native pollinators. On the island of Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, due to the small number of available honey bee hives and import restrictions on commercially reared bumble bees, the use of supplemental pollinators is rare. Four farms were studied for two years to identify key pollinators and determine the relationship between fruit yield and bee abundance. The most commonly collected bees were species of Bombus Latreille (Hymenoptera: Apidae), which buzz-pollinate and are likely the primary pollinator on these farms; thus, fruit yield was examined with respect to total Bombus abundance. Stigma loading was also used as a measure of pollinator effectiveness. Contrary to expectation, there was no relationship between Bombus abundance or stigma loading and either fruit set or weight, but there was significant year-to-year variation. Other factors were likely more important in determining yield, and further research is needed to identify those. Under current conditions, native bees provide ample pollination services for maximal yield.

Orchestrated Flowering and Interspecific Facilitation: Key Factors in the Maintenance of the Main Pollinator of Coexisting Threatened Species of Andean Wax Palms (Ceroxylon spp.)

2020 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-299
Author(s):  
Javier Carreño-Barrera ◽  
Luis Alberto Núñez-Avellaneda ◽  
Maria José Sanín ◽  
Artur Campos D. Maia
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Floral Biology ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Biological Data ◽  
Fruit Yield ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Flower Visiting

Solitary, dioecious, and mostly endemic to Andean cloud forests, wax palms (Ceroxylon Bonpl. ex DC. spp.) are currently under worrisome conservation status. The establishment of management plans for their dwindling populations rely on detailed biological data, including their reproductive ecology. As in the case of numerous other Neotropical palm taxa, small beetles are assumed to be selective pollinators of wax palms, but their identity and relevance in successful fruit yield were unknown. During three consecutive reproductive seasons we collected data on population phenology and reproductive and floral biology of three syntopic species of wax palms native to the Colombian Andes. We also determined the composition of the associated flower-visiting entomofauna, quantifying the extent of the role of individual species as effective pollinators through standardized value indexes that take into consideration abundance, constancy, and pollen transport efficiency. The studied populations of C. parvifrons (Engel) H. Wendl., C. ventricosum Burret, and C. vogelianum (Engel) H. Wendl. exhibit seasonal reproductive cycles with marked temporal patterns of flower and fruit production. The composition of the associated flower-visiting entomofauna, comprised by ca. 50 morphotypes, was constant across flowering seasons and differed only marginally among species. Nonetheless, a fraction of the insect species associated with pistillate inflorescences actually carried pollen, and calculated pollinator importance indexes demonstrated that one insect species alone, Mystrops rotundula Sharp, accounted for 94%–99% of the effective pollination services for all three species of wax palms. The sequential asynchronous flowering of C. parvifrons, C. ventricosum, and C. vogelianum provides an abundant and constant supply of pollen, pivotal for the maintenance of large populations of their shared pollinators, a cooperative strategy proven effective by high fruit yield rates (up to 79%). Reproductive success might be compromised for all species by the population decline of one of them, as it would tamper with the temporal orchestration of pollen offer.

The Andean Tribunal of Justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter ◽  
Laurence R. Helfer
Keyword(s):  
Political Crisis ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Governmental Support ◽  
Regional Economic Policy ◽  
Limited Power ◽  
Import Restrictions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Legal Grounds ◽  
Andean Community

This chapter discusses the Andean Tribunal Justice (the ATJ or Tribunal) and considers how the ATJ has fared during a period of regional political crisis and declining governmental support for Andean Community institutions. The “island” of narrow, intermediate, and extensive authority for intellectual property disputes that developed prior to the mid-2000s is resilient and even thriving, even as the ATJ’s de jure authority has contracted and its de facto authority has been threatened by proposals by Ecuador to merge the Andean Community with MERCOSUR and by politically high-profile noncompliance suits involving Ecuadoran import restrictions. Yet even in these contentious cases, the Andean legal system—backstopped by overlapping constraints of the World Trade Organization (WTO)—pushed Ecuador to offer plausible legal grounds to defend its import restrictions. The chapter concludes by exploring the relationship between the ATJ’s de facto authority and its limited power to shape regional economic policy.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Self-Compassion, Childhood Maltreatment and Attachment Orientation In High-Risk Adolescents

2021 ◽  
pp. 0044118X2110028
Author(s):  
Heather Mary Quinlan ◽  
Kellie Lynn Hadden ◽  
David Paul Storey
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Attachment Orientation ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Street Environment

The purpose of the current study was to explore whether selfcompassion predicted psychological distress over and above childhood maltreatment and attachment orientation in high-risk youths. Fifty-one youths (31 males, 20 females) aged 17 to 24, recruited from a community non-profit organization in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, were administered validated measures of childhood maltreatment, attachment orientation, self-compassion, and psychological distress. Results indicated that self-compassion was inversely associated with childhood maltreatment, attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and psychological distress. However, results did not support the hypothesis that self-compassion was a significant predictor of psychological distress over and above attachment anxiety and childhood maltreatment in high-risk youths. Our results indicated that self-compassion is not well developed in street-involved youths and may be a vital intervention target to heal negative internalized views of the self, while maintaining vigilance to threats inherent in the street environment.

scholarly journals Maternal toxoplasmosis and the risk of childhood autism: serological and molecular small-scale studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamila S. Al Malki ◽  
Nahed Ahmed Hussien ◽  
Fuad Al Malki
Keyword(s):  
Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽  
Repetitive Behavior ◽  
Saudi Arabian ◽  
Childhood Autism ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Delayed Language Development

Abstract Background Toxoplasmosis resulting from infection with the Toxoplasma parasite has become an endemic disease worldwide. Recently, a few studies have reported a high prevalence of Toxoplasmosis infections among Saudi Arabian women. This disease could become life threatening for pregnant women and for immunodeficient people. There is evidence that infections during pregnancy, especially in the early stages, are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. Autism disorder represents one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders worldwide; it is associated with delayed language development, weak communication interaction, and repetitive behavior. The relationship between prenatal toxoplasmosis and autism in childhood remains unclear. The present study aims to report a link between maternal toxoplasmosis and autistic offspring among Saudi Arabian women. Method Blood samples (36 maternal, 36 from their non-autistic children, and 36 from their autistic children) were collected for serological and molecular evaluation. Results A toxoplasmosis infection was reported for 33.34% of participants using an ELISA assay (5.56% IgG+/IgM+, 11.11% IgG−/IgM+, and 16.67% IgG+/IgM-); however, a nested PCR assay targeting B1 toxoplasmosis specific genes recorded positive tests for 80.56% of the samples. In addition, the present study detected several points of mutation of mtDNA including NADH dehydrogenase (ND1, ND4) and Cyt B genes and the nDNA pyruvate kinase (PK) gene for autistic children infected with toxoplasmosis. Conclusion Considering previous assumptions, we suggest that a maternal toxoplasmosis infection could have a role in the development of childhood autism linked to mtDNA and nDNA impairment.

Pollen limitation and xenia effects in a cultivated mass-flowering tree, Macadamia integrifolia (Proteaceae)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J Trueman ◽  
Wiebke Kämper ◽  
Joel Nichols ◽  
Steven M Ogbourne ◽  
David Hawkes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Mass Flowering ◽  
Shell Mass ◽  
Cross Pollination ◽  
Macadamia Integrifolia ◽  
Kernel Yield ◽  
Flowering Tree

Abstract Background and Aims Pollen limitation is most prevalent among bee-pollinated plants, self-incompatible plants, and tropical plants. However, we have very little understanding of the extent to which pollen limitation affects fruit set in mass-flowering trees despite tree crops accounting for at least 600 million tons of the 9,200 million tons of annual global food production. Methods We determined the extent of pollen limitation in a bee-pollinated, partially self-incompatible, subtropical tree by hand cross-pollinating the majority of flowers on mass-flowering macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) trees that produce about 200,000–400,000 flowers. We measured tree yield and kernel quality and estimated final fruit set. We genotyped individual kernels by MassARRAY to determine levels of outcrossing in orchards and assess paternity effects on nut quality. Key Results Macadamia trees were pollen limited. Supplementary cross-pollination increased nut-in-shell yield, kernel yield and fruit set by as much as 97%, 109% and 92%, respectively. The extent of pollen limitation depended upon the proximity of experimental trees to trees of another cultivar because macadamia trees were highly outcrossing. Between 84% and 100% of fruit arose from cross-pollination, even at 200 m (25 rows) from orchard blocks of another cultivar. Large variations in nut-in-shell mass, kernel mass, kernel recovery and kernel oil concentration were related to differences in fruit paternity, including between self-pollinated and cross-pollinated fruit, thus demonstrating pollen-parent effects on fruit quality, i.e. xenia. Conclusions This study is the first to demonstrate pollen limitation in a mass-flowering tree. Improved pollination led to increased kernel yield of 0.31–0.59 tons per hectare, which equates currently to higher farm-gate income of approximately US3,720–US7,080 per hectare. The heavy reliance of macadamia flowers on cross-pollination and the strong xenia effects on kernel mass demonstrate the high value that pollination services can provide to food production.

Hydrostatic Collapse Pressure and Radial Collapse Force Comparisons for Ultra-Deepwater Pipelines

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco A. P. Rosas ◽  
Ana Paula F. Souza ◽  
Marcos V. Rodrigues ◽  
Danilo Machado L. da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Models ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Compressive Force ◽  
Quadratic Function ◽  
Radial Force ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Collapse Pressure ◽  
First Results ◽  
Specimen Test ◽  
The Relationship

In this paper the behavior and the relationship between hydrostatic collapse pressure and diametrically opposed radial compressive force for pipelines were analyzed. This study presents an introduction of a research work aimed to assess the pipeline collapse pressure based on the radial collapse force. Initially the hydrostatic collapse pressure is analyzed, for pipes with different diameter to wall thickness ratio (D/t) and ovalities, using classical assessment (DNV method) and numerical models (FE). Then, the compressive radial force is also analyzed using numerical models validated by a small-scale ring specimen test. After that, the relationship between hydrostatic collapse pressure and compressive radial force is discussed. These first results show that the radial force is a quadratic function of the collapse pressure.

scholarly journals Is Cut-Flower Industry Promotion by the Government Negatively Affecting Pollinator Biodiversity and Environmental/Human Health in Uganda?

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-52
Author(s):  
Bin Mushambanyi Théodore Munyuli
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Toxicological Studies ◽  
The Government ◽  
Small Scale Farmers ◽  
The Impact

A study was conducted from 2010 to 2012 around the flower growing areas in central Uganda to generate baseline information on the status of pollinators. Primary data were gathered using a questionnaire that aimed at determining farmers and flower farm officials’ perceptions on the impact of activities carried out inside greenhouses on pollinators, human health, and on crop production in the surroundings. Results indicated that the quantity of pesticides and fertilizers applied daily varied among the different flower farms visited. Bee species richness and abundance varied significantly (P<0.01) according to flower farm location, to the landscape vegetation type, and to field types found in the surrounding of flower farms. Bee richness found around flower farms varied in number from 20 to 40 species in total across seasons and years. Bee density increased significantly with the increase in flower density. Small-scale farmers were aware of the value and importance of pollination services in their farming business. There was no clear evidence of a direct effect of agrochemicals application on bee communities living in the surrounding habitats. There is a need for further research to be conducted on human health risks and for toxicological studies on soils, plants, flowers, and bees in the farm landscape.

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