Biomorphometry of coconut crabs (Birgus latro) in Laigoma Island, North Maluku, Indonesia

Coconut crab is a coastal animal that lives in costal forest on islands of tropical Indo-Pacific. Crab populations are currently under threat of extinction. Several issues contribute to this, including high levels of exploitation, degradation of their native habitat, land clearance, and plantations development. This study aimed to examine the biomorphometric of coconut crabs, which includes the composition, sex ratio, distribution, widht and weight relation, condition factors and gonad maturity level. The descriptive explorative methods was used in this research. The results showed that the composition of 156 coconut crabs consisted of 82 females. The results obtained a balanced sex ratio. The size of the carapace width obtained ranged from 40.15 to 88.55 mm, with a weight of 150-565 grams. The relationship between width and capacity is allometric. The values obtained from these factors ranged from 1.01 to 1.03 for men and 1.01 to 1.012 for females. The gonad maturity level of male and female mud crabs was dominated by TKG III and IV. This indicated that the research time was in spawning period.

A wake-up call: playback attraction data link numbers of Mount Cameroon FrancolinPternistis camerunensisto abundance and debarking of red stinkwoodPrunus africana

SummaryThe little studied Mount Cameroon FrancolinPternistis camerunensisis endangered and strictly endemic to the undergrowth of Mount Cameroon’s primary forest. We surveyed the species in the Mount Cameroon National Park in July–August 2016 using call playback at 86 plots systematically placed along 17 transects in an attempt to assess the occupancy and conservation threats to the species. The study’s three main results are as follows. Firstly, Mount Cameroon Francolin occurred in the stratified vegetation types across the altitudinal range of 1,023–2,186 m. Secondly, the response rates of francolin were 15% in submontane forest (800–1,600 m altitude range); 80.8% in montane forest (1,600–1,800 m); 3.9% in montane scrub (1,800–2,400 m); and nil in the lowland forest (0–800 m). Thirdly, bird abundance significantly increased with latitude, ground vegetation height, presence ofPrunus africanaand tall grass cover but decreased with the density of small trees and disturbance caused by heavyPrunusexploitation, and also, based on indirect evidence, hunting. We recommend: (1) systematic use of call playback in monitoring the population status of francolins; (2) an increase in patrolling and law enforcement to control illegal hunting, land clearance and burning of the upper slopes; (3) promotion of sustainable harvesting ofPrunusand agroforestry practices aimed at curbing land clearance in the park surroundings. Further research priorities and conservation strategies have been suggested based on this study’s emerging results.

Mortars and Pestles Make the Mid-Holocene Occupation of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago Visible

Stone mortars and pestles are distributed across New Guinea, but few have been found in West Papua. As they are now securely dated to the Mid-Holocene, their distribution can be used as the basis for modelling Mid-Holocene population concentrations. Artefacts with elaborate morphologies also allow the modelling of social interaction. The declining availability of the Castanopsis nut following land clearance would have played a major role in the abandonment of mortars and pestles in the highlands. Decreasing coastal connectivity due to the infilling of the Sepik-Ramu inland sea may have also played a role in this abandonment. The continued availability of canarium and coconuts in coastal areas allowed the making of nut and starch puddings to continue. However, the pottery bought by Austronesian speakers (Lapita) would have allowed tubers to be steam-cooked, and the softer result probably led to stone versions of mortars and pestles being abandoned and replaced with wooden versions.

Industrial Renewal and Land Clearance

This chapter presents a chronological narrative of institutional fixes implemented to counter industrial decline in Chicago. It considers different programs and institutions that supported Chicago's industrial renewal program and examines the Chicago Land Clearance Commission (CLCC) as the city's major industrial redeveloper in the 1950s that was authorized to designate blighted areas and vacant land as redevelopment projects. It also elaborates the CLCC's key role in the creation of new industrial property as a solution to Chicago's industrial decline. The chapter details how the CLCC used state and federal legislative tools that enabled cities to appropriate federal funds for private ends, to allow the exercise of eminent domain over blighted property, and to realign ownership rights in favor of property developers. It describes blight, falling property values, and declining retail sales as problems that would continue to undermine Chicago's prominence and cut into company profits.

Blight and the Transformation of Industrial Property

This chapter demonstrates how the discourse of blight shaped renewal and how the racialization of urban space underpinned housing markets and urban renewal. It talks about Chicago's political and business leaders who worked to turn some of Chicago's blighted land into productive industrial space. It also identifies agency officials who believed that the overhaul of some of Chicago's “waste lands” for industrial redevelopment would reverse decline by delivering jobs, taxes, and prosperity. The chapter describes the new set of industrial lands and the associated set of property relations that emerged out of urban renewal, which were created by all three levels of government and legitimized in the courts. It cites the Housing Act of 1937, which permitted land clearance and slum demolition for public housing and the Housing Act of 1949, which channeled federal funds to cities so that blighted districts could be redeveloped as predominantly residential.

Transformation of evaluation criteria of lands withdrawn from agricultural turnover due to radioactive contamination

One of the measures to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident was the exclusion of highly contaminated land from agricultural use. Due to the positive dynamics of the radiation situation, the issue of land return becomes relevant. However, in the period of exclusion of these lands the land clearance degradation processes were developing. The second part of the article is devoted to the issue of economic evaluation of the expediency of land return and the mutual coordination of the results of separate stages of complex ecological and economic evaluation. The research was carried out in Mogilev branch Institute of radiology (Republic of Belarus).

PENGARUH STRUKTUR ORGANISASI, KEPEMIMPINAN DAN KOMPETENSI PEGAWAI TERHADAP EFEKTIVITAS PELAYANAN PROGRAM ONE DAY SERVICE DI KANTOR PERTANAHAN KOTA MATARAM

One Day Service is processing land clearance in one day in Mataram Agrarian Office Counter. Low capability of employee in terms of using technology devices, work performance, and discipline affect One Day Service Program. This research aim to analyze the influence of organizational structure, leadership and public servants competence to the effectivity of One Day Service. The research conducted in Mataram Agrarian Office with 50 Samples. This data used primer data and seconder data. The Data collection method of the research is done using observation , interview , the spread of the survey/Engineering and a data collection is done with the survey , documentation , and questionnaires. The result of the hypothesis shows that organizational structure and public servants have a positive and significant impact on the service effectivity. However, leadership has a positive impacts but not that significant.In conclusion, the result of this research illustrate that the influence of organizational structure, leadership, and public servants competence in Mataram Agrarian Offices for One Day Service contributes to the effectivity service, accounting for 48 %. However, miscellaneous factors contribute for 51 %.Keywords: Organizational structure, leadership, and public servants competence, the effectivity of One Day Service, Mataram Agrarian Office.

Late-Holocene floodplain development, land-use, and hydroclimate–flood relationships on the lower Ohio River, US

Floodplain development, land-use, and flooding on the lower Ohio River are investigated with a 3100-year-long sediment archive from Avery Lake, a swale lake on the Black Bottom floodplain in southern Illinois, US. In all, 12 radiocarbon dates show that Avery Lake formed at 1130 BCE (3100 cal. yr BP), almost 3000 years later than previously thought, indicating that the Black Bottom floodplain is younger and more dynamic than previously estimated. Three subsequent periods of extensive land clearance were identified by changes in pollen composition, corresponding to Native American occupations before 1500 CE and the current Euro-American occupation beginning in the 18th century. Sedimentation rates prior to 1820 CE changed independently of land clearance events, suggesting natural as opposed to land-use controls. Comparison with high-resolution paleoclimate data from Martin Lake, IN, indicates that lower Ohio River flooding was frequent when cold-season precipitation originating from the Pacific/Arctic predominated when atmospheric circulation resembled positive Pacific North American (PNA) conditions and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) was in a positive mean state (1130 BCE to 350 CE and 1150–1820 CE). Conversely, Ohio River flooding was less frequent when warm-season precipitation from the Gulf of Mexico prevailed during negative PDO- and PNA-like mean states (350 and 1150 CE). This flood dynamic appears to have been fundamentally altered after 1820 CE. We suggest that extensive land clearance in the Ohio River watershed increased runoff and landscape erosion by reducing interception, infiltration, and evapotranspiration, thereby increasing flooding despite a shift to negative PDO- and PNA-like mean states. Predicted increases in average precipitation and extreme rainfall events across the mid-continental US are likely to perpetuate current trends toward more frequent flood events, because anthropogenic modifications have made the landscape less resilient to changing hydroclimatic conditions.