Defining the poor by the rural communities of Burkina Faso: implications for the development of sustainable parkland management

Parklands are mixtures of trees and shrubs that farmers select for certain functions. In the Sahel, parklands are cultivated together with staple food crops, such as millet and sorghum. Parkland trees are sources of foods, including fruits, fats, oils, leafy vegetables, nuts and condiments that complement food crops in the local diet. Despite their socio-economic and ecological role, many studies have shown that the parklands are degrading very rapidly. Therefore, there is a need to undertake restoration actions that are based on a clear understanding of the livelihood context, such as the wealth status of the farmers, in which these agroecosystems are evolving. Thus, we conducted a wealth survey with rural communities in two different farming systems of Burkina Faso that are the cereal-based system in the “Plateau Central” and the cotton-based system in the “Boucle du Mouhoun”. A total of twelve villages were sampled, six villages for each system. The Participatory Analysis of Poverty and Livelihood Dynamics (PAPoLD) method was used by rural farmers to rank farmer households of their communities according to their wealth status. The results revealed that 70% of households in the Plateau Central and 56% in the “Boucle du Mouhoun” managed to escape poverty, and became wealthy. However, 2% of households of the villages in the Plateau Central and 6% in “Boucle du Mouhoun” fell into poverty in the same period whereas 9 and 12% remained poor in these zones, respectively. The main causes associated with households getting out of poverty are subsidies for cotton, external revenues from relatives working in towns and gardening activities. Death of spouse, illness, high number of people in the household and indebtedness are the main causes that lead into poverty. The implications of these findings in designing appropriate policies and management options for a sustainable management of agroforestry parklands under different land use systems were finally discussed.     

Effects of gibberellin A<Subscript>4/7</Subscript>, 6-benzylaminopurine and chlormequat chloride on the number of male and female strobili and immature cones in Chinese pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus tabuliformis</Emphasis>) with foliar sprays

Three kinds of plant growth regulators, gibberellinA 4/7 (GA 4/7 ), 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), and chlormequat chloride (CCC), were evaluated for their ability to promote strobilus and cone production in a Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis Carr.) clonal seed orchard. Treatments (0, 250, 500, or 1000 mg L -1 ) were applied during three periods (June- July, July-August and August-September) in 2005. Of the three plant growth regulators, GA 4/7 was the best for promoting flower and cone production. Trees sprayed...     

Cloning of vacuolar H<Superscript>+</Superscript>-ATPase subunit c genes from Japanese iris,and functional characterization in yeast

Five different isoforms (IrlVHA-c1-c5) of V-ATPase subunit c (VHA-c) were cloned from a Japanese iris (Iris lactea Pall. var. chinensis Fisch. Koidz) cDNA library using degenerate primers PCR and the 5'-RACE technique. The sequence analysis showed the open reading frame (ORF) of the IrlVHA-c1 c5 to be 495 bp, corresponding to a protein of 164 amino acids. Among the five isoforms, IrlVHA-c1 and IrlVHA-c2 are completely homologous. The IrlVHA-c protein is localized at the vacuolar membrane as indicated by a g...     

Species diversity and stability of natural secondary communities with different cutting intensities after ten years

Species diversity and stability of natural secondary communities in different layers with different cutting intensities 10 years later were investigated by calculating Marglef Richness index (R), Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H), Simpson diversity index (P), and Pielou Evenness index (J). Results show that the values of R, H and P among different layers are listed in a decreasing order: the shrub layer > the arbor layer > the herb layer, all the three indices values reach the maximum under medium selective cutting intensity after 10 years. The J value of the shrub layer shows a concave parabolic change with the increase in cutting intensity; it shows a linear increase for the arbor layer, whereas the J value of the herb layer shows an opposite change pattern. The values of R at different cutting intensities had high significant difference, but other indices had not significant difference. The stability of communities at different cutting intensities after 10 years is non-cutting> low selective cutting intensity > medium selective cutting intensity > high selective cutting intensity > extra-high intensity > clear cutting. The stability of communities at different cutting intensities after 10 years shows that the greater cutting intensities, the worse the stability is.     

Population status and regeneration of a tropical clumping bamboo <Emphasis Type="Italic">Schizostachyum dullooa</Emphasis> under two management regimes

Schizostachyum dullooa (Gamble) Majumder ‘dolu bamboo’ is a thin walled sympodial moderate sized to large tufted bamboo, dominant in the successional fallows of northeast India. The impact of resource management on productivity and sustainability of the species was evaluated by investigating the population status and regeneration in Cachar tropical semi evergreen forest under private property resource management (PPRM) and common property resource management (CPRM) regimes. Population status revealed current-year, one-year, two-year and three-year-old culms contribute 54%, 24%, 16% and 6% of the total culms per clump, respectively, under PPRM. Three-year-old culms were absent in CPRM and population status was thus represented by current year (83%), one-year (16%) and two-year (1%) old culms. Net change, rate of change and % gain in population for different age classes showed the prevalence of management practices under CPRM was unscientific. Efficiency of new culm production per clump used as an index of regeneration was 69.7% in PPRM and 59.88% in CPRM. New culms produced under CPRM were small and thin. We conclude that CPRM is inappropriate for a long term economic and ecological sustainability of the species and alternative management protocols are needed for conservation of the species.     

Identification of SSR loci in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Betula luminifera</Emphasis> using birch EST data

Expressed sequence tags(ESTs) are generated from single-pass sequencing of randomly picked cDNA clones and can be used for development of simple sequence repeat(SSR) markers or microsatellites.However,EST databases have been developed for only a small number of species.This paper provides a case study of the utility of freely available birch EST resources for the development of markers necessary for the genetic analysis of Betula luminifera.Based on birch EST data,primers for 80 EST-SSR candidate loci were ...     

Alteration of glutathione S-transferase properties during the development of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Micromelalopha troglodyta</Emphasis> larvae (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae)

Micromelalopha troglodyta (Graeser) is an important pest of poplar in China. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are known to be responsible for adaptation mechanisms of M. troglodyta. The activities and kinetic constants of glutathione S-transferases in M. troglodyta were studied. Significant differences in glutathione S-transferase activity and kinetic characteristics were observed among five instars of M. troglodyta larvae. Furthermore, the inhibition of glutathione S-transferase activity in five instars by 24 inhibitors was conducted. The results show the inhibition of GST activity of different instars by 24 inhibitors was different. For GST activity in the 1st instar, chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothrin, endosulfan, abamectin, fipronil and pyridaben were the best inhibitors tested, and for GST activity in the 2nd instar, tannic acid and quercetin were the most potent inhibitors tested, and for GST activity in the 3rd instar, the inhibitory effects of quercetin, chlorpyrifos and lambda-cyhalothrin were the highest, and for GST activity in the 4th instar, quercetin and lambda-cyhalothrin were the best inhibitors, and the inhibitory effect of phoxim was the highest for GST activity in the 5th instar. Our results show that glutathione S-transferases in different instars are qualitatively different in isozyme composition and thus different in sensitivity to inhibitors.     

Interaction analysis between slenderness ratio and resin content on mechanical properties of particleboard

The interaction between particle size and resin content is one of the most important structural parameters that can influence the accuracy of predictions about wood-composite properties. We developed three kinds of equation (linear, quadratic, and exponential) for each mechanical property of particleboard based on slenderness ratio and resin content at a constant density (0.7g cm -3 ). Results from SHAZAM software (version 9) suggested that the quadratic function was not significant, but the linear and exponential functions were significant. The interaction between particle size and resin content was analyzed by Maple 9 software. The results indicated that an exponential function can better describe the simultaneous effect of slenderness and resin content than a linear equation. Under constant resin content, particles with higher slenderness ratios increased more in modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) than did particles with lower slenderness ratios. Edge withdrawal resistance (SWRe) values did not increase with increasing slenderness ratio.     

Assessment of natural regeneration status and diversity of tree species in the biodiversity conservation areas of Northeastern Bangladesh

A study was conducted at two-biodiversity conservation areas of Northeastern Bangladesh (a part of Sylhet Forest Division) to assess the species composition, diversity and density of natural regeneration of tree species both indigenous and exotic species. Data were collected by stratified random quadrate method during January 2010 to July 2010. Totally 200 circular plots of 2 m×2 m in size had 5 different habitat types of plants namely; forest, roadside, homestead (surrounding forest dwellers house), fallow land and others (canals, streams and tea gardens side), which included a total of 55 regenerating species belonging to 28 families. Meliaceae is the dominant family and shows the highest family importance value (26.3), having six species, followed by Moraceae (24.24). Among the five habitat types, forest (43 species) possess the highest number of species, followed by roadside (23 species). Total 15 exotic species among 9 families and 40 indigenous species with 24 families were recorded. For exotic species, Tectona grandis possess the highest relative density (11.7%) and relative frequency (10.5%); Senna siamea had highest relative abundance (7.83%). In case of indigenous species, Chickrassia tabularis possess the highest relative density (4.23%) and relative frequency (4%); Dipterocarpus turbinatus had the highest relative abundance (3.92%). Tectona grandis (29.66) and Chickrassia tabularis (10.8) had the highest IVI for exotic and indigenous species respectively. Different diversity indices such as Shanon-Winner diversity index, species diversity index, species richness index, species evenness index, Simpson index and species dominance index, etc. were applied to quantify definite diversity. The regeneration of species associated with low levels of disturbance was in the exotic species. Study suggests that proper protection from human disturbances and scientific management of natural regeneration of two-study forests may lead a rich biodiversity site in the country.     

Habitat associations of saplings and adults in an old-growth temperate forest in the Changbai mountains,northeastern China

Species-habitat association analysis is useful to detect spatial arrangement of individual plants, to discover rules about the distribution of species and to generate hypotheses about the possible underlying process controlling observed structures. Quantifying methods were used to classify habitats in terms of topographical variables in a mixed temperate broad-leaved Korean pine forest of the Changbai mountains in northeastern China. All of the 625 20 m × 20 m quadrats of the plot could be unambiguously assigned to one of three habitat categories (low-plateau, high-plateau and slope). Torus-translation tests were used to estimate species-habitat associations. Many species are clearly distributed in a biased fashion with respect to habitats. Fifteen (55.6%) out of 27 species showed strong positive or negative association with specific habitats. We compared species-habitat associations at the sapling and adult stages. Adjusted density values indicated few species exhibit extremely strong habitat associations. Only 9 out of 26 species had adjusted densities > 3 in the habitat for which they had strong positive affinity. Few species show the same associations at the small tree and large tree stages. Only 3 out of 22 occurring associations with a specific habitat appeared to have a consistent habitat association at the two stages. These results suggest that species-habitat associations exist in the 25-ha plot of the temperate forest of the Chang- bai mountains. Owing to limitations in our statistical methodology, we partly underestimated associations by ignoring rare species. Regeneration niches can contribute to co-existence, but regeneration niches due to habitat associations play a limited role in species co-existence, since most species show a similar trend in habitat associations at the sapling and adult stages. We should pay more attention to shifts in habitat associations, i.e. niche shifts at different stages of existence.