Lake Baringo: Addressing threatened biodiversity and livelihoods

Lake Baringo is a shallow, internal drainage, freshwater lake located in the Kenyan Rift Valley. The lake is an important source of water for humans and livestock, as well as a significant income source for local communities through activities such as tourism, biodiversity conservation, and fish sold in local markets. The lake has been subject to overfishing, as well as to greatly enhanced sedimentation as a result of land use changes in the drainage basin. This paper provides an analysis of the conditions prevailing at Lake Baringo, and examines in detail the management response to the problems facing the lake. The roles of the many and varied institutions in the lake basin's management are discussed, and an analysis of internationally funded projects designed to ameliorate the situation is provided.     

Genetic doping algorithm (GenD): theory and applications

Abstract: This paper describes an evolutionary algorithm, GenD, conceived by Buscema in 1998 at the Centro Ricerche di Scienze della Comunicazione – Semeion in Rome, where it is still successfully used and has been further developed. Unlike classic genetic algorithms, the GenD system maintains an inner instability during evolution, presenting a continuous evolution of the evolution and a natural increase in biodiversity during the progress of the algorithm. The theory which leads to defining the GenD system is outlined. Specific characteristics of GenD, such as the definition of a species‐health aware evolutionary law, the use of genetic operators and the adoption of a structured organization of individuals (tribes), are described. In order to measure GenD capabilities, we investigated also different problems, such as that known as the travelling sales person problem, which belongs to the class of full NP problems.     

How do instream flow increase and gravel augmentation impact biological communities in large rivers: A case study on the Upper Rhine River

Actions are being developed to address the adverse consequences of engineering works on large European rivers by developing and implementing restoration activities in order to enhance the functionality and biodiversity of fluvial hydrosystems. However, as has frequently been mentioned in the scientific literature, quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the project benefits, if any, and their sustainability are hindered by the difficulty in assessing the responses of aquatic and riparian communities to the methods employed. A case study was conducted on a by‐passed section of the Upper Rhine River (France and Germany) to investigate the effects of instream flow increase and gravel augmentation on selected aquatic and riparian communities (macroinvertebrates, macrophytes, and riparian plants). This paper presents the results of a 6‐year interdisciplinary, before‐after control‐impact design monitoring study. The complexity of the study lies in carrying out a separate assessment of the cumulative effects on a site‐based, project‐specific basis. The results showed that (a) the instream flow increase resulted in greater richness of macrophyte species in the newly created backwaters, (b) the artificial gravel bar favoured the recruitment of pioneer species, including invasive species, although gravel redistribution by floods prevented their development, and (c) gravel augmentation tended to promote the taxonomic richness of macroinvertebrate communities with the appearance of species adapted to the new substrate areas. These findings should help to fill the knowledge gaps in large‐scale restoration and contribute key responses to the most frequently arising issues in this area, especially those concerning the efficiency and sustainability of river restoration projects.     

云南葡萄酒产区酵母多样性及特色菌种酿酒应用研究进展

酵母菌的分布与地理位置和气候条件等密切相关,我国葡萄酒产区主要位于35~40 ° N,仅在云南有很小一部处于28~30 ° N。该产区具有复杂的地形地貌和丰富的气候类型,这为优质酵母种质资源的研究和开发提供了优越条件。本文主要对云南葡萄酒产区酵母多样性以及特色菌种酿酒应用研究进行综述,以期对本土葡萄酒酵母资源的开发及特色葡萄酒的生产提供参考。     

新疆伊犁牧区发酵乳制品中酵母菌的分离和多样性分析

为保护新疆民族传统工艺制作的奶酪中经几千年驯化的优良酵母菌株,从新疆伊犁牧区少数民族家中采集样品20份,分离得到33株酵母菌,并对其进行生理生化鉴定、利用26S rDNA D1/D2区域序列分析对这些菌株进行了分类鉴定和多样性分析。共鉴定出4属5种,其中唐布拉牧区和那拉提牧区的优势菌株为发酵毕赤氏酵母(Pichia fermentans),托里县和布尔津县采集的样品中的优势菌种为酿酒酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae);马克斯克鲁维酵母(Kluyveromyces marxianus)和酿酒酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae)是奶酪样品中的共同菌株。     

Potential of Short Rotation Coppice plantations to reinforce functional biodiversity in agricultural landscapes

We compared communities of vascular plants and arthropods in ten Short Rotation Coppice (SRC)–maize pairs, to (1) quantify the difference in diversity and composition between these two alternative land-use types and (2) to assess the potential of SRC plantations to increase functional biodiversity values in agricultural landscapes. In each SRC plantation and maize field, the vegetation was surveyed and arthropods were sampled by applying pitfall and pan trapping. The composition of the vegetation and of the epigeic and vegetation inhabiting arthropod communities strongly differed between the crop types. This differentiation was mainly due to true species turnover and only to a lesser extent to the occurrence of nested subsets. On average, the total cover of the vegetation was 10 times higher in the SRC plantations and taxonomic and trait diversity were also consistently higher in SRC. Arthropod activity densities were significantly higher, sometimes almost double, in SRC plantations. Significantly higher effective species numbers in SRC were only retrieved for Hymenoptera and Coleoptera. Regarding functional groups, the activity densities of omnivores, detritivores, mycophages, phytophages and parasitoids were significantly higher in SRC. While activity densities of predators were not different among the crop types, their effective species number was higher in SRC, indicating a more evenly distributed and diverse predator community. To conclude, we have shown that SRC can significantly increase vegetation and arthropod abundance and/or diversity in agricultural landscapes when replacing annual biomass crops, such as maize.     

FAO/INFOODS food composition database for biodiversity

Nutrient content can vary as much between different varieties of the same foods, as they do among different foods. Knowledge of varietal differences can therefore mean the difference between nutrient adequacy and inadequacy. The FAO/INFOODS food composition database for biodiversity has been developed with analytical data for foods described at the level of variety, cultivar and breed, and for underutilized and wild foods. It contains 6411 food entries and values for 451 components together with the bibliographic references and other information. The database is in MS Excel format and can be downloaded free-of-charge from the INFOODS website http://www.fao.org/infoods/biodiversity/index_en.stm. It is intended to annually publish new editions, making these data available for national and regional food composition databases. This database could be used to raise the awareness, promote and investigate food biodiversity and help to better estimate nutrient intakes.     

Textural,nutritional and functional attributes in tomato genotypes for breeding better quality varieties

BACKGROUND: Screening of natural biodiversity for their better quality attributes is of prime importance for quality breeding programmes. A set of 53 tomato genotypes was measured for their textural [skin firmness, pericarp thickness, total soluble solids (TSS)], nutritional [phosphorus (P), potassium (K), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and titrable acidity (TA)] and functional (β‐carotene, lycopene and ascorbic acid) quality attributes. RESULT: Three sets of data (textural, nutritional and functional attributes) were obtained and analysed for their mutual relationships. Wide variations were observed in most of the measurements, e.g. skin firmness (coefficient of variability (CV) 269‐612 g), pericarp thickness (CV 1.4–4.9 mm), potassium (CV 229–371 mg 100 g^?1), iron (CV 611–1772 mg 100 g^?1), ascorbic acid (CV 12–86 mg 100 g^?1), suggesting that there are considerable levels of genetic diversity. Significant correlations (P < 0.05, 0.01) were also detected among different attributes of tomato genotypes, such as phosphorus and zinc with a correlation coefficient of 0.74, ascorbic acid and copper of 0.57, pericarp thickness and lycopene of ? 0.52. However, there were no correlations between textural and nutritional attributes. Five factors were computed by principal component analysis that explained 66% of the variation in the attributes, among which all micronutrients other than iron, TSS, firmness and β‐carotene were most important. Functional attributes except β‐carotene played a less important role in explaining total variation. CONCLUSION: This knowledge could aid in the efficient conservation of important parts of the agricultural biodiversity of India. These results are also potentially useful for tomato breeders working on the development of new varieties. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

沙城产区酿酒酵母多样性研究

对沙城产区龙眼葡萄相关环境中分离筛选的酿酒酵母进行多样性研究。在连续3年(2008、2009、2010年)的实验中,共从葡萄园土壤、葡萄酒厂设备表面、接触过葡萄酒厂设备的葡萄汁和自然发酵过程中采集菌源样品227份,共分离得到1358株酵母菌。用5.8S-ITS区域RFLP方法进行分子水平的分类鉴定及赖氨酸培养基复筛,得到了270株酿酒酵母。再利用Interdelta PCR指纹图谱法将酿酒酵母区分为16类,其中土壤5类,自然发酵过程中第2、3、4期分别得到4类、10类和11类;酒厂设备表面3类;接触酒厂设备的葡萄汁3类。酿酒酵母的种类因样品采集时间、采集地点等不同有明显区别。自然发酵过程中得到的酿酒酵母被认为是本土酵母的可能性最大。