Movements of scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) at Cocos Island, Costa Rica and between oceanic islands in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Elena Nalesso (2019, [Artículo])

Many species of sharks form aggregations around oceanic islands, yet their levels of residency and their site specificity around these islands may vary. In some cases, the waters around oceanic islands have been designated as marine protected areas, yet the conservation value for threatened shark species will depend greatly on how much time they spend within these protected waters. Eighty-four scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini Griffith & Smith), were tagged with acoustic transmitters at Cocos Island between 2005–2013. The average residence index, expressed as a proportion of days present in our receiver array at the island over the entire monitoring period, was 0.52±0.31, implying that overall the sharks are strongly associated with the island. Residency was significantly greater at Alcyone, a shallow seamount located 3.6 km offshore from the main island, than at the other sites. Timing of presence at the receiver locations was mostly during daytime hours. Although only a single individual from Cocos was detected on a region-wide array, nine hammerheads tagged at Galapagos and Malpelo travelled to Cocos. The hammerheads tagged at Cocos were more resident than those visiting from elsewhere, suggesting that the Galapagos and Malpelo populations may use Cocos as a navigational waypoint or stopover during seasonal migrations to the coastal Central and South America. Our study demonstrates the importance of oceanic islands for this species, and shows that they may form a network of hotspots in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. © 2019 Nalesso et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

article, Cocos Island, human, monitoring, nonhuman, resident, shark, South America, animal, Costa Rica, environmental protection, island (geological), movement (physiology), physiology, season, shark, Animals, Conservation of Natural Resources, Costa CIENCIAS FÍSICO MATEMÁTICAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA Y DEL ESPACIO OCEANOGRAFÍA OCEANOGRAFÍA

Does access to improved grain storage technology increase farmers' welfare? Experimental evidence from maize farming in Ethiopia

Hugo De Groote Bart Minten (2024, [Artículo])

Seasonal price variability for cereals is two to three times higher in Africa than on the international reference market. Seasonality is even more pronounced when access to appropriate storage and opportunities for price arbitrage are limited. As smallholder farmers typically sell their production after harvest, when prices are low, this leads to lower incomes as well as higher food insecurity during the lean season, when prices are high. One solution to reduce seasonal stress is the use of improved storage technologies. Using data from a randomised controlled trial, in a major maize-growing region of Western Ethiopia, we study the impact of hermetic bags, a technology that protects stored grain against insect pests, so that the grain can be stored longer. Despite considerable price seasonality—maize prices in the lean season are 36% higher than after harvesting—we find no evidence that hermetic bags improve welfare, except that access to these bags allowed for a marginally longer storage period of maize intended for sale by 2 weeks. But this did not translate into measurable welfare gains as we found no changes in any of our welfare outcome indicators. This ‘near-null’ effect is due to the fact that maize storage losses in our study region are relatively lower than previous studies suggested—around 10% of the quantity stored—likely because of the widespread use of an alternative to protect maize during storage, for example a cheap but highly toxic fumigant. These findings are important for policies that seek to promote improved storage technologies in these settings.

Hermetic Storage Randomised Controlled Trial CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA STORAGE PILOT FARMS SEASONALITY WELFARE MAIZE

Transpiration of a tropical dry deciduous forest in Yucatan, Mexico

EVELYN RAQUEL SALAS ACOSTA José Luis Andrade Torres Jorge Perera ROBERTH ARMANDO US SANTAMARIA bernardo figueroa-espinoza Jorge M. Uuh-Sonda EDUARDO CEJUDO ESPINOSA (2022, [Artículo])

The study of forest hydrology and its relationships with climate requires accurate estimates of water inputs, outputs, and changes in reservoirs. Evapotranspiration is frequently the least studied component when addressing the water cycle; thus, it is important to obtain direct measurements of evaporation and transpiration. This study measured transpiration in a tropical dry deciduous forest in Yucatán (Mexico) using the thermal dissipation method (Granier-type sensors) in representative species of this vegetation type. We estimated stand transpiration and its relationship with allometry, diameter-at-breast-height categories, and previously published equations. We found that transpiration changes over time, being higher in the rainy season. Estimated daily transpiration ranged from 0.562 to 0.690 kg m–2 d–1 in the late dry season (April–May) and from 0.686 to 1.29 kg m–2 d–1 in the late rainy season (September–October), accounting for up to 51% of total evapotranspiration in the rainy season. These daily estimates are consistent with previous reports for tropical dry forests and other vegetation types. We found that transpiration was not species-specific; diameter at breast height (DBH) was a reliable way of estimating transpiration because water use was directly related to allometry. Direct measurement of transpiration would increase our ability to accurately estimate water availability and assess the responses of vegetation to climate change. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

SAP FLUX SEASONALITY STAND TRANSPIRATION EVAPOTRANSPIRATION DRY DECIDUOUS FOREST BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA BIOLOGÍA VEGETAL (BOTÁNICA) ECOLOGÍA VEGETAL ECOLOGÍA VEGETAL

Dzit bacalito y las variedades de maíz frente a transgénico

Adriana Tapia Hernández Elda Miriam Aldasoro Maya (2023, [Libro])

La historieta está dirigida a público en general con interés en la vida campesina, y particularmente a niñas y niños, honrando las reflexiones y acciones de quienes conservan y resguardan las variedades nativas de maíz, conteniendo así la dispersión transgénica en el Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Cañón del Usumacinta (Tenosique, Tabasco; México), territorio biocultural donde convergen saberes contemporáneos de las familias tseltales, choles, chontales y mestizas y donde recientemente se confirmó la presencia de los marcadores transgénicos P35S y T-NOS.

Dzit bacal Maíz nativo Variedades del maíz Maíz transgénico Conservación del maíz Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Cañón del Usumacinta (Tabasco, México) CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS AGRARIAS AGRONOMÍA DESARROLLO VEGETAL DESARROLLO VEGETAL

Multimodal deep learning methods enhance genomic prediction of wheat breeding

Carolina Rivera-Amado Francisco Pinto Francisco Javier Pinera-Chavez David González-Diéguez Matthew Paul Reynolds Paulino Pérez-Rodríguez Huihui Li Osval Antonio Montesinos-Lopez Jose Crossa (2023, [Artículo])

Conventional Methods Genomic Prediction Accuracy Deep Learning Novel Methods CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA WHEAT BREEDING MACHINE LEARNING METHODS MARKER-ASSISTED SELECTION

Multi-trait, multi-environment deep learning modeling for genomic-enabled prediction of plant traits

Osval Antonio Montesinos-Lopez Jose Crossa Francisco Javier Martin Vallejo (2018, [Artículo])

Deep Learning Genomic Prediction Bayesian Modeling Shared Data Resources CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA BAYESIAN THEORY RESOURCES DATA BREEDING PROGRAMMES

Vibrissa growth rate in California sea lions based on environmental and isotopic oscillations

MARTHA PATRICIA ROSAS HERNANDEZ (2018, [Artículo])

Pinniped vibrissae provide information on changes in diet at seasonal and annual scales; however, species-specific growth patterns must first be determined in order to interpret these data. In this study, a simple linear model was used to estimate the growth rate of vibrissae from adult female California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) from San Esteban Island in the Gulf of California, Mexico. The δ15N and δ13C values do not display a marked oscillatory pattern that would permit direct determination of the time period contained in each vibrissa; thus, time (age) was calculated in two ways: 1) based on the correlation between the observed number of peaks (Fourier series) in the δ15N profile and the length of each vibrissa, and 2) through direct comparison with the observed number of peaks in the δ15N profile. Cross-correlation confirmed that the two peaks in the δ15N profile reflected the two peaks in the chlorophyll-a concentration recorded annually around the island. The mean growth rate obtained from the correlation was 0.08 ± 0.01 mm d-1, while that calculated based on the observed number of peaks was 0.10 ± 0.05 mm d-1. Both are consistent with the rates reported for adult females of other otariid species (0.07 to 0.11 mm d-1). Vibrissa growth rates vary by individual, age, sex, and species; moreover, small differences in the growth rate can result in significant differences over the time periods represented by the isotopic signal. Thus, it is important to assess this parameter on a species-by-species basis. © 2018 Rosas-Hernández et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

carbon, nitrogen, animal, California, chemistry, diet, female, island (geological), Mexico, Otariidae, physiology, Animals, California, Carbon Isotopes, Diet, Female, Islands, Mexico, Nitrogen Isotopes, Sea Lions BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA INMUNOLOGÍA INMUNOLOGÍA

Dipole-wind interactions under gap wind jet conditions in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico: A surface drifter and satellite database analysis

MAURO WILFRIDO SANTIAGO GARCIA (2019, [Artículo])

Gap wind jets (Tehuano winds) trigger supersquirts of colder water and mesoscale asymmetric dipoles in the Gulf of Tehuantepec (GT). However, the effects of successive gap wind jets on dipoles and their effects inside eddies have not yet been studied. Based on the wind fields, geostrophic currents, and surface drifter dispersion, this research documented three dipoles triggered and modified by Tehuano winds. Once a dipole develops, successive gap wind jets strengthen the vortices, and the anticyclonic eddy migrates southwestward while the cyclonic eddy is maintained on the east side of the GT. During the wind relaxation stage, the cyclonic eddy may propagate westward, but due to the subsequent re-intensification of the Tehuano winds, the vortex could break down, as was suggested by surface drifter dispersion pattern and geostrophic field data. The effect of the Tehuano winds was evaluating via eddy-Ekman pumping. Under Tehuano wind conditions, Ekman downwelling (upwelling) inside the anticyclonic (cyclonic) eddies may reach ~ -2.0 (0.5) m d-1 and decrease as the wind weakens. In the absence of Tehuano winds, Ekman downwelling inside the anticyclonic eddy was ~ 0.1 (-0.1) m d-1. The asymmetry of downwelling and upwelling inside eddies during Tehuano wind events may be associated with Tehuano wind forcing. © 2019 Santiago-García et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

article, dipole, leisure, Mexico, cold, ecosystem, factual database, geographic mapping, hurricane, Mexico, satellite imagery, season, water flow, wind, sea water, Cold Temperature, Cyclonic Storms, Databases, Factual, Ecosystem, Geographic Mapping, CIENCIAS FÍSICO MATEMÁTICAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA Y DEL ESPACIO OCEANOGRAFÍA OCEANOGRAFÍA

Multi-environment genomic prediction of plant traits using deep learners with dense architecture

Osval Antonio Montesinos-Lopez Jose Crossa (2018, [Artículo])

Shared Data Resources Deep Learning Genomic Prediction CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA ACCURACY GENOMICS NEURAL NETWORKS FORECASTING DATA MARKER-ASSISTED SELECTION

High-throughput plot-level quantitative phenotyping using convolutional neural networks on very high-resolution satellite images

Francisco Pinto Matthew Paul Reynolds Robert Furbank (2024, [Artículo])

Deep Learning Object-Based Image Analysis Optical Imagery CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRICULTURE IMAGE ANALYSIS PLANT BREEDING REMOTE SENSING MACHINE LEARNING