Spread of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) on the Žitný Ostrov (Slovakia) and Szigetköz (Hungary) in 2015
Abstract— Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is an invasive alien species indigenous to North America. Ragweed is a big threat to agriculture and has a serious impact on human health. One of the most important areas with ragweed occurrence within Europe is Pannonian Plain in Central Europe. This research introduces for the first time the unique, direct broad-scale survey of A. artemisiifolia in relation to real-life occurrence and infestation in the field. To understand the distribution of ragweed in the territory the geospatial analysis was applied to create 2D map in ArcGIS environment. The field survey was undertaken during summer 2015 in the Žitný ostrov (Slovakia) and Szigetköz (Hungary). Importance of ragweed survey in these two landscapes is not only because the agricultural significance, but is enhanced by the effect of its pollen on human health. The investigation revealed that spatial occurrence of A. artemisiifolia is not homogeneous and there is also striking territorial heterogeneity of infestation rate. In Žitný ostrov ragweed was observed at 143 (54,78%) out of 261 sites. In Szigetköz ragweed was observed at 50 (54,94%) out from 91 sites. This study offers inventory of ragweed frequency over the large area.
Keywords— real-life occurrence, spatial distribution, territorial heterogeneity, associated plant communities
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Managing Emerging Land use Pattern in Developing Nations: A Focus on ONDO, Nigeria
Abstract— The study assesses the urban expansion and landuse pattern of Ondo Township between 1986 and 2014. It also carried out intensive analysis of the urban land use and land cover types between the study period and identified the major factors contributing to the rapid expansion of the township. The study made use of primary and secondary data sets. The primary data sets include field observations for developing image-to-ground concordance, GPS data of 100 points of interest. The secondary data sets include Landsat imageries of 1986, 2002 and 2014, topographic map at scale 1:50000 covering the study area. The imageries of 1986, 2002 and 2014 were processed using the ENVI software. Supervised classification employing the maximum likelihood algorithm was carried out on each imagery. Furthermore, relevant urban expansion parameters including Land Consumption Rate (LCR) and the Land Absorption Coefficient (LAC) were computed while spatial overlay of the built-up areas of 1986, 2002 and 2014 were performed. The study also determined the average rate of expansion between 1986 and 2014. The result shows that Ondo town has expanded at a very fast rate increasing in surface area from 1324.96 ha in 1986 to 1743.48 ha in 2002 and 3444.64 ha in 2014 giving an expansion rate of 3.9% per annum. The land consumption rates for 1986, 2002 and 2014 are respectively 1.4%, 1.2% and 1.0 indicating a progressive compactness in the built-up area of the town. The residential landuse (built-up) area gained and colonized the adjoining vegetation areas in each period. The study concluded that Ondo urban has been expanding radially outwards from urban Centre. The study recommends proper monitoring of urban area, development of small towns around city area to reduce people migrating to urban centre and effective urban land use management in the city centre.
Keywords— Urban expansion, Landuse/landcover, GPS, Landsat imageries, ENVI software.
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Analysis of Cultural Landscape in Forest Management by Indigenous People of Sahu Indigenous people in West Halmahera Regency, North Moluccas Province
Abstract— Traditional and cultural landscape has a conservation value that is linked to the continuance of traditions, so that the landscape doesn’t only exist for functional or visual, aesthetic reasons but also has a responsibility to local culture. The aim of this research was to (1) determine the relationship between education level, age, amount of family expenses and land area on income level, (2) determine the existence of native land rights for the Sahu indigenous group, (3) determine community perception of the importance of cultural landscape organisation in forest management, (4) formulate a concept to conserve cultural landscapein forest management. This research was done using the descriptive research method with a quantitative and qualitative approach. Analysis of the chisquare showed that factors outside of the land had an influence on the level of community income, while general factors, like education and amount of family expenses did not. The Sahu ethnic group had traditional land rights in forest management because of community agreement through the traditional legal council. This council satisfied the specific characteristics on the subject of native rights, existence of specific boundaries of the land as lebensraum which isan object of native rights, and the existence of a traditional, legal community authority to take specific steps. In macro the organisation of the landscape in the area covered by the Sahu ethnic group is divided into forest, housing and agricultural areas. The forest area surrounds the agricultural land and the residential area. In micro, the arrangement of the cultural landscape which surrounds the housing area is classified by the local community as Bangan, La’lat, raki, jeramedansosoki. Continuity of the organisation of the cultural landscape in forest management appears in quadrant 1. This position demonstrates that continuity of the cultural landscapein forest management faces some threats but stilll has internal strength.
Keywords— cultural landscape, indigenous community, nativerights.
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Essential Minerals Content and Nutritive Contributions of Edible Parts of Some Mucilaginous Food Plants from Some Regions of Cote D’ivoire
Abstract— The aim of this study is to contribute to a better valorization of the mucilaginous food plants (MFPs) by the content determination in essential minerals, also to evaluate the nutritive contributions from the consumption.
Thus different edible parts constituted of leaves, fruits, flowers, calyx and kernels of nine mucilaginous food plants of Ivorian flora have been analyzed. It’s about I. gabonensis, I. wombolu, C. olitorius, the varieties tomi and koto of A. esculentus, B. buonopozense, A. digitata, M. arboreus and B. mannii. The analysis of the macroelements (K, P, S, Ca and Na) gave the following contents: potassium (0.73±0.02-4.53±0.03 g/100g DM), Phosphorus (0.40±0.03-1.70±0.04 g/100g DM), sulphur (0.1±0.04-0.75±0.03 g/100g DM), Calcium (0.06±0.01-4.54±0.06 g /100g DM) and sodium (0.06±0.01 and 0.32±0.02 g /100g DM). The plants provided the microelements (Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn and Zn) contents following: magnesium (0.15±0.01-1.36±0.25 g/100g DM), Iron (6.73×10-3±2.84-55.94×10-3±6.96 g/100g DM), copper (4.96×10-3±2.07-54.04×10-3±4.63 g/100g DM). The kernels of I. wombolu and the leaves of M. arboreus provided 7.38×10-3±6.79 and 27.67×10-3±28.9 g/100g DM respectively in Zinc. The daily quantities of mucilaginous food plants consumed are consisted between 0.1 g/day and 0.7 g/day. This consumption provided to Ivorian adult of 70 kg the daily contributions estimated following: potassium (1.5-27.70 mg/day), calcium (0.1-31.80 mg/day), magnesium (1.1-25.5 mg/day), iron (0.12-1.18 mg/day). The leaves of M. arboreus provided the best daily contributions (0.19 mg/day) in Zinc. The leaves and the flowers among the parts investigated gave on the whole, the biggest daily contributions. They contributed for the majority of minerals, between 1% and 4% of the organism needs.
Keywords— Essential Minerals, Mucilaginous Food Plants, Daily Contributions Estimated.
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Development of Liquid Formulation of native Rhizobium sp. for effective plant nourishment
Abstract— In the current study bacteria having potential to fix nitrogen symbiotically were isolated from Soybean plant roots on Yeast extract Mannitol agar from roots. They were screened on basis of Acetylene gas reduction assay & various plant growth promoting factors. They were subjected to morphological, biochemical & molecular characterization. The liquid formulations were made by amendments with additives & emulsifier in the liquid carrier of most potential strain SNFB 03 was identified as Rhizobium sp. It was found to be most effective on the Soybean growth parameters under green house studies.
Keywords— Additives, Liquid formulation, Rhizobium sp., Soybean, Symbiotic Nitrogen fixer.
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Formation of Secondary Minerals across Topogeothermal Sequences on Ratu Crater of Tangkuban Parahu Volcano, West Java
Abstract— The internal environment of volcanic craters is influenced by chemical content contained in geothermal resources, in the form of fumarola and solfatara, as well as the topography and extreme fluctuating temperatures can create a specific phenomenon to the formation of secondary minerals.
There were 5 represent profiles samples i.e. Profile A (toeslope), Profile B , Profile D (backslope), G Profile and Profile J (summit), plotted based on the topographic gradient of Ratu Crater, Tangkuban Parahu Volcano (topogeothermal), with a steep to very steep slope grade (van Zuidam , 1985). Samples on each profile were analyzed on its mineralogical properties.
Mineralogical analysis showed that the sand fraction of heavy minerals (density > 2.87) are opaque, augite, and hiperstin with varying percentages, while light mineral (density < 2.87) are a volcanic glass, zeolite, andesin, labradorite, bytownite and rock fragments. Extraction with oxalic and pyrophosphate acid showed the highest mineral content of allophane (1.414 %), imogolite (0.391 %), and ferrihydrite (2,091 %) contained in the profile D (backslope). The lowest content founded in the Profile A (toeslope), which has a smaller content than the Profile J (summit).
XRD analysis results (without treatment) showed that in each profile (A, B, D, G, J) have almost the same reflection pattern that consists of gypsum (4.27Å), feldspar (3.1-3.25 Å, cristobalite (4.04 Å), gibsite (4.85 Å), calcite (3.03 Å), kaolinite (7.1 Å) and quartz (3.34 Å).
XRD analysis (Mg+glycol) on each profile mostly dominated by non-crystalline minerals (amorphous), however the Profile J (Summit) and the Profile A (toeslope) are dominated by crystalline minerals that have been developed from amorphous minerals, i.e. mineral 2:1 (smectite and chlorite) and mineral 1:1 (halloysite and kaolinite).
Keywords— Crater, Secondary Mineral, Topogeothermal, Volcanic Ash.
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The Initial Development of Soybean Subjected to Co-Inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense and Bradyrhizobium japonicum
Abstract— The aim of the current study is to assess the initial development of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) subjected to inoculation and co-inoculation with Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Azospirillum brasilense using phenological parameters such as leaf area and dry matter partitioning of leaves, stems and roots, as well as leaf nitrogen content. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at Lagoa da Cruz Farm, a research base belonging to Dom Bosco Catholic University. The soybean variety CD 2728 IPRO, which has a 120-day cycle, was sown in 5,000-ml plastic pots. The experimental design followed a completely randomized methodology, with four treatments and four repetitions, using the inoculation with nitrogen fixing bacteria such as Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Azospirillum brasilense, Bradyrhizobium japonicum + Azospirillum brasilense (co-inoculation), and the witness. The leaf nitrogen content analysis, as well as the phenological measurements of the leaf area and the dry weight of the shoot and root system, were performed 30 days after sowing. According to the herein obtained results, it was possible concluding that the initial soybean development was benefited by the co-inoculation with Azospirillium brasilense + Bradyrhizobium japonicum in the root dry matter partitioning.
Keywords— symbiosis, rhizosphere, nitrogen, partitioning.
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Allocative Efficiency of Fruited Pumpkin (Telferia Occidentalis) Production in Ayamelum L.G.A of Anambra State, Nigeria
Abstract— Allocative efficiency of fruited pumpkin (telferia occidentalis) production in Ayamalum L.G.A of Anambra Sate was studied using 120 farmers selected using multi stage sampling technique. Data for the work were generated through structured questionnaire and interview schedules. Percentage response, Ordinary least square regression, allocative indices and net farm income analysis were used to address the objectives. Result of the study showed that fruited pumpkin was a profitable venture in the study area. Furthermore, fruited pumpkin farmers did not achieve optimum allocative efficiency in the use of any of the farm resources. In general, the elasticity of production showed that they were operating at increasing rate of return to scale. The constraints to fruited pumpkin production included; high labour cost, high cost of fertilizer, poor access to credit and poor extension visit. To achieve optimum allocative efficiency and hence maximum profit, farmers should be encouraged to increase their use of those underutilized resources, while decreased in the use of over utilized resources Policies that would enable farmers to employ more of the resources should be put in place in order to improve their performances. More so, there is need to improve farmers’ access to credit through microfinance banks and other commercial banks, use of labour saving device such as hand-driven plough and improve their frequencies to extension contact.
Keywords— Allocative, efficiency, fruited pumpkin, production.
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Application of Gis Land Capability Classes for Forestry
Abstract— Environmentalists’ decision makers need the ability to integrate and correlate information from many different sectors in such a way that their relationships are more easily understood. To assess the potentials and carrying capacities of environmental systems, to monitor trends, to make projections, and to test solutions, managers require greatly improved access to information and better analytical support for decision making. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) represent an important approach that can provide this support. In this paper the land capability classes for forestry based on physiographic factors such as parent material, soil depth, aspect, slope, rill erosion and the vertical distribution of land cover classes have been used in order to give the forest manager of natural resources benefits from knowledge of the location, extent, and quality of the resources being managed.
Management and Policy Implications
The various countries where the economy is based on agriculture, such as Greece, a very important factor is the implementation of a single agricultural policy with future plans based on correct directions. In the forestry sector, where planning application times are much longer than in other rural areas, planning should be based on the European action plan for sustainable and diversified management of forest resources.
In this paper, new technologies are used as means of making scientific decisions for forest policy (local and national). New technologies allow the use of Decision Support Systems (D.S.S.) which is a category of information systems that support the activities leading to decision making. A properly designed D.S.S. is an interactive software system which aims to help those who make decisions to obtain useful information from a combination of raw data, documents and personal knowledge, or business models in order to identify, solve problems and make solutions.
In this study, an attempt is made to use a DSS considering environmental factors (local climate, parent material, soil depth and aspect) to find areas that can be developed productive forests and woodlands. The specific area, which belongs to the northern part of Greece and has an area of 19000 km2, no other similar studies have been made and an approach will help forest managers in making science-based decisions which of course will be consistent with the Global Strategy for sustainable development of forests. The production of the map of areas with productive forest land may be the guiding thread of economic and rural development of the region for years to come.
Keywords— GIS, land capability classes, forest timber production, forest treatments.
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Interaction between veterinary medicine and nanotechnology; the present and the near future: A Review
Abstract— Judging from the developments already recorded, veterinary medicine can benefit considerably by nanotechnology. Administration of drug treatment or vaccines to free ranging farm, or wild animals can be simplified by nano-scale devices or material that will release the active ingredient, without immediate human intervention. In addition to facilitating administration, nanotechnology has already provided new drug and vaccine candidates with improved characteristics and performance. Furthermore, direct and inexpensive detection of microbial pathogens or of specific disease indicators, using functionalized nanoparticles conjugated to DNA and/or peptide probes, seems ideal for veterinary applications that in most cases must conform within a very strict context defined by cost and the availability of resources. Considering the strong potential of the interaction between the two fields of science, the aim of this article is to provide a concise description of the advances already recorded in nanotechnology, in terms of their potential application in veterinary medicine, in connection specifically to drug and vaccine delivery, and diagnosis of infectious diseases.
Keywords— Diagnostics, Drug-delivery, Nanoparticles, Nanotechnology, Quantum dots.
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Vegetation structure and species diversity in Garhjungle sacred forest, West Bengal, India
Abstract— Sacred forests are traditionally managed forest patches relevant for biodiversity conservation. Vegetation structure of different strata (tree, shrub and herb,) were analysed in Garhjungle sacred forest of lateritic zone in West Bengal. Total 738 woody individuals belonging to 14 species were recorded from random quadrats covering 0.25 ha area. The highest stem density and IVI was obtained by Shorea robusta. All the species had clumped distribution. The trees occupied a basal area of 20.39 m2 ha-1. Species richness and diversity of shrubs and herbs were greater than trees. Presence of various anthropogenic disturbances warrants immediate conservation efforts.
Keywords— Lateritic zone, Sacred forest, Species diversity, Vegetation structure.