1,720,965 research outputs found
Lockdown farmers markets in Bengaluru: Direct marketing activities and potentials for rural-urban linkages in the food system
No full textRural-urban linkages are vital elements in a sustainable food system. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, supply chains were disrupted and fear of infection impacted food shopping decisions, pushing consumers to seek local and safer options for procuring fresh produce. Direct marketing arose as a promising alternative for both consumers and producers. We undertook a study in Bengaluru, India, in order to understand what direct marketing activities have unfolded with the COVID-19 pandemic. Media reports highlighted the plight of farmers struggling to market their harvest during lockdown as well as the farm to fork initiatives and lockdown farmers markets that have been created as a response. We see this moment as an opportunity to develop Bengaluru’s food system to be more sustainable, specifically through the City Region Food System framework. This study conducted online and telephone surveys with both consumers and producers in Bengaluru to explore the elements of supply and demand that have fostered and hindered direct marketing schemes. We found that consumers are interested in sourcing fruits and vegetables directly from farmers, but communication and logistics between consumers and producers are major hindrances. Although producers are diversifying their marketing strategies, they need to be implemented at economically viable scales to ensure long-term success. We find that the role of technology, specifically messaging apps, can streamline direct marketing activities and remove the barriers that currently hamper rural-urban linkages. Furthermore, existing community and farmer organizations have the size and scale to make direct marketing schemes a worthy endeavor for both consumers and producers
“Canopy-Less” Monitoring of Biodiversity and Climate Change: Signs of a Leaky Roof
No full textForest canopies are considered the last biotic frontier, and studies of canopy biota and related processes are just beginning to emerge in some parts of the world. Monitoring changes in biodiversity and related processes have gained much significance in the few last decades, particularly due to climate change. In addition, changes in biodiversity have been addressed by incorporating monitoring at various spatial and temporal scales that range from landscape-level changes, ecosystem dynamics, to population and species-level processes over extended time scales
Pollination systems of trees in kakachi, a mid-elevation wet evergreen in Western Ghats, India
No full textTropical wet forests support a diverse assemblage of tree
species, which are dependent on an equally wide array of animals for their pollination (Baker et al., 1983; Bawa, 1990). This has resulted in a highly complex set of interactions among them (Gilbert, 1980). Identifying pollination guilds or tree species assemblages with common pollination modes can delineate this complexity to some extent (Ibarra-Manrı´quez and Oyama, 1992). Further, comparisons of pollination modes in the different wet forest sites in the tropics can provide insights into the broad coevolutionary patterns between plants and their animal vectors (Howe, 1984) or perhaps cast light on such issues as the role of pollinators on angiosperm diversification (Bawa, 1995). Broad-scale community-level pollination studies also have wide application in ecosystem restoration (Johnson and Steiner, 2000; Kremen and Rickett, 2000). There is an increasing concern that human alterations of the ecosystem affect pollination systems, especially those that are relatively more specialized and dependent on a few pollinators (Bond, 1994). Specialized systems cannot be identified unless
we conduct community-wide surveys of pollination systems.
Complete community-level characterization of pollination
of any tropical forest site has not been successfully executed so far (Shatz, 1990). This kind of study could not be completed because much of the diversity of the plant species is contributed by the tall canopy trees in tropical forests that have remained inaccessible (Lowman and Nadkarni, 1995)
Bird, flowers and pollination ecology
Full text linkThe recent paper by Atluri et al.1 provides some interesting information on the pollination ecology of Helectresisora. Information on bird flowers, their visitors and their pollination ecology are few from the sub-continent and this paper is a welcome addition to our
knowledge of such systems. However, there are a few major errors in the paper that need to be addressed. The most
glaring of these is the identification of the bird pollinator. The authors refer toQuaker babbler (Alcippe poioicephala) as one of the pollinators, but according to Figure 1 d in the article, it appears that the bird is the white-headed babbler (Turdoises affinis). The two are very different birds. T. affinis is bigger with a broader bill that can closely fit an H.isora flower, while A. poioicephala is a small bird and its bill and forehead do
not fit the flower as closely as T. affinis. Consequently, pollination efficiency may be different between the two species. Misidentification can have important implications when it comes to conservation and in no case should betaken lightly, especially when the pollinators can be identified by proper use of
field guides
Breeding systems and pollination modes of understorey shrubs in a medium elevation wet evergreen forest, southern Western Ghats, India
Full text linkThis study on the reproductive biology and pollination
modes of 22 species of understorey shrubs in 11 families
was conducted in a medium elevation wet evergreen forest in the southern Western Ghats of India from 1994 to 1997. We evaluated whether this assemblage was predominantly outcrossing as in other tropical forests, and whether mating systems are related to pollination mode. We assessed whether species were hermaphrodites, dioecious or monecious. We assessed the breeding systems of each species with hand self pollinations. About 55% of the species produced small white and inconspicuous flowers. The majority of the flowers opened at dawn and was visited by diurnal pollinators. The proportion of dioecious and monoecious species was lower than for other tropical forests. Among the hermaphrodites, the majority had mixed mating systems. Therefore the overall levels of obligate outcrossers (37%) were low compared with other
tropical forests. We recognized 7 pollination modes: social bees, solitary bees, diverse insects, flies, sunbird, sphingid moth and Xylocopa sp. Among these the social bees, flies and diverse insects visited more species than the other groups. Species pollinated by flies and diverse insects tended to be significantly more outcrossing than those pollinated by bees and other solitary pollinators
Response of wet forest butterflies to selective logging in Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve: Implications for conservation
Full text linkThe butterfly fauna of an unlogged wet evergreen site
in Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve was compared with that of an adjoining 30-year-old selectively logged site. Comparison of the vegetation structure of both sites showed that the canopy was less contiguous and the ground cover was higher in the logged site. Species richness, abundance, and diversity of butterflies were higher in the selectively logged site. Species abundance in both forests types fitted log series distribution, which indicates that only a small portion of the assemblage occur in high abundance. Examination of habitat usage by the butterflies showed that the logged forest harbored a greater number of ubiquitous species along with the wet forest assemblage. Few species like Idea malabarica showed restraint in logged site, while there was a release of few other species in logged site. Implications of these results for butterfly conservation are discussed
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Pollination and fruit dispersal in the wet forests of the southern Western Ghats
No full textPollination and seed dispersal can play an important role in the functioning of tropical ecosystems and the maintenance of diversity in them. Wet forests in tropics are known to have exceptionally high diversity of pollination and dispersal mechanisms that are complex and can vary across continents. Identifying modes of pollination and dispersal can, to some extent, delineate
this complexity and help in better understanding of these systems (TharraManriquez and Oyama, 1992). Only recently a detailed analysis of the pollination and dispersal modes of the wet forests of Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot, has been carried out (Ganesh and Davidar, 2001; Devy, 1998). This study documents the pollination and seed dispersal modes of tree species in a mid-elevation wet forest at Kakachi in the southern Western Ghats. A total of 89 flowering species and 82 fruiting species were observed. Flowers were watched for visitors from the commencement of an thesis. Similarly fruiting trees were watched for visitors during ripe fruit stage and also frugivore identity was inferred from fruits and seeds in droppings and scats. Nocturnal observations were also done for visitors of several species. The data were obtained over a span of seven years and are based on direct observations of visitors to flowers and fruits. Many of these observations were recorded by ascending the canopy of trees using tree ladders
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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