5^thInternational Conference on Biodiversity March 10-12, 2016 Madrid, Spain

Biography:

Sylvia Jagerroos is a Senior Consultant with ERM and she has over fifteen years’ experience assessing a wide range of marine environment and has in depth knowledge of sensitive tropical habitat assessments. She is specialized in Climate Change and Resilience Adaptation and she has collaborated with the World Bank to establish Coastal Management plans on islands in the Maldives and she has assessed other projects in a wide range of countries like Kenya, Sri Lanka, Australia, Philippines, Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia. She is currently working in the oil and gas sector in South East Asia where she is developing several environmental studies to aid in the decommissioning process

Abstract:

Decommissioning of offshore oil and gas platforms raises many complex issues to consider before accomplishing a successful strategy to undertake these activities in an environmentally effective, efficient and equitably safe manner not only for the operators and the regulatory authorities but for the physical and biological surroundings. There are many factors to evaluate and issues like liability, reputational risk, cost, cumulative impact, technical development, regulatory framework and Climate Change would all have to be considered on a case to case scenario as opposed to adopting a regular strategy for all facilities. The debate is focused about whether the structure or facilities left in place like an artifical reef habitat constitute valuable habitat and deliver ecosystem services or in contrast impact the biological environment and should be removed. Many offshore facilities, although deployed as artifical reef for a very long time have not developed the diversity of benthic or fish assemblages comparable to that found on the natural reef. South East Asia hosts many aging offshore facilities and the shortage of decomissioning yards and a lack of policy framework and financial support play a big role in order to conduct these activities in a way that safeguard the environment and the biodiversity of the marine environment.

Biography:

Chang-Hung Chou obtained his PhD at University of California, Santa Barbara in 1971. He is Chair Prof. and Dir. of the Research Center for Biodiversity, China Medical University. He was Vice-President and National Chair Professor at National Sun Yat-Sen University, 1999-2002, President of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, 2002-2006 and vice President, PSA, 2011-2015. His honors are: Highest Award of International Academic Cooperation, Russian Academy of Science, 1999 and Life Time Achievements Award 2009 awarded by International Allelopathy Foundation, Life Time Contribution to Biological Science Award, and Life Time Achievement Award of Botanical Society of Taiwan. He is academician at The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), 1993 and Academia Sinica, Taiwan, 1994.

Abstract:

Rhododendron formosanum, an endemic plant in subtropical region of Taiwan, possesses diversity of natural products such as phenolic acids, flavonoids and terpenoids in leaves and other plant parts. Underneath the vegetation, there is almost lacking understory species which turns out to be an allelopathic phenomenon. We have already demonstrated the unique pattern of allelopathy which was due to the allelopathic substances released from the plant leaves. The responsible allelopathic substances are water soluble phenolic acids, namely, p-hydroxybenzoic, methyl-ferulate, syringic acid, vanillic acid, coumarin, and protocatechuic acid. On the other hand, cinnamtannin D1, a trimer of catechin, from the plant induces autophagy via the inhibition of Akt/mTOR activation of ERK1/2 non-small cell lung carcinoma cells. Additionally, ursolic acid, a triterpenoid isolated from the plant, also exhibits the apoptosis of the aforementioned cancer cell. Two related triterpenoids such as oleanolic acid and betulinic acid isolated also performed anti-pathogenic bacteria activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis and Listeria monocytogenes. In overall, the diversified natural products of phenolics, flavonoids and terpenoids, in deed, profound multifunctions of both allelochemical and pharmaceutical activities. These diverse functions of natural products produced from the R. formosana play an important role in sustainable agriculture and pharmaceutical application that certainly are beneficial to human-being.

Biography:

Ali El-Keblawy has awarded his PhD degree in Plant Ecology from Tanat University, Egypt and Windsor (Ontario, Canada) in a joint program. He is the Director of Sharjah Seed Bank and Herbarium and Associate Professor at the University of Sharjah, UAE. His research interests include, plant ecology, biodiversity and conservation of desert plants, invasion biology, rangeland management, propagation of native plants of the Arab Gulf deserts and domestication of desert native plants for urban landscaping

Abstract:

Plant communities of the arid deserts are facing several stresses, such as high temperatures, repeated draught and overgrazing. The impacts of protection from grazing for two years on plant diversity, richness, abundance and community structure were assessed in sand dunes and gravel plains of Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. During the two years, the study area received significantly less rainfall than the average and consequently was a good chance to assess the impact of draught and protection from grazing on community attributes of the two substrate types. Protection for two years significantly increased plant diversity, abundance and sizes in sand dunes. In gravel plains, however, protection resulted in the reduction of most of the community attributes. The reduction was significant in the grazed, but not in the protected sites, indicating that grazing exaggerated the negative effects of drought in gravel plains. The positive effect of protection from grazing in sand dunes indicates that many of sand dune plants are less affect by draught; many of them were grown nicely after very little showers. Water irrigation was provided for both protected and grazed sites on sand dunes. Species richness and abundance in the irrigated exclosures were twice that in the irrigated open grazed sites. In addition, species richness, plant abundance and average plant sizes attained significantly greater values in the irrigated than in non irrigated plots. The results conclude that both rainfall and grazing are limiting factors in shaping plant community and their impact is dependent on the soil type

Biography:

M Jusuf Yakub has completed his PhD at the age of 37 years from Mississippi State University, USA. Now, he is the Researcher at Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development especially working on sweet potato breeding at Indonesian Legume and Tuber Crops Research Institute based in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. He has published more than 15 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the major food sources in Indonesia. Based on the phenotypic diversity in local cultivars, Indonesia is considered to be a secondary center of genetic diversity of sweet potato. Local cultivars and landraces serve as source of genetic variability, they could be used as gene donors in variety improvement program. Therefore, the collection and germplasm conservation of sweet potato are very important in order to maintain the full range of genetics variability within the species. Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD) through its research institutions have been exploring, collecting, conserving, evaluating sweet potato germplasm and developing improved varieties. To date, 1321 accessions have been introduced to gene bank at IAARD and these materials represent native cultivars from several provinces in Indonesia. Morphological characterization has been done on all accessions while DNA analysis has been carried out on 600 accessions under the collaboration with Kyushu and Okinawa National Research Center of Japan. All of the collected accessions are being conserved in the field and concrete pavement. Until now, twenty six varieties of sweet potato have been released in Indonesia for differents purposes such as for table uses, processing (industrial) types and pig feeds. Among these 26 varieties, fourteen varieties are for table uses, three varieties for processing purposes, two varieties with high beta carotene content, three varieties with high anthocyanin content and four varieties adapted to high altitudes.

Biography:

Dwi Astuti is a researcher at the Division of Zoolology, Reserach Centre for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Indonesia. She has completed her PhD from Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. Her focus research is in the field of Bioscience, especieally in DNA analyses for studying genetic diversity, molecular phylogeny, and molecular ecology and genetic of animals. She has published some papers in national and international scientific journals and has been serving as a reviewer of some scientific journals

Abstract:

Enggano Island has Psittacula parakeet bird; Psittacula longicauda modesta. Phylogenetically, the position of the bird has not been studied yet. The recent study used DNA sequences of mitochondrial ND2 gene to analyze phylogenetic relationships within Psittacula parakeet birds. Blood samples were collected from two Psittacula species; Psittacula alexandri from Jawa Island, and Psittacula longicauda from Enggano Island and Natuna Island. Blood samples were taken from each bird and DNA was extracted from each blood sample. PCR was performed to amplify single DNA fragment of ND2, cytochromeb (Cyt B) and COI genes, separately using a pair of nucleotide primer. The DNA targets were then sequenced. Totally, 1020-bp of Cyt B gene was used to calculate genetic divergence within and between Psittacula parakeet, and to construct phylogenetic trees. DNA sequence data of Psittacula longicauda and others Psittacula species were taken from GenBank. Columba livia, Accipiter, and Cacatua were used as out group species. The genetic divergences within Psittacula longicauda were 3.70 % for (P.l. modesta vs. P.l. defontainei), 2.50 % for (P.l. defontainei vs. P.l. longicauda), and 1.60 % for (P.l. modesta vs. P.l. longicauda). Phylogenetic trees (NJ and ML trees) showed that based Psittacula longicauda was monophyletic species. Psittacula parakeet from Enggano Island (P.l. modesta) was separated from P.l. longicauda (from Sumatra/Borneo Island) and P.l. defontainei (from Natuna Island).

Biography:

Vasco Manudel Nobre de Carvalho da Silva Vieira has obtained his PhD in University of Algarve in 2011 with specialization in Population Dynamics and Ecology. He has also worked at the ALGAE-Marine Plant Ecology Research Group of University of Algarve and then in Maretec-Marine Technology Group of Instituto Superior Técnico. He has 17 published articles on the subject of marine ecology, environment and technology to his credit

Abstract:

Competing species cannot overlap their resource exploitation beyond a limit where one is inevitably eliminated. Their coexistence requires the partition of ecological niches attained by conditional differentiation. Since the overall fitness results from the holistic integration of the fitness specific to each of the life-cycle components, evolutionists are interested in determining which aspects drive species A to outcompete species B under a set of conditions. This requires a Taylor expansion of the life cycle model, known in demography as Life Table Response Experiment (LTRE). Kelp species have been observed differentiating their adaptation to water temperature, leading to geographical zonation. We tested whether two cryptic Lessonia sp. partitioned their niche occupation along the Chilean shores by differentiating their haploid micro stages adaptations to water temperature. In a preliminary analysis we tested the sensitivity of fitness to the vital rates, the sensitivity of the vital rates to temperature and whether the vital rates did significantly change between species. This approach looses the holistic details of the life-cycle as well as not translating effective differences between vital rates into effective differences in fitness. The result was a deterring amount of graphics and tables erroneously suggesting everything significantly differed and with an impact on fitness. A posterior LTRE demonstrated this not to be true and that only the fertility of the haploid females are different in their temperature regimes among species with a significant impact on fitness and niche occupation. LTRE enables a focused analysis providing truthful and synthetic results and conclusions

Biography:

Sayan Bhattacharya is currently working as an Assistant Professor in School of Ecology and Environment Studies, Nalanda University, Rajgir, India. He has completed his MSc and PhD in Environmental Science from University of Calcutta. He has completed two years Postdoctoral Research in Department of Chemistry, Presidency University, India. He has published 28 international journal papers, 10 book chapters, 40 international conference proceedings and many national conference proceedings. He has received Young Researcher Award from Government of India international conference. He is in the Reviewers’ Committee of many international journals and in the Editorial Boards of international journals with high impact factors. He has over 9 years of teaching experience in University of Calcutta, Rabindra Bharati University, Viswa Bharati University and Vidyasagar University, India.

Abstract:

The relationship between culture and ecology was the integral part of ancient Indian societies. Interactions with diverse biological entities and concern for their conservation remained important components in the structure of ancient civilizations of India. In the present study, some ancient Indian texts are highlighted which can eminently reflect the concepts of environmental conservation and sustainable development. The Arthasastra written by Kautilya (the minister of Chandragupta Maurya, 321-297 BC) divided the country into different ecological zones between the Himalayas and the oceans. Arthasastra demonstrated Kautilya’s perception and concern about the living creatures: Domestic and wild animals, plants and vegetations. List of protected animals, fish, birds were found which executes the scientific knowledge of biodiversity. In 1972, the conference on human environment in Stockholm mentioned about some principles which were very much similar to the edicts of Arthasastra. Some of the modern Indian environmental laws show amazing similarity with forms and contents of Arthasastra. In Manusmrti written by Maharshi Manu, the concept of biodiversity referred to all living forms broadly mentioned as Chara (movable living world) and Achara (immovable plant kingdom). The book described the importance of conservation. Caraka and Susrata classified lands according to the nature of the soil, climate and vegetation. Susrata classified animals on the basis of their food habits and habitats. In Ishopanishad, the concepts of sustainable development and conservation were established: “All in this manifested world consisting of moving and non-moving are covered by the Lord. Use its resources with restraint. Do not grab the property of others distant and yet to come.” The Vedic hymns, particularly those in Rig Veda, contained many notes on irrigated agriculture, river courses, dykes, water reservoirs, wells and water lifting structures. The later Vedas, especially the Ayurveda section, demonstrated profound knowledge of biodiversity. The sacred groves (Tapovana) of India were rich in biodiversity, which were mentioned in many ancient Indian documents like Abhigyan Shakuntalam written by Kalidasa. They are small packets of forests dedicated to local deities. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna compared the world to a single banyan tree with unlimited branches in which all the species of animals, humans and demigods wander, which can reflect the concept of community ecology. The trees like Banyan and Peepal were often referred in historical background as keystone resources. Detailed studies are needed to extract and analyse the ecological and environmental perspectives of ancient Indian culture.

Biography:

Rado H Andriamasimanana has completed his PhD from University of Antananarivo, Madagascar. He is the GIS expert of Asity Madagascar, an association working on biodiversity conservation in Madagascar. He has published more than 5 potential papers in reputed journals

Abstract:

Biodiversity in Madagascar is under immense human pressure. In response, there is a government initiated program to increase the protected area coverage by three-fold within 5 years. As part of this process, one potential new protected area is the Mahavavy-Kinkony wetland complex, which contains many habitats for several globally threatened and congregational species. Prioritising potential areas important for threatened species habitat is necessary in order to design the management plan of this protected area. As part of the development of the management planning process, we developed a decision support system using GIS and Marxan. We identified several species of conservation concern including five taxa; birds, primates, fishes, bats and reptiles. We modelled the distribution of these species using predictive models based on expert knowledge and classified land cover in the region. We set targets for the coverage of species inside the conservation zones and explored a range of scenarios. We presented the results of this prioritisation to a range of stakeholders, which included local traditional and administrative authorities, associations and non-governmental organizations, representatives of the local communities, government officials and private sectors representatives. Through a workshop, the conservation zones were agreed with some adjustments. This is the first time in Madagascar a decision support tool such as Marxan has been applied for planning management zones within a protected area along with participation from local communities.

Biography:

A. J. Solomon Raju is working in Environmental Sciences, Andhra University, India. He was the Visiting Professor of University of Colima, Mexico, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow of University of Akron, USA. He received Distinguished Achievement Award of University of Akron, USA, Best Research Award and Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Best Academician Award of Andhra University, Loyola Environmental and AP Scientist Awards APCOST. He published 300 papers and attended 75 national and 50 International conferences held in India, USA, Canada, UK, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Ethiopia and Tanzania. He is the reviewer for Elsevier, Springer, Indian, US and African publishers

Abstract:

Mangrove forests are special ecosystems, common in tropical and subtropical coastal environments. They are one of the most productive and bio-diverse wetlands. Mangrove forests are important in protecting coasts from erosion by fierce tides, in promoting the diversity of marine organisms and fisheries by contributing a quantity of food and providing favorable habitats for animals. They yield timber, fuel wood, poles, thatching material, grass, honey, wax and industrial raw material. These various uses of mangrove forests suggest that they play an important role in the lives and economies of the coastal regions of the world. The sustainability of the mangrove flora is intimately linked to the success of their reproductive biology which in turn is associated with local insects. Further, the survival and population build up of flower-visiting insects in this ecosystem is essentially dependent on the mangrove flora which vary with each salinity zone within the mangrove forest. It is in this context, the interactions between mangrove plants and insects leading to the benefit of both partners, the former for reproductive success and the latter for food and breeding, will be explained. The interactions of insects with the following mangrove plants will be explained. True viviparous plant species include Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, B. cylindrica, Ceriops decandra, C. tagal, Rhizophora apiculata and R. mucronata, all belong to a single family Rhizophoraceae. Crypto-viviparous plant species include Avicennia alba, A. officinalis, A. marina, Aegialitis rotundifolia and Aegiceras corniculatum. Non-viviparous plant species include Sonneratia alba, S. apetala, Lumnitzera racemosa, Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea and Excoecaria agallocha. Mangrove associate plants are Acanthus ilicifolius, Caesalpinia crista, Clerodendrum inerme, Derris trifoliata, Ipomoea pes-caprae, I. tuba, Malachra capitata, Suaeda maritima, S. monoica and S. nudiflora. All these plants except Rhizophora are nectariferous and offer both nectar and pollen as floral rewards to the visiting insects. Rhizophora species do not produce nectar and offer only pollen as floral reward to the foraging insects; small bees utilize their pollen as chief pollen source. Acanthus, Aegialitis, Aegiceras, Avicennia, Bruguiera, Ceriops, Derris, Excoecaria, Lumnitzera, Caesalpinia, Ipomoea pes-caprae, Malachra, Scyphiphora and Suaeda are associated with bees, wasps, thrips, flies and butterflies. All these plant species utilize these insects for sexual reproduction while the insects utilize them as pollen and/or nectar during daytime. Bees and thrips use both pollen and nectar while wasps, flies and butterflies use only nectar from these plant species. In case of Ipomoea pes-caprae, its pollen is the chief source of protein for the snail, Euplecta decussata which collects the pollen voraciously and in the process contributes to the promotion of out-crossing. Ipomoea tuba is an important source of nectar for the hawkmoths which visit the flowers during dawn and dusk hours. The bees, Xylocopa and Anthophora rob nectar from Clerodendrum flowers. They bite holes on the corolla tube to collect nectar without any benefit to the plant by it. However, their nectar robbing behavior compels the actual pollinating butterflies to make as many foraging visits as possible to the flowers to collect nectar and such repeated visits promote out-crossing rate. The leaves of Suaeda species are sources of alkaloids, triterpenoids, sterols and various other chemicals. Nymphalid, lycaenid and hesperiid butterflies such sap from the leaves of these plants consistently prior to flowering; they also collect the sap from the dry branches after fruiting. These chemicals are required for them for protection against their predators. In case of the true viviparous plant species, their propagules (hypocotyls) are essential food sources for edible crab species. The output of hypocotyls is exclusively dependent on the extent of insect interactions with the flowers of these plants. Therefore, plant-insect interactions in mangrove forests are important for the structural and functional integrity of mangrove forests. Further, this knowledge enables to take effective measures for the conservation and management of the mangroves.

Biography:

A K Sreekala obtained PhD from Kerala University in 1998 with specialization in Plant Reproductive Biology. She has published more than 75 papers in reputed journals, chapters in books and presented her research in national and international meetings. She has successfully obtained research grants from funding agencies such as DBT, DST and KSCSTE. She currently supervises six doctorate candidates and produced two PhDs.

Abstract:

The family Balsaminaceae comprises annual as well as perennial herbs that show conspicuous and striking floral morphology. Impatiens with more than 1000 species is distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the whole World as well as in the northern temperate regions. The genus is represented by c. 215 species in India with two centers of diversity: The Eastern Himalaya and the Western Ghats. Both the regions show a high degree of endemism and hence recognized as two amongst the 34 biodiversity hotspot regions in the World. The survival of the selected candidate species in the Western Ghats is questionable due to various factors including its reproductive constrains. The Balsams are highly evolved members among the order Geraniales as evident from the marked zygomorphic flowers and nectiferous spur. The arrangement of the stamens and its protandry nature, pistil and spur are markedly adopted for cross pollination and hence most of the species of Impatiens reproduce by means of cross pollination. So the survivability mainly depends on pollination by the visitors and the high altitude Impatiens species are pollinated mostly by honey bees, Trigona, butterflies, etc. The colour of the flowers attract more than the fragrance. The lateral and wing petals act as a platform for landing of honey bees and butterflies while forage. Position of anthers also prevent self-pollination and promote cross pollination. Large numbers of butterflies and honey bees visited the flowers and transferred the pollen grains to stigma. The successful pollination by the agents only determines the survival of the species in wild condition. With this background, a study has been framed to analyze the relationship between floral structure in relation to the pollination of Impatiens in the Western Ghats.

Biography:

Orus Ilyas has completed her PhD in 2001 from Dept of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. Presently she is working as Assistant professor of Dept of Wildlife Sciences, AMU, Aligarh, and also serving the third term of Asian coordinator of Deer Specialist group of Species Survival Commission of IUCN. She is actively engage in Post graduate teaching and research. For her research work she has worked in different project funded by nationally and International. She has worked on ungulates of Himalayas for her PhD and for post doc she worked on Alpine Musk deer. She has published more than 30 papers in reputed national and International Journal. She is also reviewer of various international Journals

Abstract:

Understanding activity pattern of wild animal is a very important aspect of behavior as it affects conservation planning. Considering this, present study was conducted on chital (Axis axis) in Pench Tiger Reserve to record abundance, group composition and day time activity pattern during 2015. Pench Tiger Reserve is 19th Tiger reserve of India, situated in Seoni and Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, India (21°41′35″N 79°14′54″E). For the purpose, distance sampling and scan sampling methods were applied. The results revealed that density of chital was 79.1± 9.6 ind/km2 that projected a total biomass of 3714 kg/km2. The study also suggested that chital groups were composed of 43% of adult females followed by adult male (22%), sub-adult female (8%), sub-adult male (6%) and yearling (21%). Sex ratio revealed that one male was available for two females depicting sex ratio of 1:2. Activity pattern were recorded at two hours’ time slot from morning 6 AM till evening 16 hrs. During this period, the data were recorded on different activities such as resting, standing, feeding, drinking, etc. The results shows the proportion of activities of whole day, that the animals spend more time on feeding, about 40-50%, for foraging they move about 10-15% in whole day, about 20-25% of time spent for resting. Resting activity is mainly performed for the purpose ruminating. They spend about 10% time for standing which includes vigilance or scanning for anything suspicious. Feeding data were also recorded and chital was seen utilizing 11 species of tree, 2 species of shrub, 5 species of herb and 9 species of grasses. Efforts were made to construct the life table on the data collected on the population structure of chital to predict the life expectancy for chital and to investigate mortality rate at a particular age interval, though the data was not enough to predict the population trend, but still efforts were made. The results show that the maximum life expectancy was recorded at the age of sub adult, while maximum mortality rate was recorded at the adult stage followed by yearling.

Biography:

S Rangaiah has completed his PhD from University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru. He is the Professor and Head in the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, GKVK, Bengaluru, a premier university in Karnataka as well in India. He has published more than 40 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an External Member for conducting qualifying examiner for PhD students, member of interview in selection of scientists, peer reviewer in referred journals, and as a member of Board of Studies for PG Diploma course in Mysore University, India

Abstract:

Black gram is one of the important sources of easily digestible good quality protein and micronutrients. It fits well in diversity of cropping pattern, used as green manure. Diversity occur in both qualitative and quantitative traits, high genetic diversity builds a sound gene pool gene for future use and serves as breeding material for crop improvement. The present study aims at analyzing the genetic divergence of 120 genotypes along with 3 checks (Rashmi, DU 1 & T9) were evaluated in augmented design at University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. K mean analysis shows that high genetic diversity for yield and its attributes. After eliminating the unknown sources of variation, the accessions are grouped into 5 clusters and the range of inter-cluster distance is between 8.128 and 28.432. Cluster 1 accounts for maximum number of accessions (27) followed by cluster 2, which include 26. The clusters which accounts for least number of accessions are 5th cluster i.e., 19. The maximum inter-cluster distance is 28.432, which is observed between cluster 2 & cluster 3 and minimum inter-cluster distance is seen between cluster 4 & cluster 5 which is 8.124. Therefore, any selection made between cluster 2, cluster 3 and cluster 4, cluster 5 rewards maximum benefits for yield improvements

Biography:

Diego Gallego García has completed his MSc in Zoology at Complutense University of Madrid. He has presented a paper at the XII Congress of SECEM (Spanish Mammal Conservation Society) related to the feeding ecology of otters, and is now heading to publish his current research on mice foraging behaviour with Mario Díaz at the Spanish National Research Council (MNCN-CSIC). He is strongly interested in doing research, and he is looking for a PhD related to wildlife ecology, animal behaviour or mammal conservation.

Abstract:

Acorn dispersal by Algerian mice (Mus spretus) is decisive for seedling recruitment in savanna-like holm oak woodlands (dehesas), but its foraging behaviour is affected by some variables related to perceived predation risk and competition for acorns. In this study, both factors were manipulated by means of predator scents (Genetta genetta) and ungulate exclosures, respectively. Foraging behaviour and acorn dispersal were analysed with automatic video cameras set for continuous recording on three consecutive full moon nights. Unexpected results arised according to the interactive effects of both factors: outside ungulate exclosures, scent treatment did not cause significant effects on foraging behaviour; inside exclosures, rodents showed a less distressed behaviour in response to the addition of predator scent (longer events, more time devoted to acorn handling, less time spent vigilant and a lower acorn dispersal rate). These patterns of foraging behaviour did not change when the effects of vegetation structure and presence of other mice were controlled for. However, conspecific activity explained the effects of experimental treatments on acorn dispersal rate, whereas indirect effects of exclosures on vegetation were just additive over exclosure effects. The results obtained suggest that these three types of animals (predator, prey and competitor) are inmersed in a complex interaction that also relies on the effects of conspecifics, as well as on other indirect factors such as moonlight or acorn availability. Ultimately, all these factors could help understand better the ecology of seed dispersal by mice in open woodlands

Biography:

Manasee Choudhury is currently pursuing her PhD under the guidance of Dr. Dipali Devi at Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Assam, India. She has three published papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Cocoons laid by the wild sericogenous insect Antheraea assamensis Helfer (Muga) are found to hold heavy deposition of minerals (calcium oxalate) on its surface. This mineral deposition grounds for the difficulty in reeling of Muga fiber in comparison to the cocoons of mulberry silkworm. In this study, the mineral layer is attempted to wash out using some chemical and natural agents like ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), potassium carbonate, citric acid, extract of Musa balbisiana (kolakhar) and Citrus limon (lemon). It is observed that both the natural and chemical agents carefully removes the mineral deposition, leaving the gummy sericin substantially intact, preventing entanglement of fibroin brins and permitting wet reeling. Demineralization helps to extract continuous free flowing silk from the cocoon with very minimum number of fiber breaks compared to conventional degumming. The scanning electron micrographs and FTIR of demineralized cocoon fiber showed removal of granular minerals from the silk. The tensile strength of demineralized fiber showed superiority in contrast to sodium carbonate degummed fiber. Under the implemented experimental conditions ‘kolakhar’ and potassium carbonate functioned as the most efficient demineralizing agent amongst all. Therefore, the present study may be an improved method for softening wild silk cocoons in contrast to harsh degumming for obtaining long continuous reeled fiber threads with very less number of fiber breaks and enhanced mechanical strength along with reduced toxicity and allergenicity.

Biography:

Kerryn Higgs’ first degree was BA (Hons) at Melbourne University, where she won the prize for History and English. She later studied Ecology and Environmental Philosophy at the University of Tasmania (UTAS), Hobart, and completed her cross-disciplinary PhD there in 2011. Her PhD thesis was adapted into a book published in 2014 by MIT Press, Collision Course: Endless growth on a finite planet. She is an Associate with UTAS, a Fellow of the Club of Rome and a freelance writer.

Abstract:

During the twentieth century, physical production increased twenty-fold and human population quadrupled. The results of these developments continue to cascade through the natural and human world, with grave consequences for ecologies and species. Under so-called free trade arrangements, rich countries outsource environmental damage to “less developed” nations, which are forced to degrade their land in order to attract export earnings. Thirty percent of species loss results from the international trade in goods and services. Populations of vertebrate animals shrank by 50 percent in the 40 years after 1970. Species decline is also tangible. The Rockström/Steffen team at the Stockholm Resilience Institute has argued that humans are exceeding the planet’s physical capacities in two areas. Number one: Biodiversity decline and species extinction. This problem is compounded by the team’s other designated danger zones: nitrogen and phosphorous disruption; land-use changes, especially forest destruction; global warming; and ocean acidification. This deterioration gathered pace through the twentieth century. Around 1900, modern corporations emerged in the US and soon banded together into industry groups & business councils. They exploited the newly emerging PR industries with a barrage of propaganda designed to sell their products and naturalize a system of endless accumulation, culminating in the 1970s project to “litter the world with free market think tanks”. By now, economic priorities have superseded all other values and corporate interest has increasingly freed itself from democratic constraint. The trade rules created since the 1970s enforce a universal pursuit of “progress”, a progress that is corroding its own basis in Nature.

Biography:

Qianlai Zhuang has completed his PhD from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and Postdoctoral studies at the Ecosystems Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole MA. He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers. His research focuses on advancing C and N biogeochemistry modeling. To date, he has modeled the impacts of permafrost dynamics, fire disturbances, aerosol and ozone and hydrological dynamics on C and N dynamics of both land and aquatic ecosystems. He has extensively used these models to study the climate change effects on C and N dynamics and their feedbacks to the climate system

Abstract:

This presentation will discuss how we have explicitly incorporated the effects of microbial activities on soil organic matter decomposition into a biogeochemistry model, the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model. Specifically, we will discuss how we have revised an existing Q10-based heterotrophic respiration algorithm, by incorporating the algorithms of Dual Arrhenius and Michaelis-Menten kinetics and microbial-enzyme interactions. The microbial physiology enabled model was then applied to quantify historical and future carbon dynamics of forest ecosystems in the conterminous United States and the Arctic. Our model simulations for the forest ecosystems in the United States demonstrate that the revised model better simulate historical ecosystem carbon dynamics. Another research effort has been made to incorporate a microbial dormancy into an explicit microbial-enzyme decomposition algorithm. The model was then used to examine soil carbon dynamics with and without representation of microbial dormancy. The model was finally extrapolated to global temperate forest ecosystems. Our study shows that the dormancy model consistently produced a better match with field-observed heterotrophic soil carbon effluxes than the no dormancy model. Currently, we are developing more detailed microbial physiologically based soil C and N models that shall improve the quantification of the land ecosystem C and N dynamics and their feedbacks to the global climate system

Biography:

Daan Vreugdenhil is currently the Director of the World Institute for Conservation and Environment, WICE. He has worked for the Dutch Government, the United Nations, the World Bank and the Interamerican Development Bank in the fields of biodiversity conservation, water management, environmental impact assessment, national parks planning, biodiversity monitoring and GIS-ecosystems mapping. His career of 4 decades took him to 80+ countries on 5 continents. He has developed a methodology through which ecosystems can be concisely defined and mapped. He is also a Member of the IUCN World Protected Areas Commission.

Abstract:

The terms biodiversity and ecosystems have been used in many different ways while for a long time, concise reproducible definitions have remained elusive. As both terms are used in a variety of political objectives, clarity, field identification and mapping are paramount. For a long time, vegetation mapping has been possible from aerial photographs but interpretation was slow while photographs were expensive and national sets were often incomplete. In the 1990s satellite images had become available to scientists and the first detailed vegetation map base on satellite images was produced by Iremonger in 1993. This article demonstrated that identifiable vegetation types can serve as proxies for terrestrial ecosystems while aquatic ecosystems can be distinguished on the bases of a limited number of physical characteristics thus opening the way for full ecosystem mapping and identification. While biodiversity in its purest sense refers to the number of species per area unit, hence a numeric equation, it has more commonly been used as sets of species belonging to an area. However, the identification of all species in any given area is usually impossible. The author argues why ecosystems represent partially distinct sets of species, thus allowing for proxy identification and mapping of species or “biodiversity” in the field. The current article reviews commonly used methods to geographically distinguish biodiversity such as biomes, ecoregions and hotspots, demonstrating that those methods either lack a useful scale, a scientifically definable set of parameters, a practically identifiable set of paramaters or all of the above.

Biography:

Mikel A Becerro completed his PhD in 1992 at the University of Barcelona. He has ample postdoctoral experience in the University of Guam Marine Laboratory, the University of Hawaii, and the Smithsonian Institution. He is the Director of the BITES lab, a researcher group based at the Spanish Research Council. He has published over 50 papers in top journals and edited a number of books

Abstract:

Reefs over the world are under strong degradation threat as human population is steadily increasing on coastal areas. Biodiversity conservation relies on multifaceted human interventions, which ultimately depend on ecosystem resistance and resilience to succeed. Empirical data on ecosystem resistance and resilience is mostly lacking and their quantification remains a challenge. Here, we took a multivariate approach to develop a method based on species composition and biodiversity that provides resistance and resilience metrics. We used underwater visual census of fish, invertebrates, and algae to calculate species composition and biodiversity in three marine areas of Cabo de Gata (Mediterranean Sea) differing in management pressures, i.e. total, partial, and no protection. We aimed to identify resistance and sensibility of managed areas (partial and no-protection) to become reserves if management pressures were eliminated. The species abundance compositional data showed that the intermediate area resistance was lower (32%) than no-protected area (42%), whereas the sensibility to change was around 70% and 55% for partial and no-protected area, respectively. Both managed areas showed lower resistance to change considering species turnover than species composition (30%). Our results suggest that, after management cessation, bringing back species abundances is more complex than restoring species presence. Our results shed light on the evaluation of resilience frameworks on marine ecosystems, with strong implications in conservation. Marine ecosystem management and policy actuations based on the resilience properties of the systems may increase the efficiency of our intervations and make a significant step forward to understanding and preserving marine biodiversity

Biography:

Feibo Wu has completed her PhD in 2003 from Zhejiang University (ZJU). She is the Deputy Director of Crop Science Institute of ZJU. Her main research interest is evaluation and identification of plant germplasm, mainly in barley, resistant/tolerant to abiotic stresses and its molecular physiology and phytoremediation of metal-contaminated environments and safe crop production. She has published 97 papers in reputed SCI-Journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of Plant Growth Regulation.

Abstract:

Cadmium (Cd) is potentially toxic to both plants and animals. Recently Cd accumulation in biotic systems as a consequence of human activities is becoming a major environmental issue worldwide; particularly in agricultural ecosystems, where it might endanger crop productivity and quality. Meanwhile, Cd contamination is a non-reversible accumulation process and high plant-soil mobility to be easily accumulated in plant tissues. Furthermore, Cd is believed to cause damage even at very low concentrations and healthy plants may contain levels of Cd that are toxic to mammals. Considering the huge scale of contaminated farmlands in China, breeding of crop cultivars tolerant to Cd toxicity and with low Cd accumulation in edible parts would be a cost-effective and practical substitute mode to fully utilize natural resource and guarantee safe food production. Accordingly, it is imperative to elucidate the mechanism of Cd accumulation/tolerance for developing low Cd accumulation cultivars to minimize soil-to-plant transfer of Cd and increase food production for a rapidly increasing world population. Genotypes with low grain Cd accumulation and Cd tolerant were successfully screened from 600 barley genotypes. Physiological mechanism for genotypic differences in Cd accumulation and tolerance in barley was elucidate via characterizing physiochemical characters, including Cd uptake and subcellular distribution, photosynthesis, free amino acid, phytochelatin, an atomic structure, ATPase, reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism and other physiochemical responses. The long-distance transport of Cd into the developing grains was studied using the markers for phloem (rubidium) and xylem (strontium) transport. Furthermore, stress-specific proteins and relevant genes associated with Cd tolerance were identified. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected for root Cd concentration and Cd tolerance index (CTI) of shoot dry weight, root glutathione peroxidase and dehydroascorbate reductase. Meanwhile, ZIP genes (ZIP3, ZIP8) were isolated from low and high grain Cd accumulation barley genotypes, respectively and incorporated into barley plants (Golden Promise) using Agrobacterium transformation. In addition, we investigated the effects of Zn, GSH, NO and ASA on alleviating Cd stress, indicating that rational Zn, GSH, NO, or/and Se application could alleviate Cd toxicity to plants and reduce Cd uptake and accumulation. Our results have provided a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms of Cd- tolerance in crop plants and built a solid foundation for the identification of candidate genes conferring Cd-tolerant and low Cd barley varieties

Biography:

Giselle Camargo Mendes has completed her PhD in Plant Physiology from Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil and Post-doctoral studies from Texas A&M University, USA. She is a Professor of Federal Institute Goiano. She is member of Polo of Innovation Research. She has published more than 9 papers in reputed journals like Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Plant Physiology, BMC Genomics and Plos One.

Abstract:

Abiotic stress is majorly responsible for reduced yield in several crops. The plants have different mechanism to response of abiotic stress like alter metabolism, productivity and sustainability. The abiotic stress-induced morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and molecular changes and affect growth and productivity of the plants. The plants have strategies and approaches to increase tolerance. Understanding the mechanisms of tolerance and how this knowledge can be utilized is one the most challenging tasks. In the last decades there has been progress to understand the molecular, biochemical, physiologic mechanism of stress tolerance in plants. The biodiversity of these crops are important for understanding the mechanism of tolerance to stress on the genetic variability. Stresses also affect the primary and secondary metabolism. The functional genomics is an important field of molecular biology which focuses on determination of the function of genes and proteins. This research seeks to understand the dynamism of gene transcription processes, translation, interaction between proteins and metabolic alterations in abiotic stress. These approaches are used to facilitate plant breeding, aiming to understand the physiology of the phenotype that is associated with genetic and epigenetic mechanisms during abiotic stress. Advances in genetics have been of great importance for understanding and establishing tools molecular which assist in the evolution of science in solution practical problems and recurrent society.

Biography:

Helena Godoy Bergallo has completed her PhD in Ecology in 1995 from State University of Campinas. She is Associate Professor of Rio de Janeiro State University where she teaches the undergraduate and graduate programs in Ecology and Evolution, and Environment. She has published more than 100 papers with emphasis in Mammal Ecology. Currently, she coordinates the Biodiversity Research Network of the Atlantic Forest (PPBioMA).

Abstract:

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) of Brazil created in 2005 the Biodiversity Research Program (PPBio) in order to expand and disseminate knowledge on Brazilian biodiversity, being formerly implemented in the Amazon and Semi-Arid biomes. In 2012, the program became national, covering actions to create networks of researchers in each biome adopting standardized protocols of inventories and monitoring of biota (known as RAPELD); to support the modernization of biological collections; to conduct research in thematic areas; to develop a portal to access data and metadata; and to synthesize the knowledge gained by the research. In this context created was Biodiversity Research Network of the Atlantic Forest (PPBioMA) relying on 100 researchers from 23 institutions. The PPBioMA network is divided into four sections, the executive and one in each Atlantic Forest region (Northeast, Southeast and South), coordinated by one or two researchers. Each section has its own projects. Executor core aims to provide training courses in different subjects and for different stakeholders (researchers, students, technicians, managers), manage data and metadata, to know the collections associated with the network, and to ensure data integration and knowledge synthesis. Sixteen sites in the Atlantic Forest are being simultaneously studied using standardized protocols, and 81 researches are being developed. Two meetings were conducted to allow the exchange of information among the participants. Project data will be made available according to the data policy, in the Information System for the Brazilian Biodiversity (SiBBr).

Biography:

Yuan Zeng is an Associate Professor in RADI. She completed her PhD in 2008 from Wageningen University in the Netherlands with the thesis of “Quantitative remote sensing for monitoring forest canopy structural variables in the Three Gorges region of China”. Her research interests include hyperspectral remote sensing, forest canopy variable retrieval and modeling, remote sensing applications in forests and ecology. Currently, her research is related to the forest above ground biomass mapping and biodiversity estimation using LiDAR and hyperspectral data.

Abstract:

Monitoring forest biodiversity is essential to the conservation and management of forest resource. A new method called “spectranomics” that map forest species richness based on leaf biochemical and spectroscopic traits using imaging spectroscopy has been developed. In this study, we use this method combined with the airborne imaging spectroscopy (PHI-3 with 1m spatial resolution) data to detect the relationship among the spectral, biochemical and taxonomic diversity of tree species based on 20 dominant canopy species collected in the Longmenhe Forest Nature Reserve of China. Seven optimal biochemical components (chlorophyll, carotenoid, water, specific leaf area, nitrogen, cellulose, and lignin) are selected (R2>0.58, P<0.01) to indicate the forest biodiversity, and the max species number detected by the 7 biochemical combination is 14. Then, 7 vegetation indices are derived to represent the corresponding biochemical components, and scaled from the canopy to leaf scale by divided leaf area index. In addition, we use the morphological crown control method based on watershed algorithm to isolate individual tree crown by LiDAR (>4 points/m2). Finally, a self-adaptive Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering algorithm is applied to determine the optimal clustering numbers (i.e. species richness) and Shannon-Wiener for each 30x30 m window based on the isolated individual tree height and 7 biochemical indices. According to total 22 sample plots, the mapping results show that the predicted species richness is close to the field measurements (R2 =0.6482, P<0.01) and the predicted Shannon–Wiener index provide higher estimated accuracy (R2=0.8252, P<0.01) than the species richness.

Biography:

A A Ivlev has completed his PhD from Chemical Technology University of D.I. Mendeleev. He has finished his Postdoctoral studies in Russian Oil Research Institute in 1986 and got Degree of Doctor of Science in Institute of Chemical Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2005 he has discovered a link between carbon isotope distribution and temporal organization of cell processes and was awarded with medal “To Author of Scientific Discovery” by Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Since 1995, he is a Professor of Russian State Agrarian University of K.A. Timiryazev. He is an author of 159 papers in reputed journals and of 4 monographs. The field of his scientific interests includes isotope fractionation in metabolic processes, photosynthesis, plant physiology, cell mechanisms, evolution, geochemistry and climatology.

Abstract:

The principle of actualism and recent findings on carbon isotope fractionation in photosynthesis, combining with data on isotopic ratio of carbon in sedimentary rocks in form of carbonates and coeval organic matter allowed developing a new model of the redox carbon cycle. The model claims: Carbon transfer between biosphere and geospheres is a conversion of the element from the oxidized state to the reduced one and back. The transfer proceeds under the control of photosynthesis which is an essential element of the carbon cycle. The lithospheric plates’ movement exerts impact on photosynthesis development via periodic injections of CO2 into “atmosphere–hydrosphere” system during plates’ collisions. Due to irregular lithospheric plates’ movement the orogenic cycle consists of a short-term orogenic period of active volcanism, magmatism and mountain building and a long-term geosynclynal period of low volcanic activity and quiet development of Earth crust processes. In short-term orogenic periods, when plates move fast and collide frequently, a great amount of CO2 evolves from the subduction zones of the Earth’s crust (where plates collide) and fills the “atmosphere–hydrosphere” system. It causes expansion of photosynthesis. On contrary, oxygen concentration drops due to oxidation of reducing magmatic rocks. In long-term geosynclynal period, due to photosynthesis, the CO2 concentration gradually drops whereas O2 concentration increases and achieves the maximum by the end of the cycle. In the following relatively extended geosynclynal periods, the collisions of plates are seldom and the rate of CO2 emission from subduction zones becomes weaker than the rate of CO2 assimilation. Thus the pulsating movement of plates exerts an impact on dynamics and development of photosynthesis. It, in turn, determines periodicity of numerous processes including climatic cycles, changes in the rate of biodiversity, irregular accumulation of organic matter in sediments, uneven stratigraphic oil distribution, sea level changes, etc. The redox carbon cycle is a self-organizing system due to negative feedback between CO2 assimilation and photorespiration in response to oxygen growth. It made carbon cycle to shift to ecological compensation point. In this point the system become sensitive to separate plates’ collisions what results in short-term climatic oscillations.

Biography:

Jimmy Loro is the Senior Adviser of the GIZ Regulatory Framework Promotion of Pro-Poor Insurance Markets in Asia (GIZ RFPI Asia) and works with insurance regulators and the private sector in the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. He has more than a decade of success managing versatile programs of GIZ, EU, AusAID, UN, and the Philippine government on developing public-private partnerships, food security, increasing access to elementary education, reduction of maternal mortality ratio and child mortality, advocacies for HIV/AIDS prevention, rural development and poverty reduction. He has a Master’s Degree in Environment and Natural Resource Management from the University of the Philippines Open University.

Abstract:

This study aims to design an environmental index-based insurance for the restoration of environmental services following the occurrence of 13.5 mm mean monthly rainfall. Periodic rainfall results in the development and maturity of Aedes aegypti, the carrier of dengue haemorrhagic fever, and water contamination from the excretion of rats that lead to leptospirosis. Pearson’s correlation established a high positive association indicated by a sig. 2-tailed value of .002 between mean monthly rainfall and dengue cases in 2009. On one hand, monthly mean rainfall and leptospirosis established a weak positive correlation of 279. High positive correlation of dengue and rainfall enables the development of an Environmental Index-based Insurance Product designed to use pay-outs to de-clog canals and waterways, and ensure that adjacent landscapes, and their species of flora and fauna, including mosquito-predatory fishes, and endemic insects, are restored and protected.

Biography:

Nurmala Pangaribuan, completed her PhD from the University of Padjadjaran Bandung (UNPAD), now in charge at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Department of Biology, Open University, Indonesia. In 2005, she became interested in conducting research on peatlands. Peatland is quite extensive but has many obstacles to be used as farmland. Ecology approach is expected to maintain continuity (sustainable) of peats in the future.

Abstract:

Peats ecosystem has different species and densities of Arbuscular Mycoriza Fungi (AMF). Plant Rhizosphere at peatland has various kinds of microorganisms, including AMF. For further use, study of the potency of indigenous AMF is necessary. This research was conducted to study the potency of indigenous AMF, from the physic corn and nuts, which grow on peatland of Rasau dan Jawai, Pontianak West Kalimantan. Soils samples were collected and then observed under microscope. The steps to study the potency of AMF were (1) trapping the spora, (2) identifying the types of spore, and (3) counting of spora with Seive and Wet Techniques by Pacioni and Brunndret. The result showed that the number of spores AMF of Glomus sp., from cultivated Rasau was 227 spores 50 g-1 soil and from of Jawai was 1819 spores 50 g-1 soil. Indigenous AMF from the soil where physic corn and nut grown at Rasau and Jawai were dominated by Glomus sp.

Biography:

Cristina Olmedo is a PhD student in the Zoology and Physical Anthropology Department of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). She received her Master’s in Conservation Biology (2012) from UCM and degree in Biology from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) in 2002. She has 5 published articles and 14 international conferences’ communications in Biodiversity and Species Distribution. Her current research areas are focused on the diversity of parasites in wildlife ungulates and its influence on the populations

Abstract:

This study was to determine if MaxEnt is useful for establishing the most suitable areas for the reintroduction of a wildlife species, the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica). This method uses partial data (presence-only); thus, its reliability can be doubtful compared to models that use presence-absence data (general linearized model). This paper seeks to compare these models from their graphical representations (spatial correlation) instead of using the traditional comparisons of the statistics that they generate. We determined the potentiality of the territory via binomial logistic regression (GLM) and the graphical representation of the territory suitability with presence data only (MaxEnt). To compare both results, correlation analyses were performed. The most suitable areas for the species are similar although they were extended in GLM Model. In both cases, the variables of altitude, anthropogenic influence, and vegetation/stoniness are relevant for the presence of the species. The correlation analyses performed showed a strong relationship between both models. These results suggest that the use of the species’ presence-only distribution modelling employing MaxEnt is useful for defining the preferred locations of the species and can replace the absence-presence methods when information on the absence of the species is lacking

Biography:

Gufrin Amlin has completed his Bachelor’s degree in the field of Plant Taxonomy from Halu Oleo University, Indonesia and MSc in the field of Forest Ecology and Management from MARA University of Technology, Malaysia. He is currently preparing his PhD in the field of Forest Economics and Application of LIDAR for Forest Plantation. He was the Alumni of Advanced Field course on Ecology and Conservation-XTBG, China 2012, managed by XTBG and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He was the Member of Forest Ecology and Management Program in the Faculty of Applied Sciences at MARA University of Technology. He has published about 8 papers in reputed journals and conference index and also one chapter in book.

Abstract:

Gufrin Amlin has completed his Bachelor’s degree in the field of Plant Taxonomy from Halu Oleo University, Indonesia and MSc in the field of Forest Ecology and Management from MARA University of Technology, Malaysia. He is currently preparing his PhD in the field of Forest Economics and Application of LIDAR for Forest Plantation. He was the Alumni of Advanced Field course on Ecology and Conservation-XTBG, China 2012, managed by XTBG and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He was the Member of Forest Ecology and Management Program in the Faculty of Applied Sciences at MARA University of Technology. He has published about 8 papers in reputed journals and conference index and also one chapter in book.

Biography:

Abstract:

Climate change has emerged as one of the hottest topics in global change ecology and rightfully so, contended to being the greatest challenge to biodiversity conservation targets in the 21st century. In retrospect, this appraisal is typically acted upon from a monotypic (and or causality) context. Here we present a first of its kind, global-level approximation of pressures faced by species from a multi-threat perspective. Our results indicate a strikingly clear pattern that climate vulnerable species are threatened by more non-climatic threats than non-vulnerable species. Further, this pattern displays a distinct trend that is highly relevant with a species IUCN Red List conservation status. In this study, we do not imply that climate change is directly responsible for a greater likelihood of a species being threatened by other stressors. While this may be true for some species, several studies indicate that vulnerability is the sum of cumulative effects from multiple threats and others contend that vulnerability is controlled by the species life-history traits (exposure, sensitivity and adaptability). What we are suggesting is that researchers need to better understand if and why the combined effects of stressors are greater than the sum of individual effects in a multi-threat context. This should serves as a reminder of likely complexities of species under projected climate impact and potential interactions with other rapidly evolving non-climatic threats that are equally confounding.

Biography:

Intan Safinar Ismail has completed her PhD and Post-doctoral studies at Okayama University and Hoshi Medical University, Japan. She joined Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2005 and became the Head of Laboratory of Natural Products at the Institute of Bioscience in 2011 until the present. She has published more than 67 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of three scientific journals. She is pursuing chemistry related researches utilizing metabolomics.

Abstract:

The strategies for the identification of bioactive constituents from a plant crude extract have been changing from time to time. Despite the fact that the reductionist - bioassay guided approaches are the most popular techniques currently in practice, at times these methods fail to deliver a holistic information about the therapeutic potential of various chemical constituents of a crude extract, specifically because of their inability to identify the effect of synergism or antagonism, which is considered as the most important attribute of a herbal preparation. Metabolomics being a global and comprehensive tool could overcome this disadvantage. Orthosiphon stamineus (OS) is widely used in traditional system medicine in Malaysia, Indonesia and other SEA countries as a diuretic, nephroprotective and in the cure of diabetes. Different solvent extracts of OS were studied to assess their protective efficacy in streptozotocin induced diabetes mellitus and cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity using appropriate rat models. Aqueous extract of OS has caused significant reduction of blood glucose level and other marker metabolites of diabetes by 14 days treatment with OS. The 50% aqueous ethanolic extract demonstrated optimum protection against cisplatin nephrotoxicity by ameliorating metabolites such as leucine, acetate, acetoacetate and 2-oxoglutarate, as identified by the multivariate analysis of 1H NMR spectra of rat urine samples. Several primary and secondary metabolites such as betulinic acid, rosmarinic acid, epicatechin, quercetin, indole 3 acetate, tryptophan and biotin were identified from the 1H NMR of OS crude extract. Metabolomic correlation between the bioactivity and 1H NMR of OS crude extract was carried out using a PLS regression model, whereby methoxy flavonoids were identified as the contributors of bioactivity. This research demonstrated the potential of metabolomics in natural product research by identifying the contribution of all possible phytoconstituents of a crude extract in exerting the bioactivity.

Biography:

Seyedmahmoud Monemian is currently pursuing his Masters in Tropical and International Forestry at the University of Goettingen in Germany

Abstract:

Regeneration of tree species plays a crucial role to ensure the sustainability of forest and this is more significant when it comes to the multiple functions of forest and their conflicts such as animal browsing, timber harvest, sustainable use of indigenous people from non-timber forest products etc. The study was conducted in Cuc Phuong National Park (CPNP) in Vietnam to analyze the regeneration status in the primary forest. The concentric sample plots were established in the primary forest and whole study took around three weeks and the information was provided by the inventory of the core zone in CPNP. The data was collected from inventory forms and were transferred later on to Microsoft Excel for further analysis. In this study, Importance Value Index (IVI) of the species found in the inventory was analyzed which represents the abundance and frequency of the plant species. Furthermore, population structure of the primary forest was evaluated based on the inventory data. The results demonstrated that Streblus macrophyllus is the most abundant regeneration in the studied area where as many species other species are low in number in the studied plots in the primary forest of CPNP. Moreover, there is no regeneration for 23 tree species out of 75 species found in the sample plots. Additionally, some information about the nursery and plantation of tree species was provided through interview with Vietnamese forest experts.

Biography:

Hazilawati H (DVM, MVSc & PhD) is a Veterinary Clinical Pathologist. She works as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UPM. Her current research interests include ethnopharmacology, leukaemia-lymphoma and blood biomarkers of endovascular dysfunction. She supervised 14 final year project students and 6 Master’s students, and is currently supervising 2 PhD, 4 Master’s and 2 final year project students. She published more than 30 journal articles and 100 abstracts in proceeding books.

Abstract:

Morinda citrifolia or known as mengkudu or noni is a widely known herb that exhibits anti-oxidant, anti-viral, and anti-cancer activity. The aim of this study is to evaluate subchronic oral toxicity of ethanolic extract of M. citrifolia fruits in male Sprague Dawley rats. A total of 40 6-week-old male Sprague Dawley rats were equally divided into 5 groups namely control, 10% DMSO (vehicle), low dose (75 mg/kg body weight), medium dose (125 mg/kg body weight) and high dose (250 mg/kg body weight). The extract was given once daily for 90 days via oral gavage. Standard toxicological parameters include mortality rate, gross pathology, haematology, serum biochemistry and histopathological examination of liver and kidneys were performed. Mortality was not observed throughout the study. There were no significant changes in the body weight, relative organ weight and haematology parameters in all groups. Slight decrease in the levels of aspartate alanine transferase (AST), creatinine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were observed in medium and high dose groups (p<0.05), which were related to the decrease in muscle activity. Mild degree of inflammation and cytoplasmic vacuolation were observed in liver of medium dose group, and mild degree of inflammation, cytoplasmic vacuolation and sinusoidal dilatation were observed in liver of high dose group (p<0.05). Kidneys of the medium and high dose groups showed mild degree of granular and cellular casts (p<0.05). Based on the findings, it is concluded that daily administration of Morinda citrifolia fruit ethanolic extract at 125 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg of body weight causes mild hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in rats.

Biography:

Abstract:

Tropical forests in Malaysia safeguard enormous biological diversity while providing crucial benefits and services for the sustainable development of human communities. They are highly significant globally, both for their diverse and threatened species and as representative unique ecosystems. In order to promote the conservation and sustainable management of forest in this country, the Forestry Department (FD) is using ITTO guidelines on managing the forest under the Sustainable Forest Management practices (SFM). The fundamental principles of SFM are the sustained provision of products, goods and services; economic viability, social acceptability and the minimization of environmental/ecological impacts. With increased awareness and recognition of the importance of tropical forests and biodiversity in the global environment, efforts have been made to classify forests and natural areas with unique values or properties in a universally accepted scale. In line with that the concept of High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) first used by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in 1999, has been adopted and included as Principle ‘9’ in the Malaysia Criteria and indicators for Forest Management Certification (MC&I 2002). The MC&I 2002 is a standard used for assessing forest management practices of the Forest Management Unit (FMU) level for purpose of certification. The key to the concept of HCVF is identification of HCVs of the forest. This paper highlighted initiative taken by the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia in establishing and managing HCVF areas within the Permanent Forest Reserves (PFE). To date almost all states forestry department in Peninsular Malaysia have established HCVFs in their respective states under different categories. Among others, the establishments of HCVF in this country are related to the importance of conserving biological diversity of the flora in the natural forest in particular endemic and threatened species such as Shorea bentongensis. As such it is anticipated that by taking this important initiatives, it will promote the conservation of biological diversity in the PFE of Peninsular Malaysia in line with the Sustainable Forest Management practice.

Biography:

Lidia Ochoa Peñas has completed a Master Program in Ecological Restoration, specialized in Marine Ecosystems from Alcalá de Henares University, Complutense University, Politécnica de Madrid University and Rey Juan Carlos University. Her most recent studies, in collaboration with different organizations, consist of the invasion process of macro-algae along the Atlantic and Cantabrian coasts and its effects in the intertidal communities, and about the state of a seagrass in the Canary Islands.

Abstract:

Restoration ecology is the part of biology which studies how to change the state of a degraded ecosystem into a non-degraded one. It is also used regarding damaged or destroyed ecosystems, specially used in ecosystems altered or degraded by human in order to revitalize ecosystems integrity and functionality. There are a lot of different theories about the importance of restoring ecosystems or species and their value, for example the value of them itself, but one of the most persuasive arguments is the importance of the ecosystem services. Marine ecosystems are a great source of ecosystem services, for instance provisioning services (food, energy) or recreation. They also supply other ecosystem services such as regulation of global climate, sink of nutrients or acting as a reservoir for COâ‚‚, which are less known or considered. Ecological restoration can help these ecosystems, providing an important source of ecosystem services and ensuring their continuity in time.