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Approximately one quarter of the earth's population directly harvests natural resources to meet their daily needs. These individuals are disproportionately required to alter their behaviors in response to increasing climatic variability and global biodiversity loss. Much of the ever-ambitious global conservation agenda relies on the voluntary uptake of conservation behaviors in such populations. Thus, it is critical to understand how such individuals perceive environmental change and use conservation practices as a tool to protect their well-being. We developed a participatory mapping activity to elicit spatially explicit perceptions of forest change and its drivers across 43 mangrove-dependent communities in Pemba, Tanzania. We administered this activity along with a questionnaire regarding conservation preferences and behaviors to 423 individuals across those 43 communities. We analyzed these data with a set of Bayesian hierarchical statistical models. Perceived cover loss in 50% of a community's mangrove area drove individuals to decrease proposed limits on fuelwood bundles from 2.74 (forest perceived as intact) to 2.37 if participants believed resultant gains in mangrove cover would not be stolen by outsiders. Conversely, individuals who believed their community mangrove forests were at high risk of theft loosened their proposed harvest limits from 1.26 to 2.75 bundles of fuelwood in response to the same perceived forest decline. High rates of intergroup competition and mangrove loss were thus driving a self-reinforcing increase in unsustainable harvesting preferences in community forests in this system. This finding demonstrates a mechanism by which increasing environmental decline may cause communities to forgo conservation practices, rather than adopt them, as is often assumed in much community-based conservation planning. However, we also found that when effective boundaries were present, individuals were willing to limit their own harvests to stem such perceived decline.

Efectos de las percepciones del cambio forestal y la competencia intergrupal en los comportamientos de conservación comunitarios Resumen Aproximadamente una cuarta parte de la población mundial aprovecha directamente los recursos naturales para satisfacer sus necesidades diarias. Estos individuos se ven desproporcionadamente obligados a alterar sus comportamientos en respuesta a la creciente variabilidad climática y la pérdida de biodiversidad global. Gran parte de la ambiciosa agenda de conservación global se basa en la adopción voluntaria de comportamientos de conservación en dichas poblaciones. Por lo tanto, es fundamental comprender cómo esas personas perciben el cambio ambiental y utilizan las prácticas de conservación como herramienta para proteger su bienestar. Desarrollamos una actividad de mapeo participativo para generar percepciones espacialmente explícitas del cambio forestal y sus causantes en 43 comunidades dependientes de manglares en Pemba, Tanzania. Administramos esta actividad junto con un cuestionario sobre preferencias y comportamientos de conservación a 423 personas en esas 43 comunidades. Analizamos estos datos mediante un conjunto de modelos estadísticos jerárquicos bayesianos. La pérdida de cobertura percibida en el 50% del área de manglares de una comunidad llevó a los individuos a reducir los límites propuestos para los paquetes de leña de 2.74 (bosque percibido como intacto) a 2.37 si los participantes creían que las ganancias resultantes en la cobertura de manglares no serían robadas por personas ajenas a la comunidad. Por el contrario, las personas que creían que los bosques de manglares de su comunidad corrían un alto riesgo de robo flexibilizaron los límites de cosecha propuestos de 1.26 a 2.75 haces de leña en respuesta a la misma disminución percibida del bosque. Por lo tanto, las altas tasas de competencia entre grupos y pérdida de manglares estaban impulsando un aumento, que se auto reforzaba, en las preferencias de aprovechamiento insostenibles en los bosques comunitarios de este sistema. Este hallazgo muestra un mecanismo por el cual el creciente deterioro ambiental puede hacer que las comunidades renuncien a las prácticas de conservación, en lugar de adoptarlas, como a menudo se supone en gran parte de la planificación de la conservación basada en la comunidad. Sin embargo, también encontramos que cuando existían límites efectivos, los individuos estaban dispuestos a restringir sus propias cosechas para frenar esa disminución percibida.

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I argue that the dynamic nature of contemporary, landscape-shaping (geomorphic) processes deserves more consideration in conservation science and practice. In an analysis of a sample of fundamental terms related to geomorphology and area-based conservation in the Web of Science, I found that the terms co-occurred in <2% of the analyzed entries (titles, abstracts, and keywords) from 2000 to 2020. This result is indicative of the rather peripheral attention that, more broadly, landscape-shaping processes seem to receive in the conservation literature. Among conservation scientists and practitioners, landforms that define the physical structure of habitat are often perceived as largely static, whereas the consideration of their dynamic adjustments to geomorphic processes is often limited to extreme events. I use examples derived from river-floodplain environments to illustrate strong, multifaceted, and reciprocal interactions between biota and various erosional and depositional processes. These ubiquitous interdependencies clearly demonstrate that geomorphic processes are an integral part of ecosystem dynamics at time scales relevant for conservation. Crucially, erosional and depositional processes modulate many environmental impacts of past and current anthropogenic activities. I conclude that the absence of a more explicit and widespread consideration of geomorphic processes in conservation science and practice is surprising and detrimental to their effectiveness. I call for bolstered efforts among the conservation and geoscience communities to better integrate landscape dynamics within the field of conservation. The rise of the ecosystem-based and social-ecological systems approaches to conservation and the growth of interdisciplinary geoscience branches (e.g., biogeomorphology, ecohydraulics, and geoconservation) will facilitate such an integration.

Un caso para una mayor integración de los procesos paisajísticos físicos en las ciencias y prácticas de la conservación Resumen En este artículo sostengo que la naturaleza dinámica de los procesos paisajísticos (geomórficos) contemporáneos merecen ser mejor considerados en las ciencias y práctica de la conservación. Con el análisis de una muestra de términos fundamentales de Web of Science relacionados con la geomorfología y la conservación basada en el área, encontré que los términos tuvieron una coocurrencia en <2% de las entradas analizadas (títulos, resúmenes y palabras clave) entre el 2000 y 2020. Este resultado indica que hay una atención relativamente periférica que, en términos más generales, parece que reciben los procesos paisajísticos dentro de la literatura de la conservación. Los científicos y practicantes de la conservación con frecuencia perciben el relieve que define la estructura física del hábitat como estático, mientras que la consideración de sus ajustes dinámicos a los procesos geomórficos está casi siempre limitado a eventos extremos. En las llanuras aluviales existen interacciones fuertes, multifacéticas y recíprocas entre la biota y varios procesos de erosión y deposición. Estas interdependencias predominantes demuestran con claridad que los procesos geomórficos son una parte integral de las dinámicas ambientales en escalas de tiempo relevantes para la conservación. Es destacable que los procesos de erosión y deposición modulan muchos impactos ambientales del pasado y actividades antropogénicas actuales. Concluyo que la ausencia de una consideración más explícita y extendida de los procesos geomórficos dentro de las ciencias y práctica de la conservación es sorprendente y nociva para su efectividad. Hago un llamado para fortalecer esfuerzos dentro de las comunidades de conservación y geociencias para integrar de mejor manera las dinámicas del paisaje dentro del campo de conservación. El incremento en las estrategias basadas en ecosistemas y sistemas socio­ecológicos en la conservación y el aumento de ramas interdisciplinarias de las geociencias (p. ej.: biogeomorfología, ecohidráulica y geoconservación) facilitarán dicha integración.

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Resumen A partir de la Revolución Industrial, las actividades humanas han causado diversas y significativas afectaciones al planeta, ampliamente investigadas e informadas. Los seres humanos y el resto de los seres vivos tienen una interdependencia permanente con el medio ambiente, lo cual se ha hecho más evidente en la actualidad. Los daños en la calidad del agua, aire y suelo, aunados al progresivo deterioro y pérdida de los ecosistemas y las afectaciones a la flora y a la fauna, han propiciado cambios que se traducen en peligros y riesgos de diversa índole e importancia para la salud humana, ya sea a corto o a largo plazo. Estas alteraciones ambientales se acompañan y se potencian con factores sociales, económicos, culturales y políticos, cuyos impactos en la salud se manifiestan a nivel local, regional, e incluso planetario. En este artículo se describen los principales cambios ambientales y sus efectos adversos en la salud, se destaca la importancia de que los médicos los consideren en el trato cotidiano con los pacientes y su entorno familiar, en particular cuando se tienen identificadas poblaciones vulnerables. Se concluye con la recomendación de que el sector salud muestre un mayor interés en el tema de medio ambiente y salud, adoptando un liderazgo para fortalecer los programas de salud pública ambiental con abordajes intersectoriales e interdisciplinarios. Cabe esperar que el campo de la salud y su base ambiental se constituyan en la formación integral de recursos humanos y en promover la investigación que proporcione elementos para definir e instrumentar políticas públicas exitosas.

Abstract Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have caused various and significant effects on the planet widely investigated and reported. Human beings and the rest of living beings have a permanent interdependence with the environment, which has become more evident today. Damage to the quality of water, air and soil, coupled with the progressive deterioration and loss of ecosystems and the effects on flora and fauna, have led to changes that translate into dangers and risks of various kinds and importance for human health, either short term or long term. These environmental changes are accompanied and enhanced by social, economic, cultural and political factors, whose impacts on health are manifested at the local, regional and even global levels. This article describes the main environmental changes and their adverse effects on health, highlighting the importance of physicians considering them in their daily dealings with patients and their families, particularly when vulnerable populations have been identified. It concludes with the recommendation that the health sector show greater interest in the environment and health issue, adopting leadership to strengthen environmental public health programs with intersectoral and interdisciplinary approaches. Let's hope that the health field and its environmental base constitute the comprehensive training of human resources and promote research that provides elements to define and implement successful public policies.

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Resumen La pandemia global por COVID-19 ha generado un sin número de alertas y cambios en las formas de habitar y de consumo. La triada medio ambiente-salud-individuo vuelve a ser protagonista en este escenario, en donde se aprecian graves fracturas en los sistemas de salud pública, hábitat y seguridad alimentaria. Como factor transversal a esos elementos, la contaminación ambiental se convirtió en un efecto facilitador de la pandemia pues la transmisión por contacto entre humanos a través de aerosoles representa la vía de contagio. Esta situación obligó al distanciamiento y confinamiento preventivo, medida que logró hacer evidente la pobreza, la inequidad y la desigualdad que se vive globalmente. Por otro lado, los cambios en la movilidad y la frecuencia de producción en industrias de manufactura trajo una reducción en los gases de efecto invernadero.

Abstract The global pandemic due to COVID-19 has generated countless alerts and changes in the ways of living and consuming, the environment, health and individual triad is once again the protagonist in this scenario where serious fractures in the public health systems, habitat and food security are seen. As a transverse factor to these elements, environmental contamination became a facilitating effect of the pandemic and transmission by contact between humans through aerosols represents the route of contagion, this situation forced the distancing and preventive confinement, this measure to makes evident the poverty, inequality and inequity that is experienced globally, on the other hand the changes in mobility and the frequency of production in manufacturing industries brought a reduction in greenhouse gases.

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OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to map the current spatial distribution of Anopheles plumbeus in Germany, a potential vector of malaria parasites and West Nile virus. Reports of mass occurrence and nuisance connected with artificial breeding site usage by this species were analysed. METHODS: Distribution data were collected from 2011 to 2014 mainly through trapping and submissions of adult mosquito specimens to a citizen science project. In the framework of the latter, additional information was gathered on recent nuisance incidents caused by An. plumbeus, including a longitudinal analysis of mosquito occurrence and the impact of management measures at a nuisance site in south-western Germany. RESULTS: Based on the most comprehensive set of collection data obtained during the last decades, An. plumbeus is shown to be widely distributed over Germany. The data also indicate a continuing extension of the breeding site repertoire of the species from natural to artificial habitats that facilitate mass development. Increasing incidents of persistent nuisance suggest that this mosquito species is rarely diagnosed correctly and managed adequately. CONCLUSIONS: As An. plumbeus is both a serious nuisance pest and a potential vector species, awareness of this species and the public health problems linked to it should be raised among pest managers and public health personnel.

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Correctly classifying a species as extinct or extant is of critical importance if current rates of biodiversity loss are to be accurately quantified. Observing an extinction event is rare, so in many cases extinction status is inferred using methods based on the analysis of records of historic sighting events. The accuracy of such methods is difficult to test. However, results of recent experiments with microcosm communities suggest that the rate at which a population declines to extinction, potentially driven by varying environmental conditions, may alter one's ability accurately to infer extinction status. We tested how the rate of population decline, driven by historic environmental change, alters the accuracy of 6 commonly applied sighting-based methods used to infer extinction. We used data from small-scale experimental communities and recorded wild population extirpations. We assessed how accuracy of the different methods was affected by rate of population decline, search effort, and number of sighting events recorded. Rate of population decline and historic population size of the species affected the accuracy of inferred extinction dates; however, faster declines produced more accurate inferred dates of extinction, but only when population sizes were higher. Optimal linear estimation (OLE) offered the most reliable and robust estimates, though no single method performed best in all situations, and it may be appropriate to use a different method if information regarding historic search efforts is available. OLE provided the most accurate estimates of extinction when the number of sighting events used was >10, and future use of this method should take this into account. Data from experimental populations provide added insight into testing techniques to discern wild extirpation events. Care should be taken designing such experiments so that they mirror closely the abundance dynamics of populations affected by real-world extirpation events.

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