Organization For Tropical Studies

Abstract The United Nations has identified overarching ecological, climate and social crises as causes of unprecedented declines in human wellbeing in 90% of the world’s countries and cautioned about a “generational catastrophe” for youth wellbeing (2020). This paper presents our process and methods of working alongside youth in Chile, Canada, Costa Rica, and Belize in our Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing project. We describe our social ecology of youth wellbeing framework and the research practices that are youth-centred, participatory and anticolonial including the development of Youth Advisory Committees, co-design of research activities and co-analysis of 117 youth interviews. Co-analyses examines perceptions of wellbeing amidst overlapping social and ecological crises and what it means for young people to live well based in relations with community, territory and biosphere. Implications for youth and planetary wellbeing partnerships and research are offered as we continue to learn alongside these young people and their communities.

Abstract Jingmenvirus is a group of segmented flaviviruses detected in arthropods and vertebrates that has attracted growing public health interest due to the recognition of some members as emerging human arboviral pathogens. As part of a study aimed at deciphering the virome of medically and veterinary important ticks in Costa Rica, we detected Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) in engorged Amblyomma mixtum ticks collected from horses. We assembled three complete genome segments and one partial segment from tick pools. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that JMTV from Costa Rica (JMTV Costa Rica) shares a common viral ancestor with JMTV viruses identified in ticks from the Caribbean and Latin America, with putative reassortment events detected across segments. Two distinct clades of Jingmen viruses were identified in the American continent, suggesting two distinct introductions: one from Europe/Asia and the other from Africa/Asia. Of note, JMTV Costa Rica falls in the same clade as viruses from Europe and Turkey, including sequences found in humans. Our study constitutes the first report of JMTV associated with Amblyomma mixtum . This tick species feeds on a wide range of hosts, including wildlife, domestic animals, and frequently parasitizes humans in Central America. Further research involving the detection of active or past infections in humans and horses after tick bites are needed to evaluate the risk of JMTV-associated arboviral infection in Central America, including Costa Rica. Importance Jingmenviruses are flaviviruses detected in arthropods and vertebrates reported in several countries worldwide. Some members cause disease and infections in humans; therefore, they are considered emergent human arboviruses. In Costa Rica and Central America, there is no information on tick-associated viruses or the role of ticks as putative vectors of viruses. Here, we report the first regional detection of Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) in Amblyomma mixtum ticks collected from horses. We assembled three complete and one partial viral segment from tick pools. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the JTMV detected in Costa Rica is closely related to other detections from Latin America and the Caribbean and is located in the same clade as viruses reported in humans. Additionally, we detected two separate introductions of JMTV to Latin America. To determine whether this JMTV is an emergent arbovirus, research on past or active infections in humans is required.

The unique mutualism between male euglossine bees and the perfume flowers they pollinate in tropical America is one of the most iconic plant–pollinator associations, with a rich body of research incorporating chemical ecology, speciation, and natural history. Male bees collect species-specific blends of compounds from the environment to subsequently use during courtship display. As bees exhibit rapidly evolving olfactory preferences, divergence in floral scent causing visitation by different sets of bee species is thought to drive speciation of the plants via pollinator isolation. Here, we synthesize our current understanding of this specialized system, reviewing the extensive literature on chemical production and diversity in these plants with implications for speciation, and discuss broader patterns from biogeographic and macroevolutionary studies in the group. We highlight gaps in knowledge and propose promising future avenues of research.

ABSTRACT Most plant communities worldwide include exotic plants, which did not evolve with local organisms. The central goal of this study is to test if native organisms expanding their interactions to novel hosts are usually generalists or specialists. Here we studied new associations between hummingbirds, flower mites and Musa velutina (Musaceae), an exotic plant native to northeast India currently invading lowland forests in Costa Rica. Hummingbirds are pollinators, but flower mites feed on nectar without contributing to pollen transfer. Flower mites hitch rides on hummingbird beaks to colonize new flowers. To determine the original diet breadth of hummingbird and flower mite species, we assembled hummingbird and flower mite interactions at La Selva Biological Station. We identified four hummingbird species visiting Musa velutina . DNA barcode analyses identified only one species of flower mite colonizing flowers of M. velutina . All new associations with M. velutina involved generalist hummingbird and flower mite species. Musa velutina displays both male and female flowers. Although flowers of both sexes were equally visited by hummingbirds, mites were 15 times more abundant in male than in female flowers. We hypothesize that this is the result of constant immigration coupled with mite population growth. Only half of the mites hitching rides on hummingbird beaks emigrate to newly opened flowers. Our results show that M. velutina integration to a plant community occurs mainly by establishing interactions with generalists.

The degradative processes such as mining cause loss of species, forest cover, ecosystem services and contaminate bodies of water. Under this problem, the behavior of the water quality of the confluence of the Maguaca and Yuna rivers, in the municipality ofCotuí, Dominican Republic, associated with mining activities, was determined. The research was carried out during two moments: December 2020 (t1) and February 2021 (t2). For this, a deterministic sampling of seven equidistant points in the Maguaca River, and two in the Yuna River, was carried out at t1 in rainy season and t2 in dry season. In addition, the presence of benthic macroinvertebrate species was analyzed as indicators of water quality according to the BMWP-Cub method, and the composition and structure of the riparian vegetation was determined. Likewise, the spatial behavior of the physicochemical variables of water such as potential hydrogen (pH), salinity, electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity, biological oxygen demand (BOD), nitrates (NO3-), chemical oxygen demand (COD), phosphates (PO43-), temperature, dissolved oxygen (O2D), total organic carbon (TOC), and iron concentration (Fe). Water of critical quality (very contaminated) was obtained in the upper part and very critical quality (heavily contaminated) in the lower part, at both times. It is recommended to strengthen monitoring policies for environmental, socioeconomic and health effects.

Critical thermal limits (CTLs) gauge the physiological impact of temperature on survival or critical biological function, aiding predictions of species range shifts and climatic resilience. Two recent Drosophila species studies, using similar approaches to determine temperatures that induce sterility (thermal fertility limits [TFLs]), reveal that TFLs are often lower than CTLs and that TFLs better predict both current species distributions and extinction probability. Moreover, many studies show fertility is more sensitive at less extreme temperatures than survival (thermal sensitivity of fertility [TSF]). These results present a more pessimistic outlook on the consequences of climate change. However, unlike CTLs, TFL data are limited to Drosophila, and variability in TSF methods poses challenges in predicting species responses to increasing temperature. To address these data and methodological gaps, we propose 3 standardized approaches for assessing thermal impacts on fertility. We focus on adult obligate sexual terrestrial invertebrates but also provide modifications for other animal groups and life-history stages. We first outline a "gold-standard" protocol for determining TFLs, focussing on the effects of short-term heat shocks and simulating more frequent extreme heat events predicted by climate models. As this approach may be difficult to apply to some organisms, we then provide a standardized TSF protocol. Finally, we provide a framework to quantify fertility loss in response to extreme heat events in nature, given the limitations in laboratory approaches. Applying these standardized approaches across many taxa, similar to CTLs, will allow robust tests of the impact of fertility loss on species responses to increasing temperatures.

Diferentes actividades humanas modifican los procesos naturales del entorno, por lo que es necesario registrar los cambios, las posibles causas y diseñar estrategias para mitigar su influencia. Para hacer el seguimiento efectivo de los cambios se registran continuamente los datos a través del monitoreo participativo, efectivo para la conservación de recursos biológicos, ya que la comunidad y las personas interesadas son las que mejor conocen su territorio y los organismos que lo habitan. El objetivo principal del estudio consistió en realizar la primera etapa del diseño de un monitoreo participativo con las comunidades aledañas a la Reserva Biológica Cerro Vueltas, ubicadas en el área del Macizo del Cerro de la Muerte, las provincias de Cartago y San José, en la Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas empleando una encuesta con 18 preguntas, de las cuales 12 fueron semiabiertas y seis cerradas. Los resultados de las encuestas evidencian que el turismo en la zona es una de las actividades económicas principales para la comunidad. Además, se reconocen una serie de amenazas relacionadas con el cambio climático, por ejemplo, el cambio de uso de suelo, principalmente por la expansión de las áreas de cultivo de café, y la compra de predios por extranjeros. Amenazas que impactan tanto su entorno como al turismo como actividad económica.

Chapter 11 of the Vegetable Production Handbook of Florida

One of the foundational premises of ecology is that climate determines ecosystems. This has been challenged by alternative ecosystem state models, which illustrate that internal ecosystem dynamics acting on the initial ecosystem state can overwhelm the influence of climate, and by observations suggesting that climate cannot reliably discriminate forest and savanna ecosystem types. Using a novel phytoclimatic transform, which estimates the ability of climate to support different types of plants, we show that climatic suitability for evergreen trees and C4 grasses are sufficient to discriminate between forest and savanna in Africa. Our findings reassert the dominant influence of climate on ecosystems and suggest that the role of feedbacks causing alternative ecosystem states is less prevalent than has been suggested.

No abstract available.