Resilience effects for household food expenditure and dietary diversity in rural western China

A more resilient livelihood is increasingly recognized as an efficient way to improve vulnerable households’food security and optimize their dietary decisions.This study quantifies rural household resilience in western China,identifies the three pillars(absorptive capacity,adaptive capacity,and transformative capacity)contribution to resilience,and then establishes the estimated Resilience Capacity Index(RCI)linked with food security and dietary diversity supported by the multiple indicator multiple cause(MIMIC)model.Results show that,despite geographical heterogeneity,the RCI consistently increased from 2015 to 2021.Households with a higher RCI inheriting better capacity to deal with risk and shocks are significantly and positively correlated with increasing food expenditure and diversifying food choices.It can be because resilient households will allocate more money to food expenditure instead of saving for livelihood uncertainty.Thus,policymakers can provide more incentives for rural households to adopt more dynamic and effective risk management strategies.This,in turn,could yield positive spillover effects by preventing human capital loss associated with dietary-related chronic diseases and mortality.

3D‑Printed Carbon‑Based Conformal Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Module for Integrated Electronics

Electromagnetic interference shielding(EMI SE)modules are the core com-ponent of modern electronics.However,the tra-ditional metal-based SE modules always take up indispensable three-dimensional space inside electronics,posing a major obstacle to the integra-tion of electronics.The innovation of integrating 3D-printed conformal shielding(c-SE)modules with packaging materials onto core electronics offers infinite possibilities to satisfy ideal SE func-tion without occupying additional space.Herein,the 3D printable carbon-based inks with various proportions of graphene and carbon nanotube nanoparticles are well-formulated by manipulating their rheological peculiarity.Accordingly,the free-constructed architectures with arbitrarily-customized structure and multifunctionality are created via 3D printing.In particular,the SE performance of 3D-printed frame is up to 61.4 dB,simultaneously accompanied with an ultralight architecture of 0.076 g cm^(-3) and a superhigh specific shielding of 802.4 dB cm3 g^(-1).Moreover,as a proof-of-concept,the 3D-printed c-SE module is in situ integrated into core electronics,successfully replacing the traditional metal-based module to afford multiple functions for electromagnetic compatibility and thermal dissipa-tion.Thus,this scientific innovation completely makes up the blank for assembling carbon-based c-SE modules and sheds a brilliant light on developing the next generation of high-performance shielding materials with arbitrarily-customized structure for integrated electronics.

Off-farm employment,agriculture production activities,and household dietary diversity in environmentally and economically vulnerable areas of Asia

Access to off-farm employment has been expected to be a critical approach to ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition,two important targets of achieving Zero Hunger.This study aims to investigate the role of off-farm employment in improving dietary diversity through substitution effect and complementary effect with agricultural production activities and income effect.This study adopts Poisson/Tobit/Probit/OLS regressions and the instrument variable method based on the primary survey data collected among 1,282 households at 12 sites in environmentally and economically vulnerable areas of China,Nepal,Cambodia,Thailand,and Myanmar in 2019.The results show that off-farm employment is positively associated with household dietary diversity and the consumption of flesh meat,fish and other aquatic animals,fruits,and milk and dairy products,which are rich in protein and micronutrients.The results of mechanism analysis show that off-farm employment contributes to household dietary diversity by improving crop diversity,especially for poor households,boosting the probability of livestock raising for households with the middle one-third disposal income,and increasing household income.The positive association between off-farm employment and household dietary diversity is much higher for households with the bottom one-third disposal income,low illiteracy,and from upper-middle income countries.These findings imply that off-farm employment does play a vital role in achieving multiple benefits of poverty alleviation,malnutrition reduction,and agrobiodiversity conservation in environmentally and economically vulnerable areas.However,it may enlarge the gaps in dietary diversity between households with low human capital and from low and lower-middle income countries and those with high human capital and from middle-high countries.

Community structure and species diversity dynamics of a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in China:2005 to 2020

Here,we characterize the temporal and spatial dynamics of forest community structure and species diversity in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in China.We found that community structure in this forest changed over a 15-year period.Specifically,renewal and death of common species was large,with the renewal of individuals mainly concentrated within a few populations,especially those of Aidia canthioides and Cryptocarya concinna.The numbers of individual deaths for common species were concentrated in the small and mid-diameter level.The spatial distribution of community species diversity fluctuated in each monitoring period,showing a more dispersed diversity after the 15-year study period,and the coefficient of variation on quadrats increased.In 2010,the death and renewal of the community and the spatial variation of species diversity were different compared to other survey years.Extreme weather may have affected species regeneration and community stability in our subtropical monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forests.Our findings suggest that strengthening the monitoring and management of the forest community will help better understand the long-and short-term causes of dynamic fluctuations of community structure and species diversity,and reveal the factors that drive changes in community structure.

Optimal synthesis of heat-integrated distillation configurations using the two-column superstructure

In the realm of the synthesis of heat-integrated distillation configurations,the conventional approach for exploring more heat integration possibilities typically entails the splitting of a single column into a twocolumn configuration.However,this approach frequently necessitates tedious enumeration procedures,resulting in a considerable computational burden.To surmount this formidable challenge,the present study introduces an innovative remedy:The proposition of a superstructure that encompasses both single-column and multiple two-column configurations.Additionally,a simultaneous optimization algorithm is applied to optimize both the process parameters and heat integration structures of the twocolumn configurations.The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated through a case study focusing on industrial organosilicon separation.The results underscore that the superstructure methodology not only substantially mitigates computational time compared to exhaustive enumeration but also furnishes solutions that exhibit comparable performance.

Biodiversity metrics on ecological networks: Demonstrated with animal gastrointestinal microbiomes

Biodiversity has become a terminology familiar to virtually every citizen in modern societies.It is said that ecology studies the economy of nature,and economy studies the ecology of humans;then measuring biodiversity should be similar with measuring national wealth.Indeed,there have been many parallels between ecology and economics,actually beyond analogies.For example,arguably the second most widely used biodiversity metric,Simpson(1949)’s diversity index,is a function of familiar Gini-index in economics.One of the biggest challenges has been the high“diversity”of diversity indexes due to their excessive“speciation”-there are so many indexes,similar to each country’s sovereign currency-leaving confused diversity practitioners in dilemma.In 1973,Hill introduced the concept of“numbers equivalent”,which is based on Renyi entropy and originated in economics,but possibly due to his abstruse interpretation of the concept,his message was not widely received by ecologists until nearly four decades later.What Hill suggested was similar to link the US dollar to gold at the rate of$35 per ounce under the Bretton Woods system.The Hill numbers now are considered most appropriate biodiversity metrics system,unifying Shannon,Simpson and other diversity indexes.Here,we approach to another paradigmatic shift-measuring biodiversity on ecological networks-demonstrated with animal gastrointestinal microbiomes representing four major invertebrate classes and all six vertebrate classes.The network diversity can reveal the diversity of species interactions,which is a necessary step for understanding the spatial and temporal structures and dynamics of biodiversity across environmental gradients.

High-chromium vanadium-titanium magnetite all-pellet integrated burden optimization and softening-melting behavior based on flux pellets

High-chromium vanadium-titanium magnetite(HVTM)is a crucial polymetallic-associated resource to be developed.The allpellet operation is a blast furnace trend that aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the future.By referencing the production data of vanadium-titanium magnetite blast furnaces,this study explored the softening-melting behavior of high-chromium vanadium-titanium magnetite and obtained the optimal integrated burden based on flux pellets.The results show that the burden with a composition of 70wt%flux pellets and 30wt%acid pellets exhibits the best softening-melting properties.In comparison to that of the single burden,the softening-melting characteristic temperature of this burden composition was higher.The melting interval first increased from 307 to 362℃and then decreased to 282℃.The maximum pressure drop(ΔPmax)decreased from 26.76 to 19.01 kPa.The permeability index(S)dropped from 4643.5 to 2446.8 kPa·℃.The softening-melting properties of the integrated burden were apparently improved.The acid pellets played a role in withstanding load during the softening process.The flux pellets in the integrated burden exhibited a higher slag melting point,which increased the melting temperature during the melting process.The slag homogeneity and the TiC produced by over-reduction led to the gas permeability deterioration of the single burden.The segregation of the flux and acid pellets in the HVTM proportion and basicity mainly led to the better softening-melting properties of the integrated burden.

Impacts of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture on Phytoplankton in Sanggou Bay

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture(IMTA)has been considered as an ecofriendly culture system providing a potential solution to environmental risks caused by intensive monoculture system.However,the impact of IMTA on phytoplankton remains unclear.In this study,the spatial and temporal variations of phytoplankton in Sanggou Bay were investigated seasonally based on 21 sampling sites covering three cultivation zones(bivalve zone,IMTA zone,and kelp zone)and one control zone(without aquatic cultivation).In total,128 phytoplankton species,with diatoms and dinoflagellates as the dominant groups,were obtained across the whole year,and the mean Shannon diversity index(H')and species richness(SR)were determined as 1.39 and 9.39,respectively.The maximum chlorophyll a(Chl-a)(6.32μg L^(-1))and plankton diversity(H'of 1.97)occurred in summer and autumn,respectively.Compared to other zones,the bivalve zone displayed significantly higher Chl-a and lower H'in majority of time.Pairwise PERMANOVA analysis indicated that the phytoplankton assemblage in the bivalve zone was significantly different with the control and kelp zones,while the IMTA zone maintained close to other three zones.Based on generalized additive models,temperature,NO_(2)^(-)-N,N/P ratio,SiO_(3)^(2-)-Si,and salinity were determined as the key factors underlying Chl-a and phytoplankton diversity.Addi-tionally,the results of redundancy analysis further indicated that the phytoplankton assemblage in the bivalve zone is positively re-lated with nutrients such as NO_(3)^(-)-N and NH_(4)^(+)-N as well as water depth,while the phytoplankton assemblages in the kelp,control,and IMTA zones are associated with NO_(2)^(-)-N,SiO_(3)^(2-)-Si,and salinity.Taken all observations into consideration together,it can be inferred that IMTA can effectively reduce Chl-a level compared to bivalve monoculture by reducing the nutrients.However,the SR,H’,and species composition of phytoplankton are primarily determined by local environment factors such as temperature,water depth,salinity and SiO_(3)^(2-)-Si.

Biodiversity responses to insular fragmentation in Amazonia: Two decades of research in the Balbina Hydroelectric Reservoir

As hydropower development expands across lowland tropical forests,flooding and concomitant insular fragmentation have become important threats to biodiversity.Newly created insular landscapes serve as natural laboratories to investigate biodiversity responses to fragmentation.One of these most iconic landscapes is the Balbina Hydroelectric Reservoir in Brazilian Amazonia,occupying>400000 ha and comprising>3500 forest islands.Here,we synthesise the current knowledge on responses of a wide range of biological groups to insular fragmentation at Balbina.Sampling has largely concentrated on a set of 22 islands and three mainland sites.In total,39 studies were conducted over nearly two decades,covering 17 vertebrate,invertebrate,and plant taxa.Although species responses varied according to taxonomic group,island area was consistently included and played a pivotal role in 66.7%of all studies examining patterns of species diversity.Species persistence was further affected by species traits,mostly related to species capacity to use/traverse the aquatic matrix or tolerate habitat degradation,as noted for species of vertebrates and orchid bees.Further research is needed to improve our understanding of such effects on wider ecosystem functioning.Environmental Impact Assessments must account for changes in both the remaining habitat amount and configuration,and subsequent long-term species losses.

Strong evidence for latitudinal diversity gradient in mosses across the world

Species richness generally decreases with increasing latitude,a biodiversity gradient that has long been considered as one of the few laws in ecology.This latitudinal diversity gradient has been observed in many major groups of organisms.In plants,the latitudinal diversity gradient has been observed in vascular plants,angiosperms,ferns,and liverworts.However,a conspicuous latitudinal diversity gradient in mosses at a global or continental scale has not been observed until now.Here,we analyze a comprehensive data set including moss species in each band of 20° in latitude worldwide.Our results show that moss species richness decreases strongly with increasing latitude,regardless of whether the globe is considered as a whole or different longitudinal segments(e.g.,Old World versus New World) are considered separately.This result holds when variation in area size among latitudinal bands is taken into account.Pearson's correlation coefficient between latitude and species richness is-0.99 for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.Because bryophytes are an extant lineage of early land plants and because mosses not only include most of extant species of bryophytes but also are important constituents of most terrestrial ecosystems,understanding geographic patterns of mosses is particularly important The finding of our study fills a critical knowledge gap.

Diversity of Orchids in Terms of Their Distribution, Uses and Conservation in Annapurna Conservation Area of Nepal

The Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), the first conservation area and the largest protected area (PA) in Nepal, is incredibly rich in biodiversity. Notwithstanding this, orchids in the ACA have not been explored enough yet thus making the need for ambitious research to be carried out. Previous study only included 81 species of orchids within ACA. This study aims to update the record of species and genera richness in the ACA. In total 198 species of orchids, belonging to 67 genera (40% and 62% of the total recorded orchid species and genera in Nepal) has been recorded in ACA. This represents an increase of 144% in species and 56% in genera over the previous data. Out of the 198 species, 99 were epiphytes, 6 were holomycotrophic and 93 were terrestrial. Among the 67 genera, Bulbophyllum (17) species were dominant, followed by Dendrobium (16), Herminium (10), Coelogyne, Plantanthera (9 each), Eria, Habenaria, Oberonia (8 each), Calanthe (7), and Liparis (6). Fifty-six species were found to be ornamentally significant and 85 species medicinally significant.

Genetic Diversity of Jute Mallow (Corchorus spp.) Accessions Based on ISSR Markers

Jute mallow is a nutritious leafy vegetable. The leaves are rich in proteins, vitamins and essential amino acids. Molecular characterization of Jute mallow with focus on improvement of leaf yield is scarcely reported. In the present study, inter sequence simple repeats (ISSR) molecular markers were employed to assess genetic diversity and relationships of 83 accessions of Jute mallow from different parts of Africa and Asia conserved at the World Vegetable Center East and Southern Africa. A total of 89 bands were amplified by 8 ISSR primers. Number of polymorphic bands per primer ranged from 2 to 6 with an average of 2.75 bands per primer. Polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.390 to 0.760 with average of 0.53. Average Nei’s gene diversity (h) and Shannon’s information index (I) were 0.335 and 0.494 respectively. The highest pairwise genetic distance was 0.431 observed in a population from East Africa accessions. PC1 and PC2 axis explained 21.69% and 11.66% of the total variation respectively. UPGMA cluster analysis grouped the accessions into six main clusters at genetic similarity coefficient of 0.53 as standard value for classification. These results have important implications for jute mallow breeding and conservation.

Genetic Diversity in Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) under Two Growing Conditions*

This study explores the use of genetic variability for advancing the genetic improvement of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp), particularly in response to insect infestation stress. Over a period spanning 2015 to 2017, forty accessions of cowpeas were evaluated to determine their variability under both insecticide spray and no insecticide spray conditions at the Teachings and Research Farms, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design in three replicates. The accessions were evaluated for plant height, leaf length, leaf width, number of days of 50% flowering, number of pods per plant, pod length, number of seeds per plant, 100-seed weight, and seed yield. Data collected were subjected to principal component and single linkage cluster analyses. Principal axis I (PCA1) accounted for 39% and 35% under insecticide spray and no insecticide spray respectively to the total variation in the accessions. Plant height with a factor score of 0.38, leaf length (0.41), number of leaves (0.37), and 100-seed, weight (0.30) was related to PCAI under insecticide spray while leaf width (0.32). Pod length (0.37) and number of seeds/plant (0.38) were significant to PCA1 under no insecticide spray. Notably, accessions such as SAMPEA6, SAMPEA10, IFE-Brown, and IFE-BPE exhibited consistent performance across both conditions, while others displayed condition-specific attributes. For instance, NGB1063, NGB1152, and NGB1093 demonstrated distinct traits under insecticide spray, while NGB1146 and NGB1124 exhibited notable characteristics under no insecticide spray conditions. Therefore, identifying these forty accessions with desirable traits hold promise for future genetic improvement efforts of cowpea cultivation in Nigeria and beyond.

Dietary Diversity and Food Security Status among Cameroonian Adults Living in Semi-Urban Areas: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Food security is one of the greatest challenges that most African countries face. It is a concept that considers not only food quantity but also food quality. The objective of this study was to describe dietary diversity and food security status at the individual level in Cameroonian populations. Methods: A total of 1180 men and women aged 20 and over and living in the West, North West, and Littoral regions of Cameroon were recruited. Data on dietary habits were collected through the frequency of consumption of various food groups. Dietary diversity was assessed using a 24-hour dietary recall. Food security status was determined by combining two indicators (food consumption score and individual food diversity score). Results: The mean dietary diversity score of the population was 3.53 ± 1.44, p Conclusion: The diet diversity of adults living in the West, North West, and Littoral regions of Cameroon is medium. Although half of the study population was food secure, there is a need to implement food security policies further to reduce food insecurity among the Cameroonian population.

Floristic Diversity, Stand Structure and Plant Life Traits in the Forest-Savanna Mosaic at Ndjole (Centre Cameroon)

With the aim of assessing floristic diversity, stand structure and vegetation ecology, the present work was carried out in the savanna mosaic forest of the locality of Ndjole (Centre Cameroon). A total of 30 floristic plots of 40 m × 40 m (1600 m2) were delineated in the different ecosystems (forest, forest-savanna contact zone and the savanna). Within each plot, all individuals with a diameter at breast height ≥ 10 cm at 1.30 m were taken into account. ANOVA was used to compare the means of the diversity indices of the different ecosystems, and the DUNCAN test at 5% significance level (XLSTAT 2016) to separate these means. A total of 85 species belonging to 67 genera and 33 families were recorded. That is, 68 species in semi-caducifolia forest, 45 in forest-savanna contact zone and 18 in savanna. Urticaceae, Combretaceae, Apocynaceae, Myristicaceae and Euphorbiaceae are the most diverse families in the forest. On the other hand, in contact zones, the Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Annonaceae and Moraceae families are the most diversified, while in the savannas, the Combretaceae, Fabaceae and Annonaceae families are the most diversified. Shannon’s diversity index values (1.7 to 2.37 bits) reflect low specific diversity;Piélou’s equitability (0.86 to 0.9) shows good distribution of individuals within species. The diametric structure of woody species shows an inverted “J” shape in all plant communities. This indicates a high regeneration potential characterized by a greater number of small trees than large trees. Mesophanerophytes and megaphanerophytes are dominant in forests and forest-savanna contact zones, and microphanerophytes in the savannas. Endozoochory is the main mode of diaspore dissemination. As regards the distribution of phytogeographical types, it shows the overall dominance of Guineo-Congolese species in all plant communities. Our study provides detailed data on forest-savanna floristic and plant life traits in the mosaic and recommends further studies on the impact of environmental parameter variations on the forest encroachment into savanna.

Improving Diversity with Multi-Loss Adversarial Training in Personalized News Recommendation

Users’interests are often diverse and multi-grained,with their underlying intents even more so.Effectively captur-ing users’interests and uncovering the relationships between diverse interests are key to news recommendation.Meanwhile,diversity is an important metric for evaluating news recommendation algorithms,as users tend to reject excessive homogeneous information in their recommendation lists.However,recommendation models themselves lack diversity awareness,making it challenging to achieve a good balance between the accuracy and diversity of news recommendations.In this paper,we propose a news recommendation algorithm that achieves good performance in both accuracy and diversity.Unlike most existing works that solely optimize accuracy or employ more features to meet diversity,the proposed algorithm leverages the diversity-aware capability of the model.First,we introduce an augmented user model to fully capture user intent and the behavioral guidance they might undergo as a result.Specifically,we focus on the relationship between the original clicked news and the augmented clicked news.Moreover,we propose an effective adversarial training method for diversity(AT4D),which is a pluggable component that can enhance both the accuracy and diversity of news recommendation results.Extensive experiments on real-world datasets confirm the efficacy of the proposed algorithm in improving both the accuracy and diversity of news recommendations.

Differential roles of seed and sprout regeneration in forest diversity and productivity after disturbance

Natural regeneration after disturbances is a key phase of forest development,which determines the trajectory of successional changes in tree species composition and diversity.Regenerating trees can originate from either seeds or sprouts produced by disturbed trees with sprouting ability.Although both regeneration strategies often develop and co-occur after a disturbance,they tend to affect forest development differently due to significant functional differences.However,the origin of tree regeneration is rarely distinguished in post-disturbance forest surveys and ecological studies,and the differential roles of seed and sprout regeneration in forest productivity and diversity remain poorly understood.To address these research gaps,we explored the role of sprout and seed regeneration in the formation of woody species diversity and above-ground biomass(AGB)productivity in early-stage forest development.Data were collected in two experimental forest stands in the Czech Republic,where trees were cut with varying intensities with the density of residual(uncut)trees ranging from 0 to 275 trees per hectare.All trees were mapped and their sizes were measured before cutting and then,either as a stump with sprouts or a residual tree,remeasured 11 years later.In addition,all tree saplings were mapped and measured 11 years after logging,and their origin(sprout or seed)was identified.To assess abundances and productivity,we estimated AGB of all2,685 sprouting stumps of 19 woody species and 504 generative(i.e.,seed origin)individuals of 16 woody species,using allometric equations.Mixed-effects models were used to analyze the effects of each regeneration strategy on woody species diversity and the total AGB under varying densities of residual trees.Nonmetric multidimensional scaling was used to evaluate the effect of regeneration strategies on species composition.AGB and diversity of sprouts were significantly higher than those of seed regeneration.Sprouts formed on average97.1%of the total regeneration AGB in H ady and 98.6%in Sobe s ice.The average species richness of sprouts was4.7 in H ady and 2.2 in Sob e sice,while the species richness of seed regeneration averaged 2.1 and 1.1 in H ady and Sob e sice,respectively.Increasing density of residual trees reduced AGB and diversity of both sprouts and seed regeneration,but seed regeneration was affected to a greater extent.Residual trees had an especially strong inhibitory effect on the establishment of seed regeneration.Consequently,seed-originated saplings were nearly absent in plots with high residual tree density,and abundant sprouts accounted for most of the AGB and diversity.However,unlike sprouts whose species composition resembled that of the original stand,seed regeneration brought in new species,enriching the stand?s overall species pool and beta diversity.Our results demonstrated differential roles of sprout and seed regeneration in the early stage of forest succession.Sprout regeneration was the main source of woody AGB productivity as well as species diversity,and its importance increased with the increasing density of standing mature trees.The results indicate the crucial yet previously underestimated role of sprout regeneration in post-disturbance forest dynamics.They suggest that the presence of residual mature trees,whether retained after partial cutting or undisturbed,can substantially suppress seed regeneration while the role of sprout regeneration in early succession becomes more distinctly evident.

Afforestation increases microbial diversity in low-carbon soils

Afforestation has an important role in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem function improvement.A meta-analysis was carried out in China,which has the largest plantation area globally,to quantify the effects of plantings on soil microbial diversity.The results showed that the overall effect of afforestation on soil microbial diversity was positive across the country.Random forest algorithm suggested that soil carbon was the most important factor regulating microbial diversity and the positive response was only found with new plantings on low-carbon bare lands but not on high-carbon farmlands and grasslands.In addition,afforestation with broadleaved species increased microbial diversity,whereas planting with conifers had no effect on microbial diversity.This study clarified the effects of plantings on soil microbial diversity,which has an important implication for establishing appropriate policies and practices to improve the multiple functionalities(e.g.,biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation)during plantation establishment.

Biodiversity Assessment of Avifauna in the Forest Reservation of Aurora State College of Technology (ASCOT), Philippines

The research study was conducted to assess and quantify the current status of avifauna biodiversity assets of Aurora State College of Technology’s Forest Reservation in Baler, Aurora, Philippines. Assessment of avifaunal diversity was undertaken by traversing the four established circular plots having a radius of 125 meters or 250 meters diameters each as permanent monitoring stations. Study revealed a total number of 151 Individual species, classified into 23 genera and 21 families. Eighteen of these species are endemic while the remaining five were fully migrated birds. All birds observed were classified as Least Concern (LC) species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species and the updated list of the Birds of the World online. Its abundance, richness and diversity index were calculated using Shannon Diversity Index (H') while Pielou’s evenness (J') for distribution of species. Forest reservation of ASCOT has more even (0.756 J') and moderate diversity (2.812 H') observation on avifauna in general. However, this avian population evaluation was threatened into a verge of extinction due to natural and anthropological threats that causes forest deforestation. Such deforestation of habitat causes dwindling of wildlife territory leading to the scarcity of bird’s population. Thus, the assessment was conducted to aid ASCOT administration find significant plans to ensure sustainable conservation and protection of the remaining avifauna species in the reservation area.

Diversity of Macro Invertebrates of the River Rwizi in Western Uganda: A Citizen Science-BioBlitz Approach

This study elucidates the pivotal role of citizen science-BioBlitz methodologies for rapid assessment of the macro-invertebrate taxa within the threatened River Rwizi of South-western Uganda. Utilizing a comprehensive mixed-methods approach, the investigation focused on six distinct river segments to demonstrate the efficacy of participatory citizen science-BioBlitz approaches conducted by experts, students and community volunteers. BioBlitz events included rigorous macro-invertebrate sampling at each of the selected sites along River Rwizi on nine occasions, incorporating collaborative taxonomic identification procedures involving experts, students, and the local community. Analyzing pollution concerns, diversity metrics, and community narratives yielded insights into river health and socio-ecological dynamics. A total of 43 macro-invertebrate families across 17 orders were documented with class Insecta dominating. Participants in BioBlitz events expressed predominantly positive sentiments, emphasizing satisfaction, education, and heightened awareness, besides negative sentiments rooted in historical mistrust. Intriguingly, the study unveiled an unforeseen trend in macro-invertebrate taxa richness, rising from upstream to urban sprawl and diminishing at peri-urban downstream sites. The study underscores the potential of citizen science-BioBlitz methodologies in advancing community science education and unraveling the intricate dynamics of threatened river ecosystems. The insights offered are invaluable for policymakers and conservationists seeking effective strategies to address challenges in the River Rwizi and comparable ecosystems. .