Ateeb Ahmad Parray

Ensuring the global COVID-19 vaccine equity: Universal vaccine access strategy in the context of low and-middle-income countries

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 20-01-2022

DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2022.2029928

Penguin ectoparasite panmixia suggests extensive host movement within a colony

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)

Date: 07-2018

DOI: 10.1642/AUK-17-226.1

Indirect effects of invasive species removal devastate World Heritage Island

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 14-01-2009

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2664.2008.01601.X

Emerging biological archives can reveal ecological and climatic change in Antarctica

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 08-09-2022

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16356

Abstract: Anthropogenic climate change is causing observable changes in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean including increased air and ocean temperatures, glacial melt leading to sea‐level rise and a reduction in salinity, and changes to freshwater water availability on land. These changes impact local Antarctic ecosystems and the Earth's climate system. The Antarctic has experienced significant past environmental change, including cycles of glaciation over the Quaternary Period (the past ~2.6 million years). Understanding Antarctica's paleoecosystems, and the corresponding paleoenvironments and climates that have shaped them, provides insight into present day ecosystem change, and importantly, helps constrain model projections of future change. Biological archives such as extant moss beds and peat profiles, biological proxies in lake and marine sediments, vertebrate animal colonies, and extant terrestrial and benthic marine invertebrates, complement other Antarctic paleoclimate archives by recording the nature and rate of past ecological change, the paleoenvironmental drivers of that change, and constrain current ecosystem and climate models. These archives provide invaluable information about terrestrial ice‐free areas, a key location for Antarctic bio ersity, and the continental margin which is important for understanding ice sheet dynamics. Recent significant advances in analytical techniques (e.g., genomics, biogeochemical analyses) have led to new applications and greater power in elucidating the environmental records contained within biological archives. Paleoecological and paleoclimate discoveries derived from biological archives, and integration with existing data from other paleoclimate data sources, will significantly expand our understanding of past, present, and future ecological change, alongside climate change, in a unique, globally significant region.

The changing form of Antarctic biodiversity

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 06-2015

DOI: 10.1038/NATURE14505

Abstract: Antarctic bio ersity is much more extensive, ecologically erse and biogeographically structured than previously thought. Understanding of how this ersity is distributed in marine and terrestrial systems, the mechanisms underlying its spatial variation, and the significance of the microbiota is growing rapidly. Broadly recognizable drivers of ersity variation include energy availability and historical refugia. The impacts of local human activities and global environmental change nonetheless pose challenges to the current and future understanding of Antarctic bio ersity. Life in the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean is surprisingly rich, and as much at risk from environmental change as it is elsewhere.

Open Science principles for accelerating trait-based science across the Tree of Life

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 17-02-2020

DOI: 10.1038/S41559-020-1109-6

Scientists' warning on climate change and insects

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 07-11-2022

DOI: 10.1002/ECM.1553

Abstract: Climate warming is considered to be among the most serious of anthropogenic stresses to the environment, because it not only has direct effects on bio ersity, but it also exacerbates the harmful effects of other human‐mediated threats. The associated consequences are potentially severe, particularly in terms of threats to species preservation, as well as in the preservation of an array of ecosystem services provided by bio ersity. Among the most affected groups of animals are insects—central components of many ecosystems—for which climate change has pervasive effects from in iduals to communities. In this contribution to the scientists' warning series, we summarize the effect of the gradual global surface temperature increase on insects, in terms of physiology, behavior, phenology, distribution, and species interactions, as well as the effect of increased frequency and duration of extreme events such as hot and cold spells, fires, droughts, and floods on these parameters. We warn that, if no action is taken to better understand and reduce the action of climate change on insects, we will drastically reduce our ability to build a sustainable future based on healthy, functional ecosystems. We discuss perspectives on relevant ways to conserve insects in the face of climate change, and we offer several key recommendations on management approaches that can be adopted, on policies that should be pursued, and on the involvement of the general public in the protection effort.

Gall wasp biocontrol of invasive Acacia longifolia

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 12-2017

DOI: 10.1002/ECS2.2043

Management implications of the Macquarie Island trophic cascade revisited: A reply to Dowding et al. (2009)

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 10-2009

DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2664.2009.01708.X

Geothermal activity helps life survive glacial cycles

Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Date: 10-03-2014

DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.1321437111

Abstract: The evolution and maintenance of ersity through cycles of past climate change have hinged largely on the availability of refugia. Geothermal refugia may have been particularly important for survival through past glaciations. Our spatial modeling of Antarctic bio ersity indicates that some terrestrial groups likely survived throughout intense glacial cycles on ice-free land or in sub-ice caves associated with areas of geothermal activity, from which recolonization of the rest of the continent took place. These results provide unexpected insights into the responses of various species to past climate change and the importance of geothermal regions in promoting bio ersity. Furthermore, they indicate the likely locations of bio ersity “hotspots” in Antarctica, suggesting a critical focus for future conservation efforts.

Global maps of soil temperature.

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 11-02-2022

DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16060

Abstract: Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km

A multi‐site method to capture turnover in rare to common interactions in bipartite species networks

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 28-11-2022

DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13639

Abstract: Ecological network structure is maintained by a generalist core of common species. However, rare species contribute substantially to both the species and functional ersity of networks. Capturing changes in species composition and interactions, measured as turnover, is central to understanding the contribution of rare and common species and their interactions. Due to a large contribution of rare interactions, the pairwise metrics used to quantify interaction turnover are, however, sensitive to compositional change in the interactions of, often rare, peripheral specialists rather than common generalists in the network. Here we expand on pairwise interaction turnover using a multi‐site metric that enables quantifying turnover in rare to common interactions (in terms of occurrence of interactions). The metric further separates this turnover into interaction turnover due to species turnover and interaction rewiring. We demonstrate the application and value of this method using a host–parasitoid system s led along gradients of environmental modification. In the study system, both the type and amount of habitat needed to maintain interaction composition depended on the properties of the interactions considered, that is, from rare to common. The analyses further revealed the potential of host switching to prevent or delay species loss, and thereby buffer the system from perturbation. Multi‐site interaction turnover provides a comprehensive measure of network change that can, for ex le, detect ecological thresholds to habitat loss for rare to common interactions. Accurate description of turnover in common, in addition to rare, species and their interactions is particularly relevant for understanding how network structure and function can be maintained.

Antarctic environmental challenges in a global context

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Date: 27-01-2017

DOI: 10.4337/9781784717681

“We are invisible to them”—Identifying the most vulnerable groups in humanitarian crises during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Rohingyas and the Host communities of Cox’s Bazar

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 08-06-2023

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PGPH.0000451

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on the Rohingya and the Bangladeshi host communities, which have been well documented in the literature. However, the specific groups of people rendered most vulnerable and marginalized during the pandemic have not been studied comprehensively. This paper draws on data to identify the most vulnerable groups of people within the Rohingya and the host communities of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study employed a systematic sequential method to identify the most vulnerable groups in the context of Rohingya and Host communities of Cox’s Bazar. We conducted a rapid literature review (n = 14 articles) to list down Most vulnerable groups (MVGs) in the studied contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic and conducted four (04) group sessions with humanitarian providers and relevant stakeholders in a research design workshop to refine the list. We also conducted field visits to both communities and interviewed community people using In-depth interviews (n = 16), Key-informant Interviews (n = 8), and several informal discussions to identify the most vulnerable groups within them and their social drivers of vulnerabilities. Based on the feedback received from the community, we finalized our MVGs criteria. The data collection commenced from November 2020 to March 2021. Informed consent was sought from all participants, and ethical clearance for this study was obtained from the IRB of BRAC JPGSPH. The most vulnerable groups identified in this study were: single female household heads, pregnant and lactating mothers, persons with disability, older adults, and adolescents. Our analysis also found some factors that may determine the different levels of vulnerabilities and risks faced by some groups more than others in the Rohingya and host communities during the pandemic. Some of these factors include economic constraints, gender norms, food security, social safety-security, psychosocial well-being, access to healthcare services, mobility, dependency, and a sudden halt in education. One of the most significant impacts of COVID-19 was the loss of earning sources, especially for the already economically vulnerable this had far-reaching consequences on in iduals’ food security and food consumption. Across the communities, it was found that the economically most affected group was single female household heads. The elderly and pregnant and lactating mothers face challenges seeking health services due to their restricted mobility and dependency on other family members. Persons living with disabilities from both contexts reported feelings of inadequacy in their families, exacerbated during the pandemic. Additionally, the shutdown in the formal education, and informal learning centres in both communities had the most significant impact on the adolescents during the COVID-19 lockdown. This study identifies the most vulnerable groups and their vulnerabilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the Rohingya and Host communities of Cox’s Bazar. The reasons behind their vulnerabilities are intersectional and represent deeply embedded patriarchal norms that exist in both communities. The findings are essential for the humanitarian aid agencies and policymakers for evidence-based decision-making and service provisions for addressing the vulnerabilities of the most vulnerable groups.

An assessment of gender vulnerability in the humanitarian crisis in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh: Developing a gender-based vulnerability index in the Rohingya and Host community contexts

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 10-2022

DOI: 10.1016/J.IJDRR.2022.103246

Multiple energy sources and metabolic strategies sustain microbial diversity in Antarctic desert soils

Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Date: 03-11-2021

DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.2025322118

Abstract: Diverse microbial life has been detected in the cold desert soils of Antarctica once thought to be barren. Here, we provide metagenomic, biogeochemical, and culture-based evidence that Antarctic soil microorganisms are phylogenetically and functionally distinct from those in other soils and adopt various metabolic and ecological strategies. The most abundant community members are metabolically versatile aerobes that use ubiquitous atmospheric trace gases to potentially meet energy, carbon, and, through metabolic water production, hydration needs. Lineages capable of harvesting solar energy, oxidizing edaphic inorganic substrates, or adopting symbiotic lifestyles were also identified. Altogether, these findings provide insights into microbial adaptation to extreme water and energy limitation and will inform ongoing efforts to conserve the unique bio ersity on this continent.

Chemosynthetic and photosynthetic bacteria contribute differentially to primary production across a steep desert aridity gradient

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 25-05-2021

DOI: 10.1038/S41396-021-01001-0

Abstract: Desert soils harbour erse communities of aerobic bacteria despite lacking substantial organic carbon inputs from vegetation. A major question is therefore how these communities maintain their bio ersity and biomass in these resource-limiting ecosystems. Here, we investigated desert topsoils and biological soil crusts collected along an aridity gradient traversing four climatic regions (sub-humid, semi-arid, arid, and hyper-arid). Metagenomic analysis indicated these communities vary in their capacity to use sunlight, organic compounds, and inorganic compounds as energy sources. Thermoleophilia, Actinobacteria, and Acidimicrobiia were the most abundant and prevalent bacterial classes across the aridity gradient in both topsoils and biocrusts. Contrary to the classical view that these taxa are obligate organoheterotrophs, genome-resolved analysis suggested they are metabolically flexible, with the capacity to also use atmospheric H 2 to support aerobic respiration and often carbon fixation. In contrast, Cyanobacteria were patchily distributed and only abundant in certain biocrusts. Activity measurements profiled how aerobic H 2 oxidation, chemosynthetic CO 2 fixation, and photosynthesis varied with aridity. Cell-specific rates of atmospheric H 2 consumption increased 143-fold along the aridity gradient, correlating with increased abundance of high-affinity hydrogenases. Photosynthetic and chemosynthetic primary production co-occurred throughout the gradient, with photosynthesis dominant in biocrusts and chemosynthesis dominant in arid and hyper-arid soils. Altogether, these findings suggest that the major bacterial lineages inhabiting hot deserts use different strategies for energy and carbon acquisition depending on resource availability. Moreover, they highlight the previously overlooked roles of Actinobacteriota as abundant primary producers and trace gases as critical energy sources supporting productivity and resilience of desert ecosystems.

Chronic heat stress in tropical urban informal settlements

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 11-2021

DOI: 10.1016/J.ISCI.2021.103248

Australian penguin ticks screened for novel Borrelia species

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 02-2018

DOI: 10.1016/J.TTBDIS.2017.12.007

Abstract: Lyme borreliosis (or Lyme Disease) is an emerging threat to human health in the Northern Hemisphere caused by tick-borne bacteria from the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl) complex. Seabirds are important reservoir hosts of some members of the Bbsl complex in the Northern Hemisphere, and some evidence suggests this may be true of penguins in the Southern Hemisphere. While the Bbsl complex has not been detected in Australia, a novel Borrelia species ('Candidatus Borrelia tachyglossi') was recently sequenced from native ticks (Ixodes holocyclus and Bothriocroton concolor) parasitising echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), suggesting unidentified borreliae may be circulating amongst native wildlife and their ticks. In the present study, we investigated whether ticks parasitising little penguins (Eudyptula novaehollandiae) harbour native or introduced Borrelia bacteria. We chose this penguin species because it is heavily exploited by ticks during the breeding season, lives in close proximity to other potential reservoir hosts (including native wildlife and migratory seabirds), and is known to be infected with other tick-borne pathogens (Babesia). We screened over 230 penguin ticks (Ixodes spp.) from colonies in south-eastern Australia, and found no evidence of Borrelia DNA. The apparent absence or rarity of the bacterium in south-eastern Australia has important implications for identifying potential tick-borne pathogens in an understudied region.

Introduced and invasive alien species of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean Islands

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 11-04-2023

DOI: 10.1038/S41597-023-02113-2

Abstract: Open data on biological invasions are particularly critical in regions that are co-governed and/or where multiple independent parties have responsibility for preventing and controlling invasive alien species. The Antarctic is one such region where, in spite of multiple ex les of invasion policy and management success, open, centralised data are not yet available. This dataset provides current and comprehensive information available on the identity, localities, establishment, eradication status, dates of introduction, habitat, and evidence of impact of known introduced and invasive alien species for the terrestrial and freshwater Antarctic and Southern Ocean region. It includes 3066 records for 1204 taxa and 36 in idual localities. The evidence indicates that close to half of these species are not having an invasive impact, and that ~ 13% of records are of species considered locally invasive. The data are provided using current bio ersity and invasive alien species data and terminology standards. They provide a baseline for updating and maintaining the foundational knowledge needed to halt the rapidly growing risk of biological invasion in the region.

Reclaiming comprehensive public health

Publisher: BMJ

Date: 09-2020

DOI: 10.1136/BMJGH-2020-003886

ChatGPT and global public health: Applications, challenges, ethical considerations and mitigation strategies

Publisher: Elsevier BV

Date: 2023

DOI: 10.1016/J.GLT.2023.05.001

Options for reducing uncertainty in impact classification for alien species

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 04-2021

DOI: 10.1002/ECS2.3461

Abstract: Impact assessment is an important and cost‐effective tool for assisting in the identification and prioritization of invasive alien species. With the number of alien and invasive alien species expected to increase, reliance on impact assessment tools for the identification of species that pose the greatest threats will continue to grow. Given the importance of such assessments for management and resource allocation, it is critical to understand the uncertainty involved and what effect this may have on the outcome. Using an uncertainty typology and insects as a model taxon, we identified and classified the causes and types of uncertainty when performing impact assessments on alien species. We assessed 100 alien insect species across two rounds of assessments with each species independently assessed by two assessors. Agreement between assessors was relatively low for all three impact classification components (mechanism, severity, and confidence) after the first round of assessments. For the second round, we revised guidelines and gave assessors access to each other’s assessments which improved agreement by between 20% and 30% for impact mechanism, severity, and confidence. Of the 12 potential reasons for assessment discrepancies identified a priori, 11 were found to occur. The most frequent causes (and types) of uncertainty (i.e., differences between assessment outcomes for the same species) were as follows: incomplete information searches (systematic error), unclear mechanism and/or extent of impact (subjective judgment due to a lack of knowledge), and limitations of the assessment framework (context dependence). In response to these findings, we identify actions that may reduce uncertainty in the impact assessment process, particularly for assessing speciose taxa with erse life histories such as Insects. Evidence of environmental impact was available for most insect species, and (of the non‐random original subset of species assessed) 14 of those with evidence were identified as high impact species (with either major or massive impact). Although uncertainty in risk assessment, including impact assessments, can never be eliminated, identifying, and communicating its cause and variety is a first step toward its reduction and a more reliable assessment outcome, regardless of the taxa being assessed.

Study design, rationale and methods of the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) study: a cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate environmental and human health impac

Publisher: BMJ

Date: 2021

DOI: 10.1136/BMJOPEN-2020-042850

Abstract: Increasing urban populations have led to the growth of informal settlements, with contaminated environments linked to poor human health through a range of interlinked pathways. Here, we describe the design and methods for the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) study, a transdisciplinary randomised trial evaluating impacts of an intervention to upgrade urban informal settlements in two Asia-Pacific countries. RISE is a cluster randomised controlled trial among 12 settlements in Makassar, Indonesia, and 12 in Suva, Fiji. Six settlements in each country have been randomised to receive the intervention at the outset the remainder will serve as controls and be offered intervention delivery after trial completion. The intervention involves a water-sensitive approach, delivering site-specific, modular, decentralised infrastructure primarily aimed at improving health by decreasing exposure to environmental faecal contamination. Consenting households within each informal settlement site have been enrolled, with longitudinal assessment to involve health and well-being surveys, and human and environmental s ling. Primary outcomes will be evaluated in children under 5 years of age and include prevalence and ersity of gastrointestinal pathogens, abundance and ersity of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes in gastrointestinal microorganisms and markers of gastrointestinal inflammation. Diverse secondary outcomes include changes in microbial contamination abundance and ersity of pathogens and AMR genes in environmental s les impacts on ecological bio ersity and microclimates mosquito vector abundance anthropometric assessments, nutrition markers and systemic inflammation in children caregiver-reported and self-reported health symptoms and healthcare utilisation and measures of in idual and community psychological, emotional and economic well-being. The study aims to provide proof-of-concept evidence to inform policies on upgrading of informal settlements to improve environments and human health and well-being. Study protocols have been approved by ethics boards at Monash University, Fiji National University and Hasanuddin University. ACTRN12618000633280 Pre-results.

Publisher Correction: Open Science principles for accelerating trait-based science across the Tree of Life

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 09-03-2020

DOI: 10.1038/S41559-020-1167-9

“Younger women had more access to COVID-19 information”: An intersectional analysis of factors influencing women and girls’ access to COVID-19 information in Rohingya and host communities in Banglades

Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Date: 05-12-2022

DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PGPH.0000459

Abstract: The Rohingya and Bangladeshi host communities live at a heightened risk of COVID-19 impact due to their pre-existing vulnerabilities, religious beliefs, and strict socio-cultural and gender norms that render primarily women and girls vulnerable. However, the extent of this vulnerability varies within and across population groups in the host and Rohingya communities. The intersectionality lens helps identify, recognize, and understand these factors that create inequities within populations. This study explored the factors that influenced the women and girls’ access to information during the COVID-19 pandemic through an intersectional lens. This paper presents partial findings from the exploratory qualitative part of mixed-method research conducted in ten Rohingya c s and four wards of the adjacent host communities in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Data were extracted from 24 in-depth interviews (12 in each community) conducted from November 2020 to March 2021 with erse participants, including adolescent girls, younger women, adult women, pregnant and lactating mothers, persons with disabilities, older adults, and single female-household heads. All participants provided verbal informed consent before the interviews. In the case of the adolescents, assent was taken from the participants, and verbal informed consent was taken from their parents/guardians. The ethical clearance of this study was sought from the institutional review board of BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University. We find that the women and girls living in Rohingya communities exhibit a more profound structural interplay of factors within their socio-ecological ecosystem depending on their age, power, and position in the society, physical (dis)abilities, and pre-existing vulnerabilities stemming from their exodus, making them more vulnerable to COVID-19 impact by hindering their access to information. Unlike Rohingya, the host women and girls explain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their access to information through the lens of intergenerational poverty and continuous strain on existing resources, thereby highlighting shrinking opportunities due to the influx, COVID-19 infodemic and misinformation, access to digital devices amongst the adolescents, and restricted mobility mainly due to transport, school closures, and distance-related issues. Moreover, the socio-cultural beliefs and the gender norms imposed on women and adolescent girls played an essential role in accessing information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and consequently influenced their perception of and response to the disease and its safety protocols. Socio-cultural gender norms led to mobility restrictions, which compounded by lockdowns influenced their access to information resulting in dependency on secondary sources, usually from male members of their families, which can easily mislead rovide mis artial information. The younger age groups had more access to primary sources of information and a broader support network. In comparison, the older age groups were more dependent on secondary sources, and their social networks were limited to their family members due to their movement difficulty because of age/aging-related physical conditions. This study explored and analyzed the intersectional factors that influenced the women and girls’ access to information during the COVID-19 pandemic from two contexts with varying degrees of pre-existing vulnerability and its extent. These include gender, age, state of vulnerability, power and privilege, socio-economic status, and physical (dis)ability. It is imperative that services geared towards the most vulnerable are contextualized and consider the intersectional factors that determine the communities’ access to information.

How to prevent and address safeguarding concerns in global health research programmes: practice, process and positionality in marginalised spaces

Publisher: BMJ

Date: 05-2020

DOI: 10.1136/BMJGH-2019-002253

Abstract: Safeguarding is rapidly rising up the international development agenda, yet literature on safeguarding in related research is limited. This paper shares processes and practice relating to safeguarding within an international research consortium (the ARISE hub, known as ARISE). ARISE aims to enhance accountability and improve the health and well-being of marginalised people living and working in informal urban spaces in low-income and middle-income countries (Bangladesh, India, Kenya and Sierra Leone). Our manuscript is ided into three key sections. We start by discussing the importance of safeguarding in global health research and consider how thinking about vulnerability as a relational concept (shaped by unequal power relations and structural violence) can help locate fluid and context specific safeguarding risks within broader social systems. We then discuss the different steps undertaken in ARISE to develop a shared approach to safeguarding: sharing institutional guidelines and practice facilitating a participatory process to agree a working definition of safeguarding and joint understandings of vulnerabilities, risks and mitigation strategies and share experiences developing action plans for safeguarding. This is followed by reflection on our key learnings including how safeguarding, ethics and health and safety concerns overlap the challenges of referral and support for safeguarding concerns within frequently underserved informal urban spaces and the importance of reflective practice and critical thinking about power, judgement and positionality and the ownership of the global narrative surrounding safeguarding. We finish by situating our learning within debates on decolonising science and argue for the importance of an iterative, ongoing learning journey that is critical, reflective and inclusive of vulnerable people.

COVID-19 vaccination coverage is extremely low among older population in Bangladesh: findings from a cross-sectional study

Publisher: Informa UK Limited

Date: 31-01-2022

DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2022.2030624

The effect of network size and sampling completeness in depauperate networks

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 02-11-2019

DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12912

Abstract: The accurate estimation of interaction network structure is essential for understanding network stability and function. A growing number of studies evaluate under-s ling as the degree of s ling completeness (proportional richness observed). How the relationship between network structural metrics and s ling completeness varies across networks of different sizes remains unclear, but this relationship has implications for the within- and between-system comparability of network structure. Here, we test the combined effects of network size and s ling completeness on the structure of spatially distinct networks (i.e., subwebs) in a host-parasitoid model system to better understand the within-system variability in metric bias. Richness estimates were used to quantify a gradient of s ling completeness of species and interactions across randomly subs led subwebs. The combined impacts of network size and s ling completeness on the estimated values of twelve unweighted and weighted network metrics were tested. The robustness of network metrics to under-s ling was strongly related to network size, and s ling completeness of interactions were generally a better predictor of metric bias than s ling completeness of species. Weighted metrics often performed better than unweighted metrics at low s ling completeness however, this was mainly evident at large rather than small subweb size. These outcomes highlight the significance of under-s ling for the comparability of both unweighted and weighted network metrics when networks are small and vary in size. This has implications for within-system comparability of species-poor networks and, more generally, reveals problems with under-s ling ecological networks that may otherwise be difficult to detect in species-rich networks. To mitigate the impacts of under-s ling, more careful considerations of system-specific variation in metric bias are needed.

Classification and ecological relevance of soundscapes in urban informal settlements

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 09-02-2023

DOI: 10.1002/PAN3.10454

Abstract: Sound exerts wide‐ranging influence on humans. The quality of that influence depends on the sound source and context in which it is perceived, but nature sounds are generally preferred by people and associated with health and well‐being benefits. In many environments, sounds are highly mixed giving rise to a multi‐source ‘soundscape’ that may vary through days or seasons. The complex and dynamic nature of soundscapes makes them challenging to quantify or classify to rigorously compare them and their contributing sources quantitatively through space and time. We address this challenge by developing an analytical procedure resulting in a generalized soundscape classification framework that (i) elucidates dominant sound sources (e.g. biophony vs. anthrophony) and (ii) can be used to improve our understanding of spatial and temporal variation in soundscapes across different contexts. We also address a knowledge gap in urban sound research by describing the soundscapes of urban informal settlements in Fiji and Indonesia. Despite the growing emphasis on improving the physical design and quality of life in urban informal settlements, little is known about soundscapes in these settings or their relationship to human health and well‐being. We identified seven soundscape classes representing relative dominance by (i) sustained geophony, biophony dominated by (ii) insect stridulation or (iii) bird song, anthrophony dominated by (iv) machines, (v) vehicles, (vi) human voices or (vii) a mixture of the former. These classes were applicable in both Indonesia and Fiji but differed in their prevalence between the countries, times of day and seasons in expected ways. Future automatic sorting of new sound data into this classification framework is provided by a supervised classification model that attained an overall testing accuracy of 94% and Cohen's kappa of 0.93. Our procedure yields broadly applicable, informative soundscape classes indicative of dominant sound sources, including natural sounds, that are known to have different effects on human health. Therefore, our soundscape classification framework can be used in conjunction with health, well‐being, or economic data, to aid the development, assessment and scaling of sustainable design solutions for liveable cities and especially for improving urban informal settlement environments. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Polar lessons learned: long-term management based on shared threats in Arctic and Antarctic environments

Publisher: Wiley

Date: 08-2015

DOI: 10.1890/140315

“Younger women had more access to COVID-19 information”: An Intersectional Analysis of Factors Influencing Women and Girls’ Access to COVID-19 Information in Rohingya and Host Communities in Ba

Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Date: 21-04-2022

DOI: 10.1101/2022.04.18.22273840

Abstract: The Rohingya and Bangladeshi host communities live at a heightened risk of COVID-19 impact due to their pre-existing vulnerabilities, religious beliefs, and strict socio-cultural and gender norms that render primarily women and girls vulnerable. However, the extent of this vulnerability varies within and across population groups in the host and Rohingya communities. The intersectionality lens helps identify, recognize, and understand these factors that create inequities within populations. This study explored the factors that influenced the women and girls’ access to information during the COVID-19 pandemic through an intersectional lens. This paper presents partial findings from the exploratory qualitative part of mixed-method research conducted in ten Rohingya c s and four wards of the adjacent host communities in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Data were extracted from 24 in-depth interviews (12 in each community) conducted from November 2020 to March 2021 with erse participants, including adolescent girls, younger women, adult women, pregnant and lactating mothers, persons with disabilities, older adults, and single female-household heads. All participants provided verbal informed consent before the interviews. In the case of the adolescents, assent was taken from the participants, and verbal informed consent was taken from their parents/guardians. The ethical clearance of this study was sought from the institutional review board of BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University. We find that the women and girls living in Rohingya communities exhibit a more profound structural interplay of factors within their socio-ecological ecosystem depending on their age, power, and position in the society, physical (dis)abilities, and pre-existing vulnerabilities stemming from their exodus, making them more vulnerable to COVID-19 impact by hindering their access to information. Unlike Rohingya, the host women and girls explain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their access to information through the lens of intergenerational poverty and continuous strain on existing resources, thereby highlighting shrinking opportunities due to the influx, COVID-19 infodemic and misinformation, access to digital devices amongst the adolescents, and restricted mobility mainly due to transport, school closures, and distance-related issues. Moreover, the socio-cultural beliefs and the gender norms imposed on women and adolescent girls played an essential role in accessing information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and consequently influenced their perception of and response to the disease and its safety protocols. Socio-cultural gender norms led to mobility restrictions, which compounded by lockdowns influenced their access to information resulting in dependency on secondary sources, usually from male members of their families, which can easily mislead rovide mis artial information. The younger age groups had more access to primary sources of information and a broader support network. In comparison, the older age groups were more dependent on secondary sources, and their social networks were limited to their family members due to their movement difficulty because of age/aging-related physical conditions. This study explored and analyzed the intersectional factors that influenced the women and girls’ access to information during the COVID-19 pandemic from two contexts with varying degrees of pre-existing vulnerability and its extent. These include gender, age, state of vulnerability, power and privilege, socio-economic status, and physical (dis)ability. It is imperative that services geared towards the most vulnerable are contextualized and consider the intersectional factors that determine the communities’ access to information.

Metabolic rate, genetic and microclimate variation among springtail populations from sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 09-02-2010

DOI: 10.1007/S00300-010-0767-2

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health

Location: United States of America

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Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School Of Public Health

Location: United States of America

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BRAC University

Location: Bangladesh

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BRAC University James P Grant School Of Public Health

Location: Bangladesh

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BRAC

Location: Afghanistan

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University Of Dhaka

Location: No location found

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Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health

Location: No location found

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Monash University

Location: Australia

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University Of Dhaka

Location: Bangladesh

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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100083

Start Date: 2015

End Date: 12-2016

Amount: $540,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects - Grant ID: DP140101240

Start Date: 02-2014

End Date: 09-2017

Amount: $398,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council

Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200100005

Start Date: 06-2021

End Date: 06-2030

Amount: $36,000,000.00

Funder: Australian Research Council