Validation of MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields for monitoring deforestation and forest degradation: two cases in Mexico

This study assesses whether MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields percent tree cover (PTC) data can detect deforestation and forest degradation. To assess the usefulness of PTC for detecting deforestation, we used a data set consisting of eight forest and seven non-forest categories. To evaluate forest degradation, we used data from two temperate forest types in three conservation states: primary (dense), secondary (moderately degraded) and open (heavily degraded) forest. Our results show that PTC can differentiate temperate forest from non-forest categories (p = 0.05) and thus suggests PTC can adequately detect deforestation in temperate forests. In contrast, single-date PTC data does not appear to be adequate to detect forest degradation in temperate forests. As for tropical forest, PTC can partially discriminate between forest and non-forest categories.     

A hybrid approach to modeling territorial control in violent armed conflicts

Territorial control is central to the understanding of violent armed conflicts, yet reliable and valid measures of this concept do not exist. We argue that geospatial analysis provides an important perspective to measure the concept. In particular, measuring territorial control can be seen as an application of calculating service areas around points of control. The modeling challenge is acute for areas with limited road infrastructure, where no complete network is available to perform the analysis, and movements largely occur off road. We present a new geospatial approach that applies network analysis on a hybrid transportation network with both actual road data and hexagon‐fishnet‐based artificial road data representing on‐road and off‐road movements, respectively. Movement speed or restriction can be readily adjusted using various input data. Simulating off‐road movement with hexagon‐fishnet‐based artificial road data has a number of advantages including scalability to small or large study areas and flexibility to allow all‐directional travel. We apply this method to measuring territorial control of armed groups in Sub‐Saharan Africa where inferior transport infrastructure is the norm. Based on the Uppsala Conflict Data Program's (UCDP) Georeferenced Event Data (GED) as well as spatial data on terrain, population locations, and limited transportation networks, we enhance the delineation of the specific areas directly controlled by each warring party during civil wars within a given travel time.     

Reefs at the edge: coral community structure around Rapa,southernmost French Polynesia

Rapa (27°36′ S, 144°20′ W) is a small (~40 km²) volcanic island isolated in the Southern Austral Archipelago, where direct anthropogenic stressors are extremely limited. Here, we present the results of the first quantitative survey of coral community structure across habitats and depths around the island. Despite its geographical isolation in the depauperate South Central Pacific, its small size and unfavourable environmental conditions (competition with macroalgae, low sea surface temperatures, reduced reef accretion), the diversity of scleractinian corals at Rapa is particularly high (112 species from 32 genera, including 37 species of Acropora) in comparison to other French Polynesian islands and subtropical Pacific locations. Our results indicate that the abundance (>100 colonies per 10 m² recorded at nine of the 17 sampling stations) and cover (>40% at four stations) of corals are relatively high for a marginal reef location. Strong spatial heterogeneity was found, with high variation in diversity, abundance, cover and community composition among stations. Variation in community composition was related to habitat types, with distinct assemblages among fringing reefs within bays, reef formations at bay entrances, and those on the submerged platform surrounding the island. On the platform, a depth gradient was detected, with generic richness, abundance and cover generally greater at deeper stations (18–20 m depth) compared with medium‐depth (10–12 m) and shallow (1–3 m) stations. A gradient was also recorded along bays, with increasing coral diversity and abundance from the bay heads to the bay entrances. The coral community at Rapa was characterized by the presence of several taxa not found in other French Polynesian archipelagos and the rarity of others that are common and abundant in the Society and the Tuamotu islands. Another distinctive feature of reef communities at Rapa is the high cover and dominance of macroalgae, particularly in the shallower parts of the surrounding platform, which probably explains the lower densities of coral colonies recorded there. These characteristics of the diversity and biogeographical composition of coral assemblages at Rapa provide considerable ecological grounds for its conservation.     

Cannibalistic viruses in the aquatic environment: role of virophages in manipulating microbial communities

The ecological role of viruses in aquatic environments is gaining interest due to their abundance and overall diversity. Much focus has been on bacteriophages since they were found to play an important role in the diversification and sustainment at both the micro- and macro-scale. However, the discovery of virophages coexisting with giant viruses in a diverse set of eukaryotic hosts has recently gained attention. Virophages are small double-stranded DNA viruses found parasitizing giant viruses of eukaryotes. Since the discovery of the first virophage (Sputnik) many virophage signatures have been detected from a variety of environmental samples with specific infection cycles. In addition, these parasites display important roles in equilibrating microbial biomass, nutrient cycling and population dynamics. Moreover, virophage-induced evolution between giant viruses and their hosts have also been described. Considering the ongoing discovery of virophages and their dynamics in aquatic ecosystems, this review intends to provide an update of the virophage signatures identified to date, also tending to provide insight on the mechanisms of coinfection as well as their role as agents of biodiversity and nutrient cyclers in water environments.     

An analysis of failure mechanism constraints on pre-failure rock block deformation using TLS and roto-translation methods

Rockfall hazards increase the risk of train derailment along railway corridors in western Canada. In this study, repeated terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) datasets were collected every 2–3 months at three different sites along the Thompson and Fraser River corridors in British Columbia, referred to as the Goldpan, White Canyon, and Mile 109 sites. A total of 207 rockfall events occurring across all three sites between November 11, 2014 and October 18, 2016 were recorded in a database. For each of these rockfalls, pre-failure deformation was measured using a method of three-dimensional roto-translation block tracking. Each rockfall was classified by its deformation behaviour and further categorised based on failure mechanism, volume, lithology, and the roughness condition of the failure plane. Results reveal that detectable levels of deformation were measured in 33% of the total number of rockfall events using the present methods. Rotation deformation was most commonly observed in toppling failures with relatively steep joint orientations. Conversely, planar sliding blocks generally exhibited the least measurable deformation, with the majority not showing any precursory translation or rotation. It is postulated that overhanging rockfall configurations may suppress the expression of deformation in rockfall source blocks, though additional research is required to confirm this.     

Subduction-related mafic to felsic magmatism in the Malayer–Boroujerd plutonic complex,western Iran

The Malayer–Boroujerd plutonic complex (MBPC) in western Iran, consists of a portion of a magmatic arc built by the northeast verging subduction of the Neo-Tethys plate beneath the Central Iranian Microcontinent (CIMC). Middle Jurassic-aged felsic magmatic activity in MBPC is manifested by I-type and S-type granites. The mafic rocks include gabbroic intrusions and dykes and intermediate rocks are dioritic dykes and minor intrusions, as well as mafic microgranular enclaves (MMEs). MBPC Jurassic-aged rocks exhibit arc-like geochemical signatures, as they are LILE- and LREE-enriched and HFSE- and HREE-depleted and display negative Nb–Ta anomalies. The gabbro dykes and intrusions originated from metasomatically enriched garnet-spinel lherzolite [Degree of melting (f_mel) ~ 15%] and exhibit negative Nd and positive to slightly negative ε_Hf(T) (+ 3.0 to ? 1.6). The data reveal that evolution of Middle Jurassic magmatism occurred in two stages: (1) deep mantle-crust interplay zone and (2) the shallow level upper crustal magma chamber. The geochemical and isotopic data, as well as trace element modeling, indicate the parent magma for the MBPC S-type granites are products of upper crustal greywacke (f_mel: 0.2), while I-type granites formed by partial melting of amphibolitic lower crust (f_mel: 0.25) and mixing with upper crustal greywacke melt in a shallow level magma chamber [Degree of mixing (f_mix): 0.3]. Mixing between andesitic melt leaving behind a refractory dense cumulates during partial crystallization of mantle-derived magma and lower crustal partial melt most likely produced MMEs (f_mix: 0.2). However, enriched and moderately variable ε_Nd(T) (? 3.21 to ? 4.33) and high (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i (0.7085–0.7092) in dioritic intrusions indicate that these magmas are likely experienced assimilation of upper crustal materials. The interpretations of magmatic activity in the MBPC is consistent with the role considered for mantle-derived magma as heat and mass supplier for initiation and evolution of magmatism in continental arc setting, elsewhere.