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The objective of this study is to assess the adoption of alternative pest management methods to reduce risks among cocoa farmers in the Volta region. Cultural control methods found to be the most practiced alternative pest management, especially in the Ho West district where majority of the farmers were more knowledgeable of alternative pest control methods. There was significant relationship between agrochemical shop services (χ

Fasciola gigantica is considered the major pathogen causing fasciolosis in Africa; however, molecular characterization of this fluke has not been adequately elucidated. It is important to scientifically elucidate the dispersal history of F. gigantica by analyzing its genetic diversity. Fasciola flukes from Nigeria were analyzed using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers. A total of 172 Fasciola flukes collected from cattle were identified as F. gigantica because they displayed the F. gigantica fragment pattern in multiplex PCR for the nuclear marker, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pepck). In total, 70 haplotypes were detected from Nigerian F. gigantica on the basis of the concatenated sequence of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1) and cytochrome c oxidase 1 (cox1). The index of neutrality (Fu's Fs) suggests rapid expansion of the Nigerian F. gigantica population. Although four haplogroups, Nigeria 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B, were detected from Nigerian F. gigantica, a climate-specific genetic structure was not observed among F. gigantica populations from three agro-climatic regions (Sahel, Savannah, and Forest). This is probably because of the frequent transportation of livestock from one part of the country to the other. Nigeria 1A and 1B had close relationships with the Egyptian population of F. gigantica, whereas Nigeria 2A and 2B were comparatively related to the Zambian population. No haplotype was shared among the three countries, and it therefore is difficult to estimate the dispersal route of F. gigantica within the African continent.

Fire events have increased in scale and severity due to hotter, drier conditions brought on by climate change and fire suppression. Extreme fire events can be detrimental to forest specialists, especially populations at the edge of the species range, where conditions can vary from those within the core of the range. The San Bernardino flying squirrel (Glaucomys oregonensis californicus) is the southernmost subspecies of Humboldt’s flying squirrel and occurs only in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California after apparent extirpation from the nearby San Jacinto Mountains. We used non-invasive methods to assess how fire affects flying squirrel occupancy. We surveyed for flying squirrels in burned and unburned areas of the San Bernardino Mountains, and measured habitat features to construct occupancy models. Our top models indicated that flying squirrels occupy lower burn severities but could still occur at higher burn severities if canopy cover remained intact, forest duff remained deep, and tree mortality remained low, especially on steeper slopes. Our study illustrates the ability of San Bernardino flying squirrels, and the potential for other flying squirrels, to survive major fire events and maintain their role in the forest ecosystem. Such results are especially important for species management and understanding how parts of an ecosystem can react as fire frequency and severity increases.

Accurate taxonomy is essential for conservation, but subspecies-level systematics can be hampered both by a lack of consensus on what constitutes a subspecies and by discordance among data types (e.g., genetics vs. morphology). Here we provide a framework for evaluating subspecies using multidimensional criteria, and suggest that taxa must satisfy multiple criteria to qualify as subspecies. As a case study, we use the Gunnison’s prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni), a species for which there has been disagreement regarding the existence of subspecies due to inconsistent application of criteria for defining subspecies. To explicitly test the hypothesis that two subspecies exist, we generated five predictions that could be evaluated with genetic data, while also using morphological and ecological criteria. We sampled 838 Gunnison’s prairie dogs from across the species range and performed a series of genetic analyses using 16 microsatellite and two mitochondrial loci (cytochrome b and the control region). We compared subspecies morphology and quantitatively evaluated whether abiotic and biotic habitat characteristics encountered by each subspecies differed. Genetic results from all five predictions supported the existence of two distinct subspecies within the confines of a proposed revision in the boundary between subspecies. The subspecies differed marginally in morphology and significantly in their habitats, suggesting ecological differentiation. Our results, which are in line with historical descriptions of morphologically distinct subspecies, suggest the subspecies should be recognized. This work provides support for the utility of integrating multiple data and analysis types to inform systematics and conservation.

Economic games are often used in an attempt to reveal the underlying preferences or motivations that govern human behaviour. However, this approach relies on the implicit assumption that individuals are rational and fully aware of the consequences of their decisions. We examined behaviour in a standard economic game that is often used to measure social preferences: the public-goods game. We found that giving information to individuals about the relative success of their group led to (1) significantly higher levels of cooperation and (2) emotional responses to group success. This is despite the fact that group success had no effect on the payoffs in our game, and so knowledge of group success should not influence the behaviour of rational players. Consequently, these results suggest that cues of group competition have an automatic or unconscious effect on human behaviour that can induce increased within-group cooperation. More generally, this framing effect emphasizes the potential problem with drawing biological conclusions from the quantitative comparison of cooperation levels in economic games with the predictions of theory. Instead, our results emphasize the advantage of testing theory by qualitatively comparing behaviour across treatments, and with regard to expected adaptations and expected ontogeny. © 2012 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

The Ladbroke Grove and Katnook Gas Fields, within the western Otway Basin, southeastern South Australia, provide a natural laboratory to study the effects of CO 2 on siliciclastic reservoirs. CO 2 degassing from nearby volcanics has migrated into the methane accumulation of the Ladbroke Grove Field within the Pretty Hill Formation. CO 2 levels in the Ladbroke Grove Field range from 26 to 57 mol% while Katnook has less than 1 mol%. In Ladbroke Grove, the CO 2 has altered or dissolved most of the reactive minerals, somewhat constrained by the Pleistocene to Recent age of the CO 2 influx. The developed late-stage kaolinite, quartz and less soluble carbonate are products of the reactions involving CO 2 and reactive minerals. The major formation water types were identified using the geochemical code EQ3NR. Ladbroke Grove waters above the gas–water contact (GWC) have bicarbonate levels an order of magnitude higher than the other waters analysed. Below the GWC, Ladbroke Grove and Katnook formation waters have similar ionic compositions, however, pH levels in Ladbroke Grove are low relative to Katnook. The Ladbroke Grove Field has efficiently stored CO 2 in a gaseous and aqueous phase since the influx began in the Pleistocene. In addition, due to the high amount of reactive minerals within the reservoir, mineralisation of ferroan carbonates has also occurred as a more permanent form of mineral storage of some of the CO 2 .

We study behavior in repeated interactions when agents have no information about the structure of the underlying game and they cannot observe other agents' actions or payoffs. Theory shows that even when players have no such information, simple payoff-based learning rules eventually lead to equilibrium. Such rules have previously been documented for some forms of animal behavior, but to date they have not been tested empirically for humans. This paper analyzes human behavior in a laboratory setting and finds strong confirmation for key features of payoff-based learning that distinguish it from classical reinforcement models, and that are crucial for equilibrium convergence. By varying the amount of information we show that these features are also present even when subjects have full information about the game.