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Lupine Publishers| Preventive Measures against Spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) following the Natural Laws Volume 5 - Issue 1

Opinion

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is at door of every one across the globe. One can ignore the reality, but no one can ignore its consequences. Soil is the major environmental reservoir of many pathogenic viruses. Unfortunately, the soil biodiversity particularly in cities and metropolitan cities is virtually in active as being detached from atmosphere. As reported by many others elsewhere, corona virus develops with a positive single stranded RNA genome. The scientific efforts to trace the means for controlling coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic are yet in dark. Microbiological interventions through Biotechnological Research throughout the globe are on way. Moreover, the positively charged RNA lining over corona virus indicated a clue to develop an association of such viruses with negatively charges soil clays preferably bentonite or montmorillonite clay at least to slow down their spread. With such fundamental hypothesis, following points maybe brought to readers: Medical reports may accept that bentonite clays being abundantly available in soils across the globe are a natural source to enhance immunity to human body. If such clays in soils are not contaminated or polluted or have no side effect to human health, such clays may be used as clay tablets daily in amount being verified medically. Of course, WHO appreciated many such qualities in bentonite, but no guideline is available on uses of clays in the form of pellets or tablets. Let Medical Association of India and other nations come forward in collaboration with Microbiologists, Biotechnologists and 1. Soil/Clay Mineralogists to observe and execute protocols on clay uses on way to prevent or minimize the danger, if possible. We strongly propose to move to areas of bare soil preferably in bentonite rich soil/bare land, where the danger may be negligible or low. Our observations are based on a few contacts only. Besides, we collected other reports that the intensity and frequency of thunderstorm/lightening is more disastrous in cities/metro cities. Coronavirus (COVID-19) in rural area having bare soils rich in bentonite or montmorillonite clays may not be so disastrous, we presume. It is further to add that the electric discharge during thunderstorm and lightening keep the earth safe against such dangerous coronavirus, but we need validation based on exploratory facts. There is need to understand preference of making clay rich mud house with mud floor to keep one further protected from continuing danger of coronavirus on globe. We also know that clays especially bentonite/montmorillonite is a good detoxifier even to remove toxic ions from human bodies.

We understand that the researchers, health care takers, and policy makers sit together and decide how to move the ways for the safeguard of human life on globe. Let us collect data based on exploratory facts as above for decision. In India, the government took very timely and smart precautions and whole country is behind complete lockdown in order to maintain isolation (social distancing) during 24th March-14th April 2020(21days). However, some group of workers in New Delhi moved to their respective villages (rural area) on 4th day of lockdown. It was of course a very surprising and disturbing situation on 28th March, though it was set right. Now whoever has returned to village, we hope, they will be safe in the long run.

Conclusively, we prefer to encourage natural environment preferably in rural areas to get rid of this COVID-19, where specific clay rich soils are open and where ground-atmosphere connectivity is sufficiently in equilibrium

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Lupine Publishers|The Concept of Environmental Leadership: The Case of Solid Waste Management (SWM) in Balangoda Municipal Council in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Most of the identified environmental problems if not addressed properly in timely manner will result in grave implications. Unsystematic garbage dumping is one of the key environmental issues in Sri Lanka, especially in the urban environments. Theories of environmental leadership work successfully as a way of changing the negative social practices and getting societies’ commitment towards sustainability of systematic waste management. This article is discussing how the environmental leadership has contributed to maintaining good waste management practices in the society over direct or open dumping of waste which is unacceptable using insights from the waste management project of Balangoda Municipal Council (BMC). Waste management project of BMC further highlights number of initiatives which had been taken to promote systematic waste disposal, composting and other waste management concepts that should be adopted. Developing an organic culture, establishment of 3R societies, taking measures to gain a social recognition to the employees engaged in solid waste management project, building public-private partnerships, concern about the hazards waste, awareness through societies, branding of produced compost and etc. were among the strategies used to convince the community regarding the importance of acting in a way that will protect the environment. Environmental leadership plays a major role in shaping up communities’ values, attitudes and believes towards sustainable use of resources to ensure their availability for the future generations as well.

Keywords: Environmental leadership; waste management; sustainable development; compost

Background

Human interference on natural resources has increased with the development and population increase. Most of the identified environmental problems are complicated and have been happened due to uncontrolled pollution generated by the market-based economic development. Unsustainable practices in energy, water, food sectors and also impact of human activities and their lifestyles have made the livelihoods of future generations at high risk [1]. In 2002, Kollmuss & Agyeman explained that human behaviour has a significant impact on environmental problems. Most of the environmental issues we are facing today such as climate change, pollution of air and water, depletion of natural resources, uncontrollable waste generation, loss of biodiversity and so on has a direct or indirect relationship with human activities. So, the human social practices that would be negatively affected and continue to affect towards environmental degradation needed to be changed for a better future. Therefore, development should be taken place in a sustainable manner to minimize environmental problems. The classic definition of the sustainable development provided in the Brundtland report is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meets their needs” [2]. The report further states priority needed to be given to world’s poor and to meet present and future needs. It has also highlighted careful use or limiting the resource use and it should be monitored by social organizations and state of technology.

However, Dager & Jordan [3] claim that sustainability will not occur naturally, or pre-ordered manner and it should be done in a very careful manner with series of processes until it is finally implemented. In order to find sustainable development solutions with more emphasis on environmental concern, environmental leadership is an important aspect which has newly emerged [4]. Leadership is a more widely used term. However, when considering the environmental leadership, it is consisting of several other distinguishing features that is not usually seen in ordinary leaders. “Environmental leadership is performed to achieve sustainable outcomes by protecting the environment and minimizing the pollution with providing social goals” [5]. With this background, in this article, authors wish to discuss the direct dumping of waste as a negative social practice and its implications on the environment and how various aspects of negative social practices can be changed with proper environmental leadership which identify and implement environmentally sound solutions to sustainable waste management. These good practices include reduction of generation of waste in community-level together with other steps which can be taken to change the existing negative practices on waste towards sustainability. The BMC is one of the best local governing body that has been successively implemented a municipal waste management programme and the case of BMC waste programme is used to illustrate how environmental leadership works successfully to address the municipal waste management problems in an acceptable manner. The key informant interviews and focus group discussions and site visits were carried out to gather data and information related to procedure of decision making, method of waste collection, transport, sorting, processing and so on. The data collection has been carried out during fourth quarter of year 2013. Collected data were validated through informal/casual discussions from local residents and commercial traders who were selected randomly and with their consent.

The Case of Waste Management in Balangoda Municipal Council (BMC)

BMC is the oldest municipal council in Rathnapura district in Sri Lanka and it was initiated as a sanitation board and later converted to Municipal Council (MC). By now it has been governed by nine governors and a special commissioner. According to the 2013 statistics the population of BMC is about 35,855 people and generation of waste per day is around 0.9kg per person. In general, increased generation of waste has been created with the rapid development and social transformation, household habits and so on [6]. Practicing open dumping at the household level and municipality level make environmental degradation and create many issues to the surroundings [7]. Similar kinds of situations were experienced in BMC and the same was frequently reported from many other local authorities. In BMC, before the present waste management program, the waste collected from the council area was disposed to a marshy land which was situated close to the “Dorawela Oya” (a lake) which flows across the Balangoda town. Not only in the council area, even at village level direct dump of waste had been practiced. These unhealthy unhygienic practices have created lot of issues to people who are living close to waste dumping sites. Spread of flies and scavenger creatures also reported to make a big hassle to the neighborhood. Since dumping grounds did not have proper measures to control the leachate, uncontrolled drainage of leachate substances took place contaminating the ground water as well as the surrounding surface water bodies. Drainage of leachate was more during rainy seasons. Unwanted odor was another main concern of the surrounding dwellings. These consequences may have led to loss of biodiversity, water quality deterioration, eutrophication and so on. The problem of unhygienic waste disposal has been triggered over the time due to increasing population and changing of people’s lifestyles. These uncontrolled dumping sites are indirectly triggering the effects of climate change by generating greenhouse gases such as Methane. Further, many studies have recorded that household level unsanitary waste disposal make them expose to high risk by contaminating and spreading infection diseases [8]. A need of a proper solid waste management project to BMC was felt strongly in 1999, when it was reported an epidemic of diarrhea, typhoid and many other diseases caused basically by polluted water, mosquitoes and flies due to improper handling of solid wastes. Therefore, main objectives of the project of BMC were to create safer, cleaner, low cost, environmentally sound waste management project The challenges the project managers had to face was to manage the solid wastes accumulated in the BMC without harming the environment while keeping the community intact with the project and getting the social acceptance to the employees who are working in the project.

Role of Environmental Leadership

According to the Portugal &Yukl and Laabs [9,10], environmental leadership has prominent two levels of influence (individual and organization) and relationships (internal and external). Individual influence is marked by an interaction of a single or little group of individuals. Appeals to logic, values, and higher-order needs are used to influence individuals to transcend their own selfinterests for the sake of the organization or an ideological cause. Environmental leadership with individuals may be exhibited by any member of the organization and may involve influencing peers, superiors, and outsiders as well as subordinates [9]. Flannery & May [11] have also briefly discussed the environmental leadership and kind of pro-environmental actives presumed by firms. They view environmental leaders as people who go beyond environmental regulations and assume a stewardship orientation toward the natural environment. Types of pro-environmental activities demonstrated by these firms include: a) Protection of the biosphere. b) Sustainable natural resource use. c) Reduction of waste. d) Marketing of safe products and services and e) Assessment and annual environmental audits of their operations [11].

In relation to environmental leadership, certain forms can be seen. To drive change of social behaviour knowledge about these different forms of leadership will be an added advantage in planning sustainable projects. One form of environmental leaders are persons who act as “emergent or change agents” within the organization unit [12]. They apply influence from top to bottom and bottom to top. The second form of environmental leaders are persons with leadership skills that is driven by champions [13]. During the Australian water projects three phases of environmental leadership (initiation phase, endorsement phase and implementation phase) process of champions were identified; “All three phases are assisted by executive leaders who create a safe environment for innovation, learning, risk-taking and collaboration, albeit in different ways” [14]. Implementer/leader should have concerns about the environment and without her/his concern and willingness such type of projects is difficult to implement and sustain. Though the Chairmanship is a politically appointed position in BMC as every other local authority. Initiation and continuation of the waste management project have been coordinated and closely monitored by the chairmen of BMC. The composting project is closely monitored by the chairman of the municipal council and a permanent work supervisor has been appointed for compost project under Public Health Inspector (PHI). This proves the claim of Portugal &Yukl that environmental leadership at the organizational level include the decision by a chief executive officer to establish a new policy of continuous improvement in the reduction of pollutants, or the decision by a board of directors to allocate a percentage of all sales revenues to support environmental causes [9].

Identifying Proper Waste Management Mechanisms or Strategies

Proper management of waste means incorporation of sustainability elements into operations. Better understandings of the methods of waste generation, quantity of waste accumulated, composition, status and so on are few important factors to consider in developing a sound waste disposal system. Together waste disposal mechanism should be accountable, participatory, longterm sustainable and socially acceptable process [15]. The BMC waste management project is basically consisting of two phases. Those are recycling and composting. To reduce the environmental burden from waste, the project promotes the concept of reuse at household level, composting the organic fraction and less waste to landfills. Changes in community practices or behaviors are essential for a society to achieve a sustainable waste disposal system as open dumping of waste practiced by the community had to be changed. Indeed, information awareness and pro-environmental education are key aspects of foster sustainability development [16]. Most of the behavioural strategies are framed based on individual decisions but Morris [17] argued that it is not true as most of the behaviour is social. However, a recent study has pointed out that behavioral strategies developed considering macro level are more successful than micro levels [18]. Another study claimed that internal factors like attitudes, values, knowledge and external factors like social context, institution etc. together is more important in achieving the pro-environmental behaviour [19]. People’s decisions are normally subjected to constraints such as time, income, or budget constraint. According to the behavioural economics, it’s explained that range of cognitive variables also plays a major role in the decisionmaking process [20,21]. Though there is a concern that community behaviour cannot be predicted by general environmental concern Hallin , Oskamp & Shrum [22-24], some studies argue that community concerns of resource and energy conservation, waste and landfill reduction reasons can be taken to the prediction of actual behaviour Hopper & Nielsen [25], but, some says it has not yet proved by research Tucker [26].

For awareness creation towards negative externalities and positive effects of new methods had to emphasize to the particular community. Parallel to that, institutional mechanisms also had to be strengthened to absorb new changes in the waste management systems. As a pilot initiative, household composting had been introduced to a manageable number of participants from the community to reduce the waste generation, transportation cost and environmental burden. This process acted as a showcase to the home composting practice and it enabled the surrounding communities to get motivated to follow the same. Branding, organic culture concept had been introduced to the community to enable this practice in a more sustainable way. Branding, making organic clubs, organic culture, creating awareness about advantages of consumption of organic food and so on are some of the strategies and it was expected to give a recognition to the people who are practicing the home composting. In addition to promoting this home composting concept, simultaneous induction of home gardening concept or backyard gardening was a good supplement to change the people’s inappropriate habit of open/direct waste dumping.

Reduction of Solid Waste Generation at Household Level

Waste reduction consists three approaches. That is reducing the amount of waste generated, reusing and recycling of remaining has to be done [1]. The 3R concept (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) is one of the concepts used in the municipal solid waste management systems [27]. However, another 5R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair and Reverence for nature) concept has also developed concerning further about the environment [28]. To provide information on the 3R concepts (Waste Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling), public awareness programmes had been conducted in BMC while explaning the National strategy on solid waste management developed by the Ministry of Environment. To reduce transportation cost and collection amount, household composting system were introduced and popularized. Due to continuous awareness programmes which highlight the importance of adopting above 3R concepts, it has been able to reduce the unsorted amount of waste from about 25MT which was generated in the year 2000 into 12MT by the year 2012 saving considerable space and labour hours spent for sorting. During training programmes, people were encouraged to imagine about the benefits of an environment free of pollution and their undesirable behaviours towards the environment was pointed out and potential good practices that can protect the environment. Each household located in BMC area, a green bin has given free of charge to promote composting. Though these kinds of programs need funds for implementation, government funding is minimal. Private-public partnerships are important linkages to implement those projects. At this juncture, a certain number of private sector companies under their Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects have agreed to provide funds for some activities of this project. They also have recognized home composting as a good initiation for sustainability of the project and also for increased stakeholder participation. Successiveness of the initiatives is the key to promote the community interest. Introduced behaviour has to be popularized among the community and it is really important to ensure the continuity for some time until these activities are embedded in people as a common practice.

Establishing 3R Societies

Recycling and reuse of materials make less pressure to the natural resources and can minimize the usage of natural resources. However, recycling makes another set of problems to the environment as well as for humans. Handling of recycles is one common problem observed. Lacks of storage spaces, requirement of time are some of the “inconvenience factors” that were observed in the household levels which could demotivate people to recycle the products [29-33]. Energy saving bulbs and batteries are a common waste at household level and mixing those items with common waste makes the biggest problem to the waste management process and also concerning the environment. Recycling generates many other problems for the environment. It needs more energy to process and emits toxic gases, increases ecological footprint are some of the negative effects of recycling mechanism. So, the better option is to minimize the recycling process and try to reduce the generation of these products. However, recycle materials coming to the dumping site may cause more negative effects on the environment than that it is with recycling [34]. Hence, least priority has given to recycling and need to promote reuse and minimize the use of recycles. In BMC, special programmers have been launched targeting of school children to make them change their attitude towards waste disposal at a household level. Blake and Hinchliffe [35,36] also have highlighted the importance of creating awareness campaigns for schools and institutions and cafeterias to convey messages like “Helping the earth begins at home” or “Green Societies” to make them think and touch the values, attitudes and believes to be a proenvironmentalist. Also, that helps to keep them informed about current progress and make them aware about future outcomes. Resource centers have been established in 10 schools to include children of all religions and cultures. The school resource center is managed by its “3R Society” which comprises of 50 school children. These societies conduct programmes to popularize the 3R concept in the school system, to create awareness on benefits of waste separation at the household level as well as composting. School children were asked to bring non degradable wastes from their homes to schools’ resource centers. Members of the 3R societies were expected to buy these non degradable items and mark the point cards. 3R societies were given an advance of Rs.1000/= to initial expenses by the municipal council. According to the point system, for those who earn 1000 points are eligible to get either Rs.1000/= or school equipment which is worth that amount of money or else credit that amount to a bank account. In appreciation of students who are very committed over this purpose is awarded by giving “environmental friendly badge” at 3000-point level, “Environment lover” badge at 5000-point level, “Nation friendly” at 10,000-point level and 15000 point level they will be awarded the badge of “Global lover”. If students reach 20000 points they are expected to award “Presidential green award”. This is actually bringing them aware the natural resources protection and reworded being incorporated into the system to encourage them to continue practice [35,36].

In BMC area, four village 3R societies are functioning as a pilot project. Each society has 25 households and they are actively involved in 3R concepts. Members of these societies are expected to take measures to reduce generation of waste, separation of nondegradable waste at a household level and selling those items to the purchasing centers. They are eligible to receive Rs1000/- at the completion of one-point card. Considering the points accumulated for each member it is expected to give loan facilities to members if they wish to initiate any kind of self-employment. In addition, members get the opportunity of receiving knowledge and advice on various farming issues from agricultural experts. This is a kind of initiative which make an individual realize even she or he can make differences by acting alone [29]. As Hurt & Homan [37] mentioned choosing suitable people to get the community support has applied in this project. Project managers have identified the leaders in the community to promote the environmental friendly behavior.

Imposing a Garbage Tax

As per “polluters pay principle” Nash [38], using the power entrusted on local government authorities, regarding disposal of waste, from 2008 Balangoda municipal council has adopted collecting a garbage tax from commercial establishments such as guest houses, supermarkets, retail and wholesale shops, food cabins and other commercial establishments with more than five employees within the urban council area. However, establishments that practice waste separation were released from paying this tax.

Production of Compost

Household waste required to be sorted prior to practicing domestic composting. For this purpose, introducing separate containers for different waste categories seems to be the best practice enabling them to sort the waste materials when and where waste is generated. This process creates a good opportunity to separate the harmful (ex. energy saving bulbs) substances at the beginning and allow to dispose of harmful materials without mixing to the common waste. Also, recycles and reuse materials will not reach the dumping sites. Collection and managing the waste is another process. Punctuality, regular collections are making peoples adhere to the process. Organic fraction of waste can be used to generate compost or biogas. Recycles and reuse items can be treated separately. These activities contribute to lowering the requirement of land for dumping waste, minimize hazardous compounds coming into the dumping sites, reduce generation of harmful leachates and limit methane gas emissions by dumps. The process of household composting, waste separation in the house, reuse and reduce the generation of waste create environmentally friendly behaviours and that should be the emphasis on the community to motivate them. This will create them to change their mind and generate moral towards changing the negative environmental practices to positive. The process of making community groups and identifying community leaders are more important to take them to the decision-making process and built up awareness about the progress and consequences. These mechanisms will be enabling the community interaction for the process and potential influence of others in changing into normal behaviour. The normative behaviour can influence people interpersonal contacts and by the visual stimulating seeing of others behaviours [25,39].

This is a two stepped operation. One step is promoting the household composting mechanism and the second step is composting centrally collected organic residues by business centers, industry and agriculture lands and several food markets. Household composting is promoting by establishing Village 3R societies and green bins, technology, promotion of backyard gardening, providing seeds are controlled by the municipal council. To change the attitudes and values of the community the importance of doing composting and value of the organic produce has promoted. Literature shows that, peoples promoted to sustainable practices and keep on doing that and supporting and encouraging that will enhance the practice to the more sustainable way Warde [40]. Batteries, energy saving bulbs and fluorescent tubes disposed of households and commercial dwellings have been identified as a major obstacle in the environmental degradation. Special attention was given and huge public awareness program was launched now it was collected separately and by fixing the price of that even though it is not having recycle value. This can be used to prevent the environment by managing that hazardous waste separately without mixing with general waste.

Maintaining social acceptance for the employees at Solid Waste Management Project

Collection of waste and sorting and management needs manual labour. However, in the society working in a waste management process does not have the good reputation. So, it is vital to creating a good respect for that kind of jobs to attract people for that process. Organizing training, building up a professional career for people who engage in the solid waste management sector definitely help in minimizing the labour shortage issue in this sector. In the waste management project of BMC, staff turnover is very less and to enhance their social recognition National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) have given to the municipal solid waste operation assistants (social recognition or professional logo). Workers employed in the project are on casual or contract basis employment. Most of the employees are residents of the neighboring households and there have been only a few households before initiating this composting plant. Villagers have been benefited by getting employment, developed infrastructure facilities and etc. and due to these benefits so far, the project has not received any social objection from the surrounding villagers. Workers were given necessary items like gloves, boots, suitable uniforms etc. for their safety during their work at the composting plant to keep the personal hygiene and to improve their living style. No incidences of sickness have reported that has a link to their work at the composting plant.

Summary

Changing attitudes of the people and their usual practices is not a simple task at all. Before changing the negative waste management practices, it is vital to consider the attitudes and perception of the respective community regarding importance of having a proper solid waste management program. Environmental leadership plays a leading role to maintain the sustainability of the programs. Environmental leadership can be described as the ability to influence the individuals and mobilization of communities towards long-term ecological sustainability. Direct dumping of waste should be discouraged as far as possible for environmental sustainability. It should be converted to a proper system which practices composting, reuse and recycling of waste they generate. A project that consists of these kinds of eco-friendly, environmentally sound sustainable practice will indirectly result in promoting organic agriculture, reducing negative health impacts of the people and increase community awareness towards environmental sustainability. Environmental leadership shapes up the communities’ values, attitudes and believes towards conservation of resources while emphasizing the importance of protecting resources to future generations as well. Changing people’s social practices is a kind of process and it has many aspects and approaches. Several processes and approaches can be used to simultaneously to change the people’s social practices for a betterment of the environment. The case study of Balangoda Municipal Council’s Solid Waste Management program discussed here is showing the number of steps which had been taken to promote composting and other concepts to be adopted. Different mechanisms and programmes like branding, development of organic culture, 3R societies, social recognition, public-private partnerships, concern about the hazards waste, awareness through societies etc. had been used to get the people’s participation towards a sustainable program to have a cleaner and a healthy environment.

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Lupine Publishers|Environmental Stress and Ecological Imbalance in the Niger Delta of Nigeria: Our Experiences

Abstract

When the word “environment” is mentioned, what readily comes to mind is its devastation. This is not strange because what we see around us is nothing but uncleanliness arising from human activities. What has contributed to this ugly scenario is none other than man himself. Nature naturally would always want to retain its naturalness. The forces of nature that ordinarily brings about earth quakes, landslide, flood and other natural events are but the balancing of these forces to maintain stability, but human activities have brought about artificial events, the effects of which we now call devastation and pollution. Even though, the natural forces tend to equilibrate these unnatural events arising from human activities, these are stretched beyond their limits. It is the human being who should and could assist in this direction that attempt at remediating the environment

Introduction

The improper exploration and exploitation of Nigeria’s rich natural resources is having negative impact on the social and economic health of the citizens, the land resource and ecosystem integrity. While some of the northern states are being ravaged by drought and desertification, exuberated by human activities, some of the Southern (Niger Delta) parts were constantly threatened by massive erosion [1].Increased incidences of flooding across the region constitute clear evidence of stress and ecological imbalance in the environment of many of our communities today. The key environmental challenge is to combat land degradation, deforestation, drought and desertification, loss of biodiversity, flooding, erosion, urban decay and municipal waste disposal and the adverse effects of climate change [2]. When properly managed, the environment could catalyse sustainable growth and development. Conversely, if poorly managed, the environment can become hazardous and threatening human survival. But where human interaction with the environment results in degradation, depletion of renewable and non-renewable resources and massive pollution Uyigue and Agbo [3], it can be a significant source of economic loss upon human society. Therefore, environmental managers at the National, State and the Federal levels are charged to address these highlights and also ensure that environmental concerns were effectively integrated into development process at sub-national levels of government to ensure sustainability.

Contribution of Land Subsidence

Land subsidence has been reported as a possible factor contributing to flooding in the Niger Delta. Several factors, including natural geologic processes and hydrocarbon extraction, may be the cause. Land subsidence can cause: (l) Coastal flooding, (2) Coastal erosion from increased wave penetration inland, (3) Forest inundation and (4) Saltwater intrusion. The extensive oil and water extraction from subsurface layers, and the reduction in sediment input by upstream dams may have accelerated local subsidence. However, since oil extraction occurs at very deep levels (4,000 - 8,000 m below the surface) it is unlikely that subsidence from that level will be significantly manifested on the surface.

Loss of Sediment Increased Flood and Erosion

During the last 20 years, the Niger river and its tributaries have been dammed for irrigation at various locations and the water flow has been manipulated extensively. It is estimated that around 70% of the sediment transport via these rivers into the sea has been lost because of the dams. The loss of sediment input to the delta via the rivers is exacerbating coastal and riverbank erosion. ln many areas in Ibeno and Utaewa in Ikot Abasi, the erosion caused by waves, currents and other oceanic processes is estimated to range from tens of meters per year to over 100 m per year [4]. In other areas, coastal erosion is pronounced in selected areas particularly Brass, Bonny, and Sangana. Estimates of coastal erosion at Brass range from 16-19 meters annually [5]. Construction of breakwaters and jetties also caused coastal recession. For instance, at the mouth of the Escravos river, Ogborodo beach have receded by 20 m per year since breakwater construction Abam [6] Tidal erosion occurs in the Southern parts of the Delta as a result of high tides in combination with waves that had affected a number of townships and islands Figure 1.

Other factors that contribute to coastal erosion are sand and gravel mining, dredging, reclamation of land, as well as oil, gas and water abstraction and the removal of vegetation (mangrove). It is estimated that close to 400 ha of land is lost annually to riverbank erosion [1]. With the present trend, about 40% of the current inhabited land will be lost within 30 years and about 750,000 people displaced. Since riverbank levees are the most populated areas and are intensively cultivated, riverbank erosion results in loss of some of the most valuable land in the delta.

Renewable Resources Degradation

Fisheries exploitation

The preservation of the freshwater swamp and mangrove ecosystems is crucial for the viability of a large coastal and wetland fishery. Fluctuation in captures, decreasing sizes of fish, and observations from fishers give evidence of` declining stocks from over exploitation and habitat degradation [7]. The delta, being predominantly a flood plain habitat is a very productive water body for fisheries and a crucial nursery for offshore and upstream ecosystems. Habitats of particular importance for the coastal and estuarine fisheries are the mangroves and sea grasses. In locations where the oil exploration is carried out, environmental stress ranging from inappropriate sewage and waste disposal, cutting of mangroves for fuel to degraded mangroves to various degrees near most villages, towns, and cities. Damage has also occurred in the immediate surroundings of oil production sites.

Forest exploitation

The majority of mangroves, the third largest mangrove forest in the world and the largest in Africa are in the Niger Delta [8]. The activities in the Niger Delta are eliminating approximately 3.5% of the forest annually [9]. lf this rate of deforestation continues; the remaining forests of the region will be eliminated in less than 20 years. As an ecological zone, very little remains of the lowland rainforest. Only a few of the forests left are significant in size and species diversity. For example, Ogoni land used to be covered with a rainforest but has been largely converted to degraded bush and farmland Figure 2. The remaining forest stands in the lowland rainforests are contained in relic shrine forests, which may include only a few individual trees, or are managed by local communities along riverine areas. The Barrier Island Forests, the smallest of the ecozones in the Delta are freshwater forests found between the coastal beaches and the estuarine mangroves. The forests are degraded in accessible areas, but large areas of high-quality forest with high concentration of biodiversity exist. The mangroves are the least disturbed of the forest zones. Only an estimated 5-10% has been lost to urban growth, industrial development, and oil activities. ln the Freshwater and Barrier Island Forests, forest utilization is second only to agriculture as the most significant economic activity in the freshwaters wamp forest zone.

Infrastructure

Canal and roads are critical for improved transportation and communication in many isolated communities in the Niger Delta. However, their construction has precipitated some of the most extensive environmental degradation in the region. The greatest environmental concerns are not the canals and roads per se, but farmers who establish new plots in the natural forests and loggers who gain better access to the forests. As well as agricultural and logging expansion, forest ecosystems are degraded by professional hunters and to a lesser extent by farmers hunting to supplement their diet and income. Requiring extensive transportation networks, oil companies, as well as government agencies, have greatly contributed to agricultural encroachment by building hundreds of kilometers of roads through the freshwater swamp forest zone. Improved transportation and selective road construction are undoubtedly required for development in the delta. but must recognize ecological differences and minimize its environmental impact. Lack of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and funding, limit the quality of road construction and damage ecosystems. In the long term, construction of adequate roads would be less expensive than chronically rebuilding poor roads. Current examples of environmental degradation include oil company’s and Niger Delta Development Company’s (NDDC) roads that block streams and flood plains creating stagnant ponds of water, killing forests, and flooding fields. Canal projects are also widespread in the delta especially in the mangrove forests. Designed to improve transportation between settlements or gain access to oil installations. The canals can have substantial effects on water flow patterns and ecosystems. As with roads, hunters and timber contractors follow the canals into new areas.

Mangroves Habitat Destruction

Mangrove clearing is especially problematic because of the very slow regeneration rates. A few meter wide of Seismic lines cut over a decade ago are still visible by air. In addition to the cleared mangroves, a large number of mature Rhizophora spp (mangroves) (Figure 3) near flow stations are dead, possibly from oil clogging roots and suffocating the roots. Pipelines, flowlines, and to a lesser extent seismic lines fragment forests and open them up for better access for hunters, but unlike roads do not attract farmers in their wake. The clearance required for some of the lines can be very large: a 6-inch flowline requires that a swath of forest 5 m wide be cut. Drilling operations require the construction of slots and in some cases wider transportation canals. Dredge spoils of acid sulphate soil, because of their high acidity when dry, can decrease yields and severely disrupt natural regeneration of forest edges.

Within the delta, biological diversity is concentrated in the freshwater and barrier island ecological zones. The extreme hydrological conditions of the mangrove forests limit their biological richness. While the lowland rainforests were historically the most biologically diverse of the delta ecozones, severe deforestation has greatly reduced both the number of species and the diversity of the ecosystems [10]. The two principal threats to biodiversity are habitat destruction and hunting. Both factors are directly tied to road and canal construction, increasing access of farmers, loggers, and hunters to forests.

Pollution from Oil Activities

From extraction of oil in the Niger Delta to arrival at a terminal or refinery, a number of potential pollution outlets from the oil stream can be identified. The outlets can be categorized as air emissions, water effluents, and waste generation [11]. Air emissions mainly originate from gas flaring in relation to gas and crude oil separation. Water effluents mainly originate from separation of production water and oil. While waste generation mainly originates from hazardous sludge from separation of crude oil and water; drilling sludge; household waste, scrap and worn out equipment. Probably no other aspect of environmental contamination has been as carefully studied as petroleum hydrocarbon pollution, particularly its impact on the marine environment. Obviously, oil industry operations in the delta involve a large number of activities that may cause environmental effects in addition to oil spills.

Conclusion

Every human being on the surface of the earth must be concerned with the happenings of our time, the earth planet, be it under the groupings of government, NGOs, civil society, legislative arm of government, the government, and in fact every individual, all have roles to play. The task is enormous and it requires the economist, the ecologists, biologist, sociologists, politicians, layers, who define social aspersions and have to plan, steer and drive through the transition from today’s growth economy to an ecologically balanced economy, where agriculture will operate more naturally without pesticides and inorganic fertilizers, factories will produce in an environmentally friendly manner. Then would the forces of nature work symbiotically with us human.

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Lupine Publishers| Vietnamese Chronicle. A brief report from a distant part of the world

Abstract

This article is about Vietnam, a place I wanted to visit since my childhood. Forty years ago, I took the road and started to struggle for the accomplishment of my geographical dreams. Simply by coincidence, in 1980, I headed for Argentina, whose name commences with the first letter of our alphabet; my second international trip happened to be a “B” one, as I decided to make for Bolivia in 1982; after four decades travelling around the world and without having found any place to call “home” yet, Vietnam (a “V” country) was visited by me in 2020. The name New Zeeland is on the top of my current list and has a capital “Z” within it; does that mean that I am destined to finally settle down somewhere in the next few years?

Keywords: Vietnam, Communism, Religion, Disability, Travels

Introduction

Figure 1 Half of my childhood and teenage years were spent hearing, reading, watching and talking about the War of Vietnam (1955-1975). The subject became compulsive on a planetary scale; its ubiquity in the media made it subject number one in the hearts and minds of everybody. Therefore, I was no exception to the rule; in fact, I was just one more unity to be added to the statistics. Along with the Counterculture and its variants (the Beat Generation, the hippie and the punk subcultures, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the rock and roll in general, etc.), Vietnam was the fashion in those days. To tell the truth, the very word “Vietnam” may have been one of the first I learnt to speak, giving my having been born in the very beginning of the 1960s, a time that was “the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war”[1]. George Englund’s The Ugly American (1963), Alfred Hitchcock’ Topazio (1969) and Ted Post’s Go Tell the Spartans (1978) – based on Daniel Ford’s novel Incident at Muc Wa (1967) - are among the few motion pictures that are faithful to the truth concerning this crucial phase of our history. My first intention in writing this article was not to talk about the war, neither to portray nor convey any political landscape concerning the period spanning from 1955 to 1975. As much as I could, I tried not to delve into many details concerning Vietnam’s communist fate. I could not help, however, saying something about the fate of the Vietnamese people, especially with respect to disability (which happens to be my field of research) and religion, being this sphere of human life the most affected when freedom of though and of speech are under the constant threat of censorship – as in the case of any and all Communist regime, being Vietnam no exception to the rule. The following lines are basically a brief account of a visit I made to Vietnam, besides an overview of some geographical and cultural features of this land described as “one of the most intoxicating destinations on planet earth”. Vietnam, the same literary source states, is “a kaleidoscope of vivid colours and subtle shades, exotic sights and curious sounds, grand architecture and deeply moving war sites. The nation is a budget traveller’s dream, with inexpensive transport, outstanding street food, goodvalue accommodation and bia hoi perhaps the world’s cheapest beer”[2]. It remains for me to tell that my childhood and teenage years were also fed by my mother reports of a travel she made to Europe in her youth (more precisely in 1950). Countries like Belgium, Holland, France and Italy were no more than mere sounds in my first years of life – just like “Vietnam”. It was these sounds that started to shape my dreams about travelling and knowing personally some parts of the earth. Vietnam was one of my dreamed targets, all of them geographical abstractions, much like Baudelaire’s “Anywheres”, exactly the kind of place “of which we had no memories and where no one knew our names” [3]. The opportunity to make it a reality came in February 2020.

The Land, the People… and some Religious Issues

Figure 2 Occupying the easternmost swath of the Indochinese Peninsula, Vietnam is a mostly hilly and forested land. Its 127,882 sq mi make of it the sixty-fifth largest country in the world, inhabited by 95,5 million people, thus ranking fifteenth when compared with other countries’ population. The human presence in what is now Vietnam is a fact since the Lower Paleolithic, as attested by some 500,000 years old fossils of Homo erectus found in the north of the country. Time passed, and different human groups overlapped each other until their combined cultural achievements converged to the Đông Sơn Bronze Age culture, so named after the northern Vietnamese village of Đông Sơn, where their remains were found. What is more, Đông Sơn’s influence “spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Maritime Southeast Asia, from about 1000 BC to 1 BC. The Dong Son people, who are also known as Lạc or Lạc Việt, were skilled at cultivating rice, keeping water buffalos and pigs, fishing and sailing in long dugout canoes. They also were skilled bronze casters, which is evidenced by the Dong Son drum found widely throughout northern Vietnam and South China. To the south of the Dong Son culture was the Sa Huỳnh culture of the proto-Chams” [4]. The homo vietnamiensis – if we can him so – started to be shaped in this cultural scenario. Yet more times than not, the influence from the giant of the North has been unavoidable. Chinese presence is a fundamental constant in the Vietnamese way of life.

In essence, Vietnam’s history is not different from that of other nations we may be more familiar with: we will find there the same cycles of dynasties, kingdoms, internal and international wars, territorial expansion and shrinking. As for particular historical landmarks, July 2 1976 is a date not to be forgotten for all Vietnamese; on that day, North Vietnam and South Vietnam merged by force of arms into one single country (the Socialist Republic of Vietnam). Atheism become the “religion” of the State, being all true forms of religion subjected to persecution. Not content with eliminating all other political rivals, Communist leaders usually do not want competition in the spiritual arena either: no other being can be worship but the Communist Party, the Communist People and the Communist Dictator (see North Korea and China). Notwithstanding, religiousness heroically survives in Atheistic Vietnam. Within this small spiritual universe, Buddhists are majority and Hindus minority. Christianity ranks second in terms of number of followers, but leads the ranking of martyrdoms. In fact, “The atheist dictatorship of Vietnam persecute all kinds of religion. In particular, Christians are most affected. Open Doors has ranged Vietnam on place 21. The country’s Communist regime can close churches without any reason. In 2012 the regime closed at least seven Catholic churches. A Catholic orphanage was also closed and a pastor was beaten by the regime’s authorities. In the Vietnamese countryside, the situation is worse as in the cities, because tribal leaders discriminate against Christians for their faith”[5].

More: “Christians in Vietnam are targeted by both the government and, especially in rural contexts, tribal leaders. The government has some level of tolerance for Christian groups, particularly Catholics, but if any believers are deemed to be politically active, they can be imprisoned. In places where religion and ethnic identity are closely tied, Christians who convert from traditional religions are often victims of pressure and violence from their families and communities. On the state level, villagers collude with local Communist authorities, beating believers, kicking them out of their villages and stoning places of worship during meetings. Local and national government authorities persecute the Christian minority through their laws, and Christian bloggers and political activists have been arrested and sentenced” [6].

It is not of today that Christians have been persecuted in Vietnam. Communism has only continued with a centuries-old tradition. Indeed, since the 16th century, Vietnam has bequeathed to eternity a great number of Christian martyrs; in the West, the best known of them seem to be the Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen (1624- 1644), also named the “Protomartyr of Vietnam”, and Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc (1795-1839). As a matter of fact, “The tortures these individuals underwent are considered by the Vatican to be among the worst in the history of Christian martyrdom. The torturers hacked off limbs joint by joint, tore flesh with red hot tongs, and used drugs to enslave the minds of the victims. Christians at the time were branded on the face with the words ‘tả đạo’ and families and villages which subscribed to Christianity were obliterated” [7] (Figure 3).

Disability in Vietnam

Disability is, among many others, a sensitive issue in Vietnam. The country has one of the world’s highest rates of disable per capita [8], which means that nearly 15% of the Vietnamese population suffers from at least one kind of disability. A simple outing in Vietnamese cities and villages demonstrates that the expression accessibility, unfortunately, is not much more than a flatus vocis, i.e., a mere abstraction – or, as the nominalist philosophers would say, a name that lacks any individual and objective reality to correspond to. Nonetheless, progress has been made in recent years, as testified by the partnership between the Vietnamese Government and institutions like UNICEF, USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and ILO (International Labour Organisation). Mention must also be made of the Vietnamese institution called Hòa Nhập (“Reaching Out”), established in the historical city of Hoi An in year 2000, with the purpose of opening professional doors and windows for the disabled of Vietnam, thus providing them a better quality of life. In their own words, “Reaching Out (Hòa Nhập) was established in 2000 with the vision of providing opportunities for disable people to learn skills and gain meaningful employment so that they are able to integrate fully with their communities and lead independent and fulfilling lives. Over the years, our social enterprise, Reaching Out, has grown to a multi-location group of businesses where people of different abilities can showcase their unique talents in an array of exquisitely crafted goods and gracious services. Driven by strong core values and a commitment to quality and integrity, more than 70 employees, both able bodied and disable, now comprise a strong team who, together, have created this world-renowned enterprise” [9].

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Lupine Publishers|Seed Bank and Seedling Recruitment Following Ten-Year Cessation of Cattle Pastures in Serrania De Los Yariguies National Park

Abstract

Seed bank and seedling recruitment following cessation of cattle pastures is a neuralgic topic to clarity the natural regeneration in a tropical forest. Land-use changes are related to the reduction in tree density and biomass, as well as changes in the vegetation distribution. A little-studied consequence is an effect on the soil seed bank and seedling recruitment, which are essential for natural forest regeneration. Natural regeneration starts the ecological succession without human intervention; otherwise, the active ecological restoration will be necessary for supporting the process. Here, we were focused on the effects of ferns and abandoned pasture vegetation on tropical rain forest regeneration. We assumed that the presence of invasive species in pastures delays the recovery time of plant communities after a disturbance. In Serranía Los Yariguíes National Park in Golconda locality, exotic pastures and ferns are the typical covers in abandoned cattle pastures. We carried out seed germination assays and field experiments involving cover clearing to evaluate the effect of soil cover on the soil seed bank and seedling recruitment. Our results showed that ferns and pastures are a factor in arresting natural forest regeneration. However, in soils with fern cover, the seed bank is a source of propagules to give continuity to the ecological succession. The creation of exclusion´s micro-sites in pasture and fern showed a significant effect on the recruitment of seedlings. The response of the soil seed bank and seedling recruitment is essential in defining the more cost-effective ecological restoration activities and support the management decisions.

Keywords: Ferns, Natural regeneration, Pasture, Secondary forest, Seed bank, Seedling recruitment

Introduction

Soil-use change to cattle pasture and agriculture are the top activities causing transformation and loss of the tropical forest [1]. The consequences of these activities include habitat loss and biodiversity reduction [2-5]. Also, the transformed areas are susceptible to invasive species’ arrival and establishment Gurrutxaga, Lozano [6], which limits the native plant community’s recovery after the human activity has ceased [1,2]. Invasive species change the soil conditions, promoting fertility loss, organic matter quantity and quality reduction, changes in the soil’s pH, and alterations in the soil’s cationic change capacity [7]. In the biological framework, invasive species reduce the soil potential for the native seed store, seed germination, and seedling establishment, with a direct effect on the native plant community’s recovery [2]. Such effects are the consequence of the high seeds production, high germination and survival rates, and high relative growth rates that define the invasive species’ behavior. Besides, invasive species display traits and biomass allocation strategies that give them an advantage in environmental adaptation over the native tree species in the absence of natural enemies. Brachiaria sp. and Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R.D. Webster are African species typically introduced to cattle pastures [8]. What happens to such pastures after they are abandoned has attracted particular interest when it comes to an understanding of the natural regeneration processes, as well as conducting experimentation in restoration ecology and the practices of ecological restoration. Prior results have shown the extreme environmental conditions associated with high solar radiation reducing native species’ capacity to become established, as well as their rates of photosynthesis and growth [9]. Direct sun exposure increases the soil temperature and evaporation, making seeds and seedlings likelier to become dehydrated [9]. An additional stressor is the presence of ferns, especially those of the Pteridium genus, which are strong competitors in cattle pastures. Ferns are faster colonizers in areas exposed to burning, which is a common practice in cattle pasture management [9-11]. Ferns prevent the seedling establishment, deplete the soil seed bank (SB), and impede secondary succession [12].

Moreover, ferns develop a dense root layer with underground rhizomes that have high reserves of carbohydrates and nutrients, as well as regenerative parts that produce new fronds. The aboveground compartment is a dense dosel, which favors shadow and litter accumulation; the litter’s chemical composition repels other species, thereby preventing their colonization [9,13]. In fern areas, the remnant trees are scarce, and the natural regeneration is reduced. However, some tree species can become established, and previous results have shown that the litter layer favors seedlings by replacing herbs and pastures [9].In areas with invasive plant species, the physical and biotic characteristics of the affected area must allow for the recruitment and germination of native plant species to assist in the plant community’s recovery [1]. The availability of local resources, such as soil nutrients, humidity, the presence of microorganisms, and the availability of propagules, are essential in the regeneration of the forest. The soil SB, defined as all living seeds in a soil profile, including those on the soil surface Saatkamp [14], is the central reserve of plant propagules Chazdon,Guariguata, Martínez & Uriarte Chazdon [15], and it determines the opportunity for natural regeneration. The SB reduces the possibility of population extinction and promotes species coexistence; in some cases, it is the most important source of plants after a disturbance [16-19]. After the disturbance, the plant regrowth is affected by propagule and resource availability [15]. The competition with pastures and ferns and the physical conditions can strongly affect the composition and rate of forest regeneration [20].

The SB depends on the climate, herbivory, and disturbance. In pastures surrounded by forest areas, a small group of plant species present in the forest reaches the interior of the pasture, mainly species dispersed by animals, while other species dispersed by the wind are usually abundant. Due to the low availability of seeds in the pastures, the recovery of tree vegetation is slow, with low diversity earlier in succession [21]. Advanced successional forests in pastures have small SBs (in density and composition), as the seeds of shadetolerant species (primary, late pioneer) enter a smaller proportion and produce a transient SB (Garwood 1989). Nonetheless, the persistence of pastures and the presence of higher extensions of ferns make it necessary to identify the appropriate mechanisms that will allow the recovery of degraded areas; thereby, improving the conservation status in Serranía de Los Yariguíes National Park and serving as a reference to improve the connectivity with surrounding areas. The main objective of the present study was to determine whether the soil SB and seedling recruitment differ in two types of soil cover in an abandoned pasture in a natural park in northeast Colombia. Also, we hoped to determine whether a single cutting (i.e., a single moment of pruning) of the pasture and ferns would represent an effective strategy for accelerating the natural regeneration processes. We expect the SB in areas with invasive species, whether ferns or pastures, will show lower germination. Also, we expect a simple cutting of ferns and pastures will increase the seedling recruitment in the experimental areas.

Materials and Methods

Study area

The study was conducted in the Golconda locality (06°35’33.4” N; 73°21’15.8” W) in Serranía de Los Yariguíes National Park, which was declared a protected area in 2005 (Document N° 603, May 13). Yariguíes Park is in northeast Colombia, in the western foothills of the Eastern Andean Range, 2100 m above mean sea level. It is part of the Tropical Montane Rain Forest life zone (Holdridge 1996), and it has a mean annual precipitation of 2000 to 3000 mm in a bimodal regime, with peak levels of rainfall occurring both in April–May, and September–October. The mean annual temperature is 16.7°C [22]. Table 1 summarizes details concerning the soil characteristics across the studied sites. The study area was previously used for corn, soy, banana, and yuca (Zea maiz Vell., Glycine max (L.) Merr., Musa × paradisiaca L. and Manihot esculenta Crantz, respectively) cultivation. Posterior to cultivation the area was employed for cattle pasture; areas show loss of native vegetation and an increase of ferns (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn and P. arachnoideum (Kaulf.) Maxon) and grasses [23]. Cattle pasture management included fire for increasing the pasture growth and herbicide application to avoid native species propagation. Forest in the study site has been affected by cattle pasture and fragmentation, with area reduction. The sites selected as reference were abandoned 60 years ago and have not been used for agriculture or grazing in recent history. The forest in the study area is a secondary forest dominated by tree species of the families Melastomataceae, Rubiaceae, Lauraceae, and Araliaceae.

 Golconda. N = 27. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Different lowercase letters indicate means are significantly different (P < 0.05) among soil covers.

Experimental Design

To select areas, we considered the similarity in the soil use history and the time since abandonment; besides, we select sites into the same landscape matrix. We selected three soil covers, secondary tropical forest (Fo), pasture (P), and P. aquilinum (Pa). Forest is an intermedia successional forest according to local expert knowledge of specific site history. In each soil cover, we selected three sites and installed three replicated 50 m2 (10 × 5 m) plots per site. Plots in Fo were located 100 m inside from the forest border. In P, we located plots taking at least 100 m outside from the forest border. Plots in Pa were located to 100 m inside from the border of the P. aquilinum cover. In each plot, we installed eight quadrants (1 m2) for a total of 24 quadrants. In four quadrants per plot, herbaceous vegetation was cleared (i.e., herbs and shrubs in Fo, grass in P, and fern in Pa cover); the four remaining quadrants per plot were maintained with the original soil cover as control quadrants. After that, we will refer to treatments as cleared and uncleared quadrants.

Seed Bank and Seedling Recruitment

During the dry season (December 2016), we collected four soil cores from the topsoil (10 cm depth) of each plot using a soil sampler of 7.5 cm in diameter. The litter layer was removed before the soil collection. The soil samples were stored in plastic bags until the process for the seed germination assay. The samples were homogenized and distributed in a 400-cm2 plate with a perforated bottom for water drainage. We used soil for all plates to reach 2.5 cm depth, and all plates were kept in a shady greenhouse. The light and humidity conditions were similar for all plates in the greenhouse. Seedling emergence was monitored every month for six months. The seedling emergence in plates was used to estimate soil SB density and morphospecies richness. Because we were focused on the soil SB potential to recover the forest, we included tree-seedling only. In the field, we registered individual recruitment in both treatments, cleared and un-cleared quadrants, from November 2016 to August 2017. We registered seedling density (i.e., the individual number per quadrant) and morpho-species richness. To include an individual into the register, we selected this difference of grasses and ferns.

Data Analysis

The seedlings emergence in soil from the three soil covers were compared using a generalized linear model with Poisson distribution, employing the number of plants emerging in the plates. To test the effect of soil cover and treatments (i.e., cleared, or uncleared) on the seedling recruitment, we carried out a generalized linear model with Poisson distribution, the interaction between the two factors was included. To compare the rates of seed germination and plant recruitment across the three soil covers (and cleared or un-cleared treatment), an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was carried out. All analyses were performed using R software, version 2.15.2.

Results

Soil Seed Bank

The total number of germinated seeds, considering all the soil cover plates, was 3415 in 108 soil samples. The seed germination census began 30 days after the soil preparation and continued to 194 days. We found higher seed germination in soil from P. aquilinum cover (1487 seedlings), followed by the soil from the forest (1073 seedlings) and pasture (855 seedlings). The rates of seed germination were different across the three soil covers (Z = 71.57; p = 0.001). The soil SB from the fern cover showed the highest germination rate (34.69 ± 1.20 seeds per day), followed by the soil SBs from the secondary forest (23.42 ± 1.25) and pasture (21.29 ± 1.02; Figure 1). The number of morpho-species was affected by the soil cover (Z = 14.64; p = 0.001). The richness of morpho-species was higher in P. aquilinum (4.97 ± 0.25), followed by forest (3.61 ± 0.26) and pasture (2.83 ± 0.20).

Seedling Recruitment

The seedling recruitment census began 57 days after the plots were installed, and it continued for 284 days. There were 16416 seedlings counted in the sampled plots across the three soil covers and two treatments. The soil cover significantly affected the number of seedlings (Z = 176.37; p = 0.0001). Most seedlings were recruited in the P. aquilinum quadrants (29.36 ± 3.06), followed by the secondary forest (17.77 ± 3.05) and pasture (17.52 ± 3.94). In the same way, the treatment affected the seedling recruitment count (Z = 72.55; p = 0.001). The greatest seedling recruitment was found in the cleared plots (19.90 ± 1.31) in comparison with un-cleared ones (12.13 ± 1.33; Figure 2). In the cleared plots, there were 10750 seedlings recruited counted, and in un-cleared plots, 6551 plants across the three soil covers. The seedling recruitment across the soil covers varied per treatment (Z = 72.55; p = 0.001). In the cleared sites, the plots in the pasture showed the biggest seedling recruitment rates (33.80 ± 2.48), followed by P. aquilinum (18.56 ± 1.95) and forest (7.35 ± 1.74). In the un-cleared plots, the secondary forest plots showed the greatest number of seedlings (18.8 ± 1.46), followed by P. aquilinum cover (14.5 ± 1.06) and pasture (13.43 ± 1.60). The morpho-species richness was affected by the soil cover and treatment (Z = 176, p = 0.0001; Z = 12.74, p = 0.001, respectively). The greatest number found was in the morphospecies number in P. aquilinum sites (4.97 ± 0.22), followed by the forest (3.58 s 0.13) and pasture (0.50 ± 0.11).

Discussion

The traditional soil used in the study sites with P. aquilinum and pasture cover could be the factor generating the decrease of the soil’s nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as the increase in soil compaction beneath P. aquilinum and soil density beneath the pasture. In contrast to our expectations, the seed density and diversity of morpho-species in the SB from P. aquilinum areas were higher than those found in the secondary forest. These results suggest that P. aquilinum does not limit the incorporation of seeds into the soil, in agreement with the results reported by Xavier et al. (2016) and Ghorbani et al. (2006). In our study area, the ferns cover comprised of P. aquilinum and P. arachnoideum, which have been shown to limit productive practices and biodiversity conservation actions because they prevent seed germination and seedling establishment and growth [11,24-26]. However, the seedling abundance and morpho-species richness in the soil from P. aquilinum areas allowed us to consider that the ferns were acting in favor of the seed input and preventing seed predation in Golconda locality. The lower seed germination in soil from the secondary forest could have resulted from a limited seed input of pioneer species that colonized in the early stages of secondary succession (Guevara et al. 2005). Also, since the soil was sampled in locations inside the forest, far away from the border, the lower density of individual recruitment may have been a result of higher rates of seed predation [27]. The results found in the pasture were in concordance with our expectations and other reported findings (Xavier et al. 2016). The low germination, as well as the lower number of morpho-species, was evidence of the highly competitive power of the pasture species, such as U. decumbens, limiting the vegetation establishment and SB formation. The low seed density in the pasture has been associated with low seed rain and high seed and seedling predation (Esquivel et al. 2008; García-Orth & Martínez-Ramos 2008); the additional evidence of the apparent differences in the seedling recruitment in the presence of exotic pastures (in the un-cleared treatment) reinforces the theory about pasture’s invasive power. Although we did not focus on the mechanisms for this, there is agreement on the role of pastures as physical barriers that limit the seeds’ incorporation into the soil; they also favor high seed and seedling predation, and they are strong competitors for soil nutrients, water, and/or light [2,28,29]. These mechanisms may have governed the results found in the Golconda locality. Also, although it has been reported that seed rain in pastures declines with distance to the remnant forest, our studied pastures were at 10–25 m from the remnant forest, thereby falling within the limit for seed dispersion reported in the literature (Martínez-Garza & González-Montagut 1999; Cubiña & Aide 2001). We can expect the low seedling recruitment of the SB in the pasture was due to seed predation; though, we need more evidence to support this. Although our study has limited power for elucidating the mechanisms controlling such patterns, our results are in line with those reported on the SB dynamics in tropical forests. Our results highlight that actions favoring natural regeneration in pasture areas will require the enrichment of the SB.

The experimental site with a single cutting of exotic vegetation showed this was an effective treatment. The results indicated that, in the tropical rainforest of the National Park Serranía de Los Yariguies, pasture and P. aquilinum control represents a useful strategy for the development of a plant community. We also showed the high potential for natural regeneration of fern cover, despite its high invasive power. Most emergence of seedlings in sites where ferns and pasture were cut once and germination assays in soil from ferns show us that fern areas represent a considerable contribution to the natural regeneration process in the transformed forest. In the field, the creation of exclusion micro-sites is stimulating the seedling recruitment, which contributes to the recovery of the diversity and species richness in concordance with the pattern reported in the literature [30,31]. Finally, we considered low seedling emergence in cleared tropical secondary forest as a consequence of slow dynamics, associated with low light availability, and possibly, an inhibition effect by species present in the SB. In conclusion, ten years after the land was abandoned, the effect of the productive activities carried out in the Golconda locality has been shown and continued to diminish the potential of the forest regeneration in favor of the presence of invasive species. Also, we can affirm that it is necessary to implement different management actions to achieve forest restoration. In fern areas, although ferns are challenging to eradicate, it is possible to take advantage of the availability of propagules to implement active restoration actions. In the meantime, it is necessary to implement active restoration strategies, such as the planting of vegetation nuclei with species native to the area. With this study, we can suggest the elimination of vegetation cover is a practice that can facilitate natural regeneration, especially for ferns, where there was a higher quantity of proposals and a greater diversity of species after clearing. Finally, there is an obvious need to carry out further work to ascertain the mechanisms governing the plant community’s development in pasture and fern areas. The question is vital in protected areas where there is the potential to reverse the effect of the historical damage to the native plant community [32-34].

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank the Serranía de los Yariguíes National Park team for the access to field sites and for their help in the field. The first author thanks Maestría en Conservación y Uso de Biodiversidad of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana for the academic and logistic support. This study was supported by Consejo Profesional de Biologia grants.