Human-Environment Interactions

1. Smallholder farms make up 84% of all farms worldwide and feed 2 billion people. These farms are heavily reliant on ecosystem services and vulnerable to environmental change, yet under-represented in the ecological literature. The high diversity of crops in these systems makes it challenging to identify and manage the best providers of an ecosystem service, such as the best pollinators to meet the needs of multiple crops. It is also unclear whether ecosystem service requirements change as smallholders transition towards more specialised commercial farming-an increasing trend worldwide. 2. Here, we present a new metric for predicting the species providing ecosystem services in diverse multi-crop farming systems. Working in 10 smallholder villages in rural Nepal, we use this metric to test whether key pollinators, and the management actions that support them, differ based on a farmers' agricultural priority (producing nutritious food to feed the family vs. generating income from cash crops). We also test whether the resilience of pollination services changes as farmers specialise on cash crops. 3. We show that a farmers' agricultural priority can determine the community of pollinators they rely upon. Wild insects including bumblebees, solitary bees and flies provided the majority of the pollination service underpinning nutrient production, while income generation was much more dependent on a single species-the domesticated honeybee Apis cerana. The significantly lower diversity of pollinators supporting income generation leaves cash crop farmers more vulnerable to pollinator declines. 4. Regardless of a farmers' agricultural priority, the same collection of wild plant species (mostly herbaceous weeds and shrubs) were important for supporting crop pollinators with floral resources. Promoting these wild plants is likely to enhance pollination services for all farmers in the region.

The ecological impacts of human activities have infiltrated the whole of the ‘natural world’ and precipitated calls for a newly defined geological epoch – the Anthropocene. While scholars discuss tipping-points and scale, viewed over the longue durée, it is becoming clear that we have inherited the compounding consequences of a constructed environment with a long history of human landscape modification. By linking phytolith and micro-charcoal evidence from sediments in the Azraq Basin, Jordan, we discuss potential Early Epipaleolithic (23,000–17,400 cal. BP) human–environment interactions in this wetland. Our analyses reveal that during the Last Glacial Maximum, Levantine hunter-gatherers could have had a noticeable and increasing impact on their environment. However, further work needs to be undertaken to assess the range, frequency, intensity, and intentionality of marsh disturbance events. We suggest that the origin of ‘persistent places’ and larger aggregation settlements in the...

El sitio arqueológico de Incahuasi, ubicado en el valle medio de Cañete de la costa surcentral peruana, ha sido mencionado reiteradamente en la literatura arqueológica; sin embargo, los estudios efectuados en el asentamiento han tenido hasta la fecha un carácter superficial. Recientes investigaciones realizadas en el sector E han permitido conocer la complejidad constructiva del ushnu de la plaza principal del sitio y se ha llegado a identificar, al menos, tres fases constructivas asociadas a cambios de tamaño y orientación. Las excavaciones del ushnu mayor constituyen un ejemplo de la compleja ocupación del sitio, desarrollada por un tiempo mucho mayor al que mencionan los documentos coloniales.

Among pentacyclic triterpenes commonly found in plants, γ-amyrin and isoursenol are seldom reported and considered rare in nature. It was hypothesized that these triterpenes are instead routinely overlooked due to inadequate spectral characterization. γ-Amyrin was prepared by HCOOH isomerization of α-amyrin, and isoursenol was isolated from products of a heterologously expressed oxidosqualene cyclase. With precise NMR and GC-MS data, a metabolomics strategy was used to identify isoursenol and γ-amyrin in a wide range of plants. T riterpenes and their triterpenoid derivatives are widely distributed in plants as specialized metabolites of medicinal, agricultural, and ecological importance. 1 More than 100 triterpene skeletons are constructed by oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs). 2 Much of this structural diversity arises in plants from OSCs that make a mixture of oleanane (1-7) and ursane (8-18) derivatives. These pentacyclic triterpenes are generally well documented (Graphical Abstract 3 ), with detailed spectral characterization (Figure ). Two notable exceptions are γ-amyrin 4 (urs-13(18)-en-3β-ol, 13) and isoursenol (15). Prior to 1970, 13 5 and 15 6 were isolated and characterized by melting point and optical rotation but not by NMR or MS. Only limited spectral data for identifying 13 and 15 were reported in later references, which include a recent erroneous structure elucidation of 13 (see Figure ). 7 Largely due to this lack of data, we 8 and others 9,10 have overlooked 15 in biological samples. We had often anticipated the presence of 13 and 15 in metabolomics studies and as OSC products but had no NMR or GC-MS guidance to identify them in triterpene mixtures. Now serendipity has led us to 13 and 15. Here we describe their preparation, spectral characterization, and broad distribution among higher plants. Recently we encountered a GC-MS study of 13 in Stefan Bauer's 2002 Ph.D. dissertation. 9,11 Bauer tentatively proposed that tomato wax contains 13 on the basis of MS fragmentation and GC retention time patterns. This extensive discussion of 13 was not indexed by Chemical Abstracts, nor was 13 mentioned in Bauer's subsequent papers on tomato wax lipids. 12 We repeated Bauer's 9 extraction and purification of tomato wax triterpenes and found a chromatographic fraction that showed a small GC-MS peak corresponding to Bauer's data for 13 (Figure ). Unable to locate any useful NMR data for 13, we estimated 1 H and 13 C NMR chemical shifts from quantum mechanical calculations. Nine 1 H-13 C signal pairs from an HSQC spectrum of crude hexane extracts of tomato wax matched well with the predicted values (Table ), which

Climate and vegetation influence weathering rates and processes; however, evaluating the effects of each and feedbacks between systems, has yet to be accomplished for many types of landscapes. A detailed understanding of how these processes interact to shape landscapes is particularly crucial for reconciling future scenarios of changing climate, where profound alterations to both the biosphere and geosphere are anticipated. In the tropics, ecosystem services, such as soil and water quality, are linked to both vegetation and weathering processes that form a strong control on natural resources that are the foundation of many communities' daily subsistence. This understanding is further complicated by intensifying land-use within tropical watersheds, which decouples vegetation change from climate; it is yet unclear what the direct effects of vegetation change may be on erosion and weathering when operating independent of climate. Long term observational records tracking changes to the critical zone do not exist in tropical Africa, however, sedimentary paleo-records from lakes are often of sufficient length and resolution to record the impact of bioclimatic variability on surface processes. Here, we use a novel approach combining long (60ka) and intermediate-length (400yrs) lake sediment records along with historical repeat photography from Lake Tanganyika (Tanzania) to document changes and relationships among climate, vegetation, and weathering at multiple scales. These records illustrate that glacial-interglacial climate change did not significantly alter weathering intensity. Instead, we observe chemical and physical weathering responses only when the vegetation becomes more open beginning at the transition to the Holocene. Also, the largest change in chemical weathering intensity occurs only within the last ~3ka. This is consistent with a major reorganization of vegetation and is directly attributable to Iron Age human activity, rather than climate. Furthermore, anthropogenic landscape alteration as early as ~2.5ka, in addition to well-documented comparisons of historical land-use, suggest widespread responses of both chemical weathering intensity and enhanced soil erosion to human activity. This shows that changes in vegetation structure induced by anthropogenic activity, decoupled from climate change, generate a disproportionately large weathering response.

Reductions in global bee populations are threatening the pollination benefits to both the planet and people. Whilst the contribution of bee pollination in promoting sustainable development goals through food security and biodiversity is widely acknowledged, a range of other benefits provided by bees has yet to be fully recognised. We explore the contributions of bees towards achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our insights suggest that bees potentially contribute towards 15 of the 17 SDGs and a minimum of 30 SDG targets. We identify common themes in which bees play an essential role, and suggest that improved understanding of bee contributions to sustainable development is crucial for ensuring viable bee systems.

Multiple pre-Columbian (pre-1492 CE) archaeological sites now challenge the traditional portrayal of Amazonia as a 'pristine wilderness'. This is especially true within the forest-savanna mosaic landscapes of lowland Bolivia, where the pre-Columbian Casarabe Culture constructed hundreds of settlement mounds, integrated with a dense causeway-canal network-one of the most complex, stratified societies yet discovered in Amazonia. Excavations at previous sites indicate that this culture sustained itself by practicing large-scale, maize-based agriculture. However, the Casarabe Culture's mounds have also been found within the riparian forests abutting major river systems, where their inhabitants could have benefitted from greater access to forest resources and local fish species. To determine whether these differences influenced how the Casarabe Culture utilised the landscape, we conducted palaeoecological analysis on the sediments collected from Laguna Loma Suarez (LLS), an oxbow lake situated adjacent to a monumental habitation mound within these riparian forests. Our analysis reveals that, despite significant differences in natural resource availability, the Casarabe Culture continued to cultivate maize locally around LLS for over a millennium, between 280 BCE and 1130 CE, with anthropogenic fires largely restricted to the open savannas. Our record also suggests that the Casarabe Culture possibly delayed either forest recovery or natural forest encroachment until after the nearby settlement mound was abandoned. These findings, when compared with those of other sites in the region, show that maize was an important crop in pre-Columbian times, irrespective of major differences in natural resource availability across the complex forest-savanna mosaic settings of Amazonian Bolivia.

Data availability statement: The architectural energetics and carrying capacity models developed in this study, along with their outputs, have been made available in the supporting information files. Our agent-based model, MoundSim Population, as well as the parameter data necessary to replicate our experiment

Stingless beekeeping in Central and South America. A) Jobones (Meliponaries, stingless beehives), in Mexico. © Javier Quezada-Euán reproduced with permission. B) Mayan family with jobones in Mexico. © Javier Quezada-Euán Reproduced with permission. C) Meliponarie Nahua (Scaptotrigona mexicana) in earthenware pots, Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico © Javier Quezada-Euán Reproduced with permission. D) Melipona favosa nests in earthenware pots in Guanare, Venezuela. © Guiomar Nates Parra. Reproduced with permission.

This paper employs new phytolith evidence to consider how Early Epipaleolithic people at the site of Kharaneh IV (Azraq Basin, Jordan) used local plant resources to construct their huts, and furnish their indoor space. Fortyfive sediment samples from Structure 1 were compared to previously published results (10 sediment samples) from the well-preserved site of Ohalo II (Hut 1) (adjacent to Sea of Galilee, Israel). Our results demonstrate that similar plant resources were employed in both sites' hut constructions, including the heavy use of wetland sedge and reed resources. Interpreting the extensive use of wetland resources in hut construction at Kharaneh IV required the use of new ethnographic analogs focused on wetland-based adaptations, such as Northern Paiute 'tule technology' from the American Great Basin. The phytolith evidence shows that woody and shrubby dicots were employed, likely to construct the hut frame. Phragmites culm may also have been used to frame the structure. While a variety of grasses, wetland reeds, and importantly sedge resources, were used as part of the hut superstructure, perhaps as bundled thatching to cover the frame. In the interior these resources were employed as a loose floor covering or matting to increase the comfort of the living space. Our broader findings emphasize that Early Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers were increasingly investing in 'place'. Indeed, the construction of these early homes may even have enhanced the ecological productivity and social meaning of the Azraq Landscape.

The mosaic ecology of the Late Pleistocene Levant has been referred to by many authors investigating Epipaleolithic use of wild cereals as a prelude to cultivation, but it has rarely been the focus of studies investigating hunter-gatherer adaptations and diverse wild plant collection strategies. Partly, this was due to poor preservation of macro-botanical remains at Epipaleolithic sites with the exception of Ohalo II. Our analyses of 100 phytolith samples from four sites in the eastern Levant, compared with phytoliths from Ohalo II, reveal evidence for how foragers used the unique local ecological opportunities in these regions. Abundant phytoliths from reeds and sedges indicate the critical importance of wetlands in hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies. Wild cereals and grasses point to steppe and parkland exploitation, and woody plants indicate use of woodlands. From the Late Upper Paleolithic through the Middle Epipaleolithic our evidence

Excavations on fortified tell sites in the 20th century formed the basis for construction of Bronze Age chronology in the Carpathian Basin. Typological and stylistic elements observed at these sites were used to create archaeological cultures for large areas, whose distributions changed over time (Bóna 1975, 1992). Decorations such as spirals were considered primary elements of entire regional cultures such as the Gyulavarsánd (Bóna 1975). However, the use of large archaeological groups masks internal regional variation, both chronologically and stylistically. In this study, we treat river-valleys as micro-regions in order to investigate the possibility that they formed the basis for regular interaction, community activities and social practices, and thus, may have left distinctive material culture. Our research questions are as follows: ● Is there stylistic variation present in ceramic elements across river valleys in the same large cultural unit? ● Do cemeteries and settlements sh...

Big History is an interdisciplinary approach that examines history from the Big Bang to themodern age, integrating insights from science, history, and the humanities. One of the key components of Big History is Cliodynamics, the study of societal dynamics and historical processes through the lens of complex systems, mathematics, and statistical modeling. This analysis explores the structural elements of Cliodynamics within Big History and seeks to identify potential pathways for developing a framework for human ecodynamics.

Due largely to demographic growth, agricultural populations during the Holocene became increasingly more impactful ecosystem engineers. Multidisciplinary research has revealed a deep history of humanenvironmental dynamics; however, these pre-modern anthropogenic ecosystem transformations and cultural adaptions are still poorly understood. Here, we synthesis anthracological data to explore the complex array of human-environmental interactions in the regions of the prehistoric Silk Road. Our results suggest that these ancient humans were not passively impacted by environmental change; rather, they culturally adapted to, and in turn altered, arid ecosystems. Underpinned by the establishment of complex agricultural systems on the western Loess Plateau, people may have started to manage chestnut trees, likely through conservation of economically significant species, as early as 4600 BP. Since ca. 3500 BP, with the appearance of high-yielding wheat and barley farming in Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor, people appear to have been cultivating Prunus and Morus trees. We also argue that people were transporting preferred coniferous woods over long distances to meet the need for fuel and timber. After 2500 BP, people in our study area were making conscious selections between wood types for craft production and were also clearly cultivating a wide range of long-generation perennials, showing a remarkable traditional knowledge tied into the arid environment. At the same time, the data suggest that there was significant deforestation throughout the chronology of occupation, including a rapid decline of slow-growing spruce forests and riparian woodlands across northwestern China. The wood charcoal dataset is publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8158277 (Shen et al., 2023).

Aims: The yard has played a much more prominent role than ever. After the changes in the structure of the community, the house and yard changed. The present study investigates these changes and the reasons for their occurrence during the contemporary period.
Methods: The data collection is a documentary.
Findings: The results of the study indicate that in the past, the yard has been an organized element to the home, an element of light and ventilation of the spaces, a connector with nature, and providing a convenient space for family comfort and celebration. Nevertheless, the yard’s role today is merely the space between the house and the passage, the car movement, and sometimes the small gardens to make optimal use of the remaining areas of the motorway.
Conclusion: Due to society’s changing social and cultural structures, resurrecting the same way traditional courtyard for today’s society is in vain. The same traditional courtyards in the new urban design where the houses are overlapped have been changed to roof gardens that need to be in sight. These changes can be attributed to the developments in the Qajar era. Given these developments, the relationships and assumptions of the world of tradition were not capable of living in the contemporary world. All in all, modern man’s environmental perceptions changed. As the most relevant space to man, the house has undergone significant changes, and the yard, one of its most essential spaces, has not been immune to these changes.
Keywords: Contemporary Architecture of Iran, Housing, Pahlavi Period Houses, Typology of Iran’s Courtyards, Central Courtyard, Modernization.

October 2024 Human beings have changed the planet to such a degree that scientists have claimed that we now live in an era called the Anthropocene 1,2 .In the case of tropical rainforests such as the Amazonian biome, the main effects of the Anthropocene include deforestation driven by agricultural and cattle expansion, wood extraction, legal and illegal mining, building of massive dams, the spread of fire, landscape fragmentation, decreasing CO2 sequestering, and climate change 3 . Within this scenario, there is an increasing attempt to stop these effects by Western environmentalist groups, who generally regard the Amazon rainforest as a pristine landscape that demands protection from human presence and modification. This attempt, however, exposes two conflicting ontologies. One is based on the disciplines of the natural sciences, which understands the Amazonian environment as one of the last pristine areas of planet earth. 4 Another is rooted in the Amerindian ontology of its inhabitants, which understands territories as landscapes infused with sentient agents 5 . Reconciling these ontologies is possible through archaeological research: a growing body of archaeological evidence can be marshalled to show that environmental impact by pre-Columbian populations had larger and far more positive effects than contemporary industrial era ones. In fact, there is evidence today that the alteration of this landscape, initiated as early as 13,000 years ago by Amerindian groups, was a causative factor of the immense biodiversity that characterizes the tropical forest 6 . Therefore, what most environmentalists regard as a pristine natural landscape potentially incorporates the cumulative effects of human occupations over time which, from an Amerindian perspective, is a cultural landscape inhabited by other mindful agents 7 . In recent decades, archaeologists working in Amazonia have been successful in documenting unexpected cultural aspects created by pre-Columbian indigenous populations. Included here are networks of large and dense settlements that arguably constitute a 1

Fire history reconstructions are typically based on tree ages and tree-ring fire scars or on charcoal in sedimentary records from lakes or bogs, but rarely on both. In this study of fire history in western Patagonia (47-48 • S) in southern South America (SSA) we compared three sedimentary charcoal records collected in bogs with tree-ring firescar data collected at 13 nearby sample sites. We examined the temporal and spatial correspondence between the two fire proxies and also compared them to published charcoal records from distant sites in SSA, and with published proxy reconstructions of regional climate variability and large-scale climate modes. Two of our three charcoal records record fire activity for the last 4 ka yr and one for the last 11 ka yr. For the last ca. 400 yr, charcoal accumulation peaks tend to coincide with high fire activity in the tree-ring fire scar records, but the charcoal records failed to detect some of the fire activity recorded by tree rings. Potentially, this discrepancy reflects low-severity fires that burn in herbaceous and other fine fuels without depositing charcoal in the sedimentary record. Periods of high fire activity tended to be synchronous across sample areas, across proxy types, and with proxy records of regional climatic variability as well as major climate drivers. Fire activity throughout the Holocene in western Patagonia has responded to regional climate variation affecting a broad region of southern South America that is teleconnected to both tropical-and high-latitude climate drivers-El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the Southern Annular Mode. An early Holocene peak in fire activity pre-dates any known human presence in our study area, and consequently implicates lightning as the ignition source. In contrast, the increased fire activity during the 20th century, which was concomitantly recorded by charcoal from all the sampled bogs and at all fire-scar sample sites, is attributed to human-set fires and is outside the range of variability characteristic of these ecosystems over many centuries and probably millennia.

Space syntax is a method used to analyze the similarities or differences between spatial configurations. This study aims to reveal the details about the use of this method through an application. For this purpose, three assumed spatial configurations that are similar to each other but topologically different are included in the scope of the study. To create the necessary basis for the methodological examination, the details of drawing the permeability graph of the first spatial configuration were clarified. The calculation method, which includes the digitization of the same spatial configuration, is explained in detail. Permeability graphs of all spatial configurations were drawn and their syntactic values (TD, MD, RA, RRA, i (1/RA or 1/RRA), CV, H, and H*) were calculated. It was found that the syntactic properties of the spatial configurations examined were different from each other, configuration 1 was segregated and asymmetrical, and configuration 3 had a more integrated and symmetrical structure. When the exterior was not included, it was determined that spatial configuration 2 and 3 had a much more extroverted spatial structure compared to spatial configuration 1. It was also found that configuration 3 has a strong genetic structure (a low entropy value) in terms of relative difference factor. With the method used, differences between seemingly similar functional schemes were revealed.

The climatic performance of different ecological areas is determinant for agricultural production and its sustainability. The agriculture is closely related to climatic conditions as climate variability and climate change generate significant effects on agriculture. Analysis of climatic behavior of different ecological zones, are important to identify climate variations, but also phenomena related to climate change. The study of climate variations and the phenomena of climate change are important for agricultural activity, in order to adapt agricultural systems, implement mitigation strategies and adaptation to them. Organic farming systems offer the best solution in this regard. The nortthern western lowlands of Albania (Shkodra), is an area with significant agricultural activity and highly diversified, with a great potential for the implementation of organic farming systems. The analysis of the climatic variability of this area and the phenomena of climate change, will contribute ...

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. L’eau et les tourbières : archives du climat et de l’Humanité. L’exemple des tourbières du Livradois-Forez Hervé Cubizolle, André-Marie Dendievel, Jacqueline Argant, Priscille Chapuis, Fabien Delrieu, Antoine Scholtès

Fiziksel bir mekân olarak konut, barınma ihtiyacının ötesinde psikolojik, sosyal ve kültürel anlamlar taşıyan bir olgudur. Konut güvenliğin, konforun ve bireyselliğin bir sembolü olarak kullanıcının yaşamında önemli görevler üstlenir. Günümüzde değişen ve çeşitlenen yaşam biçimlerinin etkisiyle konutta aranan özellikler, konut kullanım normları ve konuta yüklenen anlam değişmiştir. Kullanıcılardaki konutla sahip olunmaya çalışılan ayrıcalıklı ve özel olma duygusu; konutla paylaşılan değerleri ve konuttaki yaşam biçiminin gerçek anlamını tüketir/sorgulatır hale getirmiştir. Bu doğrultuda çalışma, toplumsal yapı ve yaşam biçimlerindeki değişimlerin etkisiyle, bunların bir yansıması olan konutun anlamına yaptığı etkileri, kullanıcının belleğindeki izler üzerinden ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma kapsamında Trabzon ilinde yaşayan 50 yaş ve üstü 20 konut kullanıcısı ile derinlemesine görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Konutun anlamını ortaya çıkarmak amacıyla yapılan görüşmelerde kullanıcıların sorulara verdikleri yanıtlardan elde edilen verilerin içerik analizleri yapılmıştır. Bu kapsamda niteliksel veri analizi yöntemi yardımıyla, elde edilen tüm veriler kodlanarak, temalar oluşturulmuştur. Ardından evin anlamı ve tariflenmesiyle ilgili sorulara verilen yanıtlardan elde edilen veriler de Maxqda programı yardımıyla analiz edilerek öne çıkan kavram ve temalar belirlenmiştir. Görüşmelerden elde edilen verilerin içerik analizi ile belirlenen temalar, Maxqda programı aracılığıyla oluşturulan kavram haritalarında öne çıkan kavramlarla karşılaştırmalı olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışmanın sonucunda; kişisel, sosyal ve fiziksel özelliklerle ilişkili olarak konuta yüklenen anlamda bazı değişiklikler olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

Dans le cadre d’une operation d’archeologie preventive, un important sanctuaire antique a ete mis au jour sur la commune de Magny-Cours (Nievre). Bien plus que l’ensemble cultuel lui-meme, c’est la decouverte de plusieurs zones de tourbes ayant conserve des materiaux organiques (ex-voto et dechets de bois) qui constitue l’interet du site. Une approche multidisciplinaire y a ete appliquee pour comprendre la nature de ces vestiges et leur lien avec les structures cultuelles voisines. Ainsi, l’etude archeologique a ete completee par des analyses geomorphologiques et paleoenvironnementales en particulier dendrologiques, carpologiques, palynologiques et sedimentaires.

Este artigo constitui-se um recorte da pesquisa de conclusao de curso intitulada As percepcoes de professoras da rede particular de ensino da educacao basica de Guanambi-Bahia sobre suas condicoes de trabalho docente. Tal pesquisa esta ancorada na abordagem qualitativa, na qual buscamos compreender quais sao as percepcoes das professoras da escola particular de Guanambi -Bahia referentes as suas condicoes de trabalho docente, tendo em vista as percepcoes de seis professoras de escolas particulares deste municipio. Para auxiliar na discussao, utilizamos autores de referencia na tematica “condicoes de trabalho docente” e tambem o que aborda a legislacao brasileira.  Para alcancar o objetivo deste estudo, foram utilizados como instrumentos para coleta de dados uma entrevista com seis professoras de escolas particulares. Como principais achados, este estudo aponta para a necessidade de melhores condicoes de trabalho para as professoras de algumas escolas particulares, condicoes essas qu...

To respond to the complexity of the socioecosystemic crises that increasingly affect an anthropized and globalized planet, since 2007 the author has developed and implemented within the framework of the CNRS Ecology and Environment Institute (INEE) a comprehensive interdisciplinary system known as the Human-Environment Observatories (or OHM, of which there were 13 in 2019), a laureate of the Laboratory for Excellence project (LabEx) as part of the French Government's 'Investing in the future' programme ('Programme d'investissement d'avenir', PIA) since 2012. The author presents what interdisciplinarity means in this framework, how it differs from conventionally identified interdisciplinary exchanges, how it is conceived and implemented, from the theoretical to the most practical level. He provides some examples of work and in a discussion, positions this system and its principles with regard to the existing frameworks and systems.

The site of Blombos Cave (BBC) is well known for archaeological remains that have advanced our understanding of the development of modern human behaviour during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Occupation of the cave occurred against a backdrop of landscape-scale environmental and sedimentary processes that provide the broader context for finer-scale interpretations of the site-formation history and archaeological patterns detected in the cave deposits. Aeolian and palaeosol sequences are abundant in the vicinity of BBC and these provide a partial view of the past landscapes available to the inhabitants of the cave. An important extension to the palaeo-landscape around BBC currently lies submerged on the Agulhas Bank, as sea levels were lower than at present for the entire period of human occupation of BBC. In this paper, we revisit the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) chronology for the full sequence of sediment deposition inside BBC, increasing the number of dated samples to a total of 40 and revising the period of MSA occupation to between 97.7 ± 7.6 and 71.0 ± 5.7 ka (uncertainties at 95.4% probability). We describe the geological successions at four main areas around BBC, estimate the time of sediment deposition using OSL, and describe and interpret three seismic profiles on the Agulhas Bank, offshore of BBC. By correlating these onshore and offshore geological sequences with the sedimentary deposits inside BBC, we place the archaeological record within a landscape-scale chrono-stratigraphic framework to examine how environmental changes may have regulated the presence or absence of humans in the cave and surrounding terrain between about 100 and 70 ka.

Probiotic bacteria are reported to reduce cholesterol by different mechanisms and hence can be utilized to reduce the blood cholesterol level of hypercholesterolemic patients. Probiotic bacteria must be population specific to be used in particular population. Bacteria isolated from faeces of healthy volunteers from Rourkela, Odisha, India were screened for their cholesterol reducing property in MRS broth for 72 hours. Results showed that cholesterol reducing property was increased with time of incubation and there was no increase in cholesterol reduction potential of the gut isolates in presence of 0.05% bile salt in media. Three isolates MS1, MS4 and MS7 were most potent in reducing cholesterol according to our present study.These isolates could emerge as population specific probiotics after further studies.

We evaluated plant trajectories in the northern Patagonian archipelago (41°–47° S) through various types of evidence (ceramic use residues and human dental calculus), temporally distinguishing between pre- and post-contact with horticultural groups (~1000 years BP), and later on, with European groups (sixteenth century), comparing and integrating the results obtained in the Chiloé and Chonos archipelagos. We present the scope of consumption of wild edible (strawberry, Chilean rhubarb, grasses) and medicinal/psychoactive (e.g., latúa, taique) and domesticated plants (e.g., beans, maize, potato), as well as seaweed. The changes and continuities in subsistence that occurred within these marine hunter-gatherers and fishing groups, that have a long marine tradition (since ~4500 cal years BP), would have been the consequence of the arrival and/or contact of new horticultural populations (~1700 cal years BP), and later, through European contact.

Miliacin (olean-18-en-3β-ol methyl ether) is a fossil molecule that was recently detected in Lake le Bourget (LlB, French Alps) sediments. Comparison of potential plant producers with plants thriving around the lake at time of sedimentation concluded that Panicum miliaceum cultivated in the catchment was its most probable source. Since this discovery, it became possible to track the former presence of P. miliaceum over its area of extension and diffusion by detecting miliacin in sediments. This first allowed us reconstructing the history of millet cultivation around LlB, characterized by a beginning around 1700 B.C. and a maximum at 800 B.C. before a drastic drop at the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition. Examination of miliacin in sediments from Lake Lledro (Italy) and Paladru (France) revealed distinct dates of its first occurrence, attesting to a complex pattern of diffusion through the Alps. A twin high resolution record of miliacin in LlB Bronze Age sediments evidences periods of l...

The settlement of Coppa Nevigata, located on the inner shore of an ancient coastal lagoon known as the “Lago Salso”, now re- claimed, to the south of the Gargano Promontory, represents an exceptional case study for understanding the relationship between communities and sub-coastal wetlands during the late Prehistory. Long-term research at the site, initiated by Salvatore Puglisi between 1955-1975, and then continued with annual ongoing field seasons from 1983 onwards, has provided extensive data on both the Neolithic settlement (from the beginning of the 6th millennium to the end of the 5th millennium BC) and especially on the Bronze Age - Early Iron Age long-living settlement, which was continuously occupied from the early 2nd millennium BC to the late 8th century BC). This paper aims at discussing paleoenvironmental data, subsistence activities, craftsmanship, and ex- change activities in their diachronic transformations, particularly considering the environmental characteristics that facilitated the recovery of certain resources, such as murex shells, from which purple dye was extracted in the Bronze Age, and both maritime and terrestrial contacts. During the Bronze Age, the lagoon also played a defensive role from who approached the settlement from the sea, as navigating it was difficult without an in-depth knowledge. The defense of the settlement was further enhanced with the construction of imposing dry-stone walls (around 1700 BC) and later (around 1400 BC) with the excavation of a large ditch. Human occupation ceased at the end of the 8th century BC, due to the silting up of the lagoon nearby the settlement.

The use of Augmented Reality (AR) to support assembly tasks has been an area of interest from its origins in the 90s. Since then, the benefits that this technology could bring to assembly-related tasks have been shown. And, although several advances have been done in different areas such as software, hardware, and human interaction, there are still some problems that have not allowed AR to expand and reach its full potential. Thereby, authors propose a real-time vibrotactile guidance method based on the Gestalt continuity principle and developed a Haptic Augmented Reality application with a low-cost configuration to evaluate the support of the proposed method in assembly tasks. Thus, it potentially overcomes the existing visual issues of AR allowing the user to focus on the task and avoid over-reliance into the technology. The proposed system recognizes the different parts and sub-assemblies, generates the instructions to perform the assembly based on the target position and rotation of each part and verifies the assembly. Additionally, a test was conducted to guide the user in positioning a part, obtaining a high accuracy of rotation and location placement. Also, different functions of the application were tested and the results are suitable for supporting the user guidance.

We report on the earliest finds of two exotic crops in the humid forests of West Africa. The presence of wheat and cotton at the urban medieval site of Ile-Ife, southwestern Nigeria, likely signals prestige-making culinary and adornment practices. Adapted to Mediterranean climates, wheat and cotton's presence in the different growing conditions of the humid tropical forest points to sophisticated trade networks and a high degree of culinary and agricultural experimentation. These data challenge stereotypes of African cuisines as lacking complexity and limited by environmental constraints. The circulation of cotton in medieval West Africa strengthens arguments that precolonial African trade systems were a necessary precursor to later Euro-centric world economies, where commodities like cotton played a central role.

We report on the earliest finds of two exotic crops in the humid forests of West Africa. The presence of wheat and cotton at the urban medieval site of Ile-Ife, southwestern Nigeria, likely signals prestige-making culinary and adornment practices. Adapted to Mediterranean climates, wheat and cotton's presence in the different growing conditions of the humid tropical forest points to sophisticated trade networks and a high degree of culinary and agricultural experimentation. These data challenge stereotypes of African cuisines as lacking complexity and limited by environmental constraints. The circulation of cotton in medieval West Africa strengthens arguments that precolonial African trade systems were a necessary precursor to later Euro-centric world economies, where commodities like cotton played a central role.

We report on the earliest finds of two exotic crops in the humid forests of West Africa. The presence of wheat and cotton at the urban medieval site of Ile-Ife, southwestern Nigeria, likely signals prestige-making culinary and adornment practices. Adapted to Mediterranean climates, wheat and cotton's presence in the different growing conditions of the humid tropical forest points to sophisticated trade networks and a high degree of culinary and agricultural experimentation. These data challenge stereotypes of African cuisines as lacking complexity and limited by environmental constraints. The circulation of cotton in medieval West Africa strengthens arguments that precolonial African trade systems were a necessary precursor to later Euro-centric world economies, where commodities like cotton played a central role.

We report on the earliest finds of two exotic crops in the humid forests of West Africa. The presence of wheat and cotton at the urban medieval site of Ile-Ife, southwestern Nigeria, likely signals prestige-making culinary and adornment practices. Adapted to Mediterranean climates, wheat and cotton's presence in the different growing conditions of the humid tropical forest points to sophisticated trade networks and a high degree of culinary and agricultural experimentation. These data challenge stereotypes of African cuisines as lacking complexity and limited by environmental constraints. The circulation of cotton in medieval West Africa strengthens arguments that precolonial African trade systems were a necessary precursor to later Euro-centric world economies, where commodities like cotton played a central role.

Maresca, G. (2022) Review of: Mitra Panahipour. “Land Use and Environment in a Zone of Uncertainty: A Case of the Sasanian Expansion in Eastern Iraq - Western Iran”, Abstracta Iranica 44, document 7. CNRS (UMR 7528 Mondes iraniens et indiens), Éditions de l’IFRI; ISSN: 1961-960X ; DOI: 10.4000/abstractairanica.55128.

Bioarchaeological research among prehistoric Pacific Coast populations has shown that external auditory exostoses (EAE) are found in high frequencies. On California's northern Channel Islands archaeological research has demonstrated that there was an intense exploitation of red abalone (Haliotis rufescens), particularly between ~8000 and 3500 years ago. If the Island Chumash were free‐diving for red abalone in subtidal waters, EAE should be prevalent in prehistoric populations from Santa Rosa Island. We recorded the presence or absence, number, side and severity of EAE growths for 207 adult individuals from three time periods on Santa Rosa Island. Our results show that ~11% of the total population was affected, including 22.5% of males and ~3.4% of females. The incidence among females increases from 0% in the Early period, to 2.6% in the Middle period, and 6.8% in the Late period. Overall these are lower rates than those reported for other Channel Island and Pacific Coast sites....

The histories of African crops remain poorly understood despite their contemporary importance. Integration of crops from western, eastern and northern Africa probably first occurred in the Great Lakes Region of eastern Africa; however, little is known about when and how these agricultural systems coalesced. This article presents archaeobotanical analyses from an approximately 9000-year archaeological sequence at Kakapel Rockshelter in western Kenya, comprising the largest and most extensively dated archaeobotanical record from the interior of equatorial eastern Africa. Direct radiocarbon dates on carbonized seeds document the presence of the West African crop cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) approximately 2300 years ago, synchronic with the earliest date for domesticated cattle (Bos taurus). Peas (Pisum sativum L. or Pisum abyssinicum A. Braun) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) from the northeast and eastern African finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) are incorporated later, by at least 1000 years ago. Combined with ancient DNA evidence from Kakapel and the surrounding region, these data support a scenario in which the use of diverse domesticated species in eastern Africa changed over time rather than arriving and being maintained as a single package. Findings highlight the importance of local heterogeneity in shaping the spread of food production in sub-Saharan Africa

As we stand on the precipice of unprecedented global challenges, understanding the deep-time patterns of sustainability and resilience is no longer just a scholarly endeavour but imperative for the future of our planet and its inhabitants. The collection of papers in this special issue brings together archaeologists, historians, and environmental scientists around four main topics: (1) social-ecological modelling, (2) long-term human-environment interactions, (3) modelling diachronic landscapes and (4) sustainability and resilience from past to future. Our aims are to come to a better understanding of socio-economic resilience and sustainability in past, present and future societies. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, we aim to forge new conceptual frameworks for understanding complex, long-term socio-ecological dynamics. Through the case studies, theoretical reflections and methodological innovations presented here, this special issue seeks to advance interdisciplinary scholarship on sustainability and resilience and offer fresh insights into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in building a sustainable future.

Purpose:This article seeks to demonstrate the reasons and origin of the presence of architectural sanctum, based on the quality of human-environment relationship. Methodology: Researcher used qualitative method and analytical-descriptive research method, after explaining the effective principles and approaches in understanding the subject and examining it from the perspective of different approaches, it is analysed in examples that each of them has been effective in some ways in creating real quality in architecture space. Findings:The obtained results show how the true and pure quality search in space, which rising from the harmony of architectural sanctums with the human nature's desires, has been converted into plain impressions of privacy in some contemporary approaches and to deep conceptual references related to it in others. Implications:Understanding the concept of privacy in architecture and identifying its defining criteria provides a framework for evaluating the quali...

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of Patna Metro Rail Project Corridor-1
provides a comprehensive evaluation of the potential environmental impacts associated with
the development and operation of the proposed metro rail system in Patna, Bihar. The project
encompasses two corridors: Corridor-1, extending from Danapur to Mithapur, and Corridor-2,
connecting Patna Junction to New ISBT. This assessment aims to identify, predict, and
mitigate adverse environmental effects while enhancing positive impacts, ensuring
sustainable development.
The EIA report details the baseline environmental conditions, encompassing air and water
quality, noise levels, soil characteristics, flora and fauna, and socio-economic aspects of the
project area. Extensive field surveys, public consultations, and secondary data collection were
conducted to establish a robust understanding of the existing environment.
Key findings indicate that while the metro project promises significant socio-economic
benefits such as improved urban mobility, reduced traffic congestion, and lower vehicular
emissions, it also poses environmental challenges. These include potential air and noise
pollution during construction, disruption to local ecosystems, and possible displacement of
communities.
Mitigation measures proposed in the EIA include the implementation of best practices in
construction management, the adoption of noise barriers, dust suppression techniques, and
regular monitoring of air and water quality. Additionally, strategies for the conservation of
biodiversity, proper waste management, and community engagement are outlined to ensure
minimal environmental disruption and enhanced public acceptance.
The report concludes that with the implementation of the recommended mitigation measures,
the Patna Metro Rail project can proceed with manageable environmental impacts,
contributing to the city's sustainable urban development and improved quality of life for its
residents

Recent archaeological studies show that pre-Columbian communities began modifying
Southwestern Amazonia approximately 3,500 years ago. In lowland Bolivia, a recently mapped
network of fish weirs in West Central Llanos de Mojos (WCM) demonstrates how ancient
Mojeño groups built artificial earthworks to harness seasonal flooding and catch fish. In the
eastern region of Baures, a similar complex of fish weirs has been studied since the 1990s,
generating questions about how this system may function in a different hydrological and
anthropogenic setting. Similarly, previous research within WCM has focused on the fields and
forest islands that pre-Columbian populations built to elevate themselves and their crops from
the floodwaters that consume the landscape. However, water is still a necessity for communities,
and the dry season beginning in early summer can leave the landscape in a state of drought. This
begs the question, were inhabitants also participating in large-scale environmental
transformations to domesticate wetlands and increase their duration and scale? This proceeds
from the assumption that weirs were not only interacting with water to catch fish but controlling
its flow and accumulation to expand wetland habitats and resources more broadly. Using a
combination of spatial data and statistical analysis, this study defines potential wetlands within
the region, distinguished by two unique patterns of fish weirs, stacks and networks. Results
indicate that these wetlands have the capacity to affect water flow and accumulation for over 600
m2 of land but maintain differences in their sizes and relationships to major bodies of water and
nearby anthropogenic features.

Spatialiser la transition énergétique Vers la production d’ « écosystèmes énergétiques territoriaux » en milieu rural Ministère de la Culture et de la communication Direction générale des patrimoines Bureau de la recherche architecturale, urbaine et paysagère Ignis mutat res Penser l’architecture, la ville et les paysages au prisme de l’énergie Programme interdisciplinaire de recherche 3ème session 2013-2015 ENSAG Unité de recherche Architecture, environnement et cultures constructives ENSASE Réseau d’enseignement et de recherche Espace rural & projet spatial Rapport intermédiaire