The North Sea washes up on some of the lowest-lying coastlines around the world. The standard response to protect land from its ravages has been to build solid dykes between land and sea. And many parts of the Netherlands have been more ambitiously reclaimed from the North Sea by such means. But, in the face of climate change and rising sea levels, researchers have been thinking about other mec...

The recent soaring cost of many basic foods worldwide has forced a new focus on many areas of policy and in Europe the issue of genetically modified crops has attracted renewed media and wider interest. The reason is that the European Union has proved resistant to almost all perceived or promoted advantages of GM crops. Environmental groups opposed to the technology gained early advantage becau...

Panama disease, also known as Fusarium wilt of banana (Musa spp.), is one of the most notorious of all plant diseases (9,11). Although the pathogen probably originated in Southeast Asia, the disease was first reported in Australia in 1876 (7). By 1950, few banana-producing regions remained free of the disease. Panama disease is now found in all banana-producing regions except islands in the Sou...

The upper ranges of the northern Andes are characterized by unique Neotropical, high altitude ecosystems known as paramos. These tundra-like grasslands are widely recognized by the scientific community for their biodiversity and their important ecosystem services for the local human population. Despite their remoteness, limited accessibility for humans and waterlogged soils, paramos are highly ...

The high-frequency performance of the reflector antennas is mainly limited by the surface. It has been shown that distortions on different regions of the reflector surface can have different effects on the radiation performance. In other words, degradation of the radiation pattern due to the presence of surface distortions is sensitive to the location and behavior of the surface distortion prof...

Agricultural crop species represent a negligible part of the existing biodiversity. Over 50 percent of the daily global requirement of proteins and calories is met by just three crops – maize, wheat and rice (FAO, 1996) – and only 150 crops are commercialised on a significant global scale. On the other hand, ethnobotanic surveys indicate that, worldwide, more than 7,000 plant species are cultiv...

This study uses the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) to assess health and ecological risks caused by fungicides used in chrysanthemum cultivation upstream of Xuan Huong Lake, Da Lat city. Survey results reveal that 134 farmers use 21 with 18 active ingredients on a total area 35.2 hectares. In all, an EIQ at level “unlikely be hazardous” (EIQ < 25) are about 95% acreage, 3 “slightly (25 5...