The Pinaceae family and its monumental tree specimens in Galicia (NW Spain)

Objective: To conduct an epidemiological and clinical review of published case reports of melioidosis from India and Bangladesh. Methods: Data from published case reports were abstracted and summarized. We further compared the clinical epidemiology of the melioidosis cases in India with case series from highly endemic areas in Northern Australia and Southeast Asia to elucidate any differences in presentations and risk factors between the regions. Results: We identified a total of 99 cases published between 1953 and June 2016, originating from India (n=85) or Bangladesh (n=14). Cases were predominantly male and ranged in age from 1 month to 90 years. Diabetes mellitus was the most common risk factor reported (58%). About 28% of the cases had history of exposure via high-risk occupations or exposure to contaminated water. The overall case fatality rate (CFR) was 26%. Factors influencing mortality included the occurrence of septic shock (CFR, 80%), environmental exposure (CFR, 39%), primary presentation of pneumonia (CFR, 38%), misdiagnosed and/or mistreated cases (CFR, 33%) or the presence of a risk factor (CFR, 29%). Because of the small number of cases in Bangladesh, pattern of clinical epidemiology is limited to India. Soft tissue abscess (37%) was the most common clinical presentation reported from India followed by pneumonia (24%) and osteomyelitis/septic arthritis (18%). Neurological melioidosis (n=10, 12%) presented as pyemic lesions of the brain or meninges. A few cases of prostatic abscess (n=4) in men and parotid abscess (n=4) were also noted. The above patterns were consistent with case series from Southeast Asia and Northern Australia for the most part, in terms of risk factors associated with infection and factors influencing mortality. Differences included clinical presentation of pneumonia which was notably lower than that reported in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia; a higher proportion of neurological and parotid abscess presentation; and a lower CFR compared to that reported in case series in Southeast Asia. About 39% of the cases were misdiagnosed and/or mistreated, suggesting underreporting and under estimation of the true disease burden. Conclusions: The concentration of melioidosis cases in southern and eastern states in India and in Bangladesh, which share climatic conditions and rice farming activities with known endemic areas in Southeast Asia, suggests an endemicity of melioidosis in this region. Thus, increased awareness among healthcare personnel, particularly among clinicians and nurses practicing in rural areas, and improved surveillance through case registries is essential to guide early diagnosis and prompt treatment.

Performance of several library search algorithms (against EI mass spectral databases) implemented in commercial software products ( acd/specdb, chemstation, gc/ms solution and ms search) was estimated. Test set contained 1000 mass spectra, which were randomly selected from NIST'08 (RepLib) mass spectral database. It was shown that composite (also known as identity) algorithm implemented in ms search (NIST) software gives statistically the best results: the correct compound occupied the first position in the list of possible candidates in 81% of cases; the correct compound was within the list of top ten candidates in 98% of cases. It was found that use of presearch option can lead to rejection of the correct answer from the list of possible candidates (therefore presearch option should not be used, if possible). Overall performance of library search algorithms was estimated using receiver operating characteristic curves.

Insects are considered an important part of the ecosystem as they perform important roles like pollination, nutrient cycling, and pest control. But on the other hand, when they cross the threshold level, they achieve the status of pests. Insect pests cause damage to agricultural products. They also affect the health of people by spreading diseases. Traditionally, Insecticides were used to control insect pests, but they have very adverse effects on humans, animals, and the environment as they cause breathing difficulties and pollution, respectively. But now Essential oils of different plants are used to control them. Concentrated hydrophobic plant liquids containing certain volatile chemical compounds are called essential oils. There are several Essential Oils in which Pinus Essential Oil is discussed. It has various biological effects, which include anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-cancer activities. It also has medicinal properties and holds industrial importance. The Pinaceae family contains 11 genera and about 225 species distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. The most common ingredient present in the Pinus genus is pinene, which has insecticidal, larvicidal, and pesticidal activities against insect pests. It has little or no harmful effect on the environment and non-target organisms.

The enemies release hypothesis proposes that exotic species can become invasive by escaping from predators and parasites in their novel environment. Agrawal et al. (Enemy release? An experiment with congeneric plant pairs and diverse above‐ and below‐ground enemies. Ecology, 86, 2979–2989) proposed that areas or times in which damage to introduced species is low provide opportunities for the invasion of native habitat. We tested whether ornamental settings may provide areas with low levels of herbivory for trees and shrubs, potentially facilitating invasion success. First, we compared levels of leaf herbivory among native and exotic species in ornamental and natural settings in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In the second study, we compared levels of herbivory for invasive and noninvasive exotic species between natural and ornamental settings. We found lower levels of leaf damage for exotic species than for native species; however, we found no differences in the amount of leaf damage suffered in ornamental or natural settings. Our results do not provide any evidence that ornamental settings afford additional release from herbivory for exotic plant species.

The British love to talk about the weather. So why do we choose to continue living the same lifestyle with the same habits that could actually be partly responsible for increasing extreme weather? In 2013 the UK experienced one of the wettest winters on record. This may have been caused by our own a carbon footprint accelerating the effects of global warming. Data shows that atmospheric carbon dioxide, one of the biggest contributors to global warming, was 337 parts per million (ppm) in 1979, compared to 394ppm in 2012. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded in 2011 that extreme weather would become more common as global warming heats the planet at a faster rate. This has caused both heatwaves and more severe rain storms, and over the past 30 years there has been a pattern of increasing global temperatures, including the hottest decade recorded (2000–2010) since reliable records began in the 1800s. Figures from the Met Office show that 2014 was one of the warmest years on record, both globally and for the UK. 2014 was also the 4th wettest year in UK since 1910, and the wettest winter in almost 250 years (http://www.-metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2014/early-winter-stats). The UK's mean temperature from 1 January to 25 November 2014 was 1.6 degC above average, making it the warmest since 1910. Although there is debate about the extent of global warming and its effects, there is considerable evidence to suggest a link between global warming and severe weather, and that extreme weather is becoming more frequent. Comparing typhoon Haiyan and hurricane Katrina has provoked discussion about the effects that global warming may have on increasing the intensity and severity of tropical storms. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 and caused widespread devastation, with maximum wind speeds reaching 200kmh–1. Typhoon Haiyan's winds, however, reached well over 300kmh–1, devastating areas in southeast Asia in 2013. The theory is explained due to global warming increasing temperatures, which results in more evaporation from the sea, which in turn fuels a more powerful cyclone. The human population suffers the harsh consequences of an increase in extreme weather that is likely to be partly of their own making. From 1980 to 2010 there were 99 weather disasters in the USA, with an estimated total cost of $725 billion. Even though climate change is influenced by both natural and human impacts, there is a considerable body of evidence which suggests that human activity is accelerating the rate of climate change. If we continue our current lifestyles, then we will most likely have to continue to suffer the negative implications of global warming. Human influence has also been shown to be a major contributor in increased levels of precipitation, especially over the Northern Hemisphere. As discussed earlier, one of the main consequences of global warming is the increase in the volume of water evaporated from the ocean as a result of these warmer temperatures, which in turn leads to an increase in the amount of precipitation that falls. These warmer temperatures also cause a melting of glacial ice, resulting in a rise in sea level. A negative feedback loop develops, with albedo being one of the main ingredients. Albedo is the fraction of solar energy (short wave radiation) reflected from the Earth back into space. It is a measure of reflectivity of the earth's surface. Ice has a high albedo and reflects 95% of the sunlight that hits its surface back into space. In contrast, an ocean has a low albedo due to its dark surface, so it is much more absorbent and less reflective, reflecting only 10% of incoming radiation. The negative feedback loop increases the ratio of dark surface to light increases. Reflectivity from various surfaces can be seen in Figure 1 below: (Source: https://www.climatepedia.org.) The amount of sunlight absorbed increases due to the melting ice, which then causes more ice to melt. This happens in a continuous cycle. Sea level rise has a huge impact on humans through coastal flooding, erosion and storm surges, which can devastate coastal towns and villages. Another hazard which we must consider is river flooding. The Met Office has announced that the 2013/14 winter (from 1 December 2013 to 25 February 2014) was the fifth warmest winter since 1910; some areas had over 250% of the rainfall average. Heavy rain, combined with strong winds and high waves, led to widespread flooding and coastal damage. This caused significant disruption to individuals, businesses and infrastructure, particularly affecting farmers and critical rail links. It is possible to undertake fieldwork to investigate the link between extreme weather and flood risk. Storm simulators can be used to explore how different land uses react to varying intensities of precipitation. Experiments can be conducted on urban (brick), vegetated (grass) and ploughed field simulation plots, which have a consistent gradient, drainage basin size and underlying geology. Hydrographs can be plotted to show the changes to river discharge under high and low storm intensities. Storm simulators (Figure 2) work by inputting the same volume of water (typically 5L) over a given time period. Measurements are then recorded of the initial response time (similar to a hydrograph lag time), discharge at 30 second intervals, and peak discharge. Guttering with varying sized holes is used to simulate the 'storm' and a second piece of guttering is used to act as the 'river' at the bottom of the catchment area. Larger holes in the guttering imitate a high intensity storm, and similarly, smaller holes represent a low intensity storm. Factors such as interception, surface runoff, infiltration, saturation and throughflow can then be linked to demonstrate the impact of extreme weather on varying land uses, allowing GCSE and A-level students to use this data to compare the level of flood risk on different land uses and with different intensities of rainfall. Some say that 'extreme' weather is becoming the new 'normal'. With studies showing that flooding in particular is becoming more frequent, we must respond to this by using a more integrated approach to catchment management. This could be done using hard engineering approaches like flood defence walls and demountable barriers, or soft engineering like afforestation which could increase the amount of water intercepted before it reaches a river. We must also change our current attitudes to land use planning and development. We must look towards more sustainable ways of improving today's situation, otherwise extreme weather could reach its tipping point, and by then, it could be too late.

A comparative life cycle analysis of low power PV lighting products for rural areas in South East Asia

Influenza seasonality: timing and formulation of vaccines.

The delta5-unsaturated polymethylene-interrupted fatty acid (delta5-UPIFA) contents and profiles of gymnosperm seeds are useful chemometric data for the taxonomy and phylogeny of that division, and these acids may also have some biomedical or nutritional applications. We recapitulate here all data available on pine (Pinus; the largest genus in the family Pinaceae) seed fatty acid (SFA) compositions, including 28 unpublished compositions. This overview encompasses 76 species, subspecies, and varieties, which is approximately one-half of all extant pines officially recognized at these taxon levels. Qualitatively, the SFA from all pine species analyzed so far are identical. The genus Pinus is coherently united--but this qualitative feature can be extended to the whole family Pinaceae--by the presence of delta5-UPIFA with C18 [taxoleic (5,9-18:2) and pinolenic (5,9,12-18:3) acids] and C20 chains [5,11-20:2, and sciadonic (5,11,14-20:3) acids]. Not a single pine species was found so far with any of these acids missing. Linoleic acid is almost always, except in a few cases, the prominent SFA, in the range 40-60% of total fatty acids. The second habitual SFA is oleic acid, from 12 to 30%. Exceptions, however, occur, particularly in the Cembroides subsection, where oleic acid reaches ca. 45%, a value higher than that of linoleic acid. Alpha-linolenic acid, on the other hand, is a minor constituent of pine SFA, almost always less than 1%, but that would reach 2.7% in one species (P. merkusii). The sum of saturated acids [16:0 (major) and 18:0 (minor) acids principally] is most often less than 10% of total SFA, and anteiso-17:0 acid is present in all species in amounts up to 0.3%. Regarding C18 delta5-UPIFA, taxoleic acid reaches a maximum of 4.5% of total SFA, whereas pinolenic acid varies from 0.1 to 25.3%. The very minor coniferonic (5,9,12,15-18:4) acid is less than 0.2% in all species. The C20 elongation product of pinolenic acid, bishomo-pinolenic (7,11,14-20:3) acid, is a frequent though minor SFA constituent (maximum, 0.7%). When considering C20 delta5-UPIFA, a difference is noted between the subgenera Strobus and Pinus. In the former subgenus, 5,11-20:2 and sciadonic acids are < or =0.3 and < or =1.9%, respectively, whereas in the latter subgenus, they are most often > or =0.3 and > or =2.0%, respectively. The highest values for 5,11-20:2 and sciadonic acids are 0.5% (many species) and 7.0% (P. pinaster). The 5,11,14,17-20:4 (juniperonic) acid is present occasionally in trace amounts. The highest level of total delta5-UPIFA is 30-31% (P. sylvestris), and the lowest level is 0.6% (P. monophylla). Uniting as well as discriminating features that may complement the knowledge about the taxonomy and phylogeny of pines are emphasized.

An analysis of the spatial and temporal patterns of global burned area with the Daily Tile US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‐Advanced Very High‐Resolution Radiometer Pathfinder 8 km Land dataset between 1981 and 2000 is presented. Nine distinct temporal and spatial fire patterns were identified at the global scale using principal components and cluster analysis. Three major fire seasons were identified from June to December and from February to June for different areas of the northern hemisphere and from October to March for the southern hemisphere. The area burned primarily followed the annual cycle and secondarily, an important 6‐month cycle. Temporal cycles were unimportant in some equatorial and tropical areas in the northern hemisphere. The total annual burned area has not increased in the last 20 years but a significant increase was found in the mid‐latitude and subtropical areas of the northern hemisphere which was offset by a slight decrease in burned area in tropical southeast Asia and Central America. Additionally, burned area has significantly increased during the summer in the mid‐latitudes of the northern hemisphere and in the boreal region, and the fire season starts earlier in the mid‐latitudes. Total burned area was explained by the extent of savanna (wooded grassland) cover. Latitude was not determinative as divergent fire patterns were encountered and did not have an impact on extent of burned area at our spatial level of analysis.

In this paper we advocate a new technique for the fast identification of physical objects based on their physical unclonable features (surface microstructures). The proposed identification method is based on soft fingerprinting and consists of two stages: at the first stage the list of possible candidates is estimated based on the most reliable bits of a soft fingerprint and the traditional maximum likelihood decoding is applied to the obtained list to find a single best match at the second stage. The soft fingerprint is computed based on random projections with a sign-magnitude decomposition of projected coefficients. The estimate of a bit reliability is deduced directly from the observed coefficients. We investigate different decoding strategies to estimate the list of candidates, which minimize the probability of miss of the right index on the list. The obtained results show the flexibility of the proposed identification method to provide the performance-complexity trade-off.

The assessment of habitat quality, especially in semi-natural managed systems, provides a powerful tool for monitoring short and long-term conservation actions. The Erica mackayana Atlantic wet heathlands of the Serra do Xistral protected area in Galicia, NW Spain, represent a dynamic system with high conservation value associated to traditional management through grazing of free-ranging cattle and wild ponies. Here, we aimed to develop a spatially-explicit, quantitative method for Habitat Quality Assessment, defining an optimum state and the alternative states that may arise from habitat degradation. Vegetation structure, grass-shrub cover ratio, gorse cover, presence of bracken, exotic species such as pine trees and saplings, erosive events and altered hydrological dynamics were identified as the main indicators of habitat degradation. A heterogeneous vegetation structure with a dominant shrub cover of c.0.5 m height and constant gaps among shrubs, with a limited cover of gorse and absence of pine trees, bramble and bracken, and absence of erosive events was recognized as the optimum state. We applied the Habitat Quality Assessment (HQA) method to a pilot area within the Xistral protected site. Wet heathland was the dominant habitat, covering 37.1% of the area. 7.0% of the assessed heathlands were recognized as in the optimum state for habitat quality. Recommendations are made for habitat management to revert low scores, mainly by the adjustment of livestock numbers and the removal of exotic pine trees.

Serratene triterpenoids are considered chemotaxonomy compounds from the Pinaceae family, within the Pinus genus. However, no studies have been conducted on the constituents of serratene triterpenoids of Pinus merkusii. P. merkusii is the only pine species native to Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. This study aimed to investigate the use of triterpenoids and steroids from the bark of P. merkusii as chemotaxonomic biomarkers. Five lipophilic extractives, including three triterpenoids (3β-methoxyserratt-14-en-21-one (C1), 3α,21β- dimethoxy-D14-serratene (C3), serrate-14-en-3β,21β-diol (C5)), and two steroids (stigmast-4-en-3-one (C2) and β-sitosterol (C4)), were isolated from the n-hexane extract of the bark of P. merkusii using column chromatography and thin–layer chromatography. The structures of the triterpenoids and steroids were characterized on the basis of their spectroscopic data. The discovery of serratene triterpenoids and steroids in P. merkusii bark characterizes this species as being in chemical accordance with other species of the Pinus genus and Pinaceae family.

Terrestrial biodiversity is closely linked to forest ecosystems but anthropogenic reductions in forest cover and changes in forest structure and composition jeopardize their biodiversity. Several forest species are threatened because of reduced habitat quality and fragmentation or even habitat loss as a result of forest management activities. In response to this threat, integrated forest management (IFM) was developed in the early 1990s and has been applied over large spatial scales ever since. While IFM seeks to satisfy both human resource demands and ecosystem integrity, the whole forest matrix is affected and this may also have negative impacts on biodiversity. The concept of forest zoning (e.g., Triad) avoids these issues by physically separating land uses from each other. The zoning approach has been developed in the same period as IFM, but there are still very few examples of large-scale applications. This may be because its distinctiveness from IFM may not always seem clear and because forest zoning is not easily implemented. Here we explain these differences and show that IFM and the zoning approach are indeed different management paradigms. We advocate the use of high-yield plantations within the zoning paradigm as a means for biodiversity conservation and review the literature (with an emphasis on the northern hemisphere and on plantation forestry within a land-zoning approach) on impacts of forest management activities on biodiversity. Furthermore, we give advice on issues that require consideration when implementing forest zoning at both the stand and the landscape levels. We recommend several small changes in design and management of forest plantations as a means to significantly increase their biodiversity value. We conclude that while forest zoning seems an adequate strategy for the Canadian forestry sector, a shift in paradigm must carry over to policy-makers and legislation if this approach is to succeed. Key words: biodiversity, landbase zoning, forest management, intensive silviculture, plantation forests

The variation in climate conditions and fire-related traits across Pinus (Pinaceae) species

&lt;p&gt;Coastal environments are exposed to anthropogenic activities such as frequent marine traffic and restructuring, i.e., addition, removal or replacing with man-made structures. Although maritime shipping and coastal infrastructures provide socio-economic benefits, they both cause varied perturbations to marine ecosystems. The ports and marinas receiving a high frequency of international vessels, act as ‘hot-spots’ for marine invasions. The disturbed and modified habitats found in harbours and ports provide opportunities for non-native species to settle due to their competitive traits. Once established, the non-native species may spread to neighbouring habitats, thereby modifying the adjacent natural environment, its biodiversity, ecosystem structure and functioning. Up to 70% of coastlines around the world have now been modified and is expected to rise in future. New bioinvasions are still being reported even with various biosecurity and management approaches across the globe. It is essential to understand the potential factors influencing the bioinvasions to have effective biosecurity measures and management plans. The overall aim of this thesis is to determine the influence of man-made structures on the marine biodiversity and presumptive fitness of native and non-native species on these structures. This thesis investigates ports and harbours as man-made environments, their impacts on marine biodiversity and the species status – native, non-native and cryptogenic, and the factors facilitating the spread of non-native species. Chapter 2 focussed on two large national-scale baseline port surveys; a) Australian Port Survey (APS), and b) New Zealand Port Survey (NZPS). The two datasets were analysed to determine the community structure and species status, i.e., native, non-native and cryptogenic as a function of the surveyed ports, port type (major vs minor ports) (based on the volume of vessels) and latitudinal groups. A) APS: The results for community composition indicated significant effects as a function of surveyed ports, port type and latitudinal group. The community composition was relatively more abundant at major ports than at minor ports. The factor, the latitudinal group indicated significant results, and a distinct separation in community composition was observed between low (15, 20oS) and high (35, 40oS) latitudes. The species status showed a significant and positive relationship between native vs non-native, indicating with an increase in the number of native species there was an increase in the number of non-native species. The species status indicated significant results for the factors; surveyed ports, port type and latitudinal group. The native species were abundant throughout the study. However, the non-native species were relatively abundant at major ports compared to minor ports. Regarding the latitudinal groups, the abundance of non-native species was observed to increase at higher latitudes (latitudinal gradients). B) NZPS: The community composition and species status showed significance among the 27 surveyed ports; however, no significant results were observed for the factor port type (major vs minor). The community composition significantly varied as a function of latitudinal groups, with species at higher latitudes (45oS) being better discriminator explaining the differences. Latitudinal groups, however, highlighted sub-groupings of ports with similar community composition (e.g. Bluff and Dunedin; Nelson, Wellington and Picton; Lyttelton and Timaru; Whangarei, Tauranga and Taranaki; Auckland, Gulf Harbour Marina and Opua Marina). The ports in question are within close proximity of each other (distance). This suggests the possibility of natural dispersal of species between ports on top of the human-mediated dispersal. The responses in Australia were very different from those in New Zealand, which suggests that the responses are regional or country-specific and not global. Chapter 3 describes fieldwork using settlement tile arrays to examine the effects of man-made built structures and natural rocky reefs on marine biological community composition and successional patterns over two years. The work also tests the preference of native and non-native species in terms of habitat type (natural reef vs man-made habitat) and substratum type (PVC vs slate tile). The results showed a rapid increase in species settlement on bare tiles as the available bare space was 30% just after 3 months of submersion. The community composition significantly differed as a function of the interaction of factors, habitat × substratum × sample interval. However, differences between the habitat types and substratum types, respectively, were explained by the difference in abundance of the same suite of species. The species were abundant at marina sites compared to reef sites; however, in terms of substrata, the species were abundant on slate (natural) tiles than on PVC tiles. The succession patterns of species over time (8 sample intervals) showed a similar trend on both the habitat type and substratum type, with differences in the average abundances of each species. The differences in abundances highlight the influence of species dispersal patterns, recruitment patterns and post-settlement processes of species between habitat type and substratum type, respectively. Subsequently, the species status indicated significance as a function of habitat type, substratum type and sample intervals. The cryptogenic species were abundant throughout the study. The cryptogenic species, however, decreased in abundance over time, with an increase in abundance of native and non-native species. Subsequently, the non-native species significantly varied between habitat type, with relatively higher abundance at marina (man-made) sites compared to reef (natural) sites. However, the non-native species did not show significant variation as a function of substratum type (PVC vs slate). The results are discussed in the context of the recruitment of species on a new barren substrate, and the preference of habitat type and substratum type by native, non-native and cryptogenic species. In Chapter 4, the reproduction output (gonadosomatic index, GSI) of the Southern hemisphere, native (SHMg) and Northern hemisphere, non-native (NHMg) lineages of the blue mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis were measured. The GSI and shell length of NHMg and SHMg were compared between habitat type; reef (natural) vs marina (man-made) sites. This study aimed to identify reproductive patterns (i.e., timing and magnitude of spawning events) and differences in performance (presumptive fitness) of the native and non-native blue mussel lineages at the natural and man-made habitats. The results for shell length indicated significance for habitat type and no significance as a function of lineage. The mussels were relatively bigger mussels at marina sites compared to reef sites; however, the differences were trivial. The GSI values as a function of habitat type, lineage and sampling time showed a significant difference between habitat type, with high GSI values at reef sites than at marina sites. However, this indicates that the blue mussels at marina sites had comparatively higher spawning activity than at reef sites. The temporal variation of GSI of NHMg and SHMg showed a similar reproductive trend (i.e., spawning and gametogenesis) at both habitats. However, significant spawning activity was observed in July and November when compared between reef and marina habitats. The results are discussed in the context of management implications and strategies regarding the establishment and success of non-native M. galloprovincialis lineage and whether their eradication is necessary or even possible. The findings of this research are summarised and discussed in relation to our understanding of biological community composition and diversity on man-made habitats and the subsequent invasion in the neighbouring natural habitats. This study, from an eco-engineering perspective, highlights the importance of complex habitats and surfaces, and not just material type. However, from a biosecurity and management approach, even though Australia and New Zealand have one of the strong international biosecurity country-specific legislation; the continuous arrival of non-native species in these countries indicates that such marine legislation is not sufficiently compelling on its own. This study highlights the interaction of non-native species at proximity ports, and it provides recommendations towards regional-scale management measures concentrating on intra-coastal transfer of invaders through domestic maritime traffic or natural dispersal. The life-history traits, recruitment timing and post-settlement processes, plays an essential role in determining long term patterns. Lastly, this research indicated that native and non-native species with ecologically similar responses lead to limited management options to some extent. Therefore, from a manager’s perspective, the eradication of non-native species may not be necessary if it does not cause any negative impacts to the biodiversity or the environment.&lt;/p&gt;