, 2010) The economics of processing tropical crops could be impr

, 2010). The economics of processing tropical crops could be improved by developing higher-value use for their by-products. It has now been reported that the by-products of tropical fruits contain high levels of various health enhancing substances that can be extracted to provide nutraceuticals (Gorinstein et al., 2011). In addition, the full utilization of fruits could lead the industry to a lower-waste agribusiness, increasing industrial profitability. The use of the entire plant tissue could have economic benefits to producers and a beneficial impact on the environment, leading to

a greater diversity of products (Peschel et al., 2006). A number of studies for determination of the bioactive composition of tropical fruits have been reported (Barreto et al., 2009, Pierson et al., buy PFI-2 2012, Rufino et al., 2010 and Sousa et al., 2012); however, a detailed comprehensive characterization including their by-products and individual phenolic compounds (resveratrol and coumarin) has not been reported so far. Furthermore, variations in sample preparation may also affect results greatly, yielding conflicting and non-comparable results, and this

is a problem deserving attention from researchers. Taking into account the potential of compounds present in pulps and by-products of tropical fruits as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents, and the fact that very few reports exist to date on the characterization of polyphenolic and carotene compounds in these products, this study aimed to quantify and compare the major Clomifene bioactive Akt inhibitor compounds found in pulp and by-products of commercialized tropical fruits from Brazil. Resveratrol, coumarin, gallic acid standards and solvents used for HPLC analysis (acetonitrile and methanol) were obtained from Sigma Aldrich (Steinheim, Germany). All other reagents were analytical grade and were purchased from VWR International (Radnor, PA). Samples consisted

of fresh, non-pasteurized frozen pulps of pineapple (Ananas comosus L.), acerola (Malpighia emarginata D.C.), monbin (Spondias mombin L.), cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale L.), guava (Psidium guajava L.), sourspop (Annona muricata L.), papaya (Carica papaya L.), mango (Mangifera indica L.), passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims), surinam cherry (Eugenia uniflora L.), sapodilla (Manikara zapota L.) and tamarind (Tamarindo indica L.) were obtained from fruit processing plants in the state of Ceará, Brazil. The by-products were used from the production process of pulps, obtained after pulping of: pineapple (peel and pulp’s leftovers), acerola (seed), cashew apple (peel and pulp’s leftovers), guava (peel, pulp’s leftovers, and seed), soursop (pulp’s leftovers and seed), papaya (peel, pulp’s leftovers, and seed), mango (peel and pulp’s leftovers), passion fruit (seed), surinam cherry (pulp’s leftovers), and sapodilla (peel, pulp’s leftovers and seed).

(2007) with some modifications: the reaction mixture was dissolve

(2007) with some modifications: the reaction mixture was dissolved in n-hexane to a total volume of 200 mL and 150 mL of 0.8 N KOH (hydro-alcoholic solution with 30% ethanol) added. This mixture was agitated and the hydro-alcoholic phase (containing the FFAs as their potassium salts), and the hexane phase (containing the novel TAGs), decanted. The hydro-alcoholic phase was extracted twice more with 20 mL of n-hexane and both n-hexane solutions mixed together. FG-4592 datasheet The hexane was evaporated off and the extracted SLs weighed. It was possible to extract

75–80% of the SLs with a purity of over 90% using this procedure. The acylglycerols (monoacylglycerol, MAG; diacylglycerol, DAG; and triacylglycerol, TAG) and the FFAs were identified by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and the FA compositions of the original soybean oil and of the purified SLs determined by gas chromatography (GC). Identification of the acylglycerols by TLC was carried out on silica-gel plates (pre-coated TLC plates, SIL G-25; Aldrich Chemical Co., Milwaukee, WI, USA) activated by heating at 105 °C for 20 min. The

samples and authentic standards were spotted directly onto the plate (0.1 mL) and developed in a chloroform/acetone/methanol (95:4.5:0.5, v/v/v) mobile phase. The spots of each lipid were visualised by spraying the plate with iodine vapour in a nitrogen stream. The FAs of the original soybean oil and of the purified SLs were converted into FAME by treatment with methanol-BF3 as described in the AOCS (1998) (AOCS Official Method Ce 1f-96), and analysed by gas chromatography using a Chrompack click here GC equipped with a flame ionisation detector. The separations were carried

out using a 50-m fused silica capillary column (WCOT CP-Sil 88, Chrompack, Chromtech, MN, USA) with a temperature programme from 180 to 220 °C at 5 °C/min. Hydrogen was used as the carrier gas. The injector temperature was set at 250 °C and the detector temperature at 280 °C. The FA composition was identified by comparing the retention times with authentic standards (Sigma Chemical Co.) and determining the relative percentages. EASI-MS is an ambient ionisation technique allowing for the direct and fast these MS analysis of samples in an open atmosphere directly from solid surfaces, with little or no sample preparation (Alberici et al., 2010). EASI(+)-MS performed on a tiny single droplet of an oil sample placed on an inert surface under ambient conditions, has recently been shown to provide characteristic TAG profiles for different types of vegetable oil, with proper qualitative responses (Simas et al., 2010). Spectra from the original soybean oil and the purified SLs were obtained in the positive ion mode, using a single-quadrupole mass spectrometer (Shimadzu LCMS 2010, Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan) equipped with a homemade EASI source, which is described in detail elsewhere (Haddad, Sparrapan, Kotiaho, & Eberlin, 2008).

Before study drug infusion, 1 patient in the placebo group and 1

Before study drug infusion, 1 patient in the placebo group and 1 patient in cohort 1 had detectable or elevated troponin I levels at screening, and 1 patient in the placebo group had detectable or elevated troponin I levels before and after ETT1. Two patients taking omecamtiv mecarbil had troponin I results that were just above the ULN after study drug infusion following ETT3: peak troponin I levels were 0.13 μg/l (ULN <0.11 μg/l) for a patient in cohort 1 and 1.1 μg/l

(ULN <1.0 μg/l) for a patient in cohort 2. There were no other clinical signs or symptoms of ischemia in these 2 patients. Mean plasma concentrations of omecamtiv mecarbil at 20 h after IV dosing were 283 ng/ml for cohort 1 and 575 ng/ml for cohort 2, consistent with the predicted values (295 ng/ml and 550 ng/ml for cohorts 1 and 2, respectively) derived by using pharmacokinetic LBH589 parameters from Veliparib cell line healthy volunteers (3). Increases in mean maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) and area under the plasma concentration–time curve from time 0 to the time of last quantifiable plasma concentration values from cohort 1 to cohort 2 were modestly higher than predicted from a strictly dose-proportional increase; mean ± SD Cmax levels were

344 ± 265 ng/ml and 708 ± 268 ng/ml in cohorts 1 and 2, respectively. Time to Cmax was similar between doses (Table 4). Mean plasma concentrations 1 h after the last oral dose were 74 ng/ml for cohort 1 and 208 ng/ml for cohort 2. Increasing cardiac contractility would seem to be a rational approach to treating patients with systolic heart failure. However, inotropic drugs increase the risk of ischemia, Florfenicol arrhythmias, and death, and this risk has limited their utility in treating acute and chronic heart failure 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Currently available inotropic drugs increase cardiac contractility indirectly by increasing cardiac myocyte intracellular calcium concentration (11). Another approach to increasing cardiac contractility by directly activating the sarcomere with a cardiac myosin activator may overcome the

limitations of the currently available inotropic drugs (12). Omecamtiv mecarbil is a novel, direct cardiac myosin activator that increases cardiac contractility and may become an important therapy for heart failure patients with systolic dysfunction. The echocardiographic hallmark for the pharmacodynamic activity of omecamtiv mecarbil is an increase in the systolic ejection time that is highly correlated with omecamtiv mecarbil plasma concentration 2 and 3. Because the majority of coronary blood flow occurs during diastole, this effect of omecamtiv mecarbil could reduce the time for myocardial perfusion. Thus, it was critical to evaluate omecamtiv mecarbil in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and angina during exercise in a well-controlled and monitored setting.

More than 30% of the species were found on less than four trees (

More than 30% of the species were found on less than four trees (45% on trees exposed for 0–4 years and 36% on trees exposed for 10–16 years).

Eleven red-listed lichen species were found; six near threatened (NT), three vulnerable (VU) and one endangered (EN) on clearcuts; six NT, two VU and one EN in young forests. The most common red-listed species were Lobaria pulmonaria which was found in all stands, Lecanora impudens found on 11 clearcuts and in all 12 young PCI-32765 cell line forests, and Collema furfuraceum found on 11 clearcuts and in 11 young forests ( Appendix). Of the aspen-dependent lichens 72% were spore-dispersed (63% of all lichens), and 11% had cyanobacteria as photobiont (11% of all lichens). Tree diameter and stand area did not differ between clearcuts and young forests (t-test: p = 0.06 and p = 0.46, respectively). The GLMM models showed a higher species richness on trees exposed for 10–16 years than on trees exposed for 0–4 years Akt inhibitor ( Table 2). There was also a geographical

difference in species richness, with more species towards the south and the east ( Table 2). Aspens exposed for 10–16 years had a higher number of aspen-dependent lichens, spore-dispersed lichens, lichens adapted to open environments and lichens sensitive to light, but the number of cyanolichens did not differ. The number of aspen-dependent lichens increased with tree diameter, stand area and towards the east. The number of cyanolichens also increased with diameter ( Table 2). The number of records of red-listed lichens was too low to allow statistical testing. In the ISA only one species, Lecidea albofuscescens (p = 0.008), was characteristic for clearcuts. Almost 40 species were characteristic of young forest; among them Caloplaca cerina, C. holocarpa, C. jemtlandica, Lecanora circumborealis, L. hagenii, Melanelia olivacea and Parmeliopsis ambigua, all with p-values <0.001 ( Appendix). The estimated total species richness within the whole study area varied among the estimators. Jackknife 2 estimated a total species pool of 249.9,

Chao 2 of 230.0 and Bootstrapping of 211.5, and the mean from Liothyronine Sodium all three estimators was 230.4. The 195 species found therefore represent 85% of the mean estimated size of the regional species pool. From the rarefaction curve the number of trees required to capture a certain proportion of species can be estimated. If, for example, 75% of the total lichen species pool were to be captured 384 aspen trees are needed, or if 50% were to be captured 81 trees are needed in the study area. Our study clearly shows that lichen species richness increases with time since clear-cutting on aspen trees retained during logging. Many species associated with old forest persist, while new species adapted to open environments colonize. In the light of this, we conclude that retention trees both function as lifeboats for existing species, and provide an early-successional habitat for colonizing species.

, of 110 species (>80 genera) (Sakai and Engelmann, 2007) Such t

, of 110 species (>80 genera) (Sakai and Engelmann, 2007). Such techniques are now being applied on a large scale; for example, to protect the potato collection at the International Potato Center, Peru and the banana and plantain collection in the Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Some examples of the tree species cryopreserved

by vitrification methods are given in Table 3. Most of the species are of interest to commercial forestry or are valuable fruit trees. Vitrification of the intracellular constituents during cooling can be achieved by partial drying of the sample in air; for example, the embryos or embryonic GSK3 inhibitor axes of five species of citrus cryopreserved after desiccation to c. 12% MC (Malik et al., 2012). In this example, longevity of the partially-dried embryos at −20 °C was limited to a few months NLG919 clinical trial only, whilst the cryopreserved samples were reported to retain high levels of viability after 6–8 years. There remain species-specific and specimen-specific subtleties in successful embryo cryopreservation, as a result of differing physiological states, intraspecific genetic variation, morphological variation from the shoot to root poles, and large differences in chemical composition and visco-elastic properties. Necessary adjustments to the methods

relate to the pre-culture phase, exposure to loading solution prior to PVS treatment, and the unloading phase. Consequently, there has been a determination to devise and apply generic methods. Two such methods

are cathodic amelioration and vacuum-infiltration vitrification (VIV) cryopreservation. Innovations around in vitro storage technology are covered elsewhere in the literature ( FAO, 2013). Cathodic amelioration aims to counteract the reactive oxygen species produced during cryopreservative Fossariinae procedures; for example, both excision and dehydration of recalcitrant seed axes of Castanea sativa (sweet chestnut) are known to trigger the production of superoxide radicals ( Roach et al., 2008). Improved cryopreservation success (promoting shoot development) has been achieved through the immersion of axes of Strychnos gerrardii (coast monkey-orange) in cathodic water after cryopreservation ( Berjak et al., 2011). The strongly reducing, high pH cathodic water is produced by electrolysis of a solution containing calcium and magnesium chloride. Vacuum infiltration vitrification (VIV) cryopreservation seeks to increase the uniformity of PVS penetration into plant embryos that vary in permeability due to differences in tissue mass, morphology, hydrophobicity and visco-elasticity (Nadarajan and Pritchard, 2014). Such variability in tissue properties has previously demanded empirical determinations of PVS exposure times, to balance the benefits of tissue dehydration whilst avoiding excessive chemical toxicity.

2; SD = 15 8; Sandoz et al , 2013)

2; SD = 15.8; Sandoz et al., 2013). Selleckchem MAPK Inhibitor Library The pretreatment score suggested that her negative body image interfered with her daily activities to a significant degree at pretreatment. At the midpoint of therapy, her body image flexibility score increased to 67, which fell within the average range of a nonclinical sample, and it remained within the average range at posttreatment. Her average

body image flexibility score throughout the course of the ACT intervention was 57.8 and 53 at 3-month follow-up. Participant 1’s scores on disordered eating related measures administered at pretreatment, midpoint, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up were generally consistent with the findings of the primary outcome and process measures. Participant 2’s daily report revealed that the average weekly number of binge eating was approximately 8 at pretreatment, which was consistent with the diagnostic criteria for BED. During the 10 weeks of the ACT intervention, the average number of binge episodes decreased to approximately 4.6 times per week, which still met the minimum number of binge episodes required for a BED diagnosis (i.e., approximately twice per week). At the 3-month follow-up period, the average number of AZD8055 binge episodes was approximately 3 times per week. Participant 2’s body image flexibility levels throughout the course of the study revealed a similar

clinical picture. Her body image flexibility score was 28 at pretreatment, which was more than two standard deviations below the mean for a nonclinical sample. Her body image flexibility score improved slightly throughout the course of the ACT intervention, with a weekly average of 35.5, and the improvement was somewhat maintained at follow-up (33). Similarly, Participant 2’s scores on disordered eating related measures suggested that her disordered eating concerns decreased but remained relatively elevated throughout the study. Notably, the participant greatly reduced the amount of time spent overeating with a sense of having lost control over eating throughout the course of study. She endorsed oxyclozanide engaging in episodes of consuming unusually large amounts of food

at a clinically significant level; however, the number of episodes that were accompanied by a perceived loss of control over eating was 20% at midpoint compared to 100% of the time at pretreatment. This ratio remained at lower levels at posttreatment and follow-up. When asked about the change at posttreatment and follow-up, Participant 2 attributed it to a decrease in the amount of food she consumed during a “binge” episode. While she still considered her food consumption during “binge” episodes to be “unusually large,” the amount she consumed in an episode appeared to have become smaller since the midpoint of therapy. For example, a “binge” for this participant after midpoint might include eating two cheeseburgers and an order of french-fries from a fast food restaurant.

The MUNE is calculated as the average voltage of the increments d

The MUNE is calculated as the average voltage of the increments divided into the CMAP (Shefner et al., 2006 and Shefner et al., 2002). The use of MUNE procedure successfully identifies slight motor function deficits where there is visually no overt paresis or paralysis, where there is paresis, or where the level of MUNE suppression is greatest with overt paralysis (Siddharthan et al., 2009) (Fig. 1). In this figure one can see the uninfected

hamster #617 has normal detectable M-waves with incremental jumps in the amplitude of the M-wave, whereas the WNV-infected #663 hamster does not show these features. In a study Dabrafenib mouse investigating the progression of WNV-induced MUNE suppression, MUNE is suppressed beginning at day 9 after subcutaneous WNV challenge, and continues beyond day 92 (Siddharthan

et al., 2009). To our knowledge this is the first animal model of WNV long-term neurological sequelae. Additionally, these studies reveal that reduced staining of cholineacetyltransferase in the motor neuron cell bodies strongly correlates with MUNE suppression at day 10, whereas the total number of neurons does not correlate, which suggests that loss the of motor neuron functions contributes more to motor deficits than simply death of neurons at http://www.selleckchem.com/products/sch-900776.html this point of disease progression. To confirm that defective motor neurons, not axonal degeneration, are the likely cause of the MUNE suppression, nerve conduction velocity (NCV) is performed, which is a measurement of the velocity that action potentials travel through motor and sensory fibers. NCV is obtained in WNV-infected hamsters by measuring the time-delay between stimulation of the sciatic nerve to measurement of the EMG of the gastrocnemius muscle. The time-delay of demyelinated axons are slower than normal axons. An experiment with

WNV-infected rodents demonstrated that axons or myelin sheaths are not degenerated, because the NCV is not slower in WNV-infected rodents (Wang et al., Thalidomide 2011). Therefore, therapeutic intervention should focus on treating motor neuron dysfunction and not demyelination. The advantage of the MUNE procedure is that it successfully detects WNV-induced motor function deficits specifically in hamsters where other electrophysiological procedures, such as H-reflex (unpublished data), fail due to technical or biological limitations. The disadvantage of the MUNE procedure in WNV-infected hamsters is that it requires 1–2 h to assay each hamster, and the detection of the incremental MUNE steps is subjective for each operator. An optogenetics approach has also been employed to measure motor function deficits. Transgenic mice are used that express the light-gated ion channel, channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2).

Our goal was to use the CHANS

Our goal was to use the CHANS BLU9931 cell line approach to identify data, research needs and to set the stage for further assessment (e.g. feedbacks, time lags, surprises, sensu Liu et al., 2007) on how the socioeconomic system and the aquatic ecosystem have interacted and changed through time. Lake St. Clair (LSC), a shallow transboundary system in the Laurentian Great Lakes (Leach, 1991) (Fig. 1), connects Lakes Huron and Erie via the St. Clair River to the north and the Detroit River to the south. It is part of the Huron-Erie corridor. Lake St. Clair may seem small compared to the other Great Lakes, but it is the 11th largest lake

in surface area in the continental USA (Herdendorf, 1982 and Hunter and Simons, 2004). It also has about 1000 km of shoreline perimeter (Fig. 1). The LSC connecting channel contains three Areas of Concern as listed by the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which are located in the St. Clair River, the Detroit River, and the Clinton River with a portion of the western lake shoreline (United States Environmental Protection Agency, access date Erastin 2 April 2012, http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/). The aggregate area of the local watersheds that drain to LSC (excluding the watershed of Lake Huron and other

upper Great Lakes) is 15,305 km2, with 59% of this area (8988 km2) on the Canadian side, and the remainder (6317 km2) on the USA side (Fig. 1). The USA and Canadian portions of the LSC watershed differ greatly in terms of land use according to recent satellite-derived land cover data. On the USA side in the year 2006, agricultural land use comprised 41% of the watershed and 32% percent was developed (Fry et al., 2011). In Canada as of 2000, land use in the watershed was dominated by agriculture (77%) with 5% cover each in forest and developed land (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, access date 8 April 2012, ftp://ftp.agr.gc.ca/pub/outgoing/aesb-eos-gg/LCV_CA_AAFC_30M_2000_V12). It is not likely that land cover change in the short

interval between 2000 and 2006 changed these percentages appreciably. The majority of the watershed is located within five counties on each side of the border (Fig. 1). Besides the St. Clair River, the other rivers that drain into the lake Casein kinase 1 include the Black, Belle and Clinton Rivers in Michigan and the Thames and Sydenham Rivers in Ontario. The largest portion of water entering the lake (98%) comes from the St. Clair River, which supports the largest freshwater delta in the Great Lakes system (Herdendorf, 1993), the St. Clair Flats which contains about 170 km2 of wetlands (Edsall et al., 1988). We used primary literature, state and federal governmental reports and websites as well as state and federal governmental data sources to compile our overview and to conduct new analyses about the characteristics of the lake and its watershed.

Documenting a stream’s sediment yield variability from the dam po

Documenting a stream’s sediment yield variability from the dam pool deposit provides for a better understanding of future down

stream impacts following dam removal. In this paper, we report a study to characterize the sediment that has accumulated in the Gorge Dam impoundment on PARP activity the Middle Cuyahoga River, Ohio. We report on the century-long sediment record of anthropogenic and natural changes occurring in the watershed. Furthermore, we use an impoundment-based estimate of the Middle Cuyahoga River sediment load to assess the output from the Spreadsheet Technique for Estimating Pollutant Loading (STEPL) watershed model. The close agreement between these two methods confirms the usefulness of the watershed modeling approach and best characterizes present-day conditions within the Middle Cuyahoga River. Because the Gorge Dam is under consideration for removal, determining the sediment load record is of practical importance. Once the dam is removed and the impoundment sediment trap no longer exists, the Middle Cuyahoga sediment load will be delivered to the Lower Cuyahoga River. Located in northeast Ohio, the headwaters of the Cuyahoga River flow south before the river turns north and finally discharges into Lake Erie (Fig. 1). Before emptying into Carfilzomib nmr Lake Erie, the Cuyahoga River is impeded by several dams (Fig. 1). Prior to

the construction of the Gorge Dam, the river in this reach

flowed in a gorge over shale, siltstone, and sandstone of the Cuyahoga Group and between steep cliffs of Sharon Formation (Coogan et al., 1974, Evans, 2003 and Wells, 2003). Early settlers to Ohio were drawn to the gorge by the waterpower provided by the Cuyahoga River (Hannibal and Foos, 2003). By 1854, five mill dams were present in the narrower portion of the gorge MEK inhibitor upstream of the present study area (Whitman et al., 2010, p. 20). The recreational value of the river gorge was recognized early, and several amusement parks operated between the 1870s and 1930s, attracting thousands of people daily in the warmer months (Hannibal and Foos, 2003 and Whitman et al., 2010, pp. 59–72; Vradenburg, 2012). By 1933 the amusement parks had all closed due to declining attendance, and the site became the county Gorge Metro Park (Whitman et al., 2010, pp. 59–60; Vradenburg, 2012). Beginning in 1911 and finishing in 1912, the Northern Ohio Power and Light Company constructed the Gorge Dam (Whitman et al., 2010, p. 80). The dam pool provided cooling-water storage for a coal-fired power plant and water for a hydroelectric power generating station. The dam is located at river kilometer 72.6 in present-day Gorge Metro Park, Summit County, Ohio (Fig. 1). The dam was built on Big Falls, the largest waterfall in the gorge. The 17.4-m-tall, reinforced concrete Gorge Dam is the tallest dam on the Cuyahoga River.

Stratigraphic sequences on Tikopia reveal extensive burning (mark

Stratigraphic sequences on Tikopia reveal extensive burning (marked by charcoal in sediments), erosion of the volcanic slopes, and deposition of terrigenous sediments on the coastal plain as the island’s forest was cleared for gardening during the Kiki Phase (950–100 B.C.). During the island’s Sinapupu Phase (∼100 B.C. to A.D. 1200) the use of fire in agriculture gradually declined as the population developed the sophisticated system of arboriculture RO4929097 purchase or “orchard gardening” for which Tikopia is known ethnographically. This arboricultural system mimics the multi-story layering of the tropical rainforest, allowing for extremely high population

densities (∼250 persons/km2). Virtually every hectare of the Tikopia land surface consists of intensively managed orchard gardens, a classic case of the total transformation of an island landscape into an anthropogenic ecosystem.

Mangaia, like other islands within central Eastern Polynesia, was not colonized by Polynesians until ca. A.D. 900–1000. With a land area of 52 km2, the island consists of a 20-million year old central volcanic core surrounded by a ring of upraised coral limestone or makatea. The old, laterized volcanic terrain is nutrient depleted and was highly vulnerable to intensive human land use activities. Archeological investigation of several stratified rockshelters (especially the large MAN-44 site) and sediment coring and palynological analysis of valley-bottom Selleck BMS-754807 swamps and lakes revealed a detailed history of land cAMP use and human impacts on Mangaia ( Steadman and Kirch, 1990, Ellison, 1994, Kirch et al., 1995 and Kirch, 1996). The sediment cores and pollen records reveal rapid deforestation following Polynesian colonization, with an initial spike in microscopic charcoal particles indicative of anthropogenic burning, probably in an effort to cultivate the volcanic slopes

using shifting cultivation. Once the thin organic A horizon had been stripped off of hillslopes through erosion, the lateritic soils were incapable of supporting forest regrowth; the island’s interior became a pyrophytic fernland dominated by Dicranopteris linearis fern and scrub Pandanus tectorius. Agricultural efforts were then directed at the narrow valley bottoms, which were developed into intensive pondfield irrigation systems for taro (Colocasia esculenta) cultivation. The faunal record from the Mangaia rockshelters, especially site MAN-44, exhibits an especially well-documented sequence of significant impacts on the native biota, as well as the introduction of invasive and domestic species (Steadman and Kirch, 1990 and Steadman, 2006). Of 17 species of native land birds present in the early phases of the sequence, 13 became extinct or extirpated.