Brazil: For the first time, the researchers in a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, have described myocardial injury shown by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.
Richer Countries Strain Developing Ones by Importing Crops That Need Pollinators 15/03/2021
A pollinator on an açaí palm flower. Photo: Cristiano Menezes.
Luísa Carvalheiro says she remembers a time when açaí was just a humble berry, a staple for the Amazon’s Indigenous communities. That was before the inky purple berries became all the rage in Europe and the US, a so-called superfood promising everything from weight loss to lasting youth.
Claims about the powers of this fruit of the South American palm (
Euterpe oleracea), some justified and some spurious, have proliferated. But what really disturbs ecologist Carvalheiro and her colleague Felipe Deodato da Silva e Silva, both based in Brazil, is this: with the export of açaí, Brazil is also exporting the services of its precious pollinators.
by Malavika Vyawahare on 11 March 2021
A new study shows that high-income countries place enormous demands on developing countries’ by importing crops that rely heavily on pollinators.
The researchers apply the principle of Virtual Water, where goods are seen not just as movements of things but also of raw materials and services, in this case of pollinators.
A growing demand in places like the U.S. and Europe for healthier diets, rich in fruits and beans, is also putting pressure on scarce pollination services.
Pollination services may be free, but there are hidden costs to maintaining them, and it is communities in developing countries who pay them, the study suggests.
Recently, a published study in Science Advances assessed the contribution of pollinators to international market flows and showed that biodiversity conservation
By analyzing more than a decade s worth of information on 55 crops, all dependent on pollinators, scientists have revealed that developed countries are particularly reliant on imported pollinator-dependent crops, while countries that export the majority of these crop types are major drivers of pollinator declines. Their assessment of the virtual exchange of pollinator