Benguet State University 

College of Home Economics and Technology

Department of Tourism Management
La Trinidad, Benguet 2601

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

SUBMITTED BY:

Acoba, Pamela Jane B.

Annot, Helier
Bassit, Beverly P.
Dato, Jenny A.
Libnao, Sanshi
Mendoza, Arriane Joyce
Osben, Joshua D.

SUBMITTED TO:

Mr. Zaimon Anongos

A. Journal about Ecology

Successional and phenological effects on plant-floral visitor interaction networks of a tropical dry forest

Jorge Cortés-Flores, Martha Lopezaraiza-Mikel, M. Hesajim de Santiago-Hernández, Silvana Martén-

Rodríguez, E. Jacob Cristóbal-Pérez, María J. Aguilar-Aguilar … See all authors 
First published: 01 February 2023
 
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14072

This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the
copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this
version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi:10.1111/1365-2745.14072.

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Abstract

1. Plant-pollinator interactions are fundamental to ecosystem functioning; however, the role that succession and
phenology have on these interactions is poorly understood, particularly in endangered tropical ecosystems. In
highly diverse ecosystems such as tropical dry forests (TDF), variation in water and food availability determines
the life cycles of animal pollinators. Therefore, understanding patterns of flowering phenology and plant-
pollinator interactions across seasons in successional environments is key to maintaining and restoring TDF.

2. We analysed the functional dynamics of plant-floral visitor interactions at the community level across a
successional gradient in a Mexican TDF. We evaluated changes in the diversity of blooming plant species and
floral visitors, phenological patterns, interaction network metrics, and beta diversity among early, intermediate,
and late successional stages, between dry and rainy seasons.

3. We found a higher diversity of blooming plant species and a higher richness of animal species in the
intermediate and late successional stages. Peak abundance of floral visitors overlapped with flowering peaks in
the late successional stages, but this was not consistently the case in the early and intermediate stages. Plant-
floral visitors networks differed in structure according to successional stage and season, but specialisation
metrics were higher in late successional stages. Interaction networks were more dissimilar between dry and
rainy seasons within successional stages than within seasons between successional stages, suggesting
connectivity across successional sites during each season. In addition, closely related plant species do not share
the same pollination systems in any successional stage.

4. Synthesis. Our results showed that plant-floral visitor interactions are dynamic and vary with flowering
phenology and with successional changes in plant and animal diversity. Plant-floral visitor interactions were
more diverse and specialised in the late successional stages. In the rainy season, differences in network structure
among successional stages are due to interaction rewiring, while in the dry season it is caused by species
turnover. Our results demonstrate that seasonality plays a key role in community diversity and network structure
 and highlight the importance of conserving mature forests to ensure the maintenance of critical pollination
interactions across all successional stages.

B. Journal about Environmental Science

Urban air pollution control policies and strategies: a systematic review

 October 2021
 Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering 19(6):1-30
DOI:10.1007/s40201-021-00744-4
Authors:
Ahmad Jonidi jafari
 Iran University of Medical Sciences
Esmail Charkhloo
Hasan Pasalari
 Iran University of Medical Sciences Research Center for Environmental Health Technology
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Citations (9)
References (187)
Abstract
A wide range of policies, strategies, and interventions have been implemented to improve air quality all over the
world. This systematic review comprehensively appraises the policies and strategies on air pollutants controls
enacted in different countries, worldwide. Three databases, Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus, were used for
the search. After screening, a total of 114 eligible manuscripts were selected from 2219 documents for further
analysis. Selected articles were divided into two categories: (1) articles focusing on introducing the policies and
strategies enacted for controlling air pollution in different countries, and (2) articles which focused on different
policies and strategies to control one or more specific pollutants. In the former one, urban air pollution control
strategies and policies were divided into four categories, namely, general strategies and policies, transportation,
energy, and industry. In case of latter category, policies and strategies focused on controlling six pollutants
(PM, SO2, NO2, VOCS, O3 and photochemical smog). The results indicated that, the most common policies
and strategies enacted in most countries are pertinent to the transportation sector. Changing energy sources, in
particular elimination or limited use of solid fuels, was reported as an effective action by governments to reduce
air pollution. Overall, most policies enacted by governments can be divided into three general categories: (a)
incentive policies such as implementing a free public transportation program to use fewer private cars, (b)
supportive policies such as paying subsidies to change household fuels, and (c) punitive policies such as
collecting tolls for cars to enter the congestion charging areas. Depending on the circumstances, these policies
are implemented alone or jointly. In addition to the acceptance of international agreements to reduce air
pollution by governments, greater use of renewable energy, clean fuels, and low-pollution or no-pollution
vehicles such as electric vehicles play an important role in reducing air pollution.
C. Why the particular journal belongs to ecology?

 This journal talks about the relationship between plants and pollinators. It also discusses how this
relationship affects the phenology in ecosystems, specifically on endangered tropical ecosystems. The
article also talked about how the plant-floral visitor interactions affected the biodiversity of the tropical dry
forest observed.
 This journal can be classified under ecology since the environmental factors, aside from water, were
excluded. Only the living components were the topics in the study, which means that the interactions
between the living organisms were observed.
D. Why the particular journal belongs to environmental science?

 This journal talks about the different kinds of policies with regards to urban air pollution control. The
journal falls under the environmental science category since air pollution is an area under environmental
science. The article tackles on 114 papers published on websites Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus.
These papers contain policies and strategies that target one or more specific pollutants and those for
controlling air pollution. Environmental science, which is directly tied to economic growth, population
increase, and energy use, is impacted by this air pollution. There is a connection between economic growth
and higher living standards, population expansion, rising energy demand, and rising production and
emission of air pollutants. Air pollution is seen as a severe issue since it impacts crops and agricultural
productivity, causes habitat destruction and climate change. What are the main reasons for this, then? It
could be related to transportation by road.

E. Differentiating the journals on ecology and environmental science:

 The first aspect that can be easily distinguished from one another is the focus of the journals. For the
environmental science one, the focus is on how to mitigate or alleviate air pollutions on different areas,
whereas on the ecology paper, we can see that the focus is the interactions of pollinators and the plants in
the area and the effect of the interaction in the long run. One presents an environmental problem, and the
other presents an example on how living organisms affect each other’s behaviors.

 To cite an example, there are recorded differences in the diversity of plant and animal species due to the
interactions of plants and pollinators during periods set by the researchers in the paper Successional and
phenological effects on plant-floral visitor interaction networks of a tropical dry forest. While on the
Urban air pollution control policies and strategies: a systematic review, it discusses how many components
of the environment interact. Policies and strategies made by the countries involved affect the environment.
It was also mentioned that changing energy sources, which are important in a city or a country, is an
effective way of reducing air pollution. This paper involves many aspects, like ethics, chemistry, biology,
and politics to cite a few.
 The two journals were clearly different from each other. From the focus, areas covered, components being
studied, and other differences were presented. In conclusion, ecology only focuses on the living organisms
on a certain area or environment, and how they interact. On the other hand, environmental science has a
wider scope, and is not necessarily focused on the living components of an environment but rather take into
account all that is involved within the area of concern.