Here we describe a 14-year collaboration in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, between an Indigenous NGO, Indigenous scientists and international researchers. New Ireland is a marine province in the Western Pacific region where most residents depend on fishing, marine gleaning and small-scale gardening for their livelihoods. Ailan Awareness is a locally founded and managed NGO that focuses on the strengthening of Indigenous sovereignty regarding biological, cultural and spiritual diversity as well as fostering Indigenous epistemology practices and strengthening biocultural diversity. In partnership with anthropological researchers, Ailan Awareness has designed an approach to marine conservation informed by the growing field of decolonial research practices. By working to empower coastal communities to make decisions about their marine and cultural resources using a mix of Indigenous, anthropological and scientific methods and giving primacy to strengthening Indigenous modes of knowledge production and the role of community Elders, Ailan Awareness addresses a major gap in the efforts of the national government and international NGOs: giving the people most directly affected by declining biodiversity and loss of tradition the support and tools required to design and carry out the strengthening of both biological diversity and traditional social practices. In this paper we describe the methodology used by Ailan Awareness and the history of collaboration that resulted in these methods.

This study aimed to compare fruits and vegetables (FV), and carbonated soft drink (CSD) consumption among adolescents from seventy-four countries, according to macroeconomic indicators. This is an ecological study, developed with countries evaluated through the Global School-based Student Health Survey (2003–2014) and the National School Health Survey (PeNSE-Brazil, 2015). The percentages of students in each country who consumed CSD and FV daily and their association with the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Gross National Income per capita (GNIpc) were assessed. Scatter plots were constructed for each marker, and a multilevel model was tested to consider the effects of region in the associations. The overall prevalence of daily CSD consumption was 54·1 %. CSD consumption was positively associated with HDI and GNIpc through multilevel models, and Central and South America showed a considerable higher consumption compared with other regions. Overall, FV daily consumption was 67·9 % and 74·6 %, respectively, and no associations with macroeconomic indicators were found. The study shows concerning rates of CSD consumption among adolescents, and a trend of increased consumption with the improvement of the country’s development and GNIpc. This points for the importance of public policies that regulate food and beverage industries to reduce CSD consumption and related co-morbidities among adolescents.

A new species, Etlingera frederikii, is described and illustrated, and is the first record of the genus in the Bougainville Region. Etlingera frederikii and E. cevuga, which occurs in Fiji and Samoa, are the two most easterly species in the distribution range of the genus. The new species differs from Etlingera cevuga in its much larger leaves, with a conspicuously silky-haired band on the ligule; the smaller, narrowly ovoid to cylindrical inflorescence with pale brown bracts (not hemiglobose with reddish brown bracts); and fewer, smaller flowers.

This paper presents a case study that assessed spatial variations in the tectonic uplift rates of beach deposits in the relict Kujukuri strand plain, situated on the northeastern coast of the Boso Peninsula, eastern Japan. The southern Boso Peninsula is tilted downward to the northeast due to plate subduction along the Sagami Trough. However, the cause of the northeastern coast uplift creating the relict strand plain is unclear, due to the absence of a Holocene raised marine terrace sequence. Elevations and ages of beach deposits were collected from drilled cores and ground-penetrating radar profiles along three shore-normal sections in the southern Kujukuri strand plain. From this, alongshore variations in the relative sea level since the mid-Holocene could be seen. These corresponded to north-to-northeast downward tilting at a rate of 0.4 m/ka for an interval 10 km and are concordant with the longer term tilting of the last interglacial marine terrace surrounding the plain. Although it is difficult to assess shore-normal variations of uplift based on the present dataset, the recognized tilting apparently continues to the tilting of the southern Boso Peninsula, implying the Sagami Trough probably affects the uplift of the Kujukuri coast.

One species of Microtabella, Microtabella interrupta, is widespread and has been known since the 19th Century but it has a convoluted taxonomic history leaving it presently the only species in the genus. The name interrupta derives from the chain-forming habit and the plastids being confined to a portion of the cell by a set of distinctively distended septa. This character makes it very easy to identify and very easy to overlook similar species, especially because the tabulate frustules are most often seen in girdle view. I found specimens of a new taxon that had these characters and was distinguished with difficulty in girdle view by the coarser striae on the copulae and the recurved edges of the septa. However, in valve view Microtabella rhombica n. sp. has a much broader, rhombic outline. Ultrastructural differences include a more elongated apical pore field with a prominent spine, biseriate striae on the copulae and a different form of the ligule (a raised bar on the last copula). Like Microtabella interrupta, the mature epitheca of Microtabella rhombica comprises numerous copulae with nearly flat septa, two copulae with distended septa and four hyaline pleurae that lack septa. This species could well be widespread but, as with other monospecific genera in which there is a strong distinguishing character, care must be taken to look beyond the outstanding feature.

Lucanicum concatenatum is a chain-forming araphid pennate, assigned to Cyclophorales: Cyclophoraceae on the basis of morphological characters and DNA sequences, resembling Neosynedra, but with platelike plastids and striae mostly undivided by vimines. So far it has only been found growing on blue coral, Heliopora coerulea, but we do not suggest that it is restricted to this habitat. Its phylogenetic position, near Cyclophora, Florella and Astrosyne, requires amendment of the diagnosis of Cyclophorales, which included characters unique to C. tenuis, the only species in the order at that time. The question of the scope and description of the Cyclophoraceae remains unresolved.