158 research outputs found
TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives
Precision restoration: a necessary approach to foster forest recovery in the 21st century
We thank S. Tabik, E. Guirado, and Garnata Drone SL for fruitful debates about the application of remote sensing and artificial intelligence in restoration. E. McKeown looked over the English version of the manuscript. Original drawings were made by J. D. Guerrero. This work was supported by projects RESISTE (P18-RT-1927) from the Consejeria de Economia, Conocimiento, y Universidad from the Junta de Andalucia, and AVA201601.19 (NUTERA-DE I), DETECTOR (A-RNM-256-UGR18), and AVA2019.004 (NUTERA-DE II), cofinanced (80%) by the FEDER Program. F.M.-R. acknowledges the support of the Agreement 4580 between OTRI-UGR and the city council of La Zubia. We thank an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments that improved the manuscript.Forest restoration is currently a primary objective in environmental management policies at a global scale, to the extent that
impressive initiatives and commitments have been launched to plant billions of trees. However, resources are limited and the
success of any restoration effort should be maximized. Thus, restoration programs should seek to guarantee that what is
planted today will become an adult tree in the future, a simple fact that, however, usually receives little attention. Here, we advocate
for the need to focus restoration efforts on an individual plant level to increase establishment success while reducing negative
side effects by using an approach that we term âprecision forest restorationâ (PFR). The objective of PFR will be to ensure
that planted seedlings or sowed seeds will become adult trees with the appropriate landscape configuration to create functional
and self-regulating forest ecosystems while reducing the negative impacts of traditional massive reforestation actions. PFR can
take advantage of ecological knowledge together with technologies and methodologies from the landscape scale to the individual-
plant scale, and from the more traditional, low-tech approaches to the latest high-tech ones. PFR may be more expensive at
the level of individual plants, but will be more cost-effective in the long term if it allows for the creation of resilient forests able to
providemultiple ecosystemservices. PFR was not feasible a few years ago due to the high cost and low precision of the available
technologies, but it is currently an alternative that might reformulate a wide spectrum of ecosystem restoration activities.Junta de Andalucia P18-RT-1927European Commission AVA201601.19
A-RNM-256-UGR18
AVA2019.004OTRI-UGR 4580city council of La Zubia 458
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Observational hertzsprung-russell diagrams
We highlight the power of the Gaia DR2 in studying many fine structures of
the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD). Gaia allows us to present many different
HRDs, depending in particular on stellar population selections. We do not aim
here for completeness in terms of types of stars or stellar evolutionary
aspects. Instead, we have chosen several illustrative examples. We describe
some of the selections that can be made in Gaia DR2 to highlight the main
structures of the Gaia HRDs. We select both field and cluster (open and
globular) stars, compare the observations with previous classifications and
with stellar evolutionary tracks, and we present variations of the Gaia HRD
with age, metallicity, and kinematics. Late stages of stellar evolution such as
hot subdwarfs, post-AGB stars, planetary nebulae, and white dwarfs are also
analysed, as well as low-mass brown dwarf objects. The Gaia HRDs are
unprecedented in both precision and coverage of the various Milky Way stellar
populations and stellar evolutionary phases. Many fine structures of the HRDs
are presented. The clear split of the white dwarf sequence into hydrogen and
helium white dwarfs is presented for the first time in an HRD. The relation
between kinematics and the HRD is nicely illustrated. Two different populations
in a classical kinematic selection of the halo are unambiguously identified in
the HRD. Membership and mean parameters for a selected list of open clusters
are provided. They allow drawing very detailed cluster sequences, highlighting
fine structures, and providing extremely precise empirical isochrones that will
lead to more insight in stellar physics. Gaia DR2 demonstrates the potential of
combining precise astrometry and photometry for large samples for studies in
stellar evolution and stellar population and opens an entire new area for
HRD-based studies
Transcriptional and Linkage Analyses Identify Loci that Mediate the Differential Macrophage Response to Inflammatory Stimuli and Infection
Macrophages display flexible activation states that range between pro-inflammatory (classical activation) and anti-inflammatory (alternative activation). These macrophage polarization states contribute to a variety of organismal phenotypes such as tissue remodeling and susceptibility to infectious and inflammatory diseases. Several macrophage- or immune-related genes have been shown to modulate infectious and inflammatory disease pathogenesis. However, the potential role that differences in macrophage activation phenotypes play in modulating differences in susceptibility to infectious and inflammatory disease is just emerging. We integrated transcriptional profiling and linkage analyses to determine the genetic basis for the differential murine macrophage response to inflammatory stimuli and to infection with the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. We show that specific transcriptional programs, defined by distinct genomic loci, modulate macrophage activation phenotypes. In addition, we show that the difference between AJ and C57BL/6J macrophages in controlling Toxoplasma growth after stimulation with interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha mapped to chromosome 3, proximal to the Guanylate binding protein (Gbp) locus that is known to modulate the murine macrophage response to Toxoplasma. Using an shRNA-knockdown strategy, we show that the transcript levels of an RNA helicase, Ddx1, regulates strain differences in the amount of nitric oxide produced by macrophage after stimulation with interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor. Our results provide a template for discovering candidate genes that modulate macrophage-mediated complex traits
Household practices related to disease transmission between animals and humans in rural Cambodia
Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties
ABSTRACT: Context. We present the early installment of the third Gaia data release, Gaia EDR3, consisting of astrometry and photometry for 1.8 billion sources brighter than magnitude 21, complemented with the list of radial velocities from Gaia DR2.
Aims. A summary of the contents of Gaia EDR3 is presented, accompanied by a discussion on the differences with respect to Gaia DR2 and an overview of the main limitations which are present in the survey. Recommendations are made on the responsible use of Gaia EDR3 results.
Methods. The raw data collected with the Gaia instruments during the first 34 months of the mission have been processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium and turned into this early third data release, which represents a major advance with respect to Gaia DR2 in terms of astrometric and photometric precision, accuracy, and homogeneity.
Results. Gaia EDR3 contains celestial positions and the apparent brightness in G for approximately 1.8 billion sources. For 1.5 billion of those sources, parallaxes, proper motions, and the (GBP ? GRP) colour are also available. The passbands for G, GBP, and GRP are provided as part of the release. For ease of use, the 7 million radial velocities from Gaia DR2 are included in this release, after the removal of a small number of spurious values. New radial velocities will appear as part of Gaia DR3. Finally, Gaia EDR3 represents an updated materialisation of the celestial reference frame (CRF) in the optical, the Gaia-CRF3, which is based solely on extragalactic sources. The creation of the source list for Gaia EDR3 includes enhancements that make it more robust with respect to high proper motion stars, and the disturbing effects of spurious and partially resolved sources. The source list is largely the same as that for Gaia DR2, but it does feature new sources and there are some notable changes. The source list will not change for Gaia DR3. Conclusions. Gaia EDR3 represents a significant advance over Gaia DR2, with parallax precisions increased by 30 per cent, proper motion precisions increased by a factor of 2, and the systematic errors in the astrometry suppressed by 30-40% for the parallaxes and by a factor ~2.5 for the proper motions. The photometry also features increased precision, but above all much better homogeneity across colour, magnitude, and celestial position. A single passband for G, GBP, and GRP is valid over the entire magnitude and colour range, with no systematics above the 1% levelThe Gaia mission and data processing have financially been supported by ; the Spanish Ministry of Economy (MINECO/FEDER, UE) through grants ESP2016-80079-C2-1-R, ESP2016-80079-C2-2-R, RTI2018-095076-B-C21, RTI2018-095076-B-C22, BES-2016-078499, and BES-2017-083126 and the Juan de la Cierva formaciĂłn 2015 grant FJCI-2015-2671, the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports through grant FPU16/03827, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through grant
AYA2017-89841P for project âEstudio de las propiedades de los fĂłsiles estelares en el entorno del Grupo Localâ and through grant TIN2015-65316-P for project
âComputaciĂłn de Altas Prestaciones VII
TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
Plant traitsâthe morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plantsâdetermine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of traitâbased plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traitsâalmost complete coverage for âplant growth formâ. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and traitâenvironmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives
Pulsations in main sequence OBAF-type stars
CONTEXT: The third Gaia data release provides photometric time series covering 34 months for about 10 million stars. For many of those stars, a characterisation in Fourier space and their variability classification are also provided. This paper focuses on intermediate- to high-mass (IHM) main sequence pulsators (Mââ„ââ1.3âMâ) of spectral types O, B, A, or F, known as ÎČ Cep, slowly pulsating B (SPB), ÎŽ Sct, and Îł Dor stars. These stars are often multi-periodic and display low amplitudes, making them challenging targets to analyse with sparse time series. AIMS: We investigate the extent to which the sparse Gaia DR3 data can be used to detect OBAF-type pulsators and discriminate them from other types of variables. We aim to probe the empirical instability strips and compare them with theoretical predictions. The most populated variability class is that of the ÎŽ Sct variables. For these stars, we aim to confirm their empirical period-luminosity (PL) relation, and verify the relation between their oscillation amplitude and rotation. METHODS: All datasets used in this analysis are part of the Gaia DR3 data release. The photometric time series were used to perform a Fourier analysis, while the global astrophysical parameters necessary for the empirical instability strips were taken from the Gaia DR3 gspphot tables, and the v sin i data were taken from the Gaia DR3 esphs tables. The ÎŽâSct PL relation was derived using the same photometric parallax method as the one recently used to establish the PL relation for classical Cepheids using Gaia data. RESULTS: We show that for nearby OBAF-type pulsators, the Gaia DR3 data are precise and accurate enough to pinpoint them in the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. We find empirical instability strips covering broader regions than theoretically predicted. In particular, our study reveals the presence of fast rotating gravity-mode pulsators outside the strips, as well as the co-existence of rotationally modulated variables inside the strips as reported before in the literature. We derive an extensive periodâluminosity relation for ÎŽ Sct stars and provide evidence that the relation features different regimes depending on the oscillation period. We demonstrate how stellar rotation attenuates the amplitude of the dominant oscillation mode of ÎŽ Sct stars. CONCLUSIONS: The Gaia DR3 time-series photometry already allows for the detection of the dominant (non-)radial oscillation mode in about 100 000 intermediate- and high-mass dwarfs across the entire sky. This detection capability will increase as the time series becomes longer, allowing the additional delivery of frequencies and amplitudes of secondary pulsation modes
Gaia Data Release 3: Mapping the asymmetric disc of the Milky Way
With the most recent Gaia data release the number of sources with complete 6D
phase space information (position and velocity) has increased to well over 33
million stars, while stellar astrophysical parameters are provided for more
than 470 million sources, in addition to the identification of over 11 million
variable stars. Using the astrophysical parameters and variability
classifications provided in Gaia DR3, we select various stellar populations to
explore and identify non-axisymmetric features in the disc of the Milky Way in
both configuration and velocity space. Using more about 580 thousand sources
identified as hot OB stars, together with 988 known open clusters younger than
100 million years, we map the spiral structure associated with star formation
4-5 kpc from the Sun. We select over 2800 Classical Cepheids younger than 200
million years, which show spiral features extending as far as 10 kpc from the
Sun in the outer disc. We also identify more than 8.7 million sources on the
red giant branch (RGB), of which 5.7 million have line-of-sight velocities,
allowing the velocity field of the Milky Way to be mapped as far as 8 kpc from
the Sun, including the inner disc. The spiral structure revealed by the young
populations is consistent with recent results using Gaia EDR3 astrometry and
source lists based on near infrared photometry, showing the Local (Orion) arm
to be at least 8 kpc long, and an outer arm consistent with what is seen in HI
surveys, which seems to be a continuation of the Perseus arm into the third
quadrant. Meanwhile, the subset of RGB stars with velocities clearly reveals
the large scale kinematic signature of the bar in the inner disc, as well as
evidence of streaming motions in the outer disc that might be associated with
spiral arms or bar resonances. (abridged
Moving out of the bottom of the economy? Constraints to firm transition in the Indian informal manufacturing sector
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