Elevated Atmospheric CO2 Affects Ectomycorrhizal Species Abundance and Increases Sporocarp Production under Field Conditions

Anthropogenic activities during the last century have increased levels of atmospheric CO2. Forest net primary productivity increases in response to elevated CO2, altering the quantity and quality of carbon supplied to the rhizosphere. Ectomycorrhizal fungi form obligate symbiotic associations with the fine roots of trees that mediate improved scavenging for nutrients in exchange for a carbohydrate supply. Understanding how the community structure of ectomycorrhizal fungi is altered by climate change is important to further our understanding of ecosystem function. Betula pendula and Fagus sylvatica were grown in an elevated CO2 atmosphere delivered using free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) under field conditions in the U.K., and Picea abies was grown under elevated CO2 in glass domes in the Czech Republic. We used morphotyping and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region of the fungal ribosomal operon to study ectomycorrhizal community structure. Under FACE, un-colonised roots tips increased in abundance for Fagus sylvatica, and during 2006, sporocarp biomass of Peziza badia significantly increased. In domes, ectomycorrhizal community composition shifted from short-distance and smooth medium-distance to contact exploration types. Supply and competition for carbon belowground can influence ectomycorrhizal community structure with the potential to alter ecosystem function

Climate change: building leadership capacity within a higher education institution

Learning how to address climate-change and live more sustainably is a 'social learning process' which is in its infancy and in which the University, its graduates and community will need to assume significant leadership roles. This exploratory paper reflects on the experience of a cross-disciplinary group of researchers and educators from an Australian university, who came together in 2009-2010 as a community of practice to research cross-disciplinary leadership capacity building for learning and teaching sustainability within our university. The group worked on the premise that the scale of change needed and the complexity of sustainability demands a more broadly based approach than that offered by traditional disciplinary arrangements within the University. We engaged in a collaborative learning process focusing initially on developing a common agenda and establishing some preliminary learning outcomes for the development of cross-disciplinary 'sustainability literacy'. On the basis of these initial outcomes, a review of the literature and our own reflective process, we developed an applied model for collaborative learning based on Scott's (1999) Workplace Action Research Framework. Our intent is to build on this groundwork to develop an engaged, problem-based cross-disciplinary university-wide learning program that develops leadership in sustainability in our students, in us as academics and the wider university in its regional partnerships. Our paper ends by enumerating the lessons we have learnt and some speculative future directions for where we plan to take this research

Diet and Exercise for FRAILty (DEFRAIL): protocol for a study to examine the effect of a novel community-based group exercise and nutritional intervention, designed to reverse frailty in older adults

Introduction Frailty refers to a multifaceted age-related loss of physiological reserve. Aside from the immediate challenges it presents, it is also associated with various adverse health outcomes. Given our ageing population, the healthcare and societal costs resulting from frailty present a significant and growing public health challenge. Rapidly accumulating evidence suggests that resistance exercise combined with protein supplementation can reverse frailty in older adults. However, translation of these findings into practice has proven difficult, due to either a lack of clarity regarding the interventions used or the use of interventions not suitable for widespread implementation. There remains an absence of evidence-based programmes suitable for delivery to frail older adults in the community.Methods and analysis This paper outlines the protocol for a study to examine the effect of a novel programme of exercise and protein supplementation. This intervention has been developed by an expert consensus group, specifically for delivery to frail older adults in a group setting in the community. The study will take the form of a within-subjects non-randomised trial. Participants will be assessed at baseline, then following an 8-week period of regular activity, then following the 8-week intervention. Frailty (according to the Fried Frailty criteria) will be the primary outcome measure, along with a range of secondary outcome measures (including physical performance measures, body mass composition, psychosocial assessments and frailty-related biomarkers). If shown to be feasible to implement and effective at reversing frailty, the Diet and Exercise for FRAILty (DEFRAIL) intervention may facilitate more widespread participation in resistance exercise for frail older adults.Ethics and dissemination This study received ethical approval from the Research Ethics committees of both the Health Service Executive South-Eastern Area and Waterford Institute of Technology. Its findings will be disseminated through journal publications, conference presentations and other forms of public engagement.Trial registration number ISRCTN46458028; Pre-results

The association of wildfire air pollution with COVID-19 incidence in New South Wales, Australia

The 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, followed an unprecedented wildfire season that exposed large populations to wildfire smoke. Wildfires release particulate matter (PM), toxic gases and organic and non-organic chemicals that may be associated with increased incidence of COVID-19. This study estimated the association of wildfire smoke exposure with the incidence of COVID-19 in NSW. A Bayesian mixed-effect regression was used to estimate the association of either the average PM10 level or the proportion of wildfire burned area as proxies of wildfire smoke exposure with COVID-19 incidence in NSW, adjusting for sociodemographic risk factors. The analysis followed an ecological design using the 129 NSW Local Government Areas (LGA) as the ecological units. A random effects model and a model including the LGA spatial distribution (spatial model) were compared. A higher proportional wildfire burned area was associated with higher COVID-19 incidence in both the random effects and spatial models after adjustment for sociodemographic factors (posterior mean = 1.32 (99% credible interval: 1.05-1.67) and 1.31 (99% credible interval: 1.03-1.65), respectively). No evidence of an association between the average PM10 level and the COVID-19 incidence was found. LGAs in the greater Sydney and Hunter regions had the highest increase in the risk of COVID-19. This study identified wildfire smoke exposures were associated with increased risk of COVID-19 in NSW. Research on individual responses to specific wildfire airborne particles and pollutants needs to be conducted to further identify the causal links between SARS-Cov-2 infection and wildfire smoke. The identification of LGAs with the highest risk of COVID-19 associated with wildfire smoke exposure can be useful for public health prevention and or mitigation strategies

Weather variability and transmissibility of COVID-19: a time series analysis based on effective reproductive number

COVID-19 is causing a significant burden on medical and healthcare resources globally due to high numbers of hospitalisations and deaths recorded as the pandemic continues. This research aims to assess the effects of climate factors (i.e., daily average temperature and average relative humidity) on effective reproductive number of COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China during the early stage of the outbreak. Our research showed that effective reproductive number of COVID-19 will increase by 7.6% (95% Confidence Interval: 5.4% ~ 9.8%) per 1°C drop in mean temperature at prior moving average of 0–8 days lag in Wuhan, China. Our results indicate temperature was negatively associated with COVID-19 transmissibility during early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan, suggesting temperature is likely to effect COVID-19 transmission. These results suggest increased precautions should be taken in the colder seasons to reduce COVID-19 transmission in the future, based on past success in controlling the pandemic in Wuhan, China

The association of wildfire air pollution with COVID-19 incidence in New South Wales, Australia

The 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, followed an unprecedented wildfire season that exposed large populations to wildfire smoke. Wildfires release particulate matter (PM), toxic gases and organic and non-organic chemicals that may be associated with increased incidence of COVID-19. This study estimated the association of wildfire smoke exposure with the incidence of COVID-19 in NSW. A Bayesian mixed-effect regression was used to estimate the association of either the average PM10 level or the proportion of wildfire burned area as proxies of wildfire smoke exposure with COVID-19 incidence in NSW, adjusting for sociodemographic risk factors. The analysis followed an ecological design using the 129 NSW Local Government Areas (LGA) as the ecological units. A random effects model and a model including the LGA spatial distribution (spatial model) were compared. A higher proportional wildfire burned area was associated with higher COVID-19 incidence in both the random effects and spatial models after adjustment for sociodemographic factors (posterior mean = 1.32 (99% credible interval: 1.05-1.67) and 1.31 (99% credible interval: 1.03-1.65), respectively). No evidence of an association between the average PM10 level and the COVID-19 incidence was found. LGAs in the greater Sydney and Hunter regions had the highest increase in the risk of COVID-19. This study identified wildfire smoke exposures were associated with increased risk of COVID-19 in NSW. Research on individual responses to specific wildfire airborne particles and pollutants needs to be conducted to further identify the causal links between SARS-Cov-2 infection and wildfire smoke. The identification of LGAs with the highest risk of COVID-19 associated with wildfire smoke exposure can be useful for public health prevention and or mitigation strategies.</p