Taking the pulse of Earth's tropical forests using networks of highly distributed plots

Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of funding agencies. Here we show how a global community is responding to the challenges of tropical ecosystem research with diverse teams measuring forests tree-by-tree in thousands of long-term plots. We review the major scientific discoveries of this work and show how this process is changing tropical forest science. Our core approach involves linking long-term grassroots initiatives with standardized protocols and data management to generate robust scaled-up results. By connecting tropical researchers and elevating their status, our Social Research Network model recognises the key role of the data originator in scientific discovery. Conceived in 1999 with RAINFOR (South America), our permanent plot networks have been adapted to Africa (AfriTRON) and Southeast Asia (T-FORCES) and widely emulated worldwide. Now these multiple initiatives are integrated via ForestPlots.net cyber-infrastructure, linking colleagues from 54 countries across 24 plot networks. Collectively these are transforming understanding of tropical forests and their biospheric role. Together we have discovered how, where and why forest carbon and biodiversity are responding to climate change, and how they feedback on it. This long-term pan-tropical collaboration has revealed a large long-term carbon sink and its trends, as well as making clear which drivers are most important, which forest processes are affected, where they are changing, what the lags are, and the likely future responses of tropical forests as the climate continues to change. By leveraging a remarkably old technology, plot networks are sparking a very modern revolution in tropical forest science. In the future, humanity can benefit greatly by nurturing the grassroots communities now collectively capable of generating unique, long-term understanding of Earth's most precious forests.Additional co-authors: Susan Laurance, William Laurance, Francoise Yoko Ishida, Andrew Marshall, Catherine Waite, Hannsjoerg Woell, Jean-Francois Bastin, Marijn Bauters, Hans Beeckman, Pfascal Boeckx, Jan Bogaert, Charles De Canniere, Thales de Haulleville, Jean-Louis Doucet, Olivier Hardy, Wannes Hubau, Elizabeth Kearsley, Hans Verbeeck, Jason Vleminckx, Steven W. Brewer, Alfredo Alarcón, Alejandro Araujo-Murakami, Eric Arets, Luzmila Arroyo, Ezequiel Chavez, Todd Fredericksen, René Guillén Villaroel, Gloria Gutierrez Sibauty, Timothy Killeen, Juan Carlos Licona, John Lleigue, Casimiro Mendoza, Samaria Murakami, Alexander Parada Gutierrez, Guido Pardo, Marielos Peña-Claros, Lourens Poorter, Marisol Toledo, Jeanneth Villalobos Cayo, Laura Jessica Viscarra, Vincent Vos, Jorge Ahumada, Everton Almeida, Jarcilene Almeida, Edmar Almeida de Oliveira, Wesley Alves da Cruz, Atila Alves de Oliveira, Fabrício Alvim Carvalho, Flávio Amorim Obermuller, Ana Andrade, Fernanda Antunes Carvalho, Simone Aparecida Vieira, Ana Carla Aquino, Luiz Aragão, Ana Claudia Araújo, Marco Antonio Assis, Jose Ataliba Mantelli Aboin Gomes, Fabrício Baccaro, Plínio Barbosa de Camargo, Paulo Barni, Jorcely Barroso, Luis Carlos Bernacci, Kauane Bordin, Marcelo Brilhante de Medeiros, Igor Broggio, José Luís Camargo, Domingos Cardoso, Maria Antonia Carniello, Andre Luis Casarin Rochelle, Carolina Castilho, Antonio Alberto Jorge Farias Castro, Wendeson Castro, Sabina Cerruto Ribeiro, Flávia Costa, Rodrigo Costa de Oliveira, Italo Coutinho, John Cunha, Lola da Costa, Lucia da Costa Ferreira, Richarlly da Costa Silva, Marta da Graça Zacarias Simbine, Vitor de Andrade Kamimura, Haroldo Cavalcante de Lima, Lia de Oliveira Melo, Luciano de Queiroz, José Romualdo de Sousa Lima, Mário do Espírito Santo, Tomas Domingues, Nayane Cristina dos Santos Prestes, Steffan Eduardo Silva Carneiro, Fernando Elias, Gabriel Eliseu, Thaise Emilio, Camila Laís Farrapo, Letícia Fernandes, Gustavo Ferreira, Joice Ferreira, Leandro Ferreira, Socorro Ferreira, Marcelo Fragomeni Simon, Maria Aparecida Freitas, Queila S. García, Angelo Gilberto Manzatto, Paulo Graça, Frederico Guilherme, Eduardo Hase, Niro Higuchi, Mariana Iguatemy, Reinaldo Imbrozio Barbosa, Margarita Jaramillo, Carlos Joly, Joice Klipel, Iêda Leão do Amaral, Carolina Levis, Antonio S. Lima, Maurício Lima Dan, Aline Lopes, Herison Madeiros, William E. Magnusson, Rubens Manoel dos Santos, Beatriz Marimon, Ben Hur Marimon Junior, Roberta Marotti Martelletti Grillo, Luiz Martinelli, Simone Matias Reis, Salomão Medeiros, Milton Meira-Junior, Thiago Metzker, Paulo Morandi, Natanael Moreira do Nascimento, Magna Moura, Sandra Cristina Müller, Laszlo Nagy, Henrique Nascimento, Marcelo Nascimento, Adriano Nogueira Lima, Raimunda Oliveira de Araújo, Jhonathan Oliveira Silva, Marcelo Pansonato, Gabriel Pavan Sabino, Karla Maria Pedra de Abreu, Pablo José Francisco Pena Rodrigues, Maria Piedade, Domingos Rodrigues, José Roberto Rodrigues Pinto, Carlos Quesada, Eliana Ramos, Rafael Ramos, Priscyla Rodrigues, Thaiane Rodrigues de Sousa, Rafael Salomão, Flávia Santana, Marcos Scaranello, Rodrigo Scarton Bergamin, Juliana Schietti, Jochen Schöngart, Gustavo Schwartz, Natalino Silva, Marcos Silveira, Cristiana Simão Seixas, Marta Simbine, Ana Claudia Souza, Priscila Souza, Rodolfo Souza, Tereza Sposito, Edson Stefani Junior, Julio Daniel do Vale, Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira, Dora Villela, Marcos Vital, Haron Xaud, Katia Zanini, Charles Eugene Zartman, Nur Khalish Hafizhah Ideris, Faizah binti Hj Metali, Kamariah Abu Salim, Muhd Shahruney Saparudin, Rafizah Mat Serudin, Rahayu Sukmaria Sukri, Serge Begne, George Chuyong, Marie Noel Djuikouo, Christelle Gonmadje, Murielle Simo-Droissart, Bonaventure Sonké, Hermann Taedoumg, Lise Zemagho, Sean Thomas, Fidèle Baya, Gustavo Saiz, Javier Silva Espejo, Dexiang Chen, Alan Hamilton, Yide Li, Tushou Luo, Shukui Niu, Han Xu, Zhang Zhou, Esteban Álvarez-Dávila, Juan Carlos Andrés Escobar, Henry Arellano-Peña, Jaime Cabezas Duarte, Jhon Calderón, Lina Maria Corrales Bravo, Borish Cuadrado, Hermes Cuadros, Alvaro Duque, Luisa Fernanda Duque, Sandra Milena Espinosa, Rebeca Franke-Ante, Hernando García, Alejandro Gómez, Roy González-M., Álvaro Idárraga-Piedrahíta, Eliana Jimenez, Rubén Jurado, Wilmar López Oviedo, René López-Camacho, Omar Aurelio Melo Cruz, Irina Mendoza Polo, Edwin Paky, Karen Pérez, Angel Pijachi, Camila Pizano, Adriana Prieto, Laura Ramos, Zorayda Restrepo Correa, James Richardson, Elkin Rodríguez, Gina M. Rodriguez M., Agustín Rudas, Pablo Stevenson, Markéta Chudomelová, Martin Dancak, Radim Hédl, Stanislav Lhota, Martin Svatek, Jacques Mukinzi, Corneille Ewango, Terese Hart, Emmanuel Kasongo Yakusu, Janvier Lisingo, Jean-Remy Makana, Faustin Mbayu, Benjamin Toirambe, John Tshibamba Mukendi, Lars Kvist, Gustav Nebel, Selene Báez, Carlos Céron, Daniel M. Griffith, Juan Ernesto Guevara Andino, David Neill, Walter Palacios, Maria Cristina Peñuela-Mora, Gonzalo Rivas-Torres, Gorky Villa, Sheleme Demissie, Tadesse Gole, Techane Gonfa, Kalle Ruokolainen, Michel Baisie, Fabrice Bénédet, Wemo Betian, Vincent Bezard, Damien Bonal, Jerôme Chave, Vincent Droissart, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury, Annette Hladik, Nicolas Labrière, Pétrus Naisso, Maxime Réjou-Méchain, Plinio Sist, Lilian Blanc, Benoit Burban, Géraldine Derroire, Aurélie Dourdain, Clement Stahl, Natacha Nssi Bengone, Eric Chezeaux, Fidèle Evouna Ondo, Vincent Medjibe, Vianet Mihindou, Lee White, Heike Culmsee, Cristabel Durán Rangel, Viviana Horna, Florian Wittmann, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Kofi Affum-Baffoe, Ernest Foli, Michael Balinga, Anand Roopsind, James Singh, Raquel Thomas, Roderick Zagt, Indu K. Murthy, Kuswata Kartawinata, Edi Mirmanto, Hari Priyadi, Ismayadi Samsoedin, Terry Sunderland, Ishak Yassir, Francesco Rovero, Barbara Vinceti, Bruno Hérault, Shin-Ichiro Aiba, Kanehiro Kitayama, Armandu Daniels, Darlington Tuagben, John T. Woods, Muhammad Fitriadi, Alexander Karolus, Kho Lip Khoon, Noreen Majalap, Colin Maycock, Reuben Nilus, Sylvester Tan, Almeida Sitoe, Indiana Coronado G., Lucas Ojo, Rafael de Assis, Axel Dalberg Poulsen, Douglas Sheil, Karen Arévalo Pezo, Hans Buttgenbach Verde, Victor Chama Moscoso, Jimmy Cesar Cordova Oroche, Fernando Cornejo Valverde, Massiel Corrales Medina, Nallaret Davila Cardozo, Jano de Rutte Corzo, Jhon del Aguila Pasquel, Gerardo Flores Llampazo, Luis Freitas, Darcy Galiano Cabrera, Roosevelt García Villacorta, Karina Garcia Cabrera, Diego García Soria, Leticia Gatica Saboya, Julio Miguel Grandez Rios, Gabriel Hidalgo Pizango, Eurídice Honorio Coronado, Isau Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Walter Huaraca Huasco, Yuri Tomas Huillca Aedo, Jose Luis Marcelo Peña, Abel Monteagudo Mendoza, Vanesa Moreano Rodriguez, Percy Núñez Vargas, Sonia Cesarina Palacios Ramos, Nadir Pallqui Camacho, Antonio Peña Cruz, Freddy Ramirez Arevalo, José Reyna Huaymacari, Carlos Reynel Rodriguez, Marcos Antonio Ríos Paredes, Lily Rodriguez Bayona, Rocio del Pilar Rojas Gonzales, Maria Elena Rojas Peña, Norma Salinas Revilla, Yahn Carlos Soto Shareva, Raul Tupayachi Trujillo, Luis Valenzuela Gamarra, Rodolfo Vasquez Martinez, Jim Vega Arenas, Christian Amani, Suspense Averti Ifo, Yannick Bocko, Patrick Boundja, Romeo Ekoungoulou, Mireille Hockemba, Donatien Nzala, Alusine Fofanah, David Taylor, Guillermo Bañares-de Dios, Luis Cayuela, Íñigo Granzow-de la Cerda, Manuel Macía, Juliana Stropp, Maureen Playfair, Verginia Wortel, Toby Gardner, Robert Muscarella, Hari Priyadi, Ervan Rutishauser, Kuo-Jung Chao, Pantaleo Munishi, Olaf Bánki, Frans Bongers, Rene Boot, Gabriella Fredriksson, Jan Reitsma, Hans ter Steege, Tinde van Andel, Peter van de Meer, Peter van der Hout, Mark van Nieuwstadt, Bert van Ulft, Elmar Veenendaal, Ronald Vernimmen, Pieter Zuidema, Joeri Zwerts, Perpetra Akite, Robert Bitariho, Colin Chapman, Eilu Gerald, Miguel Leal, Patrick Mucunguzi, Miguel Alexiades, Timothy R. Baker, Karina Banda, Lindsay Banin, Jos Barlow, Amy Bennett, Erika Berenguer, Nicholas Berry, Neil M. Bird, George A. Blackburn, Francis Brearley, Roel Brienen, David Burslem, Lidiany Carvalho, Percival Cho, Fernanda Coelho, Murray Collins, David Coomes, Aida Cuni-Sanchez, Greta Dargie, Kyle Dexter, Mat Disney, Freddie Draper, Muying Duan, Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert, Robert Ewers, Belen Fadrique, Sophie Fauset, Ted R. Feldpausch, Filipe França, David Galbraith, Martin Gilpin, Emanuel Gloor, John Grace, Keith Hamer, David Harris, Tommaso Jucker, Michelle Kalamandeen, Bente Klitgaard, Aurora Levesley, Simon L. Lewis, Jeremy Lindsell, Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez, Jon Lovett, Yadvinder Malhi, Toby Marthews, Emma McIntosh, Karina Melgaço, William Milliken, Edward Mitchard, Peter Moonlight, Sam Moore, Alexandra Morel, Julie Peacock, Kelvin Peh, Colin Pendry, R. Toby Pennington, Luciana de Oliveira Pereira, Carlos Peres, Oliver L. Phillips, Georgia Pickavance, Thomas Pugh, Lan Qie, Terhi Riutta, Katherine Roucoux, Casey Ryan, Tiina Sarkinen, Camila Silva Valeria, Dominick Spracklen, Suzanne Stas, Martin Sullivan, Michael Swaine, Joey Talbot, James Taplin, Geertje van der Heijden, Laura Vedovato, Simon Willcock, Mathew Williams, Luciana Alves, Patricia Alvarez Loayza, Gabriel Arellano, Cheryl Asa, Peter Ashton, Gregory Asner, Terry Brncic, Foster Brown, Robyn Burnham, Connie Clark, James Comiskey, Gabriel Damasco, Stuart Davies, Tony Di Fiore, Terry Erwin, William Farfan-Rios, Jefferson Hall, David Kenfack, Thomas Lovejoy, Roberta Martin, Olga Martha Montiel, John Pipoly, Nigel Pitman, John Poulsen, Richard Primack, Miles Silman, Marc Steininger, Varun Swamy, John Terborgh, Duncan Thomas, Peter Umunay, Maria Uriarte, Emilio Vilanova Torre, Ophelia Wang, Kenneth Young, Gerardo A. Aymard C., Lionel Hernández, Rafael Herrera Fernández, Hirma Ramírez-Angulo, Pedro Salcedo, Elio Sanoja, Julio Serrano, Armando Torres-Lezama, Tinh Cong Le, Trai Trong Le, Hieu Dang Tra

Effect of TMS coil orientation on the spatial distribution of motor evoked potentials in an intrinsic hand muscle

Previous reports on the relationship between coil orientation and amplitude of motor evoked potential (MEP) in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) did not consider the effect of electrode arrangement. Here we explore this open issue by investigating whether TMS coil orientation affects the amplitude distribution of MEPs recorded from the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) muscle with a bi-dimensional grid of 61 electrodes. Moreover, we test whether conventional mono- and bipolar montages provide representative MEPs compared to those from the grid of electrodes. Our results show that MEPs with the greatest amplitudes were elicited for 45° and 90° coil orientations, i.e. perpendicular to the central sulcus, for all electrode montages. Stimulation with the coil oriented at 135° and 315°, i.e. parallel to the central sulcus, elicited the smallest MEP amplitudes. Additionally, changes in coil orientation did not affect the spatial distribution of MEPs over the muscle extent. It has been shown that conventional electrodes with detection volume encompassing the APB belly may detect representative MEPs for optimal coil orientations. In turn, non-optimal orientations were identified only with the grid of electrodes. High-density electromyography may therefore provide new insights into the effect of coil orientation on MEPs from the APB muscle

Balance impairments after brachial plexus injury as assessed through clinical and posturographic evaluation

Objective: To investigate whether a sensorimotor deficit of the upper limb following a brachial plexus injury (BPI) affects the upright balance. Design: Eleven patients with a unilateral BPI and 11 healthy subjects were recruited. The balance assessment includes the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the number of feet touches on the ground while performing a 60s single-leg stance and posturographic assessment (eyes open and feet placed hip-width apart during a single 60s trial). The body weight distribution (BWD) between the legs was estimated from the center of pressure (COP) lateral position. The COP variability was quantified in the anterior-posterior and lateral directions.Results: BPI patients presented lower BBS scores (p=0.048) and a higher frequency of feet touches during the single-leg stance (p=0.042) compared with those of the healthy subjects. An asymmetric BWD toward the side opposite the affected arm was showed by 73% of BPI patients. Finally, higher COP variability was observed in BPI patients compared with healthy subjects for anterior-posterior (p=0.020), but not for lateral direction (p=0.818).Conclusions: This study demonstrates that upper limb sensorimotor deficits following BPI affect body balance, serving as a warning for the clinical community about the need to prevent and treat the secondary outcomes of this condition

Preparing to caress: a neural signature of social bonding.

It is assumed that social bonds in humans have consequences for virtually all aspects of behavior. Social touch-based contact, particularly hand caressing, plays an important role in social bonding. Pre-programmed neural circuits likely support actions (or predispositions to act) towards caressing contacts. We searched for pre-set motor substrates towards caressing by exposing volunteers to bonding cues and having them gently stroke a very soft cloth, a caress-like movement. The bonding cues were pictures with interacting dyads and the control pictures presented non-interacting dyads. We focused on the readiness potential, an electroencephalographic marker of motor preparation that precedes movement execution. The amplitude of the readiness potential preceding the grasping of pleasant emotional-laden stimuli was previously shown to be reduced compared with neutral ones. Fingers flexor electromyography measured action output. The rationale here is that stroking the soft cloth when previously exposed to bonding cues, a compatible context, would result in smaller amplitudes of readiness potentials, as compared to the context with no such cues. Exposure to the bonding pictures increased subjective feelings of sociability and decreased feelings of isolation. Participants who more frequently engage in mutual caress/groom a significant other in daily life initiated the motor preparation earlier, reinforcing the caress-like nature of the task. As hypothesized, readiness potentials preceding the caressing of the soft cloth were significantly reduced under exposure to bonding as compared to control pictures. Furthermore, an increased fingers flexor electromyographic activity was identified under exposure to the former as compared to the latter pictures. The facilitatory effects are likely due to the recruitment of pre-set cortical motor repertoires related to caress-like movements, emphasizing the distinctiveness of neural signatures for caress-like movements

TMS delivered on both hemispheres over the FDS hotspot.

<p>Note: Individual values of motor threshold, latency and MEP amplitude values in patients (P1 to P6) and paired control subjects (C1 to C6). Amplitude (in <b>milivolts</b>) at 120% of the motor threshold; MEP: motor evoked potential; MT: motor threshold; CH: hemisphere contralateral to the most affected hand; IH: hemisphere ipsilateral to the most affected hand; FDS: flexor digitorum superficialis muscle; latency (in <b>milliseconds</b>); MCH: matched contralateral hemisphere; MIH: matched ipsilateral hemisphere</p><p>** not tested.</p><p>(Symbols retired.)</p

Primary Motor Cortex Representation of Handgrip Muscles in Patients with Leprosy

<div><p>Background</p><p>Leprosy is an endemic infectious disease caused by <i>Mycobacterium leprae</i> that predominantly attacks the skin and peripheral nerves, leading to progressive impairment of motor, sensory and autonomic function. Little is known about how this peripheral neuropathy affects corticospinal excitability of handgrip muscles. Our purpose was to explore the motor cortex organization after progressive peripheral nerve injury and upper-limb dysfunction induced by leprosy using noninvasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).</p><p>Methods</p><p>In a cross-sectional study design, we mapped bilaterally in the primary motor cortex (M1) the representations of the hand flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS), as well as of the intrinsic hand muscles abductor pollicis brevis (APB), first dorsal interosseous (FDI) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM). All participants underwent clinical assessment, handgrip dynamometry and motor and sensory nerve conduction exams 30 days before mapping. Wilcoxon signed rank and Mann-Whitney tests were performed with an alpha-value of p<0.05.</p><p>Findings</p><p>Dynamometry performance of the patients’ most affected hand (MAH), was worse than that of the less affected hand (LAH) and of healthy controls participants (p = 0.031), confirming handgrip impairment. Motor threshold (MT) of the FDS muscle was higher in both hemispheres in patients as compared to controls, and lower in the hemisphere contralateral to the MAH when compared to that of the LAH. Moreover, motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes collected in the FDS of the MAH were higher in comparison to those of controls. Strikingly, MEPs in the intrinsic hand muscle FDI had lower amplitudes in the hemisphere contralateral to MAH as compared to those of the LAH and the control group. Taken together, these results are suggestive of a more robust representation of an extrinsic hand flexor and impaired intrinsic hand muscle function in the hemisphere contralateral to the MAH due to leprosy.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Decreased sensory-motor function induced by leprosy affects handgrip muscle representation in M1.</p></div

TMS delivered on both hemispheres over the FDS hotspot.

<p>Note: Individual values of motor threshold, latency and MEP amplitude values in patients (P1 to P6) and paired control subjects (C1 to C6). Amplitude (in <b>milivolts</b>) at 120% of the motor threshold; MEP: motor evoked potential; MT: motor threshold; CH: hemisphere contralateral to the most affected hand; IH: hemisphere ipsilateral to the most affected hand; FDS: flexor digitorum superficialis muscle; latency (in <b>milliseconds</b>); MCH: matched contralateral hemisphere; MIH: matched ipsilateral hemisphere</p><p>** not tested.</p><p>(Symbols retired.)</p