Environmental change: prospects for conservation and agriculture in a southwest Australia biodiversity hotspot

Accelerating environmental change is perhaps the greatest challenge for natural resource management; successful strategies need to be effective for decades to come. Our objective is to identify opportunities that new environmental conditions may provide for conservation, restoration, and resource use in a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot in southwestern Australia. We describe a variety of changes to key taxonomic groups and system-scale characteristics as a consequence of environmental change (climate and land use), and outline strategies for conserving and restoring important ecological and agricultural characteristics. Opportunities for conservation and economic adaptation are substantial because of gradients in rainfall, temperature, and land use, extensive areas of remnant native vegetation, the ability to reduce and ameliorate areas affected by secondary salinization, and the existence of large national parks and an extensive network of nature reserves. Opportunities presented by the predicted environmental changes encompass agricultural as well as natural ecosystems. These may include expansion of aquaculture, transformation of agricultural systems to adapt to drier autumns and winters, and potential increases in spring and summer rain, carbon-offset plantings, and improving the network of conservation reserves. A central management dilemma is whether restoration/preservation efforts should have a commercial or biodiversity focus, and how they could be integrated. Although the grand challenge is conserving, protecting, restoring, and managing for a future environment, one that balances economic, social, and environmental values, the ultimate goal is to establish a regional culture that values the unique regional environment and balances the utilization of natural resources against protecting remaining natural ecosystems

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Carbon sources for aquatic food webs of riverine and lacustrine tropical waterholes with variable groundwater influence

Food web studies integrate ecological information and provide understanding of ecosystem function. Aquatic ecosystems of the Kimberley region (north-western Australia) have high conservation significance as hotspots for maintaining local and regional biodiversity. This study investigated the influence of waterhole type and persistence on the strength of consumer reliance on local energy resources for aquatic food webs. Changes in water isotopic composition indicated groundwater inputs were enough to overcome evaporative losses in some waterholes. Other waterholes had varying levels of isotope enrichment suggesting insufficient groundwater input to ‘compensate’ for evaporative loss. C and N isotope analysis indicated considerable overlap among energy sources in waterholes between macrophytes and periphyton but gradient analysis indicated that periphyton is a major carbon source for aquatic consumers. Groundwater-fed waterholes appeared to have higher quality food sources (indicated by lower C : N ratios), but there was minimal evidence that direct groundwater contributions were related to food web processes. Nonetheless, in a region where groundwater is influential in maintaining aquatic habitats, future development of groundwater reserves will likely affect the ecological and cultural value of freshwater wetlands by either reducing their permanence or size or indirectly through possible alteration to the role of periphyton in supporting the food we

Type 1 diabetes can present before the age of 6 months and is characterised by autoimmunity and rapid loss of beta cells

Aims/hypothesis: Diabetes diagnosed at <6 months of age is usually monogenic. However, 10-15% of affected infants do not have a pathogenic variant in one of the 26 known neonatal diabetes genes. We characterised infants diagnosed at <6 months of age without a pathogenic variant to assess whether polygenic type 1 diabetes could arise at early ages. Methods: We studied 166 infants diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at <6 months of age in whom pathogenic variants in all 26 known genes had been excluded and compared them with infants with monogenic neonatal diabetes (n = 164) or children with type 1 diabetes diagnosed at 6-24 months of age (n = 152). We assessed the type 1 diabetes genetic risk score (T1D-GRS), islet autoantibodies, C-peptide and clinical features. Results: We found an excess of infants with high T1D-GRS: 38% (63/166) had a T1D-GRS >95th centile of healthy individuals, whereas 5% (8/166) would be expected if all were monogenic (p < 0.0001). Individuals with a high T1D-GRS had a similar rate of autoantibody positivity to that seen in individuals with type 1 diabetes diagnosed at 6-24 months of age (41% vs 58%, p = 0.2), and had markedly reduced C-peptide levels (median <3 pmol/l within 1 year of diagnosis), reflecting rapid loss of insulin secretion. These individuals also had reduced birthweights (median z score -0.89), which were lowest in those diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at <3 months of age (median z score -1.98). Conclusions/interpretation: We provide strong evidence that type 1 diabetes can present before the age of 6 months based on individuals with this extremely early-onset diabetes subtype having the classic features of childhood type 1 diabetes: high genetic risk, autoimmunity and rapid beta cell loss. The early-onset association with reduced birthweight raises the possibility that for some individuals there was reduced insulin secretion in utero. Comprehensive genetic testing for all neonatal diabetes genes remains essential for all individuals diagnosed with diabetes at <6 months of age. Graphical abstract.This article is available to RD&E staff via NHS OpenAthens (subject to any publisher embargo). Click on the Publisher URL, and log in with NHS OpenAthens if prompted.RAO is a Diabetes UK Harry Keen Fellow (16/0005529). This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award to SE and ATH (grant no. 098395/Z/12/Z). ATH is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) senior investigator. MBJ is the recipient of an Exeter Diabetes Centre of Excellence Independent Fellowship funded by Research England’s Expanding Excellence in England (E3) fund. EDF is a Diabetes UK R.D. Lawrence Fellow (19/005971). SEF has a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (105636/Z/14/Z). TJM is funded by an NIHR HEE Senior Lecturer Fellowship. TIMT is supported by Diabetes UK (DUK-15/0005232) and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust (G-2018PG-T1D049G-2018PG-T1D049). Additional support came from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust's Breakthrough Initiative, the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation, University of Exeter and the NIHR Exeter Clinical Research Facility. The NIHR Exeter Clinical Research Facility is a partnership between the University of Exeter Medical School, College of Medicine and Health, and Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Carepublished version, accepted version (12 month embargo

Environmental change: prospects for conservation and agriculture in a southwest Australia biodiversity hotspot

Accelerating environmental change is perhaps the greatest challenge for natural resource management; successful strategies need to be effective for decades to come. Our objective is to identify opportunities that new environmental conditions may provide for conservation, restoration, and resource use in a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot in southwestern Australia. We describe a variety of changes to key taxonomic groups and system-scale characteristics as a consequence of environmental change (climate and land use), and outline strategies for conserving and restoring important ecological and agricultural characteristics. Opportunities for conservation and economic adaptation are substantial because of gradients in rainfall, temperature, and land use, extensive areas of remnant native vegetation, the ability to reduce and ameliorate areas affected by secondary salinization, and the existence of large national parks and an extensive network of nature reserves. Opportunities presented by the predicted environmental changes encompass agricultural as well as natural ecosystems. These may include expansion of aquaculture, transformation of agricultural systems to adapt to drier autumns and winters, and potential increases in spring and summer rain, carbon-offset plantings, and improving the network of conservation reserves. A central management dilemma is whether restoration/preservation efforts should have a commercial or biodiversity focus, and how they could be integrated. Although the grand challenge is conserving, protecting, restoring, and managing for a future environment, one that balances economic, social, and environmental values, the ultimate goal is to establish a regional culture that values the unique regional environment and balances the utilization of natural resources against protecting remaining natural ecosystems

Threatened Buildings Documented in Delaware, 1999-2000: John Barber House

The John Barber House is significant both as a log dwelling dating to the second quarter of the nineteenth century and for its association with the practice of tenant farming common in Kent County

Threatened Buildings Documented in Delaware, 1999-2000: Charles I. du Pont Tenant Farm

The Charles I. du Pont Tenant Farm House stands today as an example of a finely detailed, mid-to-late eighteenth century rural dwelling. Although architectural evidence suggests that a member of Kent County's rural elite built the dwelling, the farm served from an early date as a tenant property. Outbuildings on the farm date primarily from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, when the du Pont family owned the property. The farm complex provides an excellent example of the use of agricultural tenancy as a strategy for generating income, particularly in its connection with the dairy industry

О понятии кода в культуре и журналистике

Aquatic ecosystems are critical to the long-term viability and vibrancy of communities and economies across northern Australia. In a region that supports significant cultural and ecological water values, partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders can benefit aquatic ecosystem management. We present, as a case study from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, a collaborative research program that successfully documented Indigenous and Western Scientific knowledge of remote wetlands, using a variety of field-based activities, questionnaires, interviews and workshops. The sharing of knowledge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous research partners facilitated a comprehensive understanding of ecosystem values, threats, processes, management priorities and aspirations. These formed the basis of a management plan and monitoring tools, designed to build the capacity of an Indigenous ranger group to engage in research, monitoring and management of wetlands. The project provides a useful example of the benefits of collaborations in the context of remote-area management where local communities are responsible for environmental management and monitoring, such as is the case in northern Australia and presumably other areas of the world

Wetlands need people: a framework for understanding and promoting Australian indigenous wetland management

Indigenous knowledge systems (IKSs) can, and do, contribute to natural resource management (NRM) in Australia and elsewhere. However, cross-cultural NRM and scientific research usually emphasizes particular components of IKSs, rather than engaging with the value of an integrated complex IKS. Focusing on two case studies of Aboriginal groups in the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia, we present a conceptual framework that represents how IKSs can manifest as a system of wetland management. The framework depicts how beliefs, knowledge, and practices are inter-related, forming a meaningful and organized approach in which indigenous Bardi Jawi and Nyul Nyul people historically managed, and aspire to continue managing nearby Customary Law-inherited wetlands. The framework presents a meso-scale representation of IKSs that highlights four management principles: custodianship, respectful use, active maintenance, and learning. We describe how affinities for these principles, vis-à-vis other indigenous groups, can also be discerned. Providing a visual framework tool has the potential to assist the application of IKSs to wetland management, and take account of the view that "wetlands need people," by emphasizing the active, integrated, and reciprocal nature of these knowledge systems in place (associated with traditional lands). That indigenous people value, as well as shape, wetlands, is also considered. By interpreting the framework to support indigenous wetland management (and services to ecosystems) within active cross-cultural work, IKSs promise benefits for people and ecosystems