Testing the relative sensitivity of 102 ecological variables as indicators of woodland condition in the New Forest, UK.

Forests globally are facing an increasing number of threats from modified disturbance regimes, novel stressors and changing environmental conditions. This has ultimately resulted in declines in the ecological condition of many forest and woodland ecosystems, leading to widespread tree mortality and stand dieback. Effective indicators of overall woodland ecological condition are therefore needed for environmental monitoring and to support management responses. To test the effectiveness of different variables that could potentially be used as indicators of woodland condition, 102 variables that describe woodland structure, composition, functioning, edaphic conditions and disturbance regimes were assessed along 12 replicate gradients of beech stand dieback. Results indicated that 35 variables differed significantly between at least two stages of the dieback gradient, indicating their sensitivity to stand dieback. Seven of these indicators related to woodland species composition, two to functional processes, 20 to structural features, four to edaphic conditions, and two to disturbance regimes. These results demonstrate that effective indicators can potentially be identified for each of the ecological categories. Effective composition indicators included species richness of ectomycorrhizal fungi, ground flora and epiphytic lichens; functional indicators were soil respiration rate and net nitrification rate; edaphic conditions included soil Na:Ca ratio, exchangeable sodium, total carbon, Ca:Al ratio; structural indicators included canopy openness, litter cover, sward height, and volume of deadwood, and for disturbance the indicator was Equus dung density. Other measures, such as shrub cover and species richness of carabid beetles and spiders, were not found to vary significantly along the dieback gradients, and were therefore not identified as effective indicators. These results demonstrate the value of gradient analysis for evaluating indicators of woodland condition, but also highlight the need for multi-site studies to identify indicators with widescale applicability

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape: A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 genetic variants contributing to BMI, a measure of body size, or waist-to-hip ratio (adjusted for BMI, WHRadjBMI), a measure of body shape. Body size and shape change as people grow older and these changes differ substantially between men and women. To systematically screen for age-and/or sex-specific effects of genetic variants on BMI and WHRadjBMI, we performed meta-analyses of 114 studies (up to 320,485 individuals of European descent) with genome-wide chip and/or Metabochip data by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) Consortium. Each study tested the association of up to similar to 2.8M SNPs with BMI and WHRadjBMI in four strata (men &lt;= 50y, men &gt; 50y, women &lt;= 50y, women &gt; 50y) and summary statistics were combined in stratum-specific meta-analyses. We then screened for variants that showed age-specific effects (G x AGE), sex-specific effects (G x SEX) or age-specific effects that differed between men and women (G x AGE x SEX). For BMI, we identified 15 loci (11 previously established for main effects, four novel) that showed significant (FDR&lt; 5%) age-specific effects, of which 11 had larger effects in younger (&lt; 50y) than in older adults (&gt;= 50y). No sex-dependent effects were identified for BMI. For WHRadjBMI, we identified 44 loci (27 previously established for main effects, 17 novel) with sex-specific effects, of which 28 showed larger effects in women than in men, five showed larger effects in men than in women, and 11 showed opposite effects between sexes. No age-dependent effects were identified for WHRadjBMI. This is the first genome-wide interaction meta-analysis to report convincing evidence of age-dependent genetic effects on BMI. In addition, we confirm the sex-specificity of genetic effects on WHRadjBMI. These results may providefurther insights into the biology that underlies weight change with age or the sexually dimorphism of body shape.</p

The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape : A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 genetic variants contributing to BMI, a measure of body size, or waist-to-hip ratio (adjusted for BMI, WHRadjBMI), a measure of body shape. Body size and shape change as people grow older and these changes differ substantially between men and women. To systematically screen for age-and/or sex-specific effects of genetic variants on BMI and WHRadjBMI, we performed meta-analyses of 114 studies (up to 320,485 individuals of European descent) with genome-wide chip and/or Metabochip data by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) Consortium. Each study tested the association of up to similar to 2.8M SNPs with BMI and WHRadjBMI in four strata (men 50y, women 50y) and summary statistics were combined in stratum-specific meta-analyses. We then screened for variants that showed age-specific effects (G x AGE), sex-specific effects (G x SEX) or age-specific effects that differed between men and women (G x AGE x SEX). For BMI, we identified 15 loci (11 previously established for main effects, four novel) that showed significant (FDR= 50y). No sex-dependent effects were identified for BMI. For WHRadjBMI, we identified 44 loci (27 previously established for main effects, 17 novel) with sex-specific effects, of which 28 showed larger effects in women than in men, five showed larger effects in men than in women, and 11 showed opposite effects between sexes. No age-dependent effects were identified for WHRadjBMI. This is the first genome-wide interaction meta-analysis to report convincing evidence of age-dependent genetic effects on BMI. In addition, we confirm the sex-specificity of genetic effects on WHRadjBMI. These results may providefurther insights into the biology that underlies weight change with age or the sexually dimorphism of body shape.Peer reviewe

Opciones para la certificación voluntaria de REDD+ para garantizar beneficios netos de los GEI, alivio de la pobreza, manejo forestal sostenible y conservación de la biodiversidad

El objetivo de este estudio es comparar y evaluar la aplicación práctica para REDD+ de diez estándares de gestión forestal, sociales, ambientales y de carbono que actualmente se vienen utilizando a nivel mundial: Clima, Comunidad y Biodiversidad (CCB), los estándares sociales y ambientales REDD+ (CCBA REDD+ S&E), CarbonFix (CFS), el Consejo de Administración Forestal (FSC), Global Conservation Standard (GCS), la Norma ISO 14064:2006, Plan Vivo, el Programa de Reconocimiento de Sistemas de Certificación Forestal (PEFC), SOCIALCARBON y el Estándar de Carbono Voluntario (VCS). Para ello se desarrolla un marco para evaluar cada estándar en relación con los demás usando cuatro criterios fundamentales: (1) alivio de la pobreza, (2) manejo forestal sostenible (MFS), (3) protección de la biodiversidad, (4) cuantificación y evaluación de los beneficios netos de los gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) y dos criterios procedimentales: (5) monitoreo y reporte, y (6) procesos de certificación. Los programas REDD requieren la evaluación, el monitoreo y el reporte y certificación de los beneficios de los GEI. Este análisis determina que solo el Estándar Voluntario de Carbono (VCS) aborda estos tres criterios de manera exhaustiva. Ninguno de los otros estándares brinda suficiente cobertura tanto de los criterios sociales como de otros criterios ambientales. FSC, PEFC y CarbonFix contemplan evaluaciones amplias del criterio del manejo forestal sostenible. CCBA REDD+ S&E, CCB y GCS cubren ampliamente los criterios relativos a la biodiversidad y el alivio de la pobreza. La experiencia usando estos estándares en proyectos piloto demuestra que éstos están combinando varios estándares como parte de su estrategia para mejorar su capacidad de atraer inversiones; sin embargo, los costos relacionados con la implementación de varios esquemas de certificación son una preocupación. La principal conclusión de este trabajo es que la certificación voluntaria provee experiencia práctica útil que debería alimentar el diseño internacional del esquema REDD+

Options for REDD+ voluntary certification to ensure net GHG benefits, poverty alleviation, sustainable management of forests and biodiversity conservation

Our objective was to compare and evaluate the practical applicability to REDD+ of ten forest management, social, environmental and carbon standards that are currently active worldwide: Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB), CCB REDD+ Social and Environmental Standards (CCBA REDD+ S&E), CarbonFix Standard (CFS), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Global Conservation Standard (GCS), ISO 14064:2006, Plan Vivo Standard, Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), SOCIALCARBON Standard and the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS). We developed a framework for evaluation of these standards relative to each other using four substantive criteria: (1) poverty alleviation, (2) sustainable management of forests (SMF), (3) biodiversity protection, (4) quantification and assessment of net greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits; and two procedural criteria: (5) monitoring and reporting, and (6) certification procedures. REDD programs require assessment of GHG benefits, monitoring, reporting and certification. Our analysis shows that only the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) treats these three criteria comprehensively. No standard provides comprehensive coverage of the social and other environmental criteria. FSC, PEFC and CarbonFix provide comprehensive assessments of the sustainable forest management criterion. CCBA REDD+ S&E, CCB, and GCS provide comprehensive coverage of the biodiversity and poverty alleviation criteria. Experience in using these standards in pilot projects shows that projects are currently combining several standards as part of their strategy to improve their ability to attract investment, but costs of implementing several certification schemes is a concern. We conclude that voluntary certification provides useful practical experience that should feed into the design of the international REDD+ regim