Estimating retention benchmarks for salvage logging to protect biodiversity

S.T. was supported by the Humboldt-Foundation and by the MOST (Ministry of Science and Technology) Taiwan Research Fellowship to work with A.C. at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. S.T. received funds from the Gregor Louisoder Environmental Foundation. A.B.L. received funds from the Humboldt-Foundation.Forests are increasingly affected by natural disturbances. Subsequent salvage logging, a widespread management practice conducted predominantly to recover economic capital, produces further disturbance and impacts biodiversity worldwide. Hence, naturally disturbed forests are among the most threatened habitats in the world, with consequences for their associated biodiversity. However, there are no evidence-based benchmarks for the proportion of area of naturally disturbed forests to be excluded from salvage logging to conserve biodiversity. We apply a mixed rarefaction/extrapolation approach to a global multi-taxa dataset from disturbed forests, including birds, plants, insects and fungi, to close this gap. We find that 75 ± 7% (mean ± SD) of a naturally disturbed area of a forest needs to be left unlogged to maintain 90% richness of its unique species, whereas retaining 50% of a naturally disturbed forest unlogged maintains 73 ± 12% of its unique species richness. These values do not change with the time elapsed since disturbance but vary considerably among taxonomic groups.Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEA

Coordinated ultrastructural and phylogenomic analyses shed light on the hidden phycobiont diversity of Trebouxia microalgae in Ramalina fraxinea

[EN] The precise boundary delineations between taxa in symbiotic associations are very important for evolutionary and ecophysiological studies. Growing evidence indicates that in many cases, the use of either morphological characters or molecular markers results in diversity underestimation. In lichen symbioses. Trebouxia is the most common genus of lichen phycobionts, however, the diversity within this genus has been poorly studied and as such there is no clear species concept. This study constitutes a multifaceted approach incorporating aspects of ultrastructural characterization by TEM and phylogenomics to evaluate the morphological and genetic diversity of phycobionts within the sexually reproducing lichen Ramalina fraxinea in the context of Mediterranean and temperate populations. Results reveal an association with at least seven different Trebouxia lineages belonging to at least two species. T. decolorans and T. jamesii, and diverse combinations of such lineages coexisting within the same thallus depending on the analysed sample. Some of these lineages are shared by several other non-related lichen taxa. Our findings indicate the existence of a highly diverse assemblage of Trebouxia algae associating with R. fraxinea and suggest a possible incipient speciation within T. decolorans rendering a number of lineages or even actual species. This study stresses the importance of coordinated ultrastructural and molecular analyses to improve estimates of diversity and reveal the coexistence of more than one Trebouxia species within the same thallus. lt is also necessary to have clearer species delimitation criteria within the genus Trebouxia and microalgae in general.This study was funded by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO CGL2012-40058-0O2-01/02), FEDER, the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEOII2013/021, GVA) and the Direccion General de Universidades e Investigacion de la Consejeria de Educacion de la Comunidad de Madrid - Universidad de Alcala (CCG10-UAH/GEN-5904). Drs. Arantxa Matins and Patricia Moya (Universitat de Valencia) made helpful comments on the manuscript.Català, S.; Campo, ED.; Barreno, E.; García-Breijo, F.; Reig Armiñana, J.; Casano, L. (2016). Coordinated ultrastructural and phylogenomic analyses shed light on the hidden phycobiont diversity of Trebouxia microalgae in Ramalina fraxinea. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 94:765-777. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2015.10.021S7657779

The Development and Situation of Co-Housing Initiatives in Germany

Contains fulltext : 111874.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)The range of diff erent types of co-housing community in Germany is quite extensive, including projects with single-family houses and large community houses jointly planned by a group of families, o en with high ecological standards; projects with elderly people; inter- or multi-generation projects; and communal housing projects following the historic 'Beguine' ideas. As diff erent as the people coming together in the projects are the legal forms and financing models used for implementation, ranging from rental to owner-occupation, with public or private developers building the projects. The first part of this article provides an overview of the current situation of co-housing projects in Germany, based on a database developed by Fedrowitz. The second part reviews current practices in German municipalities in support of cohousing projects. For years, co-housing projects were mostly initiated 'bo om-up' and many initiatives failed because of the complex planning process. Meanwhile, the increasing demand for this particular housing model has been acknowledged at the political level and municipalities have set up speci fic support structures for cohousing. In the last section, the article draws some conclusions regarding this new form of housing and its future in Germany.18 p

Treatment with levetiracetam after status epilepticus: effect on epileptogenesis, neuronal damage and behavioral alterations in rats

AIB1, a candidate oncogene in human breast cancer, is frequently amplified and overexpressed in several types of human cancers, but the status of AIB1 amplification and expression in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UC) and its clinical/prognostic significance is unclear. In our study, the methods of immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization were utilized to examine protein expression and amplification of AIB1 in 163 primary UCs and in 30 samples of normal bladder mucosa. Overexpression of AIB1 and amplification of AIB1 was found in 32.5 and 7.0% of UCs, respectively. In univariate survival analysis of the UC cohorts, a highly significant association of overexpression of AIB1 with shortened patient survival (mean: 45.6 months vs. 59.0 months, p < 0.001, log rank test) was demonstrated. In different subsets of UC patients, overexpression of AIB1 was also a prognostic indicator in grade 1 (p = 0.007), grade 2 (p = 0.010) and grade 3 (p = 0.015) tumor patients, and in pTa (p = 0.025), pT2-4 (p = 0.004), pN0 (p < 0.001) and pT2-4/pN0 (p = 0.040) tumor patients. Importantly, AIB1 expression (p < 0.001) together with pT and pN status (p < 0.05) provided significant independent prognostic parameters in multivariate analysis. In addition, a significant correlation (p < 0.05) of overexpression of AIB1 with an increased UC labeling index of Ki-67 (a cell proliferation marker) was observed in these UCs. Thus, these findings provide evidence that an overexpression of AIB1, as detected by immunohistochemistry, is an independent molecular marker for poor prognosis (shortened survival time) of patients with UC. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Melatonin Levels and Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields in Humans and Rats: Reconciling Opposite Results with a Bayesian Regression

International audienceBackground: The present analysis revisit the impact of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF MF) on melatonin (MLT) levels in human and rat subjects using both a parametric and non-parametric approach. Method: In this analysis, we use 62 studies from review articles. The parametric approach consists in a Bayesian Logistic Regression (LR) analysis and the non-parametric approach consists of a Support Vector analysis which are designed to be robust against spurious/false results. Results: Both approach reveal a unique well ordered pattern, and show that humans and rat studies are consistent with each other once the MF strength is restricted to cover the same range (with B 50µT). In addition, the data reveal that chronic exposure (longer than ∼ 22 days) to ELF MF appears to decrease MLT levels only when the MF strength is below a threshold of 30µT (log B thr /µT= 1.4 +0.7 −0.5), i.e. when the man-made ELF MF intensity is below that of the static geomagnetic field. Conclusions: Studies reporting an association between ELF MF and changes to MLT levels and some the opposite (no association with ELF MF) can be reconciled under a single framework

Do small protected habitat patches within boreal production forests provide value for biodiversity conservation? A systematic review protocol

Forest harvesting is the main driver of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss in forests of the boreal zone. To mitigate harmful effects, small-scale habitats with high biodiversity values have been protected within production forests. These include woodland key habitats, and other small-scale habitat patches protected by voluntary conservation action. This article describes a protocol for a systematic review to synthesize the value of small habitat patches left within production landscapes for biodiversity. The topic for this systematic review arose from a discussion with the Finnish forestry sector and was further defined in a stakeholder workshop. Research question: Do small protected habitat patches within production forests provide value for biodiversity conservation in boreal forests? Animal, plant and fungal diversities are addressed as well as the amount of deadwood within the habitat patches as proxy indicators for biodiversity.Peer reviewe