Habitat Hydrology and Geomorphology Control the Distribution of Malaria Vector Larvae in Rural Africa

Larval source management is a promising component of integrated malaria control and elimination. This requires development of a framework to target productive locations through process-based understanding of habitat hydrology and geomorphology. We conducted the first catchment scale study of fine resolution spatial and temporal variation in Anopheles habitat and productivity in relation to rainfall, hydrology and geomorphology for a high malaria transmission area of Tanzania. Monthly aggregates of rainfall, river stage and water table were not significantly related to the abundance of vector larvae. However, these metrics showed strong explanatory power to predict mosquito larval abundances after stratification by water body type, with a clear seasonal trend for each, defined on the basis of its geomorphological setting and origin. Hydrological and geomorphological processes governing the availability and productivity of Anopheles breeding habitat need to be understood at the local scale for which larval source management is implemented in order to effectively target larval source interventions. Mapping and monitoring these processes is a well-established practice providing a tractable way forward for developing important malaria management tools

Forest types outpaced tree species in centroid-based range shifts under global change

IntroductionMounting evidence suggests that geographic ranges of tree species worldwide are shifting under global environmental changes. Little is known, however, about if and how these species’ range shifts may trigger the range shifts of various types of forests. Markowitz’s portfolio theory of investment and its broad application in ecology suggest that the range shift of a forest type could differ substantially from the range shifts of its constituent tree species.MethodsHere, we tested this hypothesis by comparing the range shifts of forest types and the mean of their constituent species between 1970–1999 and 2000–2019 across Alaska, Canada, and the contiguous United States using continent-wide forest inventory data. We first identified forest types in each period using autoencoder neural networks and K-means cluster analysis. For each of the 43 forest types that were identified in both periods, we systematically compared historical range shifts of the forest type and the mean of its constituent tree species based on the geographic centroids of interpolated distribution maps.ResultsWe found that forest types shifted at 86.5 km·decade-1 on average, more than three times as fast as the average of constituent tree species (28.8 km·decade-1). We showed that a predominantly positive covariance of the species range and the change of species relative abundance triggers this marked difference.DiscussionOur findings provide an important scientific basis for adaptive forest management and conservation, which primarily depend on individual species assessment, in mitigating the impacts of rapid forest transformation under climate change

The number of tree species on Earth

One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global groundsourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are ∼73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness.EEA Santa CruzFil: Cazzolla Gatti, Roberto. Purdue University. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources; Estados UnidosFil: Cazzolla Gatti, Roberto. University of Bologna. Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences.Alma Mater Studiorum; ItaliaFil: Cazzolla Gatti, Roberto. Tomsk State University. Biological Institute; Rusia.Fil: Reichd, Peter B. University of Minnesota. Department of Forest Resources; Estados UnidosFil: Reichd, Peter B. University of Michigan. Institute for Global Change Biology and School for Environment and Sustainability; Estados UnidosFil: Reichd, Peter B. Western Sydney University. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment; Australia.Fil: Gamarra, Javier G. P. FAO. Forestry Department; ItaliaFil: Crowtherh, Tom. Institute of Integrative Biology; SuizaFil: Hui, Cang. Stellenbosch University. iCentre for Invasion Biology. Department of Mathematical Sciences; SudáfricaFil: Hui, Cang. African Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Mathematical Biology Unit; SudáfricaFil: Morera, Albert. University of Lleida. Department of Crop and Forest Sciences; EspañaFil: Morera, Albert. Joint Research Unit CTFC–AGROTECNIO–CERCA; EspañaFil: Bastin, Jean-Francois. University of Liege. TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech; BélgicaFil: de-Miguel, Sergio. University of Lleida. Department of Crop and Forest Sciences; EspañaFil: de-Miguel, Sergio. Joint Research Unit CTFC–AGROTECNIO–CERCA; EspañaFil: Jan Nabuurs, Gert. Wageningen University. Research Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group; Países BajosFil: Svenning, Jens -Christian. Aarhus University. Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE). Department of Biology; DinamarcaFil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina.Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina.Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.Fil: Liang, Jingjing. Purdue University. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources; Estados Unido

Efficacy of a strategy for implementing a guideline for the control of cardiovascular risk in a primary healthcare setting: the SIRVA2 study a controlled, blinded community intervention trial randomised by clusters

This work describes the methodology used to assess a strategy for implementing clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for cardiovascular risk control in a health area of Madrid

Global patterns and environmental drivers of forest functional composition

To determine the relationships between the functional trait composition of forest communities and environmental gradients across scales and biomes and the role of species relative abundances in these relationships. We integrated species abundance records from worldwide forest inventories and associated functional traits (wood density, specific leaf area and seed mass) to obtain a data set of 99,953 to 149,285 plots (depending on the trait) spanning all forested continents. We computed community-weighted and unweighted means of trait values for each plot and related them to three broad environmental gradients and their interactions (energy availability, precipitation and soil properties) at two scales (global and biomes). Our models explained up to 60% of the variance in trait distribution. At global scale, the energy gradient had the strongest influence on traits. However, withinbiome models revealed different relationships among biomes. Notably, the functional composition of tropical forests was more influenced by precipitation and soil properties than energy availability, whereas temperate forests showed the opposite pattern. Depending on the trait studied, response to gradients was more variable and proportionally weaker in boreal forests. Community unweighted means were better predicted than weighted means for almost all models. Worldwide, trees require a large amount of energy (following latitude) to produce dense wood and seeds, while leaves with large surface to weight ratios are concentrated in temperate forests. However, patterns of functional composition within-biome differ from global patterns due to biome specificities such as the presence of conifers or unique combinations of climatic and soil properties. We recommend assessing the sensitivity of tree functional traits to environmental changes in their geographic context. Furthermore, at a given site, the distribution of tree functional traits appears to be driven more by species presence than species abundance.Fil: Bouchard, Elise. Université du Québec a Montreal; CanadáFil: Searle, Eric B.. Université du Québec a Montreal; CanadáFil: Drapeau, Pierre. Université du Québec a Montreal; CanadáFil: Liang, Jingjing. Purdue University; Estados UnidosFil: Gamarra, Javier G. P.. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; ItaliaFil: Abegg, Meinrad. No especifíca;Fil: Alberti, Giorgio. No especifíca;Fil: Zambrano, Angelica Almeyda. No especifíca;Fil: Alvarez Davila, Esteban. No especifíca;Fil: Alves, Luciana F.. No especifíca;Fil: Avitabile, Valerio. No especifíca;Fil: Aymard, Gerardo. No especifíca;Fil: Bastin, Jean François. No especifíca;Fil: Birnbaum, Philippe. No especifíca;Fil: Bongers, Frans. No especifíca;Fil: Bouriaud, Olivier. No especifíca;Fil: Brancalion, Pedro. No especifíca;Fil: Broadbent, Eben. No especifíca;Fil: Bussotti, Filippo. No especifíca;Fil: Gatti, Roberto Cazzolla. No especifíca;Fil: Češljar, Goran. No especifíca;Fil: Chisholm, Chelsea. No especifíca;Fil: Cienciala, Emil. No especifíca;Fil: Clark, Connie J.. No especifíca;Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santa Cruz. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Santa Cruz. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santa Cruz. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santa Cruz; ArgentinaFil: Zawiła Niedźwiecki, Tomasz. No especifíca;Fil: Zhou, Mo. No especifíca;Fil: Zhu, Zhi Xin. No especifíca;Fil: Zo Bi, Irié C.. No especifíca;Fil: Paquette, Alain. Université du Québec a Montreal; Canad

Dominance and rarity in tree communities across the globe: Patterns, predictors and threats

Aim: Ecological and anthropogenic factors shift the abundances of dominant and rare tree species within local forest communities, thus affecting species composition and ecosystem functioning. To inform forest and conservation management it is important to understand the drivers of dominance and rarity in local tree communities. We answer the following research questions: (1) What are the patterns of dominance and rarity in tree communities? (2) Which ecological and anthropogenic factors predict these patterns? And (3) what is the extinction risk of locally dominant and rare tree species? Location: Global. Time period: 1990–2017. Major taxa studied: Trees. Methods: We used 1.2 million forest plots and quantified local tree dominance as the relative plot basal area of the single most dominant species and local rarity as the percentage of species that contribute together to the least 10% of plot basal area. We mapped global community dominance and rarity using machine learning models and evaluated the ecological and anthropogenic predictors with linear models. Extinction risk, for example threatened status, of geographically widespread dominant and rare species was evaluated. Results: Community dominance and rarity show contrasting latitudinal trends, with boreal forests having high levels of dominance and tropical forests having high levels of rarity. Increasing annual precipitation reduces community dominance, probably because precipitation is related to an increase in tree density and richness. Additionally, stand age is positively related to community dominance, due to stem diameter increase of the most dominant species. Surprisingly, we find that locally dominant and rare species, which are geographically widespread in our data, have an equally high rate of elevated extinction due to declining populations through large‐scale land degradation. Main conclusions: By linking patterns and predictors of community dominance and rarity to extinction risk, our results suggest that also widespread species should be considered in large‐scale management and conservation practices

The number of tree species on Earth

One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground-sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are ∼73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness.Additional co-authors: Junho Lee, Jun Zhu, Jinyun Fang, Douglass F. Jacobs, Bryan Pijanowski, Arindam Banerjee, Robert A. Giaquinto, Giorgio Alberti, Angelica Maria Almeyda Zambrano, Esteban Alvarez-Davila, Alejandro Araujo-Murakami, Valerio Avitabile, Gerardo A. Aymard, Radomir Balazy, Chris Baraloto, Jorcely G. Barroso, Meredith L. Bastian, Philippe Birnbaum, Robert Bitariho, Jan Bogaert, Frans Bongers, Olivier Bouriaud, Pedro H. S. Brancalion, Francis Q. Brearley, Eben North Broadbent, Filippo Bussotti, Wendeson Castro da Silva, Ricardo Gomes César, Goran Češljar, Víctor Chama Moscoso, Han Y. H. Chen, Emil Cienciala, Connie J. Clark, David A. Coomes, Selvadurai Dayanandan, Mathieu Decuyper, Laura E. Dee, Jhon Del Aguila Pasquel, Géraldine Derroire, Marie Noel Kamdem Djuikouo, Tran Van Do, Jiri Dolezal, Ilija Đ. Đorđević, Julien Engel, Tom M. Fayle, Ted R. Feldpausch, Jonas K. Fridman, David J. Harris, Andreas Hemp, Geerten Hengeveld, Bruno Herault, Martin Herold, Thomas Ibanez, Andrzej M. Jagodzinski, Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Vivian Kvist Johannsen, Tommaso Jucker, Ahto Kangur, Victor N. Karminov, Kuswata Kartawinata, Deborah K. Kennard, Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas, Gunnar Keppel, Mohammed Latif Khan, Pramod Kumar Khare, Timothy J. Kileen, Hyun Seok Kim, Henn Korjus, Amit Kumar, Ashwani Kumar, Diana Laarmann, Nicolas Labrière, Mait Lang, Simon L. Lewis, Natalia Lukina, Brian S. Maitner, Yadvinder Malhi, Andrew R. Marshall, Olga V. Martynenko, Abel L. Monteagudo Mendoza, Petr V. Ontikov, Edgar Ortiz-Malavasi, Nadir C. Pallqui Camacho, Alain Paquette, Minjee Park, Narayanaswamy Parthasarathy, Pablo Luis Peri, Pascal Petronelli, Sebastian Pfautsch, Oliver L. Phillips, Nicolas Picard, Daniel Piotto, Lourens Poorter, John R. Poulsen, Hans Pretzsch, Hirma Ramírez-Angulo, Zorayda Restrepo Correa, Mirco Rodeghiero, Rocío Del Pilar Rojas Gonzáles, Samir G. Rolim, Francesco Rovero, Ervan Rutishauser, Purabi Saikia, Christian Salas-Eljatib, Dmitry Schepaschenko, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Vladimír Šebeň, Marcos Silveira, Ferry Slik, Bonaventure Sonké, Alexandre F. Souza, Krzysztof Jan Stereńczak, Miroslav Svoboda, Hermann Taedoumg, Nadja Tchebakova, John Terborgh, Elena Tikhonova, Armando Torres-Lezama, Fons van der Plas, Rodolfo Vásquez, Helder Viana, Alexander C. Vibrans, Emilio Vilanova, Vincent A. Vos, Hua-Feng Wang, Bertil Westerlund, Lee J. T. White, Susan K. Wiser, Tomasz Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, Lise Zemagho, Zhi-Xin Zhu, Irié C. Zo-Bi, and Jingjing Lian

The number of tree species on Earth

One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are ∼73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness. Please note an (erratum/corrigendum) for this article is available via https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.220278411