Climate change expected to drive habitat loss for two key herbivore species in an alpine environment

Aim Our first aim was to determine the environmental factors associated with two native Australian Lepidoptera species, Lomera caespitosae and Oncopera alpina, key herbivores of alpine and subalpine Poa grasses. Both species have been associated with areas of extensive grass death in Australian alpine regions, possibly affecting vegetation succession and recovery. Our second aim was to generate and evaluate potential distributional changes for both these moths and their host plants under scenarios of climate change. Location Alpine regions in south-eastern Australia. Methods We surveyed alpine regions in south-eastern Australia to compile presence–absence datasets for both moth species. We constructed ecological niche models from our survey data, in addition to predicting distributions of suitable host-plant species for the moths. Grass damage sites attributed to the moths were used additionally as independent test datasets to validate model performance. Future effects on species distributions under climate change scenarios were then investigated. Results The environmental factors affecting distributions differed between the moth species; for example, precipitation variables appeared to be important for L. caespitosae, while low winter–spring temperatures were expected to limit O. alpina. The findings were related to the presence of grass damage, which was greater in areas where species distributions overlapped. A declining trend in suitability was predicted for both herbivore species under climate change, while Poa spp. distributions were expected to be less influenced by climate change. Main conclusions The distributions of both moth species are more likely to be restricted by climate than host-plant availability. Predicted climate change effects are likely to put L. caespitosae under greater immediate risk of local extinction than O. alpina as a result of large areas of habitat loss by 2050

Considerations on rescattering effects for threshold photo- and electro-production of π0\pi^0 on deuteron

We show that for the S-state $\pi^0$-production in processes $\gamma+d\to d+\pi^0$ and $e^-+d\to e^-+d+\pi^0$ the rescattering effects due to the transition: $\gamma+d\to p+p+\pi^-$ (or $n+n+\pi^+)\to d+\pi^0$ are cancelled out due to the Pauli principle. The large values for these effects predicted in the past may result from the fact that the spin structure of the corresponding matrix element and the necessary antisymmetrization induced by the presence of identical protons (or neutrons) in the intermediate state was not taken into account accurately. One of the important consequences of these considerations is that $\pi^0$ photo- and electro-production on deuteron near threshold can bring direct information about elementary neutron amplitudes.Comment: Add a new sectio

Instability of the rhodium magnetic moment as origin of the metamagnetic phase transition in alpha-FeRh

Based on ab initio total energy calculations we show that two magnetic states of rhodium atoms together with competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions are responsible for a temperature induced metamagnetic phase transition, which experimentally is observed for stoichiometric alpha-FeRh. A first-principle spin-based model allows to reproduce this first-order metamagnetic transition by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Further inclusion of spacial variation of exchange parameters leads to a realistic description of the experimental magneto-volume effects in alpha-FeRh.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Simulating potential growth and yield of oil palm with PALMSIM

The growing demand for palm oil can be met by reducing the gap between potential yield and actual yield. Simulation models can quantify potential yield, and therefore indicate the scope for intensification. A relatively simple physiological approach was used to develop PALMSIM, which is a model that simulates, on a monthly time step, the potential growth of oil palm as determined by solar radiation in high rainfall environments. The model was used to map potential yield for Indonesia and Malaysia. This map could be used to identify degraded areas that have high yield potential for oil palm

A discrete host-parasitoid model with development of pesticide resistance and IPM strategies

The development of pesticide resistance significantly affects the outcomes of pest control. A quantitative depiction of the effects of pesticide resistance development on integrated pest management (IPM) strategies and pest control outcomes is challenging. To address this problem, a discrete host-parasitoid model with pesticide resistance development and IPM strategies is proposed and analyzed. The threshold condition of pest eradication which reveals the relationship between the development of pest resistance and the rate of natural enemy releases is provided and analyzed, and the optimal rate for releasing natural enemies was obtained based on this threshold condition. Furthermore, in order to reduce adverse effects of the pesticide on natural enemies, the model has been extended to consider the spraying of pesticide and releases of natural enemies at different times. The effects of the dynamic complexity and different resistance development equations on the main results are also discussed

Label-free electrochemical impedance biosensor to detect human interleukin-8 in serum with sub-pg/ml sensitivity

Biosensors with high sensitivity and short time-to-result that are capable of detecting biomarkers in body fluids such as serum are an important prerequisite for early diagnostics in modern healthcare provision. Here, we report the development of an electrochemical impedance-based sensor for the detection in serum of human interleukin-8 (IL-8), a pro-angiogenic chemokine implicated in a wide range of inflammatory diseases. The sensor employs a small and robust synthetic non-antibody capture protein based on a cystatin scaffold that displays high affinity for human IL-8 with a KD of 35 ± 10 nM and excellent ligand specificity. The change in the phase of the electrochemical impedance from the serum baseline, ∆θ(ƒ), measured at 0.1 Hz, was used as the measure for quantifying IL-8 concentration in the fluid. Optimal sensor signal was observed after 15 min incubation, and the sensor exhibited a linear response versus logarithm of IL-8 concentration from 900 fg/ml to 900 ng/ml. A detection limit of around 90 fg/ml, which is significantly lower than the basal clinical levels of 5-10 pg/ml, was observed. Our results are significant for the development of point-of-care and early diagnostics where high sensitivity and short time-to-results are essential

Using the IUCN Red List to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates at global scale

The Anthropocene is characterized by unparalleled human impact on other species, potentially ushering in the sixth mass extinction. Yet mitigation efforts remain hampered by limited information on the spatial patterns and intensity of the threats driving global biodiversity loss. Here we use expert-derived information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List on threats to 23,271 species, representing all terrestrial amphibians, birds and mammals, to generate global maps of the six major threats to these groups: agriculture, hunting and trapping, logging, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. Our results show that agriculture and logging are pervasive in the tropics and that hunting and trapping is the most geographically widespread threat to mammals and birds. Additionally, current representations of human pressure underestimate the overall pressure on biodiversity, due to the exclusion of threats such as hunting and climate change. Alarmingly, this is particularly the case in areas of the highest biodiversity importance

Search for supersymmetry with a dominant R-parity violating LQDbar couplings in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130GeV to 172 GeV

A search for pair-production of supersymmetric particles under the assumption that R-parity is violated via a dominant LQDbar coupling has been performed using the data collected by ALEPH at centre-of-mass energies of 130-172 GeV. The observed candidate events in the data are in agreement with the Standard Model expectation. This result is translated into lower limits on the masses of charginos, neutralinos, sleptons, sneutrinos and squarks. For instance, for m_0=500 GeV/c^2 and tan(beta)=sqrt(2) charginos with masses smaller than 81 GeV/c^2 and neutralinos with masses smaller than 29 GeV/c^2 are excluded at the 95% confidence level for any generation structure of the LQDbar coupling.Comment: 32 pages, 30 figure

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio