Indigenous plants promote insect biodiversity in urban greenspaces

The contribution of urban greenspaces to support biodiversity and provide benefits for people is increasingly recognized. However, ongoing management practices favor vegetation oversimplification, often limiting greenspaces to lawns and tree canopy rather than multi-layered vegetation that includes under- and midstorey, and the use of nonnative species. These practices hinder the potential of greenspaces to sustain indigenous biodiversity, particularly for taxa like insects that rely on plants for food and habitat. Yet, little is known about which plant species may maximize positive outcomes for taxonomically and functionally diverse insect communities in greenspaces. Additionally, while cities are expected to experience high rates of introductions, quantitative assessments of the relative occupancy of indigenous vs. introduced insect species in greenspace are rare, hindering understanding of how management may promote indigenous biodiversity while limiting the establishment of introduced insects. Using a hierarchically replicated study design across 15 public parks, we recorded occurrence data from 552 insect species on 133 plant species, differing in planting design element (lawn, midstorey, and tree canopy), midstorey growth form (forbs, lilioids, graminoids, and shrubs) and origin (nonnative, native, and indigenous), to assess (1) the relative contributions of indigenous and introduced insect species and (2) which plant species sustained the highest number of indigenous insects. We found that the insect community was overwhelmingly composed of indigenous rather than introduced species. Our findings further highlight the core role of multi-layered vegetation in sustaining high insect biodiversity in urban areas, with indigenous midstorey and canopy representing key elements to maintain rich and functionally diverse indigenous insect communities. Intriguingly, graminoids supported the highest indigenous insect richness across all studied growth forms by plant origin groups. Our work highlights the opportunity presented by indigenous understory and midstorey plants, particularly indigenous graminoids, in our study area to promote indigenous insect biodiversity in urban greenspaces. Our study provides a blueprint and stimulus for architects, engineers, developers, designers, and planners to incorporate into their practice plant species palettes that foster a larger presence of indigenous over regionally native or nonnative plant species, while incorporating a broader mixture of midstorey growth forms

Were glacial iceberg surges in the North Atlantic triggered by climatic warming?

High-resolution physical, mineralogical, sedimentological and micropalaeontological studies were carried out on North Atlantic cores from the Reykjanes Ridge at 59degreesN and from the region southwest of the Faeroe Islands. All core sites are situated along the pathway of Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) and the various parameters measured display similar features. Previously identified carbonate oscillations [Keigwin and Jones (1994) J. Geophys. Res., 99, 12397-12410] in the time span back to the Marine Isotope Stage 5-4 transition and Late Glacial lithic events [Bond and Lotti (1995) Science, 267, 1005-1010], such as the Heinrich ice-rafting events, are all represented in the core records. Long-term trends and higher-frequency changes in ISOW intensity were reconstructed on the basis of various independent proxy records. The long-term trends in circulation match theoretical orbitally forced insolation changes. Our observed links between ice-rafted detritus (IRD) input, variations in sea surface temperature (SST) and circulation at greater depth point to the need to re-examine the origin of IRD events. We suggest that these events may have been triggered by enhanced, partly sub-surface, heat transport to the-north. Enhanced northward heat transport may have caused bottom melting of floating outlet glaciers and ice shelves, leading to increased iceberg discharge and ice sheet destabilization. This discharge. resulted in lower SST's and a lower temperature over Greenland. Thus, as shown by our records, this scenario implies a temporary de-coupling of surface processes and circulation at greater depth. A key feature is the occurrence of a-saw-tooth pattern in the marine data, which is similar to the Greenland ice core records. Moreover, the 'warming' theory of IRD events would explain the observed 'out-of-phase' relationship between the Greenland and Antarctic ice-core records and also the rapid establishment of higher temperatures over Greenland immediately after the cold phases (stadials) of the Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles

Nanoscale Reaction Vessels Designed for Synthesis of Copper-Drug Complexes Suitable for Preclinical Development

The development of copper-drug complexes (CDCs) is hindered due to their very poor aqueous solubility. Diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) is the primary metabolite of disulfiram, an approved drug for alcoholism that is being repurposed for cancer. The anticancer activity of DDC is dependent on complexation with copper to form copper bis-diethyldithiocarbamate (Cu(DDC)(2)), a highly insoluble complex that has not been possible to develop for indications requiring parenteral administration. We have resolved this issue by synthesizing Cu(DDC)(2) inside liposomes. DDC crosses the liposomal lipid bilayer, reacting with the entrapped copper; a reaction that can be observed through a colour change as the solution goes from a light blue to dark brown. This method is successfully applied to other CDCs including the anti-parasitic drug clioquinol, the natural product quercetin and the novel targeted agent CX-5461. Our method provides a simple, transformative solution enabling, for the first time, the development of CDCs as viable candidate anticancer drugs; drugs that would represent a brand new class of therapeutics for cancer patients

Impact of Commercial Strain Use on <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> Population Structure and Dynamics in Pinot Noir Vineyards and Spontaneous Fermentations of a Canadian Winery

<div><p>Wine is produced by one of two methods: inoculated fermentation, where a commercially-produced, single <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> (<i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i>) yeast strain is used; or the traditional spontaneous fermentation, where yeast present on grape and winery surfaces carry out the fermentative process. Spontaneous fermentations are characterized by a diverse succession of yeast, ending with one or multiple strains of <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> dominating the fermentation. In wineries using both fermentation methods, commercial strains may dominate spontaneous fermentations. We elucidate the impact of the winery environment and commercial strain use on <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> population structure in spontaneous fermentations over two vintages by comparing <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> populations in aseptically fermented grapes from a Canadian Pinot Noir vineyard to <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> populations in winery-conducted fermentations of grapes from the same vineyard. We also characterize the vineyard-associated <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> populations in two other geographically separate Pinot Noir vineyards farmed by the same winery. Winery fermentations were not dominated by commercial strains, but by a diverse number of strains with genotypes similar to commercial strains, suggesting that a population of <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> derived from commercial strains is resident in the winery. Commercial and commercial-related yeast were also identified in the three vineyards examined, although at a lower frequency. There is low genetic differentiation and <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> population structure between vineyards and between the vineyard and winery that persisted over both vintages, indicating commercial yeast are a driver of <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> population structure. We also have evidence of distinct and persistent populations of winery and vineyard-associated <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> populations unrelated to commercial strains. This study is the first to characterize <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> populations in Canadian vineyards.</p></div

Microsatellite loci used in this study, selected from Richards et al. 2009.

<p>Microsatellite loci used in this study, selected from Richards et al. 2009.</p

Pairwise fixation index (F_ST) values for <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> populations at different stages of fermentation.

<p>Pairwise fixation index (F_ST) values for <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> populations at different stages of fermentation.</p

Chi-square test of independence between OG vineyard/winery and type of <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> MLG.

<p>Chi-square test of independence between OG vineyard/winery and type of <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> MLG.</p

Pairwise F_ST values for <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> populations from different locations, with and without commercial and commercial-related genotypes.

<p>Pairwise F_ST values for <i>S</i>. <i>cerevisiae</i> populations from different locations, with and without commercial and commercial-related genotypes.</p