Declining fruit production before death in a widely distributed tree species, Sorbus aucuparia L.

International audienceAbstractKey messageTrees are commonly thought to increase their seed production before death. We tested this terminal investment hypothesis using long-term data on rowan trees (Sorbus aucuparia) and found no support. Rather, seed production declined significantly before death, which points to the potential detrimental effects of reproductive senescence on regeneration in stands of old trees.ContextAging poses a fundamental challenge for long-lived organisms. As mortality changes with with age due to actuarial senescence, reproductive senescence may also lead to declines in fertility. However, life history theory predicts that reproductive investment should increase before mortality to maximize lifetime reproductive success, a phenomenon termed terminal investment.AimsTo date, it is unclear whether long-lived, indeterminantly growing trees experience reproductive senescence or display terminal investment.MethodsWe investigated fruit production of rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.), widely distributed trees that live up to 150 years, as they approached death.ResultsIn our study population in Poland’s Carpathian Mountains, 79 trees that died produced up to 20% fewer fruits in the years before their demise compared to 199 surviving trees of the same population.ConclusionThe pattern of reproductive investment in S. aucuparia is suggestive of age-independent reproductive senescence rather than terminal investment. These findings highlight that the understanding of the generality of life history strategies across diverse taxa of perennial plants is still in its infancy

MASTREE+: Time-series of plant reproductive effort from six continents.

Significant gaps remain in understanding the response of plant reproduction to environmental change. This is partly because measuring reproduction in long-lived plants requires direct observation over many years and such datasets have rarely been made publicly available. Here we introduce MASTREE+, a data set that collates reproductive time-series data from across the globe and makes these data freely available to the community. MASTREE+ includes 73,828 georeferenced observations of annual reproduction (e.g. seed and fruit counts) in perennial plant populations worldwide. These observations consist of 5971 population-level time-series from 974 species in 66 countries. The mean and median time-series length is 12.4 and 10 years respectively, and the data set includes 1122 series that extend over at least two decades (≥20 years of observations). For a subset of well-studied species, MASTREE+ includes extensive replication of time-series across geographical and climatic gradients. Here we describe the open-access data set, available as a.csv file, and we introduce an associated web-based app for data exploration. MASTREE+ will provide the basis for improved understanding of the response of long-lived plant reproduction to environmental change. Additionally, MASTREE+ will enable investigation of the ecology and evolution of reproductive strategies in perennial plants, and the role of plant reproduction as a driver of ecosystem dynamics

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of the Eurasian Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida hybrida), a Species Exhibiting Range Expansion

International audienceContrasting the general trend of declining Afro-Palearctic migratory: bird populations, the Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida hybrida) has recently exhibited spectacular demographic expansion and range shifts across its patchy European breeding distribution. To explore population connectivity of this species, individuals sampled from four sites in France, Poland, and Ukraine (n = 78) were genotyped at six microsatellite DNA loci and one partial mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene. Genetic variation was generally high (H-E = 0.47-0.67; pi = 1.29-2.26). Contrasting the historical absence of significant genetic structure (Phi(ST) = 0.061-0.027), the microsatellite data indicated strong differentiation between France and the Eastern European sites (F-ST = 0.067-0.098). This, coupled with evidence of two distinct genetic clusters (K = 2; Delta K = 2) corresponding to little subdivision between Poland and Ukraine, has confirmed the presence of two European Whiskered Tern subpopulations (western and eastern) characterized by stark differences in wintering distribution and seasonal migratory routes

Data from: Rare events of massive plant reproductive investment lead to long-term density-dependent reproductive success

1. The level of reproductive investment and density and distance dependent (DDD) processes are major determinants of plant reproductive output. The reproductive investment of a plant population varies temporally, but whether and how density- and distance-dependent processes are affected by population-level reproductive investment is a puzzle. 2. We used a spatially explicit approach in order to examine DDD effects on Sorbus acuparia crop sizes for a continuous period of 16 years. Our special interest was to investigate whether and how DDD processes affect long-term individual plant reproductive success (PRS) and whether such processes vary between years of relatively high and low population-level reproductive investment, measured as fruit crop size. 3. Our study revealed that DDD processes of fruit crop relate to population level reproductive investment. In most years, including all years with low and most years with moderate reproductive investment, no positive or negative DDD was found for PRS. However, significant negative density-dependent effects were found during most years of high and some years of moderate reproductive investment. During these years, the individual reproductive success decreased with increasing density of conspecifics. 4. The overall accumulated long-term negative density-dependent pattern of PRS was determined by few sporadic years of high reproductive investment, rather than by the most frequent years of low or moderate reproductive investment, when the DDD effects were usually weak. 5. Synthesis. Our study highlights the ecological relevance of relatively infrequent processes which affect PRS, stressing thus the importance of long-term ecological research

Stand Composition, Tree-Related Microhabitats and Birds—A Network of Relationships in a Managed Forest

Forest ecosystems contain many tree-related microhabitats (TreMs), which are used by various groups of organisms. Birds use TreMs for shelter, foraging and breeding. The abundance and variability of TreMs is related to tree stand composition and age. Over the last few centuries there has been a drastic decline in the structural and biological diversity of temperate forests over large areas of the Northern Hemisphere. These changes have reduced the diversity and quantity of TreMs. In this study we showed the relationships between stand composition, the abundance of TreMs, and the species richness of birds in a managed forest. We focused on TreMs that are important to birds: woodpecker breeding cavities, rot holes, dead branches, broken treetops, and perennial polypores. Our study was performed in a managed lowland temperate forest. In 94 plots (10 ha each) we made bird surveys and inventoried the stand composition and TreMs. Our results show that the tree stand composition of a managed forest affects the abundance of TreMs. The share of deciduous trees in the stand favors the occurrence of such TreMs as dead branches, rot holes and perennial polypores. The overall richness of bird species and the species richness of primary cavity nesters depended on the total basal area of oak, hornbeam and birch, whereas the species richness of secondary cavity nesters increased with the total basal area of birch and oak

Stand Composition, Tree-Related Microhabitats and Birds—A Network of Relationships in a Managed Forest

Forest ecosystems contain many tree-related microhabitats (TreMs), which are used by various groups of organisms. Birds use TreMs for shelter, foraging and breeding. The abundance and variability of TreMs is related to tree stand composition and age. Over the last few centuries there has been a drastic decline in the structural and biological diversity of temperate forests over large areas of the Northern Hemisphere. These changes have reduced the diversity and quantity of TreMs. In this study we showed the relationships between stand composition, the abundance of TreMs, and the species richness of birds in a managed forest. We focused on TreMs that are important to birds: woodpecker breeding cavities, rot holes, dead branches, broken treetops, and perennial polypores. Our study was performed in a managed lowland temperate forest. In 94 plots (10 ha each) we made bird surveys and inventoried the stand composition and TreMs. Our results show that the tree stand composition of a managed forest affects the abundance of TreMs. The share of deciduous trees in the stand favors the occurrence of such TreMs as dead branches, rot holes and perennial polypores. The overall richness of bird species and the species richness of primary cavity nesters depended on the total basal area of oak, hornbeam and birch, whereas the species richness of secondary cavity nesters increased with the total basal area of birch and oak

The effect of sulfonamides structure on the mechanism of initiation of their photocatalytic degradation

Sulfonamidy, pochodne sulfanilamidu, stanowią dużą grupę leków o właściwościach bakteriostatycznych. Część z nich jest powszechnie wykorzystywana w hodowli zwierząt w celach profilaktycznych i leczniczych. Następnie ich pozostałości trafiają do środowiska, gdzie stanowią uciążliwe i trwałe zanieczyszczenie. Leki te znacznie różnią się podatnością na fotokatalityczną degradację. Prowadzone badania pozwoliły na wyznaczenie związku pomiędzy strukturą sulfonamidów a drogą inicjacji ich rozkładu podczas naświetlania w obecności TiO2. Pozwoliły również na prognozowanie zastosowania procesu fotokatalitycznego do usuwania farmaceutyków z odpadów pohodowlanych.Sulfonamides, sulfanilamide derivatives, are a large group of drugs with bacteriostatic properties. Some of them are widely used in breeding for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes. Their residues get into the environment (soil, surface waters, and ground waters) where they are regarded as persistent organic pollutant. These drugs differ significantly in susceptibility to photocatalytic degradation. Sulfonamides differ significantly in susceptibility to the photocatalytic degradation. The study allowed to determine the relationship between the sulfonamides structure and the mechanism of initiation of their degradation during UV-A irradiation in the presence of TiO2 as a photocatalyst. Additionally, the results allowed us to develop a project involving the application of the photocatalytic process to the removal of pharmaceuticals from post-culture waste

P.albicaulis_cone_production

TreeName - treeID; site - site ID; cones - cone coun