10 research outputs found
Extension of the core map of common bean with EST-SSR, RGA, AFLP, and putative functional markers
Microsatellites and gene-derived markers are still underrepresented in the core molecular linkage map of common bean compared to other types of markers. In order to increase the density of the core map, a set of new markers were developed and mapped onto the RIL population derived from the ‘BAT93’ × ‘Jalo EEP558’ cross. The EST-SSR markers were first characterized using a set of 24 bean inbred lines. On average, the polymorphism information content was 0.40 and the mean number of alleles per locus was 2.7. In addition, AFLP and RGA markers based on the NBS-profiling method were developed and a subset of the mapped RGA was sequenced. With the integration of 282 new markers into the common bean core map, we were able to place markers with putative known function in some existing gaps including regions with QTL for resistance to anthracnose and rust. The distribution of the markers over 11 linkage groups is discussed and a newer version of the common bean core linkage map is proposed
Quality of Life Assessment in Multiple Sclerosis: Different Perception between Patients and Neurologists
BackgroundIn recent years, neurologists are noticing that evaluation of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients based on combining relapses, disability progression, and magnetic resonance imaging activity may be insufficient to adequately assess suboptimal responses to available therapy. Inclusion of quality of life (QoL) parameters may contribute to breach this gap.ObjectiveTo evaluate agreement levels between doctor and patient perception of QoL in MS.MethodsA total of 700 MS patients and 300 neurologists were invited to participate in a cross-sectional study by answering an e-mail questionnaire. The survey collected information on demographical data and included the Short Form questionnaire (SF-36). After completing the questionnaire, patients were given a standard written description of each of the subdomains assessed by SF-36 and asked to identify which three were the most important determinants of their overall health-related QoL.ResultsA total of 135 neurologists and 380 MS patients responded the survey. Study population mean age was 42.1 ± 10.5 years, with 61% presenting relapsing-remitting MS. SF-36 results were physical function 68.4 ± 30, physical role limitation 56.8 ± 41.7, vitality 47.6 ± 21.4, pain 71.2 ± 26.1, social function 72.6 ± 28.6, emotional role limitation 63.2 ± 39.8, mental health 60 ± 14.1, and general health 55.8 ± 22. Doctors considered physical function (75%) and physical role limitation (70%) as the most important QoL determinants in MS, followed by emotional role limitation (52%). Patients however, assigned significantly different levels of importance to physical function (58%), and physical role limitation (46%) and considered vitality (52%) more important than their physicians (p < 0.001). Important to note, the results of SF-36 questionnaire were highly correlated with the perception gap between patients and neurologists (r = 0.89; p = 0.0004).ConclusionConcerns on QoL in MS are different for patients and physicians. It is essential to enhance communication in order to better understand actual patient needs
Plant Species Richness and Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Global Drylands
Acknowledgments:
The long-term data on the demography
and foraging ecology of wandering albatrosses at Possession
Island, Crozet Islands, were supported by the French Polar
Institute IPEV (program no. 109 to H.W.), with additional
funding from the Prince Albert II de Monaco Foundation.
The study is a contribution to the Program ANR Biodiversité
2005-11 REMIGE. We acknowledge the modeling groups, the
Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison
(PCMDI), and the World Climate Research Programme’s (WCRP’s)
Working Group on Coupled Modeling (WGCM) for
their roles in making available the WCRP CMIP-3 multimodel
data set. Support for data and model selection was provided
by S. Jenouvrier. We thank the many field workers involved
in the Crozet long-term monitoring since 1966 and in tracking
programs since 1989, and D. Besson for help with the
management of the demographic database. M.L. was funded by
a postdoctoral contract of the Spanish Ministry of Education
and Science (Ref. EX2007-1148) and Marie Curie Individual
Fellowship (PIEF-GA-2008-220063). We are grateful to
L. Riotte-Lambert for help with data analysis and C. Barbraud,
C. A. Bost, Y. Cherel, and S. Jenouvrier for comments
on the manuscript.Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on a global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth’s land surface and support over 38% of the human population. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu
Decoupling of soil nutrient cycles as a function of aridity in global drylands
The biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are interlinked by primary production, respiration and decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems1. It has been suggested that the C, N and P cycles could become uncoupled under rapid climate change because of the different degrees of control exerted on the supply of these elements by biological and geochemical processes1–5. Climatic controls on biogeochemical cycles are particularly relevant in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems (drylands) because their biological activity is mainly driven by water availability6–8. The increase in aridity predicted for the twenty-first century in many drylands worldwide9–11 may therefore threaten the balance between these cycles, differentially affecting the availability of essential nutrients12–14. Here we evaluate how aridity affects the balance between C, N and P in soils collected from 224 dryland sites from all continents except Antarctica. Wefind a negative effect of aridity on the concentration of soil organic C and total N, but a positive effect on the concentration of inorganic P. Aridity is negatively related to plant cover, which may favour the dominance of physical processes such as rock weathering, a major source of P to ecosystems, over biological processes that provide more C and N, such as litter decomposition12–14. Our findings suggest that any predicted increase in aridity with climate change will probably reduce the concentrations of N and C in global drylands, but increase that of P. These changes would uncouple the C, N and P cycles in drylands and could negatively affect the provision of key services provided by these ecosystems.Consejo Europeo de Investigación. 7º Programa Marco de InvestigaciónMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN)CYTEDUniversidad Pablo de OlavideDepto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu
Human impacts and aridity differentially alter soil N availability in drylands worldwide
Aims
Climate and human impacts are changing the nitrogen (N) inputs and losses in terrestrial ecosystems. However, it is largely unknown how these two major drivers of global change will simultaneously influence the N cycle in drylands, the largest terrestrial biome on the planet. We conducted a global observational study to evaluate how aridity and human impacts, together with biotic and abiotic factors, affect key soil variables of the N cycle.
Location
Two hundred and twenty-four dryland sites from all continents except Antarctica widely differing in their environmental conditions and human influence.
Methods
Using a standardized field survey, we measured aridity, human impacts (i.e. proxies of land uses and air pollution), key biophysical variables (i.e. soil pH and texture and total plant cover) and six important variables related to N cycling in soils: total N, organic N, ammonium, nitrate, dissolved organic:inorganic N and N mineralization rates. We used structural equation modelling to assess the direct and indirect effects of aridity, human impacts and key biophysical variables on the N cycle.
Results
Human impacts increased the concentration of total N, while aridity reduced it. The effects of aridity and human impacts on the N cycle were spatially disconnected, which may favour scarcity of N in the most arid areas and promote its accumulation in the least arid areas.
Main conclusions
We found that increasing aridity and anthropogenic pressure are spatially disconnected in drylands. This implies that while places with low aridity and high human impact accumulate N, most arid sites with the lowest human impacts lose N. Our analyses also provide evidence that both increasing aridity and human impacts may enhance the relative dominance of inorganic N in dryland soils, having a negative impact on key functions and services provided by these ecosystems
Children’s democratic participation: The case of Catalan schools from the principal’s point of view
Decoupling of soil nutrient cycles as a function of aridity in global drylands
The biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are interlinked by primary production, respiration and decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. It has been suggested that the C, N and P cycles could become uncoupled under rapid climate change because of the different degrees of control exerted on the supply of these elements by biological and geochemical processes. Climatic controls on biogeochemical cycles are particularly relevant in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems (drylands) because their biological activity is mainly driven by water availability. The increase in aridity predicted for the twenty-first century in many drylands worldwide may therefore threaten the balance between these cycles, differentially affecting the availability of essential nutrients. Here we evaluate how aridity affects the balance between C, N and P in soils collected from 224 dryland sites from all continents except Antarctica. We find a negative effect of aridity on the concentration of soil organic C and total N, but a positive effect on the concentration of inorganic P. Aridity is negatively related to plant cover, which may favour the dominance of physical processes such as rock weathering, a major source of P to ecosystems, over biological processes that provide more C and N, such as litter decomposition. Our findings suggest that any predicted increase in aridity with climate change will probably reduce the concentrations of N and C in global drylands, but increase that of P. These changes would uncouple the C, N and P cycles in drylands and could negatively affect the provision of key services provided by these ecosystems
Biodiversidad 2017. Estado y tendencias de la biodiversidad continental de Colombia
En la cuarta versión del Reporte, que corresponde al año 2017, es una obligación preguntarnos cuál ha sido y es el papel de esta publicación y si ha abarcado la diversidad de formas y conceptos que definen el estado y el futuro de la biodiversidad colombiana. Las temáticas que constituyen la columna vertebral de cada uno de los reportes
anuales responden a temas de pertinencia, nivel de incidencia y actualidad desde cada uno de los diferentes niveles de organización de la biodiversidad y buscan responder las siguientes preguntas fundamentales:
1) ¿Cómo se encuentra la biodiversidad del país? 2)¿Qué factores, en dónde y en qué medida está siendo afectada? 3)¿Cuáles son las iniciativas que desde la sociedad civil o a nivel de políticas públicas buscan evitar esa pérdida? 4)¿Cuáles son las grandes oportunidades para mejorar su gestión y manejo? Si bien evaluar la incidencia que puede tener el Reporte sobre acciones de gestión no es tarea fácil, se debe reconocer la buena acogida que han tenido los textos, las ilustraciones y la cifras entre los distintos tipos de lectores y el papel fundamental que ha jugado el Reporte en comunicar información de altísima calidad sobre la biodiversidad colombiana en diferentes
momentos coyunturales. En ese sentido esta publicación es cada vez más una herramienta de consulta y referencia que está abierta al público tanto en formato impreso como digital, y de la misma manera busca fortalecerse
para continuar brindando información relevante para la toma de decisiones en materia ambiental.BogotáSubdirección de Investigacione