Links between biodiversity and human infectious and non-communicable diseases: a review

INTRODUCTION: Biodiversity has intrinsic value and a fundamental role in human health. The relationship between them is complex, and the specific sustaining processes are still not well understood. In view of the rapidly evolving landscape, this literature review investigated scientific evidence for specific links between biodiversity and human infectious and non-communicable diseases to characterise identifiable relationships. METHODS: A search of the PubMed and Web of Science databases using keyword algorithms identified relevant manuscripts published between 1 January 2000 and 18 April 2019. Qualitative data were extracted from 155 studies investigating links between or mechanisms linking biodiversity and infectious disease, non-communicable disease, allergic/inflammatory disease and microbiomes. RESULTS: None of the reviewed studies documented causal evidence for a mechanism linking biodiversity and human health. The main mechanisms proposed to link biodiversity and transmission of infectious disease were dilution and amplification. The dilution hypothesis argues that an increase in species diversity leads to a decrease in pathogen prevalence. The amplification effect is the converse, that there is a positive correlation between species diversity and disease risk/infection prevalence. Several driving factors are postulated, including encounter reduction, interspecies competition and predation. In addition, it appears that scale, both spatial and temporal, highly impacts diversity-disease relationships. There is strong evidence that the early environment of a child, including maternally transferred prenatal signals, affects immune maturation, modifying later disease risk. Bi-directional axes communicate between the gut microbiome and the brain, as well as between the skin microbiome and the lung, leading to direct and indirect immune, humoral and neural mechanisms. The main challenges in assessing links between biodiversity and human health are the wide variation in definitions of health and biodiversity, and the heterogeneity in types of studies encountered, as well as the complexity of interactions in dynamic systems. CONCLUSIONS: Contextually adapted integrative approaches, which maintain dialogue across disciplines and amongst all stakeholders, are most likely to generate robust evidence. Because of the relevance of local scale, research engagement must occur across levels to generate legitimate practices and translate into sustainable, equitable policies. Recommendations for future action include: improve the knowledge base on contribution of biodiversity to health, increase awareness of health effects of natural and near-natural environments and biodiversity, and promote synergies by increasing policy coherence

Effect of water level on migratory birds habitat at lake maggiore

Migratory birds need to stop along their route to rest and feed at so called stopover sites. "Bolle di Magadino"is a protected wetland located near lake Maggiore (CH), an internationally recognized nesting and stop-over site for birds. The waters of Lake Maggiore are important resources for multiple usages, and are artificially regulated through a dam. Even slight variations in the water level are sufficient to cause flooding and draining of large portions of the wetlands, affecting foraging and resting opportunities for birds. We use open data and FOSS4G to study the effect of water level on bird migration. We compared the extent and type of flooded habitat using two approaches: Sentinel-1 remote sensing imagery and simulations based on the measured water level. The effect of type and extent of submerged vegetation obtained with both methods was tested against a time series of bird captures. Both methods had a similar temporal pattern of flooding in autumn, but nearly opposite in spring. The total extent and the type of submerged habitats showed significant differences. The results obtained by simulations based on water level were more correlated to birds captures and species richness than the estimations of flooded habitat derived by with Sentinel-1. The results presented here will contribute to the definition sustainable management tools of water management of lake Maggiore taking into account the effect of lake level on biodiversity

Living on the edge: Space use of Eurasian red squirrels in marginal high-elevation habitat.

In marginal habitats located at the edge of a species\u2019 range, environmental conditions are frequently extreme and individuals may be subject to different selective pressures compared to central populations. These so-called edge or marginal populations tend to have lower densities and reproductive rates than populations located in more suitable habitats, but little is known about local adaptations in spacing behavior. We studied space use and social organization in a population of Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in a high-elevation marginal habitat of dwarf mountain pine (Pinus mugo) and compared it with spacing patterns in high-quality Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest at lower-elevation. Home ranges and core areas were larger in the marginal habitat. In both habitats, males used larger home ranges than females, but sex differences in core area size were significant only in the edge population. Patterns of core area overlap were similar in both habitats with intra-sexual territoriality among adult females and higher degrees of inter-sexual overlap, typical for the species throughout its range. However, low densities in the edge population resulted in higher female by males overlap in spring-summer, suggesting males increased home ranges and core areas during mating season to augment access to estrus females. Thus, in the marginal habitat, with low food abundance and low population densities, linked with extreme winter conditions, squirrels, especially males, used large home ranges. Finally, squirrels responded more strongly to variation in food availability (inverse relation between home range size and seed abundance), and even to fluctuations in density (inverse relation between core area size and density of animals of the same sex), in the marginal than in the high-quality habitat, suggesting high behavioral plasticity to respond to the ecological constraints in marginal habitats

Skin pigmentation in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata l.) fed conventional and novel protein sources in diets deprived of fish meal

The pattern of yellowish pigmentation of the skin was assessed in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) fed for 12 weeks iso-proteic (45%) and iso-lipidic (20%) diets deprived of fish meal and containing either a blend of vegetable protein-rich ingredients or where graded levels of the vegetable protein blend were replaced by insect (Hermetia illucens\u201410%, 20% or 40%) pupae meal, poultry by-product meal (20%, 30% or 40%), red swamp crayfish meal (10%) and marine microalgae (Tisochrysis lutea and Tetraselmis suecica\u201410%) dried biomass. Digital images of fish fed diets differing in protein sources were analyzed by means of an automatic and non-invasive image analysis tool, in order to determine the number of yellow pixels and their dispersion on the frontal and lateral sides of the fish. The relationship between the total carotenoid concentration in the diet and the number of yellow pixels was investigated. Test diets differently affected gilthead seabream skin pigmentation both in the forefront and the operculum, due to their carotenoid content. The highest yellow pixels\u2019 number was observed with the diet containing microalgae. Fish fed poultry by-product meal were characterized by the lowest yellow pixels\u2019 number, diets containing insect meal had an intermediate coloring capacity. The vegetable control, the microalgae mix diet and the crayfish diet had significantly higher values of yellow pixels at both inspected skin sites

Orientational pinning and transverse voltage: Simulations and experiments in square Josephson junction arrays

We study the dependence of the transport properties of square Josephson Junctions arrays with the direction of the applied dc current, both experimentally and numerically. We present computational simulations of current-voltage curves at finite temperatures for a single vortex in the array ($Ha^2/\Phi_0=f=1/L^2$), and experimental measurements in $100\times1000$ arrays under a low magnetic field corresponding to $f\approx0.02$. We find that the transverse voltage vanishes only in the directions of maximum symmetry of the square lattice: the [10] and [01] direction (parallel bias) and the [11] direction (diagonal bias). For orientations different than the symmetry directions, we find a finite transverse voltage which depends strongly on the angle $\phi$ of the current. We find that vortex motion is pinned in the [10] direction ($\phi=0$), meaning that the voltage response is insensitive to small changes in the orientation of the current near $\phi=0$. We call this phenomenon orientational pinning. This leads to a finite transverse critical current for a bias at $\phi=0$ and to a transverse voltage for a bias at $\phi\not=0$. On the other hand, for diagonal bias in the [11] direction the behavior is highly unstable against small variations of $\phi$, leading to a rapid change from zero transverse voltage to a large transverse voltage within a few degrees. This last behavior is in good agreement with our measurements in arrays with a quasi-diagonal current drive.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Magnetoinductance of Josephson junction array with frozen vortex diffusion

The dependence of sheet impedance of a Josephson junction array on the applied magnetic field is investigated in the regime when vortex diffusion between array plaquettes is effectively frozen due to low enough temperature. The field dependent contribution to sheet inductance is found to be proportional to f*ln(1/f), where f<<1 is the magnitude of the field expressed in terms of flux quanta per plaquette.Comment: 5 pages, no figure

Nutcrackers become choosy seed harvesters in a mast-crop year.

As an efficient seed-disperser, Eurasian nutcrackers (Nucifraga caryocatactes) generally consume and hoard mature, edible pine seeds for future use. In 2009, when the Arolla pine, Pinus. cembra, produced a mast-crop, we investigated cones discarded by nutcrackers. Most cones were only partly eaten and some mature seeds remained in the distal part. This was in contrast to years of lower seed production when nearly all seeds were harvested from the majority of cones. To determine whether nutcracker cone-discarding behaviour maximised intake rate, seed kernels and the aborted seeds rate were measured from the different cone parts. In 2009, seeds from cone-tops were on average 17% lighter than in the base and middle sections, and the proportion of aborted seeds in the top part was 81% higher than in the other sections. There was no difference in seed mass and proportion of aborted seeds in cone-tops of intact cones and cones handled by nutcrackers. Regarding each cone as a patch, cone discarding behaviour can be considered as an optimal cone-leaving rule, maximising rate of energy-intake, supporting the Marginal Value Theorem. Hence, we suggest that increased food abundance leads to more selective seed harvesting in nutcrackers

Year-round multi-scale habitat selection by Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus) in lowland mixed forests (northern Italy)

Determining how animals respond to resource availability across spatial and temporal extents is crucial to understand ecological processes underpinning habitat selection. Here, we used a multi-scale approach to study the year-round habitat selection of the Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus) in a semi-natural lowland woodland of northern Italy, analysing different habitat features at each scale. We performed Crested Tit censuses at three different spatial scales. At the macrohabitat scale, we used geolocalized observations of individuals to compute Manly's habitat selection index, based on a detailed land-use map of the study area. At the microhabitat scale, the trees features were compared between presence and absence locations. At the foraging habitat scale, individual foraging birds and their specific position on trees were recorded using focal animal sampling. Censuses were performed during both the breeding (March to May) and wintering (December to January) seasons. At the macrohabitat scale, the Crested Tits significantly selected pure and mixed pine forests and avoided woods of alien plant species, farmlands and urban areas. At the microhabitat scale, old pine woods with dense cover were selected, with no significant difference in the features of tree selection between the two phenological phases. At the foraging habitat scale, the species was observed spending more time foraging in the canopies than in the understorey, using mostly the portion of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) canopies closer to the trunk in winter, while during the breeding period, the whole canopy was visited. Overall, breeding and wintering habitats largely overlapped in the Crested Tit. Based on our findings, lowland Crested Tits can be well defined as true habitat specialists: they are strictly related to some specific coniferous woodland features. Noteworthily, compared to other tit species, which normally show generalist habits during winter, the Crested Tit behaves as a habitat specialist also out of the breeding season. Our study stressed the importance of considering multi-scale (both spatial and phenological) habitat selection in birds

Pokrovsky-Talapov Model at finite temperature: a renormalization-group analysis

We calculate the finite-temperature shift of the critical wavevector $Q_{c}$ of the Pokrovsky-Talapov model using a renormalization-group analysis. Separating the Hamiltonian into a part that is renormalized and one that is not, we obtain the flow equations for the stiffness and an arbitrary potential. We then specialize to the case of a cosine potential, and compare our results to well-known results for the sine-Gordon model, to which our model reduces in the limit of vanishing driving wavevector Q=0. Our results may be applied to describe the commensurate-incommensurate phase transition in several physical systems and allow for a more realistic comparison with experiments, which are always carried out at a finite temperature