Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

BACKGROUND: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. METHODS: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. FINDINGS: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. INTERPRETATION: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

Seasonal Influence And Cytotoxicity Of Extracts, Fractions And Major Compounds From Allamanda Schottii

The aim of this research was to evaluate the fractions obtained from the leaf, stem and roots of Allamanda schottii, Pohl, Apocynaceae, responsible for the cytotoxicity, using several cell lines. Cytotoxicity was correlated with the season the part of the plant, and the major compounds were assessed. The ethanol extracts of leaves, stems and roots obtained at different seasons were evaluated in the human erythromyeloblastoid leukemia cell line (K562). Subsequently the ethanol extracts and dichloromethane fractions collected in winter were evaluated in mouse fibroblast cell line (Mus musculus) (L929), cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa), human pre-B leukemia (Nalm6), as well as K562 cell line. The compounds plumericin, plumieride and ursolic acid isolated from ethanol extracts of the stems were evaluated in the same cell lines, as well as on breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7), and Mus musculus skin melanoma cell line (B16F10). The chromatographic profiles of the dichloromethane fractions were obtained by high performance liquid chromatography. The results revealed that the season during which A. schottii was collected, and the part of the plant analyzed, influence the cytotoxicity on the K562 cells tested. On the other hand the dichloromethane fractions, mainly from the stems and roots, are responsible for the cytoxicity on the cells tested. These results may be associated with the seasonal variation of plumericin in these parts of the plant. This information is in accordance with the HPLC analysis. The results clearly show the potential for the phytotherapeutic use of this species, and suggest that the cytotoxic activity observed may be due to the presence of plumericin, or to minor compounds not yet identified. 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Produção de forragem de capim-elefante sob clima frio: 2. produção e seletividade animal Elephantgrass forage yield under cold climate conditions: 2. production and animal selectivity

Foram comparadas, neste estudo, a produção e a seletividade animal de cultivares de capim-elefante em condições de clima frio, em Lages, Santa Catarina. O ensaio constou de 12 cultivares (Mineiro X-23A, Mineiro, Taiwan A-144, CAC-262, Mole da Volta Grande, Teresópolis, Vrukwona, Merckeron Pinda, Turrialba, Porto Rico, Taiwan A-14 e Cameroon), estabelecidas em parcelas de 17,5 m², em um delineamento de blocos casualizados, com três repetições. Cada parcela foi formada por sete linhas espaçadas 0,50 m, considerando-se como área útil as três linhas centrais. Os cortes para avaliação da produção de forragem foram realizados em janeiro, março e maio de 1985 e 1986, sempre que as plantas atingiram cerca de 1,5 m de estatura. A avaliação da seletividade animal foi realizada em janeiro e março de 1987, após o pastoreio, mediante notas atribuídas ao resíduo de forragem na parcela (método Botanal). A análise da variância mostrou efeito significativo de anos e de cultivares para a produção total de forragem, não havendo efeito significativo para a interação desses fatores. Na média dos dois anos, o potencial de produção variou entre 11 t e 21 t MS/ha. Observou-se uma redução de 27% na produção de forragem no segundo ano, com média geral dos cultivares de 12.116 kg MS/ha, que foi significativamente inferior à do ano anterior (16.662 kg MS/ha). O cv. Mineiro X-23A foi o que apresentou a maior produção de forragem, superando 20 t MS/ha. O cv. Porto Rico destacou-se pela maior proporção de folhas e maior seletividade pelos animais e o cv. CAC-262, pela maior estabilidade, ou seja, menor variância nos dois anos de avaliação.<br>This work was aimed to compare the production and animal selectivity of elephant grass cultivars in the cold conditions, of Southern Brasil (Lages, Santa Catarina). Twelve cultivars of elephantgrass were used (Mineiro X-23A, Mineiro, Taiwan A-144, CAC-262, Mole da Volta Grande, Teresópolis, Vrukwona, Merckeron Pinda, Turrialba, Porto Rico, Taiwan A-148 and Cameroon), established on 17.5 m² plots in a randomized block design, with three replicates. Each plot consisted of seven lines with 0,50 m interval, using the tree central lines for measurements. These measurements were made on January, March and May of 1985 and 1986, each time the plants height reached 1.5 m. The animal selectivity was done on January and March of 1987, giving scores to the forage after grazing the plots (Botanal method). There was a significant effect of years and cultivars on total forage yield, but the interaction was not significant. On the average, the yield potential ranged from 11 to 21 t DM/ha. There was a 27% reduction on forage yield on the second year (12,116 kg DM/ha of average), compared with the first year (16,662 kg DM/ha). The cultivar Mineiro X-23A presented the highest forage yield and the cultivar Porto Rico showed the highest proportion of leaves and animal selectivity and the cultivar CAC-262 the highest stability, presenting a smaller variance on the two years of evaluations