Ongoing, but slowing, habitat loss in a rural landscape over 85 years

© 2019, The Author(s). Context: Studies evaluating biodiversity loss and altered ecosystem services have tended to examine changes over the last few decades, despite the fact that land use change and its negative impacts have been occurring over a much longer period. Examining past land use change, particularly over the long-term and multiple time periods, is essential for understanding how rates and drivers of change have varied historically. Objectives: To quantify and assess patterns of change in semi-natural habitats across a rural landscape at five time points between 1930 and 2015. Methods: We determined the habitat cover at over 3700 sites across the county of Dorset, southern England in 1930, 1950, 1980, 1990 and 2015, using historical vegetation surveys, re-surveys, historical maps and other contemporary spatial data. Results: Considerable declines in semi-natural habitats occurred across the Dorset landscape between 1930 and 2015. This trend was non-linear for the majority of semi-natural habitats, with the greatest losses occurring between 1950 and 1980. This period coincides with the largest gains to arable and improved grassland, reflecting agricultural expansion after the Second World War. Although the loss of semi-natural habitats declined after this period, largely because there were very few sites left to convert, there were still a number of habitats lost within the last 25 years. Conclusions: The findings illustrate a long history of habitat loss in the UK, and are important for planning landscape management and ameliorative actions, such as restoration. Our analysis also highlights the role of statutory protection in retaining semi-natural habitats, suggesting the need for continued protection of important habitats

Herbivorous turtle ants obtain essential nutrients from a conserved nitrogen-recycling gut microbiome.

Nitrogen acquisition is a major challenge for herbivorous animals, and the repeated origins of herbivory across the ants have raised expectations that nutritional symbionts have shaped their diversification. Direct evidence for N provisioning by internally housed symbionts is rare in animals; among the ants, it has been documented for just one lineage. In this study we dissect functional contributions by bacteria from a conserved, multi-partite gut symbiosis in herbivorous Cephalotes ants through in vivo experiments, metagenomics, and in vitro assays. Gut bacteria recycle urea, and likely uric acid, using recycled N to synthesize essential amino acids that are acquired by hosts in substantial quantities. Specialized core symbionts of 17 studied Cephalotes species encode the pathways directing these activities, and several recycle N in vitro. These findings point to a highly efficient N economy, and a nutritional mutualism preserved for millions of years through the derived behaviors and gut anatomy of Cephalotes ants

Mangrove microniches determine the structural and functional diversity of enriched petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading consortia

In this study, the combination of culture enrichments and molecular tools was used to identify bacterial guilds, plasmids and functional genes potentially important in the process of petroleum hydrocarbon (PH) decontamination in mangrove microniches (rhizospheres and bulk sediment). In addition, we aimed to recover PH-degrading consortia (PHDC) for future use in remediation strategies. The PHDC were enriched with petroleum from rhizosphere and bulk sediment samples taken from a mangrove chronically polluted with oil hydrocarbons. Southern blot hybridization (SBH) assays of PCR amplicons from environmental DNA before enrichments resulted in weak positive signals for the functional gene types targeted, suggesting that PH-degrading genotypes and plasmids were in low abundance in the rhizosphere and bulk sediments. However, after enrichment, these genes were detected and strong microniche-dependent differences in the abundance and composition of hydrocarbonoclastic bacterial populations, plasmids (IncP-1 alpha, IncP-1 beta, IncP-7 and IncP-9) and functional genes (naphthalene, extradiol and intradiol dioxygenases) were revealed by in-depth molecular analyses [PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and hybridization (SBH and microarray)]. Our results suggest that, despite the low abundance of PH-degrading genes and plasmids in the environmental samples, the original bacterial composition of the mangrove microniches determined the structural and functional diversity of the PHDC enriched.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [SM59/4-1, 4-2]; FAPERJ-Brazil; European Commission [003998, 211684]; Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung; CONICET (Argentina)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Population overlap and habitat segregation in wintering Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa

Distinct breeding populations of migratory species may overlap both spatially and temporally, but differ in patterns of habitat use. This has important implications for population monitoring and conservation. To quantify the extent to which two distinct breeding populations of a migratory shorebird, the Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa, overlap spatially, temporally and in their use of different habitats during winter. We use mid-winter counts between 1990 and 2001 to identify the most important sites in Iberia for Black-tailed Godwits. Monthly surveys of estuarine mudflats and rice-fields at one major site, the Tejo estuary in Portugal in 2005-2007, together with detailed tracking of colour-ringed individuals, are used to explore patterns of habitat use and segregation of the Icelandic subspecies L. l. islandica and the nominate continental subspecies L. l. limosa. In the period 1990-2001, over 66 000 Black-tailed Godwits were counted on average in Iberia during mid-winter (January), of which 80% occurred at just four sites: Tejo and Sado lower basins in Portugal, and Coto Dontildeana and Ebro Delta in Spain. Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits are present throughout the winter and forage primarily in estuarine habitats. Continental Black-tailed Godwits are present from December to March and primarily use rice-fields. Iberia supports about 30% of the Icelandic population in winter and most of the continental population during spring passage. While the Icelandic population is currently increasing, the continental population is declining rapidly. Although the estuarine habitats used by Icelandic godwits are largely protected as Natura 2000 sites, the habitat segregation means that conservation actions for the decreasing numbers of continental godwits should focus on protection of rice-fields and re-establishment of freshwater wetlands

The CLIMPACTS synthesis report: An assessment of the effects of climate change and variation in New Zealand using the CLIMPACTS system

In the late 1980s, New Zealand undertook the first national assessment of climate change and its possible impacts on the country.The landmark report, reflecting the judgement of scores of national experts, called for greater efforts in building the national research capacity in order to better quantify the range of impacts that could occur in New Zealand from climate change and variability. In response, the collaborative CLIMPACTS Programme was established to provide this capacity. Ten years on from the first national assessment, the present synthesis offers some results from, as well as a demonstration of, the capacity developed by the CLIMPACTS Programme. The purpose of the present document is to provide a summary report from the CLIMPACTS Programme on climate change and its effects on New Zealand.The chapters and their contents are not comprehensive. Rather, they are focused on a specific set of questions, which conform to the particular expertise of the CLIMPACTS Programme members and which employ a limited set of the wide range of tools available within the CLIMPACTS Model. Other important areas such as forests, indigenous ecosystems and pests and diseases are not yet covered

Effect of zinc on the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children: A randomized controlled trial

Background: Zinc supplementation in young children has been associated with reductions in the incidence and severity of diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections, and malaria. Objective: The objective was to evaluate the potential role of zinc as an adjunct in the treatment of acute, uncomplicated falciparum malaria; a multicenter, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial was undertaken. Design: Children (n = 1087) aged 6 mo to 5 y were enrolled at sites in Ecuador, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Children with fever and ≥ 2000 asexual forms of Plasmodium falciparum/μL in a thick blood smear received chloroquine and were randomly assigned to receive zinc (20 mg/d for infants, 40 mg/d for older children) or placebo for 4 d. Results: There was no effect of zinc on the median time to reduction of fever (zinc group: 24.2 h; placebo group: 24.0 h; P = 0.37), a ≥75% reduction in parasitemia from baseline in the first 72 h in 73.4% of the zinc group and in 77.6% of the placebo group (P = 0.11), and no significant change in hemoglobin concentration during the 3-d period of hospitalization and the 4 wk of follow-up. Mean plasma zinc concentrations were low in all children at baseline (zinc group: 8.54 ± 3.93 μmol/L; placebo group: 8.34 ± 3.25 μmol/L), but children who received zinc supplementation had higher plasma zinc concentrations at 72 h than did those who received placebo (10.95 ± 3.63 compared with 10.16 ± 3.25 μmol/L, P \u3c 0.001). Conclusion: Zinc does not appear to provide a beneficial effect in the treatment of acute, uncomplicated falciparum malaria in preschool children

Author Correction: Herbivorous turtle ants obtain essential nutrients from a conserved nitrogen-recycling gut microbiome.

The originally published version of the Supplementary Information file associated with this Article contained an error in Supplementary Figure 3. Panel b was inadvertently replaced with a duplicate of panel a. The error has now been fixed and the corrected version of the Supplementary Information PDF is available to download from the HTML version of the Article

Biometric analysis of protein and oil contents of soybean genotypes in different environments

The objective of this work was to identify by biometric analyses the most stable soybean parents, with higher oil or protein contents, cultivated at different seasons and locations of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Forty-nine genotypes were evaluated in the municipalities of Viçosa, Visconde do Rio Branco, and São Gotardo, in the state of Minas Gerais, from 2009 to 2011. Protein and oil contents were analyzed by infrared spectrometry using a FT-NIR analyzer. The effects of genotype, environment, and genotype x environment interaction were significant. The BARC-8 soybean genotype is the best parent to increase protein contents in the progenies, followed by BR 8014887 and CS 3032PTA276-3-4. Selection for high oil content is more efficient when the crossings involve the Suprema, CD 01RR8384, and A7002 genotypes, which show high mean phenotypic values, wide adaptability, and greater stability to environmental variation