Marine Biodiversity in the Caribbean: Regional Estimates and Distribution Patterns

This paper provides an analysis of the distribution patterns of marine biodiversity and summarizes the major activities of the Census of Marine Life program in the Caribbean region. The coastal Caribbean region is a large marine ecosystem (LME) characterized by coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses, but including other environments, such as sandy beaches and rocky shores. These tropical ecosystems incorporate a high diversity of associated flora and fauna, and the nations that border the Caribbean collectively encompass a major global marine biodiversity hot spot. We analyze the state of knowledge of marine biodiversity based on the geographic distribution of georeferenced species records and regional taxonomic lists. A total of 12,046 marine species are reported in this paper for the Caribbean region. These include representatives from 31 animal phyla, two plant phyla, one group of Chromista, and three groups of Protoctista. Sampling effort has been greatest in shallow, nearshore waters, where there is relatively good coverage of species records; offshore and deep environments have been less studied. Additionally, we found that the currently accepted classification of marine ecoregions of the Caribbean did not apply for the benthic distributions of five relatively well known taxonomic groups. Coastal species richness tends to concentrate along the Antillean arc (Cuba to the southernmost Antilles) and the northern coast of South America (Venezuela – Colombia), while no pattern can be observed in the deep sea with the available data. Several factors make it impossible to determine the extent to which these distribution patterns accurately reflect the true situation for marine biodiversity in general: (1) highly localized concentrations of collecting effort and a lack of collecting in many areas and ecosystems, (2) high variability among collecting methods, (3) limited taxonomic expertise for many groups, and (4) differing levels of activity in the study of different taxa

Database of spatial distribution of non indigenous species in Spanish marine waters

Research in marine Spanish waters are focused on several actions to achieve an effectively management on protected areas, with the active participation of the stakeholders and research as basic tools for decision-making. Among these actions, there is one about the knowledge and control on NIS. One of its objectives is the creation of NIS factsheets, which are going to be added to the National Marine Biodiversity Geographical System (GIS) providing complementary information about taxonomic classification, common names, taxonomic synonyms, species illustrations, identification morphological characters, habitat in the native and introduced regions, biological and ecological traits, GenBank DNA sequences, world distribution, first record and evolution in the introduced areas, likely pathways of introduction, effects in the habitats and interaction with native species, and potential management measures to apply. The database will also provide data for (1) the European online platforms, (2) the environmental assessment for the Descriptor 2 (D2-NIS) of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), as well as (3) supporting decisions made by stakeholders. It is the result of extensive collaboration among scientist, manager’s and citizen science in the Spanish North-Atlantic, South-Atlantic, Gibraltar Strait-Alboran, Levantine-Balearic and Canary Islands marine divisions, providing an updated overview of the spatial distribution of relevant extended and invasive NIS of recent and established NIS introduced by maritime transport and aquaculture pathways, as well as on cryptogenic or native species in expansion due to the climatic water warming trend

Diapause as escape strategy to exposure to toxicants: response of Brachionus calyciforus to arsenic

Invertebrate organisms commonly respond to environmental fluctuation by entering diapause. Production of diapause in monogonont rotifers involves a previous switch from asexual to partial sexual reproduction. Although zooplankton have been used in ecotoxicological assays, often their true vulnerability to toxicants is underestimated by not incorporating the sexual phase. We experimentally analyzed traits involved in sexual reproduction and diapause in the cyclically parthenogenetic freshwater rotifer, Brachionus calyciflorus, exposed to arsenic, a metalloid naturally found in high concentrations in desert zones, focusing on the effectiveness of diapause as an escape response in the face of an adverse condition. Addition of sublethal concentrations of arsenic modified the pattern of diapause observed in the rotifer: investment in diapause with arsenic addition peaked earlier and higher than in non-toxicant conditions, which suggests that sexual investment could be enhanced in highly stressed environmental conditions by increased responsiveness to stimulation. Nevertheless, eggs produced in large amount with arsenic, were mostly low quality, and healthy-looking eggs had lower hatching success, therefore it is unclear whether this pattern is optimum in an environment with arsenic, or if rather arsenic presence in water bodies disturbs the optimal allocation of offspring entering diapause. We observed high accumulation of arsenic in organisms exposed to constant concentration after several generations, which suggests that arsenic may be accumulated transgenerationally. The sexual phase in rotifers may be more sensitive to environmental conditions than the asexual one, therefore diapause attributes should be considered in ecotoxicological assessment because of its ecological and evolutionary implications on lakes biodiversity

Latitude dictates plant diversity effects on instream decomposition

Running waters contribute substantially to global carbon fluxes through decomposition of terrestrial plant litter by aquatic microorganisms and detritivores. Diversity of this litter may influence instream decomposition globally in ways that are not yet understood. We investigated latitudinal differences in decomposition of litter mixtures of low and high functional diversity in 40 streams on 6 continents and spanning 113 degrees of latitude. Despite important variability in our dataset, we found latitudinal differences in the effect of litter functional diversity on decomposition, which we explained as evolutionary adaptations of litter-consuming detritivores to resource availability. Specifically, a balanced diet effect appears to operate at lower latitudes versus a resource concentration effect at higher latitudes. The latitudinal pattern indicates that loss of plant functional diversity will have different consequences on carbon fluxes across the globe, with greater repercussions likely at low latitudes

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change

A cross-disease meta-GWAS identifies four new susceptibility loci shared between systemic sclerosis and Crohn’s disease

Abstract: Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified a number of genetic risk loci associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and Crohn’s disease (CD), some of which confer susceptibility to both diseases. In order to identify new risk loci shared between these two immune-mediated disorders, we performed a cross-disease meta-analysis including GWAS data from 5,734 SSc patients, 4,588 CD patients and 14,568 controls of European origin. We identified 4 new loci shared between SSc and CD, IL12RB2, IRF1/SLC22A5, STAT3 and an intergenic locus at 6p21.31. Pleiotropic variants within these loci showed opposite allelic effects in the two analysed diseases and all of them showed a significant effect on gene expression. In addition, an enrichment in the IL-12 family and type I interferon signaling pathways was observed among the set of SSc-CD common genetic risk loci. In conclusion, through the first cross-disease meta-analysis of SSc and CD, we identified genetic variants with pleiotropic effects on two clinically distinct immune-mediated disorders. The fact that all these pleiotropic SNPs have opposite allelic effects in SSc and CD reveals the complexity of the molecular mechanisms by which polymorphisms affect diseases

Anales de Edafología y Fisiología Vegetal Tomo 16

Nuevo reactivo para la determinación calorimétrica del fósforo en suelos, l. Propiedades generales, por F. Lucena Conde y L. Prat.-- Nuevo reactivo para la determinación calorimétrica del fósforo en suelos, II Aplicación al análisis de suelos, por F. Lucena Conde y L. Prat.-- Aplicación del índice de los minerales básicos para deducir la fertilidad de los suelos, en los trópicos, por Josefina Pérez Mateos.-- Contribución al estudio de la fertilidad de los suelos de la Huerta de Murcia, por O. Carpena, C. Abrisqueta, M. G. Guillén y J. A. Sánchez.-- Composición químiCa de hojas de Citrus. I. Limonero, por O. Carpena, C. Abrisqueta, J. A. Sánchez y M. G. Guillén.-- Estudios edafológico-geográficos acerca de las formaciones edáficas sobre roca caliza de España meridional y sur-oriental, por H. Klinge.-- Síntesis del butadieno a partir del alcohol etílico influencia de catalizadores arcilla-MgO, por Vicente Aleixandre y Teófilo Fernández.-- Aplicaciones ánalíticas de la fotometría de llama. I. Estudio de las interferencias mutuas en las determinaciones de Na, K y Ca en extractos de suelo obtenidos con acetato amónico N, por F. Burriel-Martí, J. Ramírez-Muñoz y Adelaida Benito-Potous.-- Contribución al conocimiento de los suelos recientes, relictos y fósiles sobre roca caliza, del Norte de España, por H . Klínge.-- La clorosis férrica del limonero l, por O. Carpena, M. G. Guillén y J. A. Sánchez.-- La clorosis férrica del limonero II por O. Carpena, J. A. Sánchez y M. G. Guillén. Estudio de tierras pardas y ranker canarios en relación con la naturaleza de la roca madre, por Angel Hoyos de Castro y Vicente Soler.-- Acerca de la existencia de un sistema de defensa celular durante la fase de crecimiento: citoarjesis e hipótesis de Ios citoarjés, por Román Vicente Jordana.-- Los arenales costeros del Levante español I. Las playas de Valencia. Estudio mineralógico de suis materiales. por Josefina Pérez Mateas y Juan J. Alonso Pascual.-- La red fluvial de Valencia. II. Mitad norte de la provincia, por Juan J. Alonso Pascual.-- El agente etiológico de la tuberculosis del olivo en relación con el suelo, por R. Beltrá.-- Los españoles de la zona árida formados sobre sedimentos silúricos, por José María Albareda, Vicente Aleixandre y Mª del Carmen Sánchez Calvo.-- Aplicación de las medidas de viscosidad absoluta al estudio de la acción de los defloculantes sobre las suspensiones acuosas de· minerales arcillosos, por L. Rodrigo, F. Costell y J. l. Fenández Alonso.-- Construcción y funcionamiento de un sencillo modelo de Fotómetro de llama, por José Cardús Aguilar.-- Fertilización del Dianthus caryophyllus en cultivos industriales I por José Cardús, y Jorge F. Aguilá.-- Contribución a la ecología de los tardígrados de suelos húmedos. por F. Michelcic.-- La red fluvial de Valencia. III. Mitad sur de la provincia. Conclusiones, por Juan J. Alonso Pascual.-- Influencia de algunos factores sobre la aparición de cierto grado de fitotoxicidad en la naranja W Navel frente al uso del ortofenilfenato sódico-hexamina, por Benito Orihuel Gasqué y José Merí Puig.-- Génesis de la montmorillonita de Marruecos español, II, por E. Gutiérrez, Ríos, J. L. Martín Vivaldi y C. del Pino Vázquez.--Modificación de las propiedades adsorbentes de los minerales arcillosos mediante tratamiento térmico y catión de cambio, I, por Vicente Aleixandre y Mª Covadonga Rodríguez.-- Clasificación filogenética y ecológica de los suelos del mundo, por Manuel del Llano.-- Auxinas e inhibidores del crecimiento en las plantas, por Ramiro Díaz Eimil.-- Estudio citológico de la epidermis del bulbo de una variedad hexaploide de Scilla marítima L. por M. Losada y G. Giménez.-- Composición mineralógica y génesis de algunos tipos de suelos calizos. béticos. l. Mineralogía de las fracciones gruesas {arenas), por G. Paneque Guerrero y F. González García.-- Sobre la determinación de fósforo y potasio asimilables en los suelos de la Vega de Granada. l. Extracción del fósforo mediante la mezcla acético-acetato, amónico, por F. Capitán-García y R. García-Ruiz.-- Estudio acerca de la influencia de diferentes materiales orgánicos sobre el nivel de nitrógeno y pH de los suelos alcalinos, por S. P. Mitra y Hari Shanker.-- Los efectos del estilbestrol por vía ·orar sobre la retención de nitrógeno y la digestibilidad en corderos enteros y Castrados, por Eduardo Zorita y Gaspar González.-- El encalado de los suelos de zona húmeda, por F. Guitián Ojea y M. Muñoz Taboadela.--La lana del vidrio como soporte del cultivo en el estudio sobre las liciencias del boro en plantas, por F. Lucena Conde y R. Aragonés Apodaca.-- Composición mineralógica y génesis de algunos tipos de suelos calizos béticos. II. Estudio fisico-químico y mineralógico de las fracciones finas (arcillas), por F. González García y G. Paneque Guerrero.-- Estudio fisicoquimico de las arcillas del Levante espaiñol. V. Ensayos técnicos, por A. Grua Mestre, F. Costell Landete y J. I. Fernández Alonso.-- El problema de las bioformas de los tardígrados, por Franc Milhelcic. Información. Notas. Profs. J. Mitchell y P. Ehrenberg.-- Notas Congreso de la U. I. de Química Pura y Aplicada. Notas. Nueva sección. Sociedad Española de Ciencia del Suelo.-- Notas. Nuevos Colaboradores.-Trabajo premiado. Notas. LI Asamblea del Frío. -- Notas. Prof. A .. Boerger. 117 aniversario de la Facultad de Agricultura de Pisa. V Congreso Internacional de la IQUA. Notas. Conferencia del prof. Klotz. Congreso para la protección de las plantas.-Congreso de Bioquímica.—Notas. Coloquio. Pensionado. Doctorados.-- Notas. Sociedad Española de la Ciencia del Suelo.-- Bibliografía. D. W. Thorne y H. R. Peterson: I rigated soils. Their fertility and menagement. Handbuch der Pflanzenphysilogie. Vol. I. XV Congrès International de Chimíe puré et appliquée. Experientia .Supplementum V.-- H. Moritz: Spectrochemische Betriebanalyse. C. R. Strouts. J. H. Gilfillan and N. H. Wilson (Ed.): Analytical Chernistry. The Working Tools.-- Walter Wagner, Clarence J. Hull and Gerald E. Markle : Avanced Analytical Chemistry.-- Instituto Internacional de la potasa. Potassium Symposiumn 1956.-- S. H. Stallings: Soil Conservation.-- Samuel L. Tisdale and Werner L. Nelsotl : Soil fertility and fertilizersPeer reviewe