TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

The SIMFAMI project: using multifrequency fisheries echosounders to identify scattering categories

The SIMFAMI (Species Identification Methods From Acoustic Multifrequency Information) project was a three year research project funded by the European Commission. The goal of the project was to enable the identification of fish species using scientific echosounders operating at frequencies typical of those used in fisheries research (e.g., 18, 38, 120 and 200 kHz). This contribution describes the SIMFAMI project and provides an overview of the major results. Notable outcomes include: guidelines for the collection of multifrequency data; an online database and summary document containing the relevant information for most of the pelagic commercial finfish species of the north east Atlantic; a database of echotrace descriptors for the fish species considered; algorithms to perform inversions using most of the plankton model types currently available; simple algorithms to remove plankton and (resonant) bubbles from echograms; algorithms to identify fish without swimbladders (such as Atlantic mackerel); and algorithms to identify schooling physostomes (such as herring) in waters deeper than about 80 m. The algorithms are supported by empirical or theoretical scattering models of the various groups. It is clear, at this stage, that these echosounder frequencies do not always provide sufficient information to resolve individual species, but in many circumstances, groups with similar physiology can be identified to some degree and more information is available than had hitherto thought possibl

Classement des masses d’eau du littoral Manche-Atlantique sur la base de l’indicateur DCE «Angiospermes» (2012-2016)

Certaines masses d’eau s’avérant parfois déclassées par cet élément de qualité, le groupe de travail DCE « Eaux Littorales » a sollicité de la part des scientifiques une réflexion sur les raisons de ce mauvais classement et les éventuelles actions de restauration ou d'amélioration de connaissances relatives aux herbiers de ces zones. L’objectif de cette expertise, soutenue par l’Agence Française pour la Biodiversité, et réalisée en collaboration avec les acteurs concernés par l’indicateur « angiospermes » sur les façades Manche-Atlantique, est d’identifier les pressions potentiellement responsables de cette situation (Tableau 1) en prenant également en compte l’effet des différentes métriques de l’indicateur sur les résultats obtenus

Intravenous vitamin C for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 : two harmonized randomized clinical trials

Abstract: Importance The efficacy of vitamin C for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 is uncertain.Objective To determine whether vitamin C improves outcomes for patients with COVID-19.Design, Setting, and Participants Two prospectively harmonized randomized clinical trials enrolled critically ill patients receiving organ support in intensive care units (90 sites) and patients who were not critically ill (40 sites) between July 23, 2020, and July 15, 2022, on 4 continents.InterventionsPatients were randomized to receive vitamin C administered intravenously or control (placebo or no vitamin C) every 6 hours for 96 hours (maximum of 16 doses).Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was a composite of organ support-free days defined as days alive and free of respiratory and cardiovascular organ support in the intensive care unit up to day 21 and survival to hospital discharge. Values ranged from -1 organ support-free days for patients experiencing in-hospital death to 22 organ support-free days for those who survived without needing organ support. The primary analysis used a bayesian cumulative logistic model. An odds ratio (OR) greater than 1 represented efficacy (improved survival, more organ support-free days, or both), an OR less than 1 represented harm, and an OR less than 1.2 represented futility.Results Enrollment was terminated after statistical triggers for harm and futility were met. The trials had primary outcome data for 1568 critically ill patients (1037 in the vitamin C group and 531 in the control group; median age, 60 years [IQR, 50-70 years]; 35.9% were female) and 1022 patients who were not critically ill (456 in the vitamin C group and 566 in the control group; median age, 62 years [IQR, 51-72 years]; 39.6% were female). Among critically ill patients, the median number of organ support-free days was 7 (IQR, -1 to 17 days) for the vitamin C group vs 10 (IQR, -1 to 17 days) for the control group (adjusted proportional OR, 0.88 [95% credible interval {CrI}, 0.73 to 1.06]) and the posterior probabilities were 8.6% (efficacy), 91.4% (harm), and 99.9% (futility). Among patients who were not critically ill, the median number of organ support-free days was 22 (IQR, 18 to 22 days) for the vitamin C group vs 22 (IQR, 21 to 22 days) for the control group (adjusted proportional OR, 0.80 [95% CrI, 0.60 to 1.01]) and the posterior probabilities were 2.9% (efficacy), 97.1% (harm), and greater than 99.9% (futility). Among critically ill patients, survival to hospital discharge was 61.9% (642/1037) for the vitamin C group vs 64.6% (343/531) for the control group (adjusted OR, 0.92 [95% CrI, 0.73 to 1.17]) and the posterior probability was 24.0% for efficacy. Among patients who were not critically ill, survival to hospital discharge was 85.1% (388/456) for the vitamin C group vs 86.6% (490/566) for the control group (adjusted OR, 0.86 [95% CrI, 0.61 to 1.17]) and the posterior probability was 17.8% for efficacy.Conclusions and Relevance In hospitalized patients with COVID-19, vitamin C had low probability of improving the primary composite outcome of organ support-free days and hospital survival