Pheromone chirality of african palm weevil, Rhynchophorus phoenicis (F.) and palmetto weevil, Rhynthophorus crueniatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

There are four stereoisomers of both 3-methyl-octan-4-ol, the aggregation pheromone of the African palm weevil,Rhynchophorus phoenicis (F.) and 5-methyl-octan-4-ol, the aggregation pheromone of the palmetto weevil,Rhynchophorus cruentatus (F.). Synthetic stereoisomers of 3-methyl-octan-4-ol and 5-methyl-octan-4-ol were baseline-separated on a Cyclodex-B fused silica column. Use of this column in gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) and GC-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analyses revealed that only one stereoisomer, (3S,4S)-3-methyl-octan-4-ol and (4S,5S)-5-methyl-octan-4-ol, is produced by maleR. phoenicis and maleR. cruentatus, respectively, and elicits good antennal responses by conspecific male and female weevils. In field trapping experiments, withR. phoenicis in Côte d'Ivoire andR. cruentatus in Florida, (3S,4S)-3-methyl-octan-4-ol and (4S,5S)-5-methyl-octan-4-ol strongly enhanced attraction of fresh palm tissue, whereas other stereoisomers were behaviorally benign. Stereoisomeric 3-methyl-octan-4-ol and 5-methyl-octan-4-ol may be utilized to monitor and/or manage populations of these two palm weevils.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigaciones en Productos Naturales (CIPRONA

Common Motifs in the Response of Cereal Primary Metabolism to Fungal Pathogens are not Based on Similar Transcriptional Reprogramming

During compatible interactions with their host plants, biotrophic plant–pathogens subvert host metabolism to ensure the sustained provision of nutrient assimilates by the colonized host cells. To investigate, whether common motifs can be revealed in the response of primary carbon and nitrogen metabolism toward colonization with biotrophic fungi in cereal leaves, we have conducted a combined metabolome and transcriptome study of three quite divergent pathosystems, the barley powdery mildew fungus (Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei), the corn smut fungus Ustilago maydis, and the maize anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum graminicola, the latter being a hemibiotroph that only exhibits an initial biotrophic phase during its establishment. Based on the analysis of 42 water-soluble metabolites, we were able to separate early biotrophic from late biotrophic interactions by hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis, irrespective of the plant host. Interestingly, the corresponding transcriptome dataset could not discriminate between these stages of biotrophy, irrespective, of whether transcript data for genes of central metabolism or the entire transcriptome dataset was used. Strong differences in the transcriptional regulation of photosynthesis, glycolysis, the TCA cycle, lipid biosynthesis, and cell wall metabolism were observed between the pathosystems. However, increased contents of Gln, Asn, and glucose as well as diminished contents of PEP and 3-PGA were common to early post-penetration stages of all interactions. On the transcriptional level, genes of the TCA cycle, nucleotide energy metabolism and amino acid biosynthesis exhibited consistent trends among the compared biotrophic interactions, identifying the requirement for metabolic energy and the rearrangement of amino acid pools as common transcriptional motifs during early biotrophy. Both metabolome and transcript data were employed to generate models of leaf primary metabolism during early biotrophy for the three investigated interactions

The FLUXNET2015 dataset and the ONEFlux processing pipeline for eddy covariance data

The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as gap-filled time series, ecosystem respiration and photosynthetic uptake estimates, estimation of uncertainties, and metadata about the measurements, presented for the first time in this paper. In addition, 206 of these sites are for the first time distributed under a Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0) license. This paper details this enhanced dataset and the processing methods, now made available as open-source codes, making the dataset more accessible, transparent, and reproducible.Peer reviewe

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world\u27s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (−0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km² resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e., offset) between in-situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km² pixels (summarized from 8500 unique temperature sensors) across all the world’s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in-situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative: Investigating Immigration and Social Policy Preferences. Executive Report.

In an era of mass migration, social scientists, populist parties and social movements raise concerns over the future of immigration-destination societies. What impacts does this have on policy and social solidarity? Comparative cross-national research, relying mostly on secondary data, has findings in different directions. There is a threat of selective model reporting and lack of replicability. The heterogeneity of countries obscures attempts to clearly define data-generating models. P-hacking and HARKing lurk among standard research practices in this area.This project employs crowdsourcing to address these issues. It draws on replication, deliberation, meta-analysis and harnessing the power of many minds at once. The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative carries two main goals, (a) to better investigate the linkage between immigration and social policy preferences across countries, and (b) to develop crowdsourcing as a social science method. The Executive Report provides short reviews of the area of social policy preferences and immigration, and the methods and impetus behind crowdsourcing plus a description of the entire project. Three main areas of findings will appear in three papers, that are registered as PAPs or in process

Global maps of soil temperature.

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0-5 and 5-15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world's major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications