Directional turnover towards larger-ranged plants over time and across habitats

Species turnover is ubiquitous. However, it remains unknown whether certain types of species are consistently gained or lost across different habitats. Here, we analysed the trajectories of 1827 plant species over time intervals of up to 78 years at 141 sites across mountain summits, forests, and lowland grasslands in Europe. We found, albeit with relatively small effect sizes, displacements of smaller- by larger-ranged species across habitats. Communities shifted in parallel towards more nutrient-demanding species, with species from nutrient-rich habitats having larger ranges. Because these species are typically strong competitors, declines of smaller-ranged species could reflect not only abiotic drivers of global change, but also biotic pressure from increased competition. The ubiquitous component of turnover based on species range size we found here may partially reconcile findings of no net loss in local diversity with global species loss, and link community-scale turnover to macroecological processes such as biotic homogenisation

T-cell recognition of chemicals, protein allergens and drugs: towards the development of in vitro assays

Chemicals can elicit T-cell-mediated diseases such as allergic contact dermatitis and adverse drug reactions. Therefore, testing of chemicals, drugs and protein allergens for hazard identification and risk assessment is essential in regulatory toxicology. The seventh amendment of the EU Cosmetics Directive now prohibits the testing of cosmetic ingredients in mice, guinea pigs and other animal species to assess their sensitizing potential. In addition, the EU Chemicals Directive REACh requires the retesting of more than 30,000 chemicals for different toxicological endpoints, including sensitization, requiring vast numbers of animals. Therefore, alternative methods are urgently needed to eventually replace animal testing. Here, we summarize the outcome of an expert meeting in Rome on 7 November 2009 on the development of T-cell-based in vitro assays as tools in immunotoxicology to identify hazardous chemicals and drugs. In addition, we provide an overview of the development of the field over the last two decades

<scp>ReSurveyEurope</scp>: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe

AbstractAimsWe introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, including potential research questions.ResultsReSurveyEurope includes resurveyed vegetation plots from all habitats. Version 1.0 of ReSurveyEurope contains 283,135 observations (i.e., individual surveys of each plot) from 79,190 plots sampled in 449 independent resurvey projects. Of these, 62,139 (78%) are permanent plots, that is, marked in situ, or located with GPS, which allow for high spatial accuracy in resurvey. The remaining 17,051 (22%) plots are from studies in which plots from the initial survey could not be exactly relocated. Four data sets, which together account for 28,470 (36%) plots, provide only presence/absence information on plant species, while the remaining 50,720 (64%) plots contain abundance information (e.g., percentage cover or cover–abundance classes such as variants of the Braun‐Blanquet scale). The oldest plots were sampled in 1911 in the Swiss Alps, while most plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020.ConclusionsReSurveyEurope is a new resource to address a wide range of research questions on fine‐scale changes in European vegetation. The initiative is devoted to an inclusive and transparent governance and data usage approach, based on slightly adapted rules of the well‐established European Vegetation Archive (EVA). ReSurveyEurope data are ready for use, and proposals for analyses of the data set can be submitted at any time to the coordinators. Still, further data contributions are highly welcome.</jats:sec

RKIP does not contribute to MAP kinase pathway silencing in the Merkel Cell Carcinoma cell line UISO

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Activation of the MAP Kinase Pathway Induces Apoptosis in the Merkel Cell Carcinoma Cell Line UISO

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but highly aggressive tumor of the skin. Recently, we have shown that MCC cells in situ are characterized by a complete absence of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway signaling, which is preserved in the MCC cell line UISO. Here we present data suggesting that silencing of the MAPK pathway is essential for the survival of MCC cells. Activation of the MAPK pathway could be achieved by inducing a regulatable form of the c-Raf-1 kinase domain in UISO cells. Consequently, MAPK signaling led to morphological changes, loss of actin stress fibers, and induction of apoptosis, which could be prevented by the MAP kinase kinase-specific inhibitor U0126. Hence, despite the fact that activation of the MAPK pathway contributes to oncogenesis in many cancers, it seems to be a negative selection factor for MCC cells. Since ERK phosphorylation was also inducible by the Raf-activating pharmacological agent ZM336372, these results provide new perspectives for potential therapeutics for this highly aggressive tumor

Consistent replacement of small- by large-ranged plant species across habitats

The direction and magnitude of long-term changes in local plant species richness are highly variable among studies, while species turnover is ubiquitous. However, it is unknown whether the nature of species turnover is idiosyncratic or whether certain types of species are consistently gained or lost across different habitats. To address this question, we analyzed the trajectories of 1,827 vascular plant species over time intervals of up to 78 years at 141 sites in three habitats in Europe – mountain summits, forests, and lowland grasslands. Consistent across all habitats, we found that plant species with small geographic ranges tended to be replaced by species with large ranges, despite habitat-specific trends in species richness. Our results point to a predictable component of species turnover, likely explained by aspects of species’ niches correlated with geographic range size. Species with larger ranges tend to be associated with nutrient-rich sites and we found community composition shifts towards more nutrient-demanding species in all three habitats. Global changes involving increased resource availability are thus likely to favor large-ranged, nutrient-demanding species, which are typically strong competitors. Declines of small-ranged species could reflect not only abiotic drivers of global change, but also biotic pressure from increased competition. Our study highlights the need to consider the traits of species such as the geographic range size when predicting how ecological communities will respond to global change

Directional turnover towards larger-ranged plants over time and across habitats

Species turnover is ubiquitous. However, it remains unknown whether certain types of species are consistently gained or lost across different habitats. Here, we analysed the trajectories of 1827 plant species over time intervals of up to 78 years at 141 sites across mountain summits, forests, and lowland grasslands in Europe. We found, albeit with relatively small effect sizes, displacements of smaller- by larger-ranged species across habitats. Communities shifted in parallel towards more nutrient-demanding species, with species from nutrient-rich habitats having larger ranges. Because these species are typically strong competitors, declines of smaller-ranged species could reflect not only abiotic drivers of global change, but also biotic pressure from increased competition. The ubiquitous component of turnover based on species range size we found here may partially reconcile findings of no net loss in local diversity with global species loss, and link community-scale turnover to macroecological processes such as biotic homogenisation