Owners' perceptions do not match actual ground-dwelling invertebrate diversity in their gardens

Urban gardens are important for human well-being, biodiversity and other ecosystem functions. Biodiversity-promoting initiatives would benefit from their owners being aware of the state of biodiversity in their gardens. We examined whether garden owners' perceptions match actual biodiversity in their gardens and whether perceptions are influenced by the owners' ecological knowledge. We used a structured interview to assess the motivations and biodiversity knowledge of owners of 33 domestic gardens in the city of Basel (Switzerland) and related them to a survey of native plants and several groups of ground-dwelling invertebrates in their gardens. Owners showed different priorities, with promotion of habitat for biodiversity, receiving, on average, higher scores than cultivation, recreation and garden designing. Owners prioritizing biodiversity promotion had gardens with high habitat richness. The garden owners' perceptions of both native plant and overall invertebrate diversity were not correlated with actual diversity data for native plants and ground-dwelling invertebrates. The perceptions of the abundance of invertebrate groups by garden owners with good biodiversity knowledge were not more accurate than those from owners with less knowledge. Despite their willingness, many owners do not know all the opportunities to promote biodiversity. Initiatives to further biodiversity-friendly gardening should thus transfer knowledge

Functional diversity and habitat preferences of native grassland plants and ground-dwelling invertebrates in private gardens along an urbanization gradient

Urbanization is occurring around the globe, changing environmental conditions and influencing biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Urban domestic gardens represent a small-grained mosaic of diverse habitats for numerous species. The challenging conditions in urban gardens support species possessing certain traits, and exclude other species. Functional diversity is therefore often altered in urban gardens. By using a multi-taxa approach focused on native grassland plants and ground-dwelling invertebrates with overall low mobility (snails, slugs, spiders, millipedes, woodlice, ants, rove beetles), we examined the effects of urbanization (distance to city center, percentage of sealed area) and garden characteristics on functional dispersion, functional evenness, habitat preferences and body size. We conducted a field survey in 35 domestic gardens along a rural-urban gradient in Basel, Switzerland. The various groups showed different responses to urbanization. Functional dispersion of native grassland plants decreased with increasing distance to the city center, while functional dispersion of ants decreased with increasing percentage of sealed area. Functional evenness of ants increased with increasing distance to the city center and that of rove beetles decreased with increasing percentage of sealed area. Contrary to our expectation, in rove beetles, the proportion of generalists decreased with increasing percentage of sealed area in the surroundings, and the proportion of species preferring dry conditions increased with increasing distance to the city center. Body size of species increased with distance to city center for slugs, spiders, millipedes, ants, and rove beetles. Local garden characteristics had few effects on functional diversity and habitat preferences of the groups examined. Our study supports the importance of using multi-taxa approaches when examining effects of environmental change on biodiversity. Considering only a single group may result in misleading findings for overall biodiversity. The ground-dwelling invertebrates investigated may be affected in different ways from the more often-studied flying pollinators or birds

Sensing the (digital) pulse. Future steps for improving the secondary use of data for research in Switzerland.

INTRODUCTION Ensuring that the health data infrastructure and governance permits an efficient secondary use of data for research is a policy priority for many countries. Switzerland is no exception and many initiatives have been launched to improve its health data landscape. The country now stands at an important crossroad, debating the right way forward. We aimed to explore which specific elements of data governance can facilitate - from ethico-legal and socio-cultural perspectives - the sharing and reuse of data for research purposes in Switzerland. METHODS A modified Delphi methodology was used to collect and structure input from a panel of experts via successive rounds of mediated interaction on the topic of health data governance in Switzerland. RESULTS First, we suggested techniques to facilitate data sharing practices, especially when data are shared between researchers or from healthcare institutions to researchers. Second, we identified ways to improve the interaction between data protection law and the reuse of data for research, and the ways of implementing informed consent in this context. Third, we put forth ideas on policy changes, such as the steps necessary to improve coordination between different actors of the data landscape and to win the defensive and risk-adverse attitudes widespread when it comes to health data. CONCLUSIONS After having engaged with these topics, we highlighted the importance of focusing on non-technical aspects to improve the data-readiness of a country (e.g., attitudes of stakeholders involved) and of having a pro-active debate between the different institutional actors, ethico-legal experts and society at large

Plant-mycorrhiza association in urban forests: Effects of the degree of urbanisation and forest size on the performance of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) saplings

Environmental change as result of urbanisation can influence soil microbial communities in green areas. In cities, forests are among the most frequent types of green areas and provide a wide variety of ecosystem services for the residents, such as air cleaning, nutrient cycling and area for recreational activities. Mycorrhizal fungi play an important role for the establishment of trees and therefore for the natural regeneration of forests. We examined the effect of urbanisation on the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal symbiosis and performance of Acer pseudoplatanus saplings in a controlled field experiment in forests situated in the city of Basel and its suburbs in Switzerland. A total of 660 one-year-old A. pseudoplatanus saplings were planted in plots in 11 forests, which differed in degree of urbanisation in the surroundings and size. Saplings including their full root systems were harvested after 4, 6 and 13 months. AM fungal colonisation was 15–45 % lower on roots of saplings growing in forests located in areas with a high degree of urbanisation than that on sapling roots in forests in less urbanised areas. Furthermore, AM fungal colonisation of saplings decreased with decreasing forest size. Sapling survival was not influenced by urbanisation, but by forest size. In particular, sapling survival was reduced in small and medium-sized forests. Sapling survival also increased with increasing percentage of AM fungal colonisation after 13 months. These urbanisation- and forest-size induced changes became more pronounced with the time elapsed since the saplings were planted. Our findings demonstrate the negative impact of urbanisation on AM fungal symbiosis and the performance of A. pseudoplatanus saplings and indicate that urbanisation is a threat for the long-term maintenance of intact small urban forests

Only males care about their environment: sex-biased dispersal in the asp viper (Vipera aspis)

Sex-biased dispersal is common among vertebrates and numerous studies have documented a tendency towards male-biased dispersal in mammals and female-biased dispersal in birds. A few studies have demonstrated that male-biased dispersal seems to be prevalent in reptiles. However, most of these studies considered only a single study site without taking into account possible local variability. We investigated sex-biased dispersal in Vipera aspis in four study sites in Switzerland using microsatellite markers and we predicted a higher dispersal in males than females. In two study sites, females were more spatially autocorrelated and showed a stronger isolation by distance compared with males, which suggests male-biased dispersal. In the other two study sites, the absence of sex-biased dispersal could have been the result of habitat fragmentation. Surprisingly, the dispersal ability of females was similar in the four sites, regardless of habitat fragmentation. This finding suggests a limited impact of habitat on female dispersal and the opposite for male dispersal. Our study demonstrates the importance of inferring sex-biased dispersal in different habitats, because local barriers can affect the outcome of such studies. Hence, general conclusions about patterns of sex-biased dispersal should be drawn with caution when studies are conducted at a single study site

Ground-dwelling invertebrate diversity in domestic gardens along a rural-urban gradient: Landscape characteristics are more important than garden characteristics

Urbanisation is increasing worldwide and is regarded a major driver of environmental change altering local species assemblages. Private domestic gardens contribute a significant share of total green area in cities, but their biodiversity has received relatively little attention. Previous studies mainly considered plants, flying invertebrates such as bees and butterflies, and birds. By using a multi-taxa approach focused on less mobile, ground-dwelling invertebrates, we examined the influence of local garden characteristics and landscape characteristics on species richness and abundance of gastropods, spiders, millipedes, woodlice, ants, ground beetles and rove beetles. We assume that most of the species of these groups are able to complete their entire life cycle within a single garden. We conducted field surveys in thirty-five domestic gardens along a rural-urban gradient in Basel, Switzerland. Considered together, the gardens examined harboured an impressive species richness, with a mean share of species of the corresponding groups known for Switzerland of 13.9%, ranging from 4.7% in ground beetles to 23.3% in woodlice. The overall high biodiversity is a result of complementary contributions of gardens harbouring distinct species assemblages. Indeed, at the garden level, species richness of different taxonomical groups were typically not inter-correlated. The exception was ant species richness, which was correlated with those of gastropods and spiders. Generalised linear models revealed that distance to the city centre is an important driver of species richness, abundance and composition of several groups, resulting in an altered species composition in gardens in the centre of the city. Local garden characteristics were important drivers of gastropod and ant species richness, and the abundance of spiders, millipedes and rove beetles. Our study shows that domestic gardens make a valuable contribution to regional biodiversity. Thus, domestic urban gardens constitute an important part of green infrastructure, which should be considered by urban planners

Génétique de la population des Vipères péliades (Vipera berus - Linnaeus, 1758 ; Serpentes : Viperidae) dans la région du Hauts-de-France - apport de la génétique à la conservation locale de l'espèce

Genetics of the population of the common European adder ( Vipera berus - Linnaeus, 1758; Serpentes: Viperidae) in the French region of "Hauts -de- France" - contribution of genetics in the local preservation of the species. Genetic tools are frequently used for the protection and conservation of species. We used genetic markers to investigate the genetic diversity and genetic differentiation between five populations of the adder ( Vipera berus ) in the French Hauts-de-France region. Results demonstrated a limited genetic diversity especially within one population; this one seems genetically isolated, whereas three of the five studied populations displayed a limited but significant genetic differentiation. Historically they must have been connected and exchanged genes. The population with a limited genetic diversity should be specifically monitored, in order to determine if the lack of genetic diversity has an impact on the population dynamic. Résumé L'outil génétique est actuellement d'une grande aide pour la protection et la conservation des espèces. Il a été utilisé pour étudier la diversité et la différentiation génétiques entre cinq populations de Vipères péliades ( Vipera berus Linnaeus, 1758) dans le Pas-de-Calais. Les résultats montrent une diversité assez faible, surtout dans une population ; cette population semble d'ailleurs génétiquement isolée, alors que trois des cinq populations ont une différenciation génétique significative, mais peu marquée ; elles devaient donc historiquement échanger des gènes. Les résultats indiquent qu'une population est à suivre particulièrement, afin de voir si la faible diversité génétique se traduit dans une dynamique limitée au sein de cette population

Mortality of HIV-infected patients starting potent antiretroviral therapy: comparison with the general population in nine industrialized countries

BACKGROUND: Mortality in HIV-infected patients has declined substantially with combination antiretroviral therapy (ART), but it is unclear whether it has reached that of the general population. We compared mortality in patients starting ART in nine countries of Europe and North America with the corresponding general population, taking into account their response to ART. METHODS: Eligible patients were enrolled in prospective cohort studies participating in the ART Cohort Collaboration. We calculated the ratio of observed to expected deaths from all causes [standardized mortality ratio (SMR)], measuring time from 6 months after starting ART, according to risk group, clinical stage at the start of ART and CD4 cell count and viral load at 6 months. Expected numbers of deaths were obtained from age-, sex- and country-specific mortality rates. RESULTS: Among 29 935 eligible patients, 1134 deaths were recorded in 131 510 person-years of follow-up. The median age was 37 years, 8162 (27%) patients were females, 4400 (15%) were injecting drug users (IDUs) and 6738 (23%) had AIDS when starting ART. At 6 months, 23 539 patients (79%) had viral load measurements or=350 cells/microL and suppressed viral replication to 10 were 4, 14 and 47%. CONCLUSIONS: In industrialized countries, the mortality experience of HIV-infected patients who start ART and survive the first 6 months continues to be higher than in the general population, but for many patients excess mortality is moderate and comparable with patients having other chronic conditions. Much of the excess mortality might be prevented by earlier diagnosis of HIV followed by timely initiation of ART