Chromosome-scale genome assembly of the brown anole (Anolis sagrei), an emerging model species

Rapid technological improvements are democratizing access to high quality, chromosome-scale genome assemblies. No longer the domain of only the most highly studied model organisms, now non-traditional and emerging model species can be genome-enabled using a combination of sequencing technologies and assembly software. Consequently, old ideas built on sparse sampling across the tree of life have recently been amended in the face of genomic data drawn from a growing number of high-quality reference genomes. Arguably the most valuable are those long-studied species for which much is already known about their biology; what many term emerging model species. Here, we report a highly complete chromosome-scale genome assembly for the brown anole, Anolis sagrei – a lizard species widely studied across a variety of disciplines and for which a high-quality reference genome was long overdue. This assembly exceeds the vast majority of existing reptile and snake genomes in contiguity (N50 = 253.6 Mb) and annotation completeness. Through the analysis of this genome and population resequence data, we examine the history of repetitive element accumulation, identify the X chromosome, and propose a hypothesis for the evolutionary history of fusions between autosomes and the X that led to the sex chromosomes of A. sagrei

Biotic Elements extent under original and current natural vegetation cover.

<p>Biotic Elements (BE) distribution under the Cerrado vegetation original extent (left), and considering current levels of habitat loss (right) (until 2010). Each BE is represented by shades of a single color. The darker the shade, the more projected species distributions for that BE are overlapping at that area. Shades of black: Tocantins-Serra Geral BE I (a and b). Shades of purple: Paraguay-Guaporé BE II (a and b). Shades of blue: Paraná-Paraguay BE III (c and d). Shades of Green: Guimarães-Roncador BE IV (c and d). Shades of red: Espinhaço BE V (e and f). Shades of yellow: Araguaia BE VI (e and f). Shades of orange: Central Plateau BE VII (e and f).</p

Priority regions for Cerrado squamate conservation.

<p>High priority regions for conserving endemic Squamates in the Cerrado, under four scenarios: (a) without habitat loss and protected area coverage; (b) without habitat loss but including current protected area coverage; (c) considering habitat loss, but without protected area coverage (d) considering both habitat loss and current protected area coverage. Numbered priority regions in letter (a): I–São Paulo; II–Serra do Cipó; III–Brasília; IV–Chapada dos Veadeiros; V—Serra Geral do Tocantins; VI–Chapada dos Guimarães; VII–Três Lagoas; VIII–Serra da Bodoquena. Gradient colors are as follows: dark red, the best 2% of the landscape; orange, the best 2–5%; yellow, the best 5–10%; light yellow, the best 10–25%. Protected areas (IUCN categories I-IV) are represented in dark green.</p

Habitat loss and protected area (PA) cover per Biotic Element (BE).

<p>Boxplots indicating: (a) The recorded percentage of habitat loss, per BE (1–7) until 2010; (b) The percentage of overlap of each BE natural cover with Cerrado federal PAs e. Horizontal bars = median; box = first and third quartiles; whiskers = minimum and maximum values. Percentages in the Y axes are logit transformed. Biotic elements sharing common letters (A or B) had non-significant differences.</p

Impacts of climate warming on the long-term dynamics of key fish species in 24 European lakes

Fish play a key role in the trophic dynamics of lakes. With climate warming, complex changes in fish assemblage structure may be expected owing to direct effects of temperature and indirect effects operating through eutrophication, water level changes, stratification and salinisation. We reviewed published and new long-term (10–100 years) fish data series from 24 European lakes (area: 0.04–5,648 km2; mean depth: 1–177 m; a north–south gradient from Sweden to Spain). Along with an annual temperature increase of about 0.15–0.3°C per decade profound changes have occurred in either fish assemblage composition, body size and/or age structure during recent decades and a shift towards higher dominance of eurythermal species. These shifts have occurred despite a reduction in nutrient loading in many of the lakes that should have benefited the larger-sized individuals and the fish species typically inhabiting cold-water, low-nutrient lakes. The cold-stenothermic Arctic charr has been particularly affected and its abundance has decreased in the majority of the lakes where its presence was recorded. The harvest of cool-stenothermal brown trout has decreased substantially in two southern lakes. Vendace, whitefish and smelt show a different response depending on lake depth and latitude. Perch has apparently been stimulated in the north, with stronger year classes in warm years, but its abundance has declined in the southern Lake Maggiore, Italy. Where introduced, roach seems to take advantage of the higher temperature after years of low population densities. Eurythermal species such as common bream, pike–perch and/or shad are apparently on the increase in several of the lakes. The response of fish to the warming has been surprisingly strong and fast in recent decades, making them ideal sentinels for detecting and documenting climate-induced modifications of freshwater ecosystems

O cargo público de livre provimento na organização da administração pública federal brasileira: uma introdução ao estudo da organização da direção pública na perspectiva de estudos organizacionais Public position filled by appointment in the Brazilian federal administration: an introduction to the study of public management organization from the organizational studies perspective

A organização da administração pública federal brasileira é raramente abordada na pesquisa no campo de estudos organizacionais (EOs). Privilegia-se a tomada de decisão, seguindo-se a tradição de pesquisa operacional de cunho funcionalista. Contudo, direção é mais complexa e inclui decisão. A direção na administração pública federal brasileira se dá exclusivamente por meio de cargos de livre provimento. Tal realidade permite entender a direção como ação eminentemente política, cristalizada na organização da administração pública. Este artigo possui caráter metodológico e demonstra que o cargo público de livre provimento possui centralidade na organização da administração pública federal brasileira. Identifica, ainda, práticas de operação e interações no exercício da direção pública.<br>The organization of the Brazilian federal public administration is seldom addressed by organizational studies (OS) research. The decision-making process is privileged, according to the tradition of functionalist operational research. However, managing is more complex than decision-making, which is included by it. Management level in Brazilian federal public administration is completely filled by appointment. This reality makes us understand management as an utterly political action, crystallized in the public administration organization. This article has a methodological perspective and demonstrates that public positions filled by appointment are central to the Brazilian federal public administration,. It also identifies practices and interactions of public management