4,677 research outputs found

    Phylogeny and androgenesis in the invasive <i>Corbicula</i> clams (Bivalvia, Corbiculidae) in Western Europe

    Get PDF
    Background The genus Corbicula is one of the most invasive groups of molluscs. It includes both sexual and androgenetic lineages. The present study re-assessed the different morphotypes and haplotypes of West European Corbicula in order to clarify their taxonomic identification and phylogenetic relationships with American and Asian Corbicula clams. We studied several populations from West European river basins (Meuse, Seine, Rhine and Rhône) through an "integrative taxonomy" approach. We combined morphology, partial mitochondrial COI and cyt b sequences and eleven microsatellite loci. Furthermore, we looked for discrepancies between mtDNA and nrDNA/morphology, indicative of androgenesis between lineages. Results There are three Corbicula morphotypes in Western Europe associated to three mitochondrial lineages and three genotypes. Form R shares the same COI haplotype as the American form A and the Japanese C. leana. Form S and the American form C have the same haplotype, although their morphologies seem divergent. The European form Rlc belongs to the same mitochondrial lineage as both the American form B and the Asian C. fluminea. Interestingly, within each haplotype/genotype or lineage, no genetic diversity was found although their invasive success is high. Moreover, we detected rare mismatches between mtDNA and nrDNA/morphology, indicative of androgenesis and mitochondrial capture between form R and form S and therefore challenging the phylogenetic relatedness and the species status within this genus. The global phylogenetic analysis revealed that the sexual Corbicula lineages seem restricted to the native areas while their androgenetic relatives are widespread and highly invasive. Conclusions We clarified the discrepancies and incongruent results found in the literature about the European morphotypes of Corbicula and associated mitochondrial lineages. The three West European morphotypes belong to three distinct nuclear and mitochondrial lineages. However mitochondrial capture occurs in sympatric populations of forms R and S. The species status of the morphotypes therefore remains doubtful. Moreover the androgenetic lineages seem widely distributed compared to their sexual relatives, suggesting that androgenesis and invasive success may be linked in the genus Corbicula

    Floristic composition and across-track reflectance gradient in Landsat images over Amazonian forests

    Get PDF
    Remotely sensed image interpretation or classification of tropical forests can be severely hampered by the effects of the bidirectional reflection distribution function (BRDF). Even for narrow swath sensors like Landsat TM/ETM+, the influence of reflectance anisotropy can be sufficiently strong to introduce a cross track reflectance gradient. If the BRDF could be assumed to be linear for the limited swath of Landsat, it would be possible to remove this gradient during image preprocessing using a simple empirical method. However, the existence of natural gradients in reflectance caused by spatial variation in floristic composition of the forest can restrict the applicability of such simple corrections. Here we use floristic information over Peruvian and Brazilian Amazonia acquired through field surveys, complemented with information from geological maps, to investigate the interaction of real floristic gradients and the effect of reflectance anisotropy on the observed reflectances in Landsat data. In addition, we test the assumption of linearity of the BRDF for a limited swath width, and whether different primary non-inundated forest types are characterized by different magnitudes of the directional reflectance gradient. Our results show that a linear function is adequate to empirically correct for view angle effects, and that the magnitude of the across-track reflectance gradient is independent of floristic composition in the non-inundated forests we studied. This makes a routine correction of view angle effects possible. However, floristic variation complicates the issue, because different forest types have different mean reflectances. This must be taken into account when deriving the correction function in order to avoid eliminating natural gradients. (C) 2016 International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Inc. (ISPRS). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

    Study of ageing and gain limits of microstrip gas chambers at high rates

    Get PDF
    The CMS experiment comprises MSGCs as one of the key detection elements for high luminosity tracking at LHC. In addition to the high dose rate of 10 mC/year per cm of strip, these detectors have to survive the hostile presence of highly ionizing particles, neutrons low energy gammas and hadrons. In this report we present the results of systematic tests on maximum safe operational gain limits in MSGCs before the discharge. Long term ageing tests performed on prototype open Ibanana¹ modules envisaged to be arranged around the interaction region in the forward part of the CMS tracker show no evidence of gain drop up to equivalent ~ 10 years of LHC operation. A comparison is made between argon and neon gas mixtures with DME in equal proportions by investigating long term irradiation effects on chamber operation by introducing controlled and reproducible pollution in the gas lines

    Multispectral canopy reflectance improves spatial distribution models of Amazonian understory species

    Get PDF
    Species distribution models are required for the research and management of biodiversity in the hyperdiverse tropical forests, but reliable and ecologically relevant digital environmental data layers are not always available. We here assess the usefulness of multispectral canopy reflectance (Landsat) relative to climate data in modelling understory plant species distributions in tropical rainforests. We used a large dataset of quantitative fern and lycophyte species inventories across lowland Amazonia as the basis for species distribution modelling (SDM). As predictors, we used CHELSA climatic variables and canopy reflectance values from a recent basin-wide composite of Landsat TM/ETM+ images both separately and in combination. We also investigated how species accumulate over sites when environmental distances were expressed in terms of climatic or surface reflectance variables. When species accumulation curves were constructed such that differences in Landsat reflectance among the selected plots were maximised, species accumulated faster than when climatic differences were maximised or plots were selected in a random order. Sixty-nine species were sufficiently frequent for species distribution modelling. For most of them, adequate SDMs were obtained whether the models were based on CHELSA data only, Landsat data only or both combined. Model performance was not influenced by species' prevalence or abundance. Adding Landsat-based environmental data layers overall improved the discriminatory capacity of SDMs compared to climate-only models, especially for soil specialist species. Our results show that canopy surface reflectance obtained by multispectral sensors can provide studies of tropical ecology, as exemplified by SDMs, much higher thematic (taxonomic) detail than is generally assumed. Furthermore, multispectral datasets complement the traditionally used climatic layers in analyses requiring information on environmental site conditions. We demonstrate the utility of freely available, global remote sensing data for biogeographical studies that can aid conservation planning and biodiversity management
    corecore